Free kicks

[Blood Fever]

One of the best footy related articles I have ever read! Get it published in a Melbourne newspaper and I would be delirious!

In the news section of The Age today. Save your delirium for after the game tonight!

[crackedactor 01]

In the news section of The Age today. Save your delirium for after the game tonight!

What a excellent article. Of course those bias commentators will say its just a coincidence. But I am glad it has been brought into the open as we play another fairytale team.I hope the Victorian based umpires are aware of this article and if we are lucky we will only lose the free kick count by 5-6 free kicks instead of 10-20 free kick differential.

[crackedactor 01]

In the news section of The Age today. Save your delirium for after the game tonight!

FYI - 3 x Victorians and one South Australian umpire. Thats the best the AFL can do?

[stevoswan]

In the news section of The Age today. Save your delirium for after the game tonight!

Low readership but good to see all the same, hope the umpires read it......and good point re: my delirium. Go Swans!

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FYI - 3 x Victorians and one South Australian umpire. Thats the best the AFL can do?

Is one of them Stevic?

[Bloods05]

What a excellent article. Of course those bias commentators will say its just a coincidence. But I am glad it has been brought into the open as we play another fairytale team.I hope the Victorian based umpires are aware of this article and if we are lucky we will only lose the free kick count by 5-6 free kicks instead of 10-20 free kick differential.

Trouble is, those 5-6 frees will all be to Charlie Curnow in the goalsquare.

[Thunder Shaker]

SEN has posted another article on free kick differentials here: The AFL Free Kick Ladder - 2019 to 2023: Who has received the most and least?

In a finding that will surprise nobody here, Western Bulldogs have the highest differential over the last five years and Sydney has the fourth-worst. The Western Bulldogs huge differential has been bloated by their receiving the fourth-most free kicks while conceding the fewest.

A more promising sign that things are improving is how the Bulldogs were essentially even on the differential this year.

[barry]

Bulldogs obviously trained techniques to get free's.

I think the real issue is home town umpiring. I'd love to see the stats of home team v away team where the away team travelled interstate.

[Maltopia]

Bulldogs obviously trained techniques to get free's.

I think the real issue is home town umpiring. I'd love to see the stats of home team v away team where the away team travelled interstate.

I analysed a season one year a couple of years back.

From memory, we did not win a single free kick count over a Victorian team (we tied a couple of times) except vs Essendon and they were still on the nose a bit as it as only a few years after their peptide saga.

Perhaps we might have had more free kicks vs a bottom dweller Vic team as well.

So from 10 Vic teams including some we played twice, so maybe 13 games, we won the free kick count only once or twice vs the doghouse teams, drew one or two, and lost the rest…

Statistically it is within reasonable margin of possibility, but it also looks very biased.

[wolftone57]

This is not free kick related but it is umpire related. I have long been a critic of the Brownlow. We all know it is a Mids Award & no other position on the ground can win. In precious years, before 2000, that wasn't the case. But last year's award left me astounded. I have long thought umpires awarding votes was flawed in that they only see the play in patches, not in full view. By patches I mean because they are at ground level & in amongst the play they only see the game from the small portion of the ground, not the overall picture.

Last year's Brownlow pointed this out with Lackie Neale polling 3 votes in a game he had only 14 disposals and very little influence in. Several other games he polled in were also head scratchers, with other players seen as having far more influence on the game. I think Neale himself was shocked he won the medal. He seemed nonplused when he got the last votes. He had a fairly ordinary season on his standards, brilliant in patches, but just that patchy. He's not the only winner who seems to have won when their best season was one they did not win. I think players like Sam Taylor, Gareth Andrews, Max Gawn (two out of the last three he must feel robbed), Tom Stewart. Charlie Curnow, Lance Franklin, Darcy Moore, Leigh Matthews (when playing forward pocket he kicked over 100 goals but did not win), Nick Riewaldt, Matty Pavlich, Matthew Scarlett, Jonno Brown, Gary Ablett Snr & Wayne Carey should all feel aggrieved. If you are not a mid you just don't have a chance. The Brownlow was supposed to be about being the best in the comp. Now it is just about being the best Mid in the comp, not the best footballer. Please add any more you think should have won a Charlie.

[Blood Fever]

Fair call. Think you mean Harris Andrews. Gareth was a battler.

[wolftone57]

Fair call. Think you mean Harris Andrews. Gareth was a battler.

Indeed Harris Andrews

[wolftone57]

free Kicks. Well, I have a take on this. With most umpires coming from Victoria there is going to always be hometown bias. That is a natural phenomenon. People are subconsciously biased. This relates to their upbringing & their football experiences as a kid. Psychological research tells us that learned behaviors & biases from childhood are hard to break and subconsciously they may stay with us for life.

but I don't think bias is the main problem. I think the way the rules have been rewritten is far too interpretive. The rules were very simply written in previous versions but in the last 10-20 years the AFL has been changing rules and writing much more complicated and open rules. for instance the term 'INCOORECT DISPOSAL'. There is not any simple explanation of what exactly that means in the new rules. In the old rules it was simple. If you did not handball, handball was explained or kick the ball, a real kick was explained, you were deemed to have incorrectly disposed. But now with the introduction of PRIOR OPPORTUNITY, this is also in doubt. How long is PRIOR OPPORTUNITY? One second? 5seconds? 5 minutes? This is not explained in the rules either. I could point out 20 other rules that have been changed that are so interpretive. The head high rule is confusing due to new ducking interpretation. The sliding rule is being umpired differently than when first introduced. A push in the back is no longer a push in the back if you are a forward but the slightest touch from a defender gets a shot at goal. Rules applied to only some players are against the spirit of the game. all these rules are interpretive. Players are allowed to throw the ball if they are top mids. Top mids can get away with anything, including ducking, bending legs etc. There are far too many interpretive rules and each umpire interprets them differently. This does not allow for consistency when you have four different interpretations.

My other point is on standard of umpiring. The more umpires you introduce the lower the standard of umpiring. This is simple sense. These guys are part timers. They are not professional umpires, unlike Soccer and most other sports. Umpires are rarely on the same page with different interpretations, standing in the wrong positions to see the play & just not identifying with the player. This is the fault of the AFL. The new no talk back rule and the umpires becoming more dictatorial is murdering the game. Characters are not allowed anymore. It is a wonder Tom Papley is not penalised for his goal celebration. A little bit of lip never hurt anyone. It also builds character in the umpire. The great umpires, before 2000, had personality and it came out when the players gave lip. Now the umpires are just seen as a bunch of dictatorial dickheads. They have no personality & if they do, like Razor Ray, they are penalised. He has never gotten a GF yet some of the worst umpires in the history of the game get GF. All because they have 'Hitler Syndrome'

[Blood Fever]

Agree with you on too much confusion. Chamberlain has umpired 2 GFs but probably should have a couple more on ability.

[wolftone57]

Agree with you on too much confusion. Chamberlain has umpired 2 GFs but probably should have a couple more on ability.

I agree. The same idiots get GF every year. Then last year they chucked in two newbies, who is the most confusing umpire of all. Why not Ray? because Ray is different & you can't have different. Rasy gets along with the players. You can't have that either. Especially if they are not Victorian players lol. Stevic gets on well with Vic players because they travel on the same plane to matches when interstate. Stay at same hotels. My nephew once said the Vic teams, he is a Hawks supporter, know the Vic umpires really well and they get the advantage of knowing the interpretations that are going to be used in interstate matches because they learn them on the plane. This is atrocious if true. But it wouldn't surprise me.

Ray Chamberlain is not Victorian, he is from the ACT. Prediction: He won't get another AFL GF. Why because he has a personality. The GF umpires have none.

Of the umpires that have umpired all GF since 2000. There have been 13 Victorian, 1 SA, 2 WA, NSW 1 ( he is actually from Albury League, so he could be Victorian), ACT 1. There seems to be a lack of interstate representation here. Mind you there are 22 Victorian umpires, 5 SA, 6 WA, 1 NSW ( he umpired Albury League so he might actually be from Wodonga), 6 Qld (mainly on the supplementary list, only 2 on the main list), ACT 2 (1 on list, 1 sup), Tas 1.

[Blood Fever]

Neutrality is not the Afl's strong suit.The ridiculous situation of the MCG grand final makes the competition a laughing stock in terms of fairness. Neutral umpires for each game makes sense. Happens in test cricket mow after many years so maybe one day in the future it could happen. At the moment, VAFL reigns.