How does the AFL improve umpiring?

Football Discussion Dustin Fletcher Hangar
1

Ok, so first of all, I’m no conspiracy theorist and I’m not one for blaming losses on umpires, that’s not what this is about.

This is about the the fact that as pretty much the leading sport in the country, the umpiring standard in the AFL is pathetic.

I’ll admit, since the saga began I haven’t watched as many non Essendon games as I used to, so maybe my view is somewhat biased as I’m only watching the Essendon games and the poor decisions are standing out, but I’m pretty confident that my view is balanced as I have also noticed it in other games.

The fact that during a single game, a panel of 3 - 4 supposed “experts” of the game (commentators) can be unanimously baffled by 10-20 different decisions or non decisions is a very worrying sign. (Yes I know it doesn’t take much to confuse our expert commentators, e.g most are confused by simple things such as a team having more than 1 indigenous player and just calling that one name everytime one of them is near the ball, but I’m trying to make a point, so il give them the credit of knowing the rules).

I can never remember getting so frustrated from umpiring decisions as I have in the last 5 or so years, so when and why did this begin?

I hate the fact that umpires are so damn chatty with the players and are mic’d up - did that have an impact?

I realise our game is one of the most difficult games to umpire with so many players and so much fast flowing gameplay on such a large field, so do we need more umpires? Do we need less to ensure consistency?

Even though our technology is crap on our goal reviews is it time to trial video umpiring? Having a couple of umpires watching the action on tv and telling the on field umps to blow the whistle? Is it time to start giving teams challenges such as cricket / tennis?

I know fans are passionate and there will always be the ones who blame umpiring etc, but at the moment in our game it seems to be talked about in just about every game, whilst in my involvement in other sports such as basketball / tennis / soccer I’ve never really come across it as an issue in other sports.

Even from watching non Essendon games, for me the umpiring is really having a negative effect on the spectacle that I think AFL can be. And yes I’m also aware the rules committee have made it difficult with interpretations etc so maybe that’s another place to look.

Anyways, just interested in everyone’s thoughts / opinions / suggestions. A few of mine below.

I absolutely HATE seeing players appealing for free kicks, especially with the new interpretation of deliberate out of bounds, players stop chasing the ball 10 metres from the line to start asking for a free, so one thing I’d like to see is players being awarded a free kick against as soon as they start appealing for frees during the gameplay. Nothing wrong with a quiet word to the umpire after the play has moved on, but it just bugs the crap out of me seeing players focus more on trying to get a few than just playing footy.

Umpires “coaching” the players - things such as “don’t go high”, “don’t give it away you’ve got the free”, “east west”, etc etc, if the players don’t know the fkn rules by now then that’s their own problem, stop warning them about things and just shut up, if they do the wrong thing then pay a free, it’s pretty damn simple.

Umpires explaining frees - such a stupid thing, players don’t deserve an on field explanation - let the umpires do their job free of outside influences and added responsibility- if the club need clarification about decisions this can be sought after the game.

Mic’s - get rid of them, pure and simple.

2

The issue is they have too many interpretations to think about.

Remember when hands in the back was a thing?
Remember when chopping the arms was a thing?
Remember a few weeks ago when they paid deliberate rushed behinds?
Remember when they were hot on deliberate out of bounds?
Remember if you take a player out so he can’t run on and get a handball it’s meant to be 50? Not anymore.

Every few weeks it changes, every few weeks they are hot on one interpretation or another and it just leads to umpires having to overthink things.

Instead of umpiring to the “feel” they are having to think of a thousand different things before coming to a ruling. The rules should be black and white because the game is so fast they will miss things.

There is also no doubt of “favouritism”. Umpires have come out this week talking about how Hawks invited them to pre-season training where they went for dinner and played bowls etc. How that is allowed I’ll never fkn know because it raises a million questions in regards to ethics. If a journalist can’t accept gifts how can somebody who is meant to impartially umpire games?

There are HUGE issues with the umpiring at the moment. The afl needs to come out and acknowledge it and work to fix it.

3

Tl;dr

Start taking out rule interpretations and themed weeks.

4

I was list going to say, quit farking with interpretations and adjustments of the rules and just let the umps settle and find consistency but yt’s post pretty just courses the thread for move.

That non d’oob today though, that actually stunned me, I could just not believe it

5

Unless it is 100% obvious the free kick is there, don’t blow the whistle. They’re far too keen to get involved. Sam Newman said it best- put the whistle away and let them play.

6
The issue is they have too many interpretations to think about.

Remember when hands in the back was a thing?
Remember when chopping the arms was a thing?
Remember a few weeks ago when they paid deliberate rushed behinds?
Remember when they were hot on deliberate out of bounds?
Remember if you take a player out so he can’t run on and get a handball it’s meant to be 50? Not anymore.

Every few weeks it changes, every few weeks they are hot on one interpretation or another and it just leads to umpires having to overthink things.

Instead of umpiring to the “feel” they are having to think of a thousand different things before coming to a ruling. The rules should be black and white because the game is so fast they will miss things.

There is also no doubt of “favouritism”. Umpires have come out this week talking about how Hawks invited them to pre-season training where they went for dinner and played bowls etc. How that is allowed I’ll never fkn know because it raises a million questions in regards to ethics. If a journalist can’t accept gifts how can somebody who is meant to impartially umpire games?

There are HUGE issues with the umpiring at the moment. The afl needs to come out and acknowledge it and work to fix it.

Really. Unbelievable. If its true that so goes against the grain. They are suppose to be their own entity and not mix with teams. I wonder if any “gifts” are sent to any of the umpires after or before a match…or at all!!! Now that would be something wouldn’t it?

7

Allow an appeals system, 3 per game per coach/team on decisions they think were grossly incompetent/biased/umpire showboating.

If the end of round review finds the same umpire does things like consistently pays incorrect frees for a boost to his tiny self-esteem from a crowd cheer in Sydney then fire/crucify him on Swanston St.

Could trial it and move it to WA eventually but then you might run out of maggots to nail to things.

8
Allow an appeals system, 3 per game per coach/team on decisions they think were grossly incompetent/biased/umpire showboating.

If the end of round review finds the same umpire does things like consistently pays incorrect frees for a boost to his tiny self-esteem from a crowd cheer in Sydney then fire/crucify him on Swanston St.

Could trial it and move it to WA eventually but then you might run out of maggots to nail to things.

A tad harsh, but fair.

9

Don’t hire rat faced cnuts in their 20s. They’re just simply too stupid and inexperienced to umpire. Most sports have umpires in their 40s and 50s, those with wisdom and experience.

Umpires are hired for their aerobic capacity rather than their decision-making ability. Are we really suprised with the results?

10

I think a lot of the problems we see in the umpiring (including a lot of the favouritism, which I think is entirely subconscious) comes down to the fact that the rules are unclear, inconsistent, and difficult to adjudicate. When it’s hard to know whether a player has infringed, it’s nearly impossible for an umpire not to subconsciously give the better player the benefit of the doubt. The fix is to remove as much of the doubt as possible.

Specific things I’d like to see.

  • Transparency. The NBA release a detailed report of every decision made in the last two minutes of every game. It’s not undermining the umpires to admit specific mistakes, and it’s crap to say “we have a 95% correct call rate” when 90% of calls are uncontested marks and straightforward shots on goal. As a small aside I assume most umpires support a team, and I really hope they’re not allowed to umpire those games, but I’m pretty sure Bannister and Fisher have umpired Carlton/Essendon and Saints games, and they actually played with some of the guys they’re umpiring. That’s a ridiculous conflict to allow.
  • Get rid of new interpretations, just have the rules. If they want to change a rule over an offseason, they should change the actual rules as written. Write down exactly what has changed, so there’s a formal written version of the rules at the start of every season. I think actually writing down the exact rules what the rules for what consitutes a high tackle would help clarify everyone’s understanding.
  • Get rid of as many subjective rules as possible. The AFL has a pathological desire for the rules to be “fair” rather than clear and consistent. If two different umpires could make opposite calls and both be defended as correct, it’s a bad rule. Any rule that contains “deliberate”, “attempt” or anything else where the umpire has to judge player intent rather than results should be very carefully looked at.
  • I remember hearing that some of the top state league umpires can’t get a gig because they can’t do centre bounces. If that’s true, that’s ridiculous. Give one umpire all the centre bounces, or just get rid of the centre bounce.
11

Why would the Hawks have any reason at all to invite the umps to pre-season training, that wasn’t to reap some kind of benefit? Poor governance from both parties, fines and draft bans please.

12

are umpires full time these days? Most of them look like they still work pt in the photocopying bit in office works.

13

The worst officiated sport in the world by far!
As said these guys are fitness freaks who can bounce a ball in the centre, they are not chosen on decision making ability.

14
Tl;dr

Start taking out rule interpretations and themed weeks.

This

No rubbish like “if the umpires believes”. It’s a push, or its a high tackle or its prior opportunity. None of this crap “if it came out in the tackle, if he made a LEGITIMATE attempt”

15

The first step to recovery is admitting you have a problem.

The AFL go a great lengths to avoid this admission. Coaches and players are basically forbidden to criticise umpiring, and media outlets are strongly encouraged not to discuss the quality of umpiring either. Every so often there’s something so blatant and ridiculous that the AFL feels the need to look like they’re doing something (the Dempsey tackle from a couple of weeks back, for instance) but because of the wild inconsistency of interpretations over the course of time, and the necessary broadness with which the rules are written, they can usually find an excuse to claim the call was the right one. So they try to make it LOOK like they’re taking the issue of umpiring seriously, and because of the strictures on players, coaches, and media, nobody is actually able to point out the bullshit except fans on random forums, and nobody gives a ■■■■ about those losers.

16

The best umpiring is when you leave a game and realise you didn’t notice the umpires. In that vein they should stop their ridiculously exaggerated theatrical signals, this makes them the centre of attention instead of simply adjudicators. People pay money to watch footballers plying their trade, they don’t go to watch umpire making decisions.

17
Why would the Hawks have any reason at all to invite the umps to pre-season training, that wasn't to reap some kind of benefit? Poor governance from both parties, fines and draft bans please.

And any answer to that question should prompt the response : “it’s not your farkin place to do that”

18
The first step to recovery is admitting you have a problem.

The AFL go a great lengths to avoid this admission. Coaches and players are basically forbidden to criticise umpiring, and media outlets are strongly encouraged not to discuss the quality of umpiring either. Every so often there’s something so blatant and ridiculous that the AFL feels the need to look like they’re doing something (the Dempsey tackle from a couple of weeks back, for instance) but because of the wild inconsistency of interpretations over the course of time, and the necessary broadness with which the rules are written, they can usually find an excuse to claim the call was the right one. So they try to make it LOOK like they’re taking the issue of umpiring seriously, and because of the strictures on players, coaches, and media, nobody is actually able to point out the bullshit except fans on random forums, and nobody gives a ■■■■ about those losers.

Got it in one. Thanks for saving me a post and saying it better than I would have.

I honestly fkn hate this ■■■■■■ league the way it’s run like a dictatorship

I also think the flavour of the week and flowing, organic interpretations are fkn shithouse. Season to season, month to month, game to game, and then “they set the precedent with the first (wrong) call so they won’t pay it for the rest of the game now” is a HUGE problem. Remember deliberate OOB in round 1? It was CRAZY how harsh it was. Not only was that terrible one not given to Goddard today, but about 10 minutes later a Tiger kicked it up the ground 30 metres and it bounced out on centre wing. No issue for me that that shouldn’t be deliberate but there were NO other players near the ball when it went out and it would have been stone cold deliberate free in Round 1. But it’s just slackened off.

I also think the rules are semi broken. We still don’t know as a code if we actually give a fk about incorrect disposal. Look at Dea today, that was stone cold free kick against us, good call. Problem is it’s not always paid and it’s not paid everywhere on the ground. If you umpired properly and made people dispose of it properly there’d be an extra 20 free kicks per game. 10 mins prior one of the Tigers got caught and just placed the ball on the ground and paddled it away. Right at the beginning of the 4th (or was it 3rd?) we caught someone in a tackle 15m out from our goal straight after he picked it up, no prior but he just completely coughed it up, relinquished it, dropped it. No free. Problem is with another ump on another day it would have been. It is EXACTLY the same with playing on from a mark. Some players need only crane their neck sideways and they get PLAY ON. Other times the Umpires have their hearts racing IMO and give a player only 3 seconds instead of however long it’s supposed to be.

19

One of the major problems with umpiring these days is the Rules Commitee overreacting to certain rules when they see players or teams exploiting them to their advantage:

  1. L Thomas, J Selwood, Puopolo, entire Eagles team etc. drawing head high frees by ducking or dropping their knees.

So what’s the rule now?

No free for head high if a player deliberately ducks or drop their knees intentionally to draw a free?

Play on, yeah?

Unless you’re one of the above mentioned examples, then you have immunity, and in the case of Lindsay Thomas, they’ll pick on you for a few weeks because everyone in the media has pointed it out until Brad Scott complains that he’s unfairly being dealt with then it reverts back to type for him and he can draw head high frees again to his heart’s content because everybody has forgotten about it and moved on.

Confused?

Yeah? Well so am I.

This is the way it works now, every farkers confused because someone has a whinge, the AFL overeact, a certain rule becomes flavour of the month to be farked around with, rule change comes into being or " trailled" for a few weeks before quietly reverting back to its original interpretation without the AFL informing anyone and then confusing the absolute fark out of everyone umpires, fans and media alike.

Just look at how hands -in -the - back has played out on the past 5 or so years.

That rule is non- existent now.

20

Interestingly enough - this is from the AFL website.

The purpose of the Laws is to explain how a Match of Australian Football is played and seek to attain the following objectives:

a) to ensure that the game of Australian Football is played in a fair manner and a spirit of true sportsmanship; and

b) to prevent injuries to players participating in a Match so far as this objective can be reasonably achieved in circumstances where Australian Football is a body contact sport.

So I fully agree - pay less frees!!! Is it unfair or dangerous if a perfectly laid tackle slips into the shoulder? Is it unfair / dangerous to rest your hands on someone’s back?