Whispers in the Sky

Whispers in the Sky refers to an Australian rules football controversy in 2005.

The controversy centred around an Australian Football League match in Round 21 on 19 August, 2005 between Fremantle and St Kilda.

The match had been highly controversial, with Fremantle coming from behind to win by 5 points following a mark taken by Justin Longmuir with seconds left in the match and kicking a goal after the siren. Numerous contentious free kicks in the match had angered Saints fans and the anger was intensified after allegations by Channel 9 journalist Tony Jones that he had been told by umpire Matthew Head (Matthew had given 5 contentious free kicks to Fremantle inside their attacking 50, all which resulted in goals) on the plane "Now I know what it feels like to have a victory". [http://www.abc.net.au/sport/content/200508/s1443760.htm] Along with Tony Jones several other passengers overheard this comment, including one man who wrote the quote on his boarding pass. An investigation by the AFL later cleared the umpire of any wrongdoing. [http://www.smh.com.au/news/afl/investigator-finds-a-win-for-the-umpire/2005/08/26/1124563029228.html]

This was the second of a string of three consecutive controversial Fremantle vs St Kilda games. In their first meeting of 2005, St Kilda won by one point which they scored from a contentious holding the ball decision in St Kilda's forward line. In their first meeting of 2006, the most controversial of all, St Kilda tied the game with a behind scored after the final siren at Aurora Stadium, but before the umpire ended the game. The AFL Commission intervened and changed the result of the game three days later to keep in line with the laws of the game.