The post-mortem of the Western Bulldogs' pulsating win over Melbourne has uncovered a critical umpire blunder in the dying stages of the match. The Dogs led for most of the game but flirted with defeat when they were twice headed in the last quarter before Joel Freijah kicked the go-ahead goal with minutes remaining.
Minutes later, Melbourne youngster Harvey Langford could have been the hero but dropped a mark under immense pressure from Lachie Jacques that would have given him a shot at goal on the siren from 20 metres out almost directly in front. The Dees had one last chance after Langford's dropped mark with a kick back into full-forward, but Lachie Bramble took what proved a match-saving mark for the Dogs, who steadied in the dying seconds.
However, there should have been as many as 27 more seconds left on the clock when Marcus Bontempelli roved a pack at half-back and strode away down the wing as the siren sounded. About 90 seconds earlier, Bulldogs midfielder Ryley Sanders was awarded a free kick for a Paddy Cross tackle that slipped below the knees. In the tackle, Sanders inadvertently collected Cross in the face with his boot, which drew blood from the nose of Cross. Cross also landed on Sanders, who remained on the ground for several seconds. The controlling umpire failed to blow time-on after awarding a free kick in the dying moments.
As the controlling umpire came in to check on Cross and reset the game, the clock kept ticking. The clock read 1:27 when the tackle took place. Sanders did not take his kick until there was exactly 1:00 remaining. "Now, you might think this is a timekeeping error - it's not," The Agenda Setters' Tom Morris told SEN on Monday. "I've gone back through the behind-the-goals vision, courtesy of The Agenda Setters, I've listened to the umpire audio away from the commentary, and time-on wasn't called. The timekeepers got it right to let the game progress. I think, pretty clearly, that time-on should have been called while they were assessing the blood nose of the player and all the players were dispersing away from the contest."
"There were two umpires who were side-on to the play, and I wonder whether one of the umpires thought the other umpire had (called time-on). They both were involved in the decision-making for Ryley Sanders to get the free kick, and the one moved away. But it's an important 27 seconds at a time of the game when it was red-hot between the Dogs and the Dees."
