{"id":386940,"date":"2024-04-21T20:26:47","date_gmt":"2024-04-21T20:26:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=386940"},"modified":"2024-04-21T23:03:44","modified_gmt":"2024-04-21T23:03:44","slug":"legends-left-field-call-on-controversial-pancake-moment","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=386940","title":{"rendered":"Legend's left-field call on controversial 'pancake' moment"},"content":{"rendered":"

AFL<\/a> legend Leigh Matthews\ufeff<\/a> has shared his view on the controversial umpiring decision that overshadowed Essendon<\/a>'s three-point win over Adelaide<\/a> on Friday night.<\/p>\n

On Saturday, the AFL \ufeffconceded that it was the wrong call<\/a> not to award a free kick to the Crows on the siren after Bombers big man Sam Draper dived on the ball.<\/p>\n

With Essendon leading by less than a straight kick \ufeffas the clock winded down, Bombers players desperately attempted to stop the Crows from scoring.<\/p>\n

\ufeff\ufeffREAD MORE:<\/strong> NRL to probe Knights firebrand over tunnel incident<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

READ MORE:<\/strong> Swimming Australia launches 'inquiries' into scandal<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<\/p>\n

READ MORE:<\/strong> Sharks put 'embarrassing' Cowboys to the sword\ufeff<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

With the ball spilling loose as he was tackled by veteran forward Taylor Walker, Draper dived on top of the football to prevent anyone else from getting to it.<\/p>\n

Adelaide players appealed for a holding the ball call, only for the field umpire to call full-time \u2014 denying Walker a shot at goal to win the match.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Speaking on Nine's Footy Furnace<\/em><\/a>, Geelong great Jimmy Bartel<\/a> described Draper's act as "\ufeffpancaking on the football".<\/p>\n

"\ufeffI think he thought if he didn't put his arms out and drag the footy in, it wouldn't be holding the ball," he said.<\/p>\n

The AFL determined there should have been a holding the ball free kick awarded as the ball remained in his possession and was not immediately knocked clear.<\/p>\n

However, \ufeffMatthews\ufeff argued that Walker's tackle was unfair and that a subsequent push in the back call should have been awarded to Draper instead.<\/p>\n

"[Walker] jumped on his back. It should have been a free kick to Draper," he said.<\/p>\n

"\ufeffSeriously, in the back is one of the fundamental rules of the game and I understand the umpires don't seem to play it that way. But if a player is lying on the ground and you jump on top of his back surely that's in the back."<\/p>\n

\"Star<\/p>\n

However, Mathews added that if you ignored the first call, \ufeffa holding the ball free kick should have been awarded.<\/p>\n

"\ufeffI mean anyone can look at the replays and say, 'Well, that was a bit of smartarsery from Sam Draper' with the benefit of hindsight," he said.<\/p>\n

"\ufeffBut the umpire's at ground level \u2014 with (players') legs everywhere \u2014 it's easy for them to be uncertain of exactly what transpired. It's easier on the replay."<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

AFL legend Leigh Matthews\ufeff has shared his view on the controversial umpiring decision that overshadowed Essendon's three-point win over Adelaide on Friday night. On Saturday, […]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":386398,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/386940"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=386940"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/386940\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":386948,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/386940\/revisions\/386948"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/386398"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=386940"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=386940"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=386940"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}