Luke Beveridge claims Tim Membrey took too long with shot after the siren in wildcard final, Ryan Gardner time on ground explained, press conference, video

Western Bulldogs coach Luke Beveridge has claimed Collingwood forward Tim Membrey shouldn’t have been allowed to take his kick for goal after the siren in Friday night’s wildcard final thriller.

With 35 seconds to go, Membrey took a strong mark inside 50 with 35 seconds to go, with the Magpies trailing by just three points.

But his kick would miss to the near side, prompting jubilant celebrations from Bulldogs fans in the MCG stands – and a heartwarming reaction as Pies and Dogs players alike gathered to console the devastated 32-year old.

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Speaking after the match, though, Beveridge argued Membrey should have been called to play on by the umpires, having taken too long to take his kick.

“The clock had run out beforehand,” the 56-year old said in his post-match press conference.

“So technically, it should have been play on before the siren went. But it wasn’t called.

“That was an interesting thing at the end there.

“I don’t know what happened there, but it’s a pretty obvious one to call play on, isn’t it?”

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Beveridge said the Bulldogs wouldn’t be questioning the AFL or the umpiring department over the allegation, but was perplexed by none of the four umpires on the field spotting it.

“There are things like that happening all the time in game – I don’t know what happens,” he said.

“There’s four of them out there, so how you can miss that, I’m not sure.”

Membrey’s mark was taken with 35 seconds to go on the Fox Footy countdown clock, with the Pies forward beginning his run-up with roughly 4 or 5 seconds left.

Fox Footy reporter Jon Ralph described Beveridge’s claim as “splitting hairs”.

“Membrey had those 30 seconds to take his shot,” Ralph said.

“Now, we know the rule here is that you don’t have to have taken the shot within 30 seconds, you need to be on the runway.

“What Beveridge believes is that he was not on the runway when those 30 seconds elapsed on the scoreboard, and so the umpires should’ve called play on.

“It’s splitting hairs. It’s probably one or two seconds … all I would say to you is that (it would take) a very, very brave umpire to make that decision.”

Former Brisbane triple premiership great Jonathan Brown agreed, saying a play-on call in that situation is something “we wouldn’t want in our game”.

“It is splitting hairs. Common sense by the umpires,” Brown said.

“Imagine if that had have been called play on. Would have been an absolute riot!

“We wouldn’t be here, we would have run for cover, for safety!”

Beveridge, who coached from the interchange bench in the final minutes, said he thought Membrey had kicked the goal until he saw Bulldogs players celebrating.

“I was on the bench at the time, and the only indication that it wasn’t was just the celebration of our players near the goal line,” he said.

“I thought it was actually heading through. I was watching his (Membrey’s) body language and him trying to steer it back.

“It’s always nice to get a little bit of luck.”

The Dogs coach also hailed experienced swingman Ryan Gardner as “exceptional” for his team-first role in the heart-stopping win.

Gardner did not spend a minute on the ground until halfway through the third quarter, relieving the returning Tim English in the ruck.

The strategy allowed the Bulldogs to play Rory Lobb as a permanent forward alongside Aaron Naughton.

“Tim has missed a bit of footy, I thought he was really influential in the ruck,” Beveridge said.

“We could see that in the second half the turnover game was frenetic, I thought Gardy came on and really gave us something.

“We were able to keep Lobby forward a bit, he was providing contest because Ryan was giving us a chip out in the ruck.”

Gardner won his first centre hit out and took an intercept mark from 16 per cent time on ground.

But more importantly, he helped English get the sufficient rest needed to deliver two matchwinning taps late in the game.

Beveridge said Gardner was ready to play his role.

“There’s no paperwork if you’re going to tactically use a player like that,” Beveridge said.

“You can bring them on and off whenever you want which is great. We don’t do it very often.

“But what’s happened too, is because they’ve minimised the interchange to 75 and we’re pretty deep in the year … you need to give players rests.

“Your key playmakers need to come on and off a bit more which means you can save a few if you keep someone off the ground for a period of time.

“Ryan is such a great team player, he was always ready. It’s probably the first time we’ve done it like that but we thought he really helped us last week.

“I thought he was exceptional when he went on and competed in the ruck for us.”

Captain Marcus Bontempelli had even greater praise, saying Gardner’s sacrificial role was required since the league expanded to 23 players on the bench from 22 and a sub over the off-season.

“It’s a tough thing with the 23rd player now, you either have a bunch of guys who have to miss a bit of game time, or you have one guy who sort of just has to take a hit,” Bontempelli said.

“Because his (Gardner’s) influence was so strong last week, being able to pinch-hit in the ruck … the plan was always to hold him to start with, see how the game unfolded, and then we get to use him late.

“He comes in, makes a great contest, Tim comes back on fresh and all of a sudden impacts the game.

“That’s the amazing thing about Ryan Gardner. He’ll do anything for the team.

“That’s what you need this time of the year, guys who are willing to do it.

“It’s tough for the individual, but if you can process it, you get involved and you have a good moment or two.”

The win was just Gardner’s third match at AFL level since 2023, and came off 35 per cent game time as relief ruckman for Rory Lobb in the Dogs’ Round 24 win over Melbourne, with English sidelined with a knee injury.

He was the heartbreak story of the team’s run to the 2021 grand final, playing all three lead-in finals before being dropped for the decider.

The 29-year old is out of contract at the end of the season, having joined the Dogs as a mid-season recruit in 2019.