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Analysis Umpires

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Same here Monty, made no difference to the result.

I can accept 50:50 calls, but umpiring decisions like Hewett’s have to be called out and umpires need to understand what prior opportunity is and isn’t.

Those umpiring calls calls absolutely made a difference to the result, particularly the Hewett one, which gifted Melbourne the first goal of their run and turned the momentum of the game.

BUT, we need to be better than to let a bad umpiring call mean we completely drop our bundle and let it defeat us mentally. It has happened way too many times.
 

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Off the top of my heads.

  • Frankie Evans Handpass into Darling's knee, then into another North Player's hands - called last disposal out of bounds.
  • Frankie Evans "insufficient intent" when the ball bounced of his legs as he was trying to collect it while being bumped.
  • Derksen front on contact in the last minute.
  • Cowan being called for a "sling" tackle for Wardlaw falling on him while Cowan was on the ground.
  • Young called for not standing when baited with the handpass.
  • Ollie tripped
  • Harry McKay over the shoulder and in the back by Comben
  • Jagga Smith jumper pulled in the pocket going on goa.

Feel free to add others, as I've definitely missed a lot.
 
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The current AFL commission is going to do nothing because they're getting massive bonus cheques paid for by their gambling partners. There needs to be an investigation into the AFL and have the entire board removed. The commission needs to be made up of elected members from each of the clubs in the league.

Maybe then we'll start seeing some professionalism being brought into the running of the game at the commission level. The umpires need to officiate to the actual rules of the game. Not making up shit as they go along. And there is way too much making up of shit as it stands.
 
The umpiring was atrocious.

But, the umpiring is mad worse by 2 truly terrible new rules which make umpiring harder.
Get rid of the Stand Rule, and the Last Touch (and the insufficient intent) Rule.
Go back to what these rules were a decade ago, and umpiring, and the game, would improve dramatically.
 

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Off the top of my heads.

  • Frankie Evans Handpass into Darling's knee, then into another North Player's hands - called last disposal out of bounds.
  • Derksen front on contact in the last minute.
  • Cowan being called for a "sling" tackle for Wardlaw falling on him while Cowan was on the ground.
  • Young called for not standing when baited with the handpass.
  • Ollie tripped
  • Harry McKay over the shoulder and in the back by Comben
  • Jagga Smith jumper pulled in the pocket going on goa.

Feel free to add others, as I've definitely missed a lot.
Caleb Daniel holding one arm of Ainsworth so Ainsworth has to mark with one hand 10m in front of goal 14:10 on the clock in the last. Pretty obvious imo
 
Razor Ray on 360 showing clearly that both holding the balls against Hewett and Evans were wrong.
That was last week and I said the Hewett decision was probably the worst I’d ever seen. This week the umpires were even worse as they royally screwed us.

I used to feel umpires had a tough job having to umpire such a difficult sport, but fmd today it was just complete and total incompetence on display. AFL is fast becoming a joke of a sport.
 
There are four field umpires and four boundary umpires in an AFL match. The increase to four field umpires was introduced to improve decision-making accuracy. BIG FAIL AFL.

More is not better, especially if they’re incompetent to start with. More incompetent decision-makers means more stupid and incorrect decisions will get made, as we saw today.

Actually, fewer is probably better based on the quality of umpires we’re seeing.
 
The umpiring was atrocious.

But, the umpiring is mad worse by 2 truly terrible new rules which make umpiring harder.
Get rid of the Stand Rule, and the Last Touch (and the insufficient intent) Rule.
Go back to what these rules were a decade ago, and umpiring, and the game, would improve dramatically.
I don't mind last touch so much. What I take issue with is the degree to which free kicks are ignored.

Only in AFL is the application of the rules seen as a bad thing and behaviour designed to take advantage of the umpires seen as clever or good. Only in AFL is ignoring the rules seen as a good thing for the purposes of game flow.
 

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Massive chop across the neck on Harry was a stinker. I think we went on to kick a goal from that passage anyway - which is the bit that I hold onto. Our players didn't rise above the misfortune and go again. They just retreated further.
 
If I'm honest, last touch should be the template for a rule from here on.

Trialed extensively at the lower level, implemented with notice, transparent, simple to understand and no interpretation required. Did the ball cross the boundary off someone's boot or handpass? If yes, free the other way; if not, throw in.

Mistakes happen, but if anything last touch is precisely what a rule change should be if you have to change the rules at all.
 
Off the top of my heads.

  • Frankie Evans Handpass into Darling's knee, then into another North Player's hands - called last disposal out of bounds.
  • Derksen front on contact in the last minute.
  • Cowan being called for a "sling" tackle for Wardlaw falling on him while Cowan was on the ground.
  • Young called for not standing when baited with the handpass.
  • Ollie tripped
  • Harry McKay over the shoulder and in the back by Comben
  • Jagga Smith jumper pulled in the pocket going on goa.

Feel free to add others, as I've definitely missed a lot.
You forgot Zurha diving into Ollie’s legs no below the knees called
 
If I'm honest, last touch should be the template for a rule from here on.

Trialed extensively at the lower level, implemented with notice, transparent, simple to understand and no interpretation required. Did the ball cross the boundary off someone's boot or handpass? If yes, free the other way; if not, throw in.

Mistakes happen, but if anything last touch is precisely what a rule change should be if you have to change the rules at all.

The problem with the last touch rule is that it is so difficult to umpire correctly.

We’ve already seen huge game changing howlers in at least 3 games, and it was bad enough a few weeks ago that the AFL decided to let the Arc intervene to make sure correct decisions. And yet, we still got the one against Frank yesterday. So it wasn’t just an incorrect decision, but it was a complete failure of process.

But they shouldn’t be introducing new rules that requires Arc intervention anyway. Just another example of the AFL having zero clue about unintended consequences.
 
The problem with the last touch rule is that it is so difficult to umpire correctly.

We’ve already seen huge game changing howlers in at least 3 games, and it was bad enough a few weeks ago that the AFL decided to let the Arc intervene to make sure correct decisions. And yet, we still got the one against Frank yesterday. So it wasn’t just an incorrect decision, but it was a complete failure of process.

But they shouldn’t be introducing new rules that requires Arc intervention anyway. Just another example of the AFL having zero clue about unintended consequences.
This is exactly what I said about the one last week in the Geelong/Adelaide game. ARC intervened with one and not the other in that game. That can't be happening. It either needs to be ARC reviews every single one OR none at all and we just go with the umpire. You can't only apply the technology in some cases and then not others otherwise that is just unfair.
 

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