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But a free kick was curiously paid to Cam Rayner at the other end of the ground in the goalsquare against Mark O\u2019Connor for a shove in the back.<\/p>\n
Then Rayner instantly drew another free kick after Zach Guthrie also shoved the Lion \u2014 relatively gently \u2014 from behind to the ground in a wild sequence for a double free kick-double goal. <\/p>\n
And just like that then entire feel of the game had flipped on its head.<\/p>\n
Fox Footy commentators were left in disbelief<\/p>\n
\u201cUnbelievable. Unbelievable,\u201d Fox Footy\u2019s Garry Lyon said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt went the length of the ground while (Geelong) was about to have another shot. This is sensational.<\/p>\n
\u201cTo run the ball the length of the ground for this is an extraordinary decision as you\u2019ll see.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think (the second one) is soft as well, but Zach Guthrie has to be better than that. Stupid thing to do.\u201d <\/p>\n
Lyon said Guthrie\u2019s act was an \u201cidiotic mistake, but not enough to have this turned\u201d.<\/p>\n
Hawthorn legend Jason Dunstall added: \u201cThe original one was soft as butter. And the second one is pretty soft as well.<\/p>\n
\u201c(Brisbane) didn\u2019t look capable of working their way back into the game but they\u2019re back in it now courtesy of this.\u201d<\/p>\n
Commentator Gerard Whateley labelled it \u201cstunning umpire intervention\u201d.<\/p>\n
Cam Rayner of the Lions gets a free kick from Zach Guthrie of the Cats. Picture: James Wiltshire\/AFL Photos via Getty ImagesSource: Getty Images<\/p>\n
Of the first free kick, Matthew Lloyd said on 3AW: \u201cHe could potentially be fined for staging, that\u2019s how little it was in it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Seven-time All-Australian Nathan Buckley was left livid by the decisions.<\/p>\n
\u201cDisgraceful. I\u2019m not a Cats supporter, but I was angry,\u201d he told Fox Footy at half-time.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat was ridiculous. It\u2019s a final. That is so soft.\u201d<\/p>\n
Four-time premiership Hawk Jordan Lewis added: \u201cThey lost control, they really did, the umpires \u2026 the crowd was angry and rightly so. It just shouldn\u2019t have happened.\u201d<\/p>\n
Herald Sun reporter Jon Ralph said new AFL football operations boss Greg Swann would be \u201cabsolutely losing his mind\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe came in with a mandate to bring back common sense to the AFL to try and get rid of these kinds of own goals. He is the head of the umpires, he\u2019s been preaching discretion, \u2018don\u2019t insert yourself into the game\u2019 \u2026 heaven forbid if this game was decided by a couple of points and we saw Chris Scott in a post-match press conference,\u201d Ralph told Fox Footy.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is not a free kick in the pre-season, this is not a free kick in a final.<\/p>\n
\u201cInstead we get umpires who lose all common sense \u2026 where is your feel for the game here?<\/p>\n
Mark O’Connor of the Cats is seen as Cam Rayner of the Lions gets a free kick. Picture: Michael Willson\/AFL Photos via Getty ImagesSource: Getty Images<\/p>\n
\u201cAn umpire as probably cost himself a Week 2 umpiring slot and the AFL brings itself back into the game after, let\u2019s face it, one of the worst years for the AFL administration \u2026 this was an absolute catastrophe.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Cats would go on to record a comfortable 38-point win, ensuring the double goal call had no bearing on the result.<\/p>\n
Asked to comment on the incidents, Cats skipper Patrick Dangerfield told Fox Footy: \u201cThat\u2019s footy sometimes \u2026 It\u2019s a fine balance.<\/p>\n
\u201cAre they there? Probably not. But you\u2019ve got to be mindful at this time of the year.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a learning thing for our players. Not sure they\u2019re exactly there, but he\u2019s a smart player, Cam Rayner.\u201d<\/p>\n
Geelong coach Chris Scott provided a diplomatic answer.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m trying to get to the stage where the emotion is channelled towards good things \u2013 and I think I\u2019ve bene like that most of the time, to be honest,\u201d Scott said on Fox Footy with a smile.<\/p>\n
\u201cObviously the Rayner free kicks, in the box we\u2019re like: \u2018There\u2019s nothing we can do, so we should just move on.\u2019 I thought the players did a pretty good job of that as well.\u201d<\/p>\n
Lions coach Chris Fagan also didn\u2019t elaborate.<\/p>\n
Dempsey scores INCREDIBLE half-volley! | 00:28<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019d have to watch all that back,\u201d Fagan told reporters. \u201cThe Geelong crowd weren\u2019t too happy with it.<\/p>\n
\u201cI haven\u2019t wanted a replay, so it\u2019d be unfair for me to make any comment on it.<\/p>\n
\u201cObviously the umpire saw something and doubled up. That probably helped flatter the scoreboard a little bit for us because Geelong, by a mile, were the better team tonight.\u201d<\/p>\n
But much of the footy world was left shell-shocked.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s embarrassing all round. Some of the most pathetic umpiring u will see. Some of the weakest (maybe smartest) flopping by Raynor u will see,\u201d former Coleman medallist Scott Cummings tweeted.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile West Coast premiership player Will Schofield declared: \u201cThat is as bad umpiring as we will ever see, let alone in a final. Disgraceful!\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Furore erupted around the MCG and across the entire AFL world after two highly controversial free kicks sparked…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":121009,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[85479,3237,12923,28259,10145,13659,61,6278,17976,43,12149,681,44389,48822,44,85474,4873,64903,85483,85482,85480,85478,41,39,42,40,85475,82592,85481,85476,45705,85477],"class_list":["post-121008","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-absolute-catastrophe","tag-brisbane-lions","tag-chris-scott","tag-football-operations","tag-garry-lyon","tag-geelong-cats","tag-gerard-whateley","tag-greg-swann","tag-hawk-jordan-lewis","tag-headlines","tag-jason-dunstall","tag-jon-ralph","tag-mark-oconnor","tag-matthew-lloyd","tag-news","tag-pathetic-umpiring-u","tag-post-match-press-conference","tag-qualifying-final","tag-scott-cummings","tag-stunning-three-goal-turnaround","tag-stunning-ump-intervention","tag-stunning-umpire-intervention","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories","tag-touchy-umpiring-calls","tag-tyson-stengle","tag-umpire-furore","tag-umpiring-slot","tag-will-schofield","tag-zach-guthrie"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/121008","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=121008"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/121008\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/121009"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=121008"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=121008"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=121008"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}