The AFL has confirmed that officials got it right by ending Saturday night's game between Fremantle and North Melbourne without giving a possible game-winning free kick.
There was controversy at the end of the match at Perth Stadium, where the Kangaroos were winning by a point with time running out and the ball went out as time expired.
Dockers players reacted angrily to the lack of a free kick for deliberate out of bounds, which would have given the home side — trailing by a point — the chance to draw or win the game with a kick from the left forward pocket.
However, the league released a statement on Sunday morning backing the officials' decision.
"The final siren sounded before the ball goes out of play. The umpire's decision on the ground was correct," the AFL said in the statement.
The rules of the AFL state that if a field umpire believes that before a final siren a player should be awarded a free kick or mark, that umpire should signal the end of play and then award the free.
"A free kick shall not be awarded where the football has been kicked and, after the field umpire has heard the siren, lands out of bounds on the full," the rules regarding end of quarters state.
The Kangaroos had looked home after Luke Davies-Uniacke kicked a 50m goal on the run to give the visitors a 20-point lead with under seven minutes remaining in Saturday's match.
But two quick goals to Jaeger O'Meara and a major to defender Brennan Cox following a goal-line scrap reduced the margin to one point with less than two minutes to go, sending the 40,487-strong crowd into a frenzy.
The ball lived in Fremantle's forward 50m for almost the remainder of the match, and Dockers players pleaded for a free kick for deliberate after the clearing kick went out about 49m from goal.
But to North Melbourne's relief, the siren had sounded for full-time with the Kangaroos leading 11.7 (73) to 10.12 (72).
Meanwhile, St Kilda shut down the Western Bulldogs for their second impressive win of the year, after Richmond saw off an Adelaide fight back to post a 32-point win.
Earlier, Collingwood continued their incredible start to the season with a 71-point win over Port Adelaide at the MCG.
The Roos' result gave North Melbourne a perfect 2-0 start under new coach Alastair Clarkson, and capped off a week that involved more controversy around Tarryn Thomas, who has been stood down indefinitely after more allegations emerged of inappropriate behaviour towards women.
Kangaroos forward Nick Larkey booted four goals following on from his six-goal haul from last week, while former Docker Griffin Logue was a rock in defence against prized Dockers recruit Luke Jackson and Matt Taberner.
Emerging Kangaroos star Harry Sheezel continued his hot start to his AFL career with 30 disposals, while Davies-Uniacke racked up 11 clearances from his 30 possessions.
Caleb Serong tallied a team-high 31 disposals for the Dockers, but Jackson was scoreless from 10 disposals and took just one mark despite having lots of opportunities.
Fremantle suffered a big blow before the match when two-time Brownlow medallist Nat Fyfe was a late scratching with a foot injury.
Handling errors, dropped marks, and some curious umpire decisions hurt Fremantle early as North Melbourne booted the first four goals of the match, including two to Larkey.
Dockers forward Taberner thought he kicked the opener after taking a mark on the behind line and then nailing his set-shot snap.
But after the goal was kicked, the umpire called for the mark to be reviewed, with vision showing the ball wasn't completely in Taberner's control as he crossed the line.
It took until the 27th-minute mark for Fremantle to kick their first goal of the match via a Sam Switkowski major on the run.
A goal to Michael Frederick shortly after reduced the margin to 10 points at quarter time, and the gap was eight points at the main break following a tight second term that featured just two goals.
The momentum swung Fremantle's way during the third quarter, with substitute Michael Walters igniting the crowd with a diving fingertip mark followed by a snapped goal.
That moment of magic reduced the margin to two points, but a 63m goal on the run by Jayden Stephenson ensured the gap was back out to 10 by the final change.
The last quarter became a topsy-turvy affair, with North Melbourne pulling away before Fremantle's late comeback fell just short.
Lyon's Saints stun hapless Dogs
St Kilda have proved their resurgence under Ross Lyon wasn't a one-off, dismantling a listless Western Bulldogs by 51 points to maintain their perfect start to the AFL season.
The Saints booted the first five goals of the game, then held their nerve through a Bulldogs second-term resurgence before kicking away for a 14.8 (92) to 5.11 (41) victory to condemn Luke Beveridge's charges to a 0-2 start.
Boom draftee Mattaes Phillipou underlined his talent with a brilliant performance in attack, kicking three goals including a sensational long-range effort to steady the Saints at the start of the third quarter.
With Max King and Tim Membrey still sidelined, Mitch Owens (three goals), Jade Gresham, former Bulldog Zaine Cordy and late signing Anthony Caminiti (two goals apiece) helped Phillipou kick a winning score.
Ruckman Rowan Marshall (20 disposals, nine clearances, 28 hitouts) was a force and Mason Wood (24 disposals) continued his stand out start to the season on the wing.
Skipper Jack Steele (28 disposals, six clearances) and Jack Sinclair (33 touches) were typically excellent.
Bulldogs pair Tom Liberatore (24 touches) and Bailey Smith (28 disposals, 596 metres gained) worked hard all game while skipper Marcus Bontempelli lifted in the second quarter.
But the disjointed Bulldogs largely lacked bite and explosiveness, and were unable to find answers to St Kilda's relentless pressure.
Aaron Naughton booted two goals but young talls Jamarra Ugle-Hagan and Sam Darcy failed to influence the scoreboard.
The Saints burst out of the blocks, nabbing their first goal via Phillipou inside the opening 35 seconds and a second to Owens barely a minute later.
Bulldogs defender Liam Jones required a first-quarter concussion test after his head hit Phillipou's legs then the ground, but was cleared to return.
The Saints led by 32 points early in the second quarter but recruit Oskar Baker finally nailed the Bulldogs' first goal 18 minutes in, starting a run of four in a row.
The fourth arrived when Tim English slotted a free kick after the siren to cut the half-time deficit to five points.
The late score prompted a brief scuffle among the players, with Cordy in the thick of things.
The start of the third term was an arm wrestle but the Saints wrested back control when Jones marked in the middle of the ground, attempted to burst forward and was run down by Dan Butler.
The quick turnover ended in a lovely long-range goal to Caminiti, his first at the top level.
The Saints never looked back from there, kicking nine goals to the Bulldogs' one in the second half to cruise to victory.
Tigers survive second-half scare to beat Crows
Richmond have survived an almighty second-half scare in a 32-point away win over Adelaide.
The Tigers led by 45 points at half-time before the storming Crows snuck within one point with 13 minutes remaining at Adelaide Oval.
But Richmond emphatically rallied, booting the last five goals of the game for 17.6 (108) to 10.16 (76) triumph, their first win of the season..
Tiger recruit Jacob Hopper suffered a knee injury while teammate Nathan Broad faces sanction for a sling tackle which concussed Adelaide defender Patrick Parnell.
The Broad incident came amid a fast opening from the visitors, who kicked 4.1 to 1.3 in the first quarter.
Second-gamer Samson Ryan scored two majors as Richmond beat-up the Crows around the ball, winning a dozen clearances to Adelaide's six.
The trend continued in the second stanza as the Tigers cashed in on their ground-level domination with five consecutive goals, including two from Jack Riewoldt.
The visitors were seemingly in command at half-time, 11.3 to 3.6.
But the Crows produced an eye-catching third-term comeback, booting 5.8 to 1.1 to sneak within 14 points at the last change.
Second-year forward Josh Rachele booted two goals, Izak Rankine scored his second the Crows were sniffing their greatest comeback victory.
Their odds shortened when Adelaide's Taylor Walker and Darcy Fogarty converted to leave the hosts one point down, 13 minutes into the final term.
But Richmond's new and old answered the challenge in a stirring five minutes which reaped three goals.
Rhyan Mansell, in game 16, and Trent Cotchin, in game 288, snapped goals and when influential newcomer Ryan scored his third soon after, the Tigers were safe.
Richmond's prized recruit Tim Taranto fired again with 28 disposals while Hopper collected 22 touches before being hurt in the last term.
Liam Baker (25) and Daniel Rioli (23) were creative in defence and Ryan and Tom Lynch kicked three goals apiece.
Adelaide's Rory Laird collected a game-high 38 disposals, his teammates Lachie Sholl (27) and Jordan Dawson (27) were prominent and Fogarty finished with three goals.
Pies irresistible in Port thumping
Collingwood young gun Nick Daicos has dealt with close-checking opponents and kicked a goal that would make his mercurial father proud, playing an influential role in his side's 71-point rout of Port Adelaide.
Daicos was shadowed by a Power combination of Lachie Jones and Sam Powell-Pepper for long periods of the Magpies' 21.9 (135) to 9.10 (64) victory at the MCG.
But the 20-year-old — last year's unanimous Rising Star winner — booted two majors from a game-high 32 disposals as a nine-goal run by the home side broke the game open before half-time.
Brody Mihocek kicked three goals before being substituted out with a finger injury and Jamie Elliott was among five players who kicked two each as the Magpies posted their biggest score since 2018.
Daicos started the game in his customary role at half-back and had periods on a wing and through the midfield as he tried to shake his taggers.
He extracted the biggest roar from the 60,744-strong crowd — the highest-ever attendance for a home-and-away clash between the two sides — with a stunning goal during the Magpies' second-quarter surge.
Daicos received a handpass from Daniel McStay, dished the ball off to Scott Pendlebury, received it back through the veteran's instinctive flick over his head, brushed a tackle and straightened up before steering his shot straight through the middle.
Older brother Josh Daicos (26 disposals, two goals) was equally influential and Bobby Hill brought the crowd to its feet when he played a one-two with Elliott in the forward pocket and snapped a clever goal early in the final term.
Port Adelaide forward Charlie Dixon kicked two early goals — the first courtesy of a 50m penalty against ex-Power defender Billy Frampton — and the lead changed hands five times in the opening exchanges.
But a five-goal burst in 11 minutes gave Collingwood a 23-point buffer at quarter-time, and it grew to 55 before the main break as the domination continued.
Power coach Ken Hinkley called on Travis Boak to give his side a lift, injecting the veteran into the game as the substitute early in the third quarter, and the visitors narrowly won the term.
The final quarter belonged to Collingwood, however, as they piled on six goals to one.
Boak had 11 disposals in his first game back after an interrupted pre-season but Port Adelaide had few winners, with Dixon (three) and Todd Marshall (two) both kicking multiple goals.
