"YOU'RE a f***ing cheat."
They're the words that have landed Dale Thomas with a date at the AFL Tribunal.
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A frustrated Thomas was reported during the third quarter of Carlton's 93-point defeat to Greater Western Sydney, having allegedly uttered the words to boundary umpire Michael Barlow.
It came amid a Giants onslaught, where the hosts stormed clear of the hapless Blues.
Behind the goals vision shows Thomas, 31, shrugging his shoulders as he gestures to Barlow.
It's not clear what had led to the veteran's altercation with the boundary umpire. However, just seconds earlier, he had conceded a contested mark and goal to Lachie Whitfield.
As the players set up for the resulting centre bounce, Thomas – who was standing alongside a Carlton trainer – appears to call out to Barlow, who is standing with another umpire.
Having heard the evidence, Match Review Officer Michael Christian opted to refer the incident directly to the AFL Tribunal, which will sit on Tuesday night.
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Christian had the option of sanctioning Thomas with a $2500 fine – which would have been reduced to a $1500 fine with an early guilty plea – for "abusive, insulting, threatening (or) obscene language towards or in relation to an umpire".
He also had the opportunity to refer the matter directly to the Tribunal, should it be deemed severe enough, and chose to exercise that right on Monday afternoon.
"We considered that what was said was serious enough that it should be sent straight to the Tribunal," Christian told AFL.com.au during Monday's episode of The Verdict.
"It'll obviously be talked about (on Tuesday night). I'm not at liberty to expand on what was said right here, but certainly in our view it was serious enough to warrant a Tribunal hearing."
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Thomas now risks becoming just the ninth player in the last 15 years to be charged with abusive language towards an umpire – and the first since Mark Jamar in 2016.
Jamar, then playing for Essendon, was fined $1500 after lashing out towards umpire Mathew Nicholls.
While the precedent for Thomas' suspension is unclear – he is the first player to be referred directly to the Tribunal for such an incident – the largest fines dished out for such a charge have been worth $1950 each.
They were given to North Melbourne's Daniel Pratt and the Western Bulldogs' Barry Hall, both in 2010 and both coincidentally after incidents also involving Nicholls, while Brisbane champion Simon Black also copped a $1950 fine for a similar incident in the same season.
