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FWC on Sport Nation guide"Deficient": Umpires Association 'angry' over Maynard fine
Tom Morris • July 6th, 2026 9:35 pm
A section of AFL umpires are bemused and angry that the league handed Brayden Maynard a financial sanction instead of suspending him on the weekend.
The umpires believe the league still does not look after their physical welfare enough amid a spate of contact incidents this season.
Maynard was fined $5000 under the misconduct provision on Saturday, which is a catch all for any matter which falls outside the usual matrix.
In a statement to Channel 7's The Agenda Setters and SEN, Umpires Association boss Rob Kerr confirmed that the league was warned several months ago to come down harder on players who make contact with umpires.
"We have been discussing and debating player contact with umpires over the last two seasons," Kerr said.
"It was in January when we were told of the revisions to MRO guidelines that we expressed the view that they were deficient for heavy contact or avoidable contact."
As it stands, there were no guidelines which would have allowed the MRO to suspend Maynard or Gold Coast midfielder Touk Miller from Saturday's game.
The view from the umpires is that suspensions should apply if contact is avoidable or heavy.
It's also understood the Collective Bargaining Agreement between the AFL and its umpires is close to being finalised.
It's more likely to be a five-year arrangement over three years, though nothing has been formalised yet.
If the AFL pushes to have three field umpires per game, there will be strong pushback from officials.
