AFL CEO Andrew Dillon is "comfortable" that Collingwood forward Jamie Elliott wasn't paid a free kick in Saturday's preliminary final as Brandon Starcevich contested the mark.
The Magpie faithful were up in arms that Elliott wasn't able to take a shot from directly in front, believing that the Lions defender made front-on contact that impeded the high-flying Collingwood forward's ability to mark the ball.
Instead, the ball went directly down the other end, leading to a Brisbane goal.
Dillon said the "right call" was made.
Andrew Dillon backs the Jamie Elliott non-free kick from the prelim 👀 #AFL360 #AFLFinals #Collingwood #KayoSports pic.twitter.com/1qdCpoXLqf
— Kayo Sports (@kayosports) September 23, 2025
"I reckon you can look at it replay after replay and maybe have a different conversation," Dillon said on AFL360.
"We think the umpire, from the position he was in, he made a call that was certainly the right call.
"I think if you've got the umpire in that position with that happening, then absolutely (it should be play on again).
"On the night, I straightaway thought, ‘That would be one that'd normally be paid', but we were comfortable with where it landed."
Throughout the program, Dillon was also quizzed about the Brownlow Medal voting procedure and whether umpires should be provided with statistics.
The voting process was under fire after multiple questionable calls on Monday night, which saw Gold Coast midfielder Matt Rowell claim the award.
However, none were more surprising than Nasiah Wanganeen-Milera's two votes against Melbourne, which was individual performance for the ages. In this game, he single-handedly produced the biggest three-quarter time comeback in history, kicking four goals from 34 disposals. Jack Viney was awarded three votes.
Interestingly, Nasiah Wanganeen-Milera only recieved 2 votes in the round 20 match against Melbourne where he had 4 goals and 34 disposals, and kicked the match winning goal. pic.twitter.com/Kf8MMS3shS
— AFL News, Results & Rumors (@RumorsAFL1993) September 22, 2025
"Yes, that was one, but maybe it was just one out of the box," Dillon said.
"Ultimately, the Brownlow is the umpire's award, and we will go to the umpiring group like we did last year. There's a bit of talk about should they have access to stats.
"That's a conversation we'll have in the off-season. We're not deaf to the opinions of those that matter."
Dillon also alluded to a potential change to the Mark and Goal of the Year awards, which could include the finals series in the voting.
