Obligatory weekly umpire whinge thread

[Stealth bomber]

A win is a win, and I cannot complain about our performance - I think we did very well considering the personnel missing from the list last night.

But I am well and truly flummoxed by our luck with umpires this year. 7 free kicks for the night is a disgrace, especially since three or four of them came late in the fourth quarter after the outcome was pretty much in doubt. At one point it was 15-4, I think.

Through the entire third quarter, and half of the fourth, Essendon did not receive a single free kick. This is despite kicking about 10 goals in that time frame and having first use of the ball for the majority of it.

The Dogs have about a 5-6 minute period late in the third where they blitzed us for four goals. Just in that time frame they must have had five or six frees plus a 50 metre penalty (which was questionable).

Granted, the Dogs had more of the ball during that spurt, so it isn't surprising they earned a few frees. But where were ours during our second and third quarter bursts?

This is an outrage. We all know that we have been a bit undisciplined at times this season, but last night we were anything but. It is becoming apparent to me that the AFL for some reason feels they have to hold us to a higher standard of discipline than everyone else, and I don't understand it.

Terry Wallace, Anthony Hudson, and yes, even Robert Walls all though we were getting a raw deal last night.

I really hate to sound like a whinger and start all sorts of wild conspiracy theories - those types of things are usually the mating calls of the loser. But the AFL and Gieschen well and truly deserve a couple of "please explains" right now.

 

[Dan26]

Yeah we got a bit of a raw deal, but it evens out over the season. Same in all sports.

 

[BomberGal]

Originally posted by Stealth bomber
Terry Wallace, Anthony Hudson, and yes, even Robert Walls all though we were getting a raw deal last night.

I thought it was just my bias that thought we were getting a bad deal, as usual - but I knew it must have been bad when Robert Walls said, on more than one occasion, that a free kick should have been paid to Essendon.

One caller on the radio had a very good opinion - as much as Matthew Lloyd is known for acting for his frees, when are the umpires going to wake up and see how much he's getting pushed in the back?

Matthew Lloyd isn't paid frees simply because he's Matthew Lloyd. And if he's Matthew Lloyd, he must be faking.

And when my biased, 12 year old, Geelong supporting brother is picking out things that should be Essendon frees that aren't paid - well, it says something.

 

[Chiz]

Originally posted by Stealth bomber
At one point it was 15-4, I think.

Don't forget that one of those 4 frees was paid right on the half time siren (just to make the umpiring look a bit less one sided)

 

[Chiz]

Interestingly, in the previous few years, about mid season, the Herald Sun has had a free kick analysis thing. Every year I've seen it, the bulldogs have been on top with about 60 more frees for than frees against for the season (about 10 rounds in) and Essendon have been on the bottom with about 60 less frees for than against.

Just remember that these statistics were shown in 2000, when Essendon was easily the hardest team at the ball, so the AFL obviously have set a higher standard for us. And I don't know why the Bulldogs were on top either, considering they're one of the dirtiest teams in the league.

 

[stefoid]

youre living in the past, get over it.

 

[mattyc2422]

Not that this has anything to do with the Essendon vs Bullies match, but Goldspink was dead set crap in our game with the Swans. Biggest hack ever.

 

[K9-54]

Yeah, you didn't get the better of the umpiring. They didn't miss much for us (though they did miss some), plus we got one or two soft ones (Brown in the back). There did appear some obvious ones to you guys they missed.

But in the end, it had little bearing on anything. The team that played better won.

To say however that we are one of the dirtiest sides in the comp is just ridiculous. We're one of the softest. The reason we have fared quite well statistically from the umpires over the past couple of years is simply because we are the lowest tackling side. If we tackled as much as everyone else, the discrepancy would disappear. We're just not going in hard enough to give frees away.