Lots of anti-umpire posts on the RFC board. At the game it didn't seem one sided... lots of free's for sure, but didn't seem there were that may shockers?
This is a theory I've been forming for the quite a long while now: Richmond are an undisciplined side. They are negligent and sloppy in the marking contest (defenders aren't on the same page, often all going up to contest the ball and losing their feet, over-commit getting into the opposition's back), they talk back to the umpires consistently (the two fifties last night were for abuse), and they don't seem to have many players with high football IQs who do the simple disciplined thing (push the ball into space where the opposition is outnumbered, quick kick down the line, short get-out kick) which means that they put each other under pressure consistently.
Let's not forget that they came out and deliberately attacked the man. The umpires were well-restrained considering the RFC's attempts to turn it into a brawl for the first five minutes.
It was a little over-umpired, but personally, I was happy to see the frees being paid. At least it was consistent. I hate watching key forwards being scragged. Also, even though the umpires were a bit shit-hot on the HTB we adjusted and Richmond didn't. They continuously dragged it in, we laid bear-hugging tackles that stung hard and got rewarded. On the flipside, we were able to break tackles consistently and when caught made sure we flipped it out to avoid being caught.