MELBOURNE captain James McDonald says the AFL's decision to allow the umpires to wear the same colour as his team in Friday night's Field of Women clash with the Western Bulldogs was a mistake.
The Demons donned a pink and blue jumper in place of their traditional red and blue to promote breast cancer awareness, while the umpires also wore pink shirts.
But the similarity caused confusion among Melbourne players at a wet MCG, with Clint Bartram among those to mistake an umpire for a teammate.
His last-quarter handball to who he thought was a teammate proved costly as the Demons went down by four points to the Bulldogs.
McDonald told BigPond Sports Weekend on Saturday that the colour clash was "a little bit strange".
"When the AFL talks about away strips and making sure the umpires aren't in similar colours ... it probably was [a mistake]," he said.
"It was a great cause but I think even during the week the umpires were wanting to wear pink socks as well so we had to put a stop to that.
"I don't think it was thought through too well. As players we make mistakes and obviously someone's made a mistake at the AFL."
Despite the loss, McDonald said the Demons could take plenty from their performance, including a breakout performance from young gun Tom Scully.
The No.1 pick at the 2009 NAB AFL Draft amassed 39 possessions against the Bulldogs, including a whopping 18 touches in the thrilling final term.
"As the game goes on, his endurance is his real strength and he just wears his opponents down. He seriously can run all day," McDonald said of his young midfield accomplice.
"He's not just an outside player. He played all his junior football inside and we've been playing him on the wing just to protect him from that bash and crash a little bit, but he's a real instinctive player to go in and under and he's a real asset for us."
McDonald, who has endured three lean years at Melbourne as he nears the end of his career, was full of praise for coach Dean Bailey's steadfast focus on the future.
The Demons won just 12 of 66 games from 2007 to 2009 but they have already claimed three wins from seven matches in 2010, as well as narrow losses to flag hopefuls Collingwood and the Bulldogs.
"His one great strength is... he's never shown any signs of panic or wavering from what he believes in and that's really good for the playing group as well," he said.
"To be able to hold your nerve when you've finished bottom in the last two years, now he's starting to get those rewards."
