The AFL has ticked off on an umpire allowing play to go on after the ball hit the spider-cam during Friday night’s blockbuster between Collingwood and Sydney, because the officiator did not see it happen.
Sydney midfielder Errol Gulden cleared the ball from a boundary throw-in stoppage during the second quarter with a high kick into the Swans’ forward line.
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During its flight path in the air, the ball hit the moving spider-cam before dropping onto the ground.
The ball dropped sooner than it otherwise would have as Brayden Maynard lunged forward to attempt a missed mark that he would have otherwise swallowed.
But ultimately, the game was not affected in any significant way.
Should an umpire see the ball hit the camera during live play, they are instructed to stop the game and have a ball-up.
But in this instance, the umpire didn’t see it happen, as the AFL explained in a statement provided to Channel 7.
“If the umpire sees the ball hitting the camera or the cord attached to the camera, it should immediately be a ball-up,” the statement read.
“But if the umpire doesn’t pick up on the ball hitting the camera, or that cord, then it’s ‘play on’.”
It’s unclear whether any of the other field umpires saw it.
Luke Hodge observed that the deflection had no real impact on the game, and that the players, like the umpires, didn’t even see it happen.
“It was the same with the players underneath it. The players didn’t even realise themselves,” Hodge said at half time.
There was some brief confusion though, as Hodge pointed out, with players outside the drop zone noticing the ball hitting the camera.
“A few players off the play pointed up,” Hodge said.
“But there were probably six or seven players in and around (the drop of the ball), as soon as it dropped, they just went and chased after it as soon as it dropped short.”
In 2022, South African cricketer Anrich Nortje was hit by the spider-cam during the Boxing Day Test against Australia at the MCG.