Has AFL become too hard to officiate

[olisik 4,060]

Been watching the soccer lately and the simplistic rules makes it so clear cut when officiated with only fouls, handballs and offsides that really need to be looked at.

Almlst every AFL game I watch now it seems the umpiring is a topic of dicussion one way or another and is this due to the difficulty and complexity of our game.

Right now our umpires need to look for a shitload of different things which makes it extremely difficulty to adjudicate accurately with so many rules.

Is it time for our game to be simplified opposed to adding more and more rules like they are currently doing every year?

 

[puntkick 325]

If they went back to Australian Rules Football half the problems would be simplified !

[4_Kent_Watts 888]

I despise umpires. Just pay the same frees to both teams but the umpires have got no idea how to do that. Thus we get forked in the a55 week in week out. 

 

[RalphiusMaximus 6,053]

The game is quite easy to umpire.  The problem is that the morons at AFL House keep tinkering with the rules and coming up with new "interpretations" every week to make it more difficult for everyone.  No other sport feels the need to constantly change the rules .  AFL is run by a pack of amateurs. 

[puntkick 325]

36 minutes ago, RalphiusMaximus said:

The game is quite easy to umpire.  The problem is that the morons at AFL House keep tinkering with the rules and coming up with new "interpretations" every week to make it more difficult for everyone.  No other sport feels the need to constantly change the rules .  AFL is run by a pack of amateurs. 

Actually the AFL is run by $ professional performance manipulaters

[Dingo 1,059]

AFL is not a game.It is an administrative structure.The game is called Australian rules football.

[puntkick 325]

12 minutes ago, Dingo said:

AFL is not a game.It is an administrative structure.The game is called Australian rules football.

And as Big Rex would say the rules have been thrown to the " SHIZENHAUSEN "

[JTR 2,846]

3 hours ago, olisik said:

Been watching the soccer lately and the simplistic rules makes it so clear cut when officiated with only fouls, handballs and offsides that really need to be looked at.

Almlst every AFL game I watch now it seems the umpiring is a topic of dicussion one way or another and is this due to the difficulty and complexity of our game.

Right now our umpires need to look for a shitload of different things which makes it extremely difficulty to adjudicate accurately with so many rules.

Is it time for our game to be simplified opposed to adding more and more rules like they are currently doing every year?

 

Alex Rance would disagree, but I would hope the officiating of fouls in the AFL stays as far away from soccer as possible

[MT64 1,144]

AFL is a professional sport. Hundred's of million's are generated each year. The AFL has opened up gambling to where some feel the AFL maybe compromised down the track (India/Cricket) and yet they leave the most important part of the game in the hands of amateurs. THE UMPIRES. By making them professional do you really think things will change. The weekly tinkering of interpretations are mind-boggling. Quickly losing interest in this game as it is at the moment.

[Gorgoroth 12,954]

It is, but it is also over officiated. Too many umps, there were always frees that went unpaid as they were minor contact, but now the umps have 100 extra tidbits that they are looking for and like the Melksham free they get them confused and pay a free against for a different rule.

[DeleteUser 638]

Watch the last 2 mins of the 87 elim for the answet

[McQueen 17,864]

The way the game is umpired right now is the single most irritating thing I have ever experienced in all my time watching it.

I would go as far to say it’s going to turn fans away in droves if something isn’t done to arrest the ridiculous over-complication of the game.

[Adzman 2,154]

The game hasn't evolved, it's become Frankenstein's monster with all of the rule changes. I would consider myself an educated fan, but even I sit there and wonder how a rule can consistently be policed or interpreted differentlly each week.

I don't have the answers, but leaving the game alone for 10 years might help it settle down and allow the players and umpires to adjust and get the game. While there is ambiguity with the rules, there will be issues playing and watching the game.

[TRIGON 4,783]

1 hour ago, McQueen said:

The way the game is umpired right now is the single most irritating thing I have ever experienced in all my time watching it.

I would go as far to say it’s going to turn fans away in droves if something isn’t done to arrest the ridiculous over-complication of the game.

Bad umpiring can be expensive too. In the past 12 hours a hole, about the size of a fist, has appeared in the plasterboard wall of our bathroom.

[TRIGON 4,783]

5 hours ago, RalphiusMaximus said:

The game is quite easy to umpire.  The problem is that the morons at AFL House keep tinkering with the rules and coming up with new "interpretations" every week to make it more difficult for everyone.  No other sport feels the need to constantly change the rules .  AFL is run by a pack of amateurs. 

Last night’s umpiring was a disgrace. However, as Ralphius points out, it comes as no surprise as the AFLs interference makes the umpires job bloody hard.

 

[deespicable me 1,486]

How was the free against Melksham in the 3rd qtr for protecting the ball drop. Beautifully played by Melksham and he more than likely would have goaled as he ran in after the free and kicked the goal resulting in a 50 metre penalty.

The umpire (No. 15) paid blocking. Absolutely mind boggling. The thing is, if it was Wingard down the other end it would have been holding the man. Then the worst commentator ever, Ling would have come out and said "ah yes, no doubt about that free"

I can only view myself as a moron for continuing to watch this crap the AFL has turned the game into. And the problems of the game have everything to do with umpiring.

[Wolfgang219 73]

A few years ago I heard comments from someone in AFL house that the football operations manager or CEO have two meetings a year with the umpiring department to emphasis how they want the game to ‘look’. 

 

It it might have been a poorly worded statement but I don’t think it was: the AFL are trying to influence the look and feel and consider their job to produce a brand/entrainment. 

 

I think this mindset goes to the heart of the issue. The game is a sport and that by it’s very nature Is the entertainment but by trying to manipulate the events to meet ‘business’ outcomes they are destroying what made it great

[DV8 2,271]

11 hours ago, olisik said:

Been watching the soccer lately and the simplistic rules makes it so clear cut when officiated with only fouls, handballs and offsides that really need to be looked at.

Almlst every AFL game I watch now it seems the umpiring is a topic of dicussion one way or another and is this due to the difficulty and complexity of our game.

Right now our umpires need to look for a shitload of different things which makes it extremely difficulty to adjudicate accurately with so many rules.

Is it time for our game to be simplified opposed to adding more and more rules like they are currently doing every year?

 

yes it is.

10 hours ago, puntkick said:

If they went back to Australian Rules Football half the problems would be simplified !

yes they would.

IMO its difficult to see 'inside the ruck' (rugby), when a players on the ground with ball and swamped, "stacks on the mill",  its impossible to see what is going on underneath so they guess.

The AFL and the Coaches have stuffed around with the rules for the past 20+ years, thinking short term,,, and they have made a shambles out of it.

 

Now its a quagmire !     an unrecognisable piece of crappp,  compared to yesteryear's high marks, poetic dashes, and heroic acts.

[Hellaintabadplacetobe 4,294]

36 minutes ago, deespicable me said:

How was the free against Melksham in the 3rd qtr for protecting the ball drop. Beautifully played by Melksham and he more than likely would have goaled as he ran in after the free and kicked the goal resulting in a 50 metre penalty.

The umpire (No. 15) paid blocking. Absolutely mind boggling. The thing is, if it was Wingard down the other end it would have been holding the man. Then the worst commentator ever, Ling would have come out and said "ah yes, no doubt about that free"

I can only view myself as a moron for continuing to watch this crap the AFL has turned the game into. And the problems of the game have everything to do with umpiring.

Yeah that was the worst decision I think Ive seen all year.

Gus non mark with 2 mins to go was a shocker, along with a non paid holding the ball against Port late in the 4th qtr where the players was tackled to his knees before incorrectly disposing the ball which led to a goal. Wingard paid mark after being spoilt by Jet led to a goal, as did Wingard free against Bernie for incidental contact to the head.

There are probably many more I missed. I must add we got away with a few too, but none that had any impact on the scoreboard, usually midfield or CHF/CHB

None of these decisions are hard to officiate, they are simply incorrectly adjudicated.

 

 

[DV8 2,271]

4 hours ago, Adzman said:

The game hasn't evolved, it's become Frankenstein's monster with all of the rule changes. I would consider myself an educated fan, but even I sit there and wonder how a rule can consistently be policed or interpreted differentlly each week.

I don't have the answers, but leaving the game alone for 10 years might help it settle down and allow the players and umpires to adjust and get the game. While there is ambiguity with the rules, there will be issues playing and watching the game.

We need to wind the clock back on the rules and interpretations, all the way back to 1990.... and start over.  Over a 3 Year period.

Stating with the interchange-bench and rotations this end of season... cut the interchange back to 3 Players, & one Substitute... and reduce the rotations by a third, Pre 2019.

 

Pre 2020, reduce rotations by another third.

 

Pre 2021, change the interchange to a 2 man interchange, & have 2 Substitutes... anyone subs off, they're OFF.

[monoccular 17,429]

The cesspool from which the maggots emerge has been badly diluted by (a) too many teams and (b) too many umpires per game  

Now we must have about 50 of them; with 14 or even 16 teams with two of them per game that would mean 32.   So there is now a dregs pit of at least 18.  No wonder we get this ??? every week.

It has really turned me off the game.  Used to watch every Friday and Saturday night game as well as nearly every Demons game.  Now I can only bring myself to watch bits and pieces.  Yet the geniuses at AFL HQ lead by Gill the dill can’t seem to see this.

However I am not sure that the egg can be unbroken. 

Top grade soccer is looking quite attractive.  

Edited June 23, 2018 by monoccular
Autotext as bad as these maggots

[Supermercado 2,797]

Fair point, but if you watch soccer for any length of time you'll find people blowing up madly over decisions there too.

[Macca 16,970]

4 hours ago, Supermercado said:

Fair point, but if you watch soccer for any length of time you'll find people blowing up madly over decisions there too.

Ah ... but nowhere near the levels of what happens in footy.  It is not even close. 

I formed an opinion in the late 1970's that Aussie rules was impossible to umpire correctly ... and it is infinitely harder to umpire now. 

It is an extremely difficult thing to do but I have trained my mind to simply ignore all contentious decisions and just accept all those decisions as a matter of course. 

Most people I have encountered are the exact opposite - they complain incessantly about questionable umpiring decisions without any let up.  They are wasting their own time and energy.  It's a totally futile exercise with zero satisfaction or closure or without any sort of likelihood of an ideal outcome. 

The sport is often unumpirable and always has been.  There are grey areas left, right and centre and then there's the interpretations of those grey areas.  And right now the sport has so much congestion that it is a wonder that many correct decisions can be made. 

I reckon that at least 30% of all decisions are either incorrect or highly questionable but I accept that strike rate of poor decisions because of the nature of the sport.  

Peoples - come to terms with it all and come to terms with it now.  Do not waste another minute on a totally futile exercise.  Do that and you'll save yourself from a lifetime of angst.  It is just not worth it.

Edited June 23, 2018 by Macca

[praha 11,240]

The initial objective with changing of the rules was to make the game more clear cut and less open to interpretation, therefore making it more accessible to an international audience.

What the AFL didn't realise was that it was the standard of the game in the 70s and 80s that set up significant support groups down cultural lines, with large portions of the support pool being migrants and new residents to Australia.

The game as it stands are far less predictable and inconsistent, making it even more of a challenge for someone new to the country to get involved.

Previously it was so easy to explain holding the ball. If the player has prior oppprtunity and is tackled, it is a free kick. If you are tackled and don't kick or handball, it is a free kick. It isn't paid like that anymore. How do you explain it to someone new to the game?

[Gorgoroth 12,954]

Watching the dogs/Norf game all I can say is the game is stuffed and I’m paying more attention to what my wife is saying than the footy... it’s an outrage!!!