Umpire farce - Getting worse by the minute!

[Baloo]

Dimma takes a public swipe at the umpiring highlighting our ridiculous lack of frees.

Next match the umpiring improves and we win a free kick count. An absolute rarity.

If anything, that proves what we've been saying all along.

 

[Scoop]

Barely noticed them today.

Sometimes you have to speak up.

TBR is right, no Lynch and Pickett make a difference. Do we have access to individual freak kick difs?

 

[Redford]

Couple of throws (by us) couple of HTB’s that should have been paid, but otherwise the best umpiring display I’ve seen in weeks in any game.

 

[pete and tys]

We definitely stopped giving away stupid high frees this game.
I am sure it has been an intimidatory tactic that the umpires have focused on.
We learnt from the Lions game.
A different game style with much less contested play has reduced tackling frees and lack of wrong disposal frees..
So there you go....explains the change in frees.
Long overdue....a new game style from now with less chaos and more forward targets.

 

[MD Jazz]

Geez you have a healthy ego

No reason for it too!

 

[tigersnake]

didn't notice them, so big tick. HTB a raffle as usual, but we weren't shafted. Only farce I noticed was Tex jumping around on the mark when Grimes got a free. Ump right there, was thinking sometime today he has to say 'stand' surely. Nuh. It was fully retro.

 

[Dont Argue]

How about when Tex grabs Vlastuin around the neck in a marking competition and pulls him down.
Right in front of the umpire.
Play on!!
Let’s not set a place at the dinner table for the maggots just yet.

 

[LeeToRainesToRoach]

I won't do the full analysis this week (because I have a feeling it might show a fair bit missed to Adelaide and spoil the vibe ) but today was a huge step in understanding the reason for the free kick counts and addressing some of those issues.

If the umpiring is similar over the next fortnight, I'll be forced to consider whether you're onto something instead of on something.

 

[LeeToRainesToRoach]

I understand. I'll feel the same way if climate change turns out to be fake, Trump gets reelected and saves the world, the Covid vaccine kills us all, Dan Andrews is dead and I'm murdered in a back street by an African.

Just pointing out that one match does not refute five years of data (unless there’s been a watershed moment in the umpiring department).

 

[Brian H]

Good stats TBR - thanks.
I don't understand how Lynch and Jack R are -15 combined as ball players, when they constantly get mauled.
I would love them to get one that O'Brien got in the first quarter in the goal square. Aggghhhh.

 

[Ridley]

Good stats TBR - thanks.
I don't understand how Lynch and Jack R are -15 combined as ball players, when they constantly get mauled.
I would love them to get one that O'Brien got in the first quarter in the goal square. Aggghhhh.

Yes TBR likes to point out how many frees Jack and Tom give away but doesn't mention how many they miss out on, particularly in comparison to other key forwards. They get held and scragged in so many marking contests but rarely get paid free kicks for it.

 

[Brodders17]

This was before Brisbane:


After Brisbane Pickett 7-21 and Lynch 4-14 were responsible for- 24 out of our -68 differential. That's over 35% of it from two guys. Huge difference. Their replacements today (Caddy and CCJ) were 2-1.

Combine that with more support and a slight change of roles for Nankervis and Riewoldt who are other high differential players, and there was clearly a change in approach from guys like Baker and Aarts in the way they approached the tackle. I'm sure people noticed Baker had a player come at him in almost an identical manner as last week in the centre of the ground, must have been the third quarter I think. He went low, took him around the waist and the ball spilled out and we chained for a goal.



I understand. I'll feel the same way if climate change turns out to be fake, Trump gets reelected and saves the world, the Covid vaccine kills us all, Dan Andrews is dead and I'm murdered in a back street by an African.

you are right, cos Pickett and Lynch werent playing RCD wasnt pinged for holding the man when his opponent clearly grabbed him first, likewise Hugo. An obvious free wasnt missed to Dusty when the opposition ruck held hi long after he had handballed the ball, and frees werent missed to Jack when he was clarly held going for marks. and Pickett didnt get the chance to coat hanger anyone straight after an obvious free was missed to him for a softer version of the same thing.
thats pretty much the difference right there.

 

[DavidSSS]

The argument that Pickett and Lynch are the reason for the free kick ratio we suffer most weeks has some legs, but it certainly does not explain how we have been reamed since before they were playing for us.

Let us get some perspective on the free kicks we receive and give away.

There is still a yawning gap between the frees for and frees against in 2021 for Richmond, an it follows the trend for a few years, here's how it looks since 2010:



The decent outcome this week only raised our free kick ratio from 69% to 74%. Long way to go.

But let us look at the stats for a moment.

In the game on Sunday the free kick count was 19 to Richmond and 12 to Adelaide.

There are 2 ways of looking at this, the difference and the ratio.
We received a +7 free kick count
We received 158% of the free kicks Adelaide received.

So, when was the last time this sort of difference and ratio happened?
The last time we received a +7 or higher free kick count was R22 2017
The last time we received a 158% or higher free kick ratio was R12 2016

But there is another comparison we can make here, and the results will surprise no-one. When was the last time we were on the receiving end of a similar free kick imbalance?
The last time we received a -7 or lower free kick count was R10 2021.
The last time our opposition received a free kick ratio of 158% or higher was, you guessed it, R10 2021.

The way the game is umpired, with a goal of having less free kicks per game, is a recipe for inconsistency, and for one reason or another we have been on the receiving end of that inconsistency for a few years. One game does not fix this but I suppose it is a start.

We still have the lowest number of free kicks awarded to us of any team in 2021, and that is up to the actions of our opponents, and the umpiring. In 2020 we had the lowest number of free kicks awarded to us in the H&A games as well.

DS

 

[123cups]

So now that we have all agreed the farce is a furphy, it might be useful to have a look at what changed today.

Firstly, as @The Big Richo has pointed out previously, a few players are responsible for a high percentage of our frees against tally.

With Pickett and Lynch out and Riewoldt playing a different role that didn't require him to engage with bigger opponents close to goal as much, and Nankervis with more support in the ruck, that dynamic changed significantly.

The other member of that infamous quintet, Aarts summed up the other big difference today, which was a clear effort to improve our technical approach to the physical contest. Without having done the full analysis, the number of high contacts in tackled we conceded was well down, as were any free kicks out of play. There's no doubt we reflected on the Brisbane game and tidied up our approach in this regard.

Countering that was the fact that Adelaide was very sloppy in their tackling approach, especially early in the game and gave us a lot of cheap free kicks. The show was on the other foot for a change.

I won't do the full analysis this week (because I have a feeling it might show a fair bit missed to Adelaide and spoil the vibe ) but today was a huge step in understanding the reason for the free kick counts and addressing some of those issues.

Adelaide averages 20.4 frees against per game (3rd overall), and we received 19 free kicks.

Our positive outlier isn’t even the average for teams playing against Adelaide.

We were screwed!

 

[123cups]

We still have the lowest number of free kicks awarded to us of any team in 2021, and that is up to the actions of our opponents, and the umpiring.

Also the actions of all other teams setting the Frees For average, since us being the lowest is relative to the norm set by everyone else. If a team manipulates just 1 free kick in their favour per quarter, then on average, that's enough for them to jump from 3rd last to 3rd in the Frees For column. Cracking down on the weasels would bring the AFL average down, in theory.

However, I just noticed that total free kicks are surprisingly consistent across the competition. It's almost like all games get ~40 free kicks to be allocated between the two teams.

In 2018, judging by eye, basically every game's total free kick count was within 5% of each other.
In 2019, same.
In 2020, same.
In 2021, playing half the teams, there's about a 20% variation between games so far. This might even up by the end of the year.

I'm not sure if it's significant, but it struck me as unlikely to occur by chance.

Seems like umpires have a certain flow they expect a game to have and they'll adjudicate with the same rate of free kicks paid no matter who is playing.

 

[MD Jazz]

Combine that with more support and a slight change of roles for Nankervis and Riewoldt who are other high differential players, and there was clearly a change in approach from guys like Baker and Aarts in the way they approached the tackle. I'm sure people noticed Baker had a player come at him in almost an identical manner as last week in the centre of the ground, must have been the third quarter I think. He went low, took him around the waist and the ball spilled out and we chained for a goal.

I understand. I'll feel the same way if climate change turns out to be fake, Trump gets reelected and saves the world, the Covid vaccine kills us all, Dan Andrews is dead and I'm murdered in a back street by an African.

I thought it was our gameplan that resulted in the frees discrep? So now it's just a few players? And it used to be Aarts but he played less like Aarts usually does and Baker listened to your advice?

 

[tommystigers]

*Round 11 Updated* Umpire Watch 2021 - End the Free Kick Farce

Carlton 25 Richmond 15 Foot Fleer Mollison
Hawthorn 22 Richmond 25 Fisher Brown Gavine
Sydney 25 Richmond 15 Power Dalgleish Johanson
Port 22 Richmond 12 Rosebury Deboy Hosking
St Kilda 23 Richmond 13 Stevic Gavine Fleer
Melbourne 24 Richmond 17 Stephens Dalgleish Williamson
Bulldogs 17 Richmond 21 Fisher Fleer Glouftsis
Geelong 21 Richmond 11 Haussen Stephens Williamson
GWS 19 Richmond 12 Foot Hosking Deboy
Brisbane 28 Richmond 16 Donlon Nicholls Howorth
Adelaide 12 Richmond 19 Haussen Hosking Toner

Umpire Tallies - Including RFC Games Total
2 Dalgeish -17
2 Stephens -17
2 Williamson -17
2 Foot -17
2 Deboy -17
3 Fleer -16
1 Donlon -12
1 Nicholls -12
1 Howorth -12
3 Hosking -10
1 Mollison -10
1 Power -10
1 Johanson -10
1 Rosebury -10
1 Stevic -10
2 Gavine -7
2 Haussen -3
1 Brown +3
1 Glouftsis +4
1 Toner +7
2 Fisher +7

Toner is injected into the field and the results are black and white. He might get ejected from the AFLUA for pro-Richmond bias. Clearly not up to the standard. Expect him to be realigned and display a carbon copy performance of the six elite umpires at the top of the tree in his next performance.

 

[LeeToRainesToRoach]

didn't notice them, so big tick.

Can't remember seeing #5 or #25, only #16. What a luxury to not have to worry about what they're going to do. Even the commentary seemed more upbeat and less critical and the whole thing was more enjoyable as a result.

The last time out opposition received a free kick ratio of 158% or higher was, you guessed it, R10 2021.

R11 2020 ? Or are you referring to all our opposition, and not just Adelaide? The Crows had gone a full year without a -7 count.

19 frees for is bang on the competition average. The improvement (for us) was that they were not as razor-sharp on our infringements - we average 21 against from 2017 on.

 

[LeeToRainesToRoach]

Free kick differential by player 2017-current (excludes games where the player was an unused sub)

Player	Games	For	Against	Difference​
Martyn, Will	1	12.0	21.0	-9.0​
Weller, Maverick	2	15.5	24.5	-9.0​
Griffiths, Ben	2	16.5	25.0	-8.5​
Hunt, Taylor	2	13.5	21.5	-8.0​
Dow, Thomson	2	13.5	20.0	-6.5​
Mansell, Rhyan	6	14.3	20.8	-6.5​
Morris, Steven	1	14.0	20.0	-6.0​
Naish, Patrick	7	14.9	20.6	-5.7​
Conca, Reece	24	18.0	23.6	-5.5​
Ellis, Corey	10	18.0	23.4	-5.4​
Aarts, Jake	25	14.8	19.8	-5.0​
Lennon, Ben	2	21.0	25.5	-4.5​
Stengle, Tyson	2	13.5	18.0	-4.5​
Miles, Anthony	6	16.8	21.2	-4.3​
Pickett, Marlion	30	15.3	19.6	-4.3​
Lloyd, Sam	15	17.1	21.3	-4.2​
Ralphsmith, Hugo	3	15.7	19.7	-4.0​
Moore, Callum	6	16.7	20.5	-3.8​
Balta, Noah	41	15.9	19.5	-3.7​
Rance, Alex	50	18.2	21.9	-3.6​
McIntosh, Kamdyn	89	17.0	20.7	-3.6​
Collier-Dawkins, Riley	5	15.8	19.4	-3.6​
Vlastuin, Nick	86	17.2	20.8	-3.6​
Nankervis, Toby	81	17.4	21.0	-3.6​
Grigg, Shaun	47	18.0	21.6	-3.6​
Ross, Jack	20	16.4	20.0	-3.6​
Elton, Todd	6	18.5	22.0	-3.5​
Short, Jayden	87	17.3	20.7	-3.5​
Higgins, Jack	43	17.2	20.6	-3.5​
Martin, Dustin	101	17.1	20.6	-3.4​
Eggmolesse-Smith, Derek	9	16.8	20.2	-3.4​
Butler, Dan	45	18.5	22.0	-3.4​
Riewoldt, Jack	92	17.3	20.7	-3.4​
Baker, Liam	53	16.2	19.6	-3.4​
Graham, Jack	66	17.3	20.7	-3.3​
Caddy, Josh	74	17.9	21.1	-3.3​
Grimes, Dylan	102	17.4	20.7	-3.2​
Castagna, Jason	103	17.3	20.6	-3.2​
Garthwaite, Ryan	9	17.7	20.8	-3.1​
Townsend, Jacob	16	18.9	22.0	-3.1​
Rioli, Daniel	86	17.3	20.4	-3.1​
Astbury, David	88	17.9	20.9	-3.0​
Cotchin, Trent	85	17.6	20.6	-3.0​
Broad, Nathan	79	17.6	20.6	-2.9​
Houli, Bachar	79	17.3	20.2	-2.9​
Edwards, Shane	86	17.8	20.7	-2.9​
Lambert, Kane	93	17.7	20.6	-2.9​
Lynch, Tom	54	16.9	19.7	-2.8​
Soldo, Ivan	36	17.3	20.1	-2.7​
Markov, Oleg	15	15.8	18.5	-2.7​
Ellis, Brandon	66	18.3	20.8	-2.5​
Menadue, Connor	20	17.3	19.7	-2.4​
Bolton, Shai	56	17.3	19.5	-2.2​
Prestia, Dion	73	18.2	20.2	-2.0​
Chol, Mabior	21	16.5	18.4	-1.9​
Stack, Sydney	26	17.3	18.7	-1.4​
Batchelor, Jake	1	16.0	17.0	-1.0​
Coleman-Jones, Callum	2	20.0	17.0	+3.0​

Read into it what you will.

 

[DavidSSS]

Can't remember seeing #5 or #25, only #16. What a luxury to not have to worry about what they're going to do. Even the commentary seemed more upbeat and less critical and the whole thing was more enjoyable as a result.

R11 2020 ? Or are you referring to all our opposition, and not just Adelaide? The Crows had gone a full year without a -7 count.

19 frees for is bang on the competition average. The improvement (for us) was that they were not as razor-sharp on our infringements - we average 21 against from 2017 on.

I was only looking at Richmond games, so the measure was when was the last time we got a 158% or higher free kick ratio. Aha, I see what you are saying, Adelaide v Collingwood R11 2020, free kick ratio of 166% in favour of Collingwood. Yeah, didn't look at all games, just Richmond games. The ratio is useful when 2020 intervenes with the short quarters.

DS