The "FFS umpiring, FFS" thread

I don’t think there is a conspiracy against us for free kicks.

Yesterday, there were three or four howlers. The three non holding the ball within a minute in the third quarter, the Kelly tackle over the boundary and the almost Jon call on the full in front of the MCC members stand where I could swear they were going to call a throw in until the umpire saw the replay on the big screen.
Aside from those, I was happy with umpires allowing the play to go on, than call endless free kicks for crappy ■■■■■■ little things.

Watching some other games I continually see a handful of absolutely terrible decisions / non-decisions by umpires.

Don’t get me wrong, I bag the hell out of the umpires at least once every two games, but I know they are just innept due to the crappy rules we currently have and have continued to have since around the mid 90s.
That won’t change unfortunately.

I’m sure people will request that umpiring should be a full time job, but I don’t see how that will help them with making decisions on game day.

The funniest non umpiring thing I’ve ever seen was a night game between the Bulldogs and us in 1999. There was around a minute where umpires just didn’t pay a free kick at all and the crowd went nuts. The players stopped when there was an obvious free kick, but then realised a few seconds later that the whistle hadn’t been blown.

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Yes I agree.

Those players are the big reminder, the mirror of what was/is. It says a lot about the shadow of the AFL.

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Fewer free kicks makes for better footy - Brought up in the 70s when umpires were routinely paying 80 to 100 frees per game - It was painful watching.

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Was it worth $20,000 and what followed as a result???

Or, are the strong, controlled, silent types rewarded for their silence?

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Just watching the replay now, and just past the 3 HTB’s. Second one the guy would have been stiff but the other 2, particularly the third one were shocking.

And I thought we missed out on 2 obvious 50s, and the one we got pinged for was unfortunate because the guy had played on.

Treloar’s handballing is, ummm, odd technique?

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Hmmm, yeah Treloar seems to pass the ball rugby style

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Been saying JH started this umpire BLATANT umpire biasfor years, Sheeds calling then Aliens evry chance he got was also not helpful…LOL. ■■■■■■■ green maggots.

It not just the count either, where they are paid and when can have a huge impact.

Can someone make a third quarter umpiring highlights reel? I really want to watch it again.

The passage of play that lasted all of THAT WAS BALL YOU ■■■■■ and they’d missed 3 HTB is the only highlight required.

You mean like in Collingwood’s attacking half with a momentum swing when they are pushing to take the lead and both non-decisions and decisions are going against us on the same rule? Again, don’t know if it’s blatant but it sure looks strange in moments of the game like this.

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When you cannot explain the rules to people new to the game, there is an issue.

The issue starts right up the top of the AFL. And finishes with the personal biases of individual referees.

As always, just follow the money and there will be the answer.

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It seems in general that umpires are now be extra cautious about the Bulldogs quick handballs, whilst other teams are starting to get away with it. Clayton Oliver gave off quite a few 50/50 ones in and under packs on Monday night.

I’m surprised people aren’t cracking the sads after Heppell’s throw or Kelly’s early deliberate.

nah even Hepps laughed at that one he knew he’d get pinged as soon as he did it

The Dees were throwing all game.

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_“Back in the early days of the saga, in 2013 when Essendon was flying and this was a huge problem for the AFL. We had a game where we got just 3 frees (not counting OOB on the full) and lost badly (against Hawthorn I think). Next week we got a similar free kick count and our bubble burst.”

I didn’t remember that particularly well so i went back and looked at the statistics - it was round 18-20, 2013. We played Hawthorn, Collingwood and West Coast, and in those three games we received 8, 10, and 9 free kicks, respectively. That struck me as low so i went back and got the free kick statistics for every regular season game in 2013 and the statistics are pretty interesting.

The average frees paid to each team per game in 2013 was 18.1, with a standard deviation of 5.0. Using a normal distribution, the probability of getting 8 or fewer free kicks in any one game in 2013 (as we did in round 18) was 2.3%, 9 or fewer (as per round 20) was 3.6%, and 10 or fewer (as per round 19) was 5.4%. The probability of our round 18-20 free kick count occurring, speaking statistically, was (2.3% * 3.6% * 5.4%) = 0.004%, or about 1 in 23,000. Unsurprisingly, it was the worst 3-week free kick run any team had in the league throughout season 2013.

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Great analysis. Id also be interested to see which umpires officiated those three games. If the names Nicholls Pannell and Mcinerney don’t feature I would be surprised.

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R18: Nicholls, McInerney, Mollison.
R19: Rosebury, Donlon, Kamolins
R20: Leppard, Hosking, Meredith

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The umpiring in AFL has almost stopped me watching the game, its hard to enjoy when they make so many errors…You watch NRL, NFL, NBA…the umpires aren’t as involved with the outcome of a game like they are in the AFL.

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Ill bet its probably the worst run a team has had with free kicks this decade, not just in 2013.

But yeah, it’s all just random, right? Just a coincidence that a team copped the worst run of free kicks just at the same time that the same club was at war with the league. Just a coincidence.

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