AFL investigating Tassie clash

Contact SportsAustralia with your feedback on this topic - should Fremantle be awarded the full four points from today's game against St Kilda, or should it remain a draw?

Australian Football League (AFL) executives will meet from tomorrow regarding the bizarre and controversial conclusion to the match between St Kilda and Fremantle at Aurora Stadium today.

The Fremantle Football Club made an official complaint to the AFL post-match after being awarded a draw and not a victory, despite holding a one-point lead when the siren sounded.

AFL football operations manager Adrian Anderson made a statement in regards to the complaint on Sunday evening, "The AFL is conducting an investigation into the circumstances surrounding the end of the match in Launceston between St Kilda and Fremantle, following a complaint received by the Fremantle Football Club after the match."

The Dockers had held a one-point lead when the official time clock reached zero and the siren had sounded, but controlling umpire Mathew Nicholls failed to hear it and continued the game. The ground's siren had been hardly audible the entire game.

After Fremantle players fervently protested to the umpire that the siren sounded before he bounced the ball in the St Kilda forward line, the Saints gained the clearance and Steven Baker had a shot from 40 metres out, which sailed through for a behind to level the scores.

A meeting between the umpires saw Baker given the option to have another shot at goal for a foul after disposal, or to accept the original behind. The St Kilda midfielder took the shot again and scored a behind.

The umpires officially ended play at that point, with the final scores reflecting a 94-all draw.

A decision by the AFL in regards to their investigation isn't expected until Monday at the earliest.

Mounting to the controversy is the confusion with the timekeepers, with rule 10.4.1 of the AFL Rules Book 2006 stating, "The timekeepers shall sound the siren to signal the end of a quarter until a Referee acknowledges that the siren has been heard and brings play to an end."

Citing that rule, the siren must have been heard and acknowledged by a non-controlling umpire for it to stop, suggesting it was the end of the game. Allegedly, field umpire Hayden Kennedy heard the siren and informed Nicholls, but was overruled by his younger counterpart.

Emergency umpire Brett Rosebury had also apparently heard the siren too, according to Fremantle coach Chris Connolly.

Adding to the controversy, controlling umpire Nicholls was going to award a 50-metre penalty to Baker for abuse by Docker players, but sources suggest Kennedy overruled this decision, informing Baker that his kick would be taken from 40, and not from the goal-line.

Should the AFL rule in favour of the match remaining a draw, Connolly and Fremantle CEO Cameron Schwab could potentially look at legal action, with Schwab alluding to the fact that it's one avenue to take should it need to happen.

If the game is to follow down that path, it would set a new precedent in match results being overturned by legal involvement.

The last VFL/AFL match to finish in similar controversy with the umpires failing to hear the siren was 1980, when Kerry Good kicked the winning goal for North Melbourne against Collingwood in the night pre-season final, after Good had marked the ball in the forward line over five seconds after the siren.

The three field umpires in charge of today's match - Nicholls, Kennedy and Michael Vozzo - will be interviewed as part of the investigation by the AFL, including both goal umpires, boundary umpires, emergency umpires, the timekeepers and coaches.

"God knows what would have happened if this had happened at Subiaco - we're talking really unhealthy stuff," Connolly said post-match.

"I just hope commonsense prevails," he said.

"Say it happened in a Grand Final, 92,000 people, the game has finished, the team is celebrating because it won, and it's play on.

"The (emergency) umpire on the bench (Rosebury) was asked - he said he clearly heard it like most people.

"(Field umpire) Kennedy looked to be running down to stop the game ... we thought it was all wrapped up."

Posed with the news that the Dockers were attempting to reverse the result, St Kilda coach Grant Thomas said, "You've got to be kidding me - are you serious?"

"That was the scoreline - that's one thing no one can debate.

"The umpire puts his hands up to say that's the end of the game and they confer, they agree on the scores and that's what it is."

SportingBet, an official partner with the AFL, said they had received official confirmation of the scores approximately 30 minutes after the game, like they do after each and every premiership match.

The result they received in fax form is how it currently stands - a 13.16 (94) to 14.10 (94) draw - which is how it was marked by the goal umpires post-match, and signed by the field umpires.

Citing that the rules state that the period isn't complete until the umpire raises both hands to acknowledge the siren, which is merely an indicator of time - not a dictator, the result is unlikely to be reversed and awarded in the Dockers' favour.

A lawyer, who rang a talkback program on Perth's 6PR Radio Station, said that should the situation result in legal action, Fremantle could only potentially argue that it was an "improper application of the rules," which opens up an entirely new box.

Related Article:

Saints escape with draw against Dockers (Sun Apr 30)

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