SA Footy

i witnessed the west v glenelg & the port v central matches & have spoken to a few sturt & north blokes i know who agreed with me that this happened at that game as well.....& that is this weeks umpiring was over emphasised with the 'sling tackle' rule so much so it looked like it was a directive from higher up & plenty of soft free kicks paid in general as well......so was this to tighten up on the players before the finals or are we going to see the 'u/10 rules' applied from now on ?........................

memo to shane harris let the game flow & just pay the blatant free kicks (the result of both games i saw wasn't influenced at all by the umpiring but as a spectacle it was, the over officious umpiring frustrates players, coaches & the viewing public who off course pays to get in


so what do you guys think of this weeks umpiring ?

bayman wrote:i witnessed the west v glenelg & the port v central matches & have spoken to a few sturt & north blokes i know who agreed with me that this happened at that game as well.....& that is this weeks umpiring was over emphasised with the 'sling tackle' rule so much so it looked like it was a directive from higher up & plenty of soft free kicks paid in general as well......so was this to tighten up on the players before the finals or are we going to see the 'u/10 rules' applied from now on ?........................

memo to shane harris let the game flow & just pay the blatant free kicks (the result of both games i saw wasn't influenced at all by the umpiring but as a spectacle it was, the over officious umpiring frustrates players, coaches & the viewing public who off course pays to get in


so what do you guys think of this weeks umpiring ?

The umpiring in general has been very, very bad this year. A few too many umpires seem to be trying to become prima donnas rather than just pay the obvious. And they miss too many obvious.

I keep saying it - if it's not going to be a holding the ball free, call for a bloody ball up as soon as it looks like the ball is going nowhere! Not wait five seconds when the ball is barely moving about, or a player is being held with the ball to him and the umpire is waiting for the ball to come out. This is where the sling tackle happens - the player thinks they aren't getting anywhere, so the sling is carried out.

Also, the more the ball is not going anywhere, the more the players get in close and the more niggle occurs. I fail to see what is wrong here in calling for a ball up quicker.

The umpiring last night I could only find fault in the fact that the holding the ball rule is a lottery. There were no sling tackles (for once), but plenty of ducking heads.

bayman wrote:i witnessed the west v glenelg & the port v central matches & have spoken to a few sturt & north blokes i know who agreed with me that this happened at that game as well.....& that is this weeks umpiring was over emphasised with the 'sling tackle' rule so much so it looked like it was a directive from higher up & plenty of soft free kicks paid in general as well......so was this to tighten up on the players before the finals or are we going to see the 'u/10 rules' applied from now on ?........................

memo to shane harris let the game flow & just pay the blatant free kicks (the result of both games i saw wasn't influenced at all by the umpiring but as a spectacle it was, the over officious umpiring frustrates players, coaches & the viewing public who off course pays to get in


so what do you guys think of this weeks umpiring ?

Sorry to be boring but...

Nobody at the game is in a better position to judge frees than the umpires. Spectators ( in their right mind) are actually watching the match, not trying to spot free kicks.

Ever since I started building my collection of GF replays, I have noticed that the replays show the umpires to be nearly always correct.

What really annoys me is how spectators assume that things they did not see from 50 metres away must not have happened, or how they imagine they know more than a professional who is right next to an incident, studied the rule book, been briefed on interpretation and assessed rigourously for the quality of their decision making.

Personally, I think they do a good job, and disrespectful and derogatory threads like this from people who probably have neither read a rule book nor umpired any match should be chopped.

I know umpires are human - I quote the late Allan Jeans "Umpires make mistakes, but not as many as players make". And the very nature of the holding the ball rule (and other rules) are frequently prone to 50/50 calls. So, I'm not too worried about that, either.

But what I also know is the "letting the play go" is a head coach directive and not a personal decision from an umpire as such. This is my main gripe at the way the instructions are being given to umpires, not the umpiring themselves as they are only carrying out the instruction in order to maintain their place at League level.

The most annoying part of watching footy for me is the inconsistency with the umpiring. Yesterday in the Port v Centrals a Centrals player is tackled with the ball, turned around 3 times and taken to ground and only gets rid of the ball once he has hit the ground - No Holding the Ball. A Port Player a few minutes later jumps in the air and takes the ball whilst in the air and is then immediately tackled once his feet hit the ground. Holdging the ball straight away.

I do not barrack for either side but i want to watch football that is enjoyable not frustrating

abluesince67 wrote:i want to watch football that is enjoyable not frustrating

This is it. I've been to a number of games this year where my team has won and after the match I've felt flat because the umpiring was so annoying I couldn't enjoy the win. I remember when you could watch a game and not even know umpires were out there, but now they impose themselves on a game so much it's hard to watch the footy.

A couple of weeks ago I think I witnessed the worst decision I've seen. A player had the ball, was tackled, wrapped him up, and at no stage did the ball spill out. It remained in his possession for the duration of the tackle. I was sitting about 20-30 metres from it, and I heard the umpire blow the whistle and yell out, "You were hanging onto him", and paid a free kick for hanging on!!!!

Now that goes beyond poor umpiring, that's stupidity. It was obvious the umpire paid a free when he clearly couldn't see what happened, pure guesswork, and I think this is what annoys supporters the most.

Unfortunately, umpires are a neccessary evil.
This is the one area of the game that hasn't improved in fact it gets worse every year. My "favourite" i.e the worst, in order are Tony Dey, Richard Williams, Colin Rowston and dishonorable mention Gary Fila.

The sooner umpires realise they are just a part of the game only as important as the goal posts and the ball the better off we'll all be. The only good umpire is a retired one.

If we had internet forums 30 years ago there'd be similar posts.

It gives people an excuse to complain and whinge, sometimes with justification, but life goes on and we still go back for more punishment the next week.

As for umpiring making you feel flat after wins, LOL, that's faarkin hilarious.

Thought Friday nights crew were pretty good, didn't really notice them that much. Although Richard Williams cops alot of flack on here and at games at least he has a feel for the game...think we will be in trouble when he calls it a day.

Heard DB mention on RPH a few weeks back that he thinks they should have the umps working in the same group week in week out to try and get a bit of consistency. There are probably pros and cons with this but I think he is spot on.
Put the field umps in a team of 9 to umpire across the 3 grades and have the best 3 doing the league if their form is bad promote one of the reserves guys in the same way as it happens for players...obviously if someone gets injured this is an issue but can't say I have seen it happen very often so maybe it could work........just a thought.

dedja wrote:If we had internet forums 30 years ago there'd be similar posts.

It gives people an excuse to complain and whinge, sometimes with justification, but life goes on and we still go back for more punishment the next week.

As for umpiring making you feel flat after wins, LOL, that's faarkin hilarious.

Hooooorrrraahhhhh! Totally agree.
Ump threads are always humourous.

I'm trying to work out when exactly umpires were considered good. As there seems to be a "back in my day" crew in every generation.

I still believe that 2 umpires worked well however since the three umpires were introduced the inconstancy between interpretation becomes more visible - further, under the three umpire setup they spend most of their time patting their back side and running for correct position not watching the play and picking up off the ball incidents - which is why it was introduced. I wish that they would change to an umpire staying within the respective 50m arch and the third umpiring the midfield area, swapping only with the other umpires when needing a spell.

We are presently undergoing an umpire generational change and I praise Richard Williams for reversing his announced retirement and extending his career by a season to assist this process --- However, I find it sad that even though he is not to his normal fitness standards (no secret) due to wear & tear he outclasses the younger umpires by such a margin that it is sad and concerning - several are just not up to the task.

To improve, the SANFL & the SANFL Umpires Coach needs to;

Firstly stop the immediate cover up for poor performances and accept that the present level is not good enough.

Secondly stop the personality cult (supposedly good for umpire recruiting/retention) and ensure the umpire become more discrete and less attention seeking.

Thirdly, if they want to have attention then let them be open for public scrutiny same as players and coaches.

Lastly, teach them to umpire in a manner suitable for SANFL rather than the present mismatch of some umpiring in an AFL manner (crap) and others in a SANFL manner - LET HAVE CONSISTENCY PLEASE.

Thank you - my Sunday sermon is over - I feel cleansed - go in peace

pafc1870 wrote:Can we please keep this thread on track, refraining from the personal jibes. Play the ball, not the man.

Are we allowed to complain about your umpiring of the thread?

dedja wrote:As for umpiring making you feel flat after wins, LOL, that's faarkin hilarious.

Only to people with simple minds.

Don't play the man ...

fish wrote:

pafc1870 wrote:Can we please keep this thread on track, refraining from the personal jibes. Play the ball, not the man.

Are we allowed to complain about your umpiring of the thread?

Always welcome to PM me!

Dogwatcher wrote:

dedja wrote:If we had internet forums 30 years ago there'd be similar posts.

It gives people an excuse to complain and whinge, sometimes with justification, but life goes on and we still go back for more punishment the next week.

As for umpiring making you feel flat after wins, LOL, that's faarkin hilarious.

Hooooorrrraahhhhh! Totally agree.
Ump threads are always humourous.

I'm trying to work out when exactly umpires were considered good. As there seems to be a "back in my day" crew in every generation.

x 2

Umpire bashing it so counter productive, they have such little influence on a game its not worth worrying about, our players make 20+ x more mistakes in a game.

Dutchy wrote:

Dogwatcher wrote:

dedja wrote:If we had internet forums 30 years ago there'd be similar posts.

It gives people an excuse to complain and whinge, sometimes with justification, but life goes on and we still go back for more punishment the next week.

As for umpiring making you feel flat after wins, LOL, that's faarkin hilarious.

Hooooorrrraahhhhh! Totally agree.
Ump threads are always humourous.

I'm trying to work out when exactly umpires were considered good. As there seems to be a "back in my day" crew in every generation.

x 2

Umpire bashing it so counter productive, they have such little influence on a game its not worth worrying about, our players make 20+ x more mistakes in a game.

Love how every set of fans honestly believe guys like Richard Williams rips them off every week. The guy is amazing to be biased against both teams week after week!

Richard Williams is past it and needs to retire from league level.