Chris Scott says umpires must continue to improve after mistakes marred Easter Monday clash

Geelong coach Chris Scott thinks umpires need to be “working as hard” as they can to improve after fans from both sides were left livid over several calls during Geelong’s win at the MCG.

Geelong coach Chris Scott believes the game’s umpires should be focusing on “working as hard” as they can to continue to improve.

The Cats prevailed in a heart-stopping Easter Monday clash with Hawthorn with a free kick count of 24-15 in favour of the Hawks.

Fans railed against a number of non-decisions including an apparent ignored potential dissent free kick against James Sicily in the first half, while Hawthorn forward Nick Watson was awarded a headhigh contact free kick in the dying moments that drew conjecture.

Scott said while he doesn’t “have any doubt they’re doing their best”, he said there had to be a focus on continual improvement.

“Like a lot of things in the game, I think we should aspire to make things as good as possible,” he said.

“What you do hope for – I think the part’s that’s absolutely table stakes – is if you’re not happy, and it’s hard to be perfectly happy, and we’ll never be perfectly happy with our environment … but what we guarantee our people is that we’re working as hard as we possibly can.

“I think that’s the part that we should be focusing on.”

The number of hours that AFL umpires train for, and the conditions in which they train, has drawn criticism in recent years, though league boss Andrew Dillon declared in July last year that the standard of umpiring was “as good as it’s ever been”, but last month conceded that “it’s always an interesting talking point”.

Meanwhile, Hawthorn tall Conor Nash could be headed straight to the tribunal for a swinging round-arm hit that concussed speedy Cat Gryan Miers.

Nash’s right arm appeared to swing in a contest and collected Miers – who had set up five scores for Geelong prior to the incident – directly in the face.

Conor Nash whacks Gryan Miers

He was unable to brace for his contact with the ground when he fell backwards, with the back of his head making heavy contact with the turf.

The 26-year-old was clearly affected when he made his way from the ground and was immediately subbed out and placed in the concussion protocols meaning he will miss this weekend’s clash with Carlton on Sunday, though Cats coach Chris Scott said he had seemed fine post-game.

Fremantle’s Patrick Voss was hit with a three-match ban for his strike on Tiger Nick Vlastuin last weekend and Scott said he “wouldn’t argue” that this incident was potentially worse than that.

“That’s an interesting take on it,” he said.

“I wouldn’t argue against you.”

If graded as intentional, high contact and severe impact as is expected, Nash would be sent directly to the tribunal with a hearing expected on Wednesday night.

Hawthorn coach Sam Mitchell said he had feared Nash could be in hot water as soon as Miers’ condition became evident.

Gryan Miers is helped from the ground by medicos after being cleaned up by Conor Nash. Picture: Michael Klein

“I didn’t’ go back and watch the replay, but when a player comes off concussed, then that’s going to go to the MRO and it’s not for me to get involved in,” Mitchell said.

As for whether Nash had been affected, Mitchell conceded that “his numbers certainly dwindled after that”.

“It’s a bit of a difficult one for me to say without having spoken to him, but I’ll let the process do what it does,” he said.

Geelong star Bailey Smith could also face scrutiny for shoving the ball into the head of Hawthorn opponent Jarman Impey, prompting commentary it could attract a sanction for striking or misconduct.

But Scott said he considered the incident to be “that minor it’s not funny”.

“It’s often the retaliator that cops the free kick against,” he said.

“Touching a footy on someone’s face – I hope he’s OK – but I think it’s so minor that I wouldn’t worry about it too much. We don’t condone it, but we’re much more interested in a pattern.

“We get that he’s high-profile. I wouldn’t necessarily coach anyone to behave the way Bailey does. But he is what he is, and our job is to sort of shape him.”

Originally published as Chris Scott says umpires must continue to improve after mistakes marred Easter Monday clash