The opening week of the 2021 AFL Finals Series was full of moments but, unfortunately, one unsavoury flashpoint has come to dominate the discourse leading into this weekend’s semifinals. 

At the three-quarter time break of his GWS Giants' thrilling one-point win over the Sydney Swans, firecracker forward Toby Greene began to gesticulate and exchange words with umpire Matt Stevic, before making contact with the official as he continued to follow his teammates. 

The polarising Greene’s reputation for pushing the boundaries widely recognised and his rap-sheet quite long at this point, match review officer Michael Christian him directly to the tribunal over the incident -- where he was ultimately suspended for three matches.

The AFL’s resident panto villain, Greene, unsurprisingly, had individuals spring to both his defence and prosecution in the wake of the incident, with the latter camp increasingly dominating the discourse as more footage emerged of the contact with Stevic. 

To get an umpire’s perspective of the incident, ESPN’s Matt Walsh -- a member of the ESPN Footy Podcast -- sat down with former AFL umpire Matthew Head, who officiated 144 games of AFL footy, to talk about the incident, as well as how umpires and players interact, local footy umpiring, improving officiating standards.

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