The AFL has reportedly ticked off one of two back-to-back free kicks awarded to Cam Rayner on Friday night.
During the second quarter of Geelong's qualifying final win over Brisbane at the MCG, Rayner was awarded a free kick in the goal square after being nudged by Mark O'Connor.
Significantly, the ball was 150m away in the Cats' possession at the time.
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Rayner kicked the goal before being knocked to the ground by Zach Guthrie, seeing him awarded a second free kick and booting another goal.
SCENES at the MCG?!?!
— 7AFL (@7AFL) September 5, 2025
Cam Rayner gets one free kick, kicks the goal ... then gets another free kick, and kicks another goal!
😳 pic.twitter.com/ndvni3vlGH
The decisions got the footy world talking, with most fans and pundits believing the contact wasn't enough to warrant free kicks.
On Saturday, SEN's Sam Edmund reported that the AFL had admitted Rayner shouldn't have been awarded an initial free kick, but that the Guthrie incident was deserving of one.
“I have spoken to the AFL this morning,” Edmund said on SEN.
“They have conceded the first free kick was not there, now that was Mark O’Connor on Cam Rayner.
“That was just a simple case of the umpire being drawn into something that wasn’t there from a free-kick perspective.
“They are saying the second one was correctly paid. They say that Guthrie’s bump on Rayner from behind did constitute a free kick.
“That was in the ensuing coming together. But certainly, the latter doesn’t happen if the former isn’t intervened upon by the officials.
“Make of that what you will.”
The incident has dominated headlines following Geelong's win, with both coaches having their say post-match.
"The emphasis for us was making sure the players didn't get too frustrated by it. And I thought that was, for the most part, handled pretty well on our part. It's just one of those things," Cats coach Chris Scott said.
"But we shouldn't kid ourselves that a free kick 10 metres out from goal is the same as a free kick at the other end."