In Round 9 of the 2014 AFL Premiership Season, the Collingwood Magpies travelled interstate to take on the Adelaide Crows. With only 11 seconds to go in the third quarter, Josh Jenkins ran into an open Adelaide goal square to put another 6 points on the board. However, the volume of the crowd masked out the sound of the siren, making it impossible for the umpires to hear and signal the end of the quarter. So the question remained: Did he kick the goal in time? In an attempt to clarify the legitimacy of Jenkins' goal, the umpires called for an official video review only to be met with the response, "We can't hear the siren, so we can't review it." This incident, now known as 'Sirengate', proved to be the talking point of the match long after the final siren had sounded.
What if the game had been a Grand Final with the scores level and only a few seconds to go? In this example, not hearing the siren over the cacophonous sound of the crowd could be quite costly. Therefore, simple technology needs to be implemented to overcome such an issue.
The following are some ideas that could be adopted by the AFL to avoid another 'Sirengate' controversy. Firstly, the umpires could wear a wristband that vibrates once the siren has sounded. Therefore, if they fail to hear the siren over the noise of the crowd, they will be able associate the feeling of the vibration with the end of the quarter. Secondly, AFL umpires could wear an earpiece that emits a tone as soon as the siren sounds. This will ensure that the siren will be heard as the direct sound is being feed straight into the earpiece. Thirdly, the goal posts could be fitted with lights that flash when the siren has sounded. As a result, people will be able to see the end of the quarter in circumstances when the siren cannot be heard over the crowd.
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