Roos leader's 'fake' brain-fade costs team dearly

North Melbourne defender Jasper Pittard has come under fire after a momentary brain-fade which wound up costing his side dearly in a lost to Carlton.

The incident occurred on the stroke of three-quarter time with teammate Jared Polec about to have a set-shot to put his side in front after a 30-point deficit earlier in the match.

However, before Polec could take his kick, Pittard ran towards Polec's opponent Marc Murphy, pushing the Blues veteran to the turf, causing the umpire to reverse his decision.

In doing so, Carlton was able to retain its five-point lead, before eventually ousting the Kangaroos in a 9. 10. (64) to 9. 3. (57) win at the Gabba.

Pittard was slammed by Hawthorn great Jason Dunstall, who called his actions "fake aggression".

"That's just dumb from Jasper Pittard," Dunstall said on commentary for Fox Footy.

"This is where I just hate this aggression, it's fake aggression and you've got a teammate having a shot for goal, there's just no need to do that. It's not tough."

Following the loss, Kangaroos coach Rhyce Shaw admitted that Pittard's indiscretion had cost his side the momentum going into the final quarter.

"I consider us a really hard-working side and really disciplined, but that just shows a lack of discipline in that moment and it's cost us," he said.

"Obviously I think we take a bit of momentum if we get in front there.

"He knows, he's a leader, he understands that and he was spoken to."

https://twitter.com/BobMurphy02/status/1286892699883147264?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1286892699883147264%7Ctwgr%5E&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.foxsports.com.au%2Fafl%2Fafl-2020-jasper-pittard-free-kick-north-melbourne-carlton-round-8-afl-free-kick-count-carlton-north-melbourne-jared-polec%2Fnews-story%2F9e33f56bdf5e21a07676e47ce994fdd1

However, while Pittard was rightly criticised, former Bulldogs captain Bob Murphy also took aim at the umpire, calling him "gullible" for reversing the decision.

"The pointless Pittard push," Murphy tweeted.

"The Murphy flop. The gullible umpire free kick. All of it was utter s---e."

from WWOS https://wwos.nine.com.au/afl/jasper-pittard-brain-fade-costs-kangaroos-dearly-in-loss-to-carlton/cf9785e9-6fe6-41f8-9fcf-d1870f1fa6fe