With the shoe on the other foot in Round 22, Steven May has revealed he’s instructed his teammates to claim a ball as touched whenever possible, even if it's not.
May’s revelation comes after Melbourne was undone by a 50-50 call on Saturday night in a desperate four-point loss to Carlton. A Christian Petracca long bomb in the final minute was ruled a behind and the subsequent score review proved inconclusive.
Blues defender Caleb Marchbank claimed instantly that he’d touched the ball on the line which may have swayed the umpire’s call.
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When questioned on SEN Breakfast if it was standard to claim touched even when not, May took the defender’s perspective.
“Yes, I’ve instructed the other defenders that even if they don’t think (it’s touched), you start waving your hands around, you never know,” May disclosed.
“I wasn’t on the goal line and didn’t see anything but I saw Marchy look at the umpire straight away, you wouldn’t really do that unless you instinctively knew you touched it.
“It’s a tough one. It comes down to the umpire’s call and it’s hard for them as well to see the slightest touch on the ball, unfortunately, it didn’t go our way this time.
“We’ve had a few that have gone our way in the past, so I suppose it all evens out in the end.”
Marchbank was anything but confident when speaking to ABC in the aftermath of the game, claiming he touched the ball “on the fingertips”.
“I was just hoping for anywhere … I was just hoping enough it would go towards my favour,” the 26-year-old defender said.
It’s thrown plenty of heat onto the score review system given it couldn’t find evidence either way in one of the biggest calls of 2023.
Melbourne is now behind the eight ball to finish in the top two and claim a home Qualifying Final. Meanwhile, Michael Voss’ Carlton likely secured a first finals appearance since 2013 with the win.
Despite the controversial defeat, May credits the Blues as deserving victors.
“To be honest, it was a tough loss because it came down to a final kick,” he added.
“But I think Carlton played so well, it was an arm wrestle all night. They’re a very impressive side, they’ve worked on their contest and their defence, which is something we value a lot at Melbourne.
“It was a tough night all night and it could have gone either way.”
Melbourne will hope for two wins against Hawthorn and Sydney in Rounds 23 and 24 and hope results go their way before embarking on a third consecutive finals campaign.
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