Get all your news in one place.
100’s of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
AAP
AAP
Shayne Hope and Oliver Caffrey

GF debutant joins veteran umpires for AFL decider

Matt Stevic (pic) will umpire his 12th grand final, with Simon Meredith, Nick Foot and Craig Fleer. (Mark Dadswell/AAP PHOTOS)

Field umpire Nick Foot experienced the "longest morning" of his life waiting for the call to be told he would be officiating his first AFL grand final.

He will umpire alongside experienced pair Simon Meredith and Matt Stevic, as well as Craig Fleer, who will make his second grand final appearance.

Foot will make his grand final debut at the MCG on Saturday when Sydney face the Brisbane Lions after umpiring 238 games, including eight finals.

He was at the helm for the Lions' epic preliminary final win against Geelong last Saturday.

"I was called on Monday around lunchtime and it was the longest morning of my life waiting for that phone call," Foot said.

"The senior coach went with the same opening line as he went with last year when I didn't get it so I was a bit worried early doors.

"It was a rollercoaster of a phone call, but great news, nonetheless."

Stevic, a veteran of 498 games and 59 finals, will umpire his 11th consecutive grand final and 12th overall.

Meredith, another veteran with 498 games and 50 finals to his name, will blow the whistle in his ninth grand final.

Fleer will umpire his second grand final, having made his debut in the historic 2020 decider under lights at the Gabba.

The four field umpires have officiated a total of 1693 AFL games between them, including 137 finals and 20 grand finals.

Foot believed it would be a game of "paper, scissors, rock" to decide who take the first bounce.

Emergency field umpire Andrew Stephens is yet to officiate in a grand final.

Boundary umpires Matt Tomkins and Matthew Konetschka will each umpire their sixth season decider, alongside Michael Barlow (third) and Daniel Field-Read (debut).

Goal umpire Matthew Dervan will officiate his third grand final alongside Sam Walsh (second).

Damien Main is the emergency boundary umpire and Steven Piperno is the emergency goal umpire.

In August, Piperno was injured in a home-and-away match when a Carlton member threw a bottle from the crowd that struck the goal umpire's head.

Piperno suffered a nasty cut and required medical attention, and was replaced by an emergency goal umpire during the match.

The perpetrator was handed a lifetime ban from AFL and AFLW matches.

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100’s of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
One subscription that gives you access to news from hundreds of sites
Already a member? Sign in here
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.