Nearly a minute of AFL football has been erased from history following what commentators described as 'the most farcical' goal review, which handed St Kilda a controversial advantage against West Coast on Sunday.
Midway through the second quarter, a deep kick inside 50 was marked by Rowan Marshall over the goal line, but a behind was initially signalled. There were no complaints from either side, and West Coast quickly resumed play with a kick-in. However, 45 seconds of game time later — and even longer in real time — an umpire suddenly stopped play to initiate a review.
'I'm confused here. Everyone's looking around to see whose free it is or what they're doing,' Dwayne Russell remarked on Fox commentary.
The decision to send the ball back to the goal line for a review drew immediate criticism. 'That won't count — any stat that happened in that minute, if this ends up being a score, will be erased from the books,' Russell added.
Ben Dixon expressed disbelief: 'Seriously, a minute and a half to make a decision? Are you kidding me? They should have 30, 45 seconds and it should be done, let it go.'
Compounding the controversy, the AFL review centre deemed it a mark to Marshall, even though commentators were adamant the ball had crossed the line. 'It's over the line! It looked like it was controlled over the line. But to pull the play back?' they questioned.
Marshall subsequently snapped truly to extend St Kilda's lead to 21 points, a moment Russell described as 'as bizarre as we've ever seen AFL football played.' Mooney called it 'farcical,' adding, 'Unless there's another angle that we're missing, that is a 'mare of a decision.'
Dixon concluded: 'I can't believe that. That's embarrassing if you look at it. That was inconclusive. If it was controlled it was over the line. We lose a minute and a half of play. If you're going to call it, call it. You've got at least 15-20 seconds to realise it on the kick-out. That in my eyes is marked over the line.'
West Coast entered forward 50 from the centre bounce, but Jack Silvagni intercepted to spark a Saints attack that resulted in another goal. The Eagles failed to score any points after that moment and trailed 1.6 (12) to 7.10 (52) at halftime.
More to come...
