Geelong coach Chris Scott has accused the AFL of "cherry picking" umpiring mistakes to publicly highlight following Adelaide's controversial defeat to Gold Coast.
Less than 24 hours after the Crows lost a one-point thriller on Saturday, the AFL acknowledged umpires erred in failing to award Adelaide star Izak Rankine a mark or free kick in the dying moments.
If not given a mark, Rankine looked to have been illegally held in the contest and could have been awarded an inside-50 free kick.
Either way, Rankine would have had a shot at goal that could have won, or drawn, the game for Adelaide and kept their unbeaten start to the season alive.
It was the fourth time in Adelaide's past 35 games the AFL has conceded an umpiring error went against the Crows in a narrow loss.
But Scott believes the AFL too often caves under pressure when commenting on umpiring incidents.
"They can be completely transparent and clarify every single mistake so everyone knows, or don't do it at all," Scott told reporters on Tuesday.
"But when you cherry-pick examples because there's public pressure, I think that's an error."
Scott also said he wouldn't be surprised if Adelaide benefited from an over-correction from umpires when the Cats face them in a blockbuster start to Gather Round on Thursday night.
"There's such a thing as human nature, and I think the stats over the journey – the objective stats – are irrefutable, the home team tends to have an advantage," Scott said.
"But I also think you can override human nature to an extent, and know that that is a possibility this week.
"The reality for (umpires) and for the other 17 clubs in the competition, regularly there are umpiring mistakes late in games that if you isolate them, cost teams the game.
"This is not a unique situation. What's rare is that the AFL voluntarily come out and clarify it.
"Most of the time that clarification happens behind closed doors, but I would say (a costly umpiring error) happens a lot – I'm going to say at least a few times a game, especially in close games."
