Umpire farce - Getting worse by the minute!

[tigertim]

There is actually quite a difference between the crowd reactions at a West Coast game at Subiaco and that of most of the “feral” fans here at the MCG or at Etihad.

The West Coast fans try to almost umpire the match themselves, they are always on the lookout for a mark or a free to one of theirs and their volume rises in the second or so between incident and the umpire’s decision. They are almost trying to make it easier on the umpire by making his decision for him. When a favourable decision is given, they cheer wildly and enthusiastically, rewarding the umpire for “the right decision.”

Most feral Victorian fans are more reactive. They just boo when a decision goes against them and the crowd noises are mainly of frustration and disgust, with the constant calls of “balllllllllllllllllllll,” serving only to show their ignorance of the rules setting up a Pressure cooker situation for the umpire. When they finally get a decision, it is greeted with the “inevitable” Bronx cheer, which only punishes the umpire further.

If I didn’t know better, I would say that WC crowds have subtly trained umpires to please them, whilst Tiger, Magpie, Hawks and Blues fans have trained the umpires to dislike them over a very long period of time.

And that, my friends, is the Jungian explanation for why umpires give the home crowd a poultice of frees in WA but always go too far the other way at the MCG. They just want a bit of love, like the rest of us. WC fans are masters of the unconscious.

Good explanation. Or is t simply that in WA with a WC game 90+ % of the crowd are WC fans? So when they give a WC free there's cheers and when they give an oppostion a free there's jeers. Which one are you subconsciously going to respond favourably to?

 

[TOT70]

Good explanation. Or is t simply that in WA with a WC game 90+ % of the crowd are WC fans? So when they give a WC free there's cheers and when they give an oppostion a free there's jeers. Which one are you subconsciously going to respond favourably to?

It was the same situation on Saturday, with barely a Freo fan amongst a sea “sea of yellow-and-black," yet the final free kick count was 24-17 to Freo and the difference was generally about 10 in their favour for most of the game.

It is not the number of fans that the umpires respond to, it is more subtle than that. When we received one of our meagre number of frees, I can’t remember anyone cheering wildly but in a supportive and affirming way. I just remember joining in with some very loud, very ungrateful-sounding and very negative Bronx cheering.


Umpires are only human after all. All they want is a bit of love and some positive affirmation. As we can see from the WC situation, they will go out of their way to be nice in return if you look after them.

 

[GEDS1]

Despite my lack of admiration for Carlton they got wrongly done by in the 1st qtr big time. It got to the point of being a joke and the WCE crowd were contributing to the joke and they do have an impact. Look at the Ellard or Joseph (both look the same to me) holding the ball in fornt of the WCE goal it was rubbish and duly rubbished by all commentators including the great Richo. 1 minute later Darling did exactly the same thing but a ball up occured and you could hear on the microphone the Blues players screaming "that's exactly the same !!!" fair call.

What was particularily galling was the 50 against Judd it was unbelievable and cost them a goal and then at the other end when Cox got a free for Jamison holding his arm and it was actually Cox holding him off was truly hilarious - same umpire that did the Judd 50. Even the commentators stated Cox's experience ie cheating got him the free.

I could tolerate the home umpiring advantage if it went to us but last weekend proved that to not be the case. But one thing is for sure you must get first to the ball - but be careful not to fall over on top of it

 

[Ian4]

i can't sit down and watch 4 quarters of a non-richmond game anymore so i only saw bits and pieces of the match last night... but what i did see, i thought the umps were indeed terrible. i'm loathe to say this because chris judd had has an armchair ride for years (and i don't want to defend a team that has blatantly cheated via the salary cap and tanking), but that 50m penalty must be close to the worst decision i have seen this year.... the umpire was a metre away FFS.

although if you wanna talk about cheating... west coast really are pushing the envelope by playing for these high free kicks. by doing this, this mob has no integrity whatsoever IMO.

 

[Tommo37]

U reckon we bleat about bad umpires costing us plenty. Have a look at the massive whinge from Carltank after their game in Perth. Amazing how a couple of bad decisions and a blow out of frees in the first quarter gets sooooo much press when it is some other team. If we complain its pretty much too bad and the press dont give a toss....

The only time the press has given a toss was when the eagles were due to play essendon. That was a week long campaign by the press and essendon were laughing all the way to the game knowing they weren't going to be heavily penalised. Free kick count in that game was 19-19, the only time this year that the eagles have not won the free kick count. since that game the eagles have been +9, +9, +8, +2.

The thing i want to know is, where are the week long campaign's by the press when the eagles are due to play any other team.

 

[Collo]

I hate to sound like an umpire basher but in a space of little over a week I have witnessed 2 shockingly officiated games- Rich vs Freo and WC vs Carl.... I don't think they made one team win or the other lose... thats not the point... the point is that the umpires are getting ordinary direction from the top and are so inconsistent, its not necessarily there fault. All over the place at the moment. At some stages they are over-umpiring the game by calling really technical frees and then they let a guy get his head ripped off. I have seen many games this year where the umpiring has been solid, to the umps credit.

 

[trappedathalfback]

Being trained as an umpire, the one thing i remember is the guy telling me,
'You know you've done a good job when people don't remember you were even there.'
You watch any other sport in the world, Soccer, Basketball, Cricket, split second decisions
need to be made but you never notice the umpiring as much as you do in the AFL.
I don't know if it's just the support of our game being more critical, or if the umpires really
truly want to be the centre of attention, paying little free kicks here and there, that were clearly undeserving.
I remember watching a pre-game bit on channel 7 last year where they were in the umpires rooms before the game.
They were discussing free kicks that they were going to look to pay.
That is an absolute joke. The game should be officiated as it is played. Free kicks should be paid as they come.
Completely sick of it.

 

[tommystigers]

Inconsistency is the problem. Because there are 3 umpires I think it exacerbates the problem.

Take the microphones and numbers off them, get rid of the protected species penalties and make them get out of the way of play and players, make them throw the ball up, and punt them to the bush when they make howling mistakes. Return them to being nameless, faceless drones with one set of rules and no interpretions allowed. Bring back the sanity.

 

[purepoweryouth]

It also doesn't help that in Perth they tend to use locals for umpiring, such as that moron D.Margetts. He's like the Eagles very own, personal umpire.

 

[Collo]

Trust me in basketball the officiating his harshly judged by the fans and media. Nearly as bad as the AFL

 

[Tigion]

this will not stop until the gesh is sacked and the umpires go full time and be more accountable for mistakes made i know its a diffrent game alltogether but in my days of being a ref for soccer it was seen but not heard mentality i always ref'd my games to the letter of the laws i seen myself out there to enjoy the game and i only blew the whistle when the laws were broken btw the highest level i ref'd was national youth league

 

[TOT70]

Being trained as an umpire, the one thing i remember is the guy telling me,
'You know you've done a good job when people don't remember you were even there.'
You watch any other sport in the world, Soccer, Basketball, Cricket, split second decisions
need to be made but you never notice the umpiring as much as you do in the AFL.
I don't know if it's just the support of our game being more critical, or if the umpires really
truly want to be the centre of attention, paying little free kicks here and there, that were clearly undeserving.
I remember watching a pre-game bit on channel 7 last year where they were in the umpires rooms before the game.
They were discussing free kicks that they were going to look to pay.
That is an absolute joke. The game should be officiated as it is played. Free kicks should be paid as they come.
Completely sick of it.

Well said. This is exactly right.

I’ve watched a lot of junior football over the years and still have a son who plays in the Amateurs whose games I see regularly. My opinion is that these games are umpired better than AFL games. Why?

The reason is that at the lower level they pay what they see, with no second guessing. Sometimes they make poor calls or miss obvious frees because they are not positioned properly or whatever. Nonetheless, it is “See free, pay free.” Even poor umpires go about their business with a clear mind.

The contrast with AFL is stark. At the higher level, they are worrying about avoiding too many stoppages, keeping the game flowing, how the game might look on TV, which reputations they have been instructed to enhance, the ”rule of the week,” did they see a “hand-in-a-back,” how is the crowd reacting, did a player take his eye off the ball while he changed direction, ensuring that they time their “Disco moves” for maximum drama when they make a call, is Jake King anywhere near the action?

Basically, they are thinking about pretty much anything except making the best call based on what they saw happening on the ground. That barely rates in their list of priorities.

 

[tigertim]

It was the same situation on Saturday, with barely a Freo fan amongst a sea “sea of yellow-and-black," yet the final free kick count was 24-17 to Freo and the difference was generally about 10 in their favour for most of the game.

It is not the number of fans that the umpires respond to, it is more subtle than that. When we received one of our meagre number of frees, I can’t remember anyone cheering wildly but in a supportive and affirming way. I just remember joining in with some very loud, very ungrateful-sounding and very negative Bronx cheering.


Umpires are only human after all. All they want is a bit of love and some positive affirmation. As we can see from the WC situation, they will go out of their way to be nice in return if you look after them.

that's one of the frustrating things about the freo game. You sort think "its our turn to get the favourable umpiringx being a home game against an interstate side. But it wasn't to be.

 

[Big Cat Lover]

Well said. This is exactly right.

I’ve watched a lot of junior football over the years and still have a son who plays in the Amateurs whose games I see regularly. My opinion is that these games are umpired better than AFL games. Why?

The reason is that at the lower level they pay what they see, with no second guessing. Sometimes they make poor calls or miss obvious frees because they are not positioned properly or whatever. Nonetheless, it is “See free, pay free.” Even poor umpires go about their business with a clear mind.

The contrast with AFL is stark. At the higher level, they are worrying about avoiding too many stoppages, keeping the game flowing, how the game might look on TV, which reputations they have been instructed to enhance, the ”rule of the week,” did they see a “hand-in-a-back,” how is the crowd reacting, did a player take his eye off the ball while he changed direction, ensuring that they time their “Disco moves” for maximum drama when they make a call, is Jake King anywhere near the action?

Basically, they are thinking about pretty much anything except making the best call based on what they saw happening on the ground. That barely rates in their list of priorities.

This has to be in the running for post of the year

 

[KnightersRevenge]

You know what I'd really like to see? A player tell the ump to just shut-up. That load of crap Judd had to listen to, reminding me of the Connors incident, made me wonder why players don't do it? When the umps starts over-explaining just put up the shoooosh finger to the lips and gently tell him to be quiet. It isn't against the rules and I'd love to see it.

 

[CarnTheTiges]

Being trained as an umpire, the one thing i remember is the guy telling me,
'You know you've done a good job when people don't remember you were even there.'
You watch any other sport in the world, Soccer, Basketball, Cricket, split second decisions
need to be made but you never notice the umpiring as much as you do in the AFL.
I don't know if it's just the support of our game being more critical, or if the umpires really
truly want to be the centre of attention, paying little free kicks here and there, that were clearly undeserving.
I remember watching a pre-game bit on channel 7 last year where they were in the umpires rooms before the game.
They were discussing free kicks that they were going to look to pay.
That is an absolute joke. The game should be officiated as it is played. Free kicks should be paid as they come.
Completely sick of it.

You're opening comment is spot on, a good umpire is the one you don't notice.

 

[Baloo]

In my younger days I was suspended for 5 years for letting a Ref know what I thought of his efforts.

 

[TigerForce]

Well said. This is exactly right.

I’ve watched a lot of junior football over the years and still have a son who plays in the Amateurs whose games I see regularly. My opinion is that these games are umpired better than AFL games. Why?

The reason is that at the lower level they pay what they see, with no second guessing. Sometimes they make poor calls or miss obvious frees because they are not positioned properly or whatever. Nonetheless, it is “See free, pay free.” Even poor umpires go about their business with a clear mind.

The contrast with AFL is stark. At the higher level, they are worrying about avoiding too many stoppages, keeping the game flowing, how the game might look on TV, which reputations they have been instructed to enhance, the ”rule of the week,” did they see a “hand-in-a-back,” how is the crowd reacting, did a player take his eye off the ball while he changed direction, ensuring that they time their “Disco moves” for maximum drama when they make a call, is Jake King anywhere near the action?

Basically, they are thinking about pretty much anything except making the best call based on what they saw happening on the ground. That barely rates in their list of priorities.

Being trained as an umpire, the one thing i remember is the guy telling me,
'You know you've done a good job when people don't remember you were even there.'
You watch any other sport in the world, Soccer, Basketball, Cricket, split second decisions
need to be made but you never notice the umpiring as much as you do in the AFL.
I don't know if it's just the support of our game being more critical, or if the umpires really
truly want to be the centre of attention, paying little free kicks here and there, that were clearly undeserving.
I remember watching a pre-game bit on channel 7 last year where they were in the umpires rooms before the game.
They were discussing free kicks that they were going to look to pay.
That is an absolute joke. The game should be officiated as it is played. Free kicks should be paid as they come.
Completely sick of it.

Attach to email to the AFLUA..........who will probably snigger and press DELETE.

 

[RoyceHart]

Richmond fined $5k for abusive comments from a trainer to an umpire after the Freo game.

Lucky they don't fine the club for some of the supporter comments... ;D

 

[larabee]

Richmond fined $5k for abusive comments from a trainer to an umpire after the Freo game.

Lucky they don't fine the club for some of the supporter comments... ;D

maybe each member could tip in a couple of bucks each to start a fund to pay for fines - 100K to start right there. Then Dimma or the players could let rip like Hird did a few years ago.

Could call it the "Fighting Umpires, Geishan & Other Frauds Fund", or FUGOFF