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“I just got word”: Confusion reigns over “suspicious” umpiring decision
Andrew Slevison • May 2nd, 2025 11:57 am
There was a peculiar moment late in Essendon’s narrow win over North Melbourne at Marvel Stadium on Thursday night.
It occurred with around 10 minutes to play with the Bombers holding a slender lead over the Roos.
Umpire Brendan Hosking had blown his whistle and called for a ball-up just outside North’s goal square, before Roos forward Jacob Konstanty volleyed the ball away.
A free kick was immediately paid to the Kangas which sparked utter confusion among the Dons players, before Hosking grabbed for his earpiece, changed his decision back to a ball-up and uttered the words: “I’m going to ball it up, I just got word.”
There has been chatter that perhaps the free kick should have been paid to Essendon rather than a ball-up.
On the Channel 7 broadcast, Brian Taylor said: “That’s the first time ever I’ve seen an umpire change his decision.”
Kane Cornes, who was on the broadcast, raised the topic on Friday morning.
He wants to know if there was someone in the AFL Review Centre (ARC) sending information to Hosking or it was another umpire on the field with him alerting him to the decision.
“‘BT’ is right, it doesn’t happen very often,” he said on SEN’s Fireball.
“The thing that I was thinking is, ‘I just got word’, which is what the umpire said when he changed his decision.
“It should have been an Essendon free kick, clearly. If he was prepared to pay it to North Melbourne when he thought that Essendon had kicked it away. When he found out it was North had kicked it away it should have been an Essendon free kick, so we all get that.
“But I thought that he had got word from somewhere outside of the ground, someone in the ARC - which has been a story before - has alerted him to the fact that he made the wrong decision.
“Others have suggested that it was another umpire who has communicated with him that he saw the wrong thing. I think the AFL needs to clarify that.
“‘I just got word’. What does that mean?”
It sparked a discussion with Fireball co-host David King who was on the Fox Footy broadcast.
King: “It was clarified on Fox last night. It was from another umpire.”
Cornes: “Is that definitively confirmed from the AFL?”
King: “Yep. They haven’t come out and said it but they’ve made contact.”
Cornes: “I need a little bit more definitive information on that.
“So the AFL are happy with that decision? And happy with the communication to the umpire? Why didn’t the other umpire say, ‘Hey mate, it’s actually an Essendon free kick’.”
King: “That’s a good question. I can’t answer that one.”
SEN news breaker and Channel 9 journalist Tom Morris later joined the discussion to douse Cornes’ cynicism.
Cornes asked: “I’m suspicious that the ARC or the AFL are communicating with umpires on-field.
“Are my suspicions well-founded or not?”
Morris: “No, they’re not well-founded. I like your cynicism.”
Cornes: “What about quarter-time breaks?”
Morris: “Yeah, quarter-time breaks are different, but not during the game.”
Cornes concluded facetiously: “So quarter-time they’re getting communication from the ARC, but not during the game? Ok, sorted.”
The AFL is yet to clarify exactly what occurred on the night.
