Collingwood will seek answers from the AFL for a final quarter decision for time wasting that directly gave Fremantle a chance on goal in Friday's eventual drawn game.
With just over six minutes remaining in the match, Magpie Lachie Sullivan was tackled in Fremantle's forward 50 and officiating umpire Matt Nicholls called a ball-up.
Once rising to his feet, Sullivan gave the ball to teammate Nick Daicos instead of the umpire, leading to a free kick to Dockers ruckman Sean Darcy, who converted his set-shot to narrow the Magpies' lead to 13 points.
Sullivan is required to either hand the ball directly to the umpire or place it on the ground follow a break in play, otherwise can be penalised for time wasting.
"You gave the ball to [Daicos], you have to give it to me," Nicholls is head explaining.
"He's not allowed to do that. It's a free kick."
"He didn't hand the ball back to me, he handed it to a team mate. He's not allowed to do that."#AFLFreoPies pic.twitter.com/vGywugz8qk
— 7AFL (@7AFL) May 24, 2024
The free kick caused confusion for Collingwood coach Craig McRae, who was unaware of the rule on Friday night.
McRae revealed he initially though Daicos had touched the umpire and was penalised, only to learn later on that Sullivan was the one to cost his side in the tightly-contested affair.
Speaking to media after the 75-75 draw, McRae said while the Magpies will probe the AFL for an answer on the officiating, the club will need to move on.
"I'm looking forward to what the AFL tell us about that, because I wasn't aware that's a free kick. But maybe clearly it is because they don't pay things that aren't there," the premiership coach said.
"So I'm looking forward to seeing what they say.
"In that moment I was confused, because I was told that he he touched the umpire, Nick. And I thought that was a bit much in the moment. But again, I was unaware of what actually happened until afterwards.
"I hope (the decision didn't fluster our players), because we live in that space. We made way more mistakes than what the umpires did tonight.
"He's, I assume, umpiring to the letter of the law. If the AFL come out and says it was a mistake, that doesn't help us either. We're just moving on.
"Reality is, it's probably a free kick and we move on."
The AFL is said to have ticked off the decision made by Nicholls, per multiple outlets., having warned clubs in recent seasons of the issue surrounding time wasting.
Fremantle coach Justin Longmuir said he was unaware of what the decision was for at the time but did understand the ruling.
The drawn result sees Collingwood's undefeated streak extend to eight games - a spell that now includes two draws.
The Magpies are now level with Port Adelaide, who are yet to play in Round 11, on 28 premiership points for the year and sit in fifth on the ladder.
The result for Fremantle moves the Dockers into sixth with seven matches still to be played across the weekend, with the Perth club able to fall as low as 10th by the end of Round 11.