Most overtly biased umpiring I have seen

[Damien]

Worst umpiring I have ever seen in my life. I am disgusted still despite 400 beers last night.

Way too much made of the booing, there was a lot of anger and it spilled over to the presentation. Poor form to boo the speech, but I really don't care to be honest, it's done now. I doubt 90% of the people who booed Lloyd would do it again, it was very much heat of the moment.

I don't think anyone needs a lecture on the issue though

Most passionate reaction to anything I have ever seen from a Swans crowd in Sydney!!!.

[CureTheSane]

I feel like i need to let my anger out someway, screaming after the game just wasn't enough (yes, i booed during his speech.. i'm immature and embarrasing, blah, blah, blah).

Great post.

Nothing wrong with letting go of your emotions and doing what you would normally consider wrong.

Hell, I do it all the time, albeit under the influence

What I don't like is people who think that booing is acceptable.

Unfortunately the only term that comes to mind is one which I DESPISE.

Booing is Unaustralian.

There I've said it.
That's just between this forum and I that I used that term, OK?

[alison.z]

my view is that the umpiring should NEVER affect the outcome of a game. it is there to police the game and ensure it is played in a fair way.

too often does bad umpiring cost teams games.

all they need is constistency acroos the board.

i am happy if they consistently umpire badly as long as they do it for both teams and not only us which is mainly what they do.

tonight's game was a joke and anyone who earns more than $100,000 per year and puts in that sort of performance should be sacked.

it was outragous, ridiculous and paul roos is right - the game is becoming soft and ridiculous. the afl need to think about what they are trying to achieve with these new rules because afl is turning into a sport where you cannot have one-on-one contests!

i think the crowd last night was fantastic - every single person was outraged!

i pledge $25 to the fund paul roos is setting up to pay his fines for criticising umpires. i say - GO FOR IT!

[CureTheSane]

geez, roosey can be a sarcastic little thing sometimes, can't he?





i love roosey. he's special.

Yep, people will bag him, including myself, with perceived short comings, but he has a damn hard job, which is made harder with AFL rule changes.


However, every coach is in the same position, and maybe Roos needs to look a bit harder at how we are handling the changes.

The Hall issue is not going to be given any relief by umpires.
He HAS TO change the way he plays, as unfair as that is.
He will keep on being 'crucified by the umps' until he learns what not to do in a game.

[CureTheSane]

Worst umpiring I have ever seen in my life. I am disgusted still despite 400 beers last night.

Learn from it.

Next time, drink 500.

[Go Swannies]

I think the booing is great. That was an atrocious display of umpiring and voicing displeasure at the AFL and the umpires by being vociferous is all you can do as a fan. Lloyd's speech was an AFL event not a personal tribute to Matthew Lloyd - and it followed straight on from the umpires being booed off the ground. They apparently had extra security but didn't need it (which is good) but loud crowd disapproval should have been heard even in AFL HQ. If you are from Melbourne and think that Swans supporters are disinterested bandwaggoners then last night proved how wrong you are. There were thousands of people there last night that felt genuinely cheated.

That's not to say that the Swans deserved to win. They didn't. But no matter how badly they played, they did not deserve to be robbed by the officials.

I'm just about to leave the country for two months. I thought I'd miss the footy but after last night I don't think I will.

I think Roos has hit on an underlying theme of discontent here. As I left the ground I looked around at the others leaving and I've never seen so many people with looks of stunned dismay or impotent anger.

On Liz' point about Barry Hall. I think she's right - he has no future in the game. Like Byron Pickett (but in a very different way) he's a leftover from the old days of AFL.

Incidentally, I'd willingly pay an extra $50 or $100 in club membership to cover the fine if Roos gave a press conference tomorrow where he outlined in detail the umpiring decisions that were wrong, biased or inconsistent in last night's game.

[CureTheSane]

If you are from Melbourne and think that Swans supporters are disinterested bandwaggoners then last night proved how wrong you are.

I don't think that has been a perception since '97 or '98

[Old Royboy]

Yes, our blokes did not turn up until 10 minutes after the game had started.
Yes, they committed a string of inexpicable turnovers.
Yes, they were guilty of bombing it in long allowing Dustbin & Co to hurt us badly on the way back.

But there is NO WAY I could say Essendon deserved to win that game. Once the game was in the balance we were treated to classical ?one set of rules for Essendon and another set for Sydney? umpiring. The boundary umps decision was just the icing on the cake.

What hurts is that our blokes had enough of the ball in dangerous positions to win by 5 goals or more. But bad execution made the game close and gave the maggots the opportunity to shaft us.

Very frustrating night.

[Xie Shan]

That's not to say that the Swans deserved to win. They didn't. But no matter how badly they played, they did not deserve to be robbed by the officials.

Well said, though it would be more correct to say that the bad umpiring robbed them of a chance to win the game, which no team deserves to have happen to them, even though it's happened too many times in the past. Though like ORB said, poor execution was what let us down in the end.

[Glenn]

I don't think that has been a perception since '97 or '98

Try reading Big Footy

[EMJ]

To add to the umpiring comments I would like to add my bit. Sitting in the Brewongle stand we had a good view of the Essendon Medicos shall we say that ran to spots pretending to check on players and stood in positions to block our players. It was so bad in the last quarter I couldnt scream my anger anymore.

I would like to contribute to a fund of $5000 for someone to run on SCG to the umpires on that occasion - they need to get the message and I know no other way the Andersons and Dem......... are going to see what they have done to AFL. Particularly linked up with the WEST Coast support by them.
Accepting it if ok for golden boy to come back and play it is okay. Too bad a genuine drug free team were their opposition in the Grand Final.

So young ones take note do what you want but be the favoured player of the era and it is ok.

Back to last nights game - listen to commentator on TV and radio - and they were virtually saying we dont understand the game - the umpires/essendon are right.

Booing I did - I couldnt stand to listen to 18 - he is unreal - what would he have to say that was worth listening to.

Commentary on Ch 10 just said umpires havent done a bad job frees 18 all just before half time. (Malcolm Bligh and Michael Voss)

Frees to Essendon to their advantage up near goal. Frees to Sydney in Essendons half.

Sydney players would have to feel cheated after last night - why should they train hard - and get the game taken away by the extra players of Essendon (medicos, medicos and umpires).

Essendon should have a lot of things looked at - they dont like to adhere to AFL rules - with many things - have their own site - internet - get heaps of money from sponsors. Want to wear all kinds of bits and pieces cause they want to.

AFL Anderson and Dem - look at the power brokers of Melbourne - how many home games in Melbourne they get. Who is fair to Sydney? No you are wrong you have a great injustice to Sydney and other states - so Vic based unbelievable. Now or maybe for a long time Umpires are so biased and so wrong in their rulings - I have lost interest in justice. The game is failing to keep me interested in watching other teams play and have lost any trust in the way Anderson and Dem run the game.

Bring back Honesty and Justice. Bring fairness and equality to all. Clean up the debacle you have created with West Coast - no games for Cousins he should be banned - have the guts.

Look at the tape of our game and understand what you have done with game rules. Crap and pathetic. Look at the tape closely of the unjustice to HALL and wake up. Hall is not a dirty player but it is okay to keep Hird and Lloyd who fake and fall to the ground - playing and giving them frees against our clean players.

You need to hang your heads and see how you are ruining and losing your support of AFL in NSW. Worst thing you have done is support WC and Cousins - they have cheated on drugs and cheated the game and you okayed it. Goodbye to young supporters of the game in the future here. They will support Union or League - because their parents will show them how these codes deal with drugs.

Umpiring in these codes have technology - AFL is backward and only support teams who pay umpires.

I am very angry as you can gather. I see the game imploding and destroying itself over the way it has been run this year.

[Agent 86]

LOL. Adam Spencer is fair game.

Maybe the crowd saw Adam's eyes & mistook him for an umpie?

[Swannette]

Replay on Fox - geez its hard to watch. Saw the PITB not paid to Fossie on Churchill side - blatant from all angles, don't know where the ump was - chatting to Hird probably. Five minutes or so in is when Baz fair dinkum gets his head ripped off just outside the 50. In rugby league they call it a spear tackle. No free. The free paid to Mal where Baz kicked a goal and got 50 was not in the back. And the one earlier down the other end, the shove was with his shoulder, not his arm - which went out but missed the player altogether. So glad I didn't have to listen to giggling Malcolm last night. He's become another Walls and just states the bleeding obvious. He and Voss spent much of the time chatting between themselves. Of course, none of this would have been noticed or deemed irritating if we had won.

[robbieando]

For those in this thread who chose to defend the umpires, how about facing some reality checks.

The boundary umpire was given plenty of opportunity to appreciate that Adam McPhie has gone out of bounds.

No he didn't and because he did he would of called him out of bounds. It was a missed call because the boundary umpire was so far behind the play because of a quick transfer in play and the fact McPhee's body was blocking the umpires view of the ball when he took it out. If not like he can look at the video scoreboard after the event and go, "oops, that was out. Bring it back."

It is inexcusable to defend him at any level. He's getting paid to do very little, surely he could get it right!

Again I say this have you ever been a boundary umpire?? Do you do know what its like to get caught out by a quick transfer of play?? If you don't then stop infering that a) its an easy job and b) that the call was an easy one to make because we all are making the judgement that it was an easy call because we have had the advantage of seeing the TV vision which was right on the angle of McPhee's kick and at the same time showed the boundary umpire 30 metres behind him and not even on an angle to make ANY sort of call.

So yes the missed that call but that because of poor positioning down to the fact they got caught out by a quick transfer in play, something a person who hasn't done boundary umpiring wouldn't have a clue about.

The boundary umpire here had sufficient vision of the ball to at least see McPhie kicking the entire ball from outside the boundary line.

Because I'll think you'll find that the boundary umpire was wel behind the play, had McPhee's body blocking his vision of the ball and therefore wasn't in a position to make a clearcut call. He didn't have sufficient vision of the ball or the boundary line hence why no call was made. End of Story.

Further, why didn't a field umpire, (particularly those who appear obsessed about the hands in the back rule), overrule the boundary umpire?

Because they aren't allowed to make calls about whether the ball is out of bounds or not. Only Boundary umpires or Goal Umpires if the boundary umpire is out of position when the ball is going forward as it was in the McPhee example last night.

[hammo]

As an aside, Leo's blowing up at the goal umpire after the 3rd replay on the big screen was priceless. Not sure what he thought it would achieve though! The goal umpire just shrugged his shoulders.