Umpires!!!

[Nick_Dal_Santo = ChAmPiOn]

was disgraceful today (not unusual)

especially some of the holding-the-ball decisions (eg. L.Fisher got tackled in the centre square, got the handball away, the umpire was blind-sited and "guessed" it was incorrect disposal.

wat a farce!

[mad saint guy]

It was bloody frustrating. Luckily we held a comfortable lead for most of the game, so the bulls*** free kicks didn't end up really hurting us.

This was probably a game where the umpires didn't end up having a huge impact, but thet made sure they of plenty of camera time and they prevented a blow-out. Every time it looked like we were going to stretch the lead out to 10 goals the umps would pick out a few cheap frees to Freo and it would keep them within reach. Could end up hurting our %.

[AP Erebus]

i thought the umpiring wasn't bad... sure they are going to miss some and get some wrong but what about the 12 behinds we kicked... at least 3 or 4 should have been goals...

I would have thought our inaccuracy would cost us more than the umpires...

[saintdooley]

i was happy with the umps 2day, but there was 2 or 3 horrible frees, but hat happens every game

[Oh When the Saints]

Umpire #3 paid 8 free kicks to Fremantle and 2 to us ...

All the other umps were about 50/50.


#3 was an absolute disgrace.

[Liam_G]

I'll deal with it if the umpires sometimes miss decisions due to not being in a good position to see it, but it's when umpires GUESS about decisions when not in the right position that frustrates me. The AFL and umpires need to understand that it would be better to NOT give anything if they didn't see it than to guess and give something that it quite possibly unrewarded.

[Life Long Saint]

Definately two holding-the-ball rules out there today.

Every time we were tackled after having a prior opportunity and hand-balled the ball away we were pinged. The same incident with dockers player and it was play-on.

Very ordinary...

[Enrico_Misso]

Worst one was when The Wife Basher marked in the Social Club pocket in the 2nd qtr just outside 50 - he definitely played on - was then tackled.
It was either a free to us for holding the ball or a free to him for a tackle that slipped below the knee.

Instead the Maggot paid a 50m penalty.

[saint66au]

Thought it was a shockingly over-umpired game, especially in the 1st half. 20 frees paid in the 1st quarter must be some sort of record. Im sure the umps paid a free at every stoppage til 1/2 time..

It went in phases. we got a dream run when playing well in the 3rd quarter, but up til then we'd been done over bad. The Farmer playon was a shocker, the Leigh Fisher one also. But overall just TOO MANY frees, 60-odd for the game I think

[Dan Warna]

saw freo do 1h handpasses a couple of times, a dropped ball wasn't paid, one umpire did a LOVELY shepherd on blake = goal to freo, it was terrible.

[Solar]

Worst one was when The Wife Basher marked in the Social Club pocket in the 2nd qtr just outside 50 - he definitely played on - was then tackled.
It was either a free to us for holding the ball or a free to him for a tackle that slipped below the knee.

Instead the Maggot paid a 50m penalty.

silliest decision of the year, looked worst on the replay which was very funny.

There was also a high tackle paid a couple of minutes later that the umpire had to guess cause he was unsighted.

would rather see them not pay a free then pay them, over umpired like usual. take the bloody mikes off them for starters and the numbers off their backs. Put them back in white and tell them just to worry about not being noticed!!!

[Gilbert The Great]

lol some bloke behind me, not wearing any team colours yelled out "i don't barrack for either team and i still think your f****** idiots"

i think that relays, that the umpires were shocking and it just aint our biases speaking

[my les foote]

Worst one was when The Wife Basher marked in the Social Club pocket in the 2nd qtr just outside 50 - he definitely played on - was then tackled.
It was either a free to us for holding the ball or a free to him for a tackle that slipped below the knee.

Instead the Maggot paid a 50m penalty.

Technically correct decision. Baker was a couple of metres over the mark and Farmer hasn't played on until he crosses the mark. But common sense would say just let him go back and take his kick.

The one that got me was the short kick to Lenny in the back line. The mark was paid but as his momentum took him off the direct line to the goal the umpire called play on again and put him under a heap of pressure 20m out from the Freo goal.

[Dan Warna]

he ran past baker and baker stopped him when he went past him.

if baker didn't stop him farmer was through.

I did see one 50m we got that was about 75m.

geez the umpiring was just shyte.

also someone should tell the umpires exactly how far 15m is.

idiots.

[redwhite&blackblood]

Umpire #3 paid 8 free kicks to Fremantle and 2 to us ...

All the other umps were about 50/50.


#3 was an absolute disgrace.

I believe that #3 was McBerney?? He like umpire Matthew "Dick" Head will never give too many frees to the Saints. They needs to attend the Grant Thomas School of Umpiring as does Rayzor Ray Chamberlain.

[meher baba]

While I am not at all enthusiastic about more rules changes, I thought the Farmer incident may help in the long run to force the AFL to have a look at the play-on rule (Gram was pinged in a way that also annoyed me a couple of weeks ago: although in his case this was after a free kick and the ump hadn't called "play on").

Playing on is becoming increasingly the norm, and what are defenders meant to do when it happens before they can even stand on the mark?

I would have thought that, once a player makes any effort to play on, the ball should be in play. Perhaps for free kicks (like the Gram incident), the kick can be taken again if there is no advantage. But for marks, it should be bad luck: the idea that Farmer could do what he did and that Baker had no right to try and stop him is unquestionably unfair.

[milney044]

yep, its the same every week isnt it. over-umpiring once again. do they just feel like they need the authority or something or are the rules just so unclear nobody knows how to interpret them. either way something has to be done.

[meher baba]

Re the umpiring generally.

I thought the game yesterday once again demonstrated that more umpires = more free kicks. The older umps who have grown up under the older system still keep their whistles out of their mouths most of the time: but the younger brigade just seem to be enormously gung-ho, and appear to be competing with each other to spot free kicks that others have missed.

As others have said, there were several decisions yesterday where the umpire was unsighted and yet decided to guess. Given that there are two other umps on the field who can call free kicks if they see them, it is difficult to see how such actions can be justified.

Umpires who call free kicks that they can't see should be instantly demoted. I can't think of any other way for the AFL to solve this problem.

[Animal Enclosure]

The fact that McBurney, Ellis & Vozzo are all senior, very experienced umpires & they still over umpired the game.

As I have said time & time again, the problem is not with the umpires, it is with their leadership. The Giechen/Sawyers regime has overseen umpires become more pedantic, soft and ego driven. The pathetic reversal of decisions and awarding free kicks for blokes bumping each other has resulted in playing for free kicks and 'diving' reaching embarrassing levels. Our game has been highjacked by these cretins, with Adrian Anderson being the biggest of all.

I can only hope that K.Sheedy decides to help all clubs out by taking up Demetriou's offer & says I will FIX the umpiring.

[riccardo]

I have noticed the current trend in over-umpiring recently, and not just in our own game.

One thing especially that upsets me is the way they delay thier decisions (particularly on holding the ball), then throw thier arms out so far they nearly dislocate thier shoulders. Happened in the second quarter yesterday, took Ellis over 30 seconds to make his decision and another 20 over-theatrically calling it.

Please note, maggots, nobody is cheering for you, stop milking the crowd for a reaction you don't deseve.

[SaintBot]

Ellis was pathetic...cost us a few shots at goal.

I have no idea what Fraser Gehrig has to do before he can get a free...at one stage he had both his arms being held behind his back and Ellis i think it was decided to pay a free to Grover!

[bozza1980]

Saint Bot you are right, Grover had hold of each of Gehrig's arms at different points in the contest, Gehrig was then penalised for High contact!!

A bit like last week when the umpire was standing 2m away watched Bolton grab Gehrig and retard his attempt at the ball then penalise Gehrig when he grabbed at Bolton in return.

[st_Trav_ofWA]

the umpires are doing the worse job this year and its not just our games that they are shocking they really need to be kncked down a few pegs as was said they seem to get off on the crowd cheers and boos and not look at whats happening serioulsy i would rather they just call play on if its a 50/50 free or if they are blinesighted they should only make a call if they see it not on assumption

seriously the AFL want to get more kids to want to be umpires they are doing a crap job of convincing them

[SaintBot]

seriously the AFL want to get more kids to want to be umpires they are doing a crap job of convincing them

excactly...i have great fitness to be an umpire
i know the game more than enough to be an umpire
the pay for junior football is excellent for someone my age

yet i just couldnt stand the shame of being a maggot

[matrix]

the worst decision i saw this round was Motlopp (for the power) giving away a free kick for in the back when he used his foot to climb up and take a hanger in the goal square.
absolute worst decision i have seen in a while........it made the decision against Richo in the tigers game a while ago for the hands in the back look good.

the umpiring has gotten worse over the last two seasons......i think they should go to the tribunal for crap decisions