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As an ex umpire in the 1980’s, I think it’s great that they have come down on player dissent.  The abuse that our umpiring panel in the Murray Districts received was nothing short of disgusting.  Just as a few instances, we had an ump pushed to the ground during the game, another hit in the face with a shoe while coming off at half time and one bloke that had to be held back from attacking me.  The abuse in top level through to juniors has been atrocious and footballing authorities should be ashamed.  Good to see that something is finally been done to cut this out from our game.  Having said all that, I think that a player being penalised for throwing his arms out is nothing short friggin ridiculous.  Be interested to see other’s opinions.

Noone wants to see players swearing at and abusing umpires but like any of these rules the definition of "disrespect" is very wide and can be interpreted in different ways. I think that a player should be able to ask an umpire why they made a certain decision as long as it is done politely and with no histrionics. How about also not replaying incidents on the scoreboard at the ground immediately after the decision which is what I believe causes some of these 50 metre penalties with players pointing at the replays to justify their frustration.

Mikeh, good comment regarding the instant replays, do away with them if it's about an umpiring decision. The players make 10 times more mistakes than umpires and it's the players that win or lose games, not the umpires. people can watch the game replay at home if they want to see these incidents.

The umps don't help themselves with their consistent inconsistencies.....no excuse for a player to abuse them, but geez can see why the players get frustrated though. Ironic to see  Brad Scott telling one and all about the importance of umpire respect and the 50 meter rule....pretty sure he would of been pinged many a time for that new rule back in both his playing and coaching days....