Brisbane forward Logan Morris still doesn't know what he did wrong after he was denied a goal on the three-quarter time siren in Thursday's win over Sydney while the AFL has conceded the umpire made the wrong call.
Morris took a mark with seconds remaining and lined up for a snap from 30 metres out. He was instructed to finish in line with the man on the mark and to kick over him.
The league released a statement on the incident, saying the goal should have counted.
“The umpire standing directly behind the line of kick judged that Logan Morris did not return to the line of kick and therefore called play on,” the statement reads.
“On further review, while Morris was short of the line of kick, we believe he has compiled with the rule by kicking over the man on the mark and not improved the angle to the goal posts and therefore play-on should not have been called.
“We are clarifying to umpires and clubs that where a player lines up perpendicular to their line of kick, they must either kick over the player on the mark, or kick from the line of kick.”
Morris himself was confused by the decision.
“Mate, I couldn't tell you. I was off the mark, I thought the rules were you were allowed to start off the mark and then kick before the line but I don't know,” he told 3AW.
“I thought it was a goal until the start of the fourth quarter. And then I went up to the umpires and said, ‘What was the go there?' I don't know. I will leave it up to the club and AFL to sort that out. I will just try to kick them straight through the goals.”
AFL chief executive Andrew Dillon attempted to explain the umpire decision on SEN.
"Whether that was the right call or not, it will be reviewed," Dillon said.
"In the end, you can start off your mark, you can't improve your angle but ultimately you have to get back to your mark, and I would, on the basis that Andrew Stevens (adjudicating umpire) didn't let it go through last night, his call would have been that he didn't make it back to the mark to kick over the man on the mark.
"I haven't got a definitive call on whether Andrew made the right decision in terms of whether he made it to the mark or not, but I think the rules relatively clear."
The Lions said they'd seek clarity, and fortunately, it didn't have an impact on the outcome of the match.
"My understanding of that rule is as long as you start near the boundary and kick over the guy's hands on the mark, that's ok," Brisbane coach Chris Fagan said after the win over Sydney.
"I thought that's what he did. I wasn't standing right there on the spot, but that's what it looked like to me.
"It would be good to get some clarity on it because the learning for Logan might be 'If you ever get another shot on goal and the siren's gone, mate, maybe you've just got to go straight back and kick over the hands on the mark so there's no doubt you've done the right thing'.
"From what the explanation was we got earlier in the year, I think he did everything right. What did you guys think?
"We'll ask because he did that, thinking he was doing the right thing.
"If he wasn't, we all need to know so we can learn from it. That's ok."
Logan Morris missed out on a goal after the siren with the umpires calling play on.#AFLLionsSwans pic.twitter.com/MY2cA1nvoE
— 7AFL (@7AFL) June 25, 2026
The AFL moved to clarify the rule book following Hawthorn livewire Nick Watson's disallowed goal in Round 12, where the gun deviated ever-so-slightly off his mark, despite not improving the angle.
A memo sent by the league earlier this month stated players must not improve their angle to goals, which neither Watson nor Morris did.
However, in Watson's example, his shot and subsequent denied six points were backed up by the AFL, given he didn't kick over the man on the mark.
