Player Count Sensation at Gore Hill

[Norris Lurker]

A sensational incident at Gore Hill Oval today. The North Shore v St George game looked like being a cliff-hanger, with the lead see-sawing in the second half and St George leading by 5 points 10 minutes into the last quarter.
Suddenly, a player count was called for. St George were found to have an extra player on the field, and their score was reset to zero. A game that was set to be a thriller was suddenly a one-sided contest, and North Shore ended up winning 14.6 (90) to 2.1 (13).
It's the second time in the last few years that it's happened in Sydney AFL, both times in St George games. In 2004, St George were on the other end when East Coast Eagles had their score wiped.

[graystar]

Dont people on the bench realise one person is missing.

[floppinab]

Cue Rafters..............

[shouldBworking]

With two coaches wouldn't one of them known??

[Sanecow]

Resetting the score to zero is totally OTT.

[Johno74]

So is having 19 players on the field

[goswannie14]

Originally posted by Sanecow
Resetting the score to zero is totally OTT.

Thems the rules and as far as I know they have been for many many years, in all levels of Footy.

[Sanecow]

In the NHL, too many men on the ice is a 2 minute penalty.

Wiping the score for the quarter and/or playing with 17 men for a period of time might be a more logical penalty.

[floppinab]

Originally posted by goswannie14
Thems the rules and as far as I know they have been for many many years, in all levels of Footy.

They are and they have been but after reading this one, and thinking about it a bit, it is a very very big penalty for what is a relatively small advantage gained by the offending team. Maybe a 3 goal penalty rather than wiping the lot.

[Norris Lurker]

It's an interesting debate about whether the penalty is suitable. It's the second time it's happened in recent years, the other incident was in the 2nd quarter and the game was a thrashing anyway, so on that occasion the Eagles had a lower score wiped and had more time to make the score up.
Is having too many players on the field during the last quarter a worse offence than it happening during the first quarter? The penalty is harsher.

It raises some strange hypotheticals. Like that day I'm sure we all remember many years ago when Plugger kicked his 1300th goal to break the record and we all ran on the field. Imagine if the Swans had failed a player count later that day and he had to kick his 1300th goal all over again...

[william wallace]

Very unlucky Shearer! A shocking way to lose your undefeated status.

[wheels27]

I always took this rule, and the penalty, not so much as a return of any advantage gained, but as a VERY big deterrent to deliberately doing it.

Another point is that each game has an interchange steward (even our lowly Div. 1 is required to do so) so either the player was on from the start of the match or quarter, or the interchange steward would have noticed one going on and none coming off. If the latter is true I would think being a NS home game, their official might have quietly got a message to their bench and then captain to ask for the count prior to the opposition picking up the oversight (as I believe it would be - no-one tries this deliberately knowing the penalty)

All in all, player counts are always controversial, I thought I recalled something about a penalty for asking for a count and being wrong, not sure but maybe someone with better knowledge or memory than me can confirm/deny?

[Rafters]

Originally posted by floppinab
Cue Rafters..............

Not sure why I should be cued here ... perhaps it stresses the importance of having a Chartered Accountant at your club as we are "Number One in Numbers" - never happened before at Saints when fellow CA Greg Coffey was playing for them.

Whilst the penalty may be harsh, especially in the last quarter of a game, it was obviously a close game, so the extra player may have meant the difference between a win & a loss anyway.

In any instance, we all know about the rule being in place so it just shouldn't happen. It is obviously a stupid mistake by the player that didn't listen to the team at 3/4 time & hear his name in the line-up. I agree that the interchange & sideline coach should also have picked up on it.

I bet Saints won't do a similar error again for many a year. Will it cost them a top 2 spot? Or worse a finals spot?

[Monty Burns2]

Re: Player Count Sensation at Gore Hill

It happended in a game in 2000 with Bulldogs v Balmain. From memory Chris O'Dwyer got injured just near 3/4 time and spent the entire break in the hands of the physio in the sheds. A breakdown in communication meant that the coach didn't get the message that he was right to continue and he took the field. The bench only had 3 on it, but it was assumed that Chris'O was still in the sheds with the physio. Unfortunately, the Tigers picked it up before us and a count was called. Our score was wiped and we missed out on what was looking like a win in a season where we really struggled.

[Johno74]

Originally posted by wheels27
All in all, player counts are always controversial, I thought I recalled something about a penalty for asking for a count and being wrong, not sure but maybe someone with better knowledge or memory than me can confirm/deny?

Rules state that after the count:

a) Greater than 18 players, free kick to captain from centre of ground or at point of stoppage, 50 metre penalty and score of offending team returned to zero.

b) Less than 18 players, free kick to opposing captain from centre of ground or at point of stoppage, 50 metre penalty and if umpire finds it necessary they can report the request under the "Time Wasting Law" and then have to front the tribunal.