The ANZAC Day umpiring blunder no one is talking about...

[Magpie Monopoly]

As a lover of footy, I feel like there are certain things that go beyond which team I or anyone else supports, and one of those is the integrity of the game.

Yes, there are 500 threads that go into detail about the umpiring this year and the horrible inconsistency, but there was one decision (or lack of decision) during yesterdays ANZAC day clash between Collingwood and Essendon that really affected the outcome of the game that I feel isn't getting enough attention. It's these sort of situations that make me completely lose any sort of faith I have in the AFL's ability to officiate games without letting the moment get to them.

In the final minute of the game, Callum brown got a free kick for a push in the back. The free kick was there, no issues with that. However, this occurred with 1:03 left on the clock (see below):



Using this great thing we call maths, we would assume he is given 30 seconds for his shot, allow about 3-4 seconds for the ball to travel through the air, and the clock should be sitting at around 0:30 seconds when Essendon goes for its kick-in? Seems pretty simple to me. So why then did the umpires give brown a full 47-48 seconds to kick the ball? As you will see below, the bombers are kicking the ball in with 0:12 seconds left, giving them no real chance to kick a goal. See below:



Would Essendon have gone coast to coast to kick a goal? Probably not. Would the Pies have locked it in and let the clock run out? Probably. The issue here is the umpires gave Essendon no chance to win the game. Some of the fastest coast to coast action in the final minutes of a game I have seen was Brisbane in 2013 (19 seconds) and West Coast in 2018 (23 seconds).

I think it's important to document these types of umpiring blunders for when people say "You wouldn't want that sort of decision affecting the result of a game", well there you go. It has. This sort of crap has got out of hand.

 

[Inspecta Gadget]

Boooooooo!

 

[Jedi Tiger]

He has 30 seconds to start his ‘run-up’ from when he’s ‘able’ to do so, not 30 seconds to have kicked the ball. He was up with ball in hand at about 1:00, and started his run-up at about 0:28, so maybe got an extra second or two. Not exactly royal commission stuff here.

 

[dean33]

As a lover of footy, I feel like there are certain things that go beyond which team I or anyone else supports, and one of those is the integrity of the game.

Yes, there are 500 threads that go into detail about the umpiring this year and the horrible inconsistency, but there was one decision (or lack of decision) during yesterdays ANZAC day clash between Collingwood and Essendon that really affected the outcome of the game that I feel isn't getting enough attention. It's these sort of situations that make me completely lose any sort of faith I have in the AFL's ability to officiate games without letting the moment get to them.

In the final minute of the game, Callum brown got a free kick for a push in the back. The free kick was there, no issues with that. However, this occurred with 1:03 left on the clock (see below):

View attachment 662137

Using this great thing we call maths, we would assume he is given 30 seconds for his shot, allow about 3-4 seconds for the ball to travel through the air, and the clock should be sitting at around 0:30 seconds when Essendon goes for its kick-in? Seems pretty simple to me. So why then did the umpires give brown a full 47-48 seconds to kick the ball? As you will see below, the bombers are kicking the ball in with 0:12 seconds left, giving them no real chance to kick a goal. See below:

View attachment 662140

Would Essendon have gone coast to coast to kick a goal? Probably not. Would the Pies have locked it in and let the clock run out? Probably. The issue here is the umpires gave Essendon no chance to win the game. Some of the fastest coast to coast action in the final minutes of a game I have seen was Brisbane in 2013 (19 seconds) and West Coast in 2018 (23 seconds).

I think it's important to document these types of umpiring blunders for when people say "You wouldn't want that sort of decision affecting the result of a game", well there you go. It has. This sort of crap has got out of hand.

Kudos for signalling out one of the many favourable decisions made by the umpires that went the pies way yesterday.
For all the AFLs focus on rules every single year they never seem to address the issue that the men charged with officiating the game are all amateurs. How they are not full time professionals is staggering.

 

[citizen-erased]

guys around my area picked that up.
Clock expired on the board well before Callum started his run up.

Mark it down and move on. We lost. Nothing is changing that.

 

[Magpie Monopoly]

He has 30 seconds to start his ‘run-up’ from when he’s ‘able’ to do so, not 30 seconds to have kicked the ball. He was up with ball in hand at about 1:00, and started his run-up at about 0:28, so maybe got an extra second or two. Not exactly royal commission stuff here.

Even if you allow for around a 5-second run-up, that still has robber the bombers of 10 seconds, which as noted above, is the amount of time they would need to go coast to coast.

 

[drummoyne]

guys around my area picked that up.
Clock expired on the board well before Callum started his run up.

Mark it down and move on. We lost. Nothing is changing that.

No it didn't.

 

[Back2Back2Back]

Timing has been a bit of an odd one of late. There was a game of ours earlier this season that ended with the final siren being blown about 3 or 4 seconds earlier than the countdown clock was showing.

Perhaps the TV graphics are really just an estimate but you’d like to think they are somewhat accurate...

 

[tigs2010]

All neutrals were robbed of the opportunity to see Dylan Shiel butcher another Essendon possession chain. I blame S.Hocking

 

[Del80659]

It's almost as if the games are fixed!

 

[Boxhead_31]

The shot clock starts when the umpire says not when the decision is made

 

[TigerTime_89]

AFL try and script the ends of games.
They, sometimes in the last quarter, try and make the clock run a bit slower or faster than it should.
E.g. Keep the clock or stop it quicker than they should running after the goal, during a throw in, stoppage ect.

 

[Magpie Monopoly]

The shot clock starts when the umpire says not when the decision is made

Agreed, however in the last minute of a 1 score game umpires need to do a better job of ensuring a player isn't time wasting.

Being able to take over 50 seconds off the clock is excessive, particularly when the AFL has put in measures to prevent it. Clearly, the umpires weren't even considering it which is unacceptable.

 

[Ambrosia]

Just need to blow time on for shots on goal I reckon either that or give them 35 seconds total (including run up) to take their shot as Brown quite clearly trudging in to waste time which is a bad look imo.

 

[Boxhead_31]

Agreed, however in the last minute of a 1 score game umpires need to do a better job of ensuring a player isn't time wasting.

Being able to take over 50 seconds off the clock is excessive, particularly when the AFL has put in measures to prevent it. Clearly, the umpires weren't even considering it which is unacceptable.

Or they were just being consistent with how they umpired the other 119 minutes of the game.
Have you gone back and analysed every instance of an umpire calling Time on and off for the game?

 

[ZEV]

. Some of the fastest coast to coast action in the final minutes of a game I have seen was Brisbane in 2013 (19 seconds) .

Coast to coast in Brisbane in Usain Bolt territory....

https://www.youtube.com/embed/n4u10bDtu44

 

[blue harvest]

guys around my area picked that up.
Clock expired on the board well before Callum started his run up.

Mark it down and move on. We lost. Nothing is changing that.

No it didn't. I was watching, so was the player, he waited until it got down to 1 and then started his run up.

 

[Magpie Monopoly]

Or they were just being consistent with how they umpired the other 119 minutes of the game.
Have you gone back and analysed every instance of an umpire calling Time on and off for the game?

It's completely different.

No one is intentionally wasting time halfway through the second quarter, so policing of the 30 seconds is different. In the last minute of a close game, more effort needs to be made to ensure the team that is up isn't abusing the rules to waste time. Simple as that, and this happens for other rules all the time. Umpires officiate deliberate out of bounds to a defensive player in a 1 on 1 contest in their defensive 50 much different to an offensive player in the forward 50. Why? Because they have a motive to bend the rules.

If you're going to allow a player to have nearly a minute to have a set shot then get rid of the rule altogether because its a farce.

 

[Boxhead_31]

It's completely different.

No one is intentionally wasting time halfway through the second quarter, so policing of the 30 seconds is different. In the last minute of a close game, more effort needs to be made to ensure the team that is up isn't abusing the rules to waste time. Simple as that, and this happens for other rules all the time. Umpires officiate deliberate out of bounds to a defensive player in a 1 on 1 contest in their defensive 50 much different to an offensive player in the forward 50. Why? Because they have a motive to bend the rules.

If you're going to allow a player to have nearly a minute to have a set shot then get rid of the rule altogether because its a farce.

So you don't think team play tempo football?

 

[Magpie Monopoly]

So you don't think team play tempo football?

If a team starts to intentionally run down the clock, anywhere on the ground in a close game, the onus is on the umpires to ensure they officiate the time allowed correctly.

Teams slowing down play isn't the same as an umpire not officiating the rules correctly or officiating them to their intent.

 

[blue harvest]

Even if you allow for around a 5-second run-up, that still has robber the bombers of 10 seconds, which as noted above, is the amount of time they would need to go coast to coast.

He took over 10 seconds in his run up

 

[Dogs till i die]

Even if you allow for around a 5-second run-up, that still has robber the bombers of 10 seconds, which as noted above, is the amount of time they would need to go coast to coast.

Pies were in possession when the siren went, so a non-event discussion. Bombers needed more than just another 10 seconds.

 

[GuzzLG]

Why did Stringer get called to hurry up and play on against North last year when the clock was barely at 15?

Because he’s just standing there? So he has to go through this pantomime of walking back 30m and then walking in slower than a 90 year old with a walking frame and this allows a player to milk a minute off the clock?

Why not just fix up the timekeeping rules?
Game clock doesn’t tick until player kicks the ball.

 

[Hawthorn United]

Ben Brown would've kicked after the siren.

Sent from my SM-G950F using Tapatalk

 

[BG32]

He has 30 seconds to start his ‘run-up’ from when he’s ‘able’ to do so, not 30 seconds to have kicked the ball. He was up with ball in hand at about 1:00, and started his run-up at about 0:28, so maybe got an extra second or two. Not exactly royal commission stuff here.

That and OP then assumes he used all that time because the bombers took it in with 12 seconds left. They can’t have a ball ready to go if he misses