League stands by review call — but Voss still dubious
THE AFL has backed in the contentious goal review call that stunned Carlton coach Michael Voss on Thursday.
A Jack Newnes snap on goal would have brought the margin back to three points but was immediately contested by Richmond defender Nathan Broad.
Broad appealed and made clear that he had touched the ball.
A video review went to the AFL’s ARC and the decision was quickly reversed.
The decision surprised Voss (pictured), who said decisions should only be reversed if there was definitive evidence.
Richmond went down the other end and iced the game with the next play of the game in their MCG victory.
But an AFL spokesman said on Friday the league was confident the ARC had enough evidence to overturn the goal.
The vision shown on the telecast and big screen is the same angle the ARC operators have in their AFL bunkers.
But they have highdefinition super slow motion footage that in this case gave them enough evidence to make a confident call.
Fox Footy commentator Jason Dunstall said in the postmatch coverage he was unsure there was enough evidence to overturn the decision.
“There’s a score review there that I think will be debated long and hard, because I had difficulty working out how they came up with the decision they made,” Dunstall said.
“Not saying it’s wrong, but if this is the shot they’re making it from – and we believe it is – I struggle to come to grips with how this is definitive evidence. Because all his fingers are wobbling, they’re wobbling before they go up.”
Voss said the kick did not look like it was touched from his viewpoint.
“I think it’s got to be definitive, doesn’t it?” he said.
“If you’re gonna make decisions like that in games – you’d hope it’s definitive. I guess I’ve now got the luxury of sitting back and making my own judgment with it slowed down a little bit.
“Certainly we’d want to make sure we’re absolutely 100 per cent sure before overturning something like that myself. Clearly the call was made and we’ve got to end up living with the result.”