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AAP Sports News (Australia)
08-16-2010
AFL:AFL great says game has become soft

ADELAIDE, Aug 16 AAP - Former Adelaide great Mark Ricciuto fears the AFL is becoming
a near non-contact game because of soft umpiring.

Brownlow medallist Ricciuto says he's infuriated by "soft umpiring and soft rules" in the AFL.

"I fear for the way the game is going, that it will soon be close to a non-contact
sport," Ricciuto wrote on Monday in a column in Adelaide's The Advertiser newspaper.

The eight-time All Australian and former Adelaide captain said the AFL "has become too soft".

"Not the players, but the game itself," he said.

"In a week when the league has decided to look at more strange rule changes ... it
should instead have surveyed the fans about the physical state of the game.

"Sadly, the AFL is being weighed down by soft umpiring and soft rules where hard physical
contact is slowly being outlawed.

"And it's infuriating me."

Ricciuto said players were "clearly exploiting" soft interpretations of rules such
as high contact.

"We have got a situation where players have become experts at running into contests
head-first knowing that if they are taken high, they will win a free kick," he said.

AAP sl/jds

KEYWORD: AFL RICCIUTO

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