The storm that erupted on Saturday night over the goal umpire’s decision to award a behind rather than a goal to Adelaide’s Ben Keays in the dying minutes of their clash with Sydney will eventually recede.
But how it happened, and what might have been, will remain part of football discussion forever. We ventured into the eye of the storm to find out how events unfolded late in the match at Adelaide Oval, and what would have happened if different decisions had been made.
State of play
What happened
The Crows, having trailed by 44 points in the second term, and 32 at the final change, roared home in the final term. They peppered the goals to kick 4.7 and trailed by only two points after Josh Rachele sharked a loose ball and dribbled through a goal with 1m39s minutes left. The Crows won the ensuing centre bounce, before Swans defender Braeden Campbell was penalised for kicking out on the full from the right forward pocket. The free kick arguably should have gone to Shane McAdam (a right-foot kick), whose pressure forced the stray Campbell kick, but Ben Keays (a left-footer) is given the ball. That’s the first sliding doors moment.
The goal that wasn’t: Ben Keays lines up for goal on Saturday night. His shot was deemed a point, leaving the Crows – and those who had backed the home team – disappointed.Credit: Fox Footy
Keays plays on to open the face of goal, snapping truly on his left foot with 71 seconds left on the clock. The ball sails through near the left goal post with Swans Tom Hickey and Callum Mills leaping in vain to touch it before it crosses the line.
The ball clearly does not brush the post. McAdam, now standing right on the goal square line directly in front of the post, celebrates. “He’s got it,” roars Fox Footy commentator Dwayne Russell, before adding: “One for the ages – No. He has touched the post.”
Keays and three teammates celebrate with Crows fans in the pocket. “They are celebrating – they don’t know yet [it’s a point],” Russell adds. However, the kick is deemed a point by the goal umpire. The Swans have the ball back, leading by a point.
The goal umpire’s call.
What should have happened
The goal umpire should have ruled a goal and/or sought a goal review by the league’s under-fire ARC system. The field umpires should have also called for a goal review. The ARC could also theoretically ask for a review but their time is so limited that option is virtually obsolete. They know it takes about six seconds, on average, for the ball to come back into play. Once the ball is back in play a review is not allowed.
A league spokesman said on Monday the ARC had begun to review the shot but, as play had resumed quickly, this became redundant.
It’s worth noting that in 2020 after Melbourne defender Jake Lever took a mark on the goal line in a game against the Brisbane Lions at Carrara, a review was called, although play had resumed as Lever kicked the ball back into play. At that point Melbourne were three points behind with 139 seconds remaining. The score review agreed the mark should stand but the Brisbane Lions set up their defence and the Demons could not clear their defence immediately. Melbourne lost the game by four points in a dramatic finish with Melbourne coach Simon Goodwin critical of the ARC post-game.
“We’ve got this fancy ARC system, but it halted momentum in the game and I don’t think that’s what it was brought in for,” he said.
Play resumes
What happened
Jake Lloyd immediately takes the kick-in for the Swans.Credit: Fox Sports
Swans defender Jake Lloyd takes the kick-in almost immediately, and has teammate Dane Rampe urging him to pass to Chad Warner just inside defensive 50 in the opposite pocket to where Keays and his teammates are still celebrating. Given the Crows have not had a chance to set up defensively, there is only one Adelaide player, Darcy Fogarty, in the frame.
Space to roam: While Ben Keays and three Crows teammates celebrate what they thought was a goal, the Swans quickly kick the ball to the opposite pocket where they have a numbers advantage.Credit: Fox Footy
Warner marks and passes to Tom Hickey, who marks and finds Isaac Heeney alone on the wing, with a minute remaining. The cameras pan to Keays, who is still in disbelief. “They can’t believe it, they thought they were in front,” Russell says. The ball is out of bounds for a throw-in with 46 seconds left.
No goal: Ben Keays reacts in disbelief when his left-foot snap is adjudged a point on Saturday night.Credit: Fox Footy
A front-on replay of the Keays kick prompts Fox Footy expert commentator Gerard Healy to declare: “It just hit the padding, it hit the padding.” Added Russell: “Oh my goodness. The umpire did not even call for the replay.”
The Swans win the stoppage, and boot the ball inside their attacking 50. The Crows win a free kick and boot the ball long, but Hickey returns it inside 50. The Crows are unable to clear it until there are three seconds remaining, the ball dribbling over the boundary line along the wing as the siren sounds.
What could have happened
Had Keays’ kick been called a goal, play would have resumed at a centre bounce, with the Crows leading by four points. Either side would still have had time to score another goal, possibly two.
Immediate reaction
What happened
The parochial Adelaide crowd boos. The Crows react with disbelief and frustration; Izak Rankine smacks the turf in anger. He then approaches field umpire Brett Rosebury, arms out as if asking: “What just happened?”
The Swans are relieved to have held on, a gassed Luke Parker with his arms behind his head, as coach John Longmire gives Logan McDonald a hug. Coach Matthew Nicks is magnanimous post-game conceding the first-half performance lost the Crows the game. He shows class in putting aside his disappointment.
The aftermath
The AFL went into crisis management with talks between key officials from the league and the club sparked immediately. League chief executive Gillon McLachlan was in the St Kilda rooms at Marvel Stadium, but he had his phone to his ear discussing the situation with Crows’ CEO Tim Silvers, while Adelaide’s football manager Adam Kelly spoke to the AFL’s interim football operations manager Laura Kane.
The AFL umpires boss Dan Richardson was also involved as they tried to work out exactly how the sequence of events had unfolded. Adelaide were strong in their representations, but there was nothing further that could be done as the moment had passed.
Why couldn’t the result be overturned?
During the crisis talks every option was canvassed, including the possibility of Adelaide seeking to have the result overturned or the premiership points split. However, by the time the Crows’ key officials went to bed on Saturday night they knew there was no chance the result would be overturned.
Most people in football accepted that changing the result was not a realistic option anyway as the goal umpiring error had occurred with 71 seconds remaining. That time meant Sydney could have stolen back the lead.
A Swans’ win cemented their place in the finals and eliminated the Crows, but it also had ramifications for the Saints, Geelong, the Giants, the Western Bulldogs and Essendon, which were also in the mix for a top-eight spot depending on the result. Sydney’s win ended Geelong’s season.
The next morning around 8am after the AFL’s football operations team continued to assess what had occurred, McLachlan rang Adelaide chair John Olsen, senior coach Nicks and Silvers to inform them he was holding a media conference that morning where he would admit the error and put out a statement.
McLachlan then appeared in front of the media in a Prahran Park on Sunday morning at 11am to admit a mistake had been made, and the goal umpire involved had been stood down for the remainder of the season. He said the league had apologised to the Crows, but the result stood.
The drama reprised memories of the “Sirengate” episode in round five, 2006 when umpires did not hear the final siren, allowing play to continue for St Kilda to level the scores against Fremantle. The AFL Commission awarded the win to Fremantle four days later. McLachlan said this incident was different because the Dockers were ahead when the siren actually blew.
“This [the non-goal] was a mistake. They happen repeatedly through games by players, officials, others. The challenging part about this is the moment of this and ultimately the mistake could’ve been reviewed and wasn’t,” he said.
Silvers admitted his team’s performance in the first half was substandard, but said the non-goal ruling had been “inexplicable”.
″The failure to video review the scoring attempt in question is inexplicable given the enormity of the moment, not just for that game but also what it meant for our finals chances and those of other teams in the competition,″ Silvers said.
“Having spoken to the AFL and with no further avenues to explore, we have no choice other than to turn our focus to the final home-and-away match of the season.”
By midday a sense of helplessness descended on the Crows as they realised only one game remained for 2023 and finals were out. They knew their poor first half against Sydney put them in a tough position but the pill they swallowed was bitter.
Crows captain Jordan Dawson said on Monday his team was still flat.
“It has been a little bit of time now, and I think disappointing is the one thing that comes to my mind upon reflection,” Dawson said.
“At the end of the day you would never want to leave it up to the last minute of the game, and, unfortunately, we put ourselves in the position of not being in front of the game at that stage.
“The whole group was pretty flat. In that moment, sitting there in the rooms and knowing your season is done, it is a tough pill to swallow.”
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