Experienced umpire Ray Chamberlain believes the 50-metre penalty call against Jack Ginnivan in Saturday’s Preliminary Final at the SCG was the right call.
The 50m penalty was paid during the second quarter deep in Sydney’s defence where Ginnivan clearly stepped over the mark paid to Sydney defender Dane Rampe.
The decision on the day left commentators and fans perplexed, questioning the umpire's call at a time where Sydney held a dominant 23-point lead over the Pies.
Chamberlain was left “triggered” by the commentary, going into bat for his fellow umpire and saying the stand rule is “black and white”.
“It triggered me, I was watching a particular broadcast and there was a pile on on the umpire saying, ‘it’s a bad call’ and it’s like ‘no, it’s matter of fact’,” Chamberlain told SEN’s Whateley.
“There has been a change to the rule in the last two seasons and that’s where this confusion comes.
“Generally around the ground, if you’re in the contest and you go a couple of metres because of momentum we tell them to go ‘back two metres please, stand no problem’, but around the ground, if you’re not in the contest and the player marks the ball and you encroach over the mark, we will automatically pay 50 (metre penalty), there’s no blowing the whistle and telling them to come back.
Ray Chamberlain explains why the Jack Ginnivan 50m penalty call in the Preliminary Final was correct.@WhateleySEN | #AFL pic.twitter.com/eonfladakL
— SEN 1116 (@1116sen) September 21, 2022
“You weren’t in the marking contest, and you’ve encroached two or three metres, bang, 50 metres.
“This is a black and white rule. Yes, we know where the player actually took the mark was a metre off the line, but the mark itself is nine metres back, imagine an extension of the line across the kick-off line from the goal square.
“The fact that Ginnivan runs forward of that and points to where the guy caught the ball, he’s made an error because the mark is back at nine metres, we use to let them go up there and then we’d call them back but that has been changed.
“That’s no decision to be made by the umpire, it is 50, end of.
“If our umpire hadn’t paid it, I would’ve thrown the remote, he’s got to do his job and he did.”
Matt Stevic, Simon Meredith and Brendan Hosking will umpire Saturday’s Grand Final between Geelong and Sydney.