AFL Reverses Decision on ARC Intervention
The Australian Football League (AFL) has reversed its decision regarding the use of the Arena Review Centre (ARC) to intervene in score reviews after a goal is kicked. This change comes following an incident during a match between St Kilda and West Coast, where the team was awarded a mark on the goal line after a lengthy review.
During the game, the play continued for nearly a minute before the review was completed. AFL football boss Greg Swann admitted that the process took “way too long” and acknowledged the disruption it caused. As a result, the ARC will no longer intervene in score reviews unless specifically asked by the goal umpire.
“It was 55 seconds so it took way too long. It stopped the game mid-game,” Swann said. “So going forward now the ARC won’t do that. The ARC will still obviously do goal reviews, but they won’t intervene in a score like they did on the weekend unless the goal umpire asks for a score review.”
The goal umpire initially called the play a behind, but the ARC reviewed the incident and instructed the umpires to stop play and return the ball to where Rowan Marshall kicked the goal. Swann explained that there was a fine balance between ensuring accuracy and maintaining the flow of the game.
“You’re trying to prevent the howlers to be honest. Other than that we don’t want it to be too technical,” he said. He added that the ARC can still intervene in last disposal decisions, as long as they can do so within the 15 seconds it takes for the boundary umpire to throw the ball back in.
Swann also conceded that a recent non-touch call involving Griffin Logue was incorrect. He noted that both ARC operators felt there was “insufficient evidence” to overturn the call during North Melbourne’s close loss to the GWS Giants on Sunday.
Despite this, Swann confirmed that there would be no changes to the controversial ‘stand’ rule, even though Suns coach Damian Hardwick raised concerns about it during his post-game press conference. Hardwick had stated, “Common sense has to prevail at some stages. I don’t know what that looks like but someone needs to take charge.”
Swann responded by saying that the rule changes have so far worked “really well” and there would be no further modifications. He emphasized that while there will always be debate over certain decisions, the rules are functioning effectively.
He said: “There’s always going to be debate on some of those decisions but the rules work, we think, really well and we won’t change it.”
