Collingwood coach Craig McRae encourage his team’s aggressive approach after fiery game against Gold Coast Suns
Updated ,first published
Summary of football news from today’s AFL Briefing:
- A new video-based review system is coming to the AFLW.
- Collingwood coach Craig McRae has vowed his side will continue to walk the fine line between aggression and results.
‘Vulnerable as an enemy’: Court says Maynard should expect heavy blow
Scott Spits
Saturday’s fierce clash between Collingwood and Gold Coast, which saw more than 20 players fined, including two players fined $5000 for referee contact, culminated in a dramatic finale after Ben Long had his rough conduct charge reduced.
Gold Coast tough-as-nails Long will be suspended for one game instead of two after the Suns convinced the AFL Tribunal that his tackle on Collingwood’s Brayden Maynard was medium impact rather than high impact.
In dramatic scenes on the Gold Coast, Long charged towards Maynard, whose torso was exposed after the Magpie crashed into Bailey Humphrey after Sun’s goal. Maynard suffered bruising to his ribs from the half-time incident, but did not have to leave the field.
Maynard and Gold Coast player Touk Miller were fined $5000 each for referee contact amid wild scenes.
Gold Coast barrister Adrian Anderson argued Long’s act of hitting Maynard was not as serious as it first appeared, saying: “This is not a random rear-ending incident.”
The court accepted Gold Coast’s arguments and concluded that Maynard “made himself vulnerable” in antagonizing Humphrey and did not expect contact, but “exposed his body” and “this made the impact appear greater than it was”.
“Actor Maynard made himself vulnerable as an opponent,” said presiding judge Timothy Bourke. “When you are enemies it is reasonable to expect a response from Gold Coast teammates for Humphrey the player.
“It’s fair to expect Maynard to be alert and prepared for his team-mates’ reactions.
“In these circumstances, we side with Long. The result is that the impact appears larger than it is. It was not Long’s fault. Accordingly, we consider the impact to be moderate.”
Anderson argued that Maynard was not seriously injured from the incident, his ribs were broken and not broken.
He said Maynard adapted to Humphrey.
“This is a situation where the player involved is confronted by the teammate who just scored a goal and started the incident,” Anderson said.
“We’re not defending what Ben Long did … but we are saying there was context.”
Amara Hughes, the AFL’s counsel, argued the high-impact rating should stand.
“It was noted that he (Maynard) was immediately assessed in the rooms at half-time… these injuries were not minor,” he said.
Match review officer Michael Christian was handed 23 charges of taking part in a melee following the heated Magpies-Suns clash at People First Stadium, all of which resulted in a $1,500 fine.
The long shot sparked a brutal melee. When the halftime siren sounded, Maynard ran toward Long to continue the argument.
Referee Nick Brown could see trouble coming and stood in front of Long.
When Maynard rushed in, he put both hands on Brown’s back to move the referee out of the way so he could reach Long.
In the video, Suns’ brave Miller, who was following Maynard, can also be seen making contact with the referee.
Like ARC but not: AFL unveils new video review system for AFLW
Hannah Kennelly
The AFL will introduce a “vision-based score support system” to the women’s league in 2026, replacing the ball tracking technology it has used for the last two seasons.
However, the new system will not be as comprehensive as the “ARC” used in the men’s competition and can be examined from fewer angles.
The new system, announced on Tuesday, will use existing broadcast and fixed cameras, with the AFL also introducing four new goalpost cameras at every AFLW ground.
Any score review will be initiated by the scoring assistant rather than the goal umpire and will operate similarly to the silent score review process; This means the review will not be published as is the case for AFL games.
The ARC and how it is implemented has been the subject of much debate throughout the men’s season, including round 12 when Geelong’s Ollie Dempsey had a goal disallowed and the decision was not reviewed. Earlier in the season, in the Saints’ win over West Coast at Marvel Stadium, nearly 50 seconds of the game were deleted when the ARC thought Rowan Marshall had flagged a ball before crossing the goal line, calling Marshall back to take the set-piece despite the play being well and truly underway.
This incident led to a rule change: the ARC will no longer override the goal referee’s decision unless the goal referee calls for a review. This will not be possible under the AFLW system.
Last month, Greg Swann announced that the men’s competition would introduce new high-tech cameras in August to improve the decision-making capabilities of the league’s review centre.
AFL manager Laura Kane said the updated system would deliver a consistent and effective points review process.
“We are committed to continuing to improve our refereeing technology and have worked closely with our broadcast partners and technology partner Hawk-Eye to deliver a vision-based scoring support system for the upcoming NAB AFLW Season,” Kane said in a statement.
“The vision-based system will provide match officials with additional vision to support decision-making and strengthen the accuracy, consistency and efficiency of the score review process.
“The introduction of this system is another important step in the ongoing evolution of the AFLW competition and ensures that our match officials are supported with the best possible vision when reviewing scoring decisions.”
The league introduced ball tracking in 2024, with a chip built into “smart” Sherrins and sensors placed on the ground to track the ball’s movement.
At the time, the new technology was heralded as an exciting step forward for the game and a trial for a potential entry into the men’s game.
However, the clash between Gold Coast and Collingwood in 2024 has suffered several glitches, including ball-tracking technology incorrectly registering a touch from the Sun’s Jamie Stanton’s boot.
In an announcement on Tuesday, the league said the AFL’s decision to switch from the use of “smart balls” to vision-based refereeing solutions for the AFLW was “consistent with the vision-based approach used in AFL competition”.
The AFLW season kicks off on 1 August with the long-awaited representative football match between Australia and Ireland, which will bring together some of AFLW’s biggest names. But the AFL could not guarantee the technology would be available for this match.
Round one begins with a double-header between St Kilda and Carlton at Marvel Stadium on 9 August.
McRae approves of Magpies’ aggression
Jon Pierik
Collingwood coach Craig McRae has vowed his team will continue to toe the fine line between aggression and results, sensing that fiery spirit could give the Magpies a place in the final.
The Magpies vowed to tackle a series of midwinter games with enthusiasm last month and they have done so with three wins in a row; This included a contentious one-goal victory over Gold Coast on Saturday, where defender Brayden Maynard escaped with a $5000 fine after accidentally making contact with the referee during a fight with Suns rival Ben Long.
The Suns forward was later suspended for two games for an earlier hit on Maynard, who fired an arrow at a group of players, including Long, sparking a halftime bench call.
In total, more than 20 fines were issued by the match review official, resulting in players contributing more than $30,000 to the AFL’s concussion fund. Maynard will pay $7,000 of that, $5,000 for the misconduct charge stemming from contact with the referee, and $1,000 for each count of inciting and engaging in a melee. Long was the only player suspended and chose to challenge the ban in court on Tuesday night.
McRae said the Magpies did not condone contact with referees but insisted he wanted his players to take a stand when necessary.
“Yes, we reward our spirit internally. There is definitely a coming together and energy when we come together,” McRae said Tuesday.
“We love our inspirational leaders in Nick [Daicos] and ‘Bruzzy’ [Maynard]especially. This is important. We want to stand for something or advocate for something, so that’s something we review and we’ll continue to water what we want to cultivate.
“And the other part of it is, of course, we don’t condone violence and things like that. There’s a protection that referees have to abide by. We all want to experience that.”
McRae said the Magpies would “not leave a man on an island” if he was targeted by the opposition. However, he pointed out that the Magpies had a low number of penalties this season and emphasized that they did not often cross the line of behaviour.
“Sometimes you’ve got to follow the rules carefully and challenge. If someone’s coming for one of our off-ball players — hey, come on, you’ve got to stand up for yourself,” McRae said.
“Wherever we can find a thin line on the border, we will go after the opponent. We will try to do it within the rules again this week.”
The Magpies trained at Melbourne Grammar on Tuesday and McRae revealed the soil mix at the club’s home base was not “at a level to have high density”. [training] we need that especially when we play indoors at Marvel”. The regular training ovals at the Melbourne Sports and Entertainment Precinct are the responsibility of the Melbourne and Olympic Parks Foundation.
The Pies wanted to train at Marvel Stadium, where they will face North Melbourne on Friday night, but were refused as there would be two games there on Friday and the clubs would play a VFL curtain raiser before the AFL game.
McRae said dynamic halfback Isaac Quaynor (ankle) will not play after failing to prove his fitness in practice, but senior Scott Pendlebury has overcome his calf issue and will line up.
The Magpies also claim they remain a potential new home for Brisbane Lions premiership star Lachie Neale, despite meeting the Saints hierarchy last week.
McRae spoke with the unrestricted free agent who is deciding whether to remain a Lion.
“I’ve said this for a couple of weeks until any free agents are signed, we have a strategic plan that looks at who’s available. We’ll keep the hat in the ring and see how we go about it,” McRae said.
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Hannah Kennelly is an award-winning sports journalist and Formula 1 writer for The Age.Connect via email.
Jon Pierik is a sports reporter for The Age. He covers the AFL and has won awards for his cricket and basketball writing.Connect with: X or email.
