Of course they know. It was a PR exercise and nothing more. They put up the most experienced umpire from that game who nobody question directly to his face, to a sympathetic media outlet, and stuck to script.
I come from an umpiring background, have even umpired with Shaun Ryan
He’s a very good umpire
I think that if you were to watch the footage back at every dubious decision you’ll find it was the other two muppets paying them. Brendan hosking in particular is rubbish
Unfortunately Shaun decided to defend them on air as the most senior umpire so he’s copping the flack here. That was a mistake
Why the f*ck didn’t the director of Umpiring not face the media then??? Why was it the umpire of the day?
I know when I f*ck up at work, I like to contact the media the following day and tell them about all my mistakes I made… this is simply pathetic. It’s not for the umpires on the day to be defending themselves.
Clearly because the AFL felt Ryan would be believable and beyond reproach when he said they were correct. The PR advisers at head office rightly identified that nobody would question his integrity directly to his face, he would able to say just about anything he wanted (even though he clearly stuck to the well practised script) without being taken to task on it.
PR101. Put up your most credible/believable source, to the most sympathetic outlet, stick to script.
For all the shaming and condemnation that the media communications specialists have laid on us, theres a ton of discussion about poor umpiring decisions recently.
dont let them shame you. dont let them guilt trip you. dont let them shut you up.
Ryan had Gerard Whateley interviewing him. Not likely to pick him up on any of his responses and ask for justification. They just read through a list together.
Thank guys.
