The counterargument is that the umpire shouldn’t be getting that close to a melee in the first place and Charlie was acting instinctively, perhaps even to protect the umpire.
i would’ve been happy with either course of action for Charlie, but how it took this long to get the right decision for Ed is beyond me. It was clearly intentional and clearly a frustrated act. Staggering incompetence. That said, the right decision has at least been reached regarding Ed and Hawkins can feel less aggrieved. The AFL had to act and it did.