Matthew Nicholls is the worst umpire in the AFL.

[LeverPuller]

Seriously. He flat out gets the game wrong. Pays the very shifty ones, doesn't pay the obvious. Will pull out a technical free kick but when someone is dead to rights for marking infringement, throwing or HTB he'll put the whistle away. Just unreal how he still manages to actually get a gig.

 

[Donakebab]

Leigh Fisher is right up there.

 

[The Wrecker]

It's the obscure look-at-me type decisions that frustrate. Good umpires pay the first they see and by doing so avoid plucking them from their proverbial.

 

[Neese]

Nicholls and Ray are the two worst

 

[Testekill]

Nah, Chamberlain is the very worst. Obsessed with making himself look important when by definition an Umpire shouldn't be noticed if they're doing a good job

 

[DrEvil_]

Razor is the worst. If he could he would stick his face between you and your mrs doing the business just to get some attention.

 

[BG32]

Agreed but overall it's just a blight on this great game that umpiring overall is bad. We need consistency and paying good tackles that would go a long way in getting some sort of standard back

 

[blue harvest]

Nicholls and Ray are the two worst

Disagree. They are just the 2 that physically look a lot different, so everyone remembers any contentious decisions they make.

 

[blue harvest]

Nah, Chamberlain is the very worst. Obsessed with making himself look important when by definition an Umpire shouldn't be noticed if they're doing a good job

The main reason he is noticed is because he looks different and so the commentators and tv producers focus on him a lot, even giving him a nick name. At a game I don't really notice his umpiring being any different to the other umps, I mainly notice him because he is short.

 

[Arctic fox]

Nah, Chamberlain is the very worst. Obsessed with making himself look important when by definition an Umpire shouldn't be noticed if they're doing a good job

Yep, small man syndrome.

 

[HawkMongrel]

Chamberlain disagrees strongly.

 

[HawkMongrel]

The main reason he is noticed is because he looks different and so the commentators and tv producers focus on him a lot, even giving him a nick name. At a game I don't really notice his umpiring being any different to the other umps, I mainly notice him because he is short.

You must be blind.

 

[quotemokc]

Bring back Eleni

 

[HairyO]

Bring back Eleni

Certainly no worse than some of the flogs getting a gig week after week.

 

[Scroater]

Seriously. He flat out gets the game wrong. Pays the very shifty ones, doesn't pay the obvious. Will pull out a technical free kick but when someone is dead to rights for marking infringement, throwing or HTB he'll put the whistle away. Just unreal how he still manages to actually get a gig.

You've described 90% of the umpires going around at the moment.

Most are too busy finding the technically correct decision that doesn't affect the game, and then completely miss the blatant decision that turns the game on its head.

The problem with Razor is that he has started to justify his decision in an arrogant manner that belittles the transgressor and then finishes it off with "thank you". Don't justify. Don't talk. Make your decision and get on with the game. You're not held accountable, so any decision is final. STFU and get on with the game so we can watch football and not you.

 

[knobby]

Shaun Ryan has to be in the votes

 

[LFC2010]

I don't think there is one good umpire in the league atm

But Nichols is up there with the worst I've ever seen, and have been saying this for 4 or 5 years.

 

[Dacksaredown]

Who was old bald prick? Don't know if he's still umpiring or not but he will always be the worst in my book. Today's AFL umpires are pretty much the same. Worried about technicalities of the rules rather than the reasons the rules were invented in the first place.

 

[blue harvest]

Who was old bald prick? Don't know if he's still umpiring or not but he will always be the worst in my book. Today's AFL umpires are pretty much the same. Worried about technicalities of the rules rather than the reasons the rules were invented in the first place.

McLaren, retired a while back. Fits with my theory that the umps that people think are the worst are the ones who physically stand out/look different.

 

[Dacksaredown]

McLaren, retired a while back. Fits with my theory that the umps that people think are the worst are the ones who physically stand out/look different.

well, you should come up with a better theory because that one is stupid. People only notice umpires when they continually make the wrong decisions.

 

[Demonic Ascent]

Meredith was horrible yesterday too. The umpiring in general is a farce at the moment, compounded by the changing rules. Go back and watch a round 1 game compared to yesterday's Melb/Port game and the difference in what is or isn't holding the ball. It's a complete joke. I don't even know what holding the ball is any more. They had it right about 10 years ago, why did they need to keep ******* with it?

 

[Ian Dunross]

The umpire Foot - first name unknown - is the worst I've seen

But Nicholls is a close second

 

[Simon_Nesbit]

Whoever umpired the Hawks/Freo game today = negative 10,000 votes. (Margetts, Dalgleish and Ryan - so impressed I made the effort to look them up!)

I don't think there was a decision all day that had fans of either team tearing their hair out.

After two weeks of Razor's efforts on prime-time it made for quite a peaceful viewing experience.

 

[LeverPuller]

Whoever umpired the Hawks/Freo game today = negative 10,000 votes. (Margetts, Dalgleish and Ryan - so impressed I made the effort to look them up!)

I don't think there was a decision all day that had fans of either team tearing their hair out.

After two weeks of Razor's efforts on prime-time it made for quite a peaceful viewing experience.

Margetts is pretty good generally IMO

 

[LukeParkerno1]

Stevic in Hawthorn games is worse, but Niccolls is a shocker. He's bad both ways at least, that's a positive.