Worst umpiring decisions ever!

[Olmy]

What would be the worst umpiring decisions ever?

Here are a couple of mine:

The Roys v Adelaide match in 1991 (about 5 in the last quarter, plus one in the 3rd which disallowed a J.Elliott goal for no reason!).

Roys v Richmond, 1995. J.Bruce was pinged for deliberate OOB, and then was pinged 50m for apparently not returning the ball directly to M.Knights (the little b@stard stepped back, you idiot umpire!).

Both of those occasions cost Fitzroy the game. You can bet there are tonnes of these stories for every club though.

(W.Harms doesn't count, as there was no 'active' umpiring decision for it to be wrong!).

 

[Shinboners]

Every pro-Geelong decision during the second and third quarters of the '94 Preliminary Final vs North Melbourne....the stupid blind bastards.

 

[CURVE]

Spot on Shins.

The free kick went Geelong way 33-13, with 5 leading to goals. It was the blackest day for umpires, and remembering the following weeks result, I'd say a black day for AFL.

 

[Olmy]

Nah, no way man!! The Roys v Adelaide match was the darkest day for umpires ever!

You can overlook umpires giving frees to a Victorian side, but giving them to S.A. - how can you justify that?

 

[InTheBack!]

last season -

Lions vs Roos at the shifting sands of Docklands.

Stupid decisions cost the Lions the game - as I recall even the ABC radio were calling it that way. So there!

 

[Shinboners]

InTheBack

It was never your fate to win that game. I knew we were going to win when Shane "helicopter punt off the side of the boot" Clayton managed to nail not one, but TWO goals...in the same QUARTER.....you know the footy Gods are smiling on you whenever that happens....

 

[Olmy]

Yeah, Shinboners, turn it up mate! It took a Royboy to win you that one!!!

In the Back! - are you referring to that free given to Spider Burton for over the shoulder against C.Scott? That was a shocker!

Then there was the one the year before, over the shoulder again, Champion on McKernan. That was a crock!

Still, it doesn't rate against that Adelaide game. North deserved to win just as much as the Lions in those games, but the Roys were jibbed more than ever in 91 (and 95 against Richmond).

 

[mud n blood]

Dunno about the worst, but one of the best, most accurate and correct decisions was the "Wayne Harmes" episode in '79 in the GF.

Ask any Collingwood supporter ......

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Anyway, that's what I reckon ........

mud n blood

 

[Bloodstained Angel]

97 Semi Final

Adelaide v Geelong and the mark that never was by Leigh Colbert

Still don't know why it wasn't paid. Nobody else can give me an explanation, not even umpires I talk to.

Just an absolute STINKER of an umpiring (non) decision.

Did it cost Geelong the game ? - probably not, inspite of what any Cats fan will tell you.

 

[CJH]

Olmy,

On the Bruce / Knights decision, the deliberate Out of Bounds was the correct decision. You simply cannot grab the ball and run straight over the line.

The 50m penalty, while technicallycorrect was an absolute shocker. The law does state that the player must return the ball on the full which technically did not happen. Knights did not step out of the way, but also did not make any effort at all to catch the ball.

Umpires usually accept that the player made a reasonable attempt to return the ball on the full - which Bruce did - before making a decision.

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This is a hallucination and these faces are in a dream. A computer generated environment; a fantasy island you can do anything and not have to face the consequences.

 

[Olmy]

CJH, the deliberate OOB - it might have been there, but would he have paid it if it had have been M.Knights running the ball out?

Given that Bruce didn't disguise it too well, but he didn't run 'that' far with it. It came at a crucial time - and I reckon it was one of those decisions which is line-ball under those circumstances (ie: he wasn't even close to goal, and the umpire would have known he wasn't an experienced player - we had none!).

It was there - but IMO, it was one of those ones which are a bit harsh, if paid.

The 50m was definitely out of line. Bruce threw the ball fairly directly back to Knights, who I'm sure, kinda rocked back, or took a half step back at the time. The ball, as you'll recall, landed somewhere in front of him. Considering you see that happen all the time these days, without penalty, it was definitely a shite decision. After all, he didn't just chuck the ball over the fence or anything. Considering the stage of the game, the decision was just totally OTT.

You can get away with giving deliberate OOB in those circumstances perhaps, but not the 50m.

That game was one of the biggest heart breaks in the 90's!

Btw - give us P.Broderick back!

 

[walshy1993]

BSA i agree with the colbert non-decision, absolute shocker

the wayne harms one has to be the greatest umpiring mistake (arguably) in the history of the game, i think its great

 

[S.Robbo]

Yeah Olmy, I remember that game at Footy Park. Think it was a Sunday night game. Some of the worst umpiring I've ever seen. Was a case where the ump was clearly influenced by the crowd. And what about that last decision, think it was a dubious holding the ball incident against a Fitzroy player, where Jamieson received the free kick and drilled it after the siren. Really felt for the Roys...they were bloody robbed.

As for the worst I've seen. Undoubtedly Leigh Colbert's missed mark. Geelong 8 points up at the time, well into the last qtr, would've put him well within scoring range...could've been the difference.

As for Essendon related games, the worst actually came about, courtesy of a goal ump decision. Think all you fellow bombers will rememeber playing the dogs out at the Western Oval in 91, whereby a Peter Foster point, (sailed through goal post high and missed the post by a metre), was payed a goal. Of course Foster personally thanking the goalie for his decision only served to infuriate us bomber faithful even more.

Needless to say we were beaten quite convincingly that day as well.

 

[S.Robbo]

Yeah Olmy, I remember that game at Footy Park. Think it was a Sunday night game. Some of the worst umpiring I've ever seen. Was a case where the ump was clearly influenced by the crowd. And what about that last decision, think it was a dubious holding the ball incident against a Fitzroy player, where Jamieson received the free kick and drilled it after the siren. Really felt for the Roys...they were bloody robbed.

As for the worst I've seen. Undoubtedly Leigh Colbert's missed mark. Geelong 8 points up at the time, well into the last qtr, would've put him well within scoring range...could've been the difference.

As for Essendon related games, the worst actually came about, courtesy of a goal ump decision. Think all you fellow bombers will rememeber playing the dogs out at the Western Oval in 91, whereby a Peter Foster point, (sailed through goal post high and missed the post by a metre), was payed a goal. Of course Foster personally thanking the goalie for his decision only served to infuriate us bomber faithful even more.

Needless to say we were beaten quite convincingly that day as well.

 

[Mobbs]

Further to comments re the Adelaide Fitzroy match, and the inherent holding the ball decision which gave Jameson a shot on goal, I found it particularly infuriating that the tackler, Eddie Hocking, wasn't given the free kick.

Eddie clearly should have been the recipient, assuming that flaming free was even there, which it wasn't ... where was I ... oh and Eddie was not the dead-eye dick with a footy and a set of sticks that Rod was meant to be.

What was that all about?

We'd slogged in wet weather all game to eke out a 2 goals and a half lead, at a time when the Roys were not exactly hoisted onto a pedestal regards their ability to win a match.

Remember AFL house or some such venue copped a load of graffiti after that match?

 

[Woofer]

anyone remember that black curly haired greek field umpire about 15 years ago ? Rick Kennedy spoilt a carlton opposition player in a marking contest about 15 m from goal - it flew off the top of Ricks fist, hit the point post on the full and was paid deliberate. Still shake my head.

 

[Denno]

That Fitz v. Adel game was the first one I thought of. I remember crying with frustration in my chair at home when the final siren sounded. I've never, ever seen worse umpiring than what was displayed that day.

 

[lioness]

I remember that Roys/Crows game too, what a shocker. And the Lions/Roos game this year, that was riddled with pathetic umpiring. The one that really stands out for me is the one in 1997 (?) Lions/Dockers, where Vossy was pinged for deliberate OOB and that Freo guy got a shot on goal after the siren and they won. That was just pathetic. (Apologies to all Docker fans, I am totally biased here, and also just making comment on umps, before anyone gets fired up lol

)

 

[Grendel]

One that always sticks in my mind was the first ever 'extra' time final, Hawks vs Roos at Waverly.

The Hawks were six points up with a couple of minutes left in the game. Blakey was paid a free kick on the half back flank after a kick out, the ball was knocked forward in the contest. Time on was blown and John went to retrive the ball, cant remember who was standing the mark but Blakey was a good ten meteres in front of him when he retrieved the ball and decided he could play on from threre. Trouble was the umpire agreed!! He duly ran 15 kicked to Carey and the Duck leveled the scores.

I still shake my head at that one.

But yea the Colbert one was a disgrace, but NOTHING comes close to that robbery against the Roys at Footy Park. That was murder.

 

[Shinboners]

Another one for the goal umpires...a game a few years ago between Carlton and West Coast and from a pack, an Eagles player rushed the ball through for a behind....the only thing was that when the ball was rushed, Williams ran towards the centre with his arms in the air and sucked in the the goal umpired to pay the goal! If I remember correctly, the Blues won the game by less than a goal.

 

[Tom FC]

I've always believed that the decision in Fitzroy Adelaide at Footy Park was the worst umpiring decision ever, but I thought it was a push in the back against Baldwin. I remember that he laid a superb tackle on somebody or other, then the umpire run up and awarded a free kick for in the back, from which a goal was kicked, bringing Adelaide to within three points, and then winning the game a minute later.
Of course, the umpiring all through the night had been abysmal, with bad decisions going each way, so I think it's going over the top to say that it was particularly home crowd umpiring.

 

[InTheBack!]

Originally posted by Shinboners:
InTheBack

It was never your fate to win that game. I knew we were going to win when Shane "helicopter punt off the side of the boot" Clayton managed to nail not one, but TWO goals...in the same QUARTER.....you know the footy Gods are smiling on you whenever that happens....

Hi Shinners,

yeah we can laugh about now...it was a strange game. The Lions could not do anything right in the 1st 1/2 & in the 2nd 1/2 positions were reversed. The umpiring only compounded the problems for the Lions!!

 

[lioness]

True, that was a VERY strange game!!!!!!! And with the wrong result for us.

awwwwwww

 

[Shinboners]

Yeah, I know the Lions should have got a free in the dying seconds when a David King tackle on a Lions player should have been paid as a push in the back...I think the umpire called play on and we semi-cleared the ball....had the free been paid, you would've got the goal (it was only 20m in front of goal) and that would've been it.

But I think that Akermanis shot that looked as if it was going to bounce through for a behind before making a vicious change in direction for a goal probably balanced out those 2 second quarter goals by Clayton.

 

[JUBJUB]

1 Adelaide v Fitzroy at Fooball Park.
The umpiring in that game made the Indian & Pakistan cricketers look honest.

2 Leigh Coldbutt [w***er] mark in the 1997 final v Adelaide at Fooball Park again.

3 Corey McKernan v Geelong late this year at Colonial.The umps were giving him frees everytime he got with in 10 metres of the ball.It was a give away the umps were up to something when they Kissed McKernan at the end of the game.

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