Campbelltown vs St George

[I_Heart_Kefalas]

News item

This is certainly an interesting outcome. Personally, I would feel very hard done by if I was from Campbelltown!

On the other hand i can certainly see where St George are coming from and think they have every right to do what they have done...

The league seems to have distanced themselves from the goal upmires error and not taken responsibility on their behalf by fixing the problem...


I think a lot of people will be divided over this decision, will be interesting to hear others opinion?? Carn Ash give us your thoughts~!

[ash]

Thanks for consulting my advice Mr Kefalas. (By the way, No.1 for Uni seems a nice guy having spoken to him briefly)

Think you summed it up and I posted a response weeks ago.

I would support the correction and the re-correction.

If the appeal was dismissed and the draw stood, it would suggest that all games at Premier league be televised and later reviewed for score accuracy (or in this case inaccuracy). That is not going to happen- end of story.

All parties involved did what was best for them and each had a case. It should not have dragged on so long as it is a clear verdict and wasted time for all parties involved.


Anything else you would like me to comment on?

[humphrey bear]

One line from the release says it all.

"The board accepted the final score was not correct."

It is a pathetic effort from the St George Football Club to appeal this decision. The idea in football is to get the fair and equitable result. Who cares about by-laws and obscure rules.

22 blokes from both sides ran out, played for 2 hours and at the end of the game the scores were the same. That is a draw.

The goal umpire made an error and the St George football club find an obscure rule that goes againt the spirit of the game. This is a sad day for Sydney footy.

Earlier this year the St Kilda football club could have gone to court and appealed the decision in the Fremantle game and all legal advice says they would have had the AFL commission decision over turned. They didnt because they knew they lost the game the same as StGeorge drew this game.

Shearer, this is a deplorable act by your footy club which i have always considered to be a good bunch of people. Honesty, fairness and the right thing is more imprtant than 2 points.

I wish the Crows all the worst for the rest of the year and hope such a classless, gutless and immoral act gets you exactly where you deserve to be.



P.S I dislike Campletown more than any other club in the league but they have been very poorly treated in this case.

[nugget]

Humphrey, I was trying to think of a way to word this appropriately but I think you have summed it up rather well.

[floppinab]

An interesting one.

The relevant ruling is as follows

(c) Comparing Score At the end of each quarter and at the end of a Match, the goal Umpires shall compare the score which they have recorded. If the scores are different and cannot be agreed upon or corrected by the goal Umpires, the
scores shall be compared to the score recorded by the Timekeeper(s) or person(s) appointed by the Controlling Body under Law 12.7 (if any). If the matter still remains unresolved or the Timekeeper has not
recorded the scores, the matter shall be referred to the relevant Controlling Body for determination.

So what actually happened at 3Q time between the goal umps???? Did they really "agreed upon" score. Were they both right but looked at the scoreboard and one of them, let's say leant on the other one and convinced him to change his. I understood the timekeeps were keeping score and in fact had the correct score recorded. They were never consulted (they should have been if there was a disagreement).

[adnar]

I know this is off topic, but somewhat related.

In division 2 on Sunday Balmain defeated UTS by 1 point, the umpire claims that was written on the scoresheet, UTS sent the scoresheet in and now magicly there's an extra point making the game a draw.

NSWAFL officials say this is the result as it stands, which is bewildering because not one person on the ground on the day claimed that it was anything but a win to Balmain.

How hard is it to write the bloody score down, compare and agree?!

[Norris Lurker]

I wasn't at that game and I was out on the next Friday night and forgot to cue up the VCR to tape the replay; so I haven't seen it.

But I'm wondering - did the goal umpires ever wave the flags to the scoreboard at full-time? Is it possible that the goal umpires' scorecards agreed but were different to the scoreboard, and if the scoreboard person couldn't be found or wasn't able to change the board maybe they went off without waving the flags.

Something similar to that happened at the St George v Pennant Hills game at Olds Park about a month ago, where the goal umpires checked their scorecards which were slightly different to the scoreboard, and went over to the scoreboard operator. But the ground under the scoreboard was muddy and the scoreboard operator lost his footing and went sliding down the hill. The goal umpires couldn't wave their flags to the scoreboard, so off they went.
In that game, the winner of the game wasn't in doubt and the timekeepers' scores matched the goal umpires. But because the goal umpires agreed on what the score was, that was sufficient to fulfill the rules and what the scoreboard said was irrelevant.

[Coastal Boy]

I dont see anywhere in the rules that says the score can be reviewed after watching a video replay. I know it makes sense to do so but if it aint in the rules it cannot be done. Maybe we ought to get the rules changed first.......do something to prevent this re-occurring. It can be like the judiciary....if there is video evidence then use it, if not we dont.

I aint taking sides but I dont think Shearer should cop any flak either. I am sure the league did not bow to his wishes, they probably disregarded most of what he said when making their decision anyway. I dont blame a jockey for putting in a protest. I would be upset if they did not do all possible to get a winner if I had my money on it.

[ash]

Fellas, please you are all too shortsighted but consistently so.

No Fox, no issue!

Would a player from either side play differently knowing the correct score?

I would be more concerned if St George rushed a behind late in the game.

I would assume they slow played the final ten minutes of the game.

Humprhey you funny old fello and Woodsy both clubs acted responsibly and for the sake of the rules and the game here in Sydney the final outcome was correct.

It is the process during and immediately after a game that may need to be reviewed.

By the way, dont be surprised if the Crows win the flag. They have the most talented list in this league.

A Penno v Crows GF - watch this space!!!

[tigers_town]

those of you having a dig at the Crows are MORONS !!!!!!!!!!!1

Im sure if it was your club involved you would react the same and the umpires confired at the end of the game stating the Crows won by 1 point . Simply put if it wasnt a Fox game no one would have known , umpires have final say , Crows win by a point and rightfully so.

I am Balmain through and through yet feel some of the comments coming at the Crows are naive and unfair

[Donald Duck]

Campbelltown/St George

I cant believe these comments. St. George had every right to dispute the decision, knew the rules inside out, appealed and won. Had rules of the game been followed in the first place, this matter wouldn't have gone so far. Well done St. George, way to go.

[humphrey bear]

When i did my first post I expected that there would be plenty of dissent.

But in my eyes it is simple. All sport is played to get the fair and right result. That hasn't happened here. It doesnt matter that the only reason we are aware of it is that it was the Fox game that was taped.

Campletown, St George & the NSWAFL all know the game was a draw. For 2 of the 3 parties to ignore that is a disgrace.

None of the regular contributors to this board are surprised that the NSWAFL took the spineless option. (they even had the precedent earlier in the year where the AFL ignored a stupid rule to get the fair result).

What surprises me and a few others that I have spoken to is that St George football club showed they have a lot less class than St Kilda.

[Roo]

Ash you talk total garbage. If penno were in C'towns position you would be calling for the league to do something about it. This shows a lack of class from the St George Football Club. The technicallities are ridiculous as all three parties agreed that the score was actually a draw but rules got in the way of them judging it this way. I hope that karma comes back to bite St George and that they are knocked out of the finals in the first week.

[Norris Lurker]

Unfortunately for Campbelltown, Coastal Boy's analysis is spot on - once the goal umpires agreed what the score was, no-one else's score records are relevant. That's the rule - maybe it shouldn't be, maybe there should be scope in the rules for a video countback, but there isn't.

If the goal umpires had disagreed, there would have been scope for other actions. After an incident at a game about 4 years ago (back when Troy Garner was doing the match reports, I wasn't at that game), the timekeepers will always record the scores; and looking back at the TV replays could be an option.
But that wasn't the case here. The ruling said that once the goal umpires had agreed on what the score was, that's what the score was.

Effectively, what the ruling says is that the Sydney AFL controlling body doesn't have the power to over-rule umpiring decisions. Had they ruled the other way, even though it may have been correct for that game, it would have potentially opened the floodgates for all sorts of other appeals.

[Junior]

Just to clear one or two things up, Firstly Tiger Town, it was a two point victory, one of Campbelltown's points was credited to St George, effectively a two-point turn around. Secondly, I dont think people realise that the Campbelltown FC were well aware that the result was questionable well before seeing the video. Their own records indicated a draw, they checked with the timekeepers who concurred, it was only at that point that they triple checked with the Digital Sports crew who again agreed that the result should have been a draw. I believe they had the full intent of lodging a complaint before seeing the footage. Subsequent checking of the video was only called upon as proof, rather than engaging in a "my word v their word" affair.

I think we all realise that St George was well within their rights to protest the original decission, I think what people are frustrated about is the fact that they chose to. St Kilda obviously took the correct moral stance earlier this year, and I would hope that if my club was in a similar position, it would do the same. Clearly the AFL had the chance to correct an obvious mistake made by its own officials, and failed to do so. I doubt if it would have set a precident, and I firmly believe that if you have a resource available to you ie video evidence, if it will assist you in making a correct decision, it should be used.