By Danny Russell, Jon Pierik, Scott Spits and Andrew Wu
Gold Coast coach Damien Hardwick has criticised the umpires for a controversial free kick which resulted in St Kilda kicking a match-winning goal in one of the worst games of the season.
Hardwick was also critical of how umpires adjudicated the close checking tactics of Saints tagger Marcus Windhager on Suns skipper Touk Miller.
Defending a three-point lead, the Suns’ bid to cement a spot in the eight was unravelled after backman Mac Andrew was penalised for a hold behind the play on Saints spearhead Max King about 60 metres from the ball.
King can be shaky in front of goal but nervelessly converted from about 20 metres out to regain the lead for the Saints, who held on in a nervy finish to a match that produced just 14 majors under the roof at Marvel Stadium.
The Saints’ three-point victory keeps their finals flame flickering but the Suns blew a golden opportunity against a team that started the round in the bottom four to cement a spot in the eight and snap a horror away losing streak that now stands at 13.
Though both King and Andrew appeared to be holding each other, the umpire who paid the free was only metres away and had an unimpeded view of the contest.
A frustrated Hardwick, who described the match as “terrible” and “horrific”, did not believe Andrew should have been penalised.
“Clearly, in my view it was a free kick that was unwarranted,” Hardwick said.
“When two guys are going toe-to-toe, one’s grabbing, the other one’s grabbing, which way do you go? He’s probably looking at one person trying to give away a free kick, that’s the defender, that’s life.”
St Kilda coach Ross Lyon did not want to be drawn on the umpires, mindful of the need to set the right example so as not to discourage prospective whistle-blowers from joining at lower levels.
“I’ve been to grand finals where I can bang on about free kicks but I never have, good or bad,” Lyon, who has coached in four deciders, said.
“I’m not here to bang on good or bad. People get kneed to the head, don’t get free kicks. Stuff happens. Everything’s good until it’s not, isnt’ it?”
The close finish ensured there was interest in the ugly spectacle right to the end, though all but a few hundred in the meagre crowd of 17,902 would have left the venue glad their Saints emerged with the four points.
The Saints dominated for large periods of the game, winning contested ball by 20, clearances by 10, and entries inside 50 by 11, but left the door ajar with their sloppy ball use.
“I would have been devastated if we lost that game,” Lyon said. “I didn’t think we should have been in that position.”
Suns key backs Charlie Ballard and Sam Collins were colossal, keeping their side in the hunt in the first half, albeit assisted by the Saints lack of polish.
The Suns did themselves no favours either. Beaten at the contest, they were unable to move the ball with any speed.
“It was a terrible game of footy to be perfectly honest,” Hardwick said. “Horrific game of footy.”
Hardwick gave credit to Windhager’s effort to limit Miller to 14 disposals and a goal, down from his season average before this round of 27, but believed his skipper had been impeded.
“He did a great job, don’t get me wrong, he limited Touk’s influence,” Hardwick said. “Something we could do better to get him free but also we’ve got to allow the guy to run. Touk’s got to be able to run.
“The strength of Touk as a player is he can get from contest A to B and we didn’t quite get that.
“We didn’t move the ball well enough to allow Touk to get in the game. The game was very stagnant. I’m not saying he held, or anything like that, I’m saying it was on us. We didn’t move the ball well enough, and the game was slow.”
Simpkin says holding-the-ball call was a free
Jon Pierik
Kangaroos co-captain Jy Simpkin says a contentious holding-the-ball decision which helped deliver the Roos a drought-breaking victory was “absolutely” a free.
On a day of decisive umpiring decisions late in games at opposite ends of the country, the Kangas won just their second game since March last year as Simpkin kicked truly at Optus Stadium to put them in the lead against West Coast after a free was paid against Elliot Yeo.
North Melbourne had squandered a 33-point lead to fall two points behind with under three minutes remaining when the holding-the-ball call was made against Yeo about 45 metres from the Roos’ goal.
Jy Simpkin earned a free kick for this tackle on West Coast Eagle Elliot Yeo.Credit: Fox Footy
Yeo was adjudged to have dragged the ball in under this body, gifting Simpkin a free kick. Kangaroos co-captain Simpkin impressively slotted the shot.
Forward Paul Curtis booted another goal soon after, and the Kangaroos held on to win by nine points.
The AFL last month urged umpires to tighten the interpretation of holding the ball by adjudicating quicker than they had been. Yeo was given little time to dispose of the ball, having taken possession just as the ball had slipped from young Kangaroo George Wardlaw after Yeo had tackled him.
In a tight finish in Launceston, Hawthorn continued their mid-season surge towards the finals after a controversial down-the-field free kick allowed them to kick a last-minute goal and snatch victory over Greater Western Sydney.
In Perth, West Coast coach Adam Simpson said it was “pretty hard” for him to assess if the new rule interpretation was right and it was hard for players to adjust “on the fly”.
Simpson also lamented that it was difficult to know what instruction should be given to players like Yeo.
“I think it [holding-the-ball interpretation] will settle, but it’s pretty hard to ask me after what happened tonight,” Simpson said after the narrow defeat.
“But, yeah, the players normally adjust. On the fly it is difficult.
“You can’t really coach differently.
“I don’t know what to say to Elliot – ‘Don’t win the ball like that’. I don’t know
“It’s probably the wrong time to ask me.
“I get why we’ve made the [rule] tweak, but it seems like it’s going to take a bit of time to get it right.
“I’m not talking about that free kick any more because I’ll get in trouble.”
Giant Green’s late bump sparks controversy
Danny Russell
Hawthorn continued their mid-season surge towards the finals after a controversial down-the-field free kick allowed them to kick a last-minute goal and snatch a six-point victory over Greater Western Sydney in Launceston.
With the scores tied at 79 apiece in Launceston and the time ticking away, the Giants players were left dismayed when Hawthorn were awarded a free kick on the boundary line beside the left-hand behind post.
It followed a Tom Green shoulder on Hawks skipper James Sicily as he delivered the ball deep into Hawthorn’s forward line, with the umpire ruling that the crude bump was too late.
James Sicily wins a free kick. It was paid down field.Credit: Fox Footy
The Sherrin ended in the hands of Luke Breust, where Sicily’s kick had crossed the boundary line out on the full, and the super sub was able to snap the winning goal.
Giants coach Adam Kingsley said he did not see the Green infringement on Sicily that resulted in his side losing their fifth game in the past seven matches.
“I can’t really comment on whether it was a free kick or not,” Kingsley said.
“I mean, he’s desperate to try and stop a score, so things happen when you are desperate, and it didn’t go our way today.
“It is what it is, we move on.”
The controversial free kick in Tasmania.Credit: Fox Footy
Hawthorn coach Sam Mitchell said he had not rewatched the Sicily incident to comment on whether the umpire’s call was justified.
“I’m not sure,” Mitchell said. “I was a bit worried that Sis had missed, because any score would have been great at that moment. I’ll leave that to the umpires, they have got a tough job.”
Fox Footy commentator Dermott Brereton remarked that Sicily had “played that so cleverly” by throwing both arms in the air as he was bumped.
“He deliberately allows himself to land heavy on the ground,” Brereton said.
It was not the only tense moment on an afternoon of high drama for Mitchell who revealed that six Hawthorn staff - including general manager of footy operations Max Bailey, the club runner and a doctor - had been stranded on the tarmac at Hobart airport before the game because of heavy fog in Launceston and did not make it to the ground.
“I think we had five or six staff, who have match-day roles, who were not there who were coming on the day, so it was a great challenge for us and we took it in our stride,” Mitchell said.
The Hawks lost ruckman Ned Reeves in the third term with a back injury, bringing Breust onto the ground, while Giants skipper Toby Greene wore a helmet after copping a cut to the head and briefly leaving the field.
Hawthorn are now 6-7 for the season, winning five of their past six - the loss being a one-point heartbreaker against Port Adelaide - and have moved within two games of the top eight.
The Hawks face Richmond at the MCG next Saturday for Dustin Martin’s 300th game.
The Giants looked fresh early, coming off last week’s bye, their second for the season, an anomaly in this year’s draw that has caused angst throughout the competition.
Hawthorn are not due for their first bye until round 15, along with the Western Bulldogs, despite both playing teams this weekend that have already had two breaks - the Giants and Brisbane.
Geelong’s opponents on Sunday, the top-of-the-table Sydney Swans, have also had two byes, while the Cats will not get their first break until round 14.
Lions coach Chris Fagan conceded on Friday night after his side’s thumping of the Bulldogs that they had been able to recalibrate after their second break.
“It was good to have the bye,” Fagan said. “We had a few sore boys, playing that game against Hawthorn (in round 11).”
Beveridge said the Bulldogs had not competed as well as they had in recent weeks, but he was not willing to blame the lack of a bye.
“Oh, it’s hard to tell,” the Bulldogs coach said. “I mean, they played really well, and there was an energy in their game that, especially at the source, that we couldn’t match.
“You are stating some facts that are there, but I’m not going to make excuses.”
Holding-the-ball brouhaha out west
Jon Pierik
The AFL’s contentious holding-the-ball interpretation will again be a topic of discussion after North Melbourne won their first game of the season.
Having squandered a 33-point lead to fall two points behind with under three minutes remaining, Eagles gun Elliot Yeo was adjudged to have dragged the ball in, gifting Jy Simpkin a free kick about 45 metres directly in front of goal. The Kangaroos co-captain slotted the shot.
AFL great Gerard Healy, in commentary on Fox Footy, disagreed with the umpire’s decision.
“There is something that appears wrong if that is a free kick … he (Yeo) has basically got up on his knees and been pinged without no prior opportunity. That is going to have a fair bit of air play, I reckon, over the next 48 hours,” Healy said.
“Even if it was technically correct, it didn’t seem right to me.”
Simpkin later said it “absolutely” was a free kick, but he had been nervous when taking the set shot with the stakes so high. Nick Larkey, having booted a season-high five goals, admitted the Kangaroos had got “lucky” late in the game.