AFL Reverses Decision on ARC Intervention After Goals
The Australian Football League (AFL) has reversed its previous stance on allowing the Area Review Camera (ARC) to intervene after a goal is scored. This decision came 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.
The situation arose when the game had already resumed, but the ARC intervened, leading to a delay of nearly a minute. Greg Swann, the AFL football boss, acknowledged that the process took “way too long” and admitted that the timing disrupted the flow of the game.
“It was 55 seconds so it took way too long. It stopped the game mid-game,” Swann said. He added that moving forward, the ARC will not initiate score reviews unless specifically asked by the goal umpire.
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 the point where Rowan Marshall kicked the goal. Swann explained that while the balance between accuracy and game flow is delicate, the risks of stopping the game for ARC intervention are significant.
“You’re trying to prevent the howlers to be honest. Other than that we don’t want it to be too technical,” he said.
Swann also mentioned that the ARC can still intervene in last disposal decisions, provided they can do so within the 15 seconds it takes for the boundary umpire to throw the ball back into play.
In addition to this, Swann acknowledged that a 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 these developments, Swann confirmed that there would be no changes to the controversial ‘stand’ rule. This decision came despite criticism from Suns coach Damian Hardwick, who expressed his concerns during a post-game press conference.
“Common sense has to prevail at some stages,” Hardwick said post-match on Saturday. “I don’t know what that looks like but someone needs to take charge.”
Swann reiterated that the current rule changes have been effective and that there are no plans for further modifications. He emphasized that while debates around certain decisions are inevitable, the rules as they stand are working well.
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.”
