The late umpiring drama that marred Collingwood’s win over Adelaide has been described as “woeful”, “totally unacceptable” and “alarmingly terrible” in damning criticism of the game’s whistleblowers.
Magpies coach Craig McRae admits he “lost my mind” over several controversial no-calls, including the front-on contact on Nathan Murphy and drag down high tackle on Ash Johnson.
Speaking on SEN on Monday morning, commentator Gerard Whateley warned “had Collingwood lost, the world would be burning this morning” such was the extent of the missed calls.
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“I am so reticent on a Monday morning when people want to zero in, all they can see is the umpiring, but there was just some woeful decision making with the game on the line,” he said.
“The Murphy scenario was absurd that the free kick wasn’t paid and then he’s going off under the blood rule … and they pay an insufficient intent against De Goey.
“And then I just couldn’t believe that Ash Johnson one on the goal line.
“He’s dragged down over the shoulder, which is (paid as a free kick) 100 times out of 100.
“That umpire looked at it, saw it and decided not to blow the whistle.
“That’s just totally unacceptable.”
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Whateley said he feared umpires “froze up” in those frantic final minutes where Collingwood charged from a 16-point three quarter time deficit to level scores with less than two minutes remaining.
The Pies went on to score a behind through Steele Sidebottom with just 20 seconds to go to claim the win.
“I’m not an umpire basher, but when the game – just as we could be critical of Adelaide and what they did – they froze up, those umpires,” Whateley said.
“It was terrible, like alarmingly terrible.
“The umpires were just, they were paralysed by it.
“They have to better than that … on the really obvious ones.
“These weren’t the marginal ones.”
The Collingwood coach was more mild-manned in his assessment of the umpires than most with footy commentators in meltdown mode after some baffling umpire decisions.
It didn’t seem to matter when the final siren sounded on the Magpies’ latest insane comeback victory, beating Adelaide 8.11 (59) to 7.16 (58) in a one-point thriller to move to the top of the AFL ladder.
However, the umpire anger was bubbling away throughout the game as the match finished with a 28-18 free kick count in the Crows’ favour — and the situation exploded in the fourth quarter when Collingwood defender Nathan Murphy was taken out.
With just under 11 minutes to play, and with his side trailing by eight points, Murphy was left dazed and bleeding from the nose after a marking contest with Darcy Fogarty where he appeared to be taken front-on and high by the Crows forward.
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No free kick was paid and to rub salt into the Pies’ wounds Jordan De Goey was penalised for deliberate out-of-bounds as the play went dangerously close to Murphy and the club’s medical staff as they left the field.
“I don’t know if there’s footage of me, but I lost my mind,” McRae said.
“Whether it was a mark or a free kick, you could argue either, but then (Murphy) had blood and he’s trying to exit the field and we didn’t get a chance to replace the player in a critical moment.
“I was astounded by that.
“He’s fine, but he had blood, I don’t know whether we need an explanation for it.
“I probably won’t search for one, but I just found it staggering.
“(De Goey) almost hit the doc, isn’t there a duty of care there?
“You can go through every decision they made or didn’t make, but that’s not where we live.
“We make way more mistakes than they do … you make mistakes, you move on, that’s the way I look at it.”
Ash Johnson was also unlucky not to be awarded a free kick in the goal square after he was taken high in the dying minutes.
There are plenty of angry football commentators demanding an explanation.
Grant Thomas said the umpiring was “officially a joke” and described some of the calls as “very suspicious”.
Footy broadcaster Andy Maher wrote: “Horrific umpiring. Four of them. Hard to believe.”
Garry Lyon, in commentary for Fox Footy, also couldn’t believe no free kick was awarded to Murphy.
Mark Stevens also posted on Twitter the victory was “justice” for the Magpies after a “raft of bad calls” by the umpires.
It comes just days after Adelaide Crows icon Graham Cornes declared there was a “Victorian bias” that was resulting in umpires giving the Crows and Port Adelaide a bad run.
What will hurt Crows fans now is that their side led for all-but the final 20 seconds of the match when Steele Sidebottom put Collingwood ahead for the first time in the game.
“It’s another Collingwood miracle and we shouldn’t be surprised,” Fox Footy’s Anthony Hudson said.
The Crows only had themselves to blame with their inaccurate goalkicking (15 behinds).
“They just refuse to give up, they play four quarters and they get the job done,” Hawthorn legend Jason Dunstall said on Fox Footy.
“Having said that, Adelaide have just lost the unlosable. Poor goalkicking is poor football.
“Sorry Crows fans, that game should have been done to bits. You gave them a sniff and they took it.”
To top it off, the victory means Collingwood is now on top of the ladder for the first time since 2012.
— with NCA NewsWire
