Former AFL umpire Michael Pell popped his head up when commenting on a dissent decision on the weekend.
Pell took to social media to criticise Fremantle’s Jordan Clark who was at the centre of a costly call late in his side’s eventual 10-point loss to Carlton at the Adelaide Oval on Saturday.
Pell, who lost his job as an AFL umpire due to a betting scandal relating to the 2022 Brownlow Medal, labelled the Freo defender a “spoilt brat” after he seemingly directed a comment towards umpire Alex Whetton.
The words from the former umpire came after multiple incidents involving Clark over the years.
CONTROVERSIAL EX-AFL UMPIRE CALLS OUT “SPOILT BRAT” AFTER COSTLY FREO ERROR
It has been reported that Clark has told his club that he was referring to himself when he uttered the words “you f—-ing idiot, Jordan”.
The incident prompted a discussion from Kane Cornes and Nathan Buckley, who both felt it somewhat highlighted the human side of the umpiring fraternity.
“It is a ridiculous thing for Michael Pell to be saying and to Tweet about it,” Cornes said on SEN Breakfast.
“Then to have the follow-up article on Fox Sports when they called. It does show the human element of umpiring and the bias against some players.”
Buckley added: “Potentially, but I thought the follow-up article made sense.
“You read something on ‘X’ that is 140 characters and you think, ‘Oh c’mon mate, why do you put your head up…?’”
Cornes: “He said stuff like ‘no wonder Geelong got rid of him’.”
Buckley: “You could feel the emotion in it and he (Pell) has still got a bit of resentment about what he experienced with the kid back then.
“So, yes it does (bring about a human element). Umpires are human, so of course they’re going to carry that with them.
“Those comments make sense. I can understand that because I reckon I was Jordan Clark in the early stages of my career. I just could not make sense that if it didn’t go my way then the umpires bore the brunt of it.
“I’m sure the umpires know who those players are and it’s pretty hard. You’d want to understand that the way you treat them is going to come back in some shape or form. You’re not going to get the 50-50s.”
Buckley concluded: “They backed the dissent call, which was probably right, even though Jordan Clark is trying to back away from it.
“Michael Pell is probably in a good position to talk about bad decision-making, so worth his opinion.”
So it seems Clark’s past indiscretions have come back to bite him, provided he did in fact criticise the umpire in question for not calling the ball touched in the final minute.
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