A mid-season rule change has backfired on the AFL after the review centre was unable to intervene on a bizarre set of circumstances in the fourth quarter of Port Adelaide’s huge Showdown win over the Crows on Saturday night. Adelaide forward Riley Thilthorpe’s set shot clearly crossed the line for a behind before bouncing back into play, with Ben Keays receiving a free kick and converting for a goal. The goal umpire never called for a review — and the AFL review centre (ARC) was
prohibited from taking action. Know the news with the 7NEWS app: Download today Arrow The AFL previously allowed for the ARC to stop play in the wake of a controversial non-goal — coincidentally involving Keays — in a narrow Adelaide loss to Sydney in 2023. But a controversial late intervention that stopped play during St Kilda’s clash with West Coast in April prompted change. “Going forward now, the ARC won’t do that,” Swann said in April after the Rowan Marshall controversy. “The ARC will still
do goal reviews, but they won’t intervene in a score like they did on the weekend unless the umpire calls for it.” Replays showed the whole of the ball had clearly crossed the line after Thilthorpe’s shot, with boos raining down from Port fans furious that the non-call allowed Adelaide to kick a goal. “They can’t go back with the ARC and pay the point, can they, or not?” Mark Ricciuto said on Fox Sports. “What we just saw there was the ball hitting the
ground behind the line, which means it’s a score, and then the free kick to Keays was after that. Are they allowed to use the ARC to go back?” Former Port Adelaide coach Ken Hinkley bluntly took a shot at the league: “The AFL is allowed to do whatever they like.” Ricciuto replied: “But that should technically be a point. It hit the ground behind the line.” The drama arrived just a day after the AFL was forced to concede umpires robbed Brisbane’s Logan Morris
of a goal because of another set of controversial rules. In Adelaide on Saturday night the ‘footy gods’, as called by Dwayne Russell, quickly corrected the situation as Port Adelaide struck back through Mitch Georgiades to effectively end the match as a contest. More to come.
AFL, review centre, ARC, Port Adelaide, Adelaide Crows, Riley Thilthorpe, Ben Keays, Mark Ricciuto, Ken Hinkley, Rowan Marshall, Logan Morris, Mitch Georgiades, Showdown
So basically the umpire didn’t review and then everyone got mad? Seems like the ARC was just useless.
I don’t even get it, I thought if it crosses the line it’s always a behind/score like automatically. How can they be “prohibited” from fixing it after the fact?? That’s dumb.
They said the ARC can’t intervene unless the umpire calls it, but couldn’t the umpire just have called it? Like the whole point of a review center is to stop chaos. Also why did it involve Keays again, isn’t that like the player from the Sydney game in 2023? Feels like history repeating.
AFL rules always confuse me, and now it’s even more “arc can’t do anything”?? If the ball hit behind the line that’s a behind, right? But then they still gave a goal later so I’m like… did they just say “oops” and move on. This “mid-season change backfired” is just the league covering for poor officiating. Smh.