Jack Higgins goal ‘not necessarily a mistake’: AFL boss

AFL boss Andrew Dillon says there is “potential” for new technology to help boundary umpires but was reluctant to call Jack Higgins’ stunning goal a mistake.

Jack Higgins kicked a stunning goal late in the final term to sink Collingwood on Thursday night, but from some camera angles the ball appeared out of bounds before it left his boot. Picture: Darrian Traynor / Getty Images

AFL boss Andrew Dillon says score reviews are the first likely area to be impacted by the trial of microchipped balls and not boundary line decisions as he refused to say whether an incorrect call was made to allow Jack Higgins’ match winning goal on Thursday night.

Higgins booted a curling drop punt from the half-forward flank to give St Kilda an unassailable lead over Collingwood late in the final term, but camera angles suggested the whole ball may have been out of play before it left his boot.

Dillon avoided labelling the goal as an officiating error as he also said the use of microchip technology to assist boundary umpires was “not on the radar” of the AFL.

The technology was trialled during club training sessions last year and was rolled out for the first time in VFL and VFLW games this weekend to be used for score reviews.

He said there was “potential” for the technology to assist boundary umpires in the future but it was not a priority.

St Kilda players mob Jack Higgins after his contentious but brilliant goal that sealed the Saints’ victory over Collingwood on Thursday night. Picture: Darrian Traynor / Getty Images

“I don’t know about the detail of the (trial’s scope), the first instance is score review, and then it’s the stats that go from that, but depending on how sophisticated we can get the technology, there is a potential for that,” Dillon said.

“But that’s not on our radar at the moment.”

Higgins’ goal came the week after West Coast Eagle Jake Waterman was errantly allowed to run outside the field of play in the forward pocket to set up a goal against Port Adelaide last week.

Last season, Geelong star Jeremy Cameron booted a goal after receiving a handball from outside of the field of play, but it did not affect the result in a close Magpies win.

“Look our game is played on a big oval, we’ve got elite umpires at all levels, sometimes mistakes are made – I’m not saying that was necessarily a mistake, it’s a tough game to umpire, and our umpires do an incredible job,” Dillon said when asked about the errors.

When asked if he thought Higgins was out of play, he smiled and repeated: “Our umpires do an incredible job.”