I thought Grimes showed poor decision making when retaliating by pushing over Hawk in the SS forward pocket in third qtr. However, how in the hell did it end up in the hands of Rioli from straight in front? This wasn't too long after Jones went 1/2 a metre over the mark and was instantly given a 50m penalty... and just before the umpires decided that Jamar was the only ruckman in the nation to try and avoid being pushed aside at a throw in by holding a part of his opponent.

I dunno. Lynden Dunn had that awesome soccer snap from 40m out last year for a goal, and his free kick straight afterwards was takren from where he kicked it.

Odd. Dunno why Rioli took it either, it should've been Bateman's kick.

Pretty sure someone (Rivers?) spoke to the umpire in not too many kind words after he awarded that pathetic free against Grimes and that resulted in a 50m, which resulted in Rioli kicking from the goal square.

Not that umpiring had anything to do with the result, but any chance of us not getting raped by them for once? Jamar's frees are the worst ones. He gets man handled like a little b*tch at every contest and never ever gets a free. It's stupid.

The Dunn incident was the first thing I thought about...

Overall I think the umps do a pretty good job, but I just want to see some consistency. Rules and interpretations of free kicks are changing far to frequently for the players to keep up.

How about the 'player chose advantage' rule led Roughhead into an open goal in the first half. I mean, he would've kicked the goal anyway, but every single player had stopped, then Roughhead just ran off and they said it was his call about the advantage. Absolutely shithouse rule.

edit: I just watched the replay, and the only reason why Roughhead even got the ball is because Rivers backed down in the contest because he heard the whistle (for a free against Garland to Franklin). It all doesn't matter anyway because they still would've almost 100% assuredly got the goal, but i still hate this new rule.

Edited April 3, 201114 yr by rhaz

Coming from a pretty reasonable level of Basketball umpiring my opinion is knowing the rules, all of them, their implications and interpretations is THE most important thing an umpire can do, and it just seems like every year there are that many rule changes, interpretation changes, and weekly focus changes, that umpires simply don't know as much about them as they should.

Highlight case for this week, the rushed behind in the Richmond v St Kilda game Friday night...

How about the 'player chose advantage' rule led Roughhead into an open goal in the first half. I mean, he would've kicked the goal anyway, but every single player had stopped, then Roughhead just ran off and they said it was his call about the advantage. Absolutely shithouse rule.

edit: I just watched the replay, and the only reason why Roughhead even got the ball is because Rivers backed down in the contest because he heard the whistle (for a free against Garland to Franklin). It all doesn't matter anyway because they still would've almost 100% assuredly got the goal, but i still hate this new rule.

In the Sydeney v Essendon game today Sydney were awarded a free to which Adam Goodes raised his hand to say stop and stopped running so the free could go back to be kicked and he was then called to play on... WTF?! This is what I mean about them REALLY knowing the rules

It appeared as though Razor said that because the ball was over the goal line when the infringement occured. The kick should be taken from the top of the sqaure. If it was a 50 mtr penalty, the kick would have been taken on the goal line. Not sure it was right, but Grimes was a goose for giving Bateman the shove. Not the actions of a future leader.

I agree. The advantage rule is an absolute shamble. Terrible foresight once again by the AFL and Rules Committee.