NATHAN Buckley says Collingwood wouldn't have deserved to beat Fremantle, refusing to blame another goal review controversy as a factor in the defeat.
The Pies were shocked at the MCG on Saturday, losing to the Dockers by four points after Michael Walters booted a goal with 30 seconds to go to put the visitors ahead.
However, it was Walters' first goal – a spinning snap in the third term – that again highlighted the inconsistencies of the goal review system when Magpie Chris Mayne appeared to touch the kick off Walters' boot.
WALTERS DOES IT AGAIN Full match coverage and stats
It was one of a four-goal run the Dockers produced in the important third term that steeled them for the last-ditch win.
Buckley questioned whether the kick had been scrutinised to the level required using the League's technology, but said his team would not have deserved to claim the win after their last-term fadeout.
This Michael Walters kick was paid as a goal, despite Chris Mayne's pleas for a touch.#AFLPiesFreo pic.twitter.com/7pFAs2wW2x
— AFL.com.au (@AFLcomau) June 1, 2019
"There didn't seem to be a really thorough review on it. So the umpires were either really clear on it that it wasn't touched or it wasn't looked at externally. I'm not sure why it wasn't looked at closer," he said post-game.
WATCH Nathan Buckley's full post-match media conference
The Collingwood coach could not be drawn on whether enough time is spent reviewing every goal.
"It's probably a bit topical right now, isn't it? We didn't deserve to win today so you guys can look at the minutiae for me," he said.
Fremantle counterpart Ross Lyon said he hadn't reflected on the kick as a turning point of the contest.
"The space I sit in is you get the rub of the green and you don't get the rub of the green," he said.
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"I haven't reviewed it. I don't know, when I was a kid my dad said the umpire's call is final. That's in the vault, it's never going to be changed. That's what I know."
The Magpies went into the clash on a seven-game winning streak and looked likely to overrun Fremantle when they kicked two goals before three-quarter time and kicked two goals on the other side of the break.
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However, with their midfield well-beaten and a number of key players down, Buckley said Fremantle had been the dominant side.
"We were beaten by an opposition that were harder inside, that played with more energy, more dare and more aggression," he said.
"In our brief conversation straight after the game we accepted that if we had have won that game with our efforts in the last quarter it would've gone against the trend and not really deserved it.
"The team that won at the end of the day was the one that earned it and deserved it."