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. 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. 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. 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". 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 has been dubbed
'Sirengate'. ==See also==