Roast Statement on Umpires

[KnaveyBlue]

We've won one free kick count all year. We're losing games by tight margins week in week out as the opposition gets gifted a dream runs by the umpires. I sit there raging and wondering why the hell we're being so hard done by every game, and how we've surely got it worse than any other team...

...Then I look at St Kilda's situation.

How have you guys not completely lost your shit?

 

[The Enemy Within]

Watched the Collingwood v Bulldogs game and noticed the Bullys being hard done by the umpires as well, there was timely missed frees in the last quarter.Add another club to the 2nd class citizen ranks,St Kilda,Carlton and now WB all these clubs are just cannon fodder for the AFL.

 

[Rors]

...Then I look at St Kilda's situation.

How have you guys not completely lost your shit?

Valium...

 

[Falchoon]

For three quarters I found myself defending the umpires on Sunday, because I thought they were generally doing a good job. Except for that Saad free, for which I did not see contact made, I thought the game was umpired in pretty much the same way as Friday night.

Then it was turned on its head. The holding the ball rule was adjudicated differently, except for Butler in our goal square.

And. Dempster. Clearly. And. Demonstrably. Did. Not. Push. Priddis. In. The. Back.

Some mistakes are explainable and understandable. Think of Governments who push a little too hard in one direction, rush things because of other considerations, are hamstrung by parliamentary arithmetic.

Then other mistakes show a clear inability to do the job. This free kick, which gifted the Eagles a goal in a match they won by four points, was egregiously incorrect, and displayed in the umpire such a demonstration of poor judgement and an inability to see what it right in front of your face as to call into question his aptitude for the position in the game which he holds.

Personally the seachange in interpretation at three quarter time, which seems to have coincided by a whinge by the West Coast ruckman (who when he got a free kick early in the last quarter, simply turned to go to the top of his run up instead of looking at the umpire to confirm the details of the why the whistle was blown), was the most frustrating thing. I would have preferred the game have been umpired like that for the whole game, because that would have established how the game would have been umpired for its entirety. Turning the game on its head at three quarter time after St Kilda had tackled and hunted the Eagles for three quarters under well-established interpretations had an effect on the result,

always love your work punter

and if you think otherwise you are either ignorant or lying to yourself.

but leave this to the 16 year olds

 

[The Punter]

Falchoon

I didn't make the last comment on that post lightly. Sometimes there is many views on the same event, and other times there are the facts and then there is staring the facts in the face and saying something different happened.

I'm not saying we lost solely because of the umpires, but they had an effect, and it was clear what that effect was. The accidental slap on Priddis by Roberton was unlucky but correctly paid. Cox got a free he didn't get for three quarters because he whinged like a petulant child. Dempster didn't push Priddis in the back.

Sometimes you have to back yourself in. It's like when KB gets an angry call about umpiring and eventually asks "that's what you saw?". Sometimes it's not what you saw, it's what happened.

There are a number of things the AFL could do to improve the quality of umpiring that are quite simple.

1. Eliminate as many interpretations of intent from the rule book as possible.
2. Write the rules in simple English, and write them so umpires make decisions on what they see, not what they assess the player to be thinking at the time of an act.
3. Reduce the number of umpires in the squad who are required to have the skill necessary to bounce the ball to 15, and then have only one who does this at every game. This will enable those really good umpires who cannot make the top level only because of the fact they cannot execute the skill of bouncing the ball to umpire AFL.

 

[Sainttony]

I have been thinking about this for some time and put a rule change out there to see whta other s think.

The new rule would be: if a tackling player has his hands on the ball in the process of tackling i.e he is holding the ball to the player he is tackling he automatically cannot be given a free for holding the ball. By holding the ball in , he forfeits any right to ge the free kick.

I though this small change might make it simpler for the umpires and also enable the play to flow a bit more as players would be forced to tackle effectively but not touch the ball.

What do others think.

 

[tbarker]

Falchoon

I didn't make the last comment on that post lightly. Sometimes there is many views on the same event, and other times there are the facts and then there is staring the facts in the face and saying something different happened.

I'm not saying we lost solely because of the umpires, but they had an effect, and it was clear what that effect was. The accidental slap on Priddis by Roberton was unlucky but correctly paid. Cox got a free he didn't get for three quarters because he whinged like a petulant child. Dempster didn't push Priddis in the back.

Sometimes you have to back yourself in. It's like when KB gets an angry call about umpiring and eventually asks "that's what you saw?". Sometimes it's not what you saw, it's what happened.

There are a number of things the AFL could do to improve the quality of umpiring that are quite simple.

1. Eliminate as many interpretations of intent from the rule book as possible.
2. Write the rules in simple English, and write them so umpires make decisions on what they see, not what they assess the player to be thinking at the time of an act.
3. Reduce the number of umpires in the squad who are required to have the skill necessary to bounce the ball to 15, and then have only one who does this at every game. This will enable those really good umpires who cannot make the top level only because of the fact they cannot execute the skill of bouncing the ball to umpire AFL.

Yes yes yes. great call punter. My umpiring mate (sorry to sound like a broken record) reckons they trialed this by throwing it up at all times and also boundary throw-ins if the ball-up was within 10 metres of the boundary line. It worked a treat. Problem was that the heirarchy see the bounce as some holy grail that defines an umpire's true skill. the blokes that can do it try to hold it over others who can't. Apply those 2 rules that I was talking about and the game would be better for it without doubt.

Another thing. previously a lot of umpires umpired because they were either too small to play footy, injured, concussion issues (see that a lot in the country) or they were fitness freaks and umpiring was a way of getting good money ($1,000 in some leagues) for a weekend's work. It was also a 15k workout whilst getting paid. What then happened is that they had to train on specific days and nights and weren't allowed to do other acitivites like triathlons etc. This lead to many quality umpires leaving the game because they were sick and tired of some part time muppet telling them not to train for their true passion.

 

[tbarker]

I have been thinking about this for some time and put a rule change out there to see whta other s think.

The new rule would be: if a tackling player has his hands on the ball in the process of tackling i.e he is holding the ball to the player he is tackling he automatically cannot be given a free for holding the ball. By holding the ball in , he forfeits any right to ge the free kick.

I though this small change might make it simpler for the umpires and also enable the play to flow a bit more as players would be forced to tackle effectively but not touch the ball.

What do others think.

Pretty sure that already exists - they are just not adjudicating it correctly. If you kill the ball by diving on it then you lose - period. If you take it to ground and can't get it out effectively then no free (your scenario where the tackler has locked it in). Too many umpires (cue the Saad decision) stuff it up.

 

[Squizz]

Watched the Collingwood v Bulldogs game and noticed the Bullys being hard done by the umpires as well, there was timely missed frees in the last quarter.Add another club to the 2nd class citizen ranks,St Kilda,Carlton and now WB all these clubs are just cannon fodder for the AFL.

I assume this was one of them:

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/a...-of-afl-round-12/story-fni5f22o-1226665024269

The Bulldogs had enough going against them in the first half at Etihad Stadium yesterday without copping a howler from the umpires. Liam Picken gathered a loose ball and was about to shoot for the Dogs’ second major from the top of the goalsquare when he received a two-handed push in the middle of his back from Nick Maxwell.

Picken sprawled face-first into the turf, the ball spilled free — and 30sec later it was down the other end, where Sam Dwyer soccered through Collingwood’s eighth goal.

 

[tbarker]

I assume this was one of them:

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/a...-of-afl-round-12/story-fni5f22o-1226665024269

The Bulldogs had enough going against them in the first half at Etihad Stadium yesterday without copping a howler from the umpires. Liam Picken gathered a loose ball and was about to shoot for the Dogs’ second major from the top of the goalsquare when he received a two-handed push in the middle of his back from Nick Maxwell.

Picken sprawled face-first into the turf, the ball spilled free — and 30sec later it was down the other end, where Sam Dwyer soccered through Collingwood’s eighth goal.

Saw this. commentators when nuts. replayed it several times. absolute howler. worse than any of the missed free kicks to us.

 

[sauce_head]

So has the AFL responded to our please explain yet?

 

[phantom13]

I have been thinking about this for some time and put a rule change out there to see whta other s think.

The new rule would be: if a tackling player has his hands on the ball in the process of tackling i.e he is holding the ball to the player he is tackling he automatically cannot be given a free for holding the ball. By holding the ball in , he forfeits any right to ge the free kick.

I though this small change might make it simpler for the umpires and also enable the play to flow a bit more as players would be forced to tackle effectively but not touch the ball.

What do others think.

My opinion, hate it. One of the skills of tackling is to pin the ball and the player (A "ball and all" tackle aim is to prevent the ball spilling out to opposition players and eliminate the player with ball to get his arms clear and dispose of it) If Cyril Rioli dances around three defenders then gets wrapped up and the tackler pins the ball to him in the process your new rule eliminates the possibility of said player getting a free kick. The holding the ball rule is, at least for me, one of the easiest to adjudicate on in the game, we just have umpires who don't get it or choose to ignore it.

 

[Plugger35]

Watched the Collingwood v Bulldogs game and noticed the Bullys being hard done by the umpires as well, there was timely missed frees in the last quarter.Add another club to the 2nd class citizen ranks,St Kilda,Carlton and now WB all these clubs are just cannon fodder for the AFL.

The Bulldogs got a good run with the umpires against us, especially the 2nd half.

Everyone gets a good run with the umpires against us though, even Carlton.

 

[sauce_head]

The holding the ball rule is in a state of absolute chaos. They need to officiate it consistently and, most of all, tell us what the hell is going on.

 

[SaintsSeptember]

From the reports of the VFL , Sandringham is copping it the same. So yeah , conspiracy theories are bullshit, what's the logical alternative?

 

[Noidenous]

As long as the idea behind 'holding the ball' is to keep play flowing and prevent stoppages, it can't be modified as it introduces insurmountable problems.

If the rule is eliminated altogether, players tuck it under their arm and take the ball to ground when tackled. Stoppage City.

The only way to prevent stoppages in such a scenario is to introduce a 'feed' system if the ball isn't won by the opposition in the process of tackling, a la rugby. Screw that for a joke.

 

[goodie23]

As much as I'd love the Geischen and his numpties to admit fault as a result of our requested review, best we can hope for is Watters et al. are able to walk away with ideas on what the umpires think we're doing wrong and solutions on how to concede less free kicks (and draw more).

 

[Squizz]

walk away with ideas on what the umpires think

And then - when they change their mind with the wind between games and between quarters - they can run a different flag up the pole for everyone's benefit. Hird gets flags, smoke signals, and a friggin light show. It just seems to be a permanent pirate flag in our direction.

 

[The Punter]

I hate the idea that once a "problem" develops in the game, the rulebook is the only way to address it.

 

[Kildonan]

I have been thinking about this for some time and put a rule change out there to see whta other s think.

The new rule would be: if a tackling player has his hands on the ball in the process of tackling i.e he is holding the ball to the player he is tackling he automatically cannot be given a free for holding the ball. By holding the ball in , he forfeits any right to ge the free kick.

I though this small change might make it simpler for the umpires and also enable the play to flow a bit more as players would be forced to tackle effectively but not touch the ball.

What do others think.

Brilliant - any new rules must be black and white with no degree of interpretation or assessment of intent.

 

[Persevering Saint]

We've won one free kick count all year. We're losing games by tight margins week in week out as the opposition gets gifted a dream runs by the umpires. I sit there raging and wondering why the hell we're being so hard done by every game, and how we've surely got it worse than any other team...

...Then I look at St Kilda's situation.

How have you guys not completely lost your shit?

Uh, dude, I think many of us have!

 

[Squizz]

Uh, dude, I think many of us have!

Maybe - but we will have our revenge!!!

 

[Latour]

How about the umpiring in today's game against the Tigers?

 

[SaintLex]

How about the umpiring in today's game against the Tigers?

I didn't think it was that bad. Frustrating as a Saints supporter but that was probably more due to our lack of discipline and scragging in defense more than anything.

 

[sauce_head]

The real problem is that we don't get the increased contact allowance that other matches seem to get. It's frustrating.

Did not think the umpiring was too bad compared to what we normally get subjected to. Only mildly shafted.