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North Melbourne has made a statement withdrawing the comments made by Brad Scott in last night’s post-match press conference regarding umpiring decisions related to Lindsay Thomas.
“NMFC wishes to withdraw statements made in last night’s post match media conference regarding the umpiring.
“After discussion with players and AFL it’s been established conversations between players and staff were misconstrued and relayed incorrectly.
“We understand and accept these alleged comments did not come from any umpire.
“The club is embarrassed by, and accepts full responsibility for, the situation that has unfolded, and unreservedly apologises to the umpires for any distress it may have caused them.
“The club accepts its players are not umpired differently and the umpires do not have “pre-conceived ideas” going into games.”
This comes after Scott last night said in his press conference that North Melbourne players had been told by umpiring staff that Thomas would not be paid a free kicked because he was a ‘ducker’.
When asked if Lindsay had been treated roughly, Scott said:
“I know he is (unfairly treated), because the umpires told our players that, (saying) ‘Well, he’s a ducker, so we don’t pay high free kicks to Lindsay’.
“They told our guys that, so that’s clearly a preconceived idea.
“You just want the umpires to umpire what they see, not their preconceived ideas.
“That’s for (umpires boss) Hayden Kennedy to deal with, not for me, I’m just telling you what happened because they won’t tell you, that’s for sure.”
The AFL reviewed recordings from the match earlier this morning and did not find any evidence of an umpire behaving as described.
The controversy will leave North Melbourne with a significant hangover after last night’s nine-point loss to the Hawthorn Hawks.
Despite leading the match in several key stats, the Roos’ inaccuracy in front of goal saw them miss out on what would have been a stirring win.
The disappointment from the loss looks set to endure longer than it otherwise would, with more developments no doubt left in this saga.
The AFL also released a statement regarding the incident:
“The AFL has today sought a full and unreserved apology from the North Melbourne FC for comments made in last night’s post match media conference.
“The AFL, through General Manager Football Operations Mark Evans, will also determine from Monday what further action it will take against the club and / or individuals under the AFL Player Rules.
“The AFL has clearly established today, after examining the complete MatchCom recording of the Hawthorn v North Melbourne game, that alleged comments reported last night were not made by any umpire, Mr Evans said.
“It is entirely inappropriate that such claims made by coach Brad Scott on behalf of the club about the umpires, which have been proved to be completely incorrect, were made without any proper process.
“The AFL will determine its next steps after its normal Monday meeting of senior executive staff.”
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