I try to remain rational about the whole "AFL has a conspiracy against Richmond" idea. Too many people would have to know. It would eventually get out. There would be hell to pay. Careers would be over. Probably even legal implications.
But gee the events of yesterday make it difficult to totally ignore.
Given everything we see on the video, not least the body language of Lynch and other players, it probably was a behind. But the correct decision was reached in spite of the rules - not because of them. The only person in the perfect position to make the call thought it was a goal, and there is no way you could overturn that on the video we saw. Do the ARC people have access to more? If so then why do we not also see that?
But whatever you think of the decision, what astounded me most was how quickly it was made. There have been times this year when ARC decisions have taken minutes with seemingly endless viewings of the incident from countless angles. This was over in seconds. It reeked of a decision coming from upstairs.
Hardwick was right about the technology, but he didn't articulate it well. His words implied that it should be ditched because it doesn't get it right all the time. That shouldn't be the requirement. No technology can ever be perfect. The question should be "is it worth the money and how much it slows down the game?". In cricket and tennis, there is no doubt that the technology has enough of a positive impact on the decision making to justify its use. In football, it doesn't. The AFL has implemented it simply because other sports have done so.