Players and fans were left stunned on Friday night by a bizarre passage of play in the Collingwood-Geelong clash that led to superstar Jeremy Cameron’s fifth goal.
Cats veteran Isaac Smith gathered the ball just inside the boundary line at half-forward and kicked the ball towards Cameron in the pocket.
Despite Cameron not appearing to control the mark inside the field of play, he was paid the mark – much to the anger of Collingwood fans and players.
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“This one is about a metre over the boundary line,” Fox Footy’s Jason Dunstall said.
I don’t know how the boundary umpire misses that
Magpies defender Brayden Maynard was seen appealing for an out of bounds on the full free kick, but it was to no avail. And when Maynard and teammate Nathan Murphy saw the replay of the incident on the big screen, they weren’t happy.
Fans were surprised Maynard wasn’t pinged for umpire dissent, considering players have been penalised for pointing out the replay on the big screen after a decision has been made.
“Well at least we know dissent doesn’t exist anymore,” Channel 7’s Matthew Richardson said.
Despite being on the wrong side for a left-footer, Cameron calmly took his set-shot and perfectly nailed a checkside kick for his fifth major of the night, breaking a run of seven straight Collingwood goals.
It wasn’t Cameron’s only controversial goal of the night, with the star left-footer appearing to snap a goal after receiving a handball when inside the boundary line.
Collingwood coach Craig McRae was circumspect about the calls when asked about them post-game.
“I did see it on the big screen,” he told reporters. “I don’t think I need to make comment, the crowd were going alright weren’t they? What can we do about it, really?
“I actually think it might be worth asking the AFL. They can all see it on the screen. Do they have the ability to look at the replay and say ‘no, that’s definitely out of bounds’? I’m not sure if they do, only for goals.
“It is what it is. Yeah, we make mistakes – I made plenty in the last few weeks – and we grow.”
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