Tigers utility Noah Balta had a chance to put the Tigers in front – with any score – with just under two minutes remaining after taking a mark just inside 50.
But Balta took more than his allotted 30 seconds to commence his set-shot approach, with the umpire calling ‘play on’ as the Tiger had taken too long. Consequently, Fremantle players charged at Balta, whose kick was then smothered to force a loose ball.
A stunned Balta fronted up for a post-game interview immediately after the final siren.
Asked if he heard the umpire call ‘play on’ as he prepared for his set-shot, Balta told Channel 7: “I didn’t. I just saw a couple of Freo boys just running at me.
“Unfortunately, what do you do? That’s the game of footy. This is why we love the game. We like to play in close games like this. Unlucky it’s a draw, but who cares?
“I heard Jack Riewoldt told me ‘take your 30’ and then I see these players running at me and I went ‘I guess it’s play on isn’t it’. The game’s over now, there’s nothing you can do about it, no point moaning and we’ll move on to the next week.”
Cotchin said Balta would likely review the moment and “work out exactly what he needs to do in his set-up routine”.
“You’d hope he was aware of the countdown clock,” Cotchin said. “It has been in the game for a little while.
“But I suppose that’s the challenge when you’re so far back as well in your run-up, you probably take a little bit longer to get set and kick away.”
Jonathan Brown said being called to ‘play on’ while lining up for goal can be a confronting experience.
“It is shocking when it happens. You’re not prepared and all of a sudden you’ve got five blokes running at you,” he said.
“As soon as the umpire blows the whistle twice, essentially you have to start moving because they’re saying you’ve reached your 30 seconds.
“There is no excuse for it now because it (the countdown clock) is on the scoreboard … you just have to have the awareness around you.”
Source: Foxsports.
