‘What’s he doing?’: Umpire act torched in Carlton clash with Brisbane Lions
AFL umpires making contact with players has roared back into the spotlight after a collision cost Carlton a goal on Thursday night.
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The Carlton footy club had enough issues without the AFL umpire’s getting in the way during the Blues’ 37-point loss to the Brisbane Lions.
But that’s exactly what happened early in their 15.13 (103) to 9.1 (66) defeat to the reigning premiers, leading to an outcry from the footy world.
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Less than five minutes into the first quarter at Marvel Stadium, Carlton defender Nick Haynes spotted Lachie Cowan in acres of space on the edge of the defensive 50m arc and sent a simple kick in his direction.
No one had taken field umpire Andrew Heffernan into account, however, who was trying to back away from the congested area and only managed to clatter straight into Cowan.
Watch the collision in the video player above
Making matters much worse for the battling Blues, who came into the match under intense pressure, the ball sat up beautifully for Lions star Cam Rayner.
He handballed over to Charlie Cameron, who snapped truly on the run for his side’s second goal of the night.
“It’s kept in play and then Cowan slams into the umpire!” Matt Hill said on Fox Footy.
“Picked up by Rayner, over the top he goes to Cameron and Cameron slams it through.
“There’s going to be a real spotlight on this, Haynes and Cameron go at it.”
Haynes threw his arms up in desperation after the collision before doing his best to get back into defence, giving Cameron a shove in the back as he took his shot on the run, leading to a brief spotfire on the ground.
Contact with umpires has been a hot topic in the game, with players including Matt Rowell and Nate Caddy having high-profile incidents with the whistle blowers last weekend.
Bombers coach Brad Scott said last Saturday he’d “lost count of the amount of times I’ve contacted the AFL about moving the umpires out of the corridor”.
The issue blew up all over again after Thursday night’s incident.
“I can see (analysts and former coaches) Adam Simpson and John Longmire saying ‘what is the umpire doing in the corridor where we want to take the footy?’” David King said during the game.
“He’s in the way, he causes a clash that creates the turnover. It was going to be an easy mark to Cowan and all of a sudden it’s an easy goal for the Lions.
“Carlton fans are not happy.”
Dwayne Russell added: “Well they can’t be happy with that.”
For a Carlton side coming off 56 and 50-point losses to Collingwood and Port Adelaide respectively, Leigh Montagna called the moment “flattening” for Michael Voss’ troops.
“When it’s all going against you, it’s all going against you,” he said.
“They don’t need this, the Blues. They’re scrapping as hard as they can to stay involved early in this contest and then for that to happen.
“Flattening for the group, Charlie Cameron up and about early, Blues under the pump.”
Russell predicted: “There will be more talk about the four-umpire system again coming this week.”
Former Collingwood and Lions chief executive Greg Swann is joining the AFL later this month as the sport’s new executive football manager.
Working out a way to prevent umpires making contact with players will surely now be high on his list of priorities, although Montagna stated it’s just a part of the game.
“There’s no simple solution,” he said. “It’s not easy. You’ve got four umpires out on the field with 36 players out here.
“At times this is going to happen, they can’t just hang outside the boundary line the whole game, they need to get into position to make the right calls.
“They are working on it, it’s something the umpires are really focusing on, unfortunately in this instance it’s cost the Blues a goal.
“Sometimes these things will be part of the game.”
Those watching on weren’t quite so forgiving, with many left saying the same thing after the incident blatantly cost the Blues a goal.
Shannon Gill wrote on X: “The umpire positioning is one thing … but what about some common sense of one of the four to blow the whistle and ball the thing up? Everyone can handle mistakes if there’s feel for the game around it.”
Adam Doherty wrote: “Surely play should have been stopped here? This umpire was in the wrong position.”
Jarrod Clemson tweeted: “This needs to be a ball up.”
Another user said: “That’s horrific, if the ump clearly gets in the road like that it should be a ball up.”
A couple of other footy fans used some stronger words for the situation.
X user Eric wrote: “As a lions fan, that’s f**ked.”
An account with the unfortunate handle️ @baggersflag2025 said: “Umpires need to get the f**k out of the way.”
Other fans were saying there are too many umpires out on the field.
The competition only moved from three to four field umpires ahead of the 2023 season.
The Lions led by 52 points at the last change and another thrashing appeared on the cards for the Blues.
But Voss’ side kept fighting, kicking three unanswered goals in the final term for the final 37-point margin.
Originally published as ‘What’s he doing?’: Umpire act torched in Carlton clash with Brisbane Lions
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