Fremantle EGM of Football Joe Briety has publicly backed maligned defender Jordan Clark amidst a barrage of social media scrutiny.
Clark - who was penalised for umpire dissent in the dying minutes of the close encounter with Carlton - has been subject to name-calling from a former AFL umpire.
Reports have suggested that the 23-year-old was merely expressing his frustrations out on himself, and not the umpires, but was still labelled a "spoilt brat" in the eyes of controversial figure Michael Pell.
In support of Clark, Briety spoke on ABC Radio Monday morning saying: "Jordan is a quality young man and a fantastic person who's done an enormous amount of work for our Club on and off the field.
“We stand behind him (Clark) with our fans knowing the quality of the person he is.
“To have someone that brings your character into question on Twitter who really has no credibility whatsoever is really frustrating and disappointing.
"We're right behind Jordan and I love the way he goes about it for our Club."
According to Herald Sun's Jon Ralph, Clark was "berating himself" by uttering the expression: “You f***ing idiot, Jordan”.
Ralph goes on to say: "He had been verbally challenging the umpires all day, and I think he acknowledges that to some of his teammates.
"So, you can absolutely understand why the umpire thought he was directing it at him."
Briety supported the notion by saying the former Cat wasn't directing his words at the umpire but acknowledges it would've been confusing.
"The conversation that we've had with Jordan is that he was frustrated at himself,” Brierty said.
“He's (Clark) swearing at himself at that point in time, but obviously from an umpire's point of view when they are looking at each other, he feels as though it's directed towards him.
“That's where the umpire has paid the dissent free kick.”
In the lead-up to Clark's dissent penalty, the goal-review system was once again flagged for its inability to make the correct calls.
The AFL and Andrew Dillon admitted that an error had been made when a George Hewett kick landed in Matthew Cottrell's arms late in the fourth term, which was touched by James Aish.
Cottrell was awarded the mark directly in front of the goal and put the Blues back in front as a host of impassioned protests from the Docker players ensued.
"We have acknowledged also that it was touched, so the free wasn't there in the first place. So we missed that," Dillon said on Sunday.
"We've acknowledged the mistake there, but the dissent decision was correct."
Recently, Fox Footy revealed Pell's previous dealings with Clark, suggesting he still has more to learn when experiencing stress in high-pressure situations.
“I umpired Clark a little bit during his debut season in 2019 in the VFL and then again in scratch matches in 2020 during lockdown,” Pell said
“Things came to a head one day at Ikon Park in a game that meant nothing – a glorified match simulation with 14 per side. Clark was carrying on about decisions and generally just being difficult.
“I pulled him aside at a break and told him for the sake of his career he needed to stop with the berating and abuse of umpires – it went in one ear and out the other and I thought to myself: ‘This kid just doesn't get it'."
The former umpire also spoke on a specific moment of Clark's back in 2020, when a failed bounce needed to be recalled, prompting an immature response from the ex-Cat.
“It was in an empty stadium so everyone could hear and it was cringe, one of his teammates rolled his eyes and said: ‘Don't worry about him',” Pell said.
"Most kids grow out of it, some just don't but that's what it felt like dealing with Clark. There wasn't another AFL player I came across that I had that feeling about."