Last Saturday at Etihad,I noticed the Umpires accidentally point the wrong way three times after awarding free kicks.

This error is very likely to cost the offending side a goal, since they press forward when they should be creating defensive zones.

The defence is torn wide open.

Do the umpires realise the gravity of this simple piece of absent-mindedness?

Yeah this has happened a few times this NAB cup. Haven't really seen it much in the Home/Away. Umpires just having a hard time wrapping their heads around some of the rules of NAB?

Last Saturday at Etihad,I noticed the Umpires accidentally point the wrong way three times after awarding free kicks.

This error is very likely to cost the offending side a goal, since they press forward when they should be creating defensive zones.

The defence is torn wide open.

Do the umpires realise the gravity of this simple piece of absent-mindedness?

At least they were consistent with something.

What about the free on the Western boundary when the ball bounced off a Hawthorn player and the maggots stopped play for 30 secs to confer and then gave the the free to the Hawks. AFter our players had started running towards our goal as they knew the Hawks were the last to touch it,

There were so many howlers last week it was a &*^%$^#%$ disgrace. Brad Sewell 5 free kicks - 4 for over the shoulder after he ducked his head. Luke Hodge for a high tackle that never went above his shoulder. The list goes on. One of the worst performances seen by the maggots.

Sometimes you might notice that It looks like they have their hand out the wrong way but it's because it's a pack situation and they are pointing to whole the free kick is for, which means for an instant they are pointing the wrong way and the crowd don't realise what the umpire is saying

What about the free on the Western boundary when the ball bounced off a Hawthorn player and the maggots stopped play for 30 secs to confer and then gave the the free to the Hawks. AFter our players had started running towards our goal as they knew the Hawks were the last to touch it,

There were so many howlers last week it was a &*^%$^#%$ disgrace. Brad Sewell 5 free kicks - 4 for over the shoulder after he ducked his head. Luke Hodge for a high tackle that never went above his shoulder. The list goes on. One of the worst performances seen by the maggots.

While I agree that umpires have bad days and inconsistent performances

Lets Not ever refer to them in derogatory terms such as maggotts

No matter how difficult it is they do control a game and there is little point in antagonising them.

I think we do need to get the support of the umpires by being in front playing hard but fair and accepting not disputing their apparent errors.

We could get the umpires to the club to review our tackling as we seem to give a lot of high tackles and in the backs while receiving few.

Our errors seem to be penalised even commentators call them while we receive little benefit from opposition errors.

With the pace of the modern game, it's little wonder that the umpires make "slip ups" to the degree that they do. Apart from the odd prima dona (Ray), the umpires probably deserve a better go than we supporters give them.

As I understand it (correct me if I'm wrong), unlike many of the players, umpires are not highly paid professionals, but rather depend on full time employment outside of footy to survive. I think I read somewhere that they are on an income (last year) around the $60k mark... it's little wonder they are getting harder to recruit, given the abuse that they have to put up with.

Sometimes you might notice that It looks like they have their hand out the wrong way but it's because it's a pack situation and they are pointing to whole the free kick is for, which means for an instant they are pointing the wrong way and the crowd don't realise what the umpire is saying

Maybe true sometimes, but the number of times the players have all run the 'wrong' way during the NAB cup would indicate that they are as confused as the spectators. With the way the game is played nowadays, it is essential they get this right or it gives an unfair advantage to the side which gets the free.

I wouldn't mind 60k a year and I'm pretty sure if I made the amount of mistakes they do in 1 day I'd lose my 50k job...

We're they the usual experienced umpires or, like clubs do at this time, was the Umpire's Department trialing their equivalent of "rookies"?

I did hear on one of the foxtel games that some of the umpires were rookies hoping to stake a claim for the 2012 season can't remember which game that was...

As much as I hate this,umpiring is the hardest job in the AFL. I umpired a junior match some years ago and thought I did a good job,I thought I was fair, consistant, implemented the rules correctly, I was nearly killed walking off the ground by members of the losing team's supporters and vowed never to put myself in that situation again. It was an under 14's game. AFL umpires have my respect and whilst I do not always agree with their decisions,it is the hardest job in the AFL

I wouldn't mind 60k a year and I'm pretty sure if I made the amount of mistakes they do in 1 day I'd lose my 50k job...

So DemonMuzza, why don't you apply for a job as an AFL umpire... it sounds like you consider it to be pretty easy and you would be $10K per year better off :-)