The panel debates controversial late calls & the rule that's become a 'shambles' - Sunday Footy Show 

what a shambles of a league to drasticly change the way the game is called mid season

This is happening way too often. Umpires can totally win a game for any team they choose.

AFL is embarrassing

Yeo goes to stand up, he's not dragging it in to try force a ball up.

Yeo was trying to win the ball. The game is stuffed.

Once the performance of umpiring was how little they were noticed. Now they are the drama queens who decide matches.

What has happened to this game, in such a short time?

it's honestly crazy how we're like the only sport, that changes the rules like every week.

Pinging Yeo was not in the spirit of the game!.....in the heat of the moment you could be forgiven for thinking he was punished for playing so well and being instrumental in getting Eagles back in front with only a few minutes to play. Playing the emotional card and indulging in conspiracy theories, did anyone else think the Ump was working to a plan???

Yeo didn’t drag it in. He grabbed it and was looking to dish it off immediately. He simply had no prior. Dragging it in suggests he’s taken possession and just sat on it waiting to be tackled. Green bumped Sicily as he kicked it. Last I thought this was a contact sport and can put pressure on the kicker. Didn’t take him high, just a solid bump that wasn’t late in the slightest. Umps just to whistle happy in big moments.

Ump be shitting themselves when games are within a goal in the last 5 minutes. Imagine having so bad umpiring across the board that teams would fear for terrible decisions costing them games

Where was the holding the ball call on the North player just before the terrible Yeo decision

He had at least .0000000001 second of a chance to get rid of the ball, he should have done it then.. To slow free kick.

Yep picked the ball up about to handball - how is that dragging the ball in?

Remember when you weren’t allowed to even show your palms to the ref in a questioning manner? That ‘rule’ disappeared pretty quickly.

saying yeos was a tick is pathetic lmao, if thats a tick there honestly would have been 90 holding the balls in the match, vfl umps for sure said to the umps id you get the chance help the centrelink roos get a win

The Yeo free was perplexing because he made the tackle which spilt the ball free which he then collected whilst on his knees. The tackle by Yeo had been completed and play continued on, so if a player on his knees pulling a ball to himself is being regarded as “dragging the ball in” then shouldn’t it be applied equally to all players grabbing the ball from their knees? Do all players need to now get to their feet before trying to secure the ball?

The umpire missed the high tackle on North just prior to the holding the ball free kick, so I assume he thought he would make up for it by paying a pretty small free kick

Did Kane actually listen to what Bevo said, I really don’t think he did, Bevo was only pointing out what the what the coaches were saying, and what the interpretation from the umpires has turned out to be. Kane stop pulling words in other people’s mouth. Terrible reporting.

Of course these flogs agree that the Yeo free kick was correct

Week after week, umpires insert themselves into games with absolutely woeful decisions which shape the outcome of games. AFL is in crisis here. This panel is on crack if they think that Yeo decision was correct. Absolute disgrace. The whole comp is becoming unwatchable due to pathetic and inconsistent officiating.

West Coast Yeo - not a free. That's not the type of drag the ball moment players should be penalized for. He picks up the ball, lifts a knee, and gets immediately tackled. If that's HTB, then no one will pick up the ball. But Norf were the better side. Tom Green - probably there (but the 2 frees for highs were ridiculous) Suns - ROBBED Coach's hot takes - IGNORE. The game was better for the HTB adjustment. Coaches will sook depending on how it affects their team. But there were some bad calls this week.

The contact, or threat of contact forced Sicily to kick that out on the full. No free kick

Time they started being held accountable. That ump that payed the King free kick was looking for anything to change that result

The problem with the Yeo one is not 1 umpire paid that type of holding the ball for the whole game, then plucked one out with a minute and a half to go against the Eagles. That's the problem. Now we wait for a woman who has never played this sport before to tell us if it was a good decision or not. That's how far this game has stooped. A person who has never played the sport is deciding how the game should be played. And people wonder why the umpiring as it an all time low...

Two games ruined in a day add the bombers gold coast game last week umpiring is horrible

Notice how all 3 decisions affected the non Victorian teams ? AFL = VFL

Looking forward to Richard Tamblings 400th this weekend

I contend, and have done for years, that the umpires are cheats. It's not only the decisions they pay that influence a game but equally it's those they DON'T pay that have the same effect. Those two frees they highlighted were shockers, Yeo (and l'm no lover of WCE) needs to be given more than a nano-second to get rid of the ball, i.e. "prior opportunity", nothing in the other decision other than the umpire saying "look at me", just like baldy a couple of weeks ago in the Freo-Collingwood game with his "I'm going to impose myself and influence this game" attitude. Ask yourself, just how many players respect the umpires, apart from the few that get looked after (Dangerfield, Cripps, Neale and a couple more) l'd say none.

Congrats to North on the win! Well deserved! For what it's worth? I disagree with Lloyd and Cornes on the Yeo decision. There's questions as to whether or not the North player deserved a free kick for high contact. I'm not sure but playing on didn't hurt the match. By contrast, Yeo had only just taken possession of the ball and gets pinged for holding. In this segment, Lloyd appears to be saying that Yeo was right to be penalised but that it would damage the game if players will be hesitant to take possession of the ball. What other conclusion will players take given the outcome here? North deserved the win, no doubt, but a ball-up in the Yeo situation wouldn't have led to this situation where, once again, fans are left wondering what is going on with the rules and the umpiring. Weird. I was glad St Kilda won, too... but if King deserved a free for that situation, why didn't Touk Miller at every ruck contest? The absence of consistency is maddening.

I don’t think the panel really listened to what the coaches actually said, especially Cornes.

Too bad…. The Essendon football club got dudded last week against the Suns. Evens up!

The early focus from this discussion (and rightly so) is paying unnecessary free kicks late in the game which can determine the end result of a game.. the feedback from this will be an over-reaction from the umpires and free kicks which should be paid will then NOT be paid when it's late in the game.

The game has become unwatchable

Think this years brownlow medalist has gotta be the umpires:)

Still can't change 15 metre kicking 😮😮

Why is it so hard is it to fix… if a player takes it on and gets tackled HTB. Incorrect disposal is the frustrating one they rarely pay

Where's the Jai Newcombe video?

When Kane walked away from the screen and Lordo came on i legitimately thought i was watching a year 9 school presentation. How poor is the production. Have them standing on each side asof they are talking to each other for each segmnt. Laughable.

Max kings hand went over macs shoulder, yet no call for that. Umpire clearly had something againts mac andrew, you cant call that either way. The afl will probably back the call by saying "we support this call because we hate defenders and it went againts an interstate team, we will raise that umpires pay because holding them accountable is too hard" Also love how they're paying ducks and flops again, first goal the saints kicked was from a blatent flop. The afl needs to suspend or fine players for flopping, its making the game look like a joke. Ginnivan is ducking like crazy again and getting every call, players flick their hair with 0 high contact and look at the umpire and it works every single time. The game is in shambles

Just the usual VFL sides getting looked after in the last two minutes of play

no way yeo's was holding the ball

Everyone complains about the Max King free, but in my opinion, the Brad Hill incident should have been sighted by the MRP. It was careless and high impact knee to the head. We complain about sling tackles and penalize. This in my opinion is worse.

The umpire gave the magpies the 2023 GF win, by not paying the legging to the lions in the last minute and calling play on. I love the magpies, but I want to win fairly.

New segment, Kane’s brains 😂

The growing view among some of the fans seems to be that there should be no free kicks awarded at all in the last five minutes of play, or if the game is close in the last quarter; "it's a contact sport" so there should be no effort to protect players from concussion caused by dangerous tackles or tackles/shepherds where the ball has already been disposed of and therefore there's no contest for the ball; that the laws should be enforced more consistently, but they should be imposed less harshly depending on the scoreboard. If you reckon it's that easy to umpire a match, why don't you go and sign up with your local league and show the pros how it's done, since you're so good.

Give us break Ralphy and the so called expert panel. In the Saints v Suns match you failed to mention the free kick given to David Swallow and resulting goal in the third quarter game which was equally as bad as the free kick paid to King. Stop picking out controversial frees in isolation as the game is extremely difficult to umpire and consequently soft frees are paid and obvious frees are missed.

If the aim of the rules is to keep the ball in play and to keep play flowing, then you cannot be punishing Yeo in that situation. The ball literally bounced into his hands and he was immediately tackled before he had any opportunity to move the ball on, which he clearly was looking to do given West Coast we down on the scoreboard. Awful call

Umpires need accountability, if players can be reported Umps should be reported for making the wrong call. Suspend and fine them when they make mistakes

Free kick hawthorn returns!

Yeo's over the shoulder sloppy attempt at a tackle of Wardlaw should have been a whistle straight away for a free to Wardlaw. I hate how illegal tackles are just not stamped out of the game.

Why does damo talk with such a strange cadence , like a nervous woodland animal . It’s definitely a shtick, fking WEIRD😂

If you watch the Andrew- King free kick, King actually has his back to the ball. If you're going to pay that one, which you shouldn't, it should've been to Andrew.

Sack everyone at AFL house and go back to 1990 rule book.

how about people stfu about "it's 2 minutes to go with half a point in it and it's game changing it's entirely unfair this that whatever" all of that is superfluous. it's either a free kick or it's not.

It’s a down field free because he was hit after he kicked it, that’s how it has always been.

Bevo was 100% right. This wasn't the change the coaches asked for. They wanted faster whistle so player didn't get hurt.

Hawks are Hungry 😤🔥💛💛💛💛💛.

Lol look at the Max king free kick he is completely being held from leading justified free kick for sure

Theres a surprise.

the afl is more contrived than the ncaa. who changes rules of a game mid year it's laughable.

Umpires are ruining games week in week out AFL is becoming hard to watch with the constant soft free kicks.

Referee decisions in league are appalling Would take to long to list examples Forward passes Walking forward off the mark to play the ball Feeding the bloody second row. RIDICULOUS

Is this controversy round?

Just play Carlton clips if you wanna see bad calls, they get gifted everything

Captains challenge as it is successful in the nrl

Damn Loydy is spot on with everything he says

The only country in the world that has a sport that changes its rules every week, if lucky. It's usually every game. These guys have over 100 years of combines experience in Playing/commentating and they don't even know the rules. Nobody does.

AFL players, eventually will second guess going for the ball and won't attack the ball with intent to play the game. This is a problem, and the AFL as a whole can only blame themselves. Rules changing every week Even the umpires probably couldnt explain what they're supposed to do every game An absolute circus.

Forgot about the 4 disgraceful frees against ST Kilda. 2 for shots on goal for GC, and the two that cost St Kilda goals.. Kings free kick is called rub the green you sensationalists in the media!

Honestly afl umpiring is a disgrace. Hawthorn get 3 straight frees to decide the game including a shot at goal to their best kicker. Ruined the game

how are they defending ANY of them frees. none of them are there.

This is whyi stopped watching footy. Rules change so bloody much and I'm here yelling at the TV cuz I'm following last year's rules to be told that's not allowed now. Only change rules that lead to injuries nothing else.

The AFL need an umpiring summit. They need to get serious about rescuing the game from umpires who have no football instincts. If removing the bounce opens the field of candidates, for god sake do it. Perhaps we need to start paying umpires a million a year like the top players - for god sake do it. I just can't stand watching AFL any more as the umpiring just gets worse every year.

Need a captains challenge introduced with 10 minutes to go in the last quarter

Wake up AFL. Umps wrecking too many games. Are there too many umps? It's like there's 3 teams on the field.

AFL umpiring is embarrassing. If umpires want glory then maybe we should go back to 1 umpire.

Why are umpires/referees in most sports complete and utter spuds? I feel like it takes a certain genetic disposition to become an official of some type.

Yeo decision..........disgraceful..........as an Eagles supporter North deserve the win BUT not that way ! WAKE UP AFL your destroying the game by changing the rules every year.

West Coast lost because they couldn't score. Plain and simple, end of discussion

The game is a complete mess time to switch off and watch the NRL.

Yeo had him around the head prior to the holding the ball decision. Free kick.

Yeo got Wardlaw high in the tackle a second before anyway.

AFL! Where the umpires can’t agree on the rules! The rules change weekly! The game is getting changed to accommodate soft weak people. In the world of professional sports, The AFL are the absolute joke!!!

Haha go away AFL

What a load of crap.

let's not forget that we have the benefit of the replay. the umpire pays what they see, he may have only seen Mac Andrew pulling Kingy around and not the initial contact. All of this has been happening for 150 years and we need to stop complaining about the umpires. yes most of these were 50/50's at best, but it is what it is

It’s great too see west coast on the end of a dodgy one in Perth normally it’s who ever they are playing that cop the crap,and as a stkilda supporter I’m happy too win a game off a bad descision and isn’t that mcandrew gunna be good when he grows up

It is always the fault of those at the coalface, the umpires!

Tbh the umpire is just being racist and should be punished to learn the umpires should be fixed and to make it far

Afl =dumb and dumber 😅

Yeo dragged it in. Holding the ball every week, year on year. Unlucky Yeo

Yeo dived on the ball and when trying to get up is tackled, Holding the ball. 18.6.5 Free Kicks - Holding the Ball: Diving on Top of the Football A field Umpire shall award a Free Kick against a Player who dives on top of or drags the football underneath their body and fails to immediately knock clear or Correctly Dispose of the football when Legally Tackled.

Defenders make contact with the opposition forward 100% of the time. Don’t make contact and you won’t give away a free kick

Yep,It's embarrassing. that's why this disgraceful game is not played world wide. there are no rules. only confusing interpretations.