Ongoing umpiring controversies continue to haunt the AFL, with Gold Coast coach Damien Hardwick blowing up on the weekend and Port Adelaide also cruelled by several dubious calls in their three-point loss to Sydney on Saturday.

Despite AFL chief Andrew Dillon regularly backing in his whistle-blowers, the levels of frustration created by umpires intensifies on a weekly basis, not helped by the fact the game is complicated and some questionable rules have been added to the mix.

In fact, the AFL was moved during the week to send a memo to clubs, which discussed rough conduct, pushes into stoppages, high contact, the stand rule, and kicks on goal after the siren (all in the spotlight in recent weeks).

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With the controversial stand rule, it noted that “stand” did not mean “freeze”, despite most people believing to the contrary.

“A player directed to stand may turn and face the player with the ball,” the memo said. 

Kane Cornes has four simple suggestions to fix the AFL’s umpiring issues. Credit: The Agenda Setters

However, AFL expert Kane Cornes called it “ridiculous” that the league was clarifying the rule ahead of Round 15.

“How many adjustments have we made since the stand rule (came in)?” Cornes said on Channel 7’s The Agenda Setters.  

“When you bring in stupid rules, you’re then forced to clarify the stupid rules that you brought in, which you wouldn’t have the problem if you didn’t bring in a stupid rule.”

Cornes said the stand rule was “confusing for everyone” and players were still getting penalised with 50m penalties for standing on the mark in an incorrect fashion because they approached it from the wrong direction or were confused about who was on the mark.

“The stand rule is the single stupidest decision the game has ever brought in, and now we’re making it harder because we keep adjusting the stand rule, which means we have memos go out ahead of Round 15,” Cornes said.

As well as wanting the stand rule gone, Cornes had an immediate fix for umpiring in general.

The solution centres on three key principles: only paying free kicks when umpires are 100 per cent certain, increasing umpire contact hours, and applying common sense to decision-making.

“If you are not 100 per cent sure it is a free kick, then it is play on,” Cornes explained while unveiling his four-point plan.

“No one ever complains if a free kick isn’t paid. They only complain when the umpires overcompensate and pay something that is not there.”

His proposal suggested umpires should ask themselves whether they would pay the same free kick in a grand final, where umpiring standards are typically at their highest.

A major point of contention is the current training arrangements for umpires, who reportedly attend only three hours of contact training per week, with the remainder conducted via Skype.

“We have umpires that are getting paid more than assistant coaches who turn up to training for three hours a week,” Cornes said. “Give me a spell ... What sort of league are we running here?”

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Cornes highlighted several recent examples that have caused confusion, including an instance on Saturday where the umpire gestured to Sydney player Riley Bice to “move it on”, only to pay a 50-metre penalty when first-gamer Xavier Bamert moved off the mark.

The penalty resulted in a goal to Sydney.

“This one, he signals to the player to (move) on. The Port player, Bamert, thinks he’s called play on, so he goes over the mark. Bit of common sense. That’s the common sense category. That’s poor umpiring. (He) should have just called play on rather than move it on,” Cornes said.

“(My plan) is an easy fix. We make things way too complicated,” he said.

Meanwhile, AFL football operations boss Greg Swann spoke to Hardwick about his umpire rant, with Hardwick admitting he overstepped the mark.

Harwdick avoided a fine, and was grateful for how Swann handled the issue.

“Swanny’s a cracker. You’ve got to love him and that’s why he’s a great football person,” he said.

Lost in the Hardwick blow-up, was his criticism of the AFL’s last-disposal or lasso rule which has been introduced this year.

The rule was brought in to keep the ball in play, but players are now being penalised when the ball deflects or ricochets accidentally off an errant boot.

“I think it’s a ridiculous look where the ball accidentally trickles off a guy’s toe that’s been hit into; it’s not as if he’s deliberately trying to kick it out of bounds,” Hardwick said after the Suns’ loss to Geelong.

“This is not the reason we won or lost.

“They (the AFL) change a lot of things, just change that.”