The number of score reviews called for in round seven plummeted to just nine – half the average number of reviews requested in each of the previous six rounds – after the AFL finally directed goal umpires to be more willing to signal a goal if they were confident it was the correct decision.
There were nine score reviews called for in round seven, with no reviews occurring in three of the round’s matches after both crowds and goal umpires expressed frustration at the leap in the number of reviews being called for the first seven rounds (including opening round).
Tyson Stengle lines up his shot for goal after the ball was brought back when the video review awarded him a mark on the goal line.Credit: AFL Photos
There had previously been an average of two reviews being made per game with goal umpires meeting AFL football operations manager Josh Mahoney after round five to express their concerns at the impact being coached to call for a review whenever a decision was close had on their ability to perform their role.
Data, provided by the AFL to this masthead, showed that there were 82 reviews between opening round and round five – an average of two per game.
The AFL’s general manager for football operations Laura Kane said the league wanted goal umpires to back their judgment with goals as each would be silently reviewed before play restarted with a centre bounce.
“If an umpire sees a goal, they should call that, they should pay that,” Kane told AFL Media.
“After every score on the weekend, after every goal, the silent review confirmed that the umpire had made the right decision … we want the umpire to use the technology available to them to get the right score.”
Kane said the AFL wanted a review called if the goal umpire had any doubt in what the decision should be, with the league desperate to avoid another goal scoring error, such as the one that occurred in the round 23 clash between Adelaide and Sydney last season, which saw the Crows denied a goal that would have given them the lead with 72 seconds of the game remaining.
“Our priority is getting the right score,” Kane said.
Adelaide’s Rory Sloane retires; Hawks and Bulldogs feel the injury pinch
Meanwhile, Adelaide champion and former skipper Rory Sloane decided to retire rather than risk further damage to his eye after he had surgery to fix a detached retina in February. It was the second time in his career he had the surgery.
Champion Crows midfielder Rory Sloane has retired after 255 matches. Credit: AFL Photos
He said the possibility he could lose sight in his eye made the risk of adding to his 255-game career too great.
“I’ve had all the medical advice you could possibly receive and to continue playing would probably have meant ignoring that advice,” Sloane told reporters on Monday.
“Goggles weren’t going to protect me from detached retinas – detached retinas don’t form from a poke in the eye. It’s normally when you cop whacks to the head.”
Meanwhile, Hawthorn confirmed Sam Butler would miss the rest of the season after he suffered a broken leg in the VFL, and the club could also be without Mabior Chol after the forward was offered a one-match suspension for striking Sydney’s Errol Gulden off the ball in the first quarter of Sunday’s match. The incident led to a free kick being reversed costing the Hawks a goal.
St Kilda are heading to the tribunal to appeal Jack Higgins’ three-match suspension for a dangerous tackle that left Port Adelaide defender Aliir Aliir concussed.
Western Bulldogs forward Cody Weightman will miss at least six weeks after the club decided he needed surgery to fix a dislocated elbow that has troubled him since 2022.
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