The AFL has admitted Adelaide was dudded by a crucial decision late in Thursday night's thrilling loss to Geelong, which Nick Riewoldt labelled a "farce".
The Crows were leading the contest at one stage during the final quarter in a Kardinia Park thriller, before the home side clawed back to be leading by two points with about 10 minutes remaining on the clock.
Adelaide sent a clearing kick out of its defensive 50m and the ball ended up on centre wing, where Crows player Zac Taylor and Geelong's Tom Atkins battled for it.
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Atkins toed the ball towards the boundary line and it went out of bounds. Under the AFL's new last-touch out of bounds rule, Taylor should have been awarded the free kick and given the chance to send it inside the Crows' forward 50m.
Instead the boundary umpire mistakenly awarded the kick to Atkins, as Taylor and members of Adelaide's bench raised their arms in protest.
"I think that's a Crows ball," AFL great David King said on Fox Footy.
"They review these upstairs, will they recall it? Too late."
While the AFL's video review officials are meant to review the new out of bounds rulings and can overrule decisions in real time, they failed to act in this instance.
Atkins was able to keep the ball in Geelong's hands and about 30 seconds later the Cats scored a goal through Jack Martin to extend their lead to eight points.
They won the game 9.14 (68) to 9.6 (60). If the Crows had the chance to score in that crucial moment, the wrong decision may have resulted in a 12-point swing against Adelaide.
On Friday, the AFL confirmed the ARC should have overturned the decision and allowed Taylor the kick rather than Atkins.
"If the ARC did intervene, the decision would have been overturned," AFL House said in a statement.
https://twitter.com/bradeningram/status/2037336080153022778?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
"The AFL will look at its late-in-game process and the ability to potentially hold play to get the correct outcome."
Adelaide coach Matthew Nicks refused to criticise the process following the game, but a number of AFL greats were not so courteous.
St Kilda legend Riewoldt lashed the incident when speaking on Triple M on Friday.
"The umpires got that wrong. We've been told they have the ability to overturn big decisions," Riewoldt said on Mick in the Morning.
"It's a bit of a farce, isn't it? I just don't understand.
"Why bother having it if you can't go back and say, 'We got that wrong', take it back and it's an Adelaide free kick."
The Fox Footy experts were equally stunned.
"They completely missed it there, the ARC, in what was a pretty pivotal moment," Richmond legend Jack Riewoldt said.
"In the end, there's a few moments you could say, 'This may've gone Adelaide's way'."
It would have been a stirring victory for the Crows at a venue that opposition teams notoriously struggle to beat the Cats at.
King doubled down on his criticism following the game, asking why the review officials could not have stepped in and given the ball to Taylor.
"We're under the impression that it gets reviewed upstairs, and it can be corrected or overturned as the first one was. So, why wasn't the second?" King said, referencing an earlier overturned decision.
"It was a clear and obvious kick off the boot of Atkins. I don't know why the first one was paid that way, but certainly the second one was obviously and clearly off the boot of Atkins — who stooged the umpire beautifully.
"If we're going to be able to review these things, chasing perfection, then that's across the board. You can't miss like that… the game had stopped, so there was enough time if the ARC was on the ball.
"It's a stretch to say that cost them the goal (the Cats then scored), but it certainly gave them (the Cats) the opportunity."
Adelaide coach Matthew Nicks refused to criticise the decision or blame it for costing the Crows a goal.
Geelong now sits fifth on the AFL ladder with two wins from three games, while the Crows sit ninth with one win from three games.
Thursday night's result could well have flipped those standings.
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