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Barry gets raw deal, says Wallace
By Tim Morrissey
03jun04
LIKE everyone else Terry Wallace didn't see the Barry Hall-Chris Grant incident last Saturday ... but what he did see left the former Bulldogs coach screaming enough is enough.
Wallace believes it is time the AFL umpires stop blatantly treating the Swans centre half-forward differently to other players just because Hall is big enough to look after himself on the footy field.
"I don't know what happened between him and Chris Grant and I don't condone blokes belting each other," Wallace said. "But the way the umpires treat Barry Hall reminds me of the big kid in under-12s or under-14s footy where they never get a call.
"But anytime they go anywhere near another little kid they get a free kick or a foul called against them basically because they are bigger than the other kids.
"It seems there's this same attitude among the umpires that Barry is big, strong, ugly and should be able to look after himself. It's not right when it seems that when you go near the James Hirds and Robert Harveys of this world - nothing against them - they get a free kick."
Former Swans coach Rodney Eade backed up Wallace's claims of umpire bias by saying Tony Lockett used to receive the same treatment as Hall now gets.
"The umpires don't agree with this, but they are only human," Eade said.
AFL director of umpires Jeff Gieschen even admitted before the start of the season that Hall was given a raw deal in the free-kick department last season and that several umps were "counselled and coached" for their failures.
But the message to treat Hall the same as every other player in the league clearly isn't getting through.
The Swans star was not awarded a single free kick against the Bulldogs, despite deserving several according to Wallace.
"It's a perception thing. I don't think it's done on purpose or it's anything against Barry Hall personally," Wallace said.
"It's the nature of the beast but it's wrong, it's rubbish.
"It's been going on since the year dot. It's not just something which has only recently started happening.
"I go back to playing with Leigh Matthews at Hawthorn and Leigh was considered strong enough and tough enough to cop whatever the opposition players dished up.
"Leigh would dish out as much as he would take but because he was the best the umpires would just let him get bashed from pillar to post.
"In the same side we had Peter Knights who was the pretty boy of the team and was perfect the way he played and the umpires loved him."
Wallace also supported Collingwood coach Mick Malthouse's claim that the umpires were out of form this season.
"There's been more games this season where I've walked away from and had to say that that was pretty unacceptable from the umpires than I can ever recall in the past few years," he said.
By Tim Morrissey
03jun04
LIKE everyone else Terry Wallace didn't see the Barry Hall-Chris Grant incident last Saturday ... but what he did see left the former Bulldogs coach screaming enough is enough.
Wallace believes it is time the AFL umpires stop blatantly treating the Swans centre half-forward differently to other players just because Hall is big enough to look after himself on the footy field.
"I don't know what happened between him and Chris Grant and I don't condone blokes belting each other," Wallace said. "But the way the umpires treat Barry Hall reminds me of the big kid in under-12s or under-14s footy where they never get a call.
"But anytime they go anywhere near another little kid they get a free kick or a foul called against them basically because they are bigger than the other kids.
"It seems there's this same attitude among the umpires that Barry is big, strong, ugly and should be able to look after himself. It's not right when it seems that when you go near the James Hirds and Robert Harveys of this world - nothing against them - they get a free kick."
Former Swans coach Rodney Eade backed up Wallace's claims of umpire bias by saying Tony Lockett used to receive the same treatment as Hall now gets.
"The umpires don't agree with this, but they are only human," Eade said.
AFL director of umpires Jeff Gieschen even admitted before the start of the season that Hall was given a raw deal in the free-kick department last season and that several umps were "counselled and coached" for their failures.
But the message to treat Hall the same as every other player in the league clearly isn't getting through.
The Swans star was not awarded a single free kick against the Bulldogs, despite deserving several according to Wallace.
"It's a perception thing. I don't think it's done on purpose or it's anything against Barry Hall personally," Wallace said.
"It's the nature of the beast but it's wrong, it's rubbish.
"It's been going on since the year dot. It's not just something which has only recently started happening.
"I go back to playing with Leigh Matthews at Hawthorn and Leigh was considered strong enough and tough enough to cop whatever the opposition players dished up.
"Leigh would dish out as much as he would take but because he was the best the umpires would just let him get bashed from pillar to post.
"In the same side we had Peter Knights who was the pretty boy of the team and was perfect the way he played and the umpires loved him."
Wallace also supported Collingwood coach Mick Malthouse's claim that the umpires were out of form this season.
"There's been more games this season where I've walked away from and had to say that that was pretty unacceptable from the umpires than I can ever recall in the past few years," he said.
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