one question from todays game.. has the holding the ball rule been abolished?? or is it just not paid to the melbourne footy club?

do the umpires not relaise that players stop playing when it is so obviously a free and then get scored against when not paid? blatant free not paid all day that even a umpire lover like tim watson askes the question? do the umpires mean to stop our run??

are they inexperienced? do they not know the rules? are they not paid enough ? do they take bribes??

is there favourtism shown to certain players and teams and if so how can anyone be bothered playing the game knowing this??

why bother having tackles in the game?? has our great game turned into touch footy like the girls used to play?

i was truly amazed as was everyone in my facinity at the umpiring against the hawks today.. disgraceful. and with such a heavy influence on the game in lots of aspects..

Hawthorn now think they are terrific unbeaten. giving them more confidence for next week

Melbourne players loose faith in constant tackling that doesnt get rewarded. from personal experience tackling once , twice then three great tackles and not getting rewarded really stops the team.. and starts you doubting the umpires..then its all downhill from there..

sure you can excuse one , two or three blatant frees but after the first quarter the umpires put the whistle away.. well when it come to melbourne frees atleast..

What response can melbourne F.C have to this if any?

write a letter of complaint..big deal the four points has gone and it is in the history books.. even if they come out next week and return the favour of the frees to us, it has already done the damage.. will we come out as hard next week? if they do it is only through great fortiude and courage and commitment.. not through faith in the umpiring system..

Do the umpires get paid enough?? is it enough to take temptation away? what happens to a umpire who totally stuffs up a game? he gets dropped .. when will this be an issue when a heavily backed team misses a final becasue of it?

What would have happened today if the roles were reversed..Melbourne had all the frees and giving the ability to play on etc etc would the punters been happy?? $10.50 vs $1.03 could this have possible had a influnece on the game?

Are the afl nieve in thinking that everything is above board?? is there enough protection in place??

could it be easier than robbing a bank?

Having seen the shadier side of life in my past i know for certain that anything that involves betting is constantly looked at for ways of exploiting..

Is there any solution? what do umpires in american sports do?

I am not saying it is happening dont get me wrong.....

But what is there to stop it and how can it be proved?

Should gambling be allowed in afl?

If you want people to read your posts:

1) Make them smaller.

2) Space out your sentences.

3) Punctuate.

But yes, if you're not a player with the profile of Lance or Mitchell, don't expect to have the umpires adjudicate fairly.

There's always bad umpiring, but Lance and Mitchell could have gotten away with murder today.

Surfa,

I was there today and I hope it looked as bad on TV as it did at the game.So many tackles where they were allowed to spin around and around and just play on. Two holding the balls against us where the ball actually come out.

I tell you anyone can play league football if you get looked after the way Sam Mitchell did today. Besides throwing the ball over his head numerous occasions it is easy to grab the ball and when you are tackled just hold on to it.

THE PLAYER MUST MAKE AN ATTEMPT TO DISPOSE OF THE BALL FFS !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Then in the last qtr when the game was over Buddy pushes Aussie in the back without the ball and the moron calls play on

I tell ya it felt like one rule for one team and one for the other :angry:

one question from todays game.. has the holding the ball rule been abolished?? or is it just not paid to the melbourne footy club?

do the umpires not relaise that players stop playing when it is so obviously a free and then get scored against when not paid? blatant free not paid all day that even a umpire lover like tim watson askes the question? do the umpires mean to stop our run??

are they inexperienced? do they not know the rules? are they not paid enough ? do they take bribes??

is there favourtism shown to certain players and teams and if so how can anyone be bothered playing the game knowing this??

why bother having tackles in the game?? has our great game turned into touch footy like the girls used to play?

i was truly amazed as was everyone in my facinity at the umpiring against the hawks today.. disgraceful. and with such a heavy influence on the game in lots of aspects..

Hawthorn now think they are terrific unbeaten. giving them more confidence for next week

Melbourne players loose faith in constant tackling that doesnt get rewarded. from personal experience tackling once , twice then three great tackles and not getting rewarded really stops the team.. and starts you doubting the umpires..then its all downhill from there..

sure you can excuse one , two or three blatant frees but after the first quarter the umpires put the whistle away.. well when it come to melbourne frees atleast..

What response can melbourne F.C have to this if any?

write a letter of complaint..big deal the four points has gone and it is in the history books.. even if they come out next week and return the favour of the frees to us, it has already done the damage.. will we come out as hard next week? if they do it is only through great fortiude and courage and commitment.. not through faith in the umpiring system..

Do the umpires get paid enough?? is it enough to take temptation away? what happens to a umpire who totally stuffs up a game? he gets dropped .. when will this be an issue when a heavily backed team misses a final becasue of it?

What would have happened today if the roles were reversed..Melbourne had all the frees and giving the ability to play on etc etc would the punters been happy?? $10.50 vs $1.03 could this have possible had a influnece on the game?

Are the afl nieve in thinking that everything is above board?? is there enough protection in place??

could it be easier than robbing a bank?

Having seen the shadier side of life in my past i know for certain that anything that involves betting is constantly looked at for ways of exploiting..

Is there any solution? what do umpires in american sports do?

I am not saying it is happening dont get me wrong.....

But what is there to stop it and how can it be proved?

Should gambling be allowed in afl?

Yes. Totally agree we were sodomised by the umps. Particularly in the last 1/4. But the rest of your post is just as baffling as the umpiring today. Total hyperbole!

they have been worse this year .. but they are very inconsistant!

somone will always be unhappy... friday night if u watched the game they payed like over 20 holding the ball decisions.... the rules change so much from interpretation from umpire to umpire which IMO is the biggest problem.

Some atrocious centre bounces, too. I counted at least three crooked mongrel bounces that landed in the lap of a Hawk player. Two of them went straight forward for goals. Infuriating.

Not going to get too upset, because todays effort was fantastic. Davey's tackle in the last quarter in front of goal could of been paid holding the ball. Almost certain goal would of made a big difference I think. Also there should of been a h.t.b decision just before Ryoli's goal also towards end of game. I dont want to winge, but it is just frustrating, when the game is in the balance at the time the free's were.

Anyway. Great signs, but hopefully it does not take a retirement each week to keep us playing this way.

The umpires were average today, many holding the ball decisions not paid. When Wonameeri (unsure how to spell) was tackled without the ball i was going crazy!!

Yes. Totally agree we were sodomised by the umps. Particularly in the last 1/4. But the rest of your post is just as baffling as the umpiring today. Total hyperbole!

Sorry mate i am on pain killers and sometimes lose it for a bit lol no offence intended just they are strong buggers and slow release ones so you get a boost now and then .....

Main point was

umpires gave us a pineapple.. do we have to take it....can anything be done ??

how can we stop these blokes from having so much influence in the games result and score line..

can anything be done ??

No.

A few times I was frustrated at how long Hawks players were given to dispose the ball while being tackled.

However, watching the game I didn't think the umpires influenced the outcome.

It's a tough one for players, because Bails is big on tackling hard, which we finally do and don't get the rewards. But looks like Bails is going to ask for a 'please explain' from the Giesh. Which probably won't amount to much.

the commentators passed comment on the change of interpretation of the holding the ball rule and the amount of time to dispose of it....

the davey tackle is an interesting one - was it holding the ball before the in the back? and did the hawthorn player contribute by dropping to his knees?

the mark williams free kick was also very very soft... but technically it was there!

the austin holding the man on the great souther side would without doubt be the biggest howler of the year... perhaps the sun was in the umpires eyes, or he was blinded by a seagull??

the lack of consistency is frustrating but with three umpires, i am not sure we will have this change!!

Then in the last qtr when the game was over Buddy pushes Aussie in the back without the ball and the moron calls play on

It was worse because Aussie didn't have the ball. This was a horrible error on the umpire's behalf, and Commetti and Watson on 7 agreed.

If anyone has watched Footy Classified, Garry Lyon discovered 'sprawling', where a player, once they feel any pressure from behind, buckles and falls over, coercing the umpire into paying in the back rather than holding the ball. I reckon it was holding the ball. This is a problem across the whole AFL. However we can't and never should blame umpires for our losses.

totally agree.... feel body contact and immediately drop to the knees!!

not sure there is anything that can be done for this - didak is the greatest exponent of it!!

also, as a ruckman can i cross the centre line and stand there while my opponent jumps? i thought that this was shepherding and against the rules, but again i must be wrong.. thought jamar was harshly treated several times!!

totally agree.... feel body contact and immediately drop to the knees!!

not sure there is anything that can be done for this - didak is the greatest exponent of it!!

also, as a ruckman can i cross the centre line and stand there while my opponent jumps? i thought that this was shepherding and against the rules, but again i must be wrong.. thought jamar was harshly treated several times!!

The first time I noticed it was last year vs Bulldogs when we lost by a goal or so. Daniel Cross was continually caught with the ball but always buckled his knees as he falls.

I agree with the rucking issue, however Jamar still doesn't know how to time his jumps properly.

the umpiring today was an absolute disgrace.

They must be held accountable for their performance like everyone else.

Slaughtered.

And we were the home team !

lol. as much as I hate bad decisions as the next person, its beyond me as to how footy supporters think umpires are actually biased to certain football sides.

If it wasn't for the MFC I wouldnt follow this dog of a game.

If it wasn't for the MFC I wouldnt follow this dog of a game.

That's a real shame. I for one love the game almost as much as I love the Dees.

That's a real shame. I for one love the game almost as much as I love the Dees.

Don't get me wrong I love a great "Well umpired" game of footy be any side. (When was the last time you saw this?)

Fact is, the umpiring in the last 10 years of this game is atrocious and getting worse. Never has it got any better nor do I see it becoming better in the future.

Hence if the Deez weren't around I would waste my time watching a game that is decided on [censored] rules made by ignoramasus.

I'm fine with the Dees getting 8 frees, I'd be happy if it was like this every week, as long as the opposition get around the same amount of frees.

Problem with umpiring as I see it, is that they're told to pay too many free kicks, and ajudge a free kick in too many situations where it could easily be blown as play on

This weeks poor umpiring was more to do with the one's they were paying to WC rather than the ones we didn't get. Frustrates the hell out of me, WC get the good treatment back at THEIR home, why can't we get the same?

.....Fact is, the umpiring in the last 10 years of this game is atrocious and getting worse. Never has it got any better nor do I see it becoming better in the future. .....

I disagree that it is getting worse.

When I started watching footy in 1966 as a primary school kid, the umpiring was just as bad as it is now. After every game the talk was always about the bad umpiring and losing supporters nearly always blamed the umpire. As now, the "holding the ball" rule and holding/pushing in marking contests were always issues. The other team always seemed to get the "ticky-touch" frees and we were never paid the obvious ones.

The umpires were always abused and referred to as "bilnd" or as "white-maggots".

As the game got quicker it got even worse and hence 2 umpires were introduced. We than had arguments about inconsistencies between the 2 umpires.

While I don't agree that it has got any worse, I do agree that it will never get any better. That is just the nature of the game.

It's a tough one for players, because Bails is big on tackling hard, which we finally do and don't get the rewards. But looks like Bails is going to ask for a 'please explain' from the Giesh. Which probably won't amount to much.

The Giesch won't respond with much. Maybe an acknowledgement of the "stuff -ups". Bails will go back to the Junction with a big fat "0".

the umpiring today was an absolute disgrace.

They must be held accountable for their performance like everyone else.

Absolute disgrace, you can say that again!

I'm fine with the Dees getting 8 frees, I'd be happy if it was like this every week, as long as the opposition get around the same amount of frees.

Problem with umpiring as I see it, is that they're told to pay too many free kicks, and ajudge a free kick in too many situations where it could easily be blown as play on

To me as long as they pay decisions where it is warranted and on merit. I don't care about who gets what, but they must pay the correct decisions by the rules stipulated and to the correct interpretation.