Two St Kilda coaches claim a pre-game umpire snub, just minutes before the start of the thrilling yet controversial Dockers-Saints clash nearly 15 years ago, gave them the sense their club was in for a rough night with the officiators.

But the umpire at the centre of the ‘Whispers in the Sky’ controversy, Matthew Head, says the Saints weren’t in the rooms at the designated time for the usual pre-game catch-up.

Head and veteran Channel 9 journalist Tony Jones — the reporter that broke the story and still stands by it to this day — both recently opened up on the incident, which took place on a Melbourne-bound flight from Perth in 2005.

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Round 18

Jones reported umpire Head had said to him while boarding the post-game flight: “Now I know what a victory feels like.” The alleged comments came after a thrilling clash between Fremantle and St Kilda, which ended with a match-winning goal from Docker Justin Longmuir but was also remembered for its touchy umpiring decisions.

An AFL investigation was launched but ultimately cleared Head and fellow umpire Brett Allen, who was in the vicinity at the time Head’s alleged comments were made, of any wrongdoing.

Former AFL umpire Matthew Head. Source: News Limited

The game was also played in the week then-Saints coach Grant Thomas had made disparaging comments about AFL umpires, claiming they should “leave their ego in the locker when they start their career” – comments that later resulted in an AFL-imposed $20,000 fine.

Head and Thomas spoke extensively on SEN podcast Uncovered, which also featured then-Saints assistant Mark Parker and plane witness Mitch Rentessis, who claimed he heard the same comments on the plane that Jones reported.

Thomas and Head confirmed they had since caught up and broken break over the incident.

But both Thomas and Parker remember the umpires having little pre-game interaction with any St Kilda coaches or players in the rooms, which was a touch unusual.

“I was leaning up against a wall with (assistant coach) Matty Rendell just talking about some match-ups and some particular strategy and the umpires walked in in single, regimented file like they do when they walk out on the ground.,” Thomas told SEN’s Uncovered.

“They walked up to the end of the changerooms, did an about-face, turned around and walked out without shaking anyone’s hand or recognising anyone. It was just basically a token gesture to say ‘yeah, we’re here, we’ve been to the rooms and that’s it’.

Grant Thomas’ Saints lost after the siren to Fremantle. Source: News Corp Australia

“Matty Randell dug me in the ribs and said ‘I think we’re in for a tough one, Thommo’ – which proved to be the case.”

Parker added Rendell had said something similar to him, but he recalled that the umpires had shaken hands with at least Robert Harvey, Lenny Hayes and one other Saint in the rooms.

“They haven’t been right around the whole team, haven’t said g’day to us, which they normally do … Just nothing happened. And Matty just said to Thommo: ‘I think we’re in trouble here. I think we’re off,’” Parker said.

Head, though, claimed there was no one in the St Kilda room at the designated time that’d been set for the umpires to visit them.

“There just wasn’t … people around, no coaches around, no kicking balls, et cetera. So, I’m not sure what happened there with the timing,” Head said.

Early in the game, cameras caught Thomas and Rendell laughing in the coaches box.

Thomas admitted this was over free kicks paid against the Saints that they thought weren’t there.

Ex-St Kilda coach Grant Thomas with Justin Koschitzke. Source: News Corp Australia

“If it wasn’t so serious it’d be funny, but we were caught on camera in the first five or 10 minutes of the game laughing our heads off, which I think a lot of people thought ‘what are they laughing for?’ We’re laughing because of the decision making. We just thought: ‘What is going on here? It’s just not right.’” Thomas said.

“Something was really off that day. Really off. The players felt it, everyone felt it.

“In a lot of ways, you can say it’s my fault because I tried to give that advice and they weren’t happy.”

In a separate Wide World of Sports video chat with Jones, Head admitted it wasn’t his best umpiring performance and the fallout had him fearing his career would be over.

Rentessis, a St Kilda fan who’d flown to Perth to watch the Saints play that night, has maintained his version of events from the plane for the past 15 years.

Mitch Rentessis overheard a conversation allegedly involving AFL umpire Matthew Head, which he wrote on his flight ticket. Source: News Limited

Rentessis said he couldn’t be certain at the time who said what comment or who Head was, but was adamant he saw and heard the conversation take place. So much so he wrote the quote down on his boarding pass.

“Tony Jones, who was a row behind me and putting his gear away and settling himself in, made a comment to the boys (umpires) along the lines of ‘You boys had a good night tonight’ – or words to that affect. And I heard the famous words, ‘yep, it’s nice to have a win’ or ‘now I know what it’s like to have a win’,” Rentessis said.

“I did a double take and had a look and I thought “I’ve got to write this down, I’ve just got to remember this – so I did.

“We were a bit dirty on how the game had unfolded. The Saints supporters felt there were a few bad decisions there and I just wanted to remember it. I thought it was notable.”

Parker said he was also in the vicinity of the plane conversation.

“The umpire had got on and he’d said something to the effect of: ‘That’ll teach them, four points and 20 grand’ – or something like that,” he said.

“I heard this conversation then I saw Tony Jones stand up face-to-face with this umpire, Matthew Head, and say ‘you can’t say that’. And he sort of mumbled something and then went back.

“Head wasn’t sitting in business, they were down in economy. So Jones looked at me and looked at a couple of others and asked: ‘Did you hear what he said?’

“The bloke beside me wrote it on his boarding pass … I saw him scribble something and put it away and I thought nothing of it. But then I thought ‘that was a little bit out of line, that comment’, because you normally don’t hear squeak from the umpires.

However Head said he still had a “very clear recollection” about the incident.

Channel 9 Journalist Tony Jones outside AFL House after speaking to investigators regarding his claims about umpire Matthew Head. Source: News Limited

“When I was getting on the plane, I was standing at the start of business class walking through and … where I got stalled, whoever was calling the game, we were having a general conversation. You were further up the back sort of calling out to us,” Head said to Jones on Channel 9’s video.

“I was having a conversation with whoever it was to my left about the game and Brett Allen said, ‘Don’t worry about Tony’ – and I just continued on with the conversation and walked through.”