Collingwood’s last game against an archrival proved disastrous in one key sense, as the transformative effect of a dubious umpiring decision took center stage. The incident unfolded with under 10 minutes remaining in the match. Jamie Elliott was robbed of what seemed like an obvious free kick. At the same time, Collingwood was trailing by 12 points. Depending on momentum, this play might swing the tide of the game completely.
The pivotal moment arose when Tim Membrey marked the ball and lofted a pass to Elliott, who was making a strong play. Then from the front, Brandon Starcevich came through and got hands on it and made contact with Elliott as he was trying to spoil the ball. The establishment pointed out that the contact appeared to be front-on. This led to debates on whether the umpire needed to pay a free kick.
While there was still plenty of controversy to the decision, Collingwood coach Craig McRae wouldn’t pin the umpiring for his side’s loss. He talked about the importance of getting his players to worry about what’s going on with them and not what’s going on outside their circle.
“I think losers make excuses. We don’t. We’re winners, and we didn’t win today. Clearly beaten by a better team.” – Craig McRae
Former players and commentators weren’t shy about sharing their opinions on the incident. Luke Hodge recently commended the consistency of this year’s umpiring over the season. In his defense, he did say the call was consistent with how similar situations had been handled in previous games.
“They’ve called that all year. Yes he was going for the ball, yes he had eyes on the ball. But they’ve paid that all year as front-on contact,” – Luke Hodge
Even Nick Riewoldt was passionate and angry in his assessment. He looked specifically at important calls and their effects, demonstrating the importance of calls in high-leverage play on decisive match moments. Kane Cornes praised the overall effort of both teams, acknowledging their competitive spirit throughout the game.
McRae maintained his focus on Collingwood’s shortcomings during the match, stating, “It looked like that (front-on contact), yeah, it did. No guarantee he kicks the goal, though, is it?” To top that, he added that Collingwood failed to manage the parts of the game they could control.
“So you could say what if and if only, but it’s not the space we live in.” – Craig McRae
He lauded Chris Fagan’s team for their historically great run to the Championship. Their run of three straight grand final appearances, including last year’s win against a stacked roster, demonstrates excellent coaching and strategic play execution.
