EXCLUSIVE: St Kilda had 19 players on the field. No free kick was paidTom Morris
Fox Sports
July 15th, 2021 
A costly blunder during St Kilda‘s Round 15 defeat of Richmond has emerged in which the Tigers were denied a clear free kick when the Saints fielded an extra man on the field.
Richmond missed out on a now-obvious free kick and 50-metre penalty when the Saints fielded 19 players for almost half-a-minute without the field umpires noticing.
Foxfooty.com.au can reveal the Saints had three players come from the ground late in the first quarter, with four players replacing them.
At a boundary throw-in, Rowan Marshall – who was one of the four to run on – competed for and won the hit out. The play continued around him until St Kilda’s runner stood up on the bench and called the ruckman off the field.
The interchange steward became aware, immediately notified the club official, the emergency umpire and match manager and it was immediately rectified.
The other players to come on were Jimmy Webster, Seb Ross and Mason Wood.
St Kilda was made aware of the infringement post-game and, like Richmond, elected not to comment when contacted by foxfooty.com.au on Wednesday. The league is aware of the incident.
In local football, a captain can call for a head count and if found guilty, the offending team has its score for that quarter wiped.
But at AFL level the regulations are not as stringent when a 19th player enters the field. Instead, the maximum penalty is a free kick where the ball is and a 50 metre penalty.
The relevant provision in the Laws of the Game reads:
“In the event of more than 18 players on field, AFL Regulation 12.9.b (iii) shall apply:
“The AFL Interchange Official shall notify an Umpire who will then award a Free Kick and a 50-metre penalty when:
“The replacement Player enters the Playing Surface and who is deemed by the emergency Umpire to be involved in play prior to the Player to be replaced leaving the Playing Surface.”
Marshall, who sources said entered the field by accident and not in a bid to gain an unfair advantage, was the extra player given he was quickly rushed off when St Kilda’s bench realised they had 19 on the field.
In 2018, Essendon’s Mark Baguley sprinted from half-forward to the interchange bench before the first bounce of the final quarter in a game against Geelong at the MCG.
On that occasion, emergency umpire Justin Schmitt told the field umpire to not bounce the ball until Baguley came from the field.
In 2008, the league investigated an incident which saw Sydney field 19 players during the final minutes of a draw against North Melbourne.
Darren Jolly played 30 seconds and even won a handball in a passage of play that saw Brett Kirk kick the match-tying point.
The AFL issued a please explain to Sydney on the Monday after the game.
Three days after St Kilda’s infringement in Round 15, the AFL sent a memo to clubs detailing a change in interchange policies.
When contacted on Wednesday, the league maintained the memo was not related to the Saints breach.
“The interchange gate holding area line will be increase from 1.5 metres from the boundary line to 2.5 metres from the boundary line,” former football operations boss Steve Hocking wrote in a league-wide email
“Moving the interchange gate back will reduce the risk of players and umpires on field coming into contact with players and club officials standing in the interchange holding area.”
The change was implemented for all matches from Round 16.
https://www.foxsports.com.au/afl/teams/st-kilda-saints/exclusive-the-unforgivable-blunder-umpires-missed-and-why-the-afl-did-nothing/news-story/764559ecf6f0a8f4ce4b1001b7a3e47f
