The footy world has been left stunned today after the AFL announced the traditional centre bounce was going the way of teams ignoring concussions.
In a statement provided exclusively to The Times the AFL said the centre bounce was rarely done right and it would save a lot of time if the umpires just passed the ball directly to Nick Daicos and blew the whistle.
We contacted a source close to the AFL who elaborated on the decision. He told us,
“How many times does the AFL’s golden boy have to come runner up in the Brownlow before something is done about it? Not only will this save a lot of faffin’ about but it will all but guarantee Nick a few more votes to get him over the line, and you know how badly the AFL wants that!”
Playing devil’s advocate, The Times asked what the protocol would be when Collingwood weren’t playing. The source told us,
“Umpires discretion but what the AFL hopes is they will award the free to some midfield list clogger that has no chance of polling in The Brownlow, that keeps the spirit of the rule change in tact”
Obviously, this hasn’t gone down well with many footy fans. With some pointing out that Nick Daicos finished 13th in the free kick count this year and really doesn’t need the extra help. Our source responded,
“These people aren’t getting it. Do you realise the AFL has a 45 minutes montage prepared at the end of each season to recognise a Nick Daicos Brownlow victory? Didn’t you find it odd that it was Nick and Josh who did all the promo work for the Grand Final with snoop, the NEED this”
Good to know.
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