The umpire who paid the match-defining free kick in the epic Hawthorn-Brisbane preliminary final has recalled being threatened and intimidated by Hawks defenders James Sicily and Tom Barrass.
Sicily, Hawthorn's co-captain, and Barrass were both fined for verbally abusing Hayden Meyer after Saturday's thriller at the MCG.
But the call, which broke Hawks hearts, was correct and Meyer has been selected to umpire in the grand final between the Lions and Fremantle.
Hawthorn fans were incensed, showering umpires with rubbish as they made their way off the ground.
Sicily and Barrass ran towards Meyer at the final siren as Lions players celebrated, and abused the experienced umpire.
"I felt threatened in the situation," Meyer said.
"The abuse that came my way, I felt threatened.
"I can't repeat it (what was said) on the microphone here.
"The language and the way that those two players, James and Tom, came at me, I felt threatened and intimidated in that situation."
Meyer has spoken to Barrass after the West Coast premiership player reached out to him via umpires boss Stephen McBurney.
But Meyer, who will umpire in his third grand final this weekend, is yet to receive an apology from Sicily.
"We teed up the time (on Tuesday) to have a conversation over the phone," Meyer said.
"(Barrass) 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."
Furious Hawks fans threw cans and bottles at umpires as they left the MCG, with one young Lions fan being treated in hospital after being hit in the head by a projectile.
"I've never experienced bottles being thrown at me post-game," Meyer said.
"I've experienced abuse and people reaching over the fence and all that stuff, but never bottles.
"It was pretty scary, to be honest.
"I hope it never happens again in any game, any sport."
AFL football boss Greg Swann confirmed the league would look at changing rules in the off-season to ensure there is a capacity for players to be suspended for umpire abuse.
"We didn't have that available so we didn't look at it," Swann said about possibly suspending Sicily and Barrass.
"Under the rules, as they sit at the moment, we're only able to give a fine.
"That's something we'll look into at the end of the year.
"Nobody was pleased with how that unfolded."
McBurney said all umpires who walked off the MCG on Saturday night were doing fine and not injured.
"The optics aren't great, it's not a good look and we're just debriefing on the security arrangements in the wake of what happened," he said.
