{"id":620113,"date":"2026-04-20T22:54:11","date_gmt":"2026-04-20T22:54:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/620113\/"},"modified":"2026-04-20T22:54:11","modified_gmt":"2026-04-20T22:54:11","slug":"afl-concedes-to-arc-error-with-essendons-tom-edwards-being-sent-off-against-gold-coast-2027-grand-final-to-be-moved-to-october-latest-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/620113\/","title":{"rendered":"AFL concedes to ARC error with Essendon\u2019s Tom Edwards being sent off against Gold Coast, 2027 grand final to be moved to October, latest news"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The AFL has conceded its ARC doctor got it wrong in one example from the weekend that\u2019s raised questions of consistency. Plus the AFL grand final is set for a shift in 2027. MORE IN AFL DAILY.<\/p>\n<p>Watch every match of every round of the AFL Premiership Season LIVE and ad-break free during play on FOX FOOTY, available on Kayo Sports | New to Kayo? <a href=\"https:\/\/kayosports.com.au\/en-AU\/welcome\/afl?pg=default&amp;extcamp=fsaeditoriallinkafl-edt-fsp-lnk-awr-grc-afl-kyo&amp;channel=fsa&amp;campaign=fsacontra&amp;voucher=\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\">Join now and get your first month for just $1.<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Lewis floats Bontempelli move | 03:55<\/p>\n<p><img class=\"i-amphtml-fill-content i-amphtml-replaced-content\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/poster-fallback.png\"\/><\/p>\n<p>AFL CONCEDES ARC ERROR AS CONSISTENCY QUESTIONS RAISED<\/p>\n<p>The AFL has conceded its ARC doctor was wrong to send off Tom Edwards despite Essendon\u2019s doctor clearing the forward of concussion. <\/p>\n<p>And an AFL great says he\u2019s be \u201cfilthy\u201d if he were in the Bombers camp.<\/p>\n<p>Edwards was ruled out by the AFL\u2019s ARC doctor in the dying minutes of Essendon\u2019s narrow loss to Gold Coast, despite being cleared to keep playing by the Bombers doctor minutes earlier on the interchange. <\/p>\n<p>That came after a disagreement between the two doctors.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI would classify it as a heated disagreement (between the two doctors),\u201d Seven\u2019s Tom Morris <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/7AFL\/status\/2046166049431949321\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\">said on <\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/7AFL\/status\/2046166049431949321\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\">Agenda Setters<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s not unusual for two doctors to disagree on something clinical like this. But this was noticed by people around them and there\u2019s no doubt that they were on very different sides of the coin. <\/p>\n<p>\u201c(The AFL) are saying that Essendon was right and the AFL ARC doctor, on this occasion, was wrong, and they will continue to review their processes.\u201d <\/p>\n<p>Zita unpacks Butters appeal decision | 02:05<\/p>\n<p>The new rule for the AFL\u2019s concussion spotters to overrule club doctors and force players off the ground has raised questions of inconsistency.<\/p>\n<p>In Sunday\u2019s clash between Melbourne and Brisbane, Demon Harrison Petty was ruled out of the game after suffering delayed concussion symptoms. <\/p>\n<p>The AFL ARC didn\u2019t intervene in that situation, despite removing Lion Noah Answerth in the same game.<\/p>\n<p>Hawks champion Jordan Lewis called the Edwards situation \u201cbizarre,\u201d suggesting the AFL ARC doctor should only be involved in emergencies. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cI think the ARC is there for a reason. It\u2019s probably to catch the ones that haven\u2019t been seen by the bench,\u201d Lewis argued on Fox Footy\u2019s On the Couch.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhen the doctor has got the player off and did the tests face-to-face and conversed with the player. For the ARC to come over the top and overrule that one, I\u2019d be filthy if I was the Essendon doctors.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Geelong legend Tom Hawkins took issue with the \u201clength of time\u201d it took to rule out Edwards.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe came off and got checked, we\u2019ve got to trust the doctor, they\u2019re there for a reason,\u201d Hawkins said on the program.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThey know the players intimately, they know how he behaves and know his behaviour.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cTo bring him back off after a period of time. We\u2019ve got this technology, let\u2019s implement it straight away, bring the player off to be checked.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDo it all at the same time, as opposed to waiting so long to check and\/or rule him out.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Moore confident in return this week | 02:28<\/p>\n<p>AFL CLOSING IN ON OCTOBER GF FOR 2027<\/p>\n<p>An October grand final? It\u2019s looming for 2027.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/7AFL\/status\/2046150098745254364\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\">Seven\u2019s Xander McGuire reports<\/a> the AFL is in the \u201clatter stages\u201d of confirming an October grand final for next season. <\/p>\n<p>The 2027 fixture is expected to be moved back at least one week due to the MCG hosting the 150th Anniversary Cricket Test between Australia and England from March 11 to 15.<\/p>\n<p>It means that, along with other potential changes to next year\u2019s fixture including a new-look Opening Round, the grand final will be pushed back a week. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe league\u2019s preferred route, at this stage, to deal with the unavailability of the MCG, is to move the season back by at least one week,\u201d McGuire said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe fixture will be finalised in the next couple of weeks, with meetings with key stakeholders to come.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The last time the AFL Grand Final was played in October was in 2020, due to the Covid-19 pandemic.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The AFL has conceded its ARC doctor got it wrong in one example from the weekend that\u2019s raised&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":620114,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[560],"tags":[638,300707,64,63,689,55,639,300702,300706,8304,300703,10989,1208,2057,300701,1127,2485,11288,300705,19080,7804,3583,677,701,300704,85,69012,19118,1144,698],"class_list":{"0":"post-620113","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-afl","8":"tag-afl","9":"tag-arc-error","10":"tag-au","11":"tag-australia","12":"tag-australia-and-new-zealand","13":"tag-australian-football-league","14":"tag-australianfootballleague","15":"tag-club-doctors","16":"tag-concussion-spotters","17":"tag-concussion-symptoms","18":"tag-consistency-questions","19":"tag-darcy-moore","20":"tag-england","21":"tag-europe","22":"tag-force-players","23":"tag-fox-footy","24":"tag-gold-coast","25":"tag-grand-final","26":"tag-hawks-champion","27":"tag-jordan-lewis","28":"tag-melbourne-demons","29":"tag-northern-europe","30":"tag-oceania","31":"tag-queensland","32":"tag-raised-questions","33":"tag-sports","34":"tag-tom-edwards","35":"tag-tom-hawkins","36":"tag-tom-morris","37":"tag-western-bulldogs"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/620113","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=620113"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/620113\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/620114"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=620113"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=620113"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=620113"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}