Essendon coach Brad Scott has revealed he was contacted by the AFL on Monday to admit to several mistakes made in the controversial clash against Geelong in Round 16.
The football world was sent into a frenzy on Saturday night after several controversial decisions made in the third quarter caused the Dons to lose momentum in the game and suffer a tough defeat to the Cats.
Despite there being no public message from the AFL on Monday, Scott revealed all in an explosive episode of Fox Footy’s AFL 360.
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“I was glad the AFL stepped up and contacted me directly,” Scott said.
“Yes (they told me that mistakes were made), but it is not a witch hunt, it is not about seeking revenge, mistakes are mistakes.
“I had no intention of communicating with them unless there was something our players needed to clarify going forward. His explanation helped me a lot. I don’t necessarily agree with everything, but it doesn’t matter if I agree or not. What I really want to know is, particularly when it comes to ball retention, what the referees are looking for, how they want to apply the rule and how our players should play based on that. I think we can get caught up in the debate. “I am no longer interested in the debate, I am interested in how they resolve it.”
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Scott said the AFL had “made it abundantly clear” that the controversial snap decision against Jye Menzie in the third term “was a mistake”.
“If they are really clear, the AFL made it very clear that that was a mistake. Ok, we all make mistakes, now I can give absolute clarity to our players that that was a mistake. Some of the other decisions particularly helped us keep the ball. “From my understanding of the interpretation of the rule, the referees had a different opinion.”
In the absence of public comment from the AFL, AFL 360 co-host Gerard Whateley pleaded with Scott to “tell us what we need to know as game watchers”.
One decision that came under the spotlight over the weekend was to hold the ball against Essendon defender Jordan Ridley.
“For example, in Ridley’s case there was no prior opportunity, but in the referee’s opinion there was not enough intent to get rid of the ball. It’s an incredibly difficult game, that’s a mistake, the referees have said that,” Scott said.
“Stewart one, he had a previous opportunity and tried to get rid of the ball, so the game continues. I think fans would be a little confused by that.
“If you don’t have a previous opportunity and you get tackled and you make an attempt, it doesn’t have to be a correct elimination.
“Ridley’s is interesting, I find it very difficult for him to try to get rid of the ball with both arms immobilized… if Ridley dropped the ball there and threw his foot at the ball and missed, the game would continue.
“What worries me is that all the fans in the stadium would think he was holding the ball.”
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Western Bulldogs coach Luke Beveridge preferred not to comment on the specific decisions made in the Essendon-Geelong match, but implored the AFL to “protect and defend the player who is trying to win the football”.
“I prefer to stay within the boundaries of what I have discussed with the AFL,” Beveridge said.
“You have to protect and support the player who is trying to win the game… from a performance perspective, especially for young players who are just starting out, it has a pretty significant effect on them.”
AFL360 co-host Mark Robinson asked Scott the question of whether the AFL has a problem with officiating.
“I’m a big proponent of explaining to the fans that they are the lifeblood of our game. Bevo and I can ask for clarification and get it, but the fans need it too,” Scott said.
“I’m in a fortunate position now where all I care about is controlling what is controllable for our club and our players and seeking clarity from the referees, and that’s what I got today. I can be frustrated, disappointed, upset, but none of that helps us. I really sympathise with the fans who would be really frustrated. Our fans also need to know that we have the clarity that we need now.
“I don’t think it’s useful to go on a witch hunt over obvious errors. “Mistakes will happen, let’s clear up the mistakes, but let’s also clear up the gray areas.”
Robinson responded: “Then we have a major problem, because you are instructing your players one way and the referees another way.”
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Scott remained adamant that the game was “not in crisis” but said greater clarity needed to be shared with the football public.
“I don’t think the game is in crisis… the mistakes are easy to address, but it’s the grey area in between that we need clarity on,” the Bombers coach said.
“We have all admitted that refereeing AFL football is as difficult a sport as any other in the world, the problem we have is that there is not a staff of a thousand referees willing to referee AFL football, there are not enough at all levels.
“I was as frustrated as anyone with our play at the weekend, but I don’t think criticizing the referees helps.”
Scott also revealed that the AFL has admitted that Sam Draper’s infamous illegal marking interference was also a mistake.
Previously, Whateley said the AFL had not made public comments on the controversial third period decisions because they were not “game-defining” decisions.
“There were no game-defining decisions considered and therefore there was no public communication today about whether they were correct or not, leaving us in the space of guessing,” he said.
Robinson added: “I’m surprised the AFL hasn’t clarified some of those decisions, it’s a big game and there’s been a lot of discussion about it. They said two weeks ago they were going to be very transparent in explaining some of the rules and decisions, we’ve got the biggest weekend of controversial decisions and the AFL is nowhere to be seen. I don’t think that’s comfortable, I can understand why they don’t want to fuel the debate but they said they were going to do it and we’re all open and honest in this industry.
“It is the pre-game process and the disposition of the ball that confuses everyone, it doesn’t confuse everyone, but it disconcerts everyone from one game to the next because of how different it is.
“I think I called it a royal commission type review at the end of the year… there has to be some kind of forensic examination of where the game is, how it has been played over the last ten years, numbers around the ball, what we need, what we want , if the history still exists in the game, if we want it in the game, what will happen if we don’t have it in the game.
“Those questions need to be put in a bucket and talked about.”
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Whateley said he believes the game is “at an interesting point” given the lack of alignment between referees’ and fans’ perspectives on decision-making.
“Philosophically we are in a really interesting time, there are three branches: the laws themselves, the interpretation that is implemented and then the incident-by-incident implementation during the game,” he said.
“I feel like we are in a phase where we will have ten holding the balls, ten pushing from behind, ten insufficient attempts, ten deliberate behind and five will break in any direction and we are in a phase where we are going. “they are fine”.
“I think the only way to improve the game is to pick what the game wants to be right and what it wants to be wrong. Identify it, train it relentlessly, reinforce it. It will mess up your numbers as to what the right decisions look like, but I think that might be part of the problem, you can frame everything within the rules – how about we pick a course?”
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“When it looks like that, this is the decision. We want it to be paid over and over again so the referees know it, the players know it and the fans can recognise it from the sidelines. You will still get mistakes, but I feel like when you can have five-and-five…”
Robinson was brutally honest, noting that he believes “we’ve lost control of the game.”
“We’ve lost control of the game. We need a summit… I want the AFL to get everyone together. It’s not the AFL’s game, it’s not the fans’ game, it’s not the coaches’ game, we’re all in this together. We need to have a summit and say: where do we want our game to be? What do we want it to look like? Umpires – what are their toughest decisions? How can we fix it better and make it easier for our umpires to officiate the game because right now, it’s inconsistent and it’s driving people crazy,” he said.
“The evolution of the game has complicated it: training tactics, ball crowding, 70-meter bubble, etc. We need a restart at the end of the year.”
