I do not think umpires are biased, but I do think there are some fundamental flaws in what we are seeing in the modern game.

I was watching West Coast against Carlton last night and while I am not a fan of either side, I found myself favouring Carlton because of the raw deal the umps were giving them.

It would appear that crowds in the West, inparticular, do intimidate the Umps at times, surely we above this happening?

Its not that they were paying the Eagles more free kicks (although they did get 10 out of the first 14 given), it was what the umpires did not give to Carlton, in my opinion blatant pushes in the back, holds and other obvious frees to everyone except those officiating. A couple in front of goal for West Coast (Darling and Cox ) were 50 /50's at best and ended up being a game changer. Some of the very best games of Football are good, because of the player's skills and the fact that no one noticed the umpiring!

Here's my grumble:

The game is one of a few ,where the rules are open to interpretation.. The umps are never consistent in their interpretation. The % of frees in front of goal can and do determine a game, apart from giving incredible confidence to the receiving team and demoralising the other team, who are battling their guts out only to have a very' iffy' decision given in front of goal.

Worst umpired decisions include holding the ball (in possession). in the back, deliberate out of bounds, holding and arm chopping.

Of course umpiring is not easy. I have followed the game for nearly 60 years and umpired in my early years. We were taught to NEVER guess, always interpret the same way. Umpires could actually communicate as to how they were going to umpire and what they would pay frees for. I believe that Umpires often umpire from the wrong side of the pack .

Its great when you hear an umpire say the he could not see and therefore could not pay a free. Disappointing but reasonable. Umpires will make mistakes as do players, but all I am after is consistency in approach and interpretation of the rules. I am sure the players are confused, because there is no doubt the supporters are.

How a player that is jumped on by 5 others and the ball is squashed under can make a genuine attempt to get rid of the ball , is beyond me. How many times have we seen a big forward hold their arm back on the defenders arm , only to receive a free kick, how manty times does it take an umpire to realise that some players are always slipping down as they are grabbed to get a 'high tackle' (it is almost impossible for the tackler to readjust his tackle), likewise players who consistently throw themselves forward when they are tackled.

Some out there might say all this is fair, get away with what you can and this is OK, but it makes it hard for the spectator to understand what rules we are playing, because they appear to change from year to year, game to game and even during a game. In the game last Monday, it was impossible to know how the 'holding the ball' rule was to be judged, because the Umps in my opinion had no consistent idea and we spectators were left guessing, yet again.

Come on Mr Geischen , am I asking too much?

I believe that Umpires often umpire from the wrong side of the pack .

I reckon that's the biggest problem - they don't know where to position themselves because they have little/no feel for the game. There needs to be a concerted effort to recruit former players that, perhaps through injury, never made it as far as they would have wanted. Then again - who would want to be an umpire?

In all honesty the umpires are ruining the game, with their unnecessary video review just to get their face on tv and their severe lack of understanding for the game. Jordan Bannister is the biggest [censored] of an umpire, I cringe everytime he umpires a melbourne game.

The umps have been favouring the Eagles on their own dung heap since time immemorial.

They get sucked in by the crowd who roar and cry foul at every single perceived or real infringement.

Umpires work for the AFL..... The AFL are about being the number one sport in Australia, and making more money than other sports...... A small brown paper bag bonus, with a preference/predetermine result. Would not surprise me........ It benefits the AFL, to have the more popular teams winning..... Magpie premierships make money.....

consistnecy???lol

Trengove 'sling" tackles....gets the MRP attention and penalty

Buddy "sling" tackles...... nothing to answer for.

Can anyone offer a reason ?? Its just rubbish that Jack was done.

You can not use the words Umpiring and Consistency in the same breath

Its not that they were paying the Eagles more free kicks (although they did get 10 out of the first 14 given), it was what the umpires did not give to Carlton, in my opinion blatant pushes in the back, holds and other obvious frees to everyone except those officiating.

Watching Us against WC earlier this year this is what stuck out to me .

It wasn't the frees they were getting, it was the blatent frees we didn't get that really [censored] me off.

Nik Nat for eg seems to have a licence to do what the hell he pleases over there.

He was holding the ball for a couple of revolutions in the tackle, pushing in the back , tackling high and no sooner had it happened , when we did the same thing the ump couldn't get on his whistle fast enough.

That game was a shocker for the lop sided free count tho'.

Something like 24 to 3 at one stage.

When I was watching the game (and I confess I didn't watch the whole thing) I felt the Blues were being hard done by but I notice the discrepancy in favour of the Eagles was only two extra free kicks. In our game the discrepancy in favour of the home team was 20 so I don't feel sorry for Carlton at all.

I reckon that they will make the eight even if they lose the next two games because the rest of their roster is reasonable and they're a better team than the others fighting for the same place. Needless to say however, I won't be crying any tears of sadness if they miss out. It would be kind of nice to see the Tigers playing in a final after all these years.

Geishen.....consistency in the one sentence !! LOL !!

I reckon that's the biggest problem - they don't know where to position themselves because they have little/no feel for the game. There needs to be a concerted effort to recruit former players that, perhaps through injury, never made it as far as they would have wanted. Then again - who would want to be an umpire?

There was a holding the ball decision against Melbourne on Monday right in front of us in the MCC Members. The ump was standing about 10m away behind them. The Melbourne player didn't even have the ball. MCC Members went beserk. The ump wasn't sighted so how could he have made the decision. Obviously only based on the filth screaming "ball". I know that it probably evens out over the game but it just seems like we get raw end all the time.

Look at our game this year in Perth. 21 frees to 1 at half time. Game over.

If it wasnt for the Deez I wouldnt follow the dog of a game.

Easy fix for the rules....allow players to tackle around the neck like rugby and.......allow players to push in the back and show pure strength.