Siren Fiasco Repeat Ruled Out

The Sunday Age

Sunday June 18, 2006

KAREN LYON

THE AFL is confident there will not be a repeat of the round-five siren fiasco when elite football returns to Launceston's Aurora Stadium today for the first time since the controversial St Kilda-Fremantle match earlier this season.

It took three days for the AFL Commission to decide the result of that match after the officiating umpires failed to hear the siren at the end and allowed play to continue, giving the Saints time to even the scores.

The commission awarded the game to Fremantle after it decided the timekeepers had failed to continuously press the siren until the umpires had acknowledged the end of the match.

Max Harvey, the timekeeper suspended for two weeks after he took the blame for the incident, also returns to Tasmania and will officiate at today's match between Hawthorn and Richmond.

Harvey and fellow timekeeper Neville Schofield have been named as the officials for the match.

Yesterday, AFL spokesman Patrick Keane said the league had full confidence in the changes made at Aurora Stadium since round five.

"We have done a lot of testing. There are new siren banks and the decibel levels have been increased. We are fully confident there will be no issues tomorrow," Keane said.

He said Harvey had no concerns about travelling back to Launceston for the match.

"Max was very happy to go back. He has been a very good timekeeper for a very long time and so we were very happy to send him (to the match)," he said.

© 2006 The Sunday Age

Back to News Index | Back to Home