The AFL ARC intervened to all but hand St Kilda a goal in their big win over West Coast on Sunday, despite play having gone on for nearly a minute after the initial call was made.

With the controversy in mind and time clearly no obstacle for changing decisions, The West Australian takes a cheeky look back at five moments from yesteryear which could be reviewed, despite now being years old.

Was Sampi held in epic 2005 grand final?

Decisions made by field umpires do not fall within the remit of the ARC — yet — but as the ball was marched from one end of the ground to the other on Sunday, the minds of West Coast fans surely flashed back to the end of the epic 2005 grand final.

Eagles forward Ashley Sampi was clearly held by Tadgh Kennelly as star Swan Leo Barry came across and claimed one of the most famous marks in the game’s history to seal the premiership for the Swans.

For his part, Kennelly admitted to the infringement years later, joking on The Front Bar he had “assaulted” the high-flying forward, having watched Sampi’s 2004 Mark of the Year in his hotel room the night before.

Any enduring ill will has surely been soothed by West Coast winning the flag the very next year, but the moment is hard to top as the greatest umpiring controversy in the club’s history and one which would have been ripe for review.

Fremantle’s second Sirengate

The introduction of the last disposal out of bounds rule this season has expanded the scope of the ARC from the goal line to the entire boundary.

If that change had come a few years earlier, Fremantle’s loss to North Melbourne in 2023 which dropped the Dockers to 0-2, may have looked very different.

Kangaroo Daniel Howe’s desperate clearing kick from defence in the game’s final stages was set to be penalised with a deliberate out of bounds decision, as confirmed by exchanges between the umpires captured on their microphones.

But the siren sounded as the ball bobbled over the boundary line and it was determined the game was over, despite a plea to send the decision to the ARC from Dockers captain Alex Pearce.

The call which cost the Crows a finals spot

The introduction of the score review system in 2012 has not completely eradicated the ‘howler’ from the game — including one infamous call which all but cost Adelaide a finals spot in 2023.

Ben Keays looked to have snapped a goal to give the Crows a very late lead in a late-season clash with Sydney, only for the goal umpire to erroneously assert his snap had clipped the post and not call for a review.

The Swans quickly got the ball back into play and the rules of the time did not allow the game to be rolled back to change the call, as they evidently do now.

Rocca’s phantom point

Ask any Collingwood fan about their enduring memories from the 2002 grand final and the vast majority will all take you back to one controversial moment involving Anthony Rocca.

The Magpies star appeared to have thumped home his fifth goal in the final quarter of an epic season decider, but the goal umpire determined the ball had travelled over the behind post and signalled a point.

Collingwood went on to lose the game to Brisbane by nine points and Rocca — as well as tens of thousands of fans who claim to have been at the game — remain steadfast in their view the call was an error.

Tomahawk gets away with one

His 2011 breakout on the big stage was still two years away, but Tom Hawkins did manage to kick two goals on the last day of the 2009 season — including one which was given in error.

After smothering Zac Dawson, the young Geelong full-forward snapped a quick kick which went down as a goal, with replays later showing the ball had, in fact, clipped the post.

The game’s final margin was 12 points, but it had stood at only six until Max Rooke added another goal for the Cats after the siren.