Go the Biff

Macca you seem to be labouring under the misapprehension that I'm posting about umpiring in general. I'm not - my posts are entirely on the subject of this thread. I believe my views are supported in the article & statistics posted by @sue and the Darren Goldspink interview posted by @John Crow Batty. In short, the AFL have created a situation which has backfired & umpires are being viewed with greater disdain as a result. And they are quoting a shortage of umpires as justification for their ham-fisted approach. And that on field abuse is the driver for this shortage.To pinch a line from Dennis Pagan "don't [censored] down my leg and tell me it's raining" Umpiring in general, rules, grey areas etc would be a fine topic for a different thread which could generate some decent debate (in amongst some emotive tripe). Happy to chuck in my two 'penneth worth there should that eventuate

And we wonder why we have "grey areas" We question why Andrews gets pinged for raising his arms yet Holman & Hewett don't Again, this is not on the umpires. They are trying to make the best of a steaming pile that's been dropped on them. It's entirely on the AFL administration

That's where we differ on this Macca. You're happy to accept what you'd have thought whereas I would prefer some evidence. FWIW I have a few mates who umpire at local level. Juniors up to 17's as they are getting on a bit & keeping up with the play at senior level is a bit taxing. So I canvassed a couple about on-field abuse. Both reckon it's virtually non-existent in their experience. One said that occasionally a player will question a decision but he merely reminds them that he is the umpire, they are the player & let's get on with the game. He reckons it always ends there. Both reckon they cop it from over the fence but are able to ignore it and stress that you should never engage with any off-field "feedback". Both were critical of umpire T&D. One is in the ENFL, the other does ENFL and school comps, private & public during the week.

I don't think it's clear at all the abuse is the driver of umpire shortages. To my knowledge, no data has been presented by the AFL to support this. I'll give you another reason why there is a shortage of umpires. In the past five years or so, the number of women's teams playing competitive football has exploded. With that has come a shortage of grounds, facilities and yes - umpires. But if the AFL can produce meaningful, well researched data that the shortage is driven by ON FIELD abuse, I'll shut up and move on.

We can. But as I said earlier, the AFL is putting out a fire with gasoline Talkback radio, social media etc indicate that the level of respect for umpires has fallen further as a result of this approach. And as I also said earlier it's not their fault. I suspect the nett effect will be to drive more umpires from the game at local & junior level. @Supermercado makes a very good point a few posts above yours. Given the AFL has taken over the sport rather than just its own league, I'd be interested to know what they are doing of a practical nature to attract, retain & develop umpires at local level

You start with education at junior & club level. You educate parents. You make it clear to junior coaches that they are not just coaching to win & coaching skills but coaching football from a broader perspective. You make respect for umpires a key part of any coach accreditation. I've been involved in playing, coaching, administering and spectating a range of sports, not just footy, for more decades than I care to admit to. With precious few exceptions, the issue of umpire abuse comes from outside the field of play. Mainly parents.

Completely neutral here as I can't stand either club. That was a ripping game of footy to watch. Jeez that little #44 from Hawthorn has a crack. #44 from the other mob goes alright as well.

Hey @Macca, I used that example because the video / audio shows clearly the umpires reason for the 50. Unambiguous and ridiculous. https://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/afl/arms-out-thats-50/video/5f06989d6702be6e4c584a75b9742873 Individual examples aren't really the point of my post though

The level of respect for umpires has diminished further because of this rule and it's not their fault. As usual, the AFL has decided to put out a very small fire with gasoline and our on field officials are being made to look ridiculous as a result. It's been suggested that on field abuse is a driver behind the shortfall of some 6000 umpires across the game so we need to "set an example" at AFL level. What a load of bollocks. From my observations, at junior and local level, the issue of umpire abuse has always been on the other side of the boundary, particularly parents of players. Penalising Harris Andrews for raising his arms does nothing to counter this. I'd like to see some empirical data supporting the theory that on field abuse is deterring significant numbers from taking up or continuing with umpiring. Data, not focus group driven claptrap. I'd like to know what the AFL has done to attract, train & retain umpires and junior & local level I'd like to know what the AFL is doing in terms of education regarding respect of umpires at local and junior level I suspect it's SFA. In the meantime. umpires at AFL level are made to look like mugs because of knee jerk rules that don't consider consequences. And the footy public - the life-blood of the sport - are being further disenfranchised by what's happening to "our" game.

Same here. Richmond were awesome early in that first quarter and against any other side would have put on 8 goals by quarter time. But we stood up, absorbed all of their heavy punches and then started throwing our own. Definitely our "coming of age" game for mine.

I think he's only played the one with Freo but was injured early in the game Good to see Petty get a run at AFL level before the Richmond game. They have a few handy talls in their front half

True, the Essendon / Tippa supporting commentary was a bit much. I thought this week's mob were pretty good. Weird how it isn't on the replay. Thought my PC had gone bung - again !

Hunt is not the player of 2016 / 17. Everyone refers to his "run & carry" but since 2021 he has been defence first. I can't see that anyone's torched him this year so I guess he's doing his job. He does cough up the odd howler but beware of just looking at his DE stats as a number of his possessions are in a situation where he just has to clear the ball from pressurised defensive positions. I expect Petty will replace Tommo in due course. Again, Tommo hasn't done much wrong but in my view, Petty is the better footballer by some margin.

No. Never.

The AFL missed the boat on this a couple of years ago when they decided to call "play on" should a player deliberately duck and cause high contact to himself, rather than paying a free kick for high contact as was previously the case. What they should have done was made that a free kick against the player who ducked. In that way, there's a penalty against the team Players would soon have that action coached out of them. And if they don't, they don't get a game

He played VFL last week

Genius !! Thanks

Didn't worry Eddie McGuire when he headed Athletics Australia & shunted them off Olympic Park

Yet another reason this mob give me the Con Britts. We finally get a home game against them at the G and they are going like a busted and thousands of the buggers will elect the TV option. We can't even make a decent quid out of them

For some ridiculous reason I still have mine stashed in a cupboard. They were great on dry tracks and so comfortable compared to other boots (also had the Jenkins in my youth - still shudder at the thought of the blisters they gave). At my low level we played on a lot of bog grounds so the old Adidas Strikers - screw in stops - often got a run ahead of the La Platas. Also good boots.

For those wanting another look Casey Demons v Sandy Zebs replay Looks like AFL On Demand are ramping things up a bit. Live streaming of all VFL games is now a thing as is putting up the games for replay a day or so later. Looks like you can't cast it though which is somewhat annoying. Still, better than nothing

ANB has always had the work ethic, team ethos & stamina to play his role in the team. The single biggest difference in the last 18 months - 2 years (and I'm with @Clint Bizkiton this). Clean hands. He was a fumbling machine, up there with the likes of Simon Godfrey & "Tackles" McKenzie. The times I've sat in the stands wishing for a sniper rifle as ANB turned potential scoring chains into turnovers as he failed to take the ball cleanly ! Fumbles invite pressure and at the speed at which AFL footy is played, the split second it takes you to recover the ball means you're tackled. Or your disposal is rushed & inaccurate. Or an option downfield is covered. Or the next link in the chain has run forward of where you can get the ball to him. So I can't pay enough credit to Nibbler for turning this around. He must have put an unbelievable amount of work into his skills to become a "one-touch" player.

Like most of Ralph's offerings he gives the impression he's telling you something while telling you absolutely nothing. He's wasted in the footy media. A highly successful career in public office has gone begging. Luke's manager will be loving this. His young client's profile is being pushed further skyward and his value to Melbourne & all other suitors is appreciating by the week. I hope he signs for MFC - in his own good time - for obvious selfish reasons but also for young Luke himself. I can't begin to imagine the pressure he'd be under should he return to WA. He'd be seen as a saviour & messiah and the scrutiny on his performance would be intense. The goldfish bowl over west is a hell of a lot smaller and contains fewer fish. Even for someone who appears as laid back as Luke, that would be hard to handle. There a quite a few cautionary tales about unhappy homecomings. He's still a very, very young man

Times have changed. Only got oranges in my day

Yep. Bloody good one too Brad Hardie won his Brownlow in a similar role. Back then you were playing on knackered resting rovers so running off them was no great challenge. A couple of handy types playing permanent forward stitched him up though. I think Brian Wilson kicked 7 or 8 on poor old Brad while Leigh Matthews monstered him for a lazy 11. Keith Greig may have gone to a half back flank towards the end of his career but won his two Brownlows playing on the wing. Decent player. Probably the second best winger of his era.