The AFL has admitted that the umpire made an error in controversially denying Brisbane forward Logan Morris a goal at the end of the third quarter of the Lions' win over Sydney on Thursday night. Morris had snapped the ball around his body after the siren, seemingly putting the Lions up by 48 points at the Gabba, but the umpire called play-on, ruling that Morris had not returned to the line of the mark.
AFL statement concedes mistake
In a statement issued on Friday, the league acknowledged the error. “The umpire standing directly behind the line of kick judged that Logan Morris did not return to the line of kick and therefore called play-on,” the statement read. “On further review, while Morris was short of the line of kick, we believe he has complied with the rule by kicking over the man on the mark and has not improved the angle to the goal posts and therefore play-on should not have been called.” The AFL added that it is clarifying to umpires and clubs that where a player lines up perpendicular to their line of kick, they must either kick over the player on the mark or kick from the line of kick.
Brisbane coach Chris Fagan's reaction
Speaking after the match, Brisbane coach Chris Fagan expressed confusion over the decision. “My understanding of that rule is as long as you start near the boundary and kick over the guy’s hands on the mark, that’s OK,” he said. “I thought that’s what he did. I wasn’t standing right there on the spot, but that’s what it looked like to me.” Fagan noted that the incident would serve as a learning experience for Morris: “It would be good to get some clarity on it because the learning for Logan might be ‘If you ever get another shot on goal and the siren’s gone mate, maybe you’ve just got to go straight back and kick over the hands on the mark so there’s no doubt you’ve done the right thing’.”
Similar incident with Nick Watson
The decision drew comparisons to a similar ruling earlier this season involving Hawthorn’s Nick Watson, who was penalised for veering off his line before converting a drop punt. Commentators were quick to criticise the Morris call. Brian Taylor argued on Channel 7: “Well the rule says as long as you don’t improve your angle by going over the mark — he stopped a metre short. Now if that was a drop punt he would have been allowed that metre. But because it was a snap around the corner for some reason they’ve penalised him. I think they’ve got that wrong.”
Widespread criticism from commentators
Luke Hodge described the decision as “a mockery”, while Kane Cornes said “it might be the worst decision of the year”. Hamish McLachlan contacted AFL football boss Greg Swann, who said “the latest update is you do, though, have to kick over the man on the mark”. Taylor countered: “That is logical but that’s not what the rule book says at the moment.” Hodge highlighted the absurdity of the rule given Morris was snapping the ball: “The fact that he’s snapping it, so he’s not improving (by stopping short of the line of the mark) and he’s snapping it. They couldn’t have been able to snap it anyway.” Cornes used the opportunity to criticise the AFL’s constant rule changes: “So we need another amendment and a modification tomorrow, which we’re going to have to get because the rules keep changing.”
