- Dermott Brereton, a five-time premiership winner, says the controversial ending to Sydney’s win over Adelaide is the AFL’s “worst nightmare,” calling the non-goal decision a “genuine injustice” that cost the Crows a finals spot.
Adelaide’s hopes of making the finals were dashed on Saturday night when the Swans held off a dramatic late surge to defeat the Crows by one point.
The Crows appeared to have transformed a 44-point deficit into a season-saving comeback win when Ben Keays appeared to notch a goal from the boundary line with just over a minute remaining.
However, with Keays and the fans still cheering, the goal umpire signaled that the ball had touched the post. Crucially, no score review was conducted.
That was Adelaide’s final chance, and the visitors took the ball down the field to secure a memorable victory.
Post-game replays revealed that the ball cleared the padding of the post and that there was a gap between the upright and the footy, which might have led to an ARC reviewer reversing the soft decision.
Watch each match of e
Brereton spoke strongly about the subject on Fox Footy after the game, claiming that the evidence was “definitive” and that a goal should have been scored – putting the AFL in a difficult PR situation.
“I’m not sure where the AFL goes with this, because it’s clear from what we see today that it was a goal,” Brereton told Fox Footy.
“This is their biggest nightmare, because every time we see a botched decision, people say, ‘You wouldn’t want to miss a Grand Final like that. You wouldn’t want to miss the finals for that. When we believe that technology exists to obtain the absolute and correct judgment, a team misses the finals due of a bung decision. The
“That’s definitive. There is no gray area here. The league cannot say, “It was grey.” They have to say, “We got it wrong,” and that costs a team a spot in the finals.
“You get certain players that try to trick an umpire into making a decision in their favor.” Keays was not stooging. Despite the ball’s curvature, he knew it was the “kick of his career” and celebrated accordingly.
When asked how the AFL will handle the situation on Sunday, Brereton stated, “I believe the AFL will come out and accept some responsibility, but I’m not sure how they’ll get through this.
“We normally see anything even close that may be altered, and they always go to the score review,” he told Fox Footy.
“I believe this is more of a case of human error than anything else, because we didn’t even have time to check the cameras and angles. Unfortunately, this is simply a human error.
“This will not benefit Adelaide in any way. I don’t believe you can change it (the outcome).
