Essendon’s Kyle Langford, Jye Caldwell voice disappointment at umpiring in loss to Geelong

Jye Caldwell and Kyle Langford have spoken up about the ‘frustrating’ free kicks paid against Essendon on Saturday night which made Bombers fans livid.

The free kick against Jye Menzie was a contentious one.

Essendon star Jye Caldwell described Saturday night’s umpiring as “pretty frustrating” and “deflating” as a string of contentious calls gifted Geelong momentum at the MCG.

Caldwell zeroed in on the decision not to award Sam Draper a free kick in front of goal after he had his arms chopped by Zach Tuohy in a marking contest.

A free kick to Draper would’ve given the ruckman a shot to regain the lead. Instead the Cats went end-to-end as Gary Rohan extended their lead to nine points.

“It’s those 12-point plays where you go forward (and) if you don’t score, something happens and they score,” Caldwell told the Herald Sun.

“They’re the ones that kill you.”

Tuohy described the collision with Draper as one of his heaviest in 15 years and it left the veteran feeling sore.

Teammate Mitch Duncan told the Herald Sun that the umpires had got it right.

“I don’t think so (the umpires influenced the game),” Duncan said.

“The Zach Tuohy one was an interesting one, because I thought he had his eyes on the ball if that’s what you’re alluding to.

Jye Caldwell of the Bombers clears as he is tackled by Tom Atkins in the first quarter. Picture: Michael Klein

“It was an amazing contest. Other than that one, I can’t really remember too other ones.

“I thought the umpires did a great job tonight.”

But Caldwell was clearly unimpressed as the calls sapped their momentum.

“It’s hard. I probably can’t say too much, but you give it your all and you’re busting your lungs out there, and if something doesn’t get called you probably get caught up in the moment a fair bit,” he said.

“You can’t dwell on those decisions too much because it’s a long game and if you do you get stuck behind.

“(But) it’s pretty frustrating. It’s probably not the calls as well, it’s probably what’s after that as well.

“If it leads to like them gaining territory or just little moments that probably don’t seem (much) but then it flows on to something bigger, which is pretty deflating.”

Caldwell was involved in one of many dubious decisions when he went unrewarded for a perfect tackle on Jack Bowes directly in front of goal.

“It’s a hard one to adjudicate (holding the ball). I feel like there’s a lot of moving pieces with it,” Caldwell said.

“We’ve had the umpires in to explain what’s holding the ball and what’s not, so we are clear on that.

“But I think it’s that second movement. If you have an arm free or they spin around then they’ve mainly got to call that. That’s what they’re looking for now.

“So it’s the ability to fight a tackle and try and attempt to get your foot to it.

“It’s so hard because if you’re going 100 per cent it gets pretty tough.”

Caldwell admitted he was not totally across the deliberate rushed behind rule.

But he said he believed Jye Menzie should not have been pinged for walking across the line during the third term.

“I’m never on the last line, really, so I don’t really know. But I thought if you were within 5-10m of pressure (it’s not a free kick).”

LANFORD SAYS BOMBERS WERE FLUSTERED BY UMPIRING

Essendon forward Kyle Langford says the Bombers players were confused and frustrated by Jye Menzie’s deliberate rushed behind call but conceded they did not handle their emotions well enough.

Essendon was the recipient of a run of borderline free kicks that went against them in the third term which included Zach Tuohy’s arm chop on Sam Draper.

The AFL’s football boss Laura Kane has made clear she is keen to clarify issues in the game including contentious free kicks so AFL House is likely to make a ruling by Monday.

Under the AFL’s rushed behind rule a player can be penalised for a rushed behind if they are “not under immediate physical pressure”, and has had “time and space to dispose of the ball”.

But veteran AFL umpire Ray Chamberlain said last week umpires were told as a coaching point the physical pressure related to a player within 2-3 metres.

Oliver Dempsey appeals to the umpire after Jye Menzie walked the ball over the goal line. Picture: Michael Klein

Menzie’s opponent Ollie Dempsey was clearly within 2-3 metres as he decided to escape across the line.

Richmond’s Nathan Broad was penalised for a deliberate rushed behind in the opening round and Patty McCartin also transgressed last week against GWS.

But the AFL’s whistle-blowers have not paid free kicks this year for what Menzie did to run the ball over the line.

Asked if he was clear on the rule, Langford said players had believed they could rush the ball in that manner.

“No, I am not clear at all. We all thought if there was pressure within that nine metre area it wouldn’t be a free kick,” he said.

“I can’t speak too much about umpiring decisions but it is disappointing.

“You see the momentum in footy at the moment and during that third quarter the momentum got away from us.

Kyle Langford was not happy with the umpiring. Picture: Getty Images

“Scotty (Brad Scott) put it in a very political way. A series of unfortunate events and it is our ability to drop that and move on with the game. Scotty mentioned it. We probably failed in that department. We were bitterly disappointed in the result but it is something we work extremely hard on.”

The club’s head of psychology and wellbeing Ben Robbins has worked with players on their performance across summer but Langford said they had slipped in that department.

“We have Ben Robbins in at the club and we do a lot of work around being able to stay present and drop those moments but we are all human and it’s something that is so frustrating where you get those inside 50s and get those opportunities and it goes down the other end. It takes a bit of a beating.”

Chamberlain told SEN Radio after the McCartin ruling it was a tough rule to officiate.

“It’s in the margins. You have to ask was he under immediate pressure or not and that’s that 2-3 metre mark. It’s a call on the day.”

Originally published as Essendon’s Kyle Langford, Jye Caldwell voice disappointment at umpiring in loss to Geelong