THE NOMINATION process to decide which players are allowed to contest a ruck situation under the new 'third man up' rule could be turning into a "farce", Geelong coach Chris Scott says.
Last December, the 'third man up' was banned with only one nominated ruckman from each team allowed to contest a ball-up or boundary throw-in.
An incident on Good Friday saw Josh Dunkley of the Western Bulldogs controversially win a free kick in the dying seconds of the third quarter for being infringed upon in a ruck contest.
Based on the vision, it appeared his teammate Marcus Bontempelli had nominated as the ruckman before Dunkley.
However, the AFL said the decision was correct because Dunkley verbally indicated he would be contesting the throw-in against North Melbourne big man Todd Goldstein.
Scott told Fox Sports on Monday night a change was needed.
"One thing that has been lost in the commentary that I've heard at least is that, for a long time, the ruckmen have had to nominate, because you need to be separated from the ruckmen. This is not a new thing," Scott said.
"But kind of whispering to the umpire 'I'm the ruckman' and no one else knowing, is a farce. We've got to find a way to fix that."
He proposed removing nominations as a solution.
"This is a really dangerous thing to do because I haven't thought it through, but … isn't it just the outcome you're looking for? You don't want a 'third man up'? So shouldn't you just say 'We don't care who goes, but if two of your team go, it's a free kick'," Scott said.
However, St Kilda coach Alan Richardson pointed out that created a grey area for the umpires.
"He's got to then make a call on 'Gee, I'm not sure who the ruckman was. I'm not sure whether you're a midfielder who got blocked or whether you're a ruckman who got blocked'," Richardson said.
The Saints coach said umpires would call out who the nominated ruckmen are, so every player in the immediate vicinity would know who would be involved in the contest.
After Dunkley was awarded the free kick on Friday, Kangaroos leaders Andrew Swallow and Jamie Macmillan pointed to the big screen and said Bontempelli had nominated for the contest, seemingly unaware Dunkley had told the umpire he would be the one to contest.
"What should happen, and this is my understanding of where it's evolving to, is the umpire now, not only is he going to recognise who's up, but he's going to call their names," Richardson said.
