So Colless has to explain...

[Charlie]

... why he called the umpiring 'disgraceful'.

You can get the videos at www.sportsdelivered.com, Dick.

[Bart]

Re: So Colless has to explain...

Originally posted by Charlie
... why he called the umpiring 'disgraceful'.

You can get the videos at www.sportsdelivered.com, Dick.

Robbie suggested tipping the bucket. I am prepared to pay $50 towards this fine, not for Colless who is probably filthy rich, but more as a signal from the fans that we are unhappy. I suggest making a post 'sticky' and having fans pledge some $.

We can then write to the media, club or whoever to say we are tipping $x towards Colless's fine because we are sick of substandard umpiring. This should at least generate some PR so the AFL and media can see it is not just the players, presidents and coaches who are p issed off, but most importantly the fans.

[Glenn]

Wouldn't be to hard to explain why the umps are disgraceful

[monopoly19]

I don't understand why clubs/players/chairmen etc. are held accountable for their actions, but umpires are not. Week in, week out they make some tremendously awful decisions and nothing comes of it.

[AussieAnge]

FWIW I accept that the umpires do make mistakes, it is understandable they are only human and it is a fast paced game. What irks me is the lack of accountability as monopoly 19 said. If I make a mistake in my job I would be hauled in to the manager's office and asked to "please explain" - surely it isn't too much to ask that the same is done with the umpires.
I'm not bagging the umpires as they are an integral part of the game.
It does annoy me that the only umpire I've ever heard of being dropped is the delightful (as me husband refers to her) Katrina Presley, and if my memory serves me right her mistake was nowhere near as bad as the goal umpire who signalled a behind in the Saints/Lions game earlier this year.

[Damien]

Originally posted by monopoly19
I don't understand why clubs/players/chairmen etc. are held accountable for their actions, but umpires are not. Week in, week out they make some tremendously awful decisions and nothing comes of it.

Because in their damn reviews they look for any technicality possible to prove they were right.

Very frustrating, I understand they have to be protected to a point or we have no game, but they need to be accountable as well.

[Dpw]

The problem is the umpires are human (not to some) if they are attacked continualy who would want the job? just as players make basic mistakes every week so do umpires and yes its frustrating but not just to surpporters also to the umpires. I have no answer to how to fix it. It also dosent help players play for the bloody frees, its also one of the fatest games in the world its just so bloody hard to get body position. Its also so annoying with the amount of runners and water boys/girls on the field to keep track of what is going on all the time.

[tez]

Sure they are only human, but I am sure they don't
donate their services to the AFL. I don't know how
much they are paid, but I would reckon its not peanuts,
and IMHO they are not giving value for money.

[floppinab]

Originally posted by AussieAnge
FWIW I accept that the umpires do make mistakes, it is understandable they are only human and it is a fast paced game. What irks me is the lack of accountability as monopoly 19 said.

Agreed with that but when there is clear, demonstrable issue with certain players and a clear issue with our team in general (both backed up by stats posted on this forum) then that is something that needs to be raised and questions asked as to why it is so.

Or the answer is I guess that we have the most undisciplined defence in the league and everytime a team plays us the concentrate extra hard not to give away frees against us

[liz]

I don't think it's about them making mistakes - most of us can accept that umpiring a game as fast moving as AFL is difficult. I think it's more about their constant refusal to acknowledge when mistakes are made and to show some evidence of learning from them.

The one thing that AFL supporters (and players, coaches etc) want is consistency - ideally in all games but certainly within each game. And yet the same umpire is often incapable of applying his judgement and interpretation consistently in the same part of the ground over a 5 minute period.

We also want all players to be treated equally - not according to preconceived notions. Yet despite the acknowledgement of Gieschen early in the season that he is hard done by, Hall still isn't viewed by the umpires in the same way as other forwards. How can they not be aware of Lloyd's tendancy to over-emphasise contact and that Hall almost never does this. Yet who consistently gets the benefit of the doubt and who does not?

[Damien]

Originally posted by liz

We also want all players to be treated equally - not according to preconceived notions. Yet who consistently gets the benefit of the doubt and who does not?

Yeah, I think the Voss decision proved all our points on Saturday night.

The umpire failed to look at actually what was going on and umpired based on the Voss reaction.

I nearly choked last night when Mike Sheahan said "I would have given him the free kick too, who would have thought Voss would dive"......

Umpire the damn rules, not players.

[Thunder Shaker]

In defense of the umpires, they do have a difficult job. Therefore, we make their job a bit easier.

One way to do this is to penalise the practice of staging for free kicks. If an umpire catches a player doing this, and the staging is obvious, then a free should be paid to the opposition. This will happen rarely, because it's reasonable to suppose that players can fall over for other reasons from time to time. Therefore, staging should also be reportable, including reports by video.

The rules need not be changed much to accommodate a staging penalty. Players can already give away free kicks and 50m penalties for disputing an umpire's decision. If players can be penalised for attempting to influence an umpire's decision-making through words, it's a simple extension to include players' actions to this - including staging.

[dread and might]

Originally posted by Thunder Shaker
One way to do this is to penalise the practice of staging for free kicks. , including reports by video.

yep. couldn't agree more. they should make the punishment significant as well. at least two games, i reckon. the whole ttribunal system needs to be looked at. the umpires and the tribunal seem to have no accountability to anyone!!! there is no consistency, except when there is a one week crackdown on some rule or another.

[Charlie]

There's these new-fangled doo-hickeys at the footy now that weren't always there.

They're amazing things. They look like big movie screens, and what they do is let everybody in the stadium watch an action replay of what just happened.

Everybody at the ground saw what happened with the Voss 'free'. That includes the umpire.

At that point, the umpire knew he'd made the wrong call. But Voss still took his kick?

Why?

[Thunder Shaker]

Originally posted by dread and might
the whole ttribunal system needs to be looked at.

I would love the AFL to implement something like the NRL judiciary system. It's open, so everyone knows what the penalties are. It works so well that most players just plead guilty and take the lesser penalty.

The carry-over is especially cool, because it allows minor offences to be penalised like everything else.