The new AFL umpires’ hierarchy travelled to Geelong on Monday to address Chris Scott’s concerns after he slammed the application of the advantage rule after Jeremy Cameron was controversially denied a late goal in the Cats’ loss to Port Adelaide.
Scott went on a lengthy rant at his post-match media conference to say the AFL should follow the lead of other sports in improving the advantage rule and that umpires need to make calls on holding the ball decisions quicker.
Laura Kane, the new executive general manager of football, spoke with Scott on the weekend and head of officiating Stephen McBurney and head umpiring coach Michael Jennings also drove to Geelong on Monday to meet with him about his gripes.
“The really important part for me is we are connected with our clubs, we are connected to our coaches and we’re all on the same page in terms of rules, in terms of the way our umpires are coached to interpret them and we’re on the same page in terms of outcomes,” Kane told Footy Feed Extra.
“(They) will head down to Geelong today to meet with Chris and make sure we’re on the same page moving forward and reconnect interpretations of various things. Some from the game, some just generally.
“They are the opportunities that we take from this commentary and these types of situations. We take the opportunity to educate our clubs and in turn be educated.”
Kane said the controversial decision to deny the Cats a goal late in the contest was correct..
Zak Butters was caught holding the ball and Cats midfielder Jhye Clark kicked towards the goal square but the umpires had called up play and ruled the ensuing kick had not been advantageous and awarded a free kick to Clark’s teammate, Ollie Henry.
Jeremy Cameron scored from Clark’s kick to cut the lead back to a point but when play restarted, Henry could only manage a behind from an acute angle and Geelong were instead six points adrift.
“The umpire’s whistle has gone at almost the same time that the player (Clark) has disposed at the ball,” Kane said.
“It’s worth noting it came off the side of his boot, it was a shanked kick, and the umpire has made the decision to bring that back and give Geelong the shot on goal.
“So we were comfortable with the way it was officiated.”
Geelong coach Chris Scott. (Photo by Graham Denholm/AFL Photos via Getty Images)
Stengle to step up with star duo out
Gun small forward Tyson Stengle is confident Geelong can handle potentially being without Jeremy Cameron and Tom Hawkins and still kick a winning score against Gold Coast.
Cameron will miss Saturday’s game in Darwin through concussion while veteran Hawkins is scheduled for a rest amid a difficult run of form.
It will likely mean a reshuffle, but Stengle insists the heat isn’t on him to kick more goals.
“Nah, we’ve got a good forward line group, so not much pressure,” Stengle said.
“Hopefully we can play our roles and get it done – share it around.
“We’ve got some young players coming through. So we’ve got full belief in them and their ability to be competitive, come up and be comeptitive at the level.
“So I don’t think there’s much stress. I think we’ll be fine.”
Stengle has kicked 18 goals already this season, including four in Friday night’s home loss to Port Adelaide.
He was confident he was starting to recover his All-Australian form from 2022 after a difficult campaign last year.
“Good start to the year so far, I just want to continue playing some good footy,” he said.
“Obviously 2023, I started off the pre-season a little bit injured, come into the season a little bit underdone, then I broke my arm in round four – so it was a pretty tough year.
“This year I’ve started off the year well. I don’t think much has changed, just I got more training into myself and didn’t get injured so far this year – touch wood – so I think that’s probably the reason.”
Stengle is out of contract at season’s end but wouldn’t be drawn on how long a new deal he would like with the Cats.
“My manager’s working through that at the moment,” he said.
“I just want to focus on what I’m doing on the field.”
The Cats head north on Tuesday for an extended lead-in to the game in Darwin.
“it’s probably going to be a bit slippery and wet up there but we’ll still try and play our game,” Stengle said.
with AAP