AFL ticks off play on call after ball strikes MCG spidercam during Collingwood-Sydney match

Fans and commentators were left bemused when the ball struck the spidercam during Collingwood’s clash with Sydney — and played continued. Here’s why the call has been given the all clear.

Sydney's James Jordon and Nick Blakey celebrate during the Round 1 AFL match between the Collingwood Magpies and the Sydney Swans at the MCG on March 15, 2024. Photo by Phil Hillyard (Image Supplied for Editorial Use only – Phil Hillyard **NO ON SALES** – ©Phil Hillyard )

A technicality within the AFL rules allows the league to tick off the umpires not calling a ball up when the ball hit a camera during Friday night’s clash between Collingwood and Sydney.

Swans star Errol Gulden’s rushed high kick forward at the 5 minute mark of the second quarter hit Channel 7’s ‘Spidercam’ and plummeted short of where players had set up to contest it.

The camera was sitting at the allowed height off the ground per the AFL’s broadcast regulations when the ball hit it, and could be seen lifting upwards drastically after contact.

Only Collingwood’s Brayden Maynard appeared to read the ricochet and charged towards the ball but failed to mark.

The MCG spidercam hovers above Collingwood ruckman Darcy Cameron. Picture: Michael Willson/AFL Photos via Getty Images

Play carried on after Maynard’s spill, with the Pies then clearing the defensive zone, as Channel 7 commentator Brian Taylor questioned whether the play should have been stopped.

“Hit the camera in the air did it? Did it really? Is that supposed to be a dead ball or not?,” Taylor questioned.

“That has always been the worry about whether it would hit the camera or not.”

While the regulations call for a stop of play and a ball up if the footy hits an object like the camera, that is only if the umpires actually see the deflection.

Nortje absolutely rocked by the Spidercam 🥊 😳
High contact, reckless, looking at 3 weeks. #AUSvSApic.twitter.com/20WMaPGT0a

— Tyson Whelan (@tyson_whelan) December 27, 2022

The AFL will then be able to clear the lack of whistle.

“It was one of those things, it has been there for hundreds of games,” AFL boss Andrew Dillon said on SEN.

“We will chat with Channel 7 about it and work our way through it. It probably was an act of

something.”

Swan Logan McDonald said: “Myself and Chad (Warner) were actually talking about that, ‘Of course Errol hit it’.

“It was so bizarre, I’m not sure if there’s a rule around that. But you’d like to think the game would probably have to get stopped because they went down the other end. So it was an interesting one. I don’t think it’s ever happened before it was bizarre.”

No noise was heard from an umpire microphone on the TV coverage, indicating the umpires didn’t see the ball hit the broadcasting equipment.

One field umpire could be seen watching the game at ground level and appeared not to realise why the kick fell short.

“The players didn’t even realise it themselves,” four-time flag winner Luke Hodge told the Channel 7 broadcast at halftime.

The aerial camera has interfered with a play on the MCG before, when a ‘spidercam’ ran into South African fast bowler Anrich Nortje during the 2022 Boxing Day cricket Test match.

Nortje was knocked to the ground by that hit but recovered to play on.

Originally published as AFL ticks off play on call after ball strikes MCG spidercam during Collingwood-Sydney match