‘Wow’: Swans gun’s unforgivable act in goal line madness exposed

Lost in the chaos of Port Adelaide’s miracle after-the-siren win was a Swans star’s moment of madness that will haunt him.

Callum Mills went off early. Photo: Fox Footy.

Callum Mills must have struggled to get to sleep on Saturday night after a mistake that potentially cost his team dearly.

Mills was standing on the goal line when teammate Ollie Florent stepped up to kick a potential match-winner after the siren in the Swans’ thrilling two-point loss to Port Adelaide at the SCG.

Mills was again among Sydney’s best with 21 disposals, but it was his premature celebrations that have been raising eyebrows.

Replays showed Mills ran off the line to celebrate what appeared to be Florent’s walk-off game-winner, only for the kick to land short, stopped from crossing the line by Port defender Aliir Aliir.

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Callum Mills went off early. Photo: Fox Footy.

With Mills vacating a spot that could have potentially blocked Aliir or other Power defenders from jumping at the ball, Lance Franklin did his best to clean out the Port defenders standing in front of him.

But that only opened up space for Aliir, a former Swans player, to make an open leap at the ball.

The potentially massive ramifications of Mills’ act was not lost on Channel 7’s Cameron Ling.

“You see Cal Mills,” commentator Cameron Ling said.

Aliir Aliir, on the line.

Here's the final kick of the game, from the goal line.#AFLSwansPowerpic.twitter.com/qOns7UJycu

— 7AFL (@7AFL) April 8, 2023

Callum Mills is here, sees the kick and runs forward to celebrate.

Aliir’s spoil right where he would’ve been blocking, you’d think? pic.twitter.com/huj9bN6Je1

— Nic Negrepontis (@NicNegrepontis) April 8, 2023

“Watch this here, he’s off. He vacates that line and that’s where Aliir comes to and makes the spoil.”

Jude Bolton responded on Channel 7 by saying: “He vacates the line doesn’t he? Wow”.

Brad Johnson on Fox Footy also pointed out Mills’ hands were in the air prematurely celebrating.

Mills was far from the only one.

The 9.12 (66) to 9.10 (64) result went right down to the wire, so much so that Florent celebrated wildly before learning the bad news.

He was seen screaming: “What happened?” when it became clear his shot had been blocked short of the goal line.

The kick was clearly short. Photo: Fox Footy.

Port, who had only held the lead once for a brief period in the third quarter, hit the lead through a Jed McEntee goal in the final quarter.

Despite losing the lead soon after, with 90 seconds left Jeremy Finlayson kicked his third to put Port’s nose in front.

The mark from Florent gave the home side a golden opportunity to win the match from just inside the 50m arc, but it just didn’t have enough legs.

Even the commentators thought it was home, calling for a score review.

But it was unnecessary as it was just short of the line.

There was complete disbelief on the field. Even Port’s game-winning goal kicker Finlayson thought Florent had won it.

“I thought he kicked it! I seriously thought he kicked it,” he said.

It continues an unthinkable streak for Port Adelaide, who have won the last seven clashes between the team, having been the Swans’ bogey team since 2016.

Utter joy, to utter despair. Photo: Fox Sports

It was a tough night for the Swans, who also lost Paddy McCartin to a horror blow when an innocuous moment say the concussion-prone star stumble from the field.

Swans General Manager of Football Charlie Gardiner told media at quarter time that McCartin was “alert and talking”, and “feeling okay”.

“We’re all very concerned about it, but he’s feeling okay and recovering well,” Gardiner said.

“We’ll take every precaution with him.”

McCartin departed the bench before halftime, and news.com.au understands he has not been sent to hospital as yet.

ABC’s Kyle Pollard called it “as distressing as any injury I’ve seen on the footy field.

“Fingers crossed his recovery is quick,” he said.

His brother Tom McCartin was also subbed out due to concussion in the second quarter.

Originally published as ‘Wow’: Swans gun’s unforgivable act in goal line madness exposed