Geelong champion Jimmy Bartel has unloaded in the wake of the goalpost controversy that cruelled the Adelaide Crows in the dying stages of their clash with the Sydney Swans on Saturday night.
Bartel said on Nine’s Sports Sunday the drama at Adelaide Oval, which saw a goal umpire award a behind instead of a goal because he deemed the ball had brushed a goalpost, was “an absolute disaster”.
The decision consigned the Crows to a one-point defeat and dashed their hopes of making the finals, while also having major ramifications on other clubs teetering on the brink of the top eight.
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The AFL world is not only staggered that the goal umpire thought the ball had made contact with a goalpost, but the call to not have the vision reviewed by the ARC.
After calling a snap press conference on Sunday morning, AFL chief executive Gillon McLachlan admitted the goal umpire had made a “mistake” but said the result of the match would stand.
The goal umpire has been stood down for the remainder of the season.
“There is not a single way that this wasn’t a goal, so the goal umpire’s had a mare here,” Bartel said.
“What they normally do, and this is where the frustration comes, nearly everything’s been reviewed this year.
“The goal umpire’s trying to tell us that hit the post. From that angle you might make a argument it’s hit the back of the padding there, but when you go to the side-on angle it’s a mile clear. He’s just made a massive mistake.
“But now the AFL is meeting to say, ‘What can we do about it?’. If they come out say, ‘We’ve made a big error’, that’s cost the Crows the opportunity to play finals, it’s actually cost the Saints who would be locked into the eight and there would have been a slim hope if Geelong won next week, they could have still made the finals.
“It’s been an absolute disaster.”
In a statement released by the AFL on Sunday morning, the league said the umpire had “15 years of experience and was definitive in his call that the ball touched the post”.
“There were no communications issues between the ARC and the umpires and with the ball being kicked in and returned to play so quickly by Sydney it didn’t allow enough time for the ARC to review or field umpires to refer to a review,” the statement added.
“Upon review, the outcome was conclusive that the decision would have been overturned and it should have been referred to the ARC at the time.”
Essendon legend Matthew Lloyd said the umpire had made “as big a mistake as I can remember”.
“You can understand in the heat of the moment a field umpire making a mistake, but in this situation … you can go upstairs and they go upstairs sometimes for less, and in this situation he had players all around him,” Lloyd said on Nine’s The Sunday AFL Footy Show.
“The ramifications are big, in terms of not just the Crows but other sides, as well.”
Port Adelaide great Kane Cornes was also scathing.
“It’s a mistake that is not acceptable,” said the former Power midfielder.
“You have to question the goal umpire’s level of training, how many hours they are spending at the AFL and their processes to lead to this point where a goal umpire can choose not to go upstairs in that moment. It’s not good enough.”
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Hasibur Rahaman is a passionate sports journalist. He covers everything from cricket to field hockey, delivering up-to-the-minute updates and in-depth analysis of sporting events, both within India and on the international stage.
