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#1
As a lover of footy, I feel like there are certain things that go beyond which team I or anyone else supports, and one of those is the integrity of the game.
Yes, there are 500 threads that go into detail about the umpiring this year and the horrible inconsistency, but there was one decision (or lack of decision) during yesterdays ANZAC day clash between Collingwood and Essendon that really affected the outcome of the game that I feel isn't getting enough attention. It's these sort of situations that make me completely lose any sort of faith I have in the AFL's ability to officiate games without letting the moment get to them.
In the final minute of the game, Callum brown got a free kick for a push in the back. The free kick was there, no issues with that. However, this occurred with 1:03 left on the clock (see below):
Using this great thing we call maths, we would assume he is given 30 seconds for his shot, allow about 3-4 seconds for the ball to travel through the air, and the clock should be sitting at around 0:30 seconds when Essendon goes for its kick-in? Seems pretty simple to me. So why then did the umpires give brown a full 47-48 seconds to kick the ball? As you will see below, the bombers are kicking the ball in with 0:12 seconds left, giving them no real chance to kick a goal. See below:
Would Essendon have gone coast to coast to kick a goal? Probably not. Would the Pies have locked it in and let the clock run out? Probably. The issue here is the umpires gave Essendon no chance to win the game. Some of the fastest coast to coast action in the final minutes of a game I have seen was Brisbane in 2013 (19 seconds) and West Coast in 2018 (23 seconds).
I think it's important to document these types of umpiring blunders for when people say "You wouldn't want that sort of decision affecting the result of a game", well there you go. It has. This sort of crap has got out of hand.
Yes, there are 500 threads that go into detail about the umpiring this year and the horrible inconsistency, but there was one decision (or lack of decision) during yesterdays ANZAC day clash between Collingwood and Essendon that really affected the outcome of the game that I feel isn't getting enough attention. It's these sort of situations that make me completely lose any sort of faith I have in the AFL's ability to officiate games without letting the moment get to them.
In the final minute of the game, Callum brown got a free kick for a push in the back. The free kick was there, no issues with that. However, this occurred with 1:03 left on the clock (see below):
Using this great thing we call maths, we would assume he is given 30 seconds for his shot, allow about 3-4 seconds for the ball to travel through the air, and the clock should be sitting at around 0:30 seconds when Essendon goes for its kick-in? Seems pretty simple to me. So why then did the umpires give brown a full 47-48 seconds to kick the ball? As you will see below, the bombers are kicking the ball in with 0:12 seconds left, giving them no real chance to kick a goal. See below:
Would Essendon have gone coast to coast to kick a goal? Probably not. Would the Pies have locked it in and let the clock run out? Probably. The issue here is the umpires gave Essendon no chance to win the game. Some of the fastest coast to coast action in the final minutes of a game I have seen was Brisbane in 2013 (19 seconds) and West Coast in 2018 (23 seconds).
I think it's important to document these types of umpiring blunders for when people say "You wouldn't want that sort of decision affecting the result of a game", well there you go. It has. This sort of crap has got out of hand.
