“A bit outside the spirit of the game”: Why ex-umpire wouldn’t have paid controversial free kick

Former AFL umpire Dean Margetts wouldn’t have paid the controversial free kick that was awarded to Fremantle’s Sean Darcy in Friday’s 75-75 draw with Collingwood at Optus Stadium.

The free kick, which resulted in an easy shot at goal, played a big hand in the Dockers coming back to draw the game as it brought them within 13 points of the Magpies with less than seven minutes remaining on the clock.

Umpire Mathew Nicholls blew the whistle for ‘time-wasting’ as Collingwood’s Lachie Sullivan handed the ball to his teammate Nick Daicos, instead of directly to him following a stoppage.

While the AFL ticked off the decision, it has been slammed by the media and fans alike as it played such a big role in the result.

Margetts says he hopes he wouldn’t have paid the free kick as he didn’t truly believe that the Pies were attempting to waste time.

“As you know, it's always easy watching the game on the couch with a pizza, we know that,” Margetts told SEN’s Sportsday WA.

“But certainly, I'd like to think if I was out there, I would have had a reasonable feel for the moment and I do not think that's the intention of that law.

“So, just ball it up and let the players sort out the outcome.

“The less the umpires are involved, probably the better.”

Margetts went back through the rationale surrounding the rule and explained why he didn’t believe Sullivan was time-wasting at all.

He says there was nothing to delay as the clock had stopped and that handing the ball to Daicos, while he faced away from Nicholls, was of no benefit to his team.

“If I can just backtrack to the actual rationale around the rule, what they said this year was there's going to be less leniency with a time delay with players returning the ball to the umpire,” Margetts explained.

“But the three scenarios that it was designed for is when a player is on the ground, and the umpire calls for a ball-up, and they push the ball away from the umpire and make him go and retrieve it – that’s one of the scenarios.

“The second scenario is if a player has the ball and is directing his teammates to go and pick up opponents and delay the game - that would be a free kick.

“The final one is if a player has the ball and handballed it to a teammate a distance away from the play, that would be a free kick.

“In the weekend where Sullivan picks up the ball, his back is to the umpire, then he throws it to Nick Daicos, and he gets the umpire within 0.6 of a second…

“We know there's no time delay because the time stops when the umpire crosses his arms for a ball-up.

“In that situation, the players around that stoppage are all setting up, the rucks are getting ready, there was nothing to delay.

“There was no commentary or no pointing to teammates.”

While the decision can be ticked off under the laws of the game, Margetts doesn’t believe it was in the spirit of the game.

He pointed to the fact that the decision has barely been paid at all in 2024, let alone in such a critical moment that could have cost the Magpies.

“I think in the spirit of the law – I know the AFL have ticked it off and said, ‘Technically, it's right’ … but they've paid four this year in 12 rounds. I mean, how many have been missed?” Margetts asked.

“I'm just not sure it was designed for that. It's sort of a bit outside the spirit of the game for mine.

“We want the players to determine the outcome, not umpire decisions.”

Margetts officiated 377 AFL games from 2002 to 2021. He umpired six AFL Grand Finals during his career.