Bad umpiring leaves GWS coach fuming

Fremantle coach Ross Lyon says the decision by his Greater Western Sydney counterpart Leon Cameron to vent his anger towards an umpire during a game isn’t a good look.

Cameron twice made his way down from the coach’s box to speak to emergency umpire Nathan Williamson during the Giants’ 21-point loss to Fremantle in Perth on Sunday.

The GWS coach was left perplexed by a series of dubious umpiring decisions that cost his team dearly during the 12.12 (84) to 9.9 (63) loss.

The one that hurt the most came in the third quarter, when Fremantle were awarded a free kick despite it being a Dockers player who kicked it out on the full.

Fremantle kicked a goal from the ensuing foray forward to extend the margin to 18 points, adding to Cameron’s frustrations.

“That would be surprising that a senior coach would do that,” Lyon said of Cameron’s decision to leave his box to speak to the emergency umpire.

“I don’t think it’s ideal.

“Leon would have his motives for that. But I don’t think it’s a great look for the game, because we all get frustrated on different weeks.

“We’ve had games where we’ve had four free kicks paid and those sort of things.

“I understand the frustration. Leon’s a really good person … but I don’t think it’s something we should encourage.”

Cameron said he merely wanted to clarify several things with the umpires, and revealed he will air some grievances to AFL umpires’ boss Wayne Campbell on Monday.

“It’s a frustrating game and I was frustrated at the time about a couple of things,” Cameron said.

“But it ebbs and flows – it goes against you at times.

“I’ll chase it up with Wayne Campbell tomorrow.

“There are always going to be decision that go against you.

:But I just had to clarify a couple of things … so I can give feedback to the players if there is an issue.”

Cameron did his best to play down the incident after the match.

“Coaching is a tough business and so is umpiring,” Cameron said.

“You’ve got a number of decisions to make within a half a second, and there is so much riding on that decision.

“They are doing a good job.”

Dockers defender Zac Dawson is set to come under scrutiny from the AFL’s match review panel after collecting GWS forward Jeremy Cameron with an elbow while the pair were on the ground.

The hit left Cameron with a bloodied nose, forcing the 22-year-old to wear a mummy-like bandage across his face for the rest of the match.

Although Dawson wasn’t facing Cameron when he swung his right elbow back, the incident looked ugly enough to warrant closer attention.

The Dockers dominated most key stats against the Giants, but their lack of polish almost came back to haunt them.

Lyon admits his team still need to improve their execution in the lead-up to the finals.

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