The game is a full time professional sport yet we have amateurs struggling to officiate it.
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Umpire farce - Getting worse by the minute!
- Thread starter iLoVeNeWmAn
- Start date
Actually, only one of these is a rule.
The Stand rule is an abomination, no argument there.
The run a mile from a kick out is simple incompetence from the umpires, the rule clearly state that you cannot run further than 15m without either disposing of the ball or bouncing it. Why they allow this is a mystery.
DS
Seem the same thing happening with the other line at the supermarket which "always" moves faster than mine, and why the passport check line at immigration (remember that?) "always" gets done quicker than the one I'm in, and the cars in the other lane are "always" moving faster than the lane I am in.
Mind you, the AFL and the umpiring department are conspiring to defraud the Tigers of their rightful glory. *smile* cheats!
This bloke on twitter is very level headed. Too level headed for my liking 
. He puts up these ump decision schedules. It's a good baseline to start arguments with. What it doesn't pickup is the 50:50 or 60:40 decisions that go one way all night. For instance he's missing 01:15 McCarthy elbowed in the head before taking the defender to the ground. Should've been a free kick 10 out.
. He puts up these ump decision schedules. It's a good baseline to start arguments with. What it doesn't pickup is the 50:50 or 60:40 decisions that go one way all night. For instance he's missing 01:15 McCarthy elbowed in the head before taking the defender to the ground. Should've been a free kick 10 out.I was arguing the cats game with that ump dude on twitter precisely this. He kept saying they were there with the strictest interpretation. I'm certain the cats are umpired to a different standard but I'd need to go through the game to find examples the other way that were not rewarded. I'm happy with my gut feel but I could be biased as I hate em!!
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There was an article or report somewhere a few years ago that discussed Field Umpires pay. Was somewhere in the vicinity of $1500-$2000 per game.
2k+ would not be far off their current rate. Not a bad seasonal gig.
Thing is, you can justify most frees with a strict interpretation. But they don't always go for the strict interpretation.
Problems are twofold: inconsistency of interpretation, rules too open to interpretation.
What sh1ts me is the rules which are not open to interpretation: holding the man is pretty straight forward, interpretation (not sure how you have to interpret this) is really inconsistent.
DS
Nah - they're very consistent. They apply strict interpretation against us and loosen it for us.
Whoever bothered to write that must be one of those really fun people to get on the *smile* with.
take off a zero and that's what they're worth currently ..
That's nothing, you should read the crap that people write about the umps on PRE. 559 pages of it ;-)
So true. All we want is a consistent rule interpretation applied to every team in every game. Examples are we get the rule of the week for the first two matches and then forgotten and the good old HTB that changes from minute to minute depending on the team
Would be filthy on Hocking if I was an umpire. The extra imposition of watching the mark in every game just to stop Richmond just isn't fair.
I've known two different AFL umpires. One a goal umpire and the other a reasonably respected field umpire. I wasn't a drinking buddy or anything, so not going to claim I was close, but trusted enough. One was extended family and the other married our neighbour.
Both left the AFL ("retired") after getting frustrated at the internal politics of the umpiring department. It was a few Umpiring coaches ago, but they mentioned things like finals umpire allocations, would always go to the "in crowd", particularly closer to the GF.
The in-crowd were the type who'd jump on board behind the rule changes without questioning the decisions. The politics seemed like run of the mill office type politics to me in hindsight. Being in the "in group" would get you better games (umpires hate umpiring cellar dwellers just like crowds avoid watching them), less travel, etc. Helped if you liked a drink with the boys, or had others vouch for you when you joined the ranks.
The AFL also loved to try push diversity through the ranks as it was good PR.
The goal umpire joked that he might get a better run if he was an indigenous lesbian or if he could claim he was a refugee (unlikely - he had German heritage).
I wonder if those types of cultural issues in the umpiring ranks have been addressed? Been a pretty tumultuous year for the fraternity and some experience seems to be dropping off or out of favour. Unhappy workers often translate to poor performance....
I'm probably building a really thin straw man here, but I reckon there's a lot not right behind the scenes.
Both left the AFL ("retired") after getting frustrated at the internal politics of the umpiring department. It was a few Umpiring coaches ago, but they mentioned things like finals umpire allocations, would always go to the "in crowd", particularly closer to the GF.
The in-crowd were the type who'd jump on board behind the rule changes without questioning the decisions. The politics seemed like run of the mill office type politics to me in hindsight. Being in the "in group" would get you better games (umpires hate umpiring cellar dwellers just like crowds avoid watching them), less travel, etc. Helped if you liked a drink with the boys, or had others vouch for you when you joined the ranks.
The AFL also loved to try push diversity through the ranks as it was good PR.
The goal umpire joked that he might get a better run if he was an indigenous lesbian or if he could claim he was a refugee (unlikely - he had German heritage).
I wonder if those types of cultural issues in the umpiring ranks have been addressed? Been a pretty tumultuous year for the fraternity and some experience seems to be dropping off or out of favour. Unhappy workers often translate to poor performance....
I'm probably building a really thin straw man here, but I reckon there's a lot not right behind the scenes.
