Umpire Standards

[ash]

Who cares about the 1st division!!!!

For Sydney footy to go ahead they must place more energy into the top Premier showcase division and making the Premier reserves the clear 2nd best comp.

There are too many players farting around in 1st division who I believe are capable of playing Premier 1 and 2s. This would lift the standard of footy.

Is there any prize money for winning premier division of which a portion would go to the club and directly to players?

At Premier level all players should be paid a base rate- say $100 per match. All other leagues do so. Unfortunately money talks and if players are paid nothing for their time, how do you expect them to train 3 times a week and give up a whole day every weekend. Probably shows why there are hardly any players over 25 playing in the Premier Division and either retire too early or have a kick in Division 1.

Also, if other leagues are offering better incentives, why would you stay in a comp where there is little chance to be promoted to AFL after you are 17?

A start is the taskforce put together by NSWAFL. However it is predominantly focussed on junior development.

Just my humble pie eating, VB drinking thoughts

Originally posted by Joe Dirt
Yea East Coast and Penno are the two strong ones and Norths and Uni arent too far behind. The third one i threw in there would be Wests but they are very inconsistant. So it probably is 4 teams. It would definitely be intresting to see a proper game between either penno or east coast versus UTS, Syd Uni or Manly cause im sure it would be a good game but i do think penno or east coast would win in the end.

[tara]

Originally posted by ash
Who cares about the 1st division!!!!

For Sydney footy to go ahead they must place more energy into the top Premier showcase division and making the Premier reserves the clear 2nd best comp.

There are too many players farting around in 1st division who I believe are capable of playing Premier 1 and 2s. This would lift the standard of footy.

Is there any prize money for winning premier division of which a portion would go to the club and directly to players?

At Premier level all players should be paid a base rate- say $100 per match. All other leagues do so. Unfortunately money talks and if players are paid nothing for their time, how do you expect them to train 3 times a week and give up a whole day every weekend. Probably shows why there are hardly any players over 25 playing in the Premier Division and either retire too early or have a kick in Division 1.

Also, if other leagues are offering better incentives, why would you stay in a comp where there is little chance to be promoted to AFL after you are 17?

A start is the taskforce put together by NSWAFL. However it is predominantly focussed on junior development.

Just my humble pie eating, VB drinking thoughts

Ask I understand your thoughts but unfortunately a lot of people do care about 1st Division. If you really want to see football take off in Sydney then 1st Div is as important as Premier Div. Senior footy up here is in dire straits at the moment with potentially 5 clubs in 1st div and 3rds extinct after this season.

The only way for the standard to grow in NSW is to grow the competition accross all levels(not just juniors - are you listening Brett we know you read these boards). The higher the participation rate and the more competetion for spots in teams will see the standard rise through evolution.

Your comment regards players bumming around in 1st div capable of playing is not very informed. I have played with a number of players whose ability would have seen them walk into any starting line up in premier Div 1. You dont seem to realise that a lot of these players have played juniors for the club and DONT WANT TO PLAY ELSEWHERE not because they are lazy. Also did work commitments ever enter the equasion when you branded them lazy. Football in Sydney is never going to pay the bills and $100 match payments is nothing. Im in management where I work and average 60 - 70 hours per week plus 1 1/2 hour per day travelling and have a family. Doesnt leave me a lot of time for other things.

Yes there is prize money but how that is spent would be at the discretion of the clubs as to how it is spent. You should also take into account we are a minority sport up here and every sponsorship dollar that a club earns is precious. There arnt too many clubs that have much left over after the seasons finished.

[Joe Dirt]

Originally posted by matto
Teams like ECE, Wests and St George ect. are obvioulsy trying to improve the professionalism of sydney footy which is a great thing. But to do so all facets of the game will need to be improved, including umpiring

Improving professionalism?? And what is this based on? ECE coaches wearing jackets? West paying massive money for players? Come on! All teams get rough calls all the time and there are actually some good younger umpires around which is good to see. Atleast it will get rid of some of the old crap ones!

[Coastal Boy]

Originally posted by shearer
To be fair to the umpires they still make far less mistakes than the players.

I agree but this is for a very good reason.

Players are fatigued and thus make mistakes.
Players have opposition players about to smash them when they make mistakes.
Players dont have another 2 people able to cover up when they dont see an incident.

Players not only have to make decisions on when and where to run and what to do with the ball but then have to dispose the ball correctly. Umpires only have to make right decisions, not deal with wind and sun and mark bad kicks.

No one expects umpires to be perfect but their job is a hell of a lot easier than any player. I would love a list of SFL umpires with their playing history. It would make jovial reading.

[ash]

Funny you say that when the best Premier umpire- Frank Kalazych (forgive the spelling) is the oldest

Originally posted by Joe Dirt
Improving professionalism?? And what is this based on? ECE coaches wearing jackets? West paying massive money for players? Come on! All teams get rough calls all the time and there are actually some good younger umpires around which is good to see. Atleast it will get rid of some of the old crap ones!

[Rafters]

Some interesting stats from the Hornsby Soccer association:

* they have run out of grounds to play soccer & are forced to play competitions on weekdays in the evenings;

* they have 700 new soccer referrees each year sign up ... this is for one region of Sydney! what are they doing right with recruiting??

* of that 700, only 200 remain referreeing the following - what a huge turnover ... what are they doing wrong? One thing is that the soccer community are unfairly blasting umpires beyond belief.

So what can we learn as part of the NSW AFL community?

The main thing is not being so friggin myopic & always blame the umpires ... so what if the standard is not 100% perfect 100% of the time ... lets face reality & smell the coffee ... the standard of players is not 100% perfect either so why should we be the ones throwing stones in glass houses??

I have played senior footy in Sydney since 1988 across a variety of divisions & whilst you may disagree with an umpiring decision from time to time, you learn to accept & get on with the game. I was always told that there are one set of rules on the day - the umpire's rules.

The umpires are as impartial as possible & that is the important - if they make a mistake it is genuinely not deliberate (half the time they may not have the best view of the situation) - they are genuinely trying to umpire the perfect game. I cannot think of one umpire in Sydney that is "up himself" & thinks he is bigger than the game.

Lets face it, in 100% of match outcomes the result was due to skill, execution, fitness standards of one team over another - you may say that an umpiring decision caused a goal ... but how did the ball end up in that part of the ground? or how did the opposition score all of the other goals? because of poor skill, poor discipline & poor execution.

It is time to grow up & stop the drivel about umpiring standards.

We need to encourage people to our game & umpire it ... otherwise the sad reality is that we won't have a game one day!

Its up to us to change our perceptions ... not the umpires. How about you make an effort & thank them for giving up their spare time on a weekend & helping us enjoy ours.

I am Rafters - its just my opinion.

[ash]

Yes you are Rafters and obviously looking for a gig as an umpire!

[Rafters]

Originally posted by ash
Yes you are Rafters and obviously looking for a gig as an umpire!

No ash - just someone that can see the bigger picture