AFL footy boss Laura Kane says umpires were right not to award a 50m penalty to North Melbourne late in Sunday’s loss to Collingwood.
The controversial non-call dominated headlines on Monday as two Collingwood players appeared to encroach on the mark and charge at Scott after he took a mark in the final minute of the 118-119 loss.
While the two Collingwood players encroached – which would be 50m if the decision was simply called a mark – Kane says that Scott should have been told to play on immediately after he took the mark as he went off his line.
Kane believes that it caused confusion on-field, as Collingwood’s players were reacting to Scott instead of the umpire, with the umpire’s mistake instead not calling him to play on straight away.
As he didn’t tell the Collingwood players to stand either, Kane says that the error was in communication, not in officiating.
“It was a confusing situation and I understand why people are confused and left wanting to understand what happened,” Kane told AFL Media.
“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.
“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 important part for the umpire then is to make sure he or she has control of the situation and the decision to regain control from a series of confusing incidents was to pay the mark and bring the ball back.
“The initial call, the initial mistake, was that play on wasn’t called. It should have been called play on.
“So, 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.”
SEN Sportsday duo Kane Cornes and Gerard Healy responded to Kane’s explanation and the former Port Adelaide great didn’t agree with how the footy boss viewed the incident.
While Healy also thinks that Scott should have been called to play on, he thinks it still should have been a 50m penalty as no official play on call was made.
Cornes: “In the good, the bad and ugly – that explanation of the non-50 metre penalty well, it’s really ugly,
“It didn’t make any sense to me. I just thought he played on because he had two Collingwood players charging at him, so his instant reaction was to play on.”
Healy: “Chicken or the egg – did he play on because of them charging, or did he play on (straight away)?
“I thought he played on (straight away), but I don’t think you can get past that explanation without starting with, ‘We got this wrong’, because they not entitled to chase if they haven’t called play on.”
Cornes: “We’ve seen players just creep over the mark who aren’t involved in the marking contest and be penalised straight away.
“Umpires love nothing more than to pay a 50-metre penalty if they can for any reason.
“Yet, they’ve not paid one there, so I’m not sure that is going to wash.”