Umpire McLaren - why is he still umpiring?

[The Great Pretender 430]

All we can ask of someone who officiates at the highest level is for some consistency of interpretation. This was completely lacking form McLaren in the Melbourne v North Melbourne game.

A better umpire would have been able to control this game a lot better. He should join Goldspink in the retirement village.

[Prodigal Son 0]

All we can ask of someone who officiates at the highest level is for some consistency of interpretation. This was completely lacking form McLaren in the Melbourne v North Melbourne game.

A better umpire would have been able to control this game a lot better. He should join Goldspink in the retirement village.

I noticed people in the crowd blaming Mclaren for decisions that were made by Umpire No 24 even though he had some hair!

Saying that I groan when I see Mclaren is umpiring a Melb game.

Whenever there is more than one person officiating on a game you get inconsistency.

I watched a game of school boy rugby on saturday and the ref made a number of ordinary decisions but they were consistent .

[Gorgoroth 12,351]

If McLearen died there would be thousands at his funeral.....All Clapping!

[DemonTux 95]

If McLearen died there would be thousands at his funeral.....All Clapping!

dad and i would be there with a glass of bubbly.

[pantaloons 2,019]

If McLearen died there would be thousands at his funeral.....All Clapping!

It's not often I laugh out loud reading Demonland, but that was one of the most disgraceful yet amusing comments I've read.

McLaren never ceases to amaze with his lack of consistency and his ability to consistently appear as though he is a lost international tourist looking for the Sport Museum who has accidentally stumbled onto the ground.

[deanox 8,762]

Whenever there is more than one person officiating on a game you get inconsistency.

I watched a game of school boy rugby on saturday and the ref made a number of ordinary decisions but they were consistent .

an argument i have made many a time. i play rugby, and while we often get terrible refs, at least most of the time the ref makes terrible decisions all day.

at afl level you get three different umpires, so its likely that they never have to adjudicate the same situation with the same players twice. it is a problem, and the afl dont seem to care enough to try and fix it.

[The HuLK 139]

The way he spoke to Dunn wasn`t on.. Clearly you can hear in the channel 7 mics hearing McLaren saying "your`ve lost it" meaning his mind... If it was the other way around, i would hate to see what would happen! Disgrace!

[titan_uranus 22,725]

I thought the umpiring yesterday was really, really bad. Some decisions, made by all three umpires, were just crap. The 50 metre penalty paid against Bartram early on was not a 50 metre penalty IMO. Moreover, later in the game there were a couple of times when I thought, based on that 50, that we could have been given one (Firrito pushed Miller after his mark, someone else got tackled after marking). There was a situation that I and many of those around me thought was a clear holding the ball (against Corey Jones, 3rd quarter I think) that wasn't paid.

I'm not for a moment suggesting that this was the reason, or even a reason, for our loss. I am just commenting on an aspect of football.

Anyway I think I've ranted on enough here.

[jacey 333]

Who cares. we sux now so by the time we'll be good, he'll have retired. (hopefully)

[gOLLy 401]

dad and i would be there with a glass of bubbly.

I want to [censored] on his coffin

[sideshowbob 0]

I may disagree with some of McLaren's umpiring decisions, but some of the comments on this thread disgust me.

I'd love to see some of the people who are wishing death upon McLaren put up with some of the stuff he cops just for doing his job. If it wasn't for James Hird many of you wouldn't even know who he was. In fact, I'd love to see some of you have a go at umpiring if you think it's so damn easy. Call your local league and have a go and see if you can hack it for more than two weeks.

[H_T 2,941]

I want to [censored] on his coffin

Ill just use the old AFL motto, "I'd like to see that!"

I think he's umpiring still, so he just won't be remembered for upsetting James Hird which resulted in a $20K fine for Mr.Hird.

[Cheney 38]

All we can ask of someone who officiates at the highest level is for some consistency of interpretation. This was completely lacking form McLaren in the Melbourne v North Melbourne game.

A better umpire would have been able to control this game a lot better. He should join Goldspink in the retirement village.

Wishing death on a person is not the way to go about it.. No doubt his umpiring, for many years now has been below par and the AFL should moniter his games with interest. His a maggot and should hang up the whistle for at seasons end.

[Gorgoroth 12,351]

I never wished death upon him, I just said what I thought, that no one would be too upset if he died (well some of his family if they are not football followers, if they are they prob hate him too)

[Oxxx 0]

I'll give McLaren a little bit of credit; atleast he pays poor decisions both ways & isn't biased towards a specific club. Who was umpire #24? He refused to give blatent free kicks when he was 5m away from the ball & it was right infront of him!

[dees_rule_4eva 22]

As an umpire myself, I know how hard it is to officiate in a game that is so quick, you do need to make split second decisions.

That said, umpire Scott McLaren has been performing below par for some time now. In particular, his inconsistency regarding the holding the ball rule is frustrating to say the least.

His second report of Dunn on Sunday was laughable. He seems to be a person who carries on a little bit, likes to dramatise things.

While I'd like to have a crack at umpiring AFL (I'm one level below at the moment), I'm not sure I could take the heat that they take.

I'm also a budding business man, having completed numerous degrees in sports management. I do harbour ambitions to become an influential figure in the AFL one day and you can rest assured that umpiring is one department I hope I can influence one day.

[gOLLy 401]

As an umpire myself, I know how hard it is to officiate in a game that is so quick, you do need to make split second decisions.

That said, umpire Scott McLaren has been performing below par for some time now. In particular, his inconsistency regarding the holding the ball rule is frustrating to say the least.

His second report of Dunn on Sunday was laughable. He seems to be a person who carries on a little bit, likes to dramatise things.

While I'd like to have a crack at umpiring AFL (I'm one level below at the moment), I'm not sure I could take the heat that they take.

I'm also a budding business man, having completed numerous degrees in sports management. I do harbour ambitions to become an influential figure in the AFL one day and you can rest assured that umpiring is one department I hope I can influence one day.

Make sure you come umpiring our games

[Prodigal Son 0]

an argument i have made many a time. i play rugby, and while we often get terrible refs, at least most of the time the ref makes terrible decisions all day.

at afl level you get three different umpires, so its likely that they never have to adjudicate the same situation with the same players twice. it is a problem, and the afl dont seem to care enough to try and fix it.

I'd even go further than three umpire adjudicating differenetly I beleive they treat backs forwards and Mids differently, so you could have upto 9 interpretations of the same rule.

The rules committee probably didn't consider the effect of all the rule changes (to speed up the game) on the umpires and I shudder everytime I hear someone suggest we need another Umpire.

[tess 19]

The way he spoke to Dunn wasn`t on.. Clearly you can hear in the channel 7 mics hearing McLaren saying "your`ve lost it" meaning his mind... If it was the other way around, i would hate to see what would happen! Disgrace!

I think you're more liable to lose it when a pencil neck nerd keeps telling you that you have.

The umpiring on the weekend was a disgrace. The call against Daniel Cross was shocking along with one of the worst 50 meters ive ever seen, which happened in the same game.

[45HG 1,539]

My pet hate at the moment is forwards punching the arms of defenders, and nothing coming of it.

Sylvia, as a forward, hardly got touched yet got the free, yet numerous times defenders were going up for a mark only to have their arms ripped away.

In front of me in the first quarter, and i admit i haven't seen a replay, but it looked as though Corey Jones ripped Bell out of the contest then took the mark. Now, maybe it shouldn't have been a free, but rest assured if Bell did the same thing to Jones it would've been a free to the forward.

[H_T 2,941]

I think you're more liable to lose it when a pencil neck nerd keeps telling you that you have.

There's been a few sly remarks lately from the umpires to the players I've noticed. But, that's footy.

The umpire who penalised a player for simply pointing his finger at him, needs a thicker skin and should be dropped this week.