Port Adelaide were mystified by some of the umpiring decisions made in Saturday’s loss to Geelong at GMHBA Stadium.
As well as the Cats leading the free kick count 31-19, the Power were intrigued as to why umpire Brendan Hosking paid 15 free kicks alone to Geelong.
Coach Ken Hinkley alluded to the lopsided free kick count post-game and Kane Cornes says the Power even called the AFL umpire’s department on Sunday to seek clarification on why Hosking awarded so many free kicks to one team.
Cornes asked former Collingwood coach Nathan Buckley on SEN Breakfast if he ever did anything similar during his 10-year stint as the Magpies’ coach.
While Buckley says he’d often have conversations with umpires during training sessions, he says he never bothered chasing up specific decisions in any official capacity.
Cornes: “When you're a coach of a team, at what point do you pull the trigger on ringing the umpire's department?
“I can tell you that Port Adelaide were on the phone on Sunday morning to the umpire's department asking the question as to why one umpire can pay 15 free kicks to the opposition.
“That's one umpire alone paid 15 (free kicks), (Brendan) Hosking to Geelong.
“To put that in context, Carlton only received 14 free kicks for the game (against St Kilda).
“Now, one umpire paid 15 to Geelong (on Saturday night).
“Did you ever pull that trigger and when did you know when to pull the trigger on contacting the umpires?”
Buckley: “Never.”
Cornes: “Never? You never once rang and sought clarification from the umpires as coach of the Pies.”
Buckley: “No, my energies were always internal with the players.
“The director of footy would call on occasions or the operations guy would call on occasions.
“We had umpires down constantly, we were always an open-door policy, get the umpires in.
“Even in the middle of a non-descript week where we’d have 15 minutes of a full-ground session, we would want the umpires down there.
“That was so they could umpire and because we want to pick up on their interpretations on how they're viewing the game and to build that relationship with the umpires, the people who are on the ground.
“I would also take the time right there and then to talk with them at ground level about what they're seeing in the game and how they are adjudicating different parts of the game.”
Cornes: “So, you did it in a sort of a different way?”
Buckley: “It was more conversational. There are free kicks that go for you and free kicks that go against you.
“There are different calls that I could go to in my playing career in my coaching career that were impactful.”
Cornes: “Was there one in particular?”
Buckley: “Well, every Collingwood person would be thinking about the Brayden Maynard block (before Dom Sheed’s goal) which I think was marginal, but we could have got that come our way.
“But I never felt like that I was compelled, I had no question in the integrity of the umpire department.
“I've never had any question of how hard a job it is.
“So, it surprises me in some shape or form that someone from Port Adelaide made the call and just queried what's going on because the numbers jump out that far.
“I don't know if I would ever be aware of that to that extent.”
Cornes: “It was extremely noticeable during the game.
“I certainly noticed it watching along. It was very lopsided.”
Port Adelaide currently have a -62 free kick differential as well as having given up 430 frees against, both statistics they rank worst in across the AFL.