Dudded SA footy fans voice outrage after second bad call costs Adelaide a finals berth

Furious South Australians footy fans are still seething at the AFL after a horror goal umpiring mistake knocked the Crows out of the finals race. Take our poll.

• The Tackle: Blunder we won’t forget

Furious Crows fans feeling dudded all year by the AFL are sick of repeated apologies for game-changing umpire stuff ups as well as an unfair playing field clearly favouring Melbourne teams.

Saturday night’s spectacular fail by the AFL — labelled “amateur hour in a billion dollar sport” by Geelong great Jimmy Bartel — which robbed the Crows of finals hopes also will be costly in financial terms.

However the AFL has simply issued a belated “sorry about that” apology with no recompense, and certainly no thought of changing the result.

Crows fans across Australia have been left fuming, with hundreds taking to social media to express their anger.

Diehard fan Peter Murphy, 55, of Novar Gardens called for a “captain’s call” similar to cricket where the captain can call for a limited number of reviews in contested umpiring decisions.

Crows fans Peter Murphy and his son Michael say they are “fed up with apologies”. Picture Mark Brake

“We’re all getting a bit fed up with apologies — there are lop sided free kick counts each week, and it is disappointing they don’t use the technology in a case like this,” he said.

“And it is not a level playing field when Melbourne teams don’t travel nearly as much as the interstate clubs.”

Saturday night’s debacle follows the epic umpire fail in the round 15 loss to Collingwood by two points when with seconds to go, ruckman Reilly O’Brien kicked the ball to skipper Jordan Dawson who was left sprawled with a bloodied lip after a blatant high hit by Magpies forward Jamie Elliott.

No free was paid and Collingwood held on for the win, with Dawson clearly ropable and seen shouting “are you f***ing kidding me?” at the umpires as blood poured from his lip.

AFL umpire boss Dan Richardson later conceded the call was missed by the small army of umpiring officials due to a “restricted view” of the contest.

If Dawson was paid the free kick, it would have been a shot on goal for the game.

The Crows also are clocking up frequent flyer points faster than Prime Minister Anthony Albanese while teams like Collingwood seem to be in some kind of Melbourne lockdown.

Collingwood has 14 games at the MCG — home of the grand final — and three at nearby Marvel Stadium this year, travelling only six times including to Adelaide for Gather Round.

In contrast Adelaide has 13 homes games and 10 flights including to Sydney, Melbourne, Geelong, the Gold Coast, Perth and Ballarat.

The travel also has seen the Crows flying to the cold of Tasmania and the humidity of Darwin.

The Darwin journey saw Adelaide lose to the Gold Coast — which had stayed in the tropics for a week to acclimatise after playing the Western Bulldogs in Darwin the previous week.

Outraged Crows fans are demanding more scrutiny of game-changing decisions.

Crows diehards Bernie Watson, 14 and dad Shaun, 45 travelled from Naracoorte for the match. Picture: Shashi Baltutis

Bernie Watson, 14 and father Shaun, 45, travelled from Naracoorte for the match.

“We were sitting behind the goal and it looked pretty clear,” Mr Watson said. “If they’re going to have the technology, use it.”

Mr Watson was, who runs a butcher and baker in Naracoorte, said umpires should “have a look” if they were not “100 per cent” with a decision.

Son Bernie was devastated by the loss.

“We’ve travelled so far so it’s pretty disappointing,” he said. “It seems pretty unfair.”

Justin and Melissa Kalinowski were left “frustrated” after attending the match.

“The worst part is that it’s cost us finals,” Mr Kalinowski, 50, from Parkside said.

“The lack of a score review was the most frustrating part.”

He said the loss was still “very hard to deal with a day later”.

Crows fan Justin Kalinowski suggested better camera placement would avoid incorrect decisions. Picture: Shashi Baltutis

Mr Kalinowski, a Toyota service manager, suggested the AFL should put cameras on top of the goalposts to accurately capture tight decisions.

Ms Kalinowski, 41, said the decision was “annoying”.

“It’s annoying they can’t do anything after the fact,” Ms Kalinowski, a hairdresser, said.

“Even if the game’s over they should award the goal.”

Sydney Swans fans Barry and Carolyn Marks sympathised with Crows supporters. Picture: Shashi Baltutis

Despite their team winning, Sydney Swans fans who travelled to Adelaide for the game, Barry and Carolyn Marks, said the decision should have been reviewed.

“To be fair I don’t understand why the umpires didn’t call for adjudication,” Mr Marks, 68, from Sydney said.

“If I was an Adelaide supporter I’d be very angry.”

Mr Marks said the AFL “should be more consistent” with video reviews of decisions.

Mrs Marks, 69, was happy her team won but sympathised with Crows fans.

“Winners are grinners but we did feel for the Crows fans,” she said.

Another Crows fan, Matt, who travelled from Alice Springs to watch the match, said he felt “robbed” by the umpiring.

“It’s tragic, one goal umpire has destroyed a season,” Matt, 48, said.

“It should all be reviewed and it was at a critical part of the game too.”

Through the pain, some fans are consoling themselves with dark wit.

Brighton Jetty Bakery has created a “thief’s bun”, with a football decoration “not even close to touching the bun — available now for the cost of your whole season.”