‘Whole crowd knew!’: AFL world erupts over ‘biggest miss of season’ before coach’s cagey response

Commentators and fans have been left stumped by a bizarre non-call as officiating again found itself in the spotlight.

In the second quarter of Melbourne’s clash with Hawthorn, a blatant trip went uncalled which cost the Demons a goal.

Two Hawthorn players collided while attempting to spoil a deep ball that landed at the top of the goalsquare.

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As they fell to the turf, Melbourne’s Kysaiah Pickett turned and had an open square to run into to bring the margin back to within three points.

But as he attempted to turn and run, Hawthorn’s Blake Hardwick grabbed his left leg which caused Pickett to trip and hit the deck.

NO-CALL? Pickett trip "gotta be a free!" | 00:32

The players, the fans watching on and the commentary crew all saw what had unfolded but the man with the whistle never blew it for the free kick.

“He was legged that has to be a free … they didn’t pay it,” Mark Howard said on Fox Footy.

Eddie Betts added: “That was unbelievable. The whole crowd knew that was a trip … That was a free kick every day of the week.”

Herald Sun chief football reporter Jay Clark suggested it was arguably the worst non-call of 2025 to date.

“That is the question for fans at the moment: If you’ve got four umpires, how do you miss that?” Clark asked on Fox Footy.

“That is the biggest miss of the season, it was a shocker – you could see all the players knew it – and somehow they missed it.”

Melbourne coach Simon Goodwin was asked about the incident post-game. But he cheekily put it back on reporters.

“What did you think?” Goodwin said with a smile.

“Yeah (it should’ve been a free). That’s the game, sometimes things get missed — that’s OK. Us missing out set-shots, you’ve got to take your opportunities.

“We all make mistakes out there, but we all move forward. We didn’t lose the game because of that. We lost the game because we weren’t able tot ake and maximise our opportunities when we had them and then we didn’t play out the game for four quarters.”

Goodwin refuses to comment on 'trip' | 07:09

Asked if he had an issue with the standard of umpiring at the moment, Goodwin said: “You guys know we can’t talk to that in this form at all.

“They make mistakes, we all make mistakes, we’re all looking for a higher standard – whether that be with our footy team, whether that be with umpiring, whether that be with anything in the game — and I think everyone’s going to keep working towards that.

“I’m sure the AFL have got it all under control and we’ll back them in.”

The free kick would have seen Melbourne bring the margin back to within three points in what was a hard fought three quarters at the MCG.

Hawthorn however proved far too strong in the final term as they kicked six goals to one as they raced away to record the 13.13 (91) to 7.14 (56) victory.

While the Pickett miss didn’t have an impact on the outcome of the contest, the clear as day miss from the umpires only adds to the growing frustration fans have felt throughout the season.

Along with the on-field umpiring, fans are beginning to lose faith in the AFL’s Match Review officer and Tribunal system.

Despite Dillon proclaiming the standard of umpiring has never been better, the facts continue to prove the league has a lot of work on its hands.

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