Ray Chamberlain to Grigg

[bigfarter]

When I saw this live I shouted quite a few expletives at the telly. I'm surprised by how little it's been discussed other than the clip being shown and laughed at in an "Oh Razor" kinda way. Clearly this bugged me more than it bugged most but I just don't think an umpire should be smirking and talking down to a player like this. He's pretty much trolling the guy and, in my opinion, Grigg would've been well within his rights to tell him where to go. Seriously, if someone spoke to you in that tone of voice, with that smirk, how would you react?

I just thought it was very unprofessional and was surprised that it's not at least a talking point. Am I making a mountain out of a molehill? I will admit, I'm biased against Ray given I've been told by several AFL employees that he absolutely tries to make himself the centre of attention and thinks he's part of the show. Why he's still allowed to be part of the show if the people in charge know that is another matter, one for the general "AFL is incompetent" file...

Anyway, was this incident just a funny little thing or should we be expecting better and more professional discourse from umps?

 

[quotemokc]

This is why the umps shouldn't have microphones.

 

[Adelaide Hawk]

The Gospel according to Razor Ray.

 

[PowerForGood]

Has anyone asked WHAT Grigg said? From the vision you've posted I'd guess he was telling Ray something like "Just f**kin throw the ball up".

 

[theyellowsash]

this was absolutely over the top. grigg isnt in anyones face swearing, throwing jumper punches, anything particularly aggressive.

this smacks of razor and his 'look at me' style of umpiring, and reflects the general self importance of the umpires throughout the game. maybe if they concentrated more on umpiring than their personality clashes and attention seeking we wouldnt get so many horrendous decisions (particularly over-examining goal reviews).

 

[kaiserchief13]

Ray should've been told earlier this week by AFL the game is not about him. No doubt they did nothing though

 

[masai]

There are always two sides to a story, before we judge, what did Grigg say to provoke Razors comment ?.

 

[kaiserchief13]

There are always two sides to a story, before we judge, what did Grigg say to provoke Razors comment ?.

Irrelevant. Give away a free then if he has been abusive.

 

[ClokesShankedIt]

He should be reprimanded and banned from finals

 

[bigfarter]

There are always two sides to a story, before we judge, what did Grigg say to provoke Razors comment ?.

It would be good to know. If he was abusive to Ray, there's a reasonable argument to be made that Ray did the grown-up thing by calling him out on it without being precious and paying a fifty. I just really didn't like the tone and smirk. Generally, if someone's talking to you in that manner they're doing so to get under your skin and that is not an umpire's job.

 

[Spearman]

It would be good to know. If he was abusive to Ray, there's a reasonable argument to be made that Ray did the grown-up thing by calling him out on it without being precious and paying a fifty. I just really didn't like the tone and smirk. Generally, if someone's talking to you in that manner they're doing so to get under your skin and that is not an umpire's job.

that and I felt a little that Ray may have been challenging Grigg or putting him in his place, kind of 'you want to try me boy?'.

 

[masai]

It would be good to know. If he was abusive to Ray, there's a reasonable argument to be made that Ray did the grown-up thing by calling him out on it without being precious and paying a fifty. I just really didn't like the tone and smirk. Generally, if someone's talking to you in that manner they're doing so to get under your skin and that is not an umpire's job.

Your on a similar line as me.

The ump has to be respected, but I get peeved when a player utters a word and the ump pays a 50 metre penalty. I prefer the ump to tell everyone to pull their head in, tone the language down and then get on and bounce the ball.

I reckon Grigg gave a bit of lip, but Ray could have delivered his message in a less condescending manner. eg. He could have just said, " hey Sean, settle down, that language is not required, I'm bouncing the ball now ".

 

[Teen Wolf]

Listen closely and Shaun was definitely yelling at Ray to "ball it up!". Razor actually soothed the situation and by the end of the encounter a previously perturbed Grigg is calm and smiling (I guess some of you missed that part).

I know umpires are usually needlessly extravagant with all their pageantry as if they're guarding the Queen, but yeah I think you're being way too sensitive if this minor moment set you off.

 

[Vindicater]

Was a good way to calm grigg down.

My goodness we have some sooks on this board.

 

[SwampCreature]

I think razor is a peanut most of the time, but he is 100 per cent in the right here

 

[sedders]

More umpires should tell more footballers how to behave.

 

[bigfarter]

Was a good way to calm grigg down.

My goodness we have some sooks on this board.

Re-read my OP. I'm hardly "sooking", just raising it as a talking point. I thought I was pretty even-handed and offered it as a point for discussion. You know, on a footy discussion forum.

 

[bigfarter]

Listen closely and Shaun was definitely yelling at Ray to "ball it up!". Razor actually soothed the situation and by the end of the encounter a previously perturbed Grigg is calm and smiling (I guess some of you missed that part).

I know umpires are usually needlessly extravagant with all their pageantry as if they're guarding the Queen, but yeah I think you're being way too sensitive if this minor moment set you off.

Yeah, look, you're probably right and as I said in the OP, I'm pretty biased against Ray for his "look-at-me" theatrics so this moment, combined with his smirk just made me think it was him making the show about himself rather than doing his job. It did seem to do the trick with Grigg so he might have shown good judgment in the moment. I do wonder how that tone and smirk would go with certain other players. Seems I'm in the minority on this one so I guess I'll chalk it up to being blinded with disdain for Chamberlain.

 

[Purplrrr]

Kinda felt like he went into parent mode. It would certainly have pissed off me as a kid, even if I deserved it! But now... sometimes I go into that mode myself

 

[Nobby]

Without knowing what Grigg said it's hard to comment. I assumed he was talking to an opposition player and Razor took offence to what he said and we heard how he responded. Either way, it's Razor being Razor, at least we know what we get wiht him.

 

[sherb]

I am far from a fan of Chamberlain's style of umpiring, but I actually didn't have an issue with how he handled this at all.

 

[Jimmybob]

Non issue. I can't stand Razor, but I got the vibe that he was just taking the piss with that comment to Grigg.

 

[DrMike]

It's just a game

Nothing wrong with it

Grigg had a laugh

 

[Vindicater]

Re-read my OP. I'm hardly "sooking", just raising it as a talking point. I thought I was pretty even-handed and offered it as a point for discussion. You know, on a footy discussion forum.

The fact you raised this like it was an actual issue was enough for it to be called a sook.

 

[bigfarter]

The fact you raised this like it was an actual issue was enough for it to be called a sook.

Haha, all right, mate.