Good they should stay further away, I'd hate to see another player get suspended for accidentally walking backwards in to an Umpire.They're specifically told to be outside play. The AFL deems that the speed of the game is too much for umpires safety for them to be in the middle of the field. It's been like that for many years. I believe they teach the umpires in the VFL the same positioning, but our local umpires still learn to be 20-25 metres inside play.