The AFL has ticked off the 50-metre penalty not awarded to North Melbourne player Bailey Scott in the dying moments of their side’s one-point loss to Collingwood yesterday at Marvel Stadium.
The incident involving Scott with Collingwood duo Beau McCreery and Steele Sidebottom played out on the wing with less than a minute to go – arguably costing the Kangaroos a late shot on goal that could have combated an incredible 54-point comeback from the Magpies.
As Scott marked a scrambled Nick Daicos kick, he ran back off his mark to ready himself to rush the ball back forward – only to be limited in his capacity to do so by McCreery and Sidebottom running frantically at him.
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McCreery and Sidebottom sprinted into the protected area of Scott, with the expectation the Kangaroo winger would play on, and the umpire would subsequently signal so.
While Scott did move off his initial line after marking – which should then be called as play on – the in-zone umpire called neither play-on or an infringement by the Pies duo for going ‘over the mark’, instead swallowing the whistle.
Among the confusion, the Collingwood duo stopped in their tracks after not hearing a call from the umpire, before Scott frantically played on to kick the ball back inside his team’s forward 50.
Speaking on AFL.com.au’s Footy Feed Extra to explain the decision, AFL General Manager Laura Kane noted that the league’s endorsed the call to not pay 50 metres against Collingwood, and the error was in fact with play on not being called.
“It was a confusing situation and I understand why people are confused and left wanting to understand what happened,” Kane said on Monday afternoon.
“You can see on the vision, Bailey Scott takes the mark, the umpire blows his whistle and one of two calls could be made. It could be play on immediately, or it could be stand, which would indicate the mark had been paid.
“Neither of these two calls were made in the immediate moment after the free kick has been blown, and Bailey takes four steps or so inbound and looks to play on – so the correct call should have been play on initially.
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“That has caused confusion for the players in the immediate vicinity, the Collingwood players, that there was a delay whistle-to-message and that communication was the error, I guess you could call it.
“The initial call, the initial mistake, was that play on wasn’t called. It should have been called play on.
“Collingwood players (were) anticipating that they were going to hear a call post-whistle. A really common discussion around players is play the whistle and when you hear it, wait for what’s next. What’s next didn’t come quick enough, so the confusion for those Collingwood players was what to do, as was probably the level of confusion that sat with Bailey himself.
“If the umpire had called stand indicating that a mark had been paid and those Collingwood players continued to contest the player or the ball, it would have been a 50m penalty.
“But what has happened here is (there was a) whistle and no immediate call or instruction. Players have been left confused and that’s what we’re focused on. We are focusing on the time between the whistle and the communication and making sure the umpires understand that the initial call should have been play on, given he took four steps or so inbound and every objective marker of play on was there.”
The league’s approval of the decision will no doubt cause angst among both North Melbourne supporters and general fans of the game, as recent officiating of matches in the final minutes continues to come under scrutiny.
Foxfooty.com.au contacted the AFL for further clarification on their explanation, and were referred to its in-house media platform.