‘I felt threatened’: Umpire Hayden Meyer breaks silence on Hawthorn stars’ post-match confrontation

The umpire who paid the last free kick of the preliminary final “felt threatened and intimidated” by the advances of James Sicily and Tom Barrass at the final siren.

Hayden Meyer rewarded Hugh McCluggage for his tackle on Jarman Impey, allowing Brisbane to kick ahead of Hawthorn in the final minute last Saturday night.

Barrass and Sicily both approached Meyer after the match and were collectively fined $15,000.

Meyer said he left the MCG surprised and threatened by the interaction.

“I was a bit taken aback, to be honest, because in my mind I thought I was 100 per cent sure it was a correct free kick,” he said.

“I just wasn’t expecting two players to come up to me like they did on the day … it did surprise me a little bit, but I felt like I handled it pretty well in the situation post-game.

“I felt threatened in the situation. The abuse that came my way, I felt threatened.

“I expressed exactly that, the language and the way those two players – James and Tom – came at me, I felt threatened and intimidated in that situation.

“I spoke to (head of officiating) Steve McBurnie the day after and gave my view on the situation and how I felt and what occurred.

“He then transferred that to Swanny (football manager Greg Swann) and the MRO to eventually come up with the decision around the fines.”

Barrass reached out to apologise, but as of Wednesday afternoon, Meyer had not heard from Hawthorn captain Sicily.

“I haven’t heard from James, no, I have heard from Tom, yes,” Meyer said.

“Tom contacted Steve McBurney to ask to speak to me and apologise. We teed up a time yesterday for us to have a conversation over the phone.

“He was very apologetic, very sincere in his apology. I accepted his apology and I thanked him for taking the time out of his day to give me a call.”