AFL boss flags massive change ahead of finals

17 July 2019 at 2:56 am

The AFL is in a race against time to have a video review centre with-the-lot built for the finals.

The league hopes to have the centre running in time for round 23, so it can be tested ahead of September.

But AFL football operations manager Steve Hocking cannot even confirm its location yet.

The centre - Hocking is adamant it will not be called their "bunker" - will centralise the AFL's controversial score review system.

Umpire Mathew Nicholls throws up the ball during the round 15 AFL match between the Essendon Bombers and the Greater Western Sydney Giants at Marvel Stadium on June 27, 2019 in Melbourne, Australia. (Photo by Michael Dodge/Getty Images)

The video facility will also handle umpire coaching, match review incidents and help with player medical issues - especially concussion.

"The game needs it ... we're doing a whole heap of work on it," Hocking said.

"You just have this ability (with a central facility) to minimise risk and train decision making to a different level."

The AFL currently has 15 score reviewers and the centre will reduce that to four or five - hopefully meaning more consistency and less errors.

"There have definitely been moments, if we've been honest about it - it's been difficult and it has hurt the game," Hocking said of score reviews this season.

"The last couple of weeks, there's been evidence that we've gotten on top of it."

Fans lose trust with score review system

The AFL concedes fans have lost trust in the score review system after admitting a third mistake in the space of two weeks.

The score review system has come under focus during incidents such as Richmond's Jack Higgins looking to have booted a much-needed goal during his team’s loss to Geelong at the MCG in earlier this year.

But a score review was sought when the goal umpire asked for confirmation the ball had hit the post.

One camera angle showed a clear gap between the post and the ball but the score reviewer's decision was to definitively award a behind instead of throwing it back to the umpire's call.

The system came in for widespread criticism after the league admitted to two errors in round 11, Fremantle's Michael Walters wrongly credited a goal in a four-point win over Collingwood at the MCG and a major to West Coast's Oscar Allen incorrectly paid.