Hawks coach calls out fans caught pelting umps with bottles after heartbreak

One of the greatest preliminary finals of all-time was ultimately decided by a last-second umpiring decision – and it was the right call.

Hawthorn were just seconds away from qualifying for their first grand final since 2015, but a Hugh McCluggage tackle on Jarman Impey inside 50 resulted in a Lions free kick, which was converted for the win.

Impey had an arm free in the tackle and needed to show the umpire he was making a genuine attempt to get rid of it. In the defender’s mind, he was playing for the ball-up, a stoppage and more time off the clock.

It was a ruthless call from the umpire, but the right one as he pinged Impey for holding the ball, and gave McCluggage the shot for goal with mere seconds left on the clock.

It ultimately saw Brisbane win 131-122, with Kai Lohmann kicking one last goal after the siren for icing on the cake.

The call will be remembered forever as it ultimately decided the game, but the consensus from all of Fox Footy’s experts in the moment was that the umpire nailed the decision.

“There’s the hero moment. He stands him up in the tackle, you’ve got to make an effort to get rid of it, it’s the right call,” Jason Dunstall said on the Fox broadcast.

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"Then the ability to go back and kick the winning goal is extraordinary."

Garry Lyon added: “One of the bravest umpiring calls I’ve ever seen and it was on the money.”

"This is going to be the most talked about umpiring call of the century."

Hawthorn fans were furious in the aftermath, with fans seen throwing cups and bottles at the ground and at the umpires after the final siren.

The umpires, as they were leaving the ground, were forced to dodge the incoming debris, and pointed out offenders as they left the field.

“Hawthorn fans have pelted the ground with bottles in the uproar of it all,” Gerard Whateley told Fox Footy.

Multiple former umpires have immediately come out and defended the decision.

One, Ray Chamberlain, lauded the braveness of the call.

Another, Matt Head, tweeted: “100 per cent correct. Well called by the umpire”.

Brownlow Medallist Gerard Healy slammed the fan response as crap, as they pelted bottles at the ground.

“This is crap. The free kick was there every day of the week,” Healy told SEN.

The decision and aftermath potentially tars what might be one of the greatest prelims of all-time. 39 goals were kicked and the lead changed hands multiple times in a chaotic final quarter.

Nick Watson kicked six goals, Kai Lohmann five, Jack Gunston five and Mitch Lewis four in a heavyweight shootout.

Hawthorn coach Sam Mitchell refused to weigh in directly on the umpiring call, but pointed out multiple other decisions earlier in the fourth term that he was perplexed by.

“I haven’t re-watched it. Maybe (it was the right call). There were a few … there were a couple in key moments of the game. I’m sure the umpires will assess how they performed in key moments,” Mitchell told reporters after the loss.

“The Mitch Lewis out of bounds one, the Dayne Zorko free kick, but not for me to say (if the Impey one was correct.”

Mitchell also weighed in on Hawthorn fans throwing litter at umpires, calling for fans to keep their nerve better going forward.

“I mean, I understand the emotion of sport, it’s why we love it so much. All sports, but ours in particular, the beauty is the emotion it makes you feel,”

“At the end of the game part of me wanted to break down in tears. Part of me wanted to scream with range. Part of me wanted to throw chairs.

“When you’re in the stands, you need to continue to feel that emotion, but we shouldn’t be throwing things on the field.

“But the passion is why we’re here. I hope for the majority it was felt responsibly.”

Hawthorn captain James Sicily and veteran defender Tom Barrass approached one of the umpires involved after the game.