Richmond coach Damien Hardwick has questioned the referees’ reasoning for not paying his team a 50-meter penalty in the final stages of their narrow AFL defeat to Sydney.
Key points:
- The AFL said the referees were right not to award Dion Prestia a 50-meter penalty at the end of Sydney’s victory over Richmond.
- However, Chad Warner did not manage to connect with it, as his team mates had hoped, and the ball went out.
- Tigers coach Damien Hardwick expressed his bewilderment on Twitter
The Tigers were down six points Friday night when Dion Prestia received a free kick 65 yards from the goal while the final siren sounded, a split second after the whistle had sounded.
Swans midfielder Chad Warner grabbed the ball as soon as the siren sounded and threw it into the crowd, which could have resulted in a 50-meter penalty in Prestia, who had not yet fired. free.
The referees decided that Warner had not heard the whistle in the midst of the chaos and Prestia’s shot from distance finally fell far below the goal that would have equalized the score.
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“Couldn’t I have heard, common sense, okay?” Referee John Howarth told a Richmond player at the time.
Hardwick played a direct baptism at his post-match press conference, refusing to blame the referees’ call for the loss of the Tigers after they lost a big lead.
But the three-time Tigers head coach went to social media Saturday morning with a post saying, “Common sense. Sorry, what?”
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On Saturday, the AFL upheld the referees ’decision.
“The AFL confirmed that the decision at the end of last night’s game not to pay a 50-meter penalty was correct,” the league said in a statement.
“Richmond Prestia was allowed to take it quickly by the referee, much to the dismay of the goalkeeper who wasn’t prepared.
“Then the referees made the right call for not applying a 50m penalty against the Swans Warner player, given the immediacy of the paid free kick, the siren sounding and the throwing of the ball to the crowd.
“It’s the same discretion that is often used on the ground when referees don’t believe a player has heard the whistle and throws the ball.”
The latest controversy comes after a week in which Premier League coaches Simon Goodwin and Chris Scott defended referees from growing criticism.
AAP