AFL umpire Mathew Nicholls rejects any allegation he labelled Lindsay Thomas a ducker

NORTH Melbourne champ Brent Harvey has called for consistency with head-high free kicks after Brad Scott’s ducking blunder.

Lindsay Thomas and Jordan Lewis in a scrap. Picture: Wayne Ludbey

NORTH Melbourne coach Brad Scott faces one of the biggest individual AFL fines in recent seasons — and, at worst, a suspension — after the Kangaroos were forced into an embarrassing backdown yesterday over explosive and unsubstantiated claims umpires were biased against forward Lindsay Thomas on Friday night.

The Kangaroos are bracing themselves for a significant penalty for their coach, and possibly the club, after admitting yesterday the allegations aired at Scott’s post-match press conference had no foundation.

North Melbourne champion Brent Harvey said it was frustrating that Thomas was the subject of another head high tackling debate.

“I think when we talk about the head high stuff Lindsay’s name gets brought up a lot,” he said on the Sunday Footy Show.

“That is just reality now. We can’t get away from that.

“We just want consistency. If Lindsay gets tackled too high and another player gets tackled too high, it is the same free kick. That is the only thing we are looking for. That is the message and the same conversation I had with the umpire on Friday night.”

Scott made the claims an umpire told his players Thomas was not getting headhigh free kicks because he was “a ducker”, which drew instant denials from the four officiating umpires as well as a furious response from the AFL.

Hawk forward James Sicily gets a free kick for a high tackle. Picture: Colleen Petch

The AFL swiftly investigated the matter yesterday, which it considered one of the most significant breaches in recent years, given it struck at the core of the league’s integrity, not just with the officiating umpires, but also high-ranking league officials.

Scott sparked the furore when he said on Friday night: “I know he (Thomas) is (unfairly treated), because the umpires told our players, ‘well, he’s a ducker so we don’t pay high kicks to Lindsay’.

“They told our guys that, so that’s clearly a preconceived idea. I just want the umpires to umpire what they see, not preconceived ideas.

“It’s for (umpires coach) Hayden Kennedy to deal with, not for me. I’m just telling you what happened, because they won’t tell you, that’s for sure.”

AFL football operations manager Mark Evans said yesterday the issue would be addressed further tomorrow.

“When you are alleging a bias, it seriously questions their (umpires) integrity and the job they perform,” Evans said.

“It was such a serious allegation, you would hope that Brad and the club would have done enough investigation before they were going to go with something publicly. My preference would have been, even if they thought it was true, that they would have raised it with us and we would have investigated it.”

The AFL reviewed the MatchCom recordings of the umpires, and umpires coach Hayden

Kennedy, who was at the game, heard all the discussions from the umpires.

They found no evidence, leading to the Kangaroos’ unreserved apology.

The closest thing to a precedent occurred in 2004 when then Essendon captain James Hird was fined $20,000 for describing as “disgraceful” the umpiring in a clash involving the Bombers, while highlighting Scott McLaren’s performance as well. The Bombers were also fined $20,000.

Evans would not discuss likely penalties last night, but it is likely Scott will receive a sizeable fine rather than a suspension, despite the gravity of the situation.

Scott could not be contacted for comment yesterday, and did not attend the club’s VFL alignment match at Werribee.

The investigation centred on North Melbourne defender Jamie Macmillan asking Grand Final veteran Mathew Nicholls about a non-free kick against Thomas during the second quarter.

Thomas was tackled by Grant Birchall but was not paid a free kick, while Hawthorn’s James Sicily kicked two of his five goals after similar tackles.

Nicholls outright rejected any allegation he had labelled Thomas a ducker.

All four officiating umpires from Friday night’s game were understood to have been incensed at the allegations.

A Kangaroos game-day official overhead Macmillan’s discussion with a teammate, but misconstrued those comments when passing them on to Scott after the game.

One umpiring source told the Herald Sun: “North Melbourne complain more than anyone. The umpires are sick of people attacking their integrity,’’ he said.