Veteran AFL field umpire Brett Rosebury has addressed the insufficient intent decision against Mitch Lewis in the dying stages of the Hawthorn vs Brisbane preliminary final.
Rosebury paid the free kick against Lewis which allowed the Lions to go forward, resulting in their match-winning goal.
That decision has invited scrutiny given conjecture about whether it was a skill error or a conscious decision to tap the ball over the boundary line.
"There has been a slight change in that interpretation this year with the introduction of the last disposal rule - if the ball is going to be heading towards the boundary line as a last disposal and a teammate is just trying to touch the ball to prevent the last disposal free kick, then the insufficient intent rule is heightened," Rosebury said on SEN.
"Players can't be pushing the ball over the line so in that scenario we would expect the player to take possession and get tackled over the line in that scenario but we deemed it was insufficient intent.
"The play on the ball wasn't sufficient to keep it in play."
Asked specifically about the intent given the intensity of the game, Rosebury said: "If it is a complete skill error or ricochet off his body or something like that, the umpire has the ability to throw it in.
"It's not last touch but the intent of the player moved the ball from one direction towards the boundary line.
"It's one of those decisions you can debate, there's no doubt about that but when someone like Jason Dunstall says it's a clear free kick, he has pretty good balance looking at it."
Rosebury has been selected as one of four field umpires for the AFL grand final and will officiate his 11th AFL grand final.
