Audio of umpires during Lachie Schultz concussion reveals they saw the injured Magpie

Audio that was captured immediately after Lachie Schultz’s sickening concussion against Fremantle has been revealed, with the AFL unable to confirm whether the umpires involved would be stood down.

The AFL was on Tuesday night unable to confirm whether the four umpires involved in the Lachie Schultz concussion saga would face further action or be stood down as a result of their actions.

Alarming audio has emerged of Schultz’s sickening concussion against Fremantle, showing the umpires were aware of the Magpie’s concussion.

This comes despite an AFL statement suggesting the umpires would have stopped play had they seen the injured forward lying motionless on the ground of Optus Stadium.

Schultz struggled to stand upright after the incident and even fell to the turf as he attempted to jog off the ground, despite assistance from Collingwood trainers.

Distressing scenes as Lachie Schultz hits the turf. Picture: Getty Images

The star Pie could have suffered further damage as he tried to get off the ground and stumbled badly after such a heavy collision.

Audio from the umpires’ microphones was released on Agenda Setters, where it showed the umpires were clearly aware of the incident as the play unfolded around Schultz.

The umpires assigned to the game at Optus Stadium were Justin Power, Simon Meredith, Craig Fleer and Martin Rodger, with Meredith one of just four umpires with more than 500 games experience.

The umpires told AFL general manager of football performance Josh Mahoney that they did not see the incident, and would have stopped play had they noticed Schultz was injured.

But Laura Kane was forced to walk back the statement, saying it was inconsistent with the vision.

“The statement we released was incorrect, but we were given the wrong information from the umpires. It’s inconsistent with the vision,” she said in a statement to Channel 7.

“They (the umpires) were going off memory and not the vision and we should always look at the vision.

"The statement we released was incorrect, but we were given the wrong information from the umpires."

The Agenda Setters have obtained exclusive umpire audio when Lachie Schultz was concussed on Thursday night. pic.twitter.com/mIijK8JkgB

— 7AFL (@7AFL) May 13, 2025

“All the field umpires from the game have all been coached this afternoon that they should have stopped the game. 

“Having said that, this is on me. It’s the footy department that runs umpiring and that sits with me.”

Schultz has now suffered at least three collisions after missing a game with a head knock in 2021 while at Fremantle and then suffering a head clash last July in a game against Geelong’s Tom Stewart.

Bobby Hill of the Magpies covers the ears of Lachie Schultz as the club song is sung. Picture: Paul Kane

The episode will undermine the AFL’s strong stance on concussion that has seen the league change dozens of rules and strengthen its MRO protocols to ensure it takes a leading stance on minimising head knocks.

Kane had made clear the previous week that the AFL’s umpires make conservative decisions to stop the clock to help injured players after Harrison Jones dislocated his ankle.

The entire umpiring fraternity was counselled by the league’s football department on Tuesday night, with league officials understood to have been extremely disappointed by the incident.

Herald Sun journalist Jon Ralph said on Midweek Tackle the AFL was working through consequences for the umpires involved.

Lachie Schultz is knocked out

“The cover up is always bigger than the crime,” he said.

“My question to the AFL tonight is: will those umpires be stood down? “The league could not provide clarification on that, they are still working through it.”

AFL concussion campaigner Peter Jess said the umpires should have known league rules and the ARC officials should have alerted them to a concussed player as a fallback position.

Schultz leaves the field. Picture: Janelle St Pierre

“The whole argument has been the AFL said they have gold-standard best practice. You ignore a guy who is clearly distressed, clearly unconscious at that point. The game should have been stopped by the bunker. They say they have a bunker which works in real time. It has failed absolutely,” he said.

“This has demonstrated a serious fault from the AFL. We continually allow them to deflect and change the responsibility pattern.

“Once the game starts the AFL are in charge of the stadium which includes all safety. It’s a serious breach of the AFL safety protocols so where is WorkSafe? They should have had a report sitting on the AFL’s desk by Sunday that the AFL breached safety rules.

“Schultz is also now on three clinical concussions. Are the AFL warning him he is on three concussions and of the resulting risks? He is in the red zone now.”

Originally published as Audio of umpires during Lachie Schultz concussion reveals they saw the injured Magpie