The AFL has announced Hayden Gavine, Simon Meredith, Matt Stevic and Robert Findlay as the four field umpires to win selection for this weekend’s grand final.
Stevic will officiate his 10th consecutive and 11th overall grand final on Saturday, while Meredith has been selected for his seventh. Gavine and Findlay will make their grand final debuts.
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Between the quartet, they have umpired 1619 AFL games, 133 finals and 17 grand finals.
The selection news will come as a surprise to two AFL greats after the field umpires who took the field for the Brisbane versus Carlton preliminary final, which included Stevic and Findlay, were slammed after the game.
Channel 7 commentator Luke Hodge was scathing in his assessment of Saturday night’s umpiring at the Gabba.
“It’ll be interesting to see how many of those umpires get a job next week, because if you go through a lot of those free kicks that they missed, they will not be at the MCG (for the grand final),” Hodge said on radio a day after the game.
“And I’m not being harsh on them; this is a prelim final and the umpires put the whistle away.
“A lot of those decisions were pathetic. They did not do a good job last night.”
Legendary coach and player Leigh Matthews echoed Hodge’s calls.
“Last night’s total failure to protect the player with the ball, even by modern standards, I reckon, was appalling,” Matthews said on Sunday.
“There were 24 free kicks paid — only 24! Why did it happen that four umpires — four of the good umpires — went to a game and decided just not to pay free kicks, not to protect the player with the ball?”
500-gamer Brett Rosebury was one of the officials from the prelim who missed out on grand final selection.
AFL footy boss Laura Kane congratulated the four successful umpires on their selection.
“Matt, Simon, Hayden and Robert have performed outstandingly this season and their appointment to the 2023 AFL grand final is a testament to their hard work,” she said in a statement on Wednesday.
“All the best to all our match-day officials — from our timekeepers and interchange stewards to our shot-clock operator, umpire trainers and ball stewards, the biggest game on the footballing calendar does not happen without all your hard work.”
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