Umpiring determined the outcome

[pitmaster 3,591]

I know it's boring to harp on about umpires but 28 home town frees to 13 for the visitors?

In a game with almost equal possession stats?

And then the bullet headed barrel Justin Schmitt redefines the speccy by disallowing a goal square mark to Jeremy Howe in the third quarter which quickly became a 12 point turnaround.

The Upside? the SHEER INCOMPETENCE of Schmitt and his less experienced accomplices cost us the game - I know we did likewsie with appalling disposal near goal, change either factor and you change the result - boosted us from pick 17 in the national draft to pick 12.

Hope we use it well.

[JACKATTACK 17]

I know it's boring to harp on about umpires but 28 home town frees to 13 for the visitors?

In a game with almost equal possession stats?

And then the bullet headed barrel Justin Schmitt redefines the speccy by disallowing a goal square mark to Jeremy Howe in the third quarter which quickly became a 12 point turnaround.

The Upside? the SHEER INCOMPETENCE of Schmitt and his less experienced accomplices cost us the game - I know we did likewsie with appalling disposal near goal, change either factor and you change the result - boosted us from pick 17 in the national draft to pick 12.

Hope we use it well.

Agreed; almost as one sided as the triple M commentry for the day.

[diesel 420]

I know it's boring to harp on about umpires but 28 home town frees to 13 for the visitors?

In a game with almost equal possession stats?

And then the bullet headed barrel Justin Schmitt redefines the speccy by disallowing a goal square mark to Jeremy Howe in the third quarter which quickly became a 12 point turnaround.

The Upside? the SHEER INCOMPETENCE of Schmitt and his less experienced accomplices cost us the game - I know we did likewsie with appalling disposal near goal, change either factor and you change the result - boosted us from pick 17 in the national draft to pick 12.

Hope we use it well.

An absolute joke, holding the ball rulings just give me the shits. The missed mark. Motlop holding the ball, Port deliberate out-of-bounds. I feel like getting a video copy of this game and going through it to ask the AFL for an explanation! I hope the club does?

And so people know we're not whinging the Port supporters around me were giggling throughout. Umpires were clearly sucked in by the occasion.

[Rhino Richards 1,467]

The repeated whinging about the umpires is indeed boring. They were poor yesterday but MFC were worse.

If people really want to focus on the reasons I would have thought our goal kicking for starters was atrocious.

Port were a better side than us on the day and were more focussed when it counted.

The seasons over. Its more productive to focus on how we improve in 2012 than fester on what we cant change in 2011.

[Webber 10,650]

I have thought for some years that the home ground advantage for South Australian and Western Australian clubs is around the 4 goal margin against Victorian teams, before the ball is even bounced. This can be put down to varying levels of ground knowledge, crowd support to the players(psychological), and crowd influence on the umpiring, which one has to assume is largely unconscious on the part of the umpires. It is interesting to look at free kick ratios for all these games, and it consistently and heavily favours the home team. This is not the case for Victorian teams at home, and somewhere between for Geelong, Sydney, and Brisbane.

Never before however, have I felt the umpiring directly create the result so much as it did yesterday in Adelaide. Port Adelaide won the game as a direct result of umpiring incompetence. Yes, I know we were ordinary, fluffed our chances, turned to ball over etc, and in no way is that diminished, but good umpiring would have reversed the result. It's an awkward thing to raise when you lose, due to the accusations of sour grapes, whingeing, etc., but yesterday is an excellent example of the reality. With a free kick count of 28 to 13 in Port Adelaide's favour, there was a clearly non-partisan interpretation of the holding the ball rule, and what constitutes a 'throw'. That is without mentioning the Jeremy Howe non-mark, which was the sort of decision which goes closer than anything else to ruining the entire game for this fan, with the game poised as it was. The Daniel Motlop non-holding the ball decision was equally appalling.

Leaving yesterday aside, I find it difficult to watch interstate games for any club, because of this clear effect. The AFL of course are aware of it, but I guess feel it's in the 'too hard' bin to do anything meaningful about, and probably see it as a fair price to pay for the Victorian numbers dominance in the game. Nevertheless it is hugely disappointing, and sadly diminishes the spectacle of our great game.

[diesel 420]

The repeated whinging about the umpires is indeed boring. They were poor yesterday but MFC were worse.

We're entitled to complain about something separately that is out of our control. Were you an umpire? You sound like Jeff Geischen!

[The Backyard Charizard 1,202]

+1

I was there and it was a disgrace.... I defy anyone to watch a replay and say otherwise

[Yokozuna 1,004]

Why do people get on a topic about complaining about the umpiring just to tell people not to whinge.

Might as well tell us not to post on the site while we are at it!

Anyway, in regards to the umpiring, I tried to stay subjective, but after several ridiculous decisions, followed by missed decisions, I had to walk the dog to leave the house!

The no mark to Howe, how can a senior umpire explain to the players that it came out when he hit the ground, thats why it was not a mark!!!!!!!!!!!

The throws they paid against us, when they allow players to take on everyone, and "make an attempt" where the ball slips out, is dropped etc yet we get holding the ball.

The way Jamar gets mauled in the ruck and then gets frees against him whenever he touches someone.

How they dont recall bounces all the time.

How they got a goal in the last quarter when it got thrown in from a boundary about 5 metres short.

A very frustrating finish to a shocking year.

And yes RR, we know that we were not great, and Port tried hard, but the umpires, especially 17 (i hate that we actually know his name, he should not be seen).

[Juicebox 633]

It's an awkward thing to raise when you lose, due to the accusations of sour grapes, whingeing, etc., but yesterday is an excellent example of the reality.

Couldn't agree more. Yesterday was nothing short of a disgrace and you wonder if the game actually had any significance, we might actually be hearing more about it (the umpiring).

[george_on_the_outer 7,865]

+1

I was there and it was a disgrace.... I defy anyone to watch a replay and say otherwise

I warned the young guys next to me before the game about Schmitt and he didn't fail.

The sheer number of wrong calls from him is incredible. Not when the situation is 50/50 but 100% obvious to someone watching the game. Not just this week, but every week. At least Razor Ray plucks them from nowhere, but this guy just makes the wrong call..

He started with a throw call against Blease in the first quarter, that was a clear hand-ball. (It was 5m away from us in full view ) Trouble was he called it from 30m away. Jamar pushed in the back all game by Brogan. ....but then he probably wanted the leave the stadium alive, and not upset the Port ferals....

[PeterJames 46]

I never blame the umpires, think its an easy way out. If we were good enough we would have won.

Having said that the umpiring was dreadful, Decision were horrible. The non mark to Howe even after the umpire belw the whistle to pay it was terrible. Two occasions Motlop and Rodan were tackled dropped the ball and was called play. Blease was tackled for half a second then it slipped down and was legged as he kicked it and was pinned.

It wasn't just our game, I watched the Gold Coast v Hawks game and that was terribly over umpired. THe free kick to Johnson was shocking in the last minutes. Then a Suns player was in the action of kicking and was half tackled, still managed to get his boot to the ball and was pinned for holding the ball. Then there was the issue bouncing the ball which in all games seemed a struggle.

[DemonOX 8,849]

Yes the umps were bad but at the end of the day the Dees lost it.

You can not expect to win a game when you kick points, dont apply pressure for 4 qrts and continually kick it to the opposition which has been the Dees way for most of the season.

Their skills for the past 4 years has been pathetic for AFL footballers. Bailey has a lot to answer for. Its going to take time to get the game plan (and I use the term very very losely) which Bailey implemented in the players out of their system.

Once we get a coach that knows what he is doing we will move forward. As bad as this season has been we are in a better position than in previous seasons. One thing Bailey did do was cull the list.

Keep the faith. GO DEES.

[Deetective Sgt. Taggert 389]

A suprisingly honest appraisal from a journo:

http://www.theage.com.au/afl/afl-news/oval-move-proves-winner-all-round-20110904-1jsfg.html

It was a grand occasion, and somewhere hidden in a plot must have been a decree that Port must win this historic first game here against Melbourne - and it did, by eight points, thus avoiding the wooden spoon.

Melbourne did everything to lose, especially in a horror patch from a magnificent 53-metre goal by Port's Travis Boak after the quarter-time siren to midway through the second term when Port kicked six of the seven goals and the Demons had four embarrassing misses.

The Demons responded with a four-goal burst, but it all seemed to come apart when umpire Justin Schmitt took away what seemed a sensational mark from Melbourne's Jeremy Howe in front of goal, which would have given them the lead.

Within a minute Port started another three-goal blitz. For the record, the final free-kick count was amazingly one-sided, 28-13 in Port's favour.

The script went to plan nicely

[Jumping Jack Clennett 1,825]

I have thought for some years that the home ground advantage for South Australian and Western Australian clubs is around the 4 goal margin against Victorian teams, before the ball is even bounced. This can be put down to varying levels of ground knowledge, crowd support to the players(psychological), and crowd influence on the umpiring, which one has to assume is largely unconscious on the part of the umpires. It is interesting to look at free kick ratios for all these games, and it consistently and heavily favours the home team. This is not the case for Victorian teams at home, and somewhere between for Geelong, Sydney, and Brisbane.

Never before however, have I felt the umpiring directly create the result so much as it did yesterday in Adelaide. Port Adelaide won the game as a direct result of umpiring incompetence. Yes, I know we were ordinary, fluffed our chances, turned to ball over etc, and in no way is that diminished, but good umpiring would have reversed the result. It's an awkward thing to raise when you lose, due to the accusations of sour grapes, whingeing, etc., but yesterday is an excellent example of the reality. With a free kick count of 28 to 13 in Port Adelaide's favour, there was a clearly non-partisan interpretation of the holding the ball rule, and what constitutes a 'throw'. That is without mentioning the Jeremy Howe non-mark, which was the sort of decision which goes closer than anything else to ruining the entire game for this fan, with the game poised as it was. The Daniel Motlop non-holding the ball decision was equally appalling.

Leaving yesterday aside, I find it difficult to watch interstate games for any club, because of this clear effect. The AFL of course are aware of it, but I guess feel it's in the 'too hard' bin to do anything meaningful about, and probably see it as a fair price to pay for the Victorian numbers dominance in the game. Nevertheless it is hugely disappointing, and sadly diminishes the spectacle of our great game.

Absolutely right, Webber.

I was at the Adelaide Oval yesterday, and it was clear from the start that there was immense pressure from the crowd on the umpires.

It would have taken a lot of courage and knowledge for the umpires to adjudicate fairly. They showed neither.

[Supermercado 2,806]

Umpiring was a farce but we should still have spanked them. Not being able to kick straight, man up or win a centre clearance hurt us just as much.

[Nasher 33,642]

It would have taken a lot of courage and knowledge for the umpires to adjudicate fairly. They showed neither.

I don't think it's knowledge or courage, I think it's an actual skill to think impartially and independently of the environment. One that was clearly lacking in the umpires adjudicating the game yesterday.

I'm normally the first to deride people for whinging about the umpiring after a loss, but yesterday... Wow. Just wow.

[Guest Gotzy15]

I totally agree. Absolute disgrace!! The decision that really astounded me was the garland/westoff one in the last qtr. couldn't believe when garland got pinged for holding the ball right in front of goal when for a start he wasn't even tackled at all,he just dropped the ball as a result of getting a little clip to the ankle. If anything it was a trip. The standard of umpiring is something that just never seems to improve! They need to make it a full time job!

[Demonic Ascent 0]

Do you really expect anything else? These guys are part-timers, the one area of the game that has not progressed with the times in I don't know how many decades. Is an umpire today any different to an umpire from the 50's, barring the fact that there are three of them now instead of one?

If you pay peanuts you get monkeys. If the AFL was serious about fixing the rubbish umpiring and having some integrity in the game they would hire full-time professional umpires. But I guess $1.25 billion over 5 years isn't enough to cover their wages.

[mordja 187]

Umpiring was terrible but seriously....it was Port, who should have been wooden spooners.

We had 11 behinds at half time. Blokes like Morton missing from 35 out in the clear on a slight angle etc etc.

Umpiring was as bad as I had seen it, but the result was in the hands of our players.

The Howe mark that was a ball up does baffle me though.

[Nasher 33,642]

If you pay peanuts you get monkeys. If the AFL was serious about fixing the rubbish umpiring and having some integrity in the game they would hire full-time professional umpires. But I guess $1.25 billion over 5 years isn't enough to cover their wages.

Genuine question - how would making them full time help? What would they fill their weeks with when they're not umpiring? I imagine their time commitment is in the order of 10 hours a week (just guessing), bumping that up to 40 seems like a huge jump.

[PartyTimeJohnny 537]

we missed 14 shots at goal........thats not the umpires fault

[Jumping Jack Clennett 1,825]

I know it's boring to harp on about umpires but 28 home town frees to 13 for the visitors?

In a game with almost equal possession stats?

And then the bullet headed barrel Justin Schmitt redefines the speccy by disallowing a goal square mark to Jeremy Howe in the third quarter which quickly became a 12 point turnaround.

The Upside? the SHEER INCOMPETENCE of Schmitt and his less experienced accomplices cost us the game - I know we did likewsie with appalling disposal near goal, change either factor and you change the result - boosted us from pick 17 in the national draft to pick 12.

Hope we use it well.

Great post, Pitmaster! And so spot on. I like your description of Schmitt!! But I would have used the word "henchmen" rather than "accomplices"!

And I reckon it's fair enough for us keen supporters to have a thoroughly justified beef about the umpiring on a club's unofficial website. The holy joes who "never blame the umpires" can wallow in their self-righteousness.We didn't play well, but we played better than Port, but they won because of the biased decisions. It's a one-eyed view, but we should be able to express it on a supporters' forum.

[Rhino Richards 1,467]

Umpiring was terrible but seriously....it was Port, who should have been wooden spooners.

We had 11 behinds at half time. Blokes like Morton missing from 35 out in the clear on a slight angle etc etc.

Umpiring was as bad as I had seen it, but the result was in the hands of our players.

The Howe mark that was a ball up does baffle me though.

Cut it out mordja, it was the umpires fault.

[Demonic Ascent 0]

Genuine question - how would making them full time help? What would they fill their weeks with when they're not umpiring? I imagine their time commitment is in the order of 10 hours a week (just guessing), bumping that up to 40 seems like a huge jump.

Off the top of my head, they could dedicate that time to reviewing tapes, being coached on decisions, further training, education of the rules and perhaps even the evolution of the rules, education on "the spirit of the game" and the evolution of the game, even maybe attending training sessions with clubs on a rotating basis.

Fact is, if you treat them like amateurs they will behave like amateurs. If you treat them like professionals they will behave like professionals. Look at professional umpires/referees in in other sports (NBA, NFL, soccer etc) - yes there are obviously times where the fans will disagree with a decision but nowhere near as much as in the AFL. How often do you leave a game these days where both sets of fans agree that the umpiring was rubbish for both teams. It's gotten so bad that it is just a given now that the umpires are rubbish and the interpretation of certain rules changes from year-to-year, week-to-week and even contest-to-contest. There are things which make umpiring aussie rules difficult however there are also some things which make it easy. Umpiring in the spirit of the game, not paying "technical" free kicks, only paying what you can see etc The spirit of the game is for it to be a free-flowing contested sport. Not every time there is a contest should the umpire be looking for a free kick they should only pay a free if there is a blatant free i.e. push in the back, holding the man, too high, trip etc

Bottom line is in a professional sport making so much coin the umpires should be professional in this day and age. In addition to anything else written above you would think it might actually help attract some more competent people to the job as well, maybe even some with football experience who weren't quite good enough to make the top grade but who could still get paid handsomely to participate at the highest level.

Either that or they could work on their bounces and throw-ins all day. B)

[hoopla 418]

I have thought for some years that the home ground advantage for South Australian and Western Australian clubs is around the 4 goal margin against Victorian teams, before the ball is even bounced. This can be put down to varying levels of ground knowledge, crowd support to the players(psychological), and crowd influence on the umpiring,....

This is not the case for Victorian teams at home, and somewhere between for Geelong, Sydney, and Brisbane.

I find it difficult to watch interstate games for any club, because of this clear effect. The AFL of course are aware of it, but I guess feel it's in the 'too hard' bin to do anything meaningful about, and probably see it as a fair price to pay for the Victorian numbers dominance in the game. Nevertheless it is hugely disappointing, and sadly diminishes the spectacle of our great game.

I can't let this sad case of Victorian parochialism pass without comment.

To somehow suggest that the home ground advantage enjoyed by the SA and WA teams diminishes the spectacle of our great game - and that there is no such thing as a home ground advantage for Victorian teams - is ridiculous.

How can you possibly say that Fremantle has a "spectacle-destroying" home ground advantage when it plays Collingwood at Subiaco - while Collingwood does not have a home ground advantage at all when it plays Freo at the G?

There were some shocking decisions yesterday - but the fact is that we are the only interstate team to lose to Port in Adelaide all season. Their only other wins were against Richmond in Darwin- and the Crows!!