Geelong coach Chris Scott took aim at the AFL’s decision to publicly acknowledge umpiring errors, calling the move “an overreaction” and warning the league against giving in to noise from the outside.
The comments came after the AFL confirmed Adelaide should’ve received a late free kick or mark to Izak Rankine in their one-point loss to Gold Coast. It’s the fourth time in their last 37 games that the Crows have had a potential match-turning call go against them in the final minutes.
Scott, however, wasn’t having the fanfare around it. “What’s rare is that the AFL voluntarily come out and clarify it,” he said. “Most of the time that clarification happens behind closed doors.”
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“Clarify every mistake – or don’t do it at all”
While acknowledging the league’s intent, Scott questioned the logic of highlighting only late-game calls: “The idea that this is a remarkable situation because a mistake was made in a close call, a 50-50, is laughable. That happens a lot. I don’t think you should isolate it and say: ‘Hey, this is one of those ultra rare examples where a team was cost a game.’”
He argued the issue isn’t the error itself but the inconsistent communication around it. “They can be completely transparent and clarify every single mistake so everyone knows, or don’t do it at all. But when you cherry-pick examples because of public pressure, I think that’s an error.”
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Scott also referred to past shifts in interpretation, such as push-in-the-back calls, and how some clubs were left in the lurch. “It’s like: ‘How has that helped us? How’s that helped our No.1 draft pick (Sam Lalor)?’ And Adelaide go: ‘So what?’ All that matters is you fix it this week.”
Challenging the AFL’s defence that only late-game decisions warrant clarification, Scott pushed back: “I’ll give you an example: We gave up the first goal against St Kilda, which was a clear push in the back not paid. Is that any different if it was in the last 30 seconds of the game?”