Collingwood coach Craig McRae has refused to blame a controversial umpiring decision for his side’s loss to Brisbane in the preliminary final.
The Magpies were trailing by 12 points with just under 10 minutes remaining, when they looked certain to cut the margin to a single kick.
WATCH THE VIDEO ABOVE: Jamie Elliott denied free kick.
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Tim Membrey marked the ball about 35m out from goal and chose to loft a pass over the top to an unmarked Jamie Elliott.
But Brandon Starcevich came from front-on to spoil the ball and take out Elliott.
It looked like a free kick would be paid for front-on contact, but the umpire called play on and the Lions took the ball down the other end a minute later to extend their lead to 18 points.
It was a classic two-goal swing and snuffed out any hopes of a Collingwood victory.
“They’ve called that all year. Yes he was going for the ball, yes he had eyes on the ball. But they’ve paid that all year as front-on contact,” Luke Hodge said in commentary.
Kane Cornes added: “What an effort though. Free kick or not, what an effort. That is what it’s all about.”
Speaking after the match, Nick Riewoldt was emphatic in his assessment of the incident.
“Starcevich has got his eyes on the ball ... and makes a play on the ball, but at the same time he takes Jamie Elliott out,” he said on Channel 7 post-match.
“That has been paid all year. There’s going to be countless conversations about eyes on the ball, contact with the ball, but he’s also made front-on contact with Jamie Elliott, that’s a free kick every day of the week.
“Not saying it decided the game, but it was a big moment.”
McRae was equally emphatic in saying it had no bearing on the result despite admitting it looked like a free kick.
“It looked like that (front-on contract), yeah, it did. No guarantee he kicks the goal, though, is it?” He said post-match.
“Like, this is the world I live in. I never make excuses. I don’t want our fans to see a coach that leads our group through excuses because it just doesn’t get you anywhere.
“I think losers make excuses. We don’t. We’re winners, and we didn’t win today. Clearly beaten by a better team. I think they would have beaten us anyway, the way they were playing.
“So you could say what if and if only, but it’s not the space we live in. We didn’t control the things we could control well, and, you know, around stoppage, and then we had great momentum going into half-time, and we just let it slip real quick, and this is against really good opposition.
“They make three grand finals in a row. Really well coached. (Chris Fagan’s) had a great year again and they got a few out, and it just shows the depth of their belief in their system, and today was just a bit better than us.”
The Collingwood coach refused to make excuses for the loss.
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