The AFL’s controversial ARC system is back at the centre of yet another “unacceptable” blunder, with “an absolute stinker” in Saturday night’s Showdown.
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Adelaide’s Riley Thilthorpe clearly appeared to have kicked a behind – but the ball was allowed to bounce back into play and from there Ben Keays was awarded a holding free kick.
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Despite the almost 30 seconds taken for setting the mark, no intervention was staged and Keays was allowed to convert his goal and keep the Crows alive early in the final term.
This was despite replays clearly showing the ball bounce over the goal line – meaning Thilthorpe’s miss should have registered first.
The ball clearly crossed the line – but was allowed to bounce back into play.Source: FOX SPORTS
“They’ve done it all year. They have messed it up,” ex-Port coach Ken Hinkley said on Fox Footy.
“How much more does that umpire need to see?”
“That is inexcusable,” triple premiership Tiger Jack Riewoldt replied.
“Inexcusable in the modern game.”
Hinkley said while the AFL would “come out and say they got it wrong”, it would be too late – especially considering the league has already admitted a scoring error this week for Lion Logan Morris.
“I’m not sure what more we can say,” he said.
“We’ve had these conversations. We’ve seen the one with Logan Morris – there’s so many times we’re getting this wrong.
“It’s inexcusable now that we get this wrong so often.
“20 seconds (from when Keays was awarded the free kick to goaling) is enough time. We’ve seen it almost in real time.
“You’ve got to be able to fix that – surely.
“I just get frustrated with these things still happening in our game – I don’t think we should have to be putting up with them.”
Riewoldt was just as vocal on the fact the ARC is struggling to come up with the right call.
“We’re seven weeks away from finals,” he said.
“We’ve seen sides not make finals because we’ve got the wrong call or a touch on the goal line. We’re at that ground here where Adelaide should have played finals.
“We cannot have that happening coming into the finals series.
“The ARC is under more pressure than anything in this competition … Under more pressure than any coach!
“It is clearly over the line!
“The goal umpire is standing there – we have the technology … There was 20 seconds to look at this and get this call right. That is not good enough.
“There are so many players around that contest from a goal umpire’s point of view, but that is why we have the technology (and) why we have the people in the ARC to help our umpires get the right decision. And that is the wrong decision.”
It comes only two months after AFL footy boss Greg Swann amended the ARC rules mid-season following the Rowan Marshall howler in St Kilda’s clash with West Coast.
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On that occasion, play was allowed to continue for almost a minute before the ARC intervened and brought the ball back.
As a result, the ARC no longer has the power to stop play once the ball goes back into play. The goal umpire has to call for a review at the time, otherwise there won’t be one.
“This appears to be an absolute stinker … if not the worst call of the year,” Fox Footy’s Jay Clark said of the Showdown miss.
“You can see the goal umpire right on the spot. That ball bounces over the behind line clearly.
“It’s been a really tough year for the ARC.
“That looks to be a clear mistake.”
Clark said Brisbane coach Chris Fagan was “still having conniptions” over the Morris decision from Thursday night where the Lions were denied a goal on half time – and the AFL has since admitted that was the wrong call.