http://www.news.com.au/adelaidenow/story/0,22606,22059119-21543,00.html
JEFF Gieschen arrives in town today. It is a "long-planned" trip for the AFL umpiring director says the AFL, rather than a knee-jerk reaction to Port Adelaide being confused, annoyed and downright cranky about the state of umpiring in its recent matches.
Jeff's original itinerary, apparently, was as follows:
TODAY: Meetings with the SANFL umpiring department. Be at training with SANFL umpires. Added since the weekend is a session with the Power coaching staff and players this afternoon.
TOMORROW: Classified information. Getting detail on umpiring from the AFL (an organisation that prides itself on transparency) is most difficult at the moment. It is most likely Port coach Mark Williams will invite Gieschen to the Power's final training session at AAMI Stadium at noon.
SATURDAY: Port Adelaide-West Coast match at AAMI Stadium in the afternoon. Clay Sampson's testimonial, also at West Lakes, in the evening. Gieschen coached Sampson when he was drafted to Richmond in the 1990s.
It seems polite to offer Gieschen some home-gleaned advice for his journey in Adelaide.
First, do not misunderstand Williams. Yes, he can be intimidating with that full-on energy and in-your-face attitude he oozes. But "Choco" knows no low gear that allows him to be slow and placid when he is debating football issues.
Also, note his players are completely confused. They started the year with the AFL's second-best free-kick count record. Now they have the worst, with 55 free kicks conceded in the past two weeks. Yes, at the start of the season they were flying with a 6-1 win-loss record. Now they are in the pack and not winning. But this does not explain the holding-the-ball counts on Power players, in particular ruckman Dean Brogan in last month's clash with Carlton at Telstra Dome. He simply picked up the ball - and as he straightened his back was tackled by a Blues player sweating off the non-contest. Prior opportunity? Reasonable time to dispose of the ball? And whatever happened to the notion that if the tackle forced the spill, it was play-on?
Also, consider the confusion in young defender Alipate Carlile who was called holding-the-ball at the weekend when he was tackled across the head by Western Bulldogs forward Brad Johnson - and subjected to a wrestling tackle. Had both players been off the ground, the term "spear tackle" would have come from the commentary box.
Second, please visit Adelaide chief executive Steven Trigg. He has a marvellous presentation on the state of umpiring. He will ask: Why is it that the game today appears "over umpired"? Why is it that there is a different theme to umpiring in the home-and-away series and the finals with fewer free kicks at the business-end of the season? Why is it that the player who makes the ball the object of his desire is now being penalised for playing the game?
Third, make peace with the media you told at the start of the year - in the annual pre-season presentation of the new rules and interpretations - that the AFL umpiring department was an open office.
Your invitation to attend your weekly umpiring reviews is indeed well appreciated. But it is a little difficult from Adelaide.
There is a theory making the rounds that the AFL umpiring department has shut down the media's access to objective evidence - such as statistics of missed and unwarranted free kicks - as a reaction to Bill Sanders' report on umpiring. Better for the media to guess and be accused of beating up a story on umpiring on a slow day than to have official statistics that can prove the case.
Players are subjected to analysis by statistics. Their coaches can be quizzed on form issues.
There must be a way to do such with umpiring - and not put recruiting of umpires at risk.
Enjoy your stay Jeff.
JEFF Gieschen arrives in town today. It is a "long-planned" trip for the AFL umpiring director says the AFL, rather than a knee-jerk reaction to Port Adelaide being confused, annoyed and downright cranky about the state of umpiring in its recent matches.
Jeff's original itinerary, apparently, was as follows:
TODAY: Meetings with the SANFL umpiring department. Be at training with SANFL umpires. Added since the weekend is a session with the Power coaching staff and players this afternoon.
TOMORROW: Classified information. Getting detail on umpiring from the AFL (an organisation that prides itself on transparency) is most difficult at the moment. It is most likely Port coach Mark Williams will invite Gieschen to the Power's final training session at AAMI Stadium at noon.
SATURDAY: Port Adelaide-West Coast match at AAMI Stadium in the afternoon. Clay Sampson's testimonial, also at West Lakes, in the evening. Gieschen coached Sampson when he was drafted to Richmond in the 1990s.
It seems polite to offer Gieschen some home-gleaned advice for his journey in Adelaide.
First, do not misunderstand Williams. Yes, he can be intimidating with that full-on energy and in-your-face attitude he oozes. But "Choco" knows no low gear that allows him to be slow and placid when he is debating football issues.
Also, note his players are completely confused. They started the year with the AFL's second-best free-kick count record. Now they have the worst, with 55 free kicks conceded in the past two weeks. Yes, at the start of the season they were flying with a 6-1 win-loss record. Now they are in the pack and not winning. But this does not explain the holding-the-ball counts on Power players, in particular ruckman Dean Brogan in last month's clash with Carlton at Telstra Dome. He simply picked up the ball - and as he straightened his back was tackled by a Blues player sweating off the non-contest. Prior opportunity? Reasonable time to dispose of the ball? And whatever happened to the notion that if the tackle forced the spill, it was play-on?
Also, consider the confusion in young defender Alipate Carlile who was called holding-the-ball at the weekend when he was tackled across the head by Western Bulldogs forward Brad Johnson - and subjected to a wrestling tackle. Had both players been off the ground, the term "spear tackle" would have come from the commentary box.
Second, please visit Adelaide chief executive Steven Trigg. He has a marvellous presentation on the state of umpiring. He will ask: Why is it that the game today appears "over umpired"? Why is it that there is a different theme to umpiring in the home-and-away series and the finals with fewer free kicks at the business-end of the season? Why is it that the player who makes the ball the object of his desire is now being penalised for playing the game?
Third, make peace with the media you told at the start of the year - in the annual pre-season presentation of the new rules and interpretations - that the AFL umpiring department was an open office.
Your invitation to attend your weekly umpiring reviews is indeed well appreciated. But it is a little difficult from Adelaide.
There is a theory making the rounds that the AFL umpiring department has shut down the media's access to objective evidence - such as statistics of missed and unwarranted free kicks - as a reaction to Bill Sanders' report on umpiring. Better for the media to guess and be accused of beating up a story on umpiring on a slow day than to have official statistics that can prove the case.
Players are subjected to analysis by statistics. Their coaches can be quizzed on form issues.
There must be a way to do such with umpiring - and not put recruiting of umpires at risk.
Enjoy your stay Jeff.
