Umpiring decisions late in games have never felt more consequential nor more commonplace than this season.

In all three games on Saturday contentious decisions paid in the last minute could reasonably be considered to have influenced the outcome. That is not to say they were all wrong, but all were consequential.

Perhaps it is a form of recency bias, but the frequency of umpiring decisions influencing games appears greater than ever. This might be one result of the trend for more games decided by small margins.

Every week now it seems the discussion of the round’s games starts with a critical late decision by the umpire. And, of course, it’s true players make more mistakes than umpires and games are decided by many moments of play, but they are also decided by the critical judgment calls by officials.

Of the three free kicks paid late in Saturday’s games – Mac Andrew’s for holding Max King; Tom Green for a late bump and down-the-field free kick on James Sicily; and, Elliot Yeo for holding the ball – the Mac Andrew free kick was just wrong, Elliott Yeo also looked hard done by, and the decision against Green was probably fair enough.

Mac Andrew gets a grip on Max King during their duel at Marvel Stadium on Saturday night.Credit: AFL Photos

King was grabbing Andrew, Andrew was grabbing King. The pair were roughly 80 metres from the ball. The umpire paid the free to King, telling Andrew “you had your arms around him”. He said that because Andrew did have his arms around King. But it was also true that King had his arms around Andrew.

As Andrew, the frustrated defender, articulated at the time – heard through the on-field microphones – “he was doing it to me. Oh, my god”.

Having your arms around a player should be a clue for a free kick, not a trigger for one. If it was a trigger for a free kick, there would be free kicks at every stoppage to midfielders, let alone to ruckmen.

The free kick to King, which led to a goal and gave the Saints the winning margin, should have been called “play on”.

Gold Coast’s Mac Andrew remonstrates with the umpire after conceding a crucial free kick to St Kilda opponent Max King.Credit: Seven

Not for the first time this year, a decision was made that lacked the right feel for the game. The AFL admitted Sunday that........

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