by DOC » Sun May 03, 2026 11:41 am
Former AFL players have lashed the umpiring in Friday night’s Showdown, calling on those responsible for the “ridiculously bad calls” to be dropped.
Power great Josh Francou, ex-Adelaide forward Josh Jenkins and Collingwood champion Dane Swan were among critics of the officiating standard in the Crows’ thrilling one-point victory.
Arguably, the four most contentious decisions – Izak Rankine running too far late in the second quarter, Jake Soligo’s push in the back that led to a Zak Butters goal just before half-time, Soligo’s overturned major during the third term and Josh Rachele’s goal-line shove on Logan Evans that cancelled Wayne Milera’s major in the closing stages – went against Adelaide.
Francou, who won four Showdown medals during his 156-match AFL career and is now coaching SANFL club North Adelaide, described some of the free kicks paid as inexcusable.
“I’m not an umpire knocker or basher but they just lack feel for the game,” Francou told ABC Grandstand.
“The Soligo on Butters and Rachele one, it’s beyond belief they can be paid at that level.
“As a coach, you sit down with players and look at key moments in games, and go ‘that’s unacceptable, that’s not AFL or SANFL standard, we don’t know if we can play you next week’. That surely has to happen to those umpires who paid those free kicks.
“We’re not talking grey area here, they’re ridiculously bad calls that potentially could have cost Adelaide the game.”
Francou questioned why aspiring young umpires would want to reach the top level because of “the amount of rubbish they cop”. “That goes back to the fact the game is so difficult and technical to umpire because they put these rules in place,” he said.
The Crows were understood to be very frustrated with the umpiring as early as half-time, when free kicks were a hot topic in Adelaide Oval’s Chairman’s Room.
League leaders, including chief executive Andrew Dillon and footy boss Greg Swann, watched the match in the crowd.
Jenkins, who was involved in his own Showdown contro-versy in 2018 when he conceded he thought his game-winning goal hit the post, said on social media: “The AFL badly needed Adelaide to win that game. The joint would’ve ERUPTED losing a game on another late game decision against.”
Swan said he would not have blamed Crows fans if they ripped down the stadium in protest after some of the late free kicks paid against them.
“Back to the VFL for some next week,” Swan posted on X.
Former Port Adelaide coach turned Fox Footy analyst Ken Hinkley was baffled by Soligo’s goal being overturned on review on what he considered inconclusive video evidence.
Hinkley initially praised the goal umpire for his conviction in calling it a major.
“(It has to be) definitive,” Hinkley said of the ARC changing Soligo’s score to a behind.
SEN’s Gerard Whateley was angry about the human interference after the goal umpire’s decision, saying it was “straight out meddling and it’ll ruin the game”.
“What we have now is an addiction to meddling,” Whateley said.
“You cannot with the technology being employed pick the moment where all the ball goes across all the line … so these operators are just making it up and it has to stop.
“It’s the AFL’s responsibility to step in and go ‘you can’t be trusted with the technology’.”
Football 
