‘Should have been added back’: AFL admits to major clock blunder in Saints’ last-gasp win

The AFL has conceded 29 seconds should have been re-added to the clock during St Kilda’s nailbiting four-point victory against the GWS Giants at Engie Stadium on Saturday.

The league has confirmed after a Max Hall goal late in the second term, which put the Saints up by 32 points, the clock ticked down to 29 seconds but then suddenly reduced to zero.

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The siren was then blown as Tom De Koning and Jake Riccardi jumped in the air to contest the ruck battle.

However the timekeepers failed to notice the error and thus the manual backup was not used, and the time vanished from the game.

While it is unlikely to have impacted the result the Giants could have used the extra time, coming almost all the way back, with the final siren sounding as they entered their forward 50 attempting to kick the winning goal.

“Upon a full review, it has been determined that 29 seconds should have been added back onto the clock,” the league said.

“In the moment, the timekeepers were unaware of the technical error. There is a manual backup process for the timekeepers to resort to, however in this instance that process did not happen.”

GWS coach Adam Kingsley told Fox Footy’s AFL 360 he didn’t think it “dictated the result”.

A new system is being used at the venue this season, and an AFL memo which was reported by SEN on Monday morning blamed a software issue.

“We’re in the process of investigating a few clock related issues that we have encountered over the weekend,” the league had said.

“We’re not expecting these issues to be ongoing and believe these incidents are isolated errors that were unforeseen and half expected as the new system is integrated into existing stadium infrastructure and broadcasting equipment.”

It was not the first time this round that the AFL has had issues with the time clock.

It went down across the telecast and in the coaches during the final quarter of the Western Bulldogs’ six-point win against the Adelaide Crows at the Adelaide Oval on Friday night.

A technical fault caused that problem but the timekeepers were able to impacted as everyone else was left in the dark during the thrilling finish.

“The difficult thing for both teams was that the clock stopped,” Bulldogs coach Luke Beveridge said post-game.

“No-one knew what the time was until it got to about, gee what was it? There was about five or six minutes to go. Everyone was flustered because you weren’t sure how urgent it was based on that clock ticking down.”