The GWS Giants are “privately seething” at the crucial dissent free kick which swung the game late in their loss to Carlton on Saturday.
In an eventual 10-point win for the Blues, Jesse Motlop booted a goal at the 15-minute mark of the final term that had Carlton a point up.
The Giants would score just one more rushed behind for the game. But the controversy that led to Motlop's goal has become the key talking point, with suggestions GWS was wrongly undone late in the game.
Motlop was awarded the free kick directly infront 15 metres out for dissent against Stephen Coniglio, who raised his arms at a missed free kick in the play prior.
Was that worth a goal?
— Fox Footy (@FOXFOOTY) April 1, 2023
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Umpire audio released overnight suggests there was no ugly language from the former GWS skipper and was only penalised because of his action.
It’s a free kick at odds with the trend across the league, and given the timing of the score, SEN’s Tom Morris reports GWS are privately furious.
The dissent rule: A short history:
— Tom Morris (@tommorris32) April 1, 2023
Sep 2021: Toby Greene makes contact with an umpire. 6-week ban. AFL keen to make a stand.
Nov 2021: AFL-commissioned report confirmed a mass shortage of umps at local level (~6,000). However, abuse accounted for just 6% of this shortage. 1/4
The AFL is yet to comment on the decision.
“I’m intrigued as to how the umpires deal with this… the Giants are privately seething over what happened,” Morris told SEN’s Sunday Crunch Time.
“It was at a crucial time of the game and it was a free kick for an action that we see dozens of times a game and hundreds of time a round.”
He added: “The umpire, via the audio from Fox Footy, makes it clear it's not what he says, it’s the fact his arms are out when we’ve learnt last year that players are allowed to extend their arms.
“We’re waiting on the AFL call here whether this was correct or not and I sense – without knowing for sure – that the AFL wants to back the umpires at all points, but this was an incorrect adjudication of what dissent actually is.”
GWS coach Adam Kingsley said post-game that his side would move on quickly from the controversy.
“It's hard for me to comment because I don't know what was said,” he explained.
“Clearly we don't want to be giving away free kicks in front of goal.
“Guys know when they make mistakes of that nature. It is what it is, we move on. Everyone makes mistakes.”
Earlier in the fourth term, the Giants had kicked the opening two goals of the quarter to snare back the lead in what was generally a messy clash in Sydney.
Former Essendon star Scott Lucas believes it’s crystal clear to see the umpire made a blunder.
“No, let’s be honest it’s ridiculous,” he responded when asked if Coniglio’s action constituted dissent.
“He’s just wrong.
“I understand we need to be respectful to our officials, but there is a context to the game and the importance and the stakes.
“Understand that players will get emotional… it’s just too big a penalty.”
Btw, that cannot be a free kick/goal for that Coniglio action as explained by the umpire. There would need to have been something grossly inappropriate said for that to be a satisfactory outcome.
— Andy Maher (@AndyMaherDFA) April 1, 2023
The umpires were hot on the issue of dissent to start last season after the league placed more importance on retaining umpires at community level.
Arms out did warrant a free kick on a few occasions early last season, however the AFL privately softened the rule mid-year to bring the rule into more common sense areas.
The win saw Carlton remain unbeaten after three rounds, while the Giants have slumped to 1-2.