AFL grand final Collingwood vs. Brisbane: Harris Andrews responds to umpiring decision

Brisbane were surging in the final moments of the grand final, but a ‘head scratching’ call to pay advantage to Zac Bailey instead of bringing Lachie Neale’s free kick back has sparked controversy.

Lachie Neale devastated after the game. Picture: Getty Images

Is it the controversial call that cost Brisbane a premiership?

Harris Andrews says he won’t “go into it” but thousands of furious fans – and a few former Lions - certainly think so.

Former Brisbane skipper Tom Rockliff declared the Lions were “robbed” and Luke Hodge ruled it “wasn’t advantage”.

It matters little now to the Lions, who were left in the lurch by a head scratching call to pay advantage to Zac Bailey in the final minutes of the grand final.

The Lions looked dead and buried in the final quarter when Steele Sidebottom stepped to the line courtesy of a Jarrod Berry 50m penalty and sent Collingwood 10 points clear with two minutes to play.

But some Hugh McCluggage brilliance on the boundary to find Joe Daniher at the top of the square, and quick thinking from the lumbering Lion to play on and goal, brought Brisbane back to within a kick.

Lachie Neale was unlucky to not be given his free kick. Picture: Lachie Millard

Brisbane surged forward from the bounce where Lachie Neale was legged in an Oleg Markov tackle, drawing a free kick from the umpire.

But as 100,000-plus fans roared the players on, Bailey picked up the ball and sent a quick kick inside 50 over his shoulder – seemingly unaware Neale had been handed a free.

Rather than call the ball back, the controlling umpire paid advantage and Collingwood was able to control the final 30 seconds to close out a historic 16th premiership.

“How is that advantage? Disgraceful Lions robbed” fumed Rockliff on social platform X.

A hurting Andrews would not be drawn on the controversial decision as he came to terms with the loss in the sheds after the match.

“To be honest I didn’t see too much of it, I was just worrying about myself and trying to get my job done,” he said.

“I’m not going to go into it.”

Andrews vowed to rip the band aid off and reopen the wounds of the agonizing grand final defeat as soon as possible.

In the wake of Saturday’s four-point loss to Collingwood a resilient Andrews declared the playing group would pour over the tape to dissect how and why they were outmuscled by the Magpies in the decider.

“I’ve got no doubt we’ll watch the tape,” he said.

“We’re not going to push this under the rug. We’re going to break it down – as we have every year at the end of each season - and recognize where we’ve fallen short and what we can do better to come back next year in better shape.”

The stars had seemingly aligned for this to be the Lions’ year.

Harris Andrews wasn’t going to blame the umpires for the Lions’ loss. Picture: Getty Images

After four years of finals failures they had answered every question of them in September, only to fall short on the game’s biggest stage.

Chris Fagan has never shied away from harnessing the hurt from years gone by. He made the playing group watch the 2022 preliminary final hammering at the hands of Geelong on repeat.

He wanted them to feel the hurt. Feel the pain. Know what it is and do everything to ensure it doesn’t happen again.

Saturday’s sour note will linger much longer than any before it. But the same method will still apply.

“We’re obviously really hurt from this but … we’ll come back next year with a bit of fire in our belly,” Andrews said.

“The boys need to soak that up. Know what that feels like and use that to power them.

“We’ve shown in years gone by – straight sets in finals, disappointments in preliminary finals. We’ve acknowledged that we’ve fallen short and been able to steer our own journey.

“If we push this under the carpet … it will lead us to a bad place.

“That’s what this group has done really well, driven by ‘Fages, is our ability to learn from our mistakes.

“It will take a little while to sink in but we’ll come back ready to go and make sure we’re fit for pre-season.”

Originally published as AFL grand final Collingwood vs. Brisbane: Harris Andrews responds to umpiring decision