AFL Hall of Famer Leigh Matthews has slammed the umpires’ early-game handling of Nick Daicos’ hard tag in the King’s Birthday clash, insisting they “failed” to protect the Collingwood star from being illegally held.
Speaking on Fox Footy’s On the Couch, Matthews criticised the lack of immediate intervention as Melbourne’s Ed Langdon blanketed Daicos in the opening minutes.
“The first five minutes of the game, and (Langdon) had the Cameron Ling arms around (Daicos). There should’ve been a free kick in the first 30 seconds of the game,” he said. “About five minutes into the game (Daicos) got a free kick.
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“It’s interesting our game. You can touch an opponent and lean on him, but you can’t impede him. Obviously, defenders get pinged all the time for the arm around the body. I just thought the umpires failed in the very first part of the game.
“There’s four field umpires, they should be able to watch what’s going on around the stoppages better than they did in the first five minutes.”
Tag test for Daicos as Dees fall short
Langdon, handed an old-fashioned tagging role by Simon Goodwin, helped limit Daicos to just seven disposals in the first half and 19 overall, well below his usual output. The move wasn’t without controversy, but it drew praise from both coaches.
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“It was certainly pretty clear post half-time, early especially, that they were watching some of the holding around the ball,” Goodwin told AFL 360, suggesting there had been an umpiring shift during the break.
Collingwood coach Craig McRae, while praising Langdon’s effort, said Daicos had fought back admirably. “There comes a time when you’ve just got to do your job, and we thought Nick fought it out pretty well in the second half,” McRae said.
Melbourne ultimately went down by a single point, a result that cost them a spot in the top nine. Yet Goodwin remained upbeat. “To challenge the best team in the competition right to the wire … we stood up.”