The AFL umpiring department has stood by the decision to pay a crucial 50-metre penalty against Sydney co-captain Kieren Jack in the five-point loss to Hawthorn on Thursday night.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Jack was said to have infringed on the 10-metre protected zone when Hawk Jonathon O'Rourke took a mark only seconds before the three-quarter-time siren.
O'Rourke was brought inside 50 after the penalty and kicked the goal to put the Hawks within five points at the final change, a game they went on to win by five points.
Umpires boss Hayden Kennedy said it was the right decision.
"We think it is," he said.
"What we need to see Kieren [Jack] do is to show some intent that he's trying to clear out the protected area rather than running in a parallel line.
"The player needs to show an intent to clear the protected area and in this particular case the umpire wasn't of that belief, so that's why he paid the 50."
Kennedy's comments come after Laws of the Games Committee member Michael Christian said on radio that he believed the umpire got it wrong, claiming he thought Jack was already inside the protected zone when O'Rourke marked, and was trying to get out.
Kennedy also backed the decision on Saturday to award a free kick against North Melbourne's Michael Firrito for a deliberate rushed behind.
Firrito was tackled early in the first quarter by Port Adelaide's Charlie Dixon and handballed over the goal line as he was slung in the tackle.
It was the sixth time this year that a player has been penalised for a deliberate rushed behind and the incident cause heated debate as to whether the tackle constituted Firrito being under reasonable pressure.
Kennedy explained that the umpire decided to award the free kick because of a combination of two factors.
"He thought Michael had an opportunity to then dispose of then ball, he doesn't, and then once he gets tackled he handballs it with force well over the scoring line," Kennedy told the AFL website.
"Because of the distance away of the scoring line and from where it landed, he thought it was a deliberate rushed behind.
"He is under pressure, what [the umpire] had to weigh up was whether the distance was a reasonable expectation for him to handball it over the scoring line."
