Veteran AFL umpire Matt Stevic is thrilled at how players from Hawthorn and Western Bulldogs adapted to the new stand rule during Wednesday morning’s scratch match at Whitten Oval.
The match, which saw the Hawks come from a 10-point three-quarter time deficit to win by 15 points, was the first competitive hit out where the new rule was implemented.
Players are not able to move while standing on the mark once an umpire has called ‘stand’, with the AFL hoping the stricter interpretation promotes more free-flowing football.
Stevic, who umpired the practice match, said it was pleasing to only have to pay a single 50 metre penalty as a result of players breaching the new rule.
“From our perspective, I thought it went pretty well and I think the players have adjusted pretty quickly to (the new rule),” he said on SEN’s Dwayne’s World.
“Credit to them and credit to all the work we’ve been doing with the clubs across the last 8-10 weeks.
“There will be occasions, a guy will mark and roll in board and play on quickly so a lot of the time we’re not going to have the opportunity for us to call ‘stand’.
“For a slower player, a mark or free kick is taken, he might wait 4-5 seconds before he plays on, in those instances we will then call ‘stand'.
"It happens between 80 and 110 times a game, but the fact we paid one 50 penalty today out of all those instances shows that there will be a significant amount of compliance to it and the players have adjusted well.”