AFL Round 10 North Melbourne v Sydney: Interchange breach in final minute costs Roos victory
North Melbourne has urged calm among its supporters after staff were targeted by trolls in the wake of the club’s costly interchange breach against Sydney.
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The AFL has told North Melbourne it received its full allotment of 75 interchanges after confusion over George Wardlaw’s concussion test at half time of the club’s dramatic loss to Sydney.
And the league has backed in its decision to pay a free kick against North Melbourne for obstruction despite Roos medicos being caught in play as they attempted to help Wardlaw.
The Herald Sun understands the Roos and AFL worked through the interchange infraction on Monday after Wardlaw was collected heavily in a collision just before half time.
Under AFL rules a head injury assessment does not count towards the tally of 75 legal interchanges.
Clubs have a board tallying those interchanges on the bench, and the Roos had been unsure whether they were unfairly docked a first-half interchange in a game where they breached the 75 interchanges.
The free kick and 50m penalty meant they lost the game after a Hayden McLean goal for Sydney.
But the AFL confirmed to the Roos on Monday they did receive the extra interchange at the start of the third quarter, so had definitely gone over the total of 75.
Roos fans were irate that trainers going out to assess Wardlaw after that collision were caught in the crossfire.
He jumped up to take his kick quickly and as the Roos medicos attempted to run off the ground the ball was kicked in their direction.
An umpire called a free kick against the Roos, with Sydney kicking a goal from the resultant free kick.
But the AFL made clear on Monday they had to call the free kick for obstruction given the trainers should have been off the ground.
Roos football boss Todd Viney said on Monday the Roos owned their mistakes.
“It was really disappointing. The boys played their hearts out and unfortunately there was a perfect storm of things that happened with our interchange process,” he said.
“It has been well documented but we had two players come to the bench. One was an impromptu one, they got injured and at the end of the day our systems didn’t handle that situation and communication wasn’t quite right. Unfortunately it resulted in that goal we saw.”
He said supporters abusing staff members on social media was unacceptable and called on them to support the club in a more positive fashion.
“To be completely honest it’s disappointing. We understand our supporters’ passion we felt on the day.
“We felt we had done all we could to get that win but the one thing this club is about is looking after our people and we win together and lose together. We stick by our people.”
Ratten: What went on in dying stages that cost Roos
James Mottershead
North Melbourne received no warning they were at the interchange limit of 75 by AFL officials, Brett Ratten indicated after his side’s devastating 3-point loss to Sydney.
Having staved off an early Sydney onslaught, the Kangaroos were the better side for much of the game, but two later interchanges when they had just one to use handed Sydney the win with nothing players could do but watch on.
Ratten said the club will review its processes this week after the blunder which ultimately cost them their most stirring win in recent memory after Alastair Clarkson stepped away indefinitely as head coach just two days ago.
While information is available to the coaching box on rotation numbers, the former St Kilda coach said the buck stops with club staff on the interchange bench.
“We’ll have a look at it during the week and work out how we can do some things better but we’re not going to worry about that we had our chances,” Ratten said.
“So, we’ll have a look and review it and see if we can get better.
“ … There’s sometimes chat about we’re getting close, but there’s nothing from a senior coach’s point of view where I’m looking at the interchanges, no we leave that to the bench.”
While clubs continue to be warned for the 6-6-6 rule, there was no such caution for the interchange cap.
When asked if the AFL’s interchange steward provided any warning to the North Melbourne bench, Ratten shook his head.
Sydney coach John Longmire also said that he left it to his bench to control the number of rotations the Swans make.
“I’m not always conscious (of how many changes we have left), the guys on the bench are pretty much always on top of that,” Longmire said.
“You rely upon your bench to get that done.
“Usually word will come up if you’re on the edge of making too many interchanges and you’ll take that into consideration, but I guess those things happen.”
Fans at the ground had no idea why the free and 50m penalty had been given, believing a free kick had been plucked out by one of the umpires for an on-field incident.
They revolted, throwing wrappers and beer cups onto the ground before booing the umpires from the ground after the game.
MATCH REPORT: ROO HEARTBREAK
Has anyone ever won a game like that before?
There was nothing any one of North Melbourne’s 23 players could have done as an interchange free kick handed Sydney the most unlikely of victories in an emotion charged game on Saturday afternoon, leaving North Melbourne fans seething and throwing litter onto Marvel Stadium.
Leading by three points with 40-seconds on the clock North Melbourne made two interchanges, bringing Liam Shiels and Will Phillips off for Tom Powell and Hugh Greenwood, putting them over the limit of 75 by just one.
With the ball about to be thrown up in the Swans’ forward pocket Sydney ruckman Hayden McLean was given the free kick and a 50m penalty to take him to the goal line where he slammed Sydney in front.
Fox Footy vision shows the call to the umpire was not immediate as no interchanges were taking place in the background. If the call doesn’t come through for another 40 seconds and the siren’s gone and whistles are blown, then what happens? #AFLRoosSwans
— Matt Hickey (@mhickey23) May 20, 2023
North Melbourne hasn’t gone anywhere near the interchange in recent weeks (63, 62, 65 etc). Feel like fans who pay money to be at the ground deserve better communication as to why that free kick was paid. Umpires booed … but nobody to blame but themselves. pic.twitter.com/0JfQIYInTM
— Sam Landsberger (@SamLandsberger) May 20, 2023
Extraordinary scenes as the Roos give away a free kick and 50m following a bench infringement, costing them the match.
— Fox Footy (@FOXFOOTY) May 20, 2023
📺 Watch #AFLNorthSwans LIVE on ch. 504 or stream on Kayo: https://t.co/c5Vwhmfd1e
âœï¸ BLOG https://t.co/8XBBSVhi3A
🔢 MATCH CENTRE https://t.co/0Ep0VEtv0Zpic.twitter.com/Mb9BBoTFvm
Footage shows the bizarre event being explained to players: “Interchange infringement against North Melbourne. Sydney free kick. Free kick and 50m penalty for an interchange breach.
“Is that what we’re saying? Sydney free kick. Ok Hayden (McLean), your freekick for an interchange breach and it’s a 50m penalty.”
North Melbourne players in the vicinity of the incident appeared dumbfounded by the costly oversight.
Told the free kick was for an interchange infringement, Swans superstar Lance Franklin told Fox Footy: “Lucky us”.
A gallant North Melbourne had looked like holding on for all of the last quarter until the management error, as they nearly did it for Alastair Clarkson.
They played with an almost reckless abandon as they took the game on at every turn, took territory instinctively and defended as though their lives depended on it. It was the type of footy the Shinboner spirit was built on.
It was led by their skipper, Jy Simpkin, who masterfully controlled the midfield and broke loose to kick two goals, and first-year star Harry Sheezel, who had 25 touches and two goals.
The Swans looked bereft of confidence for so much of the game, with moments of class from their stars Chad Warner, Luke Parker, and Errol Gulden putting them in position to steal victory.
Lance Franklin showed glimpses of his best, kicking a game-high three goals.
Crowd with Clarko
The crowd was befitting of a clash between two cellar dwellers, but at the 23-minute mark of the first quarter North’s fans made themselves heard.
In an organised show of support for their embattled head coach, Alastair Clarkson, North Melbourne fans clapped in unison.
The former Kangaroo, Clarkson wore the number 23 for much of his 93-game career at Arden St.
It was a show of solidarity for the 55-year-old who took indefinite leave from the head coaching role during the week to look after his mental and physical health.
Curtis’ Contender
Paul Curtis submitted his goal of the year contender with an effort
First year phenom Will Ashcroft will be sweating after his stellar effort in Round 7 now has a serious rival.
The ball fell to Curtis who was sitting on the ground like a primary school student. The 20-year-old sprung up to his feet to stiff arm Robbie Fox before being met with more resistance from Nick Blakey.
But the North excitement machine gave Blakey the same treatment, disposing of him with ease and leaving the dashing Swan eating Marvel Stadium turf.
Curtis straightened as much as he could with Fox almost grasping him a second time. Getting the ball onto his left boot it sailed from right to left to split the middle and send Kangaroo fans into raptures.
Hot water For Hayward
Will Hayward will almost certainly miss at least next week after flattening debutant George Wardlaw with a high bump in the shadows of halftime.
Hayward left the ground and was late to contest the ball, turning side on to lay a bone-crunching hit on the 18-year-old.
A free was given for high contact, which won’t help Hayward, but Wardlaw was able to get back to his feet to take the kick.
There wasn’t much advantage from the ensuing free kick however, as Wardlaw’s kick wide almost landed on their trainer’s head before they ran through the mark, resulting in a free kick to the Swans and Tom Papley, ultimately setting them up for a forward foray that resulted in a goal.
Ladhams Out
A nasty landing from a ruck contest in the third quarter looks like it will side-line Swans’ big man Peter Ladhams for some time.
Ladhams came down awkwardly on his right leg, rolling his foot and ankle over, before immediately grabbing for it and smashing the turf in frustration.
While the injury doesn’t look as bad as first feared, it’s another blow to the Swans who have had a number of big men side-lined this season through injury.
Ladhams had kicked two goals and been one of Sydney’s most dangerous forwards before coming off.
NORTH 3.3 5.3 10.4 14.6 90
SWANS 3.6 7.7 11.7 14.9 93
MOTTERSHEAD’S BEST North: Simpkin, Sheezel, Scott, Ziebell, Goldstein, Coleman-Jones. Swans: Warner, Parker, Gulden, Fox, Franklin.
GOALS North: Simpkin 2, Coleman-Jones 2, Larkey 2, Sheezel 2, Curtis, Ford, Goldstein, Scott, Stephenson, Powell. Swans: Franklin 3, Ladhams 2, McLean 2, Campbell, Parker, McInerny, Warner, Hayward, Gulden, Heeney.
INJURIES North: nil. Swans: Ladhams.
21,003 at Marvel Stadium
PLAYER OF THE YEAR
JAMES MOTTERSHEAD’S VOTES
3 Jy Simpkin (NTH)
2 Harry Sheezel (NTH)
1 Chad Warner (SYD)
HOOD’S ‘BATTLE LINES’ REGRET OVER HAWK INVESTIGATION
Sonja Hood says she is worried about the state of the game and has called for battle lines to stop being drawn within the Hawthorn investigation.
Speaking at the North Melbourne President’s Luncheon before North takes on the Swans at Marvel Stadium, Hood was again scathing of the process around the “Hawthorn situation”, following Alastair Clarkson’s decision to step away from football this week.
“The past eight months, of what I would call the Hawthorn situation, have taken an unbelievable toll on him,” Hood said.
“Alastair will be all right, arguably he has taken the hardest step which is putting his hand up and asking for help, and our club will be fine.
“I am genuinely worried about the state of our game and the ability of us all to have the hard conversations we need to have if we are to progress race relations in this country.”
Hood refused to draw on the details of the investigation into the Hawks and Clarkson but said the way it had been handled had only fuelled the fire rather than heal any hurt.
She said the system in place only looked to deal punishment rather than incorporate both sides’ hurt and any learning.
“There are two parts to the Hawthorn situation,” she said.
“There are some shocking and substantive allegations in the public domain which I won’t repeat but go to terminations of pregnancy and separations of families. Those are contestable and strongly denied and a process was put in place eight months ago to determine what happened.
“More than that, there is clearly a huge amount of hurt on both sides and an adversarial system and adversarial process does not deal well with hurt, it deals with right and wrong and punishment. Not hurt, not learning and not the sort of understanding of one another and moving forward we need to get to if we have any chance of moving on.”
Hood also took aim at the probes into claims of racism at Hawthorn, saying both parties were not open to the hard conversations that needed to be had.
“We need to find a way to build bridges and not (draw) battle lines,” Hood said.
“Hawthorn’s report was poor and its response was poor but I think it was probably created out of good intentions. But it did not create a bridge to deal with hurt, it set up a monumental set of battle lines.
“The AFL is in an insidious position and its response probably felt like it made sense at the time, but eight months on no one can honestly believe it’s been the right process and has certainly not provided a bridge.
“As an industry we can’t just celebrate the good stuff and not front up to what’s hard. We need to listen and we need to be prepared for it to be difficult along the way.”
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