It’d be a long burn, but they need to find a way to ge more ex-players into the ranks. People who have actuall played and have a feel for the game.
And take away their Mic’s and tells these stupid idiot commentators to stop focusing on them, giving them nick names, making them part of the show. They’re supposed to be in the background.
We’re like Rugby Union at the moment, whistle blows and every player looks at the ump to see what they’ve plucked out of the blue.
Chopping of the arms is a classic case of only paying it when the umpires feel like it or certain players are “infringed”. Ambrose was penalised when he brushed Reiwoldts arm today but many actual chops went unpaid against other players. If Joey got paid for all the arm chops he cops he’d have a lot more chances to kick a few more behinds.
Fix umpiring is ■■■■■■■ easy. All they need is beer. Never seen a bad decision made by a man with a beer in his hand.
Stop taking bribes from Hawthorn might help.
The first step to recovery is admitting you have a problem.Be interesting to check whether Luke Hodge goes for an almost spear tackle this week, dumping a Sydney player on his head.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.
The smack ruck frees really ■■■■■■ me off. Not because it was paid so much as because they had completely ignored Berger and hampson scragging and holding all day to that point and continued to do so thereafter. That sort off blatant inconsistency, right in front of goals no less, is what drives fans nuts.
Fwiw I think they should just do away with all but the most brazen ruck frees. No one ever knows what they are paid for or who they are going to be paid against.
The one in the last against luey was equally ridiculous. The ump bounced the ball back over luey’s head, with hampson charging at him luey not unreasonably stuck an arm out to protect himself. He didn’t run past the line of the ball, the ball bounced past his line. I think we had won the clearance too.
Oh one more. Their first goal, ump totally stuffed his throw in, fell about 10 meters short and came in at some bonkers angle. I’ve seen better throws called back before, of course play was allowed to continue with smack on the wrong side and bang goal.
Anyway, can the umps come down to our training and train our players how to drop/throw the ball legally in the tackle without prior. It has been what, 9 years since Geelong started this and we still haven’t worked it out so some pointers would be nice.
It’s too far gone now. Players have been allowed to get away with incorrect disposal and those fake flick out handpasses for so long now, that it’s actually how they perform the skill. For years we watched guys punch through the ball the proper way, but gradually it got fine-tuned and worn down to a split-second time-saving flick or hand off like rugby. They’ve exploited the AFL’s decision years back to let those ones go a bit to break up congestion. Now they can’t get it back cos everyone plays like that.
The same thing goes for so many other “interpretations” that are dictated by how the AFL wanna see the game flow as a spectacle. But bend the rules enough and interpretations that have wide parameters can get incorporated into skills training. The dreaded dropping of the knees, or the raising a wing to slide a tackle up.
If they never tried to bend rules to create how they want the game to look, we’d never have gotten to where we are now.
We need a Delorean to go back and slap some people very hard.
1. Stop appointing egomaniacs to umpire games 2. Put a stop to all commentators giving umps nicknames and personalities. 3. Consistency in all decsions across the comp in every game. No special treatment for certain teams and specific players 4. Umpire like they do in the VFL 5. Stop protecting them if they make a bad call 6.Stop fking over my club ever damn week!!!
I agree with all this, but especially point 5.
If the umps know that when they make dodgy calls the AFL accredited news media are going to accept their extraordinarily weak justifications come Monday or Tuesday, there’s absolutely no reason for it to get better, or more consistent.
I also think that we, and by I include every single fan but especially point out the commentators and pundits of the game, need to stop making any sort of thing about umpire’s as personalities or names or as being any more significant to the actual game itself than the billboards on the fence.
The AFL should stop publishing the umpire’s names.
The umpires should have their mics taken away.
Here’s a couple from the other side too. No player that is not the captain of a team should ever be allowed to stand in front of an umpire and ask any question during the course of a match. Captains may be permitted to do so only during a stop in play where the ball is being transferred i.e after a goal or a siren to end a quarter. The umpire should not ever be expected to explain his decision during a game, and should never be asked to.
Fundamentally, umpires should be there to be totally invisible. I don’t want them concerned with their last decision. I don’t want them to feel like they may get vilified by players during a game. I also don’t want the vision of umpires being surrounded to affect amateur and junior levels.
I think that these are things that would really help.
A couple of seasons back I also had an idea that a charity game between a team of umpires and a team of journos (who aren’t ex players!) that was umpired by current AFL captains would be a great idea. IT would give the the journos and the umps a taste of what the game is like in front a crowd, and the players a chance to feel what it was like to have to make the thousands of decisions each match that the umpires have to do.
But I honestly think that the current state of umpiring is just another symptom of the AFL philosophy that the measure of success is money and media attention. Therefore, the umpires need to be marketable and marketed, and also beyond reproach.
This is the root of so much of the cancer that is affecting this great game.
AFL umpires think they’re part of the show. They are not. Umpires need to be publicly accountable for bad decisions, apparently this happens behind closed doors but their assessment needs to be more transparent. If it’s a wrong decision, the football community needs to be told. Otherwise the general public will continue to think the umpires are Cowboys that can just do whatever they want, which seems to be the main issue at the moment.
So how do we fix it? Less ambiguity and gray areas in the rules to make the umpires job easier. Make their assessment more transparent.
VFL umpiring seems to be a lot more consistent, not sure why, just an observation.
Further to HM’s point, perhaps separate the umpires from the AFL. Make them an organisation of their own that could be criticised, but that could also push back against the AFL.
Instead of the league creating stupid “interpretations”, the umpires having to do their best to adjudicate them and then the league just rushing to their defence every time.
Some amount of back and forth might be helpful. I have sympathy for the umpires in the cold light of day… Just not on game day.
I agree with most posts on umpiring.
We get jibbed, enough is enough.
I thought NAB cup and warmup games were suppose to iron out most umpire mistakes. Seems to be umpires use the entire season as a warmup towards umpiring effectively during the finals (only)
Do not have any female onfield umpires. They are best suited as goal umpires. We all saw what happened to Rosie a couple of weeks ago, if she were an onfield umpire in the same situation she wod have been squashed. No joke.
Get rid of any Richmond affiliation with the umpires coaching staff. Too long we had x coaches and x players of Richmond tampering with rules and rule changes.
Umpire each game and adjudicate each game accordingly.That would be a good start as no 2 games are the same, but they should atleast have consistant rulings.
Don’t have a rule if the week wtf. This confuses the fudge.
And stop being lippy towards AFL players. You’re not there to highlight other players, tell other players off nor impede your own personality to inflate your own ego. You’re suppose to be unbiased, impartial and adjudicate a game with efficacy.
Cheers
Do not have any female onfield umpires. They are best suited as goal umpires. We all saw what happened to Rosie a couple of weeks ago, if she were an onfield umpire in the same situation she wod have been squashed. No joke.
I started writing, but …whatever. Crap post.
This year isn’t the best year for Essendon supporters to be making judgements on the state of umpiring. Due to our predicament our matches don’t have much meaning in the grand scheme of things. What it means is that we are getting the worst umpires each week from the squad that they pick from. Umpire 2 from yesterday is proof of that. The non deliberate against Deludio was just complete utter incompetence on his part and he has to get demoted but instead he’ll be umpiring next Sunday Ess v Bris as the game is meaningless to all bar Essendon and Brisbane supporters.
The AFL have made the game impossible to umpire. Improvement in the quality of umpiring won’t happen until there is a revolution/clearout from within the AFL executive.
They are so focused on manufactured outcomes in all facets. It is no longer a sport. Because sport can only generate so much revenue. A more flexible entertainment product can be more easily manipulated to produce the desired outcomes.
Could go on and on but all the rules designed to free the game up (3 &4) have in fact conjested it more IMO.
The deliberate OOB rule has been there for years, if they bring in last touch then that is ■■■■
Bad Umpiring is just another by-product of the over politicized money driven Afl system…
Too much money, too many people, too many opinions, too many changes, too many interpretations, too much confusion.
Typical Government/big business reaction to a problem is throw more people at it, in this case it’s has just muddied the waters, I believe the umpires are doing their honest best but ■■■■■■ hell they are confused and easily intimidated by crowds.
Humble Minion probably said it best, the Afl actually have to admit they have a problem before they can fix it.
Harking back to vs St.Kilda, I saw an umpire collide with a Saints player ( Reiwoldt, I think ) and both were on the ground.
Isn’t this sanctionable , I’ve seen no reports of it, or has that gone now the AFL has justified clash jumpers?
Liking all the suggestions above. I’ll keep mine simple. STOP TREATING THEM AS MINOR CELEBRITIES!
Get rid of the numbers off their back, we don’t need to know who you are. Stop introducing them before the game. Stop mic’ing them up. Stop treating female goal umpiring as some novelty and for christ sake STOP employing them as part time staff!!
My biggest gripe is learning that the AFL generally with have umpires stay in their home state to umpire. You wonder why umpire bias is rife in Adelaide and Perth…well there’s you answer. The AFL are so ■■■■■■■ cheap, they won’t treat and pay these “professionals” a full time wage and want to avoid paying flights and accommodation.
What SHOULD happen is the AFL in the week leading up to the game puts umpire names into a barrel and draws them randomly to every game. After that, if 3 victorian umpires happen to get drawn to a Perth derby, so be it! If 3 umpires from WA get drawn to ANZAC day, so be it!
Only the Grand Final should be where any umpire gets recognised, for a good year of umpiring. And rewarded by getting the GF.
Only time we should know these blokes names…
Do not have any female onfield umpires. They are best suited as goal umpires. We all saw what happened to Rosie a couple of weeks ago, if she were an onfield umpire in the same situation she wod have been squashed. No joke.I started writing, but …whatever. Crap post.
And obviously didn’t see what happened to Rosie O’dea?
X3