After a season of score review errors, the AFL saved one of its worst for the biggest stage of the year so far.
With Collingwood charging home in the last quarter of Saturday's preliminary final against GWS, Josh Thomas was awarded a goal despite replays appearing to show the ball touch Lachie Keeffe's hand on the way through.
The Magpies' momentum continued after that goal but GWS were somehow able to halt their run, qualifying for their first-ever grand final with a thrilling four-point win.
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Apart from the Giants' against-the-odds win, the score review mistake was a major talking point post-match.
The general feeling on Fox Footy's panel was relief that the outcome of the match wasn't decided by such a glaring error.
"Lachie Keeffe's nearly broken his finger," Brisbane champ Jonathan Brown said.
"That was a bad decision and that goes against the ARC so we don't want that to happen in the grand final next week.
"It's embarrassing for the AFL - the amount of money they've put into it."
Josh Thomas was awarded a goal in the last quarter. #AFLFinals pic.twitter.com/XPzvR8d50a
— AFL.com.au (@AFLcomau) September 21, 2019
Journalist Jon Ralph said the initial feeling in the ARC was that there wasn't enough evidence to overturn the decision
That view appears to be in the minority however, with the movement of Keeffe's right index finger enough to convince most viewers at home that it should have been ruled a behind.
"I have spoken to the AFL, they say as of yet, there is no firm decision but I think within the bunker there is a prevailing feel that there was insufficient evidence to overturn this," Ralph said.
"This was a massive goal in the context of the game... we didn't see a zoom, we didn't see minutes of speculation about that.
"We just saw a quick review and then all of a sudden the ball was thrown up again.
"Here's what (AFL football operations boss Steve Hocking said when the ARC was launched): 'We are very confident because we have the best pictures available, this is going to change broadcasting and build greater confidence.'
"We were promised all that slow-mo and once again it seems like we were let down by human error.
"I don't want to be overly speculative here, but I think if Collingwood were done over by this decision in a preliminary final, we would see someone marching to the Supreme Court."
While the AFL will no doubt be under the pump following yet another wrong decision, they are perhaps thanking their lucky stars that the result fell the way it did.
