AFL legend Leigh Matthews has bemoaned the state of the game. Picture: Jono SearleSource: News Corp Australia

Leigh Matthews: ‘The flat earthers who say leave the game alone are living in fantasy land’

by · Fox Sports

AFL legend Leigh Matthews has lashed the state of the game, claiming “flat earthers” who believe footy is fine and its aesthetics don’t need to be addressed are “living in fantasy land”.

Matthews’ scathing comments come in the wake of heavy ‘state of the game’ debate over the past month, which was sparked by post-match comments from Hawthorn coach Alastair Clarkson after his side’s win over North Melbourne.

Port Adelaide coach Ken Hinkley on Saturday night declared umpires shouldn’t have to adjust interpretations “week to week”, adding there’s “absolutely no doubt it’s more confusing today than it has ever been”.

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Speaking on 3AW Football on Saturday, Matthews said it was the AFL’s responsibility to fix player congestion.

“I tell you what, the ‘flat earthers’ who say ‘leave the game alone’ are living in a fantasy land really,” Matthews told 3AW.

“The coaches have changed the game more in the last decade than the previous 100 years and will continue to change it.

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“Dropping a couple of players off the ground is the last resort, that’s a fair few years down the track if nothing else happened.

“But please, please don’t ask the umpire interpretations to change to open up the game.

“That’s too hard for the umpires.”

Over recent weeks, there has been a refocusing of the ‘no prior opportunity’ interpretation to the holding the ball rule, with umpires instructed to penalise players that don’t make a genuine attempt to set the Sherrin free when tackled.

Geelong superstar Patrick Dangerfield last week suggested the AFL should trial a 16 v 16 format to help free games up.

Football great Leigh Matthew. Picture: Colleen PetchSource: News Corp Australia

But Matthews said 18-a-side must be kept, suggesting an interchange reduction “back to 20” would more likely ease congestion while keeping 18 v 18.

“This disaster the last month has been because they’ve tried to vet the umpire interpretations to open up and decongest the game,” Matthews said.

“Don’t expect umpiring interpretations to do that, it’s too complicated.

“So if we want to decongest the game — and I’m certainly of that mind — somehow you have to force them to decongest and that’s the challenge for the AFL.”

The Queensland-based Matthews has made the most of the significant increase in games played at the Gabba and Metricon Stadium, attending “half a dozen” games in the past month.

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But Matthews admitted he left at half-time of the infamous Tigers-Richmond game, which led to Richmond coach Damien Hardwick’s veiled swipe at Sydney counterpart John Longmire.

The four-time premiership coach said it was “better not being at the ground” from an atmosphere perspective, adding: “The footy’s not great to watch most of the time.

“When the opposition had the ball in the back 50, the cross the field attacking was covered, the midfield centre square was covered.

“So what do you do? You have to kick the ball down the line to a contest and either it gets marked, or it very rarely gets marked so it just rolls out of bounds.

“The ball stays in this bubble.”