‘Five men stood between Collingwood and victory
Geelong’s thrilling win over Collingwood has been marred by controversy, with Fox Footy pundit David King claiming the Magpies were ‘hard done by’ after a series of final-quarter calls went against them.
The Cats received 14 of the final 18 free kicks of the match as they overturned a seven-point three quarter time deficit to take a 17-point lead midway through the final quarter, before the Pies mounted a stirring comeback to only fall short of a miracle victory when Jack Crisp missed a set shot after the siren to win the match.
Among the controversial calls was a decision to call a Lachie Schultz shot in the dying minutes ‘touched’ by Mark Blicavs, with the on-field call upheld despite the Cat appearing to miss the ball; as well as a chasedown tackle from Bobby Hill on Shaun Mannagh being ruled a trip.
Speaking after the game on Fox Footy, King was adamant the Magpies had copped the rough end of the stick.
“One man stood between Collingwood and victory – I should say five men; four in green, and one with No.35 on [Cats captain Patrick Dangerfield],” King said.
“It’s a factor – they got 14 of the last 18 free kicks.
“I have to say it, and I’ve talked about the umpiring a lot this year, it’s a negative starting point, I get that. But Collingwood were hard done by in that last 12 minutes of football. There’s absolutely no other way of looking at this.
“The umpiring has had a massive impact on tonight’s game.”
King was particularly aggrieved by Hill’s free kick
“It’s always been where the tackle stuck – it can slide down. If the tackle starts at the hips, it can move down,” he said.
“I know they’ll [the AFL] tick it off, but in the spirit of the game, I think that’s been a rundown tackle every time, except for this time.”
Fellow panellist and former great Jack Riewoldt agreed that the touched behind call was controversial, saying the ARC score review system was just as culpable as the umpires.
“Have a look at Lachie Schultz’s goal – was that enough evidence to confirm that maybe that was touched? I look at that call [and] potentially, that should have been a goal too.”
King even confronted Cats star Blicavs about the umpiring in a post-match interview.
“Now ‘Blitz’, I’m not trying to get you in trouble. Don’t talk about specifics, but can you feel when the umpires are favouring you and things are falling your way? Did you feel it tonight in that last 10 or 15 minutes?” he asked.
“Not really, to be honest,” an obviously flustered Blicavs replied.
“The game’s pretty hot and there’s whistles going all of the time, and I just try and get on with it. I just look at whatever way the umpires points, and I run the opposite direction.
“Some games the ball bounces for us, some days decisions don’t go our way. I haven’t seen or thought about too much the whole last quarter or so.”
“You’re smiling a lot, ‘Blitz!’” King quipped.
The Cats’ win leaves them sixth on the ladder with a 5-3 record, while the Magpies are set to lose their ladder-leading status to the winner of Brisbane and Gold Coast’s QClash match on Sunday night.