Whilst you're obviously very happy with the general standard of amature umpires in a professional game, I think there would be much improvement if they became professional and also if the interpretation of rules didn't change from week to week, game to game.
Well this is a completely different issue all together and one that actually has substance, however it has nothing to do with the umpires. I will never complain about an umpire, however I will complain whether certain rules should be in our game or not. This is an administration issue that does not hinder nor favor one particular side.
Make no mistake, this is not the umpires fault. AFL is probably one of the hardest games in the world to umpire and is not made any easier when relatively complex rules (for instance the deliberate rushed behind rule) are brought into the home and away season without extensive testing with PROFFESIONAL umpires.
However the majority of AFL fans don't see this. Instead they hang shit on the umpire out in the middle who is only playing by the rules that have been given to him.
One thing that some fans can never seem to get around is that umpires don't actually care which team wins or loses and in no way should the result indicate how well or how poorly they umpired.
(Im tipping Saints get 3-4 goals from umps as equilibrium returns next week tho )
This is a pretty immature thing to say. If you go into the game thinking that Richmond will get a bad go from the umps, and out of coincidence the first free of the game goes to St Kilda then that will obviously re-affirm your judgement.
It's how racism works and it's how one eyed suppporters operate. They go into games with an already formed opinion everything and will use pinpoint examples to clarify their judgement instead of looking at the game in its entirety.
In my eyes, AFL and the competition at the moment is the most enjoyable it's been in years due to the evenness of the competition and the game styles being implemented by the teams. Watching footy to simply criticise umpires really is a waste of this fantastic sport.