UMPIRE Shane McInerney may have made the mistake of the week when he failed to report Crows forward Taylor Walker on Saturday - but he has no penalty for it.

McInerney has been handed the AFL's premier game of the round as one of the three umpires in the Collingwood-Carlton blockbuster at the MCG tomorrow night.



McInerney paid Walker a free kick for holding the ball after he dumped Richmond defender Steven Morris on his head at AAMI Stadium in the tense final quarter last Saturday.

Walker took a shot at goal from the incident but it sailed wide.

The Crows forward was cited by the match review panel on Monday over the incident and suspended for three matches.

McInerney this week admitted he got the call wrong.

"Any incident that happens we'll have a talk about at the next break among the group and we felt after the game that there were enough cues that said something wasn't right about that tackle," McInerney told the AFL website.

"We can only pay what we see. The tackle does move quickly, one moment you're in good position and the next minute you're not.

"What we see from the cameras is that it is clearly a free kick and if we were to see that on the day we would pay it as such."

McInerney, a 19-year umpiring veteran, said the umpires decided to lodge a notice of investigation after their discussion that led to the MRP review.

Originally published as Walker ump keeps his spot