{"id":700326,"date":"2026-05-28T16:01:10","date_gmt":"2026-05-28T16:01:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/700326\/"},"modified":"2026-05-28T16:01:10","modified_gmt":"2026-05-28T16:01:10","slug":"extraordinary-error-afl-world-baffled-by-no-goal-as-hawks-issue-please-explain","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/700326\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Extraordinary error\u2019: AFL world \u2018baffled\u2019 by no-goal as Hawks issue please explain"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>An AFL legend has demanded an explanation as to why star Nick Watson was denied a goal because of a \u201cpedantic\u201d play on call.<\/p>\n<p>And the Hawks have confirmed they\u2019ll be questioning the call with the AFL in the wash up of their 52-point win over St Kilda.<\/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?extcamp=fsaeditoriallinkafl-edt-fsp-lnk-awr-grc-afl-kyo&amp;channel=fsa&amp;campaign=fsacontra\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\">Join now and get your first month for just $1.<\/a><\/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\/05\/1779017096_680_poster-fallback.png\"\/><\/p>\n<p>With Watson taking his set shot after the half time siren, umpire Brent Wallace determined that the Hawk was off his line \u2013 and therefore the goal he kicked didn\u2019t count.<\/p>\n<p>While the goal didn\u2019t affect the final result given <a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxsports.com.au\/afl\/afl-2026-st-kilda-saints-vs-hawthorn-hawks-round-12-live-updates-and-blog-scores-and-stats-teams-result-latest-news\/news-story\/3b4f315479880883a62f356e2f5d7899\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\">Hawthorn claimed a dominant win<\/a>, the moment proved controversial as Fox Footy replays showed very little deviation from Watson.<\/p>\n<p>Speaking after the match, Jason Dunstall questioned the \u201cridiculous call\u201d, while journalist Jon Ralph described it as an \u201cextraordinary umpiring error\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>Contentious umpire call baffles Dunstall | 03:29<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe more I look at this decision, the more crazy it is,\u201d Ralph said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBack in 2011 we were allowed the natural arc \u2013 the \u2018Buddy rule\u2019.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThen in 2021 we brought in the stand rule; they said there\u2019s no more natural arc \u2026 But that (from Watson) was not an arc!<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe was just running straight ahead at goal.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt might have been 10 or 20cm off line \u2013 if anything he was making his angle harder! Making it more challenging.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere was no advantage that the umpire there was trying to bring back.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf this happens late in a game \u2013 I understand it was half time, it was in a blowout; but it\u2019s just a really, really bad decision.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s a bad mistake and I\u2019d love the AFL to clarify it by Monday \u2013 even if that creates more controversy and it throws an umpire under the bus for making a mistake.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Dunstall said there needed to be something communicated from the AFL.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe need to hear something as we are all baffled!\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe\u2019ve watched replays of it!<\/p>\n<p>\u201c(Watson) said it himself: \u2018That\u2019s as straight as I can run. I thought I ran straight\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI am baffled, my goodness.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Ralph revealed the umpire involved in the Watson decision was the same umpire dropped for the 2025 AFL semi finals after the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxsports.com.au\/afl\/afl-2025-cam-rayner-double-goal-controversy-brisbane-vs-geelong-accused-of-intimidating-umpire-before-soft-free-kicks-video-latest-news\/news-story\/7562018755d75eb65c0527f74e530769\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\">incorrect Cam Rayner double goal free kick<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Watson was reluctant to comment on the umpiring post-match \u2013 but felt he\u2019d done everything he could to remain over the mark.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI just copped it on the chin,\u201d he told Fox Footy.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI had that issue in pre-season where I run off the line and I sort of learnt from that.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI thought I ran as straight as I could \u2013 obviously I didn\u2019t.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI won\u2019t say anything.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI thought I did my best \u2026 It is what it is.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Nick Watson celebrates a goal that he was then denied.Source: Getty Images<\/p>\n<p>Hawks coach Sam Mitchell confirmed the club would be referring the matter to the AFL.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe\u2019ll certainly be going to the AFL to ask about it,\u201d he shared.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt makes sense to me that\u2019s a rule on the other side of the ground as a right footer \u2013 there is absolutely no reason that a player would go wider to give themselves an advantage \u2013 and that\u2019s what the rule is for and it makes sense.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe vision doesn\u2019t look like he goes off the line much \u2013 that\u2019s the umpire\u2019s call and I can accept that. (But) the fact you can go off the line toward the boundary and it be called play on \u2026 there\u2019s no common sense about that.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI would hope we\u2019ll get an answer from the AFL \u2013 I\u2019m sure we will.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhen something doesn\u2019t make sense, they fix it very quickly.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhy would he run wider to give himself a harder shot and it get called play on? It doesn\u2019t make sense. I\u2019m glad it was in a game where individual, tiny scores didn\u2019t matter.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI hope it\u2019s something they rectify.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The controversy saw Dunstall and two-time premiership David King go head-to-head over exactly how much deviation was allowed before the play on call.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDid he go off the line marginally?\u201d King questioned.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf it was, it was half a yard,\u201d Dunstall replied.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDo you want the umpires to have that tolerance or not?\u201d King then questioned.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019ll tell you right now, if you get directly behind \u2026 I watch goal kicking very closely. There are that many players that don\u2019t run straight at the target. So you\u2019ll be calling play on at 50 per cent of shots for goal \u2013 and they don\u2019t call it so why call it then (against Watson)?\u201d Dunstall said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBecause the siren had gone,\u201d King replied.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI get that, but you\u2019re not improving your angle. You\u2019re not gaining an advantage. What\u2019s the law bought in for? So that you are not improving your angle,\u201d Dunstall said.<\/p>\n<p>Nick Watson was denied this goal as the umpire called play on.Source: FOX SPORTS<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMy goodness \u2026 That\u2019s as marginal as you could possibly see (watching the replay).<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou can kick around the corner after the siren, but you have to go away from it and kick it from where the mark is \u2026 Nick Watson could sit there and say I\u2019ll start a metre inside because I\u2019m running out there. Except for the fact he thinks he\u2019s running straight. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe\u2019s doing his very best.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHalf a step off that line, you\u2019re gone.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s ridiculous.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019m baffled by it.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"An AFL legend has demanded an explanation as to why star Nick Watson was denied a goal because&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":700327,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[560],"tags":[638,64,63,689,55,639,341014,9203,341012,1818,341013,341011,104727,341008,42251,7492,12149,681,341009,3530,677,668,12936,19093,85,1122,26889,28264,341010,212484,341015,660],"class_list":["post-700326","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-afl","tag-afl","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-australia-and-new-zealand","tag-australian-football-league","tag-australianfootballleague","tag-buddy-rule","tag-catherine-healey","tag-contentious-umpire","tag-david-king","tag-extraordinary-error","tag-extraordinary-umpiring-error","tag-final-result","tag-game-shed-chat","tag-hawks-coach","tag-hawthorn-hawks","tag-jason-dunstall","tag-jon-ralph","tag-natural-arc","tag-nick-watson","tag-oceania","tag-press-conference","tag-sam-mitchell","tag-sarah-jones","tag-sports","tag-st-kilda","tag-st-kilda-saints","tag-stand-rule","tag-time-siren","tag-umpire-controversy","tag-umpiring-post-match","tag-victoria"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/700326","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=700326"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/700326\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/700327"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=700326"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=700326"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=700326"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}