Cats coach meets with umpires after lengthy rant

What followed was a five-minute monologue on the holding the ball rules, as well as when and how advantage should be played.

The monologue came after his side was denied a late goal when Jeremy Cameron toed the ball through for a goal. But by then the umpire had already blown the whistle and was asking for the ball back for a holding the ball call in the pocket.

Now, AFL footy boss Laura Kane has worked to clear up the conversation held on Monday in response to Scott’s lengthy monologue.

“They are the opportunities that we take from this commentary and these types of situations,” Kane said on the AFL’s show Footy Feed Extra on Monday.

“We take the opportunity to educate our clubs and in turn be educated.”

Scott’s biggest concern was voiced post match, after a free kick against Port’s Zak Butters was called back despite a clear Geelong advantage being taken that resulted in a goal.

The ball was kicked by Cat Jhye Clark, which was then slotted through off the ground by teammate Cameron, which would have reduced the Power’s lead to just one point.

The ball was called back and a free kick was given to Ollie Henry instead. He did not kick a goal.

“The one tonight, the rule is if the play is continuous and the team chooses to take the advantage, then the umpire calls play on. So if we go back to the first bit – there’s four of them out there, who sometimes I think get in each other’s way a little bit, the game is so ballistic, there are so many players around the ball – maybe we should just go back to ‘this is a really, really hard game to umpire’ and you go in with your expectations that they’re going to make a hell of a lot of mistakes because there’s not much more they can do,” Scott said on Friday.

“I think over the years umpiring has improved and I think the young umpires coming through are contributing to a higher standard. Now whether you want four of them out there – because, again, in our game, choosing not to blow the whistle is a decision. The more you throw out there, it only takes one to blow the whistle and he overrules the rest of them.”

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But Kane defended the umpire’s call, saying the league was “comfortable” with the ball not being paid advantage.

“The umpire’s whistle has gone at almost the same time that the player (Clark) has disposed at the ball,” Kane said.

“It’s worth noting it came off the side of his boot, it was a shanked kick, and the umpire has made the decision to bring that back and give Geelong the shot on goal.

“So we were comfortable with the way it was officiated.”

Geelong sit second on the ladder with a 7-2 record, as they head to Darwin on Thursday nigh to face the Suns.