And they wonder why they are hated?

[BenDoolan]

"If they say something that an umpire construes as not in the spirit of the game, they run the risk of incurring a 50m penalty."

HOW is asking "HOW?????????" not in the spirit of the game?

Seriously soft some of these knobs. This is where is becomes ridiculous. Mark McVeigh will be seen as the villain because he frustratingly asked how he gave away the free kick after the following facts.....

- earlier in the quarter he was grabbed from behind immediately when he took possession of the ball and was free kicked for holding the ball (in the centre of the ground)
- a minute later he chased down (Campbell I think) in our F50 when he had prior opportunity, and the call was "play on"
- then later in the same quarter, McVeigh was called for holding the ball again when he had no prior opportunity

Now wonder he was infuriated. Even still, he didn't swear. But McVeigh is the villain and not the umpire. F****** joke.

[spikefan]

I really do not understand the AFL "management" they seem to consistently achieve the contrary of their stated goal. Vlad seems to be the George Bush of sport.

They are worried about the lack of attractiveness of the "umpire" position to the general population. You would like to have the young kids look up to the umps as some worthwhile individual: umps as leaders in the community, umps as advisers that would help young players grow into mature players, umps as guardians of the game. Instead they work hard on making the umps so precious that being one is something that you would try to conceal from your friends and family. Goldspink will be missed.... that says it all. I would be embarrassed having an ump in my family

Great success AFL: Overumpired games, woefully inconsistent umpiring , randomly changing rules.... Go on this is the way to win the battle against soccer: stay the course.

And I could comment further about the negative effects of F****** with the rules of the game but Benny does it so much better than me.

[robrulz5]

Chamberlin is a real twat. He'll dish out abuse to players but won't tolerate having a bit come his way.

[Rossoneri]

Its because there is a shortage of umpires. Seriously, I cant see why there is though. They get paid $100k+ a year, for 2 hours of work a week, maybe a bit more (we'll say 5) for 30 weeks a year. Add that to their already existing job, and its a pretty decent wage.

I reckon the shortage of umpires may be due to the incredible ridiculously way they are made to officiate the game by the rules committee and the AFL. If that umpire had have said to McVeigh, "you still had an arm free, you could have kicked it, but the tackle was good", then McVeigh wouldnt have raised his voice. Why cant the umpire just give an explanation? they did last year and it worked well.

Or do the umpires just guess these days and umpire on what the think they see?

[boncer34]

My experience with attracting umpires to the game is the opposite to what the AFL claims. The problem is if we dont offer an explanation (which we're told not to) then the players get more and more frustrated, resulting in the abuse. The abuse doesn't come automatically, if we explain a decision which takes all of about 5 seconds players are usually happy.

[jimmyc1985]

Starting to get close to rugby union where they have to address the ref as "sir" and players get sent off for even slight displays of dissent. Difference being that AFL isn't supposed to be, and has never laid claims to being, the "gentleman's game" played with an English undercurrent of stiff upper lip.

Grow up Demetriou and tell your umpires to harden up.

[Rossoneri]

I just wonder if the AFL made these rules without the consultation of the umpires? Perhaps they should say to the umpires, if they ask in a proper manner, just give them a quick short reply.

[Crazyman]

With the 'quality' of umpiring at the top level, I am not surprised that there are very few umpires coming through the lower ranks...

If the top flight umps have no balls and can't understand the rules, who is going to teach the next rank coming through???

[Megan]

MJ called him a weak whatnow?

Perhaps my memory is failing me but did they not televise the incident and he said weak DOG? I've heard this allegation of the C word before so maybe I'm filling in the blanks incorrectly but I could've sworn that he said dog.

In regards to umps being chased away from the job by rabid fans, I'll plead guilty to one - just one - occasion where I hung some serious shit on the ump at my local footy. In three years. She f****** well deserved it too. Gives chick umps a bad name

[jimmyc1985]

Two more things i meant to say previously:

1) Andy, please don't hide behind statements like 'spirit of the game' to justify your stances. It's pathetic, arrogant and disingenuous. No one can argue with you because no one really knows what the 'spirit of the game' is (if the term is indeed capable of definition), and as the term is without definition, no one is in a position to question stances that purport to bolster the 'spirit of the game'. Reminds me of a prominent and recently 'retired' politician who just used the term "un-Australian" to kill off debate or justify certain actions without really justfiying them at all.

2) I wonder the extent to which the media are pushing stuff like this, particularly now that the umps are miked up so the viewer can hear what the players are saying. Could be another case of the tail wagging the dog.