The AFL's deliberate rushed behind rule is under fresh scrutiny after a controversial decision during the Western Bulldogs' grand-final replay win over Sydney.
With the Bulldogs up by four points late in the final term of Friday night's game at Etihad Stadium, Liam Picken won a free kick directly in front of goal after Sydney's Callum Mills was pinged for a rushed behind.
Replays showed Mills was within the goal square when he punched the ball over the line but the decision stood and Picken kicked a goal to help the Bulldogs to a 23-point win.
Confusion reigned after the game with Bulldogs coach Luke Beveridge and Sydney counterpart John Longmire both questioning the correct interpretation of the rule.
"Was it a free kick or not? I don't know," Longmire said. "I'm the wrong one to ask."
Beveridge admitted there was uncertainty within the Bulldogs' coaching box when Picken was paid the free kick.
"I think we were all trying to work out what is deliberate and what isn't," he said.
"Whether there's direct pressure or no direct pressure, whether it's before or within that nine metres of the square. I'm not sure which way it goes. I'm not sure if it's there or isn't there."
There was also widespread criticism on social media, with fans and former players panning the decision.
"The umpires have been very bad tonight and that deliberate rushed decision could ruin a brilliant game of football," former Hawthorn premiership player Campbell Brown posted on Twitter.
The AFL wrote to clubs at the start of the season advising that a player could not rush a behind "if he is outside the top of the kick-off line and its extension to the behind posts".
But players are also not allowed to rush behinds if they have time and space to dispose of the ball or are not considered to be under "immediate physical pressure".
The ambiguous rule has existed since 2009 but the league have signalled a plan to crack down on its interpretation.
During the pre-season, the league trialled penalising deliberate rushed behinds with a ball-up near goal, but the AFL last month announced it would stick with the punishment of a free kick throughout the season proper.
"I think now we just expect that they're nearly all going to be paid ... whether the actual intent is there or not doesn't really matter," Beveridge said.
"There's always a bit of grey (area) but I sort of accept that nearly all those are going to be paid."
