Roast Umpiring in the AFL: A dangerous precedent.

[LC40]

I hate the idea, giving the opposition a 50m advantage because the ball went out off of you?

I was sceptical of the rule, IMO it's the best rule they introduced for awhile .
Hear the whinge "leave the game alone," but all ambiguity has been thrown out the window.
Team that has last kick or handball before it goes out is penalised. It's as simple as that.
If it's touched or knocked out of bounds it's a throw in.
If a player knocks an opponent over or shepherds the ball from an opponent trying to get the ball before it's going out it's a throw in.

I've noticed it has affected some team play.Last year teams would get the ball kick it forward blindly and it would go out. They would then reset and kick the ball forward then reset. Rolling mauls so to speak. Now teams are a lot more careful with the ball.
It took a few weeks but once you get use to the rule it's fine.

 

[skoobydoo]

I agree on the full-time umpire position, it is crazy. We should also have two goal umpires at each end and get rid of the goal review.

But ... I don't mind the changing of rules - I think the game evolves with it, and as a result our game grows and improves.

All sports change, I don't look back at the 70s and 80s and think - WOW, that was when footy was great. I was there. It wasn't.

Yes. Players change their games to make the most of rules. Its what humans do. The training/coaching of umpires can easily cater for the changing nature of the game (eg ducking, knee dropping, shrugging) by simple interpretation/enforcement.

I thought the footy back then was much more enjoyable.

 

[Scorpus]

In what has been a season of ridiculous calls so far, the quote from (I think) Hayden Kennedy saying that you wouldn't want full time umpires because it would lead to worse decisions because they'd be thinking of umpiring 24/7 is actually the dumbest statement of them all.

Holy s**t is that an actual opinion from Kennedy?! What a ******* moron!

 

[skoobydoo]

I don't think the umpires are coached very well. There are three major bug bears of mine.

1) The interpretation of the rules are too fluid

For instance, Hayden Kennedy was pleased with that Isaac Smith holding the ball decision because - wait for it - it showed the umpire had a good feel for the stage of the game. Ie we don't want games decided by an umpiring decision, so put the whistles away. Huh? So the rules become more/less stringent depending on the score, the time and where it is on the field.

Put the whistle away for finals too. No ticky touchwood frees in big games. So the rules change again.

A free kick should be a free kick no matter where it is on the field, no matter what stage of the game it is and what the score is. Umpires should be working towards a consistent standard of free kicks that do/don't get paid in every quarter of every game of every single game of the season.

1a) The Friday night 'tweak' of the rules has to go too. Eg where there is a crackdown on 15m kicks like there was the other week, when it is obvious the umpires have highlighted a rule to tighten up on. No crackdowns, no rules of the week. Instead strive to be the same.

2) Lack of honesty

There's a sheer desperation to publicly declare that every single decision is correct. They hedge their bets. The holding the ball against Isaac Smith could be construed as the correct decision and the umpiring department would have argued vehemently it was the right call had it been paid. It doesn't get paid and it's also the right decision because of good feel for the stage of the game.

No mater what the decision, they swear that it was correct until they're blue in the face. Completely immune to any criticism. There is absolute denial of any problem or inconsistency which is why it can never be fixed.

3) Acknowledgement of factors that can influence decision making

Tricky one because we're all human. 50,000 fans booing has to have an impact. Personalities of the players (abusive, respected, whingers) has to have an impact. Growing up a Crows/Bulldogs fan has to have an impact.

Umpires can get unduly influenced by the crowd. We saw it last night. I remember reading that the number of deliberate out of bounds paid when it was a lopsided crowd compared to when it is a 50/50 crowd are off the chart.

The umpires need to recognise this danger and learn to take the crowd out of the equation. Similarly the umpiring department has to guard against getting caught up in the excitement of watching your fave team run around or of paying frees on reputation (for Selwood, against Franklin) rather than on what they see

First step for the umpires is they need to recognise these can be factors rather than deny they exist or wailing that it is questioning the integrity of the umpires.

You sir are in fine form. Medal votes for sure.

Kennedy's statement re Isaac Smith decision (lack of) that 'the umpires were very aware of the stage of the game at the time' is hugely insulting. He is implying that because it was close to full time, because the free would be directly in front of goal, and because the probable resulting goal may have swung the game in the last seconds, that it was advisable not to have the game decided by an umpiring decision. A decision that would probably have upset the local Hawthorn FClub and its followers and therefore best left alone. Kennedy seems to be way out of his depth.

Oh and another thing - he/they were probably aware of the inordinate pressure on the Crows player taking the kick after the siren.

 

[baldandbroke]

Yes. Players change their games to make the most of rules. Its what humans do. The training/coaching of umpires can easily cater for the changing nature of the game (eg ducking, knee dropping, shrugging) by simple interpretation/enforcement.

I thought the footy back then was much more enjoyable.

Go back and watch some games - not just the best of the season - the weekly toil. It was not very good.

 

[MarcusP2]

Ducking your head should be prior opportunity.

It won't completely fix it but it'll help a lot. It's such a simple change in interpretation and it's not unprecedented.

They already claimed they did this. Then they forgot about it.
http://www.theage.com.au/afl/afl-news/afl-introduces-new-rule-against-ducking-20150601-gheh3g.html

 

[6BTS]

The one thing that is blatantly obvious from this umpiring topic is the AFL have zero interest in listening to the fans when it comes to making decisions and hate being critiqued for anything. That's a high quality establishment right there, one which is secretive and bitter at the fans whenever the fans bring up something that doesn't pass the sniff test, as if we're supposed to sit back and never complain when they do a bad job (which happens far more than it should).

 

[cmndstab]

Holy s**t is that an actual opinion from Kennedy?! What a ******* moron!

I may be putting words in his mouth a little bit, but that's basically what he said.

He was asked directly if umpires should go full time, and his response was "I would hate for umpires to be thinking of umpiring 24/7". Which as far as I can tell is an implication that he thinks that making umpires full time would cause that to happen, and that it would then be bad for umpiring in general.

I wonder if he is aware of all the other full time jobs in the world where people manage to improve their capabilities without thinking about work 24/7?


We now have full time coaches, full time players, full time administrators. It is universally accepted that this enables them do their job better. Nobody would even think about suggesting that players or coaches would be better off part-time because otherwise they'd think about footy 24/7. But somehow the umpiring association haven't moved on from the 80s.

 

[Huntercrow]

I agree on the full-time umpire position, it is crazy. We should also have two goal umpires at each end and get rid of the goal review.

But ... I don't mind the changing of rules - I think the game evolves with it, and as a result our game grows and improves.

All sports change, I don't look back at the 70s and 80s and think - WOW, that was when footy was great. I was there. It wasn't.

A different era but it was great.