Ex-AFL umpire Michael Pell has taken to Twitter to air his thoughts on Fremantle defender Jordan Clark after the 23-year-old was pinged for a costly dissent call in the 73-63 loss to Carlton at the Adelaide Oval.
Fremantle led by two points with less than two minutes remaining in Saturday’s game, but Carlton took the lead late thanks to a Matt Cottrell mark and set shot goal.
It was the kick to Cottrell that caused some anger on the ground from Dockers players as it clearly brushed James Aish on the way through and should have been called play-on.
Several Fremantle defenders quickly told the umpire that the decision was incorrect, and Clark continued to verbally go at the decision-makers after the goal was kicked. Those words led to another free kick directly in front of goal to Matt Kennedy who put the lead out to 10 points and put the final nail in the Fremantle coffin.
After Clark cost his side any chance of going forward in the final minute and regaining the lead back, Michael Pell – who was implicated in the 2022 Brownlow Medal betting controversy – said that he’d seen similar behaviour from the dashing defender before towards officials.
“The irony in all this is that I warned Jordan Clark in a Covid 14v14 nothing game when he was a spoilt brat and carrying on that he needed to stop abusing umpires,” Pell wrote on X.
“Guess he still hasn’t learnt. Stinky attitude and any wonder Geelong were happy to see the back of him.”
The irony in all this is that I warned Jordan Clark in a Covid 14v14 nothing game when he was a spoilt brat and carrying on that he needed to stop abusing umpires. Guess he still hasn’t learnt. Stinky attitude and any wonder Geelong were happy to see the back of him 💩👋 https://t.co/tKPeXbKLhl
— Michael Pell (@Pell_Mick) April 6, 2024
Clark was traded to Fremantle from Geelong before the 2022 season as the then 20-year-old requested a trade back to his home state.
While Clark made a costly error late, he enjoyed a strong game with 30 disposals, seven marks, three clearances and five rebound 50s to his name.
