WEST COAST coach John Worsfold has claimed the incorrect penalty was applied for the first breach of the AFL's new interchange laws in his side's defeat of Adelaide on Saturday night.
The Eagles broke a seven-match losing streak with the surprisingly comfortable 50-point trouncing of the Crows at Subiaco, but most of the post-match discussion was about a final-quarter mix up between West Coast debutant Tim Houlihan and second-gamer Ryan Davis.
When Davis left the holding area a fraction before Houlihan came from the field, Adelaide ruckman Ivan Maric was awarded a free kick and 50m penalty, an opportunity he duly converted into a Crows goal.
The major had no bearing on the final result, but Worsfold said he had sought clarification from match officials after the win and had received confirmation the penalty should have been a financial sanction rather than the on-field punishment.
Worsfold said despite the goal’s lack of significance, he would be asking the AFL for it to be subtracted from Adelaide's final score.
“A free kick and a 50m penalty is for a major sanction, which I think is running on the ground before you’re teammate’s off,” Worsfold said. “And our player wasn’t on the ground.
“All I know is, from the feedback I’ve been given so far, that someone made an error, and gave a free kick when it shouldn’t have been given.
“So whether we get that goal back, I don’t know, I’d like to ask for it.”
The West Coast coach was optimistic the AFL would sort through the latest rule change and was thankful the incident didn’t occur at a more pivotal moment.
“Luckily it didn’t have any impact on the game,” he said.
“If they say we’re going to pay a free kick and a 50m penalty against you and you know yourself that they’re wrong, how can you stop that happening?
“So that’s one of the teething problems and we’ll get through that no doubt.”
The interchange mishap overshadowed the impressive debuts of Houlihan and Beau Wilkes as well as Brad Ebert’s breakout performance.
Worsfold said there was no doubt the young South Australian, who found the ball 28 times and had 10 marks, would develop into a key midfielder for the club.
“He really started to show he’s a ball-hunter, he wants to win the hard ball,” Worsfold said. “He was very strong in close, he was very clean, and he took some good, pressured marks.
“For a very young player, he’s only just turned 18, he’s probably played a game tonight that we know he’s going to be able to do but you don’t often see them play that strongly this early.
“It’s a great start early in his career to have a game like that.”
