Duff's conspiracy: Non-Victorians always get the slap first

SEN WA’s Mark Duffield has quite the conspiracy theory surrounding rule crackdowns within the AFL.

Following Patrick Voss’ taunting of Harrison Petty during Fremantle’s win over Melbourne, the AFL, led by footy boss Greg Swann, announced a crackdown on actions of the like.

From this point forward, head ruffles conducted on opposition players will now be ruled as a high free kick, with fines set to continue surrounding acts of taunting.

The action occurred twice during Round 2, with Adelaide’s Josh Worrell conducting the act towards Western Bulldogs star Sam Darcy. Darcy’s retaliation resulted in a combined 100-metre penalty in the Crows' favour.

Off the back of the rule crackdown, Duff believes that the reason behind the AFL’s decision isn’t just to do with the action itself, but the teams involved.

“I’ll make an observation here, and this is going to sound like a conspiracy theorist from Western Australia wearing foil on his head,” Duffield told SEN WA Mornings.

“But generally, when the AFL makes a stand on these things, on a new rule or a crackdown on something, they do it involving a non-Victorian player, or a player playing for a non-Victorian team.

“That’s been my experience in 30 years covering the game, and I think this is another example of that.

“We’ve been watching Jack Ginnivan and Nick Watson carry on and perform like trained seals for a couple of years now, and nothing has been done.

“I have absolutely no issue with the notion that Patrick Voss was way over the line in what he was doing and how he was carrying on around Harry Petty on the weekend.

“But it is interesting that it always feels like it’s a player for a non-Victorian club that gets the slap first, as the message to the rest of the competition.”

Guardian Sports columnist Jonathan Horn agreed.

“If that was a Collingwood player… Eddie McGuire is very big on taunting and things like that, but if that was a Collingwood player, he would be up in arms!” he said.

The changes have been implemented with immediate effect and will be in play from Round 3.