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Umpires again in hot water after concussion-based repeat incident
Jaiden Sciberras • May 18th, 2025 4:15 pm
The AFL’s umpiring unit has once again found themselves under fire after allowing play to continue despite a concussed player remaining on the field of play.
During Sydney’s 16-point win over the Blues on Friday night, utility Aaron Francis went down with a clear concussion after being accidentally collected in the back of the head by teammate Brodie Grundy.
Despite the clear incident, the umpires did not halt play, allowing the game to build around the visibly shaky Francis for over a minute before the game was stopped.
Throughout the week, the umpiring unit has copped intense backlash for their handling of the Lachie Schultz incident just a week prior, allowing Collingwood to progress play while Schultz was clearly suffering in the middle of the ground.
After promises from the head of the AFL that umpires had been trained to stop play immediately if a player is down with concussion, the same incident repeated with little behavioural change.
Speaking on SEN’s Crunch Time, Sam Edmund explained the incident, citing the strange decision from the umpires to continue with the game.
“(Francis) was ruled out with concussion, albeit from an accidental knee from a teammate in Brodie Grundy,” Edmund said.
“A week after the AFL themselves determined that play should have been stopped in the Lachie Schultz incident in Perth, they have allowed play to continue in Sydney, in arguably a closer vicinity to a concussed player.
“Francis Evans from the Blues taking his set shot from about 50, Aaron Francis is on the opposite pocket in the hands of two trainers.
“The umpires allowed the shot, you can hear the audio, they are aware of the player that is injured. They allowed the shot, but it goes across the face, stays in play on Aaron Francis’ side of the goal and the scrimmage gets to within 15 metres of the Swans’ defenders.
“The Blues kick a behind and then play is eventually stopped, so you’re talking about a minute to a minute and a half of actual time here that the umpires have been aware of an injured player on the ground and allowed the set shot and play to continue.
“Not the overly conservative decision you’d expect a week after the Schultz situation. You’d expect after the Schultz situation they would be like a guillotine on stopping play. It hasn’t happened.
“Play could have been stopped there so that Aaron Francis could have been allowed to (leave the field of play). It looked like he wanted to exit the ground obviously.
“Can the doctors talk to the umpires? Can the umpires consult to the doctors?
“There are four umpires out there, one of them officiating the set shot, the other three are free to communicate. ‘Has he got concussion?’ ‘Has he got a knee injury?’ Tell them, or have them ask, ‘is it a head knock?’
“It’s incredible to think we had a situation almost repeat itself a week on, and here they had more cause to stop it, and didn’t.”
SEN's Gerard Whateley doubled down on Edmund’s take, identifying that despite the chaos surrounding Lachie Schultz’s concussion, the umpires failed to react once again.
“This is where you know, there was a talk at half time because they corrected it in the Jordan Boyd moment,” he said.
“Play was stopped immediately, (Braeden) Campbell had to toss the ball to the umpire, and we waited to see how Boyd was.
“It was surprising to see given the week that we’ve had, and the AFL seemingly tightened the protocols around it, we were told that the whole umpiring group had been counselled around it on Tuesday night.
“The first time it was to be applied it wasn’t applied adequately. Just get the message out onto the field. There is no rush for Evans to take the shot at goal. No rush whatsoever.”
