Former AFL Umpire Dean Margetts says the AFL needs to front up and own their mistakes amid criticism of its handling of the Lachie Schultz concussion situation.
The Collingwood forward sustained a concussion following a fourth-quarter tackle from Fremantle’s Jordan Clark at Optus Stadium last week.
On Wednesday, AFL EGM of Football, Laura Kane, admitted the miscommunication did not come from the field umpires, but the umpiring department.
The AFL initially released a statement which claimed the on-field umpires did not see Schultz on the ground, but play would have stopped had they realised.
But audio released Tuesday night contradicted this, showing umpires were aware of Schultz, but decided not to halt play.
Margetts believes the AFL owning up to their flawed handling of the situation is the way forward.
“We’re putting out statements, which is all great, but I think sometimes you’re going to have to front the media and say we may have got this wrong,” he told SportFM.
“It’s a breakdown, we’ve heard the commentary around it, but maybe you’ve got to put a face to the word sometimes.
“People would accept and acknowledge that we make mistakes, umpires make mistakes, and administrators make errors too.
“That’s the best diffuser of a situation I’ve found in my time, so maybe the AFL have erred by not being a bit more front and centre.”
On Seven Network’s Agenda Setters, panellist Kane Cornes called for the four umpires to be sanctioned, noting an instance in the opening round where play was stopped for a cramp.
However, the AFL has since clarified that the footy department was at fault in this situation.
With the conflicting statements and backtracking, Margetts says the umpires involved have been done dirty throughout the saga.
“The reality is that there’s been a serious breakdown of communication between the AFL umpiring group and the AFL,” he said.
“There’s been a lot of backtracking over the last few days, and it’s been very clunky and a bit unfortunate.
“I think the umpires are the ones who have been unfairly wronged in the whole process.”
Margetts also agrees the game should have stopped when it became clear Schultz was down, according to protocol surrounding injured players.
Play continued around the Collingwood forward, as he lay motionless on the ground for around 15 seconds before teammate Jamie Elliot took a mark inside 50 and created a pause in play.
Schultz eventually received medical assistance from Collingwood staff, but collapsed after getting back to his feet while making his way off.
“You’d like to think when you see a player with the arm up and clearly concussed that no football supporter, media commentator alike would be disappointed if the game was stopped through that,” he said
“The policy and procedure that I’ve got is if there’s any injured player within the vicinity or a kick off play then the umpires should stop the game immediately.
“I don’t think anyone cares where the ball is, we just want to make sure the player’s welfare is safe. I don’t think anyone’s going to argue if the umpire stopped play for that.”
IMAGE: Herald Sun, Melbourne