The Australian Football League (AFL) was put under a microscope. This came in the wake of another controversial goal review decision during Saturday’s matchup in the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG). Western player Dylan Moore, playing for the Hawthorn Hawks, kicked a goal within the first minute of the match. The goal line umpire ruled the point. As the play developed, Melbourne defenders Blake Howes and Trent Rivers rushed to make a play on the ball, attempting to smother it. Rivers indicated he’d made contact, leading to a review that would have fans and analysts split for all time.
Tellingly, replays showed that Trent Rivers definitely touched the ball as it sailed by his stretched-out hand. Except that it wasn’t entirely clear who had actually touched the ball off Moore’s boot. Even as Moore celebrated the goal, his joy seemed muted. For a moment on Friday night, Davis signaled to his teammates, telling them that he thought the ball was touched. Counter to this significant evidence, the original umpire’s decision remained after the review.
Mark Howard commented on the situation saying, “There must have been no vision to overturn the umpire’s decision.” His comments highlighted the lack of understanding about the technology used to review goals in the AFL. Nick Dal Santo voiced his concerns regarding the effectiveness of the score review system, stating, “What’s the point of reviewing if you’re not going to use it properly?”
Dal Santo showed how convinced all the Hawks players were that the ball had been touched. He called for truth to be the guiding principle in making these hard decisions. “Yeah, well all the Hawks have already said it’s been touched, so they’re setting up in a zone. That’s where the honesty system should just come straight in,” he argued.
The incident led to widespread criticism and comparisons to 2021’s Tom Lynch goal celebration saga. In such circumstances, the AFL was said to have considered Lynch’s failure to celebrate as a factor in overruling a vital finals-deciding major. One disappointed fan went on social media to air his grievances. They remembered when the AFL said Tom Lynch’s no celebration was a factor in their choice to overturn a finals-deciding goal. There is no power that treats its constituency with the regularity of contempt the AFL displays to its fans.
Fans expressed their frustrations as well, with one stating, “Goal review technology just stellar. Why do we bother with all the garbage delays when it doesn’t catch a blatant touch called out by the player that kicked it?” Another added, “This is plain stupidity. What’s the point of reviewing if you’re not going to use it properly?”
