Jump to content

Featured Replies

 

Too many cooks in the kitchen. a recipe for confusion

I agree with him as regards paying them though

 

If the plan's not bold or radical, Eddie's not interested. And this isn't even going into his mad idea to give the winner of the old pre-season cup a bye into the finals, or his bold plan for theatre marketing.

FOkfYQzaIAAvFcJ?format=jpg&name=largeFOkfY8IaQAEyYv3?format=jpg&name=large

FOkfZs5agAEfDuA?format=jpg&name=large

image.png.b4ee4c99ea08c34898b25e212c320f57.png

Edited by Supermercado


Nothing wrong with looking at various ideas.

The problem is Eddie just wants attention as usual. 🙄

It's all about him and his ego and not what is overall good for Australian Rules Football.

 

My recommendation is just make umpiring a full-time profession and pay them more. Have a proper school for umpires and recruit from former players.

 

In the end the AFL needs to invest in umpiring to eventually increase the quality of decision-making by umpires.

 

The reason I clicked on this thread is because I thought . . . Eddie Betts's thoughts would be worth reading. Instead . . . I've puked all over a perfectly good Apple Mac keyboard. 

Looks to be based roughly on the NFL model of officials in designated areas. They also work in crews (teams).

I can see where he's coming from but it seems like overkill to me (much like the dissent rule).

Good luck getting 8 umpires per game at local and junior level although I doubt that the flow on effects entered Ed's mind


I have for years called for umpires to operate as a team, match those who read the game similar. I have done sports umpiring and if doing with same umpire you learn their interpretation and umpire same way - it leads to consistency.

 

On the topic of umpiring I still shake my head in disbelief at how badly we adjudicate the advantage rule, why can’t we do what works in other sports, raise an arm for a free, give it 5-10 seconds, see if the advantage is there, if so lower arm, if not blow whistle and give free

my god, it's bad enough with three decision makers on the field at once!

make them professional, use two on field umpires every game, controlling their 'half' of the ground

 

 

1 hour ago, drysdale demon said:

I'm Eddie I am still here, can everyone hear me.

Hello, hello do you hear me........please answer, hello.

Though I'm past one hundred thousand miles
I'm feeling very still
And I think my spaceship knows which way to go
Tell my wife I love her very much she knows
Ground Control to Major Eddie
Your circuit's dead, there's something wrong
Can you hear me, Major Eddie?
Can you hear me, Major Eddie?
Can you hear me, Major Eddie?
Can you "Here am I floating 'round my tin can
Far above the moon
Planet Earth is blue
And there's nothing I can do"

The point of umpire fatigue affecting decision making is a good one. Goal and boundary umpires could be used to make calls on free kicks if they're in a better position. Eddie's rule changing suggestions like a goal for hitting the post if it goes through and a goal for a touched ball are crazy. Click bait to maintain relevance.


The 300k pa will solve the 6000 umpire shortage if development pathways were to exist. Let the cream float to the top. Better way to attract umpires than the arms up nonsense 

Not sold on the idea of umpiring zones but not against it either. I think the solution is still missing some form of technology in the game. Just need to look at how Tennis evolved overnight with linesman and Hawkeye tech. 

4 hours ago, Ben said:

The point of umpire fatigue affecting decision making is a good one. Goal and boundary umpires could be used to make calls on free kicks if they're in a better position. Eddie's rule changing suggestions like a goal for hitting the post if it goes through and a goal for a touched ball are crazy. Click bait to maintain relevance.

I have been advocating that boundary umpires be able to signal for frees as they see what we see from the stands, where teams like Footscray,  throw the ball (not seen by umpire in central/bad position) which upsets the livin bjesus in me. Also may help stop "ducking the head" as well. One can only hope.

3 hours ago, MT64 said:

I have been advocating that boundary umpires be able to signal for frees as they see what we see from the stands, where teams like Footscray,  throw the ball (not seen by umpire in central/bad position) which upsets the livin bjesus in me.

Good idea. The central umps often defer to goal umps in terms of "what happened". They get input from the goal ump then make their decision.

The boundary ump could indicate when there's been a throw. Central ump makes the call but the boundary ump can give hints.

9 hours ago, Wodjathefirst said:

 

Though I'm past one hundred thousand miles
I'm feeling very still
And I think my spaceship knows which way to go
Tell my wife I love her very much she knows
Ground Control to Major Eddie
Your circuit's dead, there's something wrong
Can you hear me, Major Eddie?
Can you hear me, Major Eddie?
Can you hear me, Major Eddie?
Can you "Here am I floating 'round my tin can
Far above the moon
Planet Earth is blue
And there's nothing I can do"

I'm an agitator ♪
I'm a Maggie prezzie talking to you
I'm airwaves invader
I'll be unscratchable itch for you
Won't keep my mouth shut
I'm squawking like a black and white bird ♫
And I'm talking over all to get the last word

Keep your camera lens on me
Keep your eyes upon my head ♪
Press, you keep me in your papers
Geek out on my fever daydream, oh yeah


I watched this and I thought he started very well before everything turned into pure hyperbole. I like the idea of having umpires in teams who would know each other's game, but I think it should be a team of field umpires and nothing else. Having field umpires rotate through to goal umpiring and vice versa is absurd to me as they are specialist skills. As for getting rid of boundary throw ins, the bounce, touched off the boot, hit the post well sure. Let's take everything unique about our great game and jam it fairly and squarely in the hard rubbish bin.

I appreciate his concern and trying to make the game easier to umpire, but we can do this by fixing general in play rules and interpretations. It's hard to see how the two or three score reviews for touched off the boot or boundary throw ins contribute that  to the stress of being an umpire as much as is being made out. If any umpires out there disagree then I welcome that but he's looking at the wrong things here and grabbed a nice headline for it. 

For the AFL, having 9 umpires on the field and only 3 being able to pay free kicks is stupid. So Eddie's idea to spread the umpires and allow them to all pay free kicks makes sense. How often do players throw the ball when facing towards the boundary line?

While I don't completely agree with Eddie's proposed rule changes, I think the principle of the rules having less room for interpretation. I hate the way that the deliberate out of bounds and behinds rules are today - it leads to hometown bias as we suffered in the Adelaide game last year. And so I liked the hands in the back interpretation for push in the back because it was clear cut.

I also agree that bouncing the ball in the centre is also unnecessary and does not add anything really to the game.

  • Author

I’m not sure the interpretation on the rules of the game are ever going to be able to be fixed. Different people see an incident in different ways. Some incidents are missed by some and seen by others. You’re never going to be able to get uniform decisions for the same or similar incidents such is the nature of our game. I think the AFL realise this and for that reason are barring any dissent because it’s the umpires call whether right or wrong and if you disagree verbally or non verbally you’ll be penalised. 

 

Goal umpires should be able to pay push in the back free kicks and other marking infringements.

Boundary umpires should be able to pay throws.

Start with that, work your way towards more decisions.

I can’t see boundary, goal and field umpires being interchangeable. They are different skills. But using the existing pairs of eyes should help when they are caught out of position.

It’s nearly impossible with the speed of ball movement as it is now to triangulate the play as designed.

As for pay: the question is whether the money will be worth making it a career. I think that requires not just a greater top end wage but also long term contracts and a decent semi pro back up leagues. Personally I still suspect it’s still better as a lucrative second gig. 

 


Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Unfortunately, your content contains terms that we do not allow. Please edit your content to remove the highlighted words below.
Reply to this topic...

Featured Content

  • REPORT: West Coast

    On a night of counting, Melbourne captain Max Gawn made sure that his contribution counted. He was at his best and superb in the the ruck from the very start of the election night game against the West Coast Eagles at Optus Stadium, but after watching his dominance of the first quarter and a half of the clash evaporate into nothing as the Eagles booted four goals in the last ten minutes of the opening half, he turned the game on its head, with a ruckman’s masterclass in the second half.  No superlatives would be sufficient to describe the enormity of the skipper’s performance starting with his 47 hit outs, a career-high 35 possessions (22 of them contested), nine clearances, 12 score involvements and, after messing up an attempt or two, finally capping off one of the greatest rucking performances of all time, with a goal of own in the final quarter not long after he delivered a right angled pass into the arms of Daniel Turner who also goaled from a pocket (will we ever know if the pass is what was intended). That was enough to overturn a 12 point deficit after the Eagles scored the first goal of the second half into a 29 point lead at the last break and a winning final quarter (at last) for the Demons who decided not to rest their champion ruckman at the end this time around. 

    • 0 replies
    Demonland
  • PREGAME: Hawthorn

    The Demons return to the MCG to take on the High Flying Hawks on Saturday Afternoon. Hawthorn will be aiming to consolidate a position in the Top 4 whilst the Dees will be looking to take a scalp and make it four wins in a row. Who comes in and who goes out?

      • Thanks
      • Like
    • 88 replies
    Demonland
  • PODCAST: West Coast

    The Demonland Podcast will air LIVE on Monday, 5th May @ 8:00pm. Join Binman, George & I as we analyse the Demons 3rd win row for the season against the Eagles.
    Your questions and comments are a huge part of our podcast so please post anything you want to ask or say below and we'll give you a shout out on the show.
    If you would like to leave us a voicemail please call 03 9016 3666 and don't worry no body answers so you don't have to talk to a human.

      • Haha
      • Love
      • Like
    • 18 replies
    Demonland
  • POSTGAME: West Coast

    Following a disastrous 0–5 start to the season, the Demons have now made it three wins in a row, cruising past a lacklustre West Coast side on their own turf. Skipper Max Gawn was once again at his dominant best, delivering another ruck masterclass to lead the way.

      • Love
      • Like
    • 212 replies
    Demonland
  • VOTES: West Coast

    Max Gawn leads the Demonland Player of the Year from Jake Bowey in 2nd place. Christian Petracca, Ed Langdon and Clayton Oliver round out the Top 5. Your votes for the win over the West Coast Eagles in Perth. 6, 5, 4, 3, 2 & 1.

      • Like
    • 40 replies
    Demonland
  • GAMEDAY: West Coast

    It's Game Day and the Demons have a chance to notch up their third consecutive win — something they haven’t done since Round 5, 2024. But to do it, they’ll need to exorcise the Demons of last year’s disastrous trip out West. Can the Dees continue their momentum, right the wrongs of that fateful clash, and take another step up the ladder on the road to redemption?

      • Like
    • 669 replies
    Demonland