Tigers were robbed of shot on goalJAI BEDNALL
Herald-Sun
September 15, 2015Ben Cunnington fails to get a kick away and should have been pinged for holding the ball. Picture: Wayne Ludbey
THE AFL umpires department has admitted the Tigers were robbed of a shot on goal due to a wrong decision in Sunday’s thrilling final quarter of its elimination final loss to North Melbourne.
With 7.26 remaining in the final term at the MCG and with Richmond trailing by five points, Shane Edwards laid a crucial tackle on North Melbourne’s Ben Cunnington 20m out from Richmond’s goal.
The Kangaroos midfielder failed to correctly dispose of the football, with players from both teams stopping as they expected to hear a whistle to signal holding the ball.
But that decision never came and instead, umpire Brett Rosebury waved play on as North Melbourne advanced the ball and kicked a match-winning goal.
Head of AFL umpires Hayden Kennedy admitted on Tuesday the wrong decision was made, robbing Edwards the opportunity to put the Tigers in front in the dying stages on the sudden-death final.
“Yes it is (holding the ball),” Kennedy told the AFL website.
“We encourage them not to guess and Brett (Rosebury) wasn’t in the perfect position with the players in front of him to make that call.
Ben Cunnington fails to get a kick away and should have been pinged for holding the ball. Picture: Wayne LudbeySource:News Corp Australia
“We would have loved for it to be paid, even by the umpire in the next zone. (But) he didn’t have a good opportunity to see through the players as well.
“We understand that often when there are players in the way we are going to make errors.”
Richmond coach Damien Hardwick didn’t hold back on his thoughts of the decision in the immediate aftermath of the loss that ended Richmond’s season, labelling it a “diabolical decision”.
“I can understand one guy being blindsided but there’s probably two other blokes and I reckon 80,000 people here could see the decision,” he said in his post-match press conference.
http://www.news.com.au/sport/afl/non-decision-on-shane-edwards-ben-cunnington-tackle-was-wrong-afl-umpires-department-admit/story-fndv8t7m-1227528636327?sv=35b18b56d8d8f6c9b15a42aaff9d6962