Angry footy fans have flooded social media in response to a controversial holding the ball free kick against West Coast Eagles star Elliot Yeo that helped North Melbourne claim a drought-breaking win in the AFL on Saturday. The struggling Kangaroos finally got their season up and running with a first win in 12 games, but it came under highly contentious circumstances as fans hit out at one of the game’s most unpopular rules.

The AFL decided to tweak the holding the ball rule recently to give players less time to dispose of the ball. But rather than simplifying things, it seems to have only led to more confusion for officials, players and coaches. And Saturday’s win for the Kangaroos was the perfect example as viewers slammed the decision to award Jy Simpkin a crucial fourth quarter free kick that saw him kick a go-ahead goal.

The holding the ball free kick on Yeo looked incredibly harsh, with the Eagles star putting a big tackle on George Wardlaw, before trying to regather the footy. He was almost immediately then tackled by Simpkin after grabbing the loose ball, with Yeo and his coach Adam Simpson looking genuinely perplexed when the Roos were awarded a free kick.

West Coast were two points up at the time but the eye-opening call from the umpire presented Simpkin with a 45m set shot that he nailed to kick the Kangaroos in front. Paul Curtin then put the icing on the cake with another goal for North Melbourne to seal the 11.8 (74) to 8.17 (65) win.