Mollison will make his Grand Final debut at Optus Stadium on Saturday after officiating 281 games and seven finals since 2008. Stevic, a veteran of 426 games and 48 finals, will officiate his eighth consecutive Grand Final and ninth in the past 10 seasons when Melbourne faces the Western Bulldogs. Rosebury (457 games, 46 finals), officiating his ninth decider but his first since 2018, has served quarantine in every state across the course of this season, including a six-week block in New South Wales and Queensland. This is a sweet ending to these men’s legacies as an umpires and many youngsters will be sad to see them say their goodbyes to the sport that had their heart.
AFL head of umpiring Dan Richardson said in a very emotional comment that “Brett, Matt and Jacob have performed consistently across the entire season and fully deserve their selection in what is an historic (Grand Final) in Perth, I also want to take this opportunity to congratulate each boundary and goal umpire selected … and thank every umpire who officiated AFL football this season. It has been yet another challenging season for everyone in the football and the wider community and I want to acknowledge the professionalism and commitment from each umpire and their families this season.”
Mollison spent eight weeks away from home, in WA and Queensland, during the home and away season.
Boundary umpire Michael Barlow, who has spent 91 days away from home, will officiate in his first AFL decider and will be joined by Michael Marantelli (four AFL Grand Finals), Christopher Gordon (four) and Matthew Konetschka (three).
Goal umpires Steven Axon and Stephen Williams will feature in their third and second Grand Finals respectively.
Six-time Grand Final umpire Simon Meredith has been named the emergency umpire, with Ben Macdonald the emergency boundary umpire and Sam Walsh the goal umpire on standby.
