AFL: Technology should have final say over goal umpire, says Craig McRae

Magpies coach Craig McRae would like to see the goal umpire’s “soft call” scrapped from the score review system as coaches meet with the AFL following the disastrous end to Adelaide’s season on Saturday night.

The Crows were unceremoniously bundled out of finals contention after a late shot at goal by Ben Keays was deemed to have hit the post and ruled a behind despite vision showing the kick was a clear goal and would have put Adelaide in front with 70 seconds remaining.

AFL chief executive Gillon McLachlan said the failure to send the score upstairs to the review system was “challenging” for the league as the goal umpire who made the decision was stood down for the rest of the season.

McRae said he spoke to AFL umpire boss Dan Richardson on Tuesday to discuss the review system and put to him a change he thought would lead to more accurate outcomes.

“I did have the chance to speak to Dan Richardson yesterday and he was telling me that parts of the system are as good as they can be, and we back that in,” McRae said.

“I said this to Dan – when the umpire says, ‘I believe it’s a point’, what if he just said, ‘I’m not sure’ … what if the umpire said nothing and just let the technology do its stuff.

“Let the technology take care of itself, and let them make the decisions, because there’s a lot of inconclusive decisions where they just go with what the umpire said.

“I don’t know whether that’s going to change the game, but it’s something to think about.”

McRae said while the system had helped the game eradicate many goal umpiring errors since its introduction, there was more to be done to create a robust process that could pass the “grand final test”.

“It will be amazing in 10 years’ time when we look back at ourselves as a competition and see the progression of us.

“If you think 10 years ago, we didn’t have this – (Tom) Hawkins kicked a goal which hit the post in a grand final, so we’re progressing.”

He said the AFL should consider reviewing every score but did not necessarily need to stop play for a number of seconds after each behind, which the league is considering.

“I watched the soccer like everyone else did and I thought the technology was outstanding,” he said.

“There wasn’t really a pause in the play, it’s just the grand final test for me – if this happened in a grand final, would we be happy with it? I think most of us know the answer.”