Geelong coach Chris Scott has questioned the AFL’s score review system after a “howler” non-goal decision against Ollie Dempsey in his side’s thrilling four-point loss to Carlton on Friday night.
Dempsey was denied a goal in the opening minutes of the MCG contest, despite the Cats star appearing to get a shin on the ball in a line-ball call that wasn’t reviewed.
A rule change made by the AFL after Round 7 also crucially meant the AFL Review Centre (ARC) couldn’t overrule the decision once the ball was back in play.
Watch every match of every round of the AFL Premiership Season LIVE and ad-break free during play on FOX FOOTY, available on Kayo Sports | New to Kayo? Join now and get your first month for just $1.
Scott said post-match “mistakes happen” and “my feelings don’t matter,” but “there should’ve been a review called”.
“The goal umpire got knocked over. The technology is there for the howler, and someone within the ARC should’ve seen that was a howler within seconds,” he told reporters.
“But you guys (the media) will talk about it more. I don’t think I really have that much more to add.
“All I would be doing is making the observation that’s as plain to you as it is to me.”
The Cats coach added that the score review system was “so far down the list” of things “I’d like to have my opinion heard on”.
“I’m not sure they need my help on that or even my observation on whether it’s appropriate or not,” he said.
“I certainly think that whole department should be held to high standards.
“But honestly I’m not going to spend a second more thinking about it.”
Code Sports journalist Ronny Lerner posted on X: “That is 100 per cent a goal to Dempsey. Staggering how ARC didn’t intervene. Shouldn’t be surprised by now though”.
Channel 7’s Xander McGuire questioned after the game if the AFL “look silly” because of the knee-jerk Round 7 procedural change.
A commentator on SEN said: “That was a goal. Off the back of last night’s stuff up with (Nick) Watson — we’ve got another one already just to get the night rolling”.
Given Geelong went down by less than a kick, the decision arguably cost Geelong Friday night’s game.
Scott ultimately is “not a huge fan of the all the theatrics around the score review” that “seems to take a long time when sometimes it’s so obvious you don’t need a review.”
And the two-premiership coach was strong on the idea of an honesty system.
“For what it’s worth, we are quite strong with our players, don’t lie. I think it’s terrible at lower levels as well, if you claim you touched it, and you didn’t, don’t say it,” he added.
“If you know Ollie Dempsey, even casually, and he says it’s a goal, it’s a goal.
“But I’m sort of waxing lyrical. I hope you can tell it’s the rub of the green sort of stuff in my opinion.
“I completely accept that the AFL should spend some time on their processes.
“We’ll let them do that and we’ll move on to, how long did the game go for? Let’s say 101 minutes. The last 109 minutes will be our focus in review.”
It came off the back of Geelong’s statement wins over Sydney (by 27 points) and Brisbane (41 points) as it surged into the top four and led to some calls the Cats should be premiership favourites.
Though Thursday’s loss saw Geelong fall to 8-4 as its poor run against Carlton continued, having dropped four of its last five to the Blues in a record Scott said he wasn’t aware of.
He also put the fixture in the spotlight ahead of tough upcoming clashes against Adelaide (Adelaide Oval), Gold Coast (GMHBA Stadium) and Fremantle (Optus Stadium), all of whom the Cats have already played, ahead of their mid-season bye.
“I’m not sure how much time you guys spend on the draw… it’s a fascinating part of the AFL landscape, in my opinion,” Scott said.
“I think even the AFL say: ‘Well, we don’t know who’s going to be good’. But you have an idea from last year and they sort of break it up into sixes.
“We go through a patch in the draw where I think we probably play all the contenders, and probably three, four or five of them twice, before we play some of the teams down the bottom once.
“So, how we come through this period probably tells us a little bit. Even with the byes coming up, the ladder becomes confusing.
“I don’t envy you, sometimes, because I would be a bit confused. I’d kind of look at it and say: ‘Carlton looked pretty good tonight, but Geelong looked pretty good the last two, three or four weeks. How does it all fit together?’
“This is the difference between your job and mine. Your job is to inflame the situation in the moment and the week, and ours is to actually smooth it out a bit.
“Unless you’ve got critical problems you really need to fix, I don’t think that’s us right now.”
Originally published as ‘Should’ve seen that within seconds’: Scott baffled by ‘howler’ score review call after rule change
