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The AFL allowed a decisive late judgment in St Kilda’s thrilling win over Gold Coastit was a mistake.
With the Suns leading by three points at Marvel Stadium, young Suns defender Mac Andrew was penalized for holding Saints blade Max King off the ball as the pair clashed near the goal.
WATCH ABOVE: Contested free-kick proves decisive.
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With less than three minutes remaining, much to Andrew’s dismay, King converted from point-blank range and St Kilda held on for a 7.9 (51) to 7.6 (48) victory in front of 17,992 fans on Saturday night.
“He’s doing it to me! My God. It has to go both ways!” Andrew told the judge.
Luke Darcy, on commentary, noted that the free-kick was taken “about 100 meters” from the ball.
As the replays rolled on, both Geelong premiership captains Cameron Ling struggled to come to terms with the decision: “Bit of a tangle. I don’t like it. I’m not a fan of it at all,” Ling said.
Former Essendon captain Jobe Watson added: “A lot of touches off the ball – both players do it to each other. There was no apparent retreat from King’s Andrew.’
Gold Coast coach Damien Hardwick said I thought it was “obviously a free kick that was unjustified”.
“These guys fight all day. I just think the ref is calling it that it’s his job but it’s unfair on mine,” he said.
On Sunday, 7NEWS Melbourne reporter Mitch Cleary said the AFL admitted it was a mistake.
“The AFL has advised Gold Coast that Max King’s free kick against McAndrew should not have been called. It should have been called play on as there was contact between the two. The judge will not be suspended for the decision,” he tweeted.
AFL head of umpiring Stephen McBurney added: “(The umpire) judged that Andrew had put both arms around Max King and paid to hold the man. We think that when we look at the full context and with the benefits of all the angles that we had, we think that the better payment in this situation was no payment,” McBurney said.
“We don’t think there was enough to constitute an apprehension, and we think there was significant contact in both directions as they wrestled and jostled for position.”
“So we think the better pay in this situation is to not call, not to play and let the game play out with a center shot.”
“We completely understand why he paid it because he saw hands around … we just don’t see, with the benefit of all the angles we get, that it’s the right result for the amount of contact between the two players. “
It was one of three game-defining calls on an exciting Saturday.
Earlier in the day, Hawthorn edged the GWS Giants by six points thanks to a late Luke Brust goal that came from a James Sicilia free-kick.
And North Melbourne also benefited from a late free kick with captain Gee Simpkin kicking for real after winning a controversial holding free.
But both calls were flagged by the AFL.
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