New Video Shows Hawks Star Rushing Toward Umpire in Tense On-Field Moment

Football great Matthew Lloyd has called on the AFL to respond to the behaviour of Hawthorn players after fresh footage captured the heated aftermath of the umpiring decision that ended the Hawks’ season.

Hawthorn endured a second consecutive preliminary final defeat on Saturday night, going down to the Brisbane Lions 20.11 (131) to 19.8 (122) at the MCG.

The contest turned in Brisbane’s favour when Hawthorn defender Jarman Impey was penalised for holding the ball. The free kick allowed Lions star Hugh McCluggage to kick the match-winning goal with just 18 seconds remaining.

A Fox Sports commentator labelled the decision “the biggest call you have ever seen”.

The ruling sparked a furious reaction from the tens of thousands of Hawthorn supporters at the MCG, with bottles thrown towards the umpires as they made their way from the field.

Fan-recorded footage has since emerged showing Hawthorn defender Tom Barrass running about 50 metres to confront umpire Hayden Meyer, who made the controversial call.

Former Essendon star Lloyd said the AFL should consider sanctioning Barrass and teammate James Sicily, who was also seen remonstrating with Meyer.

“This is something I’d expect to watch in soccer,” Lloyd said on The Sunday Footy Show.

“They get in the face of referees and it’s aggressive, like [Sicily and Barrass] were.

“So I think they should both be potentially sanctioned; or we want a please explain for those two players and how they handled it.”

Lloyd said there was “no doubt” the pair had overreacted, describing their conduct as aggressive.

Hawthorn great Luke Hodge also condemned the actions of fans, who forced umpires to avoid bottles and cans thrown from the stands as they left the ground.

“The umpires are walking off, they should not have things thrown at them. A bottle has come down from the top tier,” he said.

Many football fans echoed Hodge’s criticism on social media, with one user writing: “Disgraceful. Should be life bans dished out.”

Another fan wrote: “That’s not the way, boys. Not our night but shouldn’t be doing that.”

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A third described the scenes as “embarrassing” and “disgraceful”, adding that the AFL needed to take strong action against such behaviour.

Coach Sam Mitchell impressively kept his emotions in check throughout a fraught post-game media conference, where he spoke of mourning.

‘This feeling is the pits,’ Mitchell said.

Mitchell said he did not know about Sicily and Barrass going to the umpires, but he was aware of the bottles being thrown onto the ground.

‘At the end of the game, part of me wanted to break down in tears, part of me wanted to scream with rage, part of me wanted to throw chairs, you don’t know how to react,’ he said.

‘So when you’re in the stand, you need to continue to be feeling that emotion, because that’s why we love it, but how it manifests itself – we shouldn’t be throwing things on the field and doing those types of things.

‘But the passion in the stand and the passion of the game is why we love it so much. So I hope that for the vast majority it was felt responsibly.’

Mitchell spoke of grief and added it was too soon to think beyond what had just happened.

‘I think we’re in a mourning phase. What’s the first part, is it anger? I think I’m still half in anger, probably sense it in my body language,’ he said.

‘What else, what’s after anger? I don’t know, last is acceptance and – I nearly said a bad word – I’m a long way from acceptance right now.

‘I will sit in anger for a bit longer, I’m sure all the players will too.’

Before they left the MCG for the last time this season, Mitchell brought his players into a tight group.

‘It was just, “Remember this”. There’s nothing more raw than that five minutes straight after the siren, when it hurts the most,’ Meek said of Mitchell’s message.

‘Remember the burn and the outrage and how frustrating it is – because that will be our fuel. We have a big pre-season ahead.’

Mitchell spoke of his great pride in the Hawks, who staged an outstanding comeback in the final quarter.

But in the end, it came to nothing.

‘If you want to strive for great things, you will open yourself up for all sorts of emotion, the greatest of joy, and the deepest of pain,’ he said.