Blatant cheating by umpires - “having a ‘mare tonight” (Part 1)

Yes. The best umpires in any sport are the ones that are invisible. It’s not about them.

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You do have an umpire in the goal square you flog.

Surely the goal umpires are empowered to make decision or can be.

WHY CHAMBERLAIN DIDN’T PENALISE STRATTON FOR PINCHING

BY SEN AN HOUR AGO

AFL umpire Ray Chamberlain would have awarded a free kick against Hawthorn skipper Ben Stratton for pinching, if he had seen the incident.

Stratton will face the AFL Tribunal tonight on pinching charges after leaving Essendon forward Orazio Fantasia badly bruised on his upper arm.

Chamberlain, who was officiating his 300th AFL game, was seen talking to the Hawks defender following Fantasia’s complaints regarding the off-the-ball tactics.

“You have to see a free kick to be able to pay it,” Chamberlain told SEN’s Whateley .

“Not once in the game did I see that. We did speak to both the players and players around.

“Incidents occur in games. Every game it’s the responsibility for the field umpires to have a level of awareness, and then collaborate and pick the right club. We can’t be asleep at the wheel.

“It’s a reportable offence. I think if we saw a pinch, a free kick would have been appropriate after we discussed it with the players.”

Chamberlain floated the idea of having an umpire permanently placed inside the forward 50 to monitor off-the-ball behaviour.

“We could place an umpire in the goal square, because these things don’t happen in play very often. These things happen generally 150 metres off the ball,” he added.

“We can put an umpire there and we can leave the other 34 players and the actual game to two umpires to officiate.

“Or we could have a level of understanding that people are responsible for their own actions.”

That’s because they grew up in a school environment where if they did, they’d have to earn their can of coke.

Remember that time Ray called Matt McGuire from St Kilda Moose instead of Goose? Good times.

No they’re not. Just the same s boundary umps are not.

They should be though.

Would be a simpler answer than putting yet another umpire on the field.

Goal umps can report players (and clearly at least one of them saw a reportable act) but their only non-scoring power is to assist boundary umps.

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I’d rather clearly delineated roles for each of the different officials. Central umps officiate the game. Boundary umps the boundary. Goal umps the goal line. Adding to that only creates further possibility for mistakes.

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Goal umpire reports him and it gets shut down.

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That’s what I thought.

Far bigger price than problems in the game then pinching. How about the blatant great run Geelong and Collingwood continue to get. I can’t watch either team play anymore, it’s beyond a joke.

Collingwood players simply can’t be caught, and dispose of it however they like. And at the same time can tackle however they wish, and get holding the ball frees.

Geelong get so many uncontested marks from blocking. There success this year is largely due to blocking. They are professionals at it, and know exactly where the line is to get away with it. Also they block the ops fwds run all day, and get away with it.

If any other club even remotely look like blocking they get payed a free against.

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Unfortunately the AFL aren’t allowed to use common sense under any circumstances.

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Interesting to compare Stratton’s pinching with McKenna’s biting charge.

Neither are a ‘good look’, but biting is a worse look?
Neither broke the skin
One was in play, the other(s) not
One was an isolated incident, the other repeated, as evidenced by Fantasia’s bruises.
One was a Hawthorn offender, the other Essendon.
McKenna got 3 weeks…

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They were very much on the potential health risks with that one as far as biting/saliva/blood etc

Pinchy should be getting at least a week though

Foot stomping should get 3 weeks at least then given what Hird went through with navicular injuries.

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I agree with Clarko’s comparison to the cricket sandpaper brouhaha. Twelve month ban seems right.

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Yes, and that concern is understandable. But they don’t grade on potential, only ‘impact’

When it gets to the AFL tribunal they can do what they like really can’t they

Only MRP really working to grading system which probably would have just got a fine


That is my understanding as well. All umpires can report players, not just field umpires.

Graham Carbery reported Phil Carman at Moorabbin in 1980, and although it did’t end well for Carman (or Carbery for that matter), Carbery was a boundary umpire.

Wasn’t there vision the goal umpire watching Stratton pinching Raz and laughing? That’s what needs to be investigated. Why was he laughing, and why didn’t he report Stratton?

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TBH you most likely know the system better than I do. I’d agree that 1-2 weeks seems about right. Free kick would have been good too, but to us in the goal square, who am I trying to kid?