Dane Rampe made headlines for all the wrong reasons on Friday night, controversially climbing the goal post after the siren in Sydney’s five-point win over Essendon.
With David Myers lining up for a match-winning goal at the time, Bombers fans felt they’d been robbed.
What was the right call? Should John Worsfold’s men be celebrating a win? Or did common sense prevail?
Roar AFL Expert Marnie Cohen weighed in on the Game of Codes podcast to make sense of what’s been one of the most bizarre talking points to sweep the football world in recent memory.
Listen to the debate:
The five-point loss to the Swans was the Bombers’ third in a row, leaving the club in a precarious position at 13th on the ladder with a record of 3-5.
The letter of the law makes it pretty clear Essendon should have received a free kick on the goal line, but Gillon McLachlan and the umpiring department controversially gave the non-call a tick, with the AFL CEO calling it “practical umpiring.”
However, the AFL appeared to either change its mind or suffer a communication breakdown by issuing Rampe a “please explain” for the incident, with Mark Robinson reporting the Swans co-captain “has been effectively charged with conduct unbecoming for climbing the goal post”.
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