Fremantle have hit back at former AFL umpire Michael Pell for his personal attack on Dockers defender Jordan Clark.
Clark found himself at the centre of the intense drama that saw his side cough up what looked like a certain win against Carlton during Gather Round on Saturday night.
A mark was paid to Blues forward Matt Cottrell from a kick that was conclusively touched off the boot, a costly mistake that the AFL later acknowledged.
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Cottrell had a shot at goal from the mark inside 50 and kicked truly to put the Blues in front with about a minute to go in the game.
Furious the umpire had missed James Aish touching the ball off the boot, Clark remonstrated with the official and used a profanity, which was penalised with a dissent free kick, and cost his side another goal.
The Dockers had gone from likely hanging on to an epic victory to 10-point losers in a matter of seconds.
Adding his voice to the cacophony of social media debate in the aftermath, former AFL umpire Pell wasn’t surprised it was Clark who gave away the free kick.
“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.”
Pell resigned as an AFL umpire in 2022 after being arrested during an investigation into suspicious Brownlow Medal betting activity.
Fremantle footy boss Joe Brierty didn’t mince his words in response, hitting back at the ex-umpire’s claim on Monday morning radio.
“Jordan is a quality young man, and a fantastic person who’s done an enormous amount of work for our club, on and off the field,” Brierty told ABC Perth radio.
“We stand behind him (Clark) with our fans knowing the quality of the person he is.
“To have someone that brings your character into question on Twitter who really has no credibility whatsoever is really frustrating and disappointing.
“We’re right behind Jordan and I love the way he goes about it for our club.”
Brierty said the club is comfortable with the communication they’ve had with Clark following the incident.
“The conversation that we’ve had with Jordan is that he was frustrated at himself,” Brierty said.
“He’s (Clark) swearing at himself at that point in time, but obviously from an umpire’s point of view when they are looking at each other, he feels as though it’s directed towards him.
“That’s where the umpire has paid the dissent free kick.”
In another twist to the ongoing saga, Fremantle captain Alex Pearce revealed the umpire didn’t even hear what Clark said.
“I chatted to the umpire straight afterwards and he didn’t hear what he (Clark) said either. It was just the way it was said,” Pearce said.
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