'They just refused': Scott tees off after umpire positioning calls fall on deaf ears

Essendon coach Brad Scott says the club has approached the League about moving the umpires out of the corridor

Nate Caddy checks on field umpire Robert O'Gorman after colliding during the match between Essendon and Gold Coast at Marvel Stadium in round 17, 2025. Picture: Getty Images

ESSENDON coach Brad Scott said his club's requests for umpires to remove themselves from the corridor has been repeatedly ignored by the AFL and its umpiring team.

Young star forward Nate Caddy was involved in a collision with an umpire in the Bombers' 41-point loss to Gold Coast, as he accelerated to catch up with the contest on the other side of the forward 50.

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Scott – who previously held the role of general manager of football at AFL House – said he did not believe Caddy would receive a penalty, despite the beefed-up sanctions for cumulative umpire contact announced earlier this week.

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"I've lost count the number of times I've approached the AFL about moving the umpires out of the corridor. They sprint into the corridor, and they stay there and that's clearly where we want to get the ball," Scott said.

"Even when I was at the AFL, I tried to move them down the corridor and they still wouldn't move out of the corridor. We've been at them and at them and at them, to move out of the corridor. And the last response I have from Steve McBurney (head of officiating) was 'just pretend they're invisible'.

"Well, he wasn't invisible, and unfortunately, it actually it took the wind out of Nate Caddy, it took 15 minutes to get him going again. So, you know, whose fault is it? Certainly not Nate Caddy's.

"Particularly given that we've put this on the agenda to move the umpires out of the corridor and they just refused to do it. So I understand the umpire contact around ball ups and that's a challenge that we've got to solve, but, who's responsible for this? I mean, is it Nate Caddy? Because we lost a player for 15 minutes.

"Not only that, the ARC tells our doctor to go and check on the umpire and assess the umpire. It's like [shrugs]. And it's Nate Caddy's fault? I don't expect him to have anything to answer for that."

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Asked if the positioning of umpires had been altered after the relatively recent addition of the fourth on-field umpire, Scott said the additional whistleblower was to prevent them from being blindsided.

"[It was] so you could have an umpire on either side of the contest. Angus Clarke clearly got taken high in forward 50. The umpire on the wrong side pays holding the ball," he said.

"Now, that happens, but the reason we've got four is so that the umpire on the other side of the contest can see it. It would make sense if an umpire was in four quadrants on the outside of the contest, looking at the contest, but they insist on running into the corridor, and they're coached that way.

"Then we have a player and an umpire collide, and it's the player's fault?

"If Caddy's held responsible for that, then, you know, we just throw our hands up. So we've made our opinion clear on this, and it keeps happening."

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Scott confirmed that Jye Caldwell had suffered an ankle injury late in the last quarter, and would require scans.

Winger Xavier Duursma was also under an injury cloud, the Bombers having to make a call on his fitness just seconds before the first bounce. Emergency Elijah Tsatas made a hurried detour from the VFL game at Tullamarine, before turning back around again and returning to the Hangar to play his match.

Tsatas himself had been added to the emergency list yesterday "for balance", replacing Dylan Shiel who had a sore back, and sat out of all football this weekend.

"He had lower back spasms-slash-tightness. You can understand we're a bit jumpy at the moment," Scott said.

"We turned Elijah Tstatas around from his trip down to the Hangar for the VFL game, to come back, and with a minute to go, we had to make a decision whether to pull him, or play. The doctors were convinced it wasn't a risk, it was more of a function issue."

Gold Coast coach Damien Hardwick had his own concerns with umpire/player positioning, with superstar Matt Rowell under the spotlight for his actions at centre bounces.

"I'm just going to keep doing me."

Matt Rowell spoke post-game on the recent umpire contact controversy. #AFLDonsSuns pic.twitter.com/BKWztbEddl — AFL (@AFL) July 5, 2025

Rowell was well held in game 100 by Will Setterfield, but worked hard to lay 17 tackles through the match.

"There were some instances – nope, I'm not even going to say it," Hardwick said, sighing and refraining from commenting on the tagging technique.

"He battles manfully, he's a pleasure to coach and we're so lucky to have him in our organisation, the way he goes about the game, the way he hunts the ball. There's a reason he's one of the best players in the competition, because he works harder than anyone else.

"He'll be mindful of [the umpires], but as soon as that ball goes, he's a 'see-ball, get-ball' player. The ball moves. I spoke during the week, if the ball slightly deviates off the bounce, he's not thinking where the umpire is, he's thinking 'how can I get to the contest?'

"There is going to be incidental contact. I think the AFL know that, I know we have to protect the umpires, but I think we've also got to smart. Let's look at other things we can do to take that away in the first place. We don't want to have the conversation, as we're having now, of the very best players having the possibility of missing a game."

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Hardwick said ruckman Jarrod Witts (managed) and defensive general Sam Collins (calf tightness) would return for next week’s blockbuster against Collingwood.

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