Toast NMFC members voicing their displeasure at umpiring - great job members wing!

grimface_87

Premiership Player
May 27, 2008
4,065
3,437
Melbourne territory
AFL Club
North Melbourne
Exactly.

I don't blame umpires for being bad - I blame the AFL. They do policy on the run, including rules, which make the job harder. They don't like the look of things so decide one week from the next to encourage crackdown. They implement rules constantly which make the umpires job harder simply to chase some hypothetical perfect aesthetic. All of these make the job harder, give umpires more things to get wrong and are simply not necessary to a fair contest.

I don't care if a player kicks the ball down the line and it goes out.
Exactly this is all the AFLs doing. They keep bringing in complex rules that add to the mental decision making load. When they bring in a rule that doesn't work they add ANOTHER rule to cancel it out or nullify it rather than remove the other rule (probably so the commission can save face). They the old rules get brought up once in a lie moon leaving everyone to scratch their heads.
 
We are consistently given the worst umpires in the AFL more than other teams. It shows.

North and Gold Coast had Eleni the most last year

Collingwood has her once (against north)

She didn’t umpire one Bulldogs game
 

Cam1870

All Australian
May 1, 2014
820
2,409
AFL Club
Port Adelaide
I said this very thing at the game.

All it takes is a group and then they’re ****ed.

There aren’t enough security/police to deal with more than 40-50 genuinely pissed off invaders.

Just look what happened when Franklin kicked 1000. Took them a week to clear the ground.

Now imagine that was a group of pissed off fans….
Another port lurker - don't shoot me, not here to stir the pot.
Didn't watch the game, don't particularly care (again, don't shoot me). Just don't go down this line. European soccer is a mess of crowd trouble, referees families getting death threats etc..
One of the great things about footy in Australia is umpires don't get that and fans can sit together. It's still the stuff of legend port getting done 38:15 in a free kick count against you blokes in Tassie in 2013. It happens. Talk of violent pitch invasions and how good it is that chairs get smashed is just idiotic
 
North and Gold Coast had Eleni the most last year

Collingwood has her once (against north)

She didn’t umpire one Bulldogs game
It is way bigger than one umpire. Eleni is not unique, she is just more noticeable IMO. Fisher is just as bad, he has mates as well. Agree overall though, there is a big trend line and I can't see how it helps the sport. By all means put the best umps in finals and the Grand Final because it makes sense. During the H&A the best umps should be shared around so that the s**t ones actually learn from the best on field.
 

Hojuman

조수미 사랑해요
May 20, 2012
22,490
65,624
Seoul
AFL Club
North Melbourne
My angry email to the club:

Please can someone tell me ?

I have a 30yr continous m'ship with the club and a Schimma Legends reserved seat, lvl.2 at Marvel, sec32. I have been sitting in this seat for home games for the last 22 years.

Can someone tell me " WHY " these seats were marked as " GENERAL ADMISSION " on Saturday afternoon and we were invaded by obnoxious Sydney supporters who we had to report to security at least 3 times during the game ?

I don't want the standard " it's a Marvel stadium seating issue " please. I pay $700 a year for 7 home games. As you can see $100 a game. Now l can come to every home game and just pay $27 at the gate and sit on levels 1 or 3. But l choose not to.

It is not good enough. Do you believe if l go to a Richmond or Collingwood home game at the MCG l can saunter in and sit amongst their members ? I highly doubt it. North members do not " forward " or " on sell " their reserved seats to opposition supporters.

I truly am considering if l really want to renew this m'ship going forward. And believe me, l am not the only one.

An answer please. Thank you.
 
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KekiRoo

Team Captain
Aug 21, 2022
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If it results in Eleni & Fisher never umpiring one of our games again, worth it.

But who am I kidding. They'll probably be our umps every week now.
 
If it results in Eleni & Fisher never umpiring one of our games again, worth it.

But who am I kidding. They'll probably be our umps every week now.
They already do.
 

Passmore

Brownlow Medallist
May 22, 2001
23,595
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If it results in Eleni & Fisher never umpiring one of our games again, worth it.

But who am I kidding. They'll probably be our umps every week now.
How the * can you get both of them in the one game? Surely you'd hide these two idiots with the better umpires?

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Jul 18, 2013
3,480
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AFL Club
North Melbourne
bwahahahah. Every single club thinks the umps are against them.

I've got some questions for you:
1) What have you done to try and make the standard of umpiring better?
2) have you ever volunteered your time to umpire a game?
3) Do you honestly think the umpires play favourites?
4) Have you any idea what the Frees Against V Frees For ratio is for us over the last 5 years?

Re point 3, "Whispers in the sky" says yes they do play favourites.
 
That game was atrociously officiated, and the members wing let the umpires know it all game.
It culminated in extreme displeasure being demonstrated at the final siren by members throwing rubbish on to the playing surface.
Remarkably, I think that is a positive thing. Hear me out;

For too long the standard of umpring has been in the toilet, and the entire sport is suffering because of it.
And as fans, we have no recourse other than yelling, boos, and voting with our wallet (that hurts our club before it hurts the league itself).

But today at the end of the game, in scenes I've not seen in modern footy, the members wing started throwing all their rubbish on to the playing surface. And it felt righteous and justified.

I'm proud of my fellow members tonight. No more meekly accepting the fisting we regularly get from the umpires. Tonight set a new standard of fan remonstration.

Hi Chadwiko. Sorry for going all “Mr. High and Mighty” on your post last night. I couldn’t have been accused of “reading the room”. Yesterday , we were royally reamed by providence. Ironically, we have been ever since we last played Sydney in Marvel in 2020. Cunnington was missing with a back problem that day and Jack got injured early. We were riding high going into the game. We’ve gone through every manner of football hell since that day. On reflection, a few Cheezels on the Marvel surface doesn’t sound like the end of civilisation after all. After the game yesterday, I was so unsettled - a mixture of frustration and elation at the superb effort of our young team. The apparent injustice of it all was gnawing away. Then, we endured * getting out of jail - on top of the fact that Port had done the same on Friday. I ended up staying up to watch the Man united game. That was tense. At least, they held on and Liverpool shat the bed at Anfield. I was still awake at 6 am and realised the events at Marvel were the culprit. I took a valium and got to sleep. Onwards and upwards.

On the bright side, we get to go back to Marvel again next weekend. If we play our cards right, we might be able to smuggle in a couple of pipe bombs. That Daicos kid won’t know what hit him!


Sent from my iPhone using BigFooty.com
 
Oct 16, 2004
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One of our penalties for not being a very good team, is that we get the not very good umpires.

Last year 27 umpires were getting a game every week with the bottom few basically being not up to it. This year those bottom few have 9 who were worse than them added on top. There are literally 15-18 umpires each week who are below standard and/or inexperienced.

Now, the AFL don't want that s**t stinking up their precious Friday nights, marquee games and prime-time slots so they get hidden on Saturday afternoons and Sunday twilights. So in the end, all of the worst umpires end up doing North Melbourne games every week. No wonder we're angry.

As I posted elsewhere before the game, last year as is the case every year, the AFL quietly announce who they think the best umpires are for the year by appointing them to the first week of finals. Last year that was 12 umpires (This year will be 16). With 4 umpires a game across 10 games, we've had 40 chances to get one of those. Of those 40, we've got 7. Collingwood have 23. Yesterday we had none. Today Collingwood/Carlton has all 4. I posted all this before the game yesterday so I knew the umpiring would be bad. We are literally getting the worst.

I don't believe in umpiring conspiracy theories. But I do know these facts. The individual umpires aren't out to get us - they actually aren't good enough to orchestrate that. They are just shithouse.

As for booing and throwing stuff on the field - I wasn't there yesterday as I was goal umpiring my own game at local level (my 500th game actually!) and haven't yet watched it so I don't really know much about it. I may have booed although I feel stupid every time I do that, and I certainly wouldn't have thrown.

But the AFL umpires, like North Melbourne, have too many potatoes on their list who have been there too long. Four umpires should never have been brought in until they rebuilt the list. They should also spread the quality around so that us, and the other bottom clubs get a decent go and so that the inexperienced guys can get some in-game mentoring and get better.
 
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Jul 18, 2013
3,480
13,246
AFL Club
North Melbourne
The Paul Curtis free against in the second I think, where he simply outbodied his opponent, has to be the worst decision of the season so far.
I still maintain that the non HTB at the other end in the 2nd qtr where the Sydney player got caught dead to rights in front of the behind post, was taken to ground and then tried to kick the ball and completely missed it - crickets from the umpires. The clearing kick from JZ was intercepted and they goaled. That was the worst decision for me.
 
The umpiring was atrocious, has been all year. But not for one minute do I believe that there's some sort of agenda to fu*K us over. Anyone who does is seriously deluded, if you've never tried umpiring a game you should probably shut the f*ck up.
Who cares what you believe. Other people believe differently and either way, deliberate or not, the umpiring was rubbish. that is the point. If you want the umps to get respect hold them to the same standard we hold players and supporters.

I don't bet so it didn't hurt me but the AFL makes a fortune off gambling and yet they can't provide a level playing field with the umpires they provide. People would have lost money yesterday cos the umpiring cost us the game. Its just not good enough.

Even with the mistakes the players made the umps still cost the game and as a result the gambling was compromised. How can there be gambling on the footy when the umpiring is broken? if I was a lawyer I'd probably start some sort of class action against the AFL for it.

And you know what? As soon as that happened the umpiring standards would begin to improve.
 
Jul 18, 2013
3,480
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Another port lurker - don't shoot me, not here to stir the pot.
Didn't watch the game, don't particularly care (again, don't shoot me). Just don't go down this line. European soccer is a mess of crowd trouble, referees families getting death threats etc..
One of the great things about footy in Australia is umpires don't get that and fans can sit together. It's still the stuff of legend port getting done 38:15 in a free kick count against you blokes in Tassie in 2013. It happens. Talk of violent pitch invasions and how good it is that chairs get smashed is just idiotic
Your first instinct was right. Piss off or you'll be shot.
 
As I have mentioned before, my oldest Joey is part of the umpire academy & recently made his umpire debut in the QAFL. We are now volunter as umpire coordinators for our local junior club. We have a new perspective on umpiring & I have some understanding of Mav’s position.

However, the AFL is not some local junior competition but a multimillion dollar professional organisation. At the elite level they have zero excuses for the ineptitude & the woeful resourcing to support the move to four umpires.
We'd be better off going back to two umpires per game. Inconsistent interpretations from one end of the ground to the other seems like a massive issue.
 
Sep 21, 2004
46,417
52,570
AFL Club
GWS
One of our penalties for not being a very good team, is that we get the not very good umpires.
This. It's not a conspiracy, it's incompetence.

You could see the 4 umps yesterday having numerous moments of confusion about whose call it was, positioning etc.

Having said this, be nice if we get a ride of incompetence like Carlton and South Melbourne got against us.
 

sutcliffe's hotel

Premium Platinum
Oct 30, 2005
4,067
10,941
Brisbanistan
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North Melbourne
We'd be better off going back to two umpires per game. Inconsistent interpretations from one end of the ground to the other seems like a massive issue.
It shouldn't be, though it is. To the best of my knowledge after the game every decision is reviewed & they have coaching to achieve consistency.

My Joey reviews every game he umpires, evaluates every decision & writes a review. He is coached & mentored and knows the rules inside out. I might be foolhardy to think that they do this at the elite level. Surely they do.
 
Oct 16, 2004
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This. It's not a conspiracy, it's incompetence.

You could see the 4 umps yesterday having numerous moments of confusion about whose call it was, positioning etc.

Having said this, be nice if we get a ride of incompetence like Carlton and South Melbourne got against us.

Yep. But - and this is a theory I've had for a long time and not a fact - the better teams for some reason always get the better end of the stick with umpiring.

Something else I've observed from my own umpiring - booing and whinging makes things worse. They don't want to be seen to react to an angry crowd, so they instinctively hold the line. None of this is pre-planned - it just goes that way.
 
It is way bigger than one umpire. Eleni is not unique, she is just more noticeable IMO. Fisher is just as bad, he has mates as well. Agree overall though, there is a big trend line and I can't see how it helps the sport. By all means put the best umps in finals and the Grand Final because it makes sense. During the H&A the best umps should be shared around so that the s**t ones actually learn from the best on field.

I agree, but she’s clearly in the bottom 10.

The other bloke yesterday was far worse than her
 
Sep 21, 2004
46,417
52,570
AFL Club
GWS
Yep. But - and this is a theory I've had for a long time and not a fact - the better teams for some reason always get the better end of the stick with umpiring.

Something else I've observed from my own umpiring - booing and whinging makes things worse. They don't want to be seen to react to an angry crowd, so they instinctively hold the line. None of this is pre-planned - it just goes that way.
I once spoke to a really good former umpire who never heard the crowd. Just white noise.

It's obvious the weaker umps get spooked.
 
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