In Australian rules football, if a player takes a mark or is awarded a free kick before the siren sounds to end a quarter, and the siren sounds before the player takes a set shot, the player is allowed to take the kick after the siren. Often, the result of this kick is of little consequence, but if the player is within range of goal, any score will count towards the final result.

The right to take a set shot after the final bell was enshrined in the Laws of the Game prior to the 1889 season;^[1] prior to this, the ball was declared dead (and any opportunity for a set shot lost) once the bell sounded.^[2]

Below is a list of occasions in the Australian Football League (known as the Victorian Football League until 1990) where game results have been decided by set shots taken after the final siren, a play similar to the buzzer-beater in basketball. These are highly memorable and often go down in football folklore.

Goal to win

St Kilda's Billy Schmidt is the first known player to have kicked a goal to win after the siren. His set shot attempt led the Saints to victory over Carlton in round 15, 1913.

Barry Hall is the first player to have kicked a goal after the siren to win on two occasions. Hall achieved the feat for St Kilda against Hawthorn in round 21, 2001—incidentally, his last game for the club—before repeating his heroics for Sydney in its round 3, 2005 clash against the Brisbane Lions.

West Coast's Luke Shuey is the only player to have kicked a goal to win after the siren in extra time in the VFL/AFL. His goal from a free kick in the 2017 elimination final allowed the Eagles to progress past Port Adelaide.

Collingwood's Alan Ryan is the first known player to have kicked a goal to draw a match after the siren. His goal from a free kick tied the scores in the Magpies' round 2, 1935 match against Fitzroy.

Footscray's Harry Hickey is the first known player to have kicked a behind to win after the siren. His set shot attempt in the Bulldogs' round 18, 1944 match over Carlton not only led his side to victory, but also secured Footscray's spot in the next week's finals series, ironically at the expense of the Blues.

Goal to draw

Behind to win

Behind to draw

Missed opportunities

A list of instances where a player had a shot at goal after the siren to win or draw the game but missed, resulting in a loss, or instances where a player has had a kick after the siren with scores level but failed to score. This list does not include instances where an opportunity for a set-shot after the siren is passed up in favor of playing on.

Non-premiership matches

Miscellany

There are at least four instances in the elite competition where kicks were taken after the final siren cannot be categorised into the above lists.

In round 2 of the 1911 VFL season, Geelong's Bert Whittington was awarded a free kick moments before the bell was rung in his team's clash against Melbourne. His after-the-bell set shot was touched over the line, which under the rules of the time, would have resulted in no score as the ball was considered 'dead' as soon as it touched another player's hands. However, as field umpire Lardie Tulloch had not heard the bell, he gave the 'all clear' signal to the goal umpire to signal one behind, resulting in a 54-apiece drawn match. Melbourne protested the result, but it was dismissed by the league.^[116]

In round 17 of the 1928 VFL season, St Kilda's Bert Smedley had possession of the ball when timekeepers rang the final bell. However, field umpire Reginald Devine had not yet heard the bell, which allowed Smedley to continue his dash and kick an on-the-run goal that put the Saints one point ahead of opponents Melbourne. After a pitch invasion and minutes of deliberation between match officials and timekeepers, St Kilda was ultimately declared the victor.^[117] Melbourne opted to protest the result, recognising that while they had little chance of the protest being upheld, the very notion of challenging the decision would emphasise to the league the importance of louder sounding bells at venues.^[118] Following two hours of evidence, the league decided to dismiss the protest, in spite of all witnesses admitting the goal was kicked after the bell, and boundary umpire James Blair describing St Kilda's bell as "putrid".^[119]

In the 1990 Foster's Cup – the AFL's pre-season competition – Essendon's Paul Salmon goaled after the siren in his side's quarter-final match against Fitzroy to level the scores at 46-apiece. Seemingly unaware that the fixture was a knockout match, many of the 8,000-strong crowd at Waverley Park invaded the playing surface after Salmon's kick, assuming the match had finished. Rather, the match was to be decided in extra time via two halves of five minutes. Essendon added one goal in the overtime period to win the match by six points and progress to the next round of the tournament.

In round 5 of the 2006 AFL season, St Kilda's Steven Baker was the beneficiary of an after-the-siren free kick awarded in controversial circumstances at the end of his side's match against Fremantle at Aurora Stadium. In a passage of play that occurred after the siren sounded inaudibly, Baker scored a behind to tie the game, and received an illegal bump. He elected to cancel the behind and take a set-shot, which (with the umpires having now heard the siren) was a true after-the-siren kick. He scored another behind, drawing the scores level at 94-apiece. However, four days later, Fremantle successfully challenged to have the result of the game amended to 94–93, reflecting the scoreline when the siren originally sounded. This decision cancelled Baker's kick. This incident is often dubbed as 'Sirengate'.^[120]

See also

• Fitzroy's Colin Benham's "in-off the small boy" goal (Lake Oval, 30 June 1934)
• Buzzer beater (basketball)
• Last-minute goal (soccer)
• List of Hail Mary passes in American football

Notes

References