The AFL umpire who awarded the decisive last-minute free kick in Brisbane’s preliminary final win over Hawthorn “felt threatened and intimidated” when James Sicily and Tom Barrass accosted him after the final siren, but has accepted an apology from the latter.
Hayden Meyer correctly paid a holding the ball free kick to Lions midfielder Hugh McCluggage in front of goal for his tackle on Jarman Impey, giving the two-time reigning premiers the chance to snatch the lead back with just seconds remaining last Saturday night.
The clock stopped at 18 seconds when McCluggage put it through the middle, and the Lions sealed victory with Will Ashcroft’s clean break from the final centre-square ball-up of the game, which finished in the hands of Kai Lohmann, whose after-the-siren goal put an end to arguably the greatest preliminary final in history.
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Before Lohmann had even kicked the ball, a furious Barrass ran demonstratively towards Meyer while Sicily mouthed off to him in rage from behind.
Sicily and Barrass were fined $10,000 and $5000 respectively for the incident.
“I was a bit taken aback, to be honest, because in my mind I thought I was 100 per cent sure it was a correct free kick,” Meyer told reporters on Wednesday.
“I just wasn’t expecting two players to come up to me like they did on the day. It did surprise me a little bit, but I felt like I handled it pretty well in the situation post-game.
“I felt threatened in the situation. The abuse that came my way, I felt threatened. I can’t repeat it (what was said) on the microphone here.
“I expressed exactly that, the language and the way those two players — James and Tom — came at me, I felt threatened and intimidated in that situation.
“I spoke to (umpires boss) Steve McBurney the day after and gave my view on the situation and how I felt and what occurred.
“He then transferred that to ‘Swanny’ (AFL footy operations boss Greg Swann) and the MRO to eventually come up with the decision around the fines.”
James Sicily and Tom Barrass were furious at Hayden Meyer after the siren. Credit: Channel 7
Meyer revealed he has taken a phone call from Barrass, who offered a sincere apology, but the whistleblower has not heard from Hawks captain Sicily.
“I haven’t heard from James, no, I have heard from Tom, yes,” Meyer said.
“Tom contacted Steve McBurney to ask to speak to me and apologise. We teed up a time yesterday for us to have a conversation over the phone.
“He was very apologetic, very sincere in his apology. I accepted his apology and I thanked him for taking the time out of his day to give me a call.”
Speaking to 7NEWS ahead of the Brownlow Medal count on Monday night, Sicily said he would offer an apology if he saw Meyer.
“If I see Hayden tonight, I’ll make sure I go over and shake his hand and apologise. And if I don’t see him tonight, I’ll do it next year during the season sometime. But yeah, not on,” he said.
“Yeah (my emotions got the better of me) for sure mate. I did. But I got my whack and rightly deserved. And yeah, as I said, if I see him I’ll make sure I shake his hand and apologise.”
The two Hawks players were fined for the exchange. Credit: Channel 7
Meyer has been selected for his third AFL grand final this weekend, when he will run out alongside Brett Rosebury in his 10th, and Brendan Hosking and Nick Foot, who are each in their second.
McBurney confirmed Meyer’s decision to penalise Impey under immense pressure contributed to his selection for this week.
Asked by Kick It Forward’s Josh Garlepp about the decision on the Brownlow Medal red carpet on Monday night, Impey was all class, applauding Meyer for making the correct decision.
“Look, it’s a long game, there was a lot of decisions in the game, like there is for every AFL game, right?” Impey said.
“It was the right decision. Naturally, when you think there’s 30, 40 seconds to go, you try to hold it in and go from there.
“But credit to Hayden, and I hope that there was no hate message towards him, so sending love to him.”
The umpire who called Jarman Impey for holding the ball has been recognised with a grand final spot. Credit: AAP
Meyer said he was certain of his call in the moment and was reinforced after reviewing the replay in the aftermath.
“At the time I was certain it was a free kick, after the game I was certain it was a free kick and now I’m still certain it was a free kick,” he said.
“Once you’re out there, you get into the zone and just processing decision by decision. It wasn’t any different in that case.
“I was fortunate on the day that I was in a really good position. I could see that Impey had one arm free. From there he has to make a genuine attempt to dispose of the ball in a reasonable time.
“I gave him that reasonable time and he didn’t, so I paid holding the ball. As I said, I was fortunate that I had a really good view of it. I was certain that was the decision.
“I backed my judgment and paid it.”
Furious Hawks fans threw cans and bottles at umpires as they left the MCG, with one young Lions fan being treated in hospital after being hit in the head by a projectile.
“I’ve never experienced bottles being thrown at me post-game,” Meyer said.
“I’ve experienced abuse and people reaching over the fence and all that stuff, but never bottles.
“It was pretty scary, to be honest. I hope it never happens again in any game, any sport.”
Bottles were thrown at the umpires as they left the field. Credit: Seven
Swann confirmed the league would look at changing rules in the off-season to ensure there is a capacity for players to be suspended for umpire abuse.
“We didn’t have that available so we didn’t look at it,” Swann said about possibly of suspending Sicily and Barrass.
“Under the rules, as they sit at the moment, we’re only able to give a fine.
“That’s something we’ll look into at the end of the year.
“Nobody was pleased with how that unfolded.”
McBurney said all umpires who walked off the MCG on Saturday night were doing fine and not injured.
“The optics aren’t great, it’s not a good look and we’re just debriefing on the security arrangements in the wake of what happened,” he said.
With AAP
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