GRAND Final umpire Matt Stevic has moved to defend the first-quarter decision he paid against Hayden Ballantyne which had a significant impact in Friday night's qualifying final between Fremantle and Hawthorn.
Stevic was the umpire who paid the free kick against Ballantyne, from the next zone in the centre square, for a block off the ball on Hawk speedster Isaac Smith in the first quarter of the match.
Prelim final umpires got a couple wrong: AFL
Michael Barlow had just received a high-tackle free kick inside his own defensive 50, meaning the reversal took Smith well within goal-scoring range.
Smith went back and slotted his set-shot for the Hawks' first goal of the match and the steadier they needed facing an 11-point deficit.
"We've been coached really strongly over a number of years now to look at blocks off the ball," Stevic said on Tuesday morning.
"We're certainly looking for one player going out of his way or moving off a line to pick another player off.
"I felt in that instance Ballantyne had done that. I agree there's not a lot of force in it, but when it's 15-25 metres off the ball we have an obligation to pay that."
Stevic told AFL.com.au's Whistleblowers show that commentators needed to be mindful of the way they explained umpiring decisions to the viewing audience.
"It's really important that from the commentator's persepective that what they call is correct and fairly accurate,” Stevic said.
"There's probably a number of calls that they (the commentators) may made on [Friday] night that may not have been accurate, which then gives the viewers a distorted view of what is right and what is wrong.
"What we would hope and encourage that those commentating on the game are as accurate as possible in their assessments of the rules and the free kicks that we pay."
The AFL umpiring department ticked the decision off and granted Stevic the chance to officiate in his third Grand Final.
Stevic will be joined by Brett Rosebury, selected to umpire his seventh decider, and first-timer west Australian Jeff Dalgleish.
They are the same crew that umpired the Dockers-Hawks clash on Friday night.
Ray Chamberlain has been named as the emergency umpire.
AFL head umpires coach Hayden Kennedy said the trio chose themselves after consistent seasons.
"We're very happy with the mix we've got," Kennedy told AFL.com.au.
"Every umpire involved in the game aspires to become a Grand Final umpire and they've all deserved their appointments."
Rosebury, widely recognised as the AFL's best official, has umpired 331 games since making his debut in 2000.
Stevic, an experienced whistleblower, has umpired 279 games while Dalgleish has 119 games to his name.
Chris Gordon, Matthew Tomkins, Nathan Doig and Ian Burrows are the selected boundary umpires.
Chris Appleton and Adam Wojcik are the goal umpires.
