SEVERAL contentious incidents in the dying minutes of St Kilda's thrilling win over Geelong match have been given the all clear by umpires coach Hayden Kennedy.
Tom Hawkins was not given a free kick after tangling legs with Saints defender Dylan Roberton while leading in Geelong's forward 50, which Kennedy said was the correct decision.
"What the umpire has to make sure is that he can see that one person has caused the trip," Kennedy said on Whistleblowers.
"I don't think we can tell by the vision, and also the umpire's position on the day, that one person is responsible and I think it was just a clash of bodies.
"I think what we see is that Tom's back foot hits Dylan's knee, which causes both players to fall over.
"So [a] really difficult decision obviously for the umpire, in a particularly difficult time of the game, but I'm comfortable in that decision being made," he said.
Another decision put under the microscope involved Geelong's Cam Guthrie, who was penalised for holding the ball inside the Cats' defensive 50 despite appearing to have no prior opportunity to dispose of it.
Kennedy agreed Guthrie hadn't had prior opportunity, but said the umpire had given him time to show a genuine attempt to dispose of the ball.
"He hasn't had any kind of opportunity, but another aspect of the law book that says once the ball is pinned, you need to make a genuine attempt to dispose of the ball," he said.
"Our umpire there, Luke Farmer, decided that Cameron's effort to dispose of the ball wasn't genuine, so he paid it as holding the ball.
"It's just all in the umpire's mind – Luke's there in a really good position, you can see how he's just waiting for Cameron to show something that's genuine, and he decides that it's not, so he consequently pays holding the ball."
Less than 30 seconds later, Cat Lachie Henderson was spun in a full circle by Saint Jack Steven after taking possession, but was not penalised for holding the ball.
Once again, Kennedy said the non-decision was correct, saying while it was close, Henderson got rid of the ball in time.
"Henderson gets the ball and he's allowed a reasonable time to dispose of the ball, and within that time – he gets very, very close, it's borderline – but he does dispose of it with a kick.
"I dare say if he had possession any further, it would be called as a prior opportunity rule [and penalised]."
Hawk Sam Mitchell's frustration with a holding decision on Gold Coast superstar Gary Ablett was evident when he was caught on camera using air quotation marks to tell the umpire the free was paid only because it was "Gary Ablett".
Kennedy said the free kick was incorrectly paid, but the umpires would take little notice of such comments.
"From the vision that you've supplied here, I can't see a hold that would warrant a free kick," he said.
"[But] there's no abuse and no derogatory comments towards our umpires, so that's OK.
"I reckon if we worry about our game, which is the umpiring, we'll let the players sort themselves out."
