It was late, but it was correct

There has been a lot of controversy surrounding the league's decision to award Fremantle a full quota of premiership points, but as Nick Mockford reports, it was the correct one.

To quote a fairly prominent media and footballing figure, it's certainly been a big week in football.

None bigger, of course, than the happenings down in Launceston last weekend between St Kilda, Fremantle and an unforunate timekeeper.

Everyone has an opinion on what should have happened and everyone has an opinion on the AFL commission's final decision to award the Dockers four points, but from where I am sitting, they made the right call in terms of protecting the game's integrity, regardless of the can of worms it may or may not open.

It has certainly been amusing sitting back and watching supporters from both clubs - and those in the neutral camp - debate what should have happened. I've seen Saints fans threaten to not attend another game ever if their team doesn't take legal action to fight for points they don't deserve, and I've seen people wanting other losses turned over because of umpiring mistakes, which is absurd, yet amusing.

The bottom line is this: When time ran out, Fremantle were in front on . This is not like a freekick and open to interpretation, but a cold, hard fact. There is nothing to dispute at all. When the game clock ran out, the score read Fremantle 94, St Kilda 93. That much cannot be argued.

This is where the AFL much be credited greatly. Andrew Demetriou and co. could have easily hidden by the rule in it's current written form, that being a game isn't over until the umpire signals he has heard the siren. Going by that rule, St Kilda could have even won the game if Steven Baker had been able to convert either of his kicks, and the uproar would have been even greater. They could have easily shut the book on it and hoped Fremantle didn't miss out on the finals by a couple of points.

However, such a decision would no doubt bring even more scorn from the public. It would have been the easy way out, and for an administration that hasn't exactly played to a melodic chorus in the best of times, it would have been a chance to assert authority wasted. They are in place to make the tough calls, and such an incident had a lot more than just four points resting on it.

Inevitably, it didn't take long for Eddie to come out and want the 1980 Escort Cup Grand Final overturned, that is when North Melbourne's Kerry Goode took a mark seemingly after the siren and kicked the winning goal. There is a key difference here however, that being the umpires did acknowledge the siren. They just made the decision that Goode's mark was still legitimate. That one is umpire interpretation and hence a different situation.

The umpires did not hear the initial siren at Aurora Stadium, despite protests from Fremantle that it had certainly gone. Baker had his first unsuccessful attempt on goal some eight seconds after the clock had run down to zero, so this isn't some situation where the umpire has heard the siren belatedly, such as in 1980. Theoretically, the game would have gone on forever if Hayden Kennedy hadn't heard the second siren, assuming the league stuck strictly to the rule as it is on paper.

St Kilda fans will get over this eventually, as they know they didn't deserve to win the game, and they have bigger problems this season than a missing two points. But credit the league for having the courage to make a decision; a decision that could have massive ramifications down the track, but in the spirit of the game is correct.

Sure, penalise Chris Connolly for running onto the ground, and don't blame Grant Thomas for putting his St Kilda cap on in the press conference afterwards, but the game's administration are in place to, among other things, protect the spirit and integrity of the game.

They have done this, and well done to them.

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