"I don't think he heard the whistle"

[Toorak 108]

Sydney - Hawks game. This is what the ump said after a hawks player kicked the ball down field after a free kick was awarded against him. WTF!!!

[Tony Tea 2,809]

What I tweeted immediately after the non-fifty:

"Didn't hear the whistle"!?!?!?!?!?!? He was standing in front of the empty bulldozers.

[King Kunta 97]

How dare he apply common sense!

[Nasher 33,617]

Sydney - Hawks game. This is what the ump said after a hawks player kicked the ball down field after a free kick was awarded against him. WTF!!!

Yes. The other good one is when one of our players was flattened after taking a mark (can't remember who it was now). Ump's response? "He did it by accident." So what? The rule doesn't have to say it was deliberate.

How about the necessity to have eyes on the ball all the time? As Dunstall pointed out on TV, surely you've got the right to assess what's going on around you.

And "the making an attempt" thing when legimitately tackled. Surely the only possibilities are, you had no prior opportunity to get rid of it so ball up; you had prior opportunity but didn't dispose correctly so free kick, or you disposed correctly; play on. Apparently there's a fourth now: had no prior opportunity, but you didn't flail your pinned arms around like a madman in a futile (and probably fake) attempt to get rid of the ball, so free kick to the tackler.

How's Buddy's "natural arc" these days?

We could do this all day.

[Toorak 108]

How dare he apply common sense!

How can the umpire know what a player has heard and not heard? Must have incredible powers!

[King Kunta 97]

Well if he perceives he nor the other players around him have heard the whistle as they all continue to play on that is a very reasonable conclusion.

[45HG 1,559]

Yes. The other good one is when one of our players was flattened after taking a mark (can't remember who it was now). Ump's response? "He did it by accident." So what? The rule doesn't have to say it was deliberate.

Jeremy Howe going for the first goal - which I had him for... Rubbish umpiring (as it was for the most).

[jnrmac 20,189]

Yes. The other good one is when one of our players was flattened after taking a mark (can't remember who it was now). Ump's response? "He did it by accident." So what? The rule doesn't have to say it was deliberate.

How about the necessity to have eyes on the ball all the time? As Dunstall pointed out on TV, surely you've got the right to assess what's going on around you.

And "the making an attempt" thing when legimitately tackled. Surely the only possibilities are, you had no prior opportunity to get rid of it so ball up; you had prior opportunity but didn't dispose correctly so free kick, or you disposed correctly; play on. Apparently there's a fourth now: had no prior opportunity, but you didn't flail your pinned arms around like a madman in a futile (and probably fake) attempt to get rid of the ball, so free kick to the tackler.

How's Buddy's "natural arc" these days?

We could do this all day.

crap umpiring yesterday. The Howe decision was a disgrace. The deliberate out of bounds was unbelievable on Watts. Jacobs molested spencer all day in the centre square - hardly a free. There were a dozen howlers.

[diesel 420]

We could do this all day.

Don't start me. After yesterdays inpet unpiring display I really need the 6 months off to get over them (as well as the footy club)

[titan_uranus 25,045]

I usually don't see the point in criticising umpires, but I'm going to make an exception to my rule:

Yesterday's umpiring was the worst I have ever seen. This is not hyperbole. I sat there yesterday, with the game clearly decided, trying to make sense of it.

Umpire Leppard is a complete hack. Those two free kicks he paid against Spencer in the ruck were totally shocking decisions and no AFL umpire should have seen any free kick there. He also paid the holding the ball decision on the Members' Wing against Douglas, which was a complete disgrace. He may have (though I'm not sure) paid the holding the ball against Jones, when he accidentally took possession due to another player fumbling, was, quite literally, immediately tackled, and had no chance to dispose of it. He also failed to award a 50 metre penalty when someone (was it Howe? Tapscott? I can't remember) in the first quarter had an Adelaide player run into him as he ran back from his mark.

Don't even start me on the deliberate out of bounds decision either.

[Sammbo 19]

How come the Umps missed the Adelaide Runners in the last quarter?

They were the guys in bright orange.

Isn't the idea give instructions to a player then get off?

Not coaching on the field. Totally ignored by the Umps ...no effing idea.

Apparently the Umpires are ranked. We got the rank ones yesterday.

Edit : Spelling

Edited August 27, 2012 by Sammbo

[monoccular 17,575]

How can the umpire know what a player has heard and not heard? Must have incredible powers!

Well some of them seem to think they are God.

[Chook 15,022]

What about that bloke who tripped Sellar after he had taken the mark which prevented him from running into an open goal. Clear fifty. I reckon we lost about 4-6 goals (all in the early part of the game, which is significant) due to atrocious umpire decisions/non-decisions.

[sue 9,145]

I agree the umpiring was terrible. I particularly liked the irony of the holding the ball "didn't make a genuine attempt" paid against the Adelaide player who was comatose. We could indeed go on all day.

But leaving aside the incompetence of Sunday's crew, a couple of glaring rules/interpretation needs attention by the AFL. The 'genuine attempt' nonsense as pointed out by Nasher is top of the list. He also reminds us of Buddy's natural arc. There should be no exceptions, eg. "because I'm tall, my natural tackling arc is to rip people's heads off, so you can't pay over the shoulder against me".