The umpires officiating the Geelong and St Kilda clash on Friday night have copped a barrage of criticism in the aftermath of the game after repeatedly refusing to call holding the ball decisions.
While Brett Ratten’s side may have shot themselves in the foot- kicking 5.17- they weren’t aided by the umpires in an abnormally low free kick count for the night.
“I feel for the players,” Ratten said.
“To get 85 tackles and get three holding the ball (free kicks), it would be interesting to see (how Geelong got rid of the footy in those tackles).”
Geelong smashed their way through tackles to exit out the front of stoppages in last weeks demolishment of Richmond, but couldn’t do it on Friday night as the Saints kept them honest.
However, St Kilda only received three holding the ball decisions, despite Geelong players appearing to regularly take the tackler on and have prior opportunity before an umpire called a ball up.
Gerard Whatelely on SEN's Crunch Time couldn’t believe what he described as a “pattern” from the start of the match.
“The umpiring was such a curiosity last night, you could tell through the first 12 or 14 minutes that they weren’t going to pay very much,” he said.
“It’s ended up 13 free kicks to 12, but 25 (free kicks) wasn’t even close to where last night should have been in the natural flow of things.
“The game is better when the umpires pay the free kick that are there… That group just seemed intent not to pay free kicks, and they were fixated on the 15 metre free kicks, and I wonder whether they were fixated on that to the expense of doing the rest of the job.”
Geelong won the game by 21 points and have now won four of their last five fixtures between the two sides.