{"id":702599,"date":"2026-05-29T17:07:15","date_gmt":"2026-05-29T17:07:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/702599\/"},"modified":"2026-05-29T17:07:15","modified_gmt":"2026-05-29T17:07:15","slug":"afl-2026-the-ollie-dempsey-no-goal-how-a-howler-was-allowed-to-stand-and-what-geelong-cats-coach-chris-scott-said-about-the-arc-system","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/702599\/","title":{"rendered":"AFL 2026: The Ollie Dempsey no goal, how a \u201chowler\u201d was allowed to stand, and what Geelong Cats coach Chris Scott said about the ARC system"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Geelong coach Chris Scott questioned the AFL\u2019s score review system after a controversial mistake robbed the Cats of a crucial first-quarter goal in Friday night\u2019s thriller at the MCG \u2013 declaring the technology existed for a purpose and should have been used.<\/p>\n

The flashpoint was when an Ollie Dempsey disposal was called a rushed behind by goal umpire (and former Richmond, Port Adelaide and Melbourne player) David Rodan, for what would have been the first goal of the game.<\/p>\n

\"TheThe most controversial moment of the night: This wasn\u2019t awarded a goal to Geelong\u2019s Ollie Dempsey. The Blues went on to win by four points.Seven<\/p>\n

Play restarted immediately, preventing the AFL review centre (ARC) from intervening under the AFL\u2019s recently amended score review protocols.<\/p>\n

Last month, more than 30 seconds of play were scrubbed from a game between the Saints and the Eagles after an incident involving Rowan Marshall in which he was deemed to have taken a mark before the ball crossed the behind line. The AFL then changed the rules around ARC reviews.<\/p>\n

AFL football boss Greg Swann \u2013 citing the lengthy delay to that game (nearly a minute all-up) \u2013 announced that the ARC would no longer overrule a goal umpire\u2019s decision, unless the goal umpire had called for a review<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"ChrisChris Scott addresses his players during the thriller against the Blues.AFL Photos<\/p>\n

The non-goal proved significant in a contest eventually won by Carlton by just four points<\/a> over the Cats \u2013 12.16 (88) to 12.12 (84) \u2013 after overturning a 20-point deficit in front of more than 60,000 fans.<\/p>\n

Scott stopped short of launching an attack on the AFL, but made it clear he believed the system had failed.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe goal umpire got knocked over. I\u2019d probably disagree in principle with the idea that someone\u2019s sitting in the ARC, and they can\u2019t see [it],\u201d Scott said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe technology is there for the howler, and someone within the ARC should have seen that was a howler within seconds.\u201d<\/p>\n

While Scott acknowledged the decision could not be overturned under the current rules, he questioned whether the process, itself, remained fit for purpose.<\/p>\n

\"OnOn for young and old: Jagga Smith and Patrick Cripps lead the Blues off the ground into their rooms to sing the song.Getty Images<\/p>\n

\u201cFrom the outset I thought it was worthy of a review,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

The veteran coach suggested the incident was particularly frustrating because the issue seemed obvious in real time.<\/p>\n

Related Article\"Patrick<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s surprising [it wasn\u2019t picked up in real time], but I\u2019m easily surprised with this stuff,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI guess the surprising part is we\u2019ve seen some games this year \u2026 I\u2019m not a huge fan of all the theatrics around the score review [system]. It seems to take a long time a lot, sometimes when it\u2019s just so obvious that you don\u2019t need a review.\u201d<\/p>\n

Scott was asked about the AFL\u2019s role in this incident, given the recent changes to the rule.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are some things I\u2019d like to have my opinion heard on \u2013 that\u2019s so far down the list. I\u2019m not sure they need my help,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat whole department should be held to high standards but, honestly, I\u2019m not going to spend a second more thinking about it.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

\u201cI hope you can tell, it\u2019s the rub of the green sort of stuff in my opinion. I completely accept that the AFL should spend some time on their processes. We\u2019ll let them do that, and we\u2019ll move on.<\/p>\n

\u201cHow long did the game go for? Let\u2019s say 110 minutes.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe last 109 minutes will be our focus in review.\u201d<\/p>\n

Related Article\"Nick<\/a><\/p>\n

Despite his frustration, Scott resisted the temptation to pin the defeat on the controversial decision, repeatedly redirecting attention towards Carlton\u2019s performance.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou guys will talk about it more,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t think I really have that much more to add.<\/p>\n

\u201cI thought they [the Blues] were really sharp.\u201d<\/p>\n

Scott pointed to Carlton\u2019s dominance around stoppage and the Blues\u2019 dramatic improvement under caretaker coach Josh Fraser.<\/p>\n

After conceding four of the game\u2019s first five goals, Carlton took control around the contest and repeatedly punished Geelong in transition, with Jagga Smith and Will Hayward among the architects of the comeback, while skipper Patrick Cripps slotted the sealer.<\/p>\n

Scott conceded the Blues\u2019 stoppage work had been difficult to contain.<\/p>\n

\u201cStoppage work is a real strength of theirs,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe contested ball is a real strength, and if you sort of take them on at that area, you\u2019d want to be pretty good, yourself.<\/p>\n

\u201cI didn\u2019t think we played horribly \u2013 we just didn\u2019t have the spark that we had in previous weeks, and they were really good.\u201d<\/p>\n

The loss leaves Geelong still firmly in the premiership conversation but ended a strong run of form heading into a challenging stretch of the season.<\/p>\n

The fallout from the ARC controversy, however, is likely to linger.<\/p>\n

Scott\u2019s central point was simple: Given the AFL has invested in technology designed to eliminate obvious mistakes, it should be empowered to correct them.<\/p>\n

Keep up to date with the best AFL coverage in the country. Sign up for the Real Footy newsletter<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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\"SamSam McClure<\/a> is an award-winning AFL journalist and broadcaster.Connect via X<\/a> or email<\/a>.From our partners<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Save You have reached your maximum number of saved items. Remove items from your saved list to add…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":702600,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[560],"tags":[638,64,63,55,639,85],"class_list":["post-702599","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-afl","tag-afl","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-australian-football-league","tag-australianfootballleague","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/702599","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=702599"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/702599\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/702600"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=702599"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=702599"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=702599"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}