It's been 15 years since the infamous 'Whispers in the Sky' incident in which Channel 9 journalist Tony Jones ran a story about former AFL umpire Matthew Head.
The incident took place on a Melbourne based flight from Perth after Fremantle clinched a nail-biting win against St Kilda in 2005 in which Justin Longmuir kicked a goal after the siren. The game was a game filled with dubious umpiring calls.
On the way back Jones overheard Head saying: "Now I know what a win feels like" and ran the story the next day, a statement the umpire emphatically denied at the time.
Head told Jones on a Channel 9 mini-documentary 'Long Story Short' that he maintains his side of the story.
"My very clear recollection was that when I was getting on the plane, I was standing at the start of business class walking through and you get held up because people are putting their luggage in overhead lockers," Head said.
"Where I got stalled, whoever was calling the game, we were having a general conversation. You were further up the back sort of calling out to us.
"I was having a conversation with whoever it was to my left about the game and Brett Allen said, 'Don't worry about Tony' and I just continued on with the conversation and walked through."
In a new twist to the incident, it turns out that Head wasn't actually meant to be on the flight, he was only on the flight because he made personal plans.
"I wasn't even supposed to be on that flight," Head said.
"Typically umpires would travel the next day. The only reason I got on that flight was because I'd already organised to go and propose to my wife the next day so I had to go back and pick up the ring before lunch time so I could propose that night."
Meanwhile, Jones believes if he had his time again, he would run the story.
"But then when you take into account that it was in the middle of an aircraft cabin with how many other people bearing witness to it, then I think it's legitimate," he said.
