Controversial former AFL umpire Michael Pell says Jordan Clark is a “spoilt brat” and is not surprised the Fremantle defender gave away the dissent free kick that sealed Carlton’s last-minute win over the Dockers on Saturday night.
Carlton led for just 12 minutes of a match that was largely controlled by Fremantle, stealing the epic win after Matthew Cottrell took a dramatic mark directly in front and slotted the go-ahead goal with seconds remaining.
WATCH THE VIDEO ABOVE: Fan footage appears to show James Aish’s touch.
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Cottrell was paid the mark despite the protests of the Dockers players, who were certain the ball had been touched by James Aish.
Replays showed the ball had clearly touched Aish’s arm, while a fan-filmed angle which emerged after the game further exposed the umpires’ blatant miss.
The blunder infuriated Clark so much that gave away a dissent free kick, from which the Blues kicked another goal to seal the come-from-behind victory beyond all doubt.
Pell, who resigned as an AFL umpire in 2022 after being arrested during an investigation into suspicious Brownlow Medal betting activity, added his voice to the intense debate over the incident after the match.
“The irony in all this is that I warned Jordan Clark in a COVID 14v14 nothing game when he was a spoilt brat and carrying on that he needed to stop abusing umpires. Guess he still hasn’t learnt,” Pell wrote.
“Stinky attitude and any wonder Geelong were happy to see the back of him.”
In actual fact, Geelong fought hard to keep Clark but relented when the West Australian-born first-round draft pick wanted to go home at the end of 2021.
The Cats got pick 22 and a future third-round selection out of Fremantle for Clark in the 2021 trade period.
The AFL has conceded the ball was touched by Aish, and that Cottrell’s mark was incorrectly paid.
But CEO Andrew Dillon confirmed on Sunday that the dissent free kick was correctly paid.
Asked about it after the game, Fremantle coach Justin Longmuir was more interested in moving on than dwelling on the error.
“The players clearly thought they had touched the footy and they’re still saying that now,” Longmuir said in the post-match press conference.
“We just need to move on because the umpires are never going to backtrack, are they?
“We should have just got on with it, even if they weren’t happy with the call before.
“There’s not much you can do. But that’s a really hard call for the umpire to make without going to a replay and we don’t want to do that for every decision.”
Pell, alleged to have leaked votes on specific matches, has not been charged in the Brownlow betting investigation.