AFL admits to umpiring mistake after Collingwood dudded in 'horrible' farce

The AFL has admitted that umpires made an error after Collingwood were on the receiving end of one of the worst officiating blunders in recent memory on Friday night. The Pies snapped a two-game losing streak with a 16.13 (109) to 15.11 (101) win over Geelong at the MCG, despite a number of dubious calls that left fans fuming.

The worst of the calls came at the start of the fourth quarter when Jeremy Cameron kicked his sixth goal of the night. With Collingwood up 89-72, Geelong were threatening to stage an improbable comeback led by an inspired Cameron.

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However his sixth goal sparked mass uproar after umpires allowed him to play on despite receiving a hand-pass from Brad Close while he was out-of-bounds. Cameron and Close were both out-of-bounds when Close decided to hand it off to Cameron, meaning Cameron should have been called out of play.

However the umpires allowed him to run back into the field of play and kick a brilliant goal. Collingwood players and fans were in a state of disbelief over the glaring mistake, and the AFL admitted on Saturday that the umpires had messed up.

However the league wasn't prepared to admit the same after many took exception to Cameron's fifth goal minutes earlier. Fans and commentators were crying foul that Cameron had taken a mark while over the boundary line, however replays appeared to suggest the ball could have still been in play.

"We back the umpire," the AFL said in regards to Cameron's fifth goal. "An additional angle points to Cameron taking the ball on the line.

"Out of bounds should be called when there is a 'clear' gap between the boundary and the ball. The difficulty of decisions involving the curved boundary line should not be underestimated. The umpire was in the best position to make the call."

Speaking on 3AW radio, Matthew Lloyd said it “would’ve been a robbery” if Collingwood lost. “I’m just glad Collingwood won that game of football...the AFL would’ve been under the pump,” the Essendon legend said. “I just hope tomorrow morning (the AFL) come out and say: ‘We got these two decisions wrong,’ and discuss what went wrong, because too often they don’t.”

Collingwood coach Craig McRae was non-committal when asked about the controversial calls on Friday night. “I did see it on the big screen,” he told reporters. “I don’t think I need to make comment, the crowd were going alright weren’t they? What can we do about it, really?

“I actually think it might be worth asking the AFL. They can all see it on the screen. Do they have the ability to look at the replay and say ‘no, that’s definitely out of bounds’? I’m not sure if they do, only for goals.

“It is what it is. Yeah, we make mistakes – I made plenty in the last few weeks – and we grow.”

Collingwood overcome Darcy Moore injury in Geelong win

Making Collingwood's win even more impressive is the fact they did it without captain Darcy Moore, who was subbed off in the first quarter with what the club has labelled 'hamstring tightness'. A significant injury to Moore would be a crushing blow to the premiership favourites considering Nick Daicos won't be back until deep into the finals.

"He will have a scan but my understanding is it's not major so we'll wait and see," McRae said. "My understanding is that he's tight - neurological tight hamstring. We have to wait until the scans show what the damage is. He’s fine. He goes ‘I think I’m fine’, again until you really know you don’t know. But the instruction was it’s a tight hamstring.”

Geelong are now 10-1-10 and need to win both of their remaining games against St Kilda and the Western Bulldogs to avoid missing the finals for the first time since 2015. Even if they win both games, it is not guaranteed the Cats will be safe and they could finish this round as low as 12th.

"I think we can play better, no doubt about that," coach Chris Scott said. "But two games to go, do I think we can win them? Yep.

"We've got two games to go, and we think we can play well enough to beat any team in the comp when we play our best. We can play well enough to win the last two games and play in the finals. I'm an optimist."

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