Umps sorry for push mistake

A controversial free kick paid against Adelaide's Scott Thompson swung the momentum Hawthorn's way in the last quarter of their AAMI Stadium classic.

Adelaide's Scott Thompson can't believed he was denied a mark against Hawthorn. Picture: Sarah Reed Source: The Advertiser

AFL umpires boss Jeff Gieschen has apologised to Adelaide after Scott Thompson was incorrectly penalised for a push against Hawthorn.

In a review with Crows coach Brenton Sanderson this morning, Gieschen conceded umpires had twice incorrectly penalised Thompson this season at vital stages of games.

The previous wrong call was in Adelaide's loss to Carlton at the MCG a fortnight, also in the last quarter and also in a marking contest.

Former players and fans reacted with anger and disbelief after Thompson was denied a crucial mark and likely goal in the last quarter of the Crows' narrow loss to Hawthorn on Saturday night after a slight push on David Hale's arm with one hand.

But while Gieschen said umpire Ray Chamberlain got it wrong, Thompson's teammate Rory Sloane today defended the men in green.

"That did not change the outcome of the game for us," Sloane said in a press conference that began minutes before Gieschen rang Adelaide coach Brenton Sanderson to apologise for the decision.

"Umpires make mistakes, everyone makes mistakes. We make mistakes as players.

"That is the ruling - you can't push anyone at all in a marking contest. We have to adjust to that.

"That did not change the result. They got a run-on (kicking four unanswered goals) and we were not good enough to stop them."

Pressed on whether the umpire made a mistake on Thompson, Sloane said: "He made the right call because you are not allowed to push."

The most controversial umpiring calls of Round 6

Gieschen said today the decision was an "error".

"The questions you have to ask are - was it a hand in the back? No … it was a bit of a touch in the shoulder," he said.

"It wasn't a push out either. For it to be a push out, there needs to be a degree of force, and there needs to be a straightening of the arm, and we can see a visible push out. But in this case, no it wasn't hands in the back, and it wasn't a push out in the marking contest.

"(There was) a little bit of incidental contact on the shoulder, but certainly not a push out.

"So it was a mistake by the umpire and our coaches have spoken to about that and he was comfortable with it as well. Just a mistake in this situation."

But Gieschen told the AFL website he was surprised some players were not aware they weren't allowed to push opponents in the side or chest in a marking contest.

"It's been around for 10 years on DVDs where we've explained it to clubs so that surprises me a little bit. It may be time that some of the clubs went back and revisited the DVD and showed it to their players just as a reinforcement."

Brisbane Lions midfielder Tom Rockliff said it was the first he'd heard that pushing in the side wasn't allowed, while North Melbourne veteran Brent Harvey declared it bad for the game.

"That's the first time I've ever heard that, and honestly, I'm not one to make up stuff or lie. That's the most bizarre thing I've ever heard," Rockliff said.

Rockliff told SEN radio the apparent crackdown on pushing stripped the game of one of its best traits.

"If you take that away from the game, you're taking away a part of the game that's been so special," he said.

"If you take away the show of strength, I'm not sure how you're supposed to win a contest, otherwise we'll just have 22 athletes running around out there and you might as well not be playing with an AFL footy and make it non-contact.

"There's nothing better than to see a big key forward go one-on-one with his key back and it's a true strength battle."

Asked yesterday if he thought the Thompson mark should have been allowed, Harvey told Channel 7: "Most definitely.

"To the letter of the law, that's a free kick, but we can't have that going out of the game. That's the slightest touch of all time, in an arm.

"I don't think that needs to come into the game."

Richmond captain Trent Cotchin said of the Thompson decision: "If he puts his hand up and pushes that tiny bit earlier, he probably gets away with it, but because his opponent jumps up, it probably makes it look worse than it actually was."

AFL umpires' boss Jeff Gieschen said last week the rules were clear - you can't push in any way in a marking contest.

"It wasn't a push in the back, it was a push," Gieschen said.
 

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