Essendon players have been left perplexed and fans left irate after two questionable calls went against the Bombers during the third quarter of their clash against Geelong.
Trailing by three points, the Bombers kicked the ball long inside 50 to ruck Sam Draper, who was in a contest with Cats veteran Zach Tuohy.
A front-facing Draper was in Position A to take the mark, only for Tuohy to bring the ball to ground after appearing to make front-on contact with Draper and ‘chop’ the Bomber’s arm. But Tuohy wasn’t penalised for a free kick, leaving Draper flabbergasted.
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The umpire was heard telling Draper: “His (Tuohy’s) eyes were on the ball, Sam. He was contesting the mark.”
The Cats then moved the ball down the field to Gary Rohan, who took a strong mark and kicked a goal to extend Geelong’s lead.
“Even if he (the umpire) said ‘he had eyes on the ball’, it’s chopping the arms as well. It is front-on contact … so he was pretty stiff,” Fox Footy’s Eddie Betts said.
3AW commentator Tony Shaw added: “You’ve got four umpires out there, you can’t miss that!”
Minutes later, Essendon’s Jye Menzie was penalised for a deliberate rushed behind, leading to a goal to Ollie Dempsey.
Menzie gathered the ball around just outside the side of the goalsquare and guided the ball across the line. Cats duo Dempsey and Brad Close were close to Menzie, but whether the Bomber was under immediate pressure was a point of contention among on-lookers.
“That is a perplexing decision … and this place is about to explode,” commentator Alister Nicholson said.
The calls weren’t well received by commentators and fans.
“We all sit back and go: ‘Wow, really?’” Western Bulldogs games record-holder Brad Johnson told Fox Footy post-match. “Ollie Dempsey puts his arms up, but if he puts his arms out, he touches Menzie – so he’s under pressure at that particular point.
“He (Menzie) goes directly past Dempsey, who has the ability to put a tackle on, doesn’t and opts to stand back. He’s under pressure there, that Geelong player is within one metre at the beginning and then pulls back himself.”
While the Cats would ultimately win the game by 45 points, Johnson said the third-quarter calls did have some impact on the game.
“There were momentum-breakers at times – and they can deflate you,” Johnson said.
“That’s just the nature of those couple of free kicks that they showed. There were a couple more that weren’t paid, but that’s the reality of it.”