Junior player allegedly head butts umpire

[Footy Smart]

Banned from playing until the commencement of the 2014 season

Only a Year and a half for head butting an umpire. what a ******* joke

Pretty sure he had a lawyer so was well represented

From what i have heard, the kid can play and has some anger issues (state the obvious i know) but the real problem is the coach. He saw his kids (2 red cards and a yellow) already getting violent and doing silly things, he didnt take kids off or control them at all.... Have witnessed similar things at other clubs, some let the kids run riot with no discipline and others take control and teach some seort of right or wrong.

[Jimmy_041]

He got over 15 games penalty eh?
He might be in more trouble than he thinks...........

[1 club]

Very hard for eastern park to get umpires in any grades now

This is just one of the flow on problems. What action do you take with a junior player who does this? We cannot allow the umpires to be physically molested at any level, so what penalty? Do you stop the player from taking part in the sport at all, a lengthy ban, a penalty for the club? Is it the clubs fault at all? We seem to be writing a lot about Northern clubs and issues throughout the various divisions, but are they any worse than other clubs?

Your right not a good weekend for umps and northern clubs, Seen a bottle thrown at one by a player in c4 at Brahma lodge as well,not good for footy at all And im sure both clubs wouldnt be happy with the bad publicity.Respect to authority should be shown on and off the field.But i must say headbutting a ump He should be band for 10 years min

[Lightning McQueen]

Banned from playing until the commencement of the 2014 season

Only a Year and a half for head butting an umpire. what a ******* joke

Pretty sure he had a lawyer so was well represented

From what i have heard, the kid can play and has some anger issues (state the obvious i know) but the real problem is the coach. He saw his kids (2 red cards and a yellow) already getting violent and doing silly things, he didnt take kids off or control them at all.... Have witnessed similar things at other clubs, some let the kids run riot with no discipline and others take control and teach some seort of right or wrong.

That wasn't the case mate, the incident was the first demeanour of the game, the coach done all he could at that stage, the next red card was downgraded to a yellow and the yellow was dismissed as it was the last 15 seconds of the game and the umpires were being very vigilant on any sort unnecessary acts.
The Eastern Park Football Club were very professional in how they handled the matter and the umpires safety was paramount for after the game. This case has not closed apparently and we will hear more about it.
I'm not from Eastern Park but I was there and thought they done all they could.

[whufc]

Dont blame EP for the suspension.

Im not involved in footy there but dont be surprised if he doesnt play for EP either way. Anyway EP didnt make the suspension and im sure they would have accepted it no matter how long it was.

[Old Dog New Tricks]

He got over 15 games penalty eh?
He might be in more trouble than he thinks...........

Does the 16 game limit come into play with kids grades? If so it wouldn't matter whether it was the start of 2014 or 2034.

[Jimmy_041]

He got over 15 games penalty eh?
He might be in more trouble than he thinks...........

Does the 16 game limit come into play with kids grades? If so it wouldn't matter whether it was the start of 2014 or 2034.

I wasn't sure whether it was 15 or 16 games, but notwithstanding, I think it applies to all players over 14yo

I will check and give a a more qualified answer when I can.
As much as my humble opinion is worth, any assault on an umpire is a minimum 5 years.
And no discount for mitigating circumstances like your parents divorced when you were 6yo.
Absolutely no excuse at all

[tigerpie]

No excuse for this at all.
To play sport you need to have self discipline, this kid has none, so zero tolerance, ban him for as long as the kid from GSFL got.
Why would you want to umpire?

[Super Fred]

Spoke to someone who was at the tribunal that night and interesting to hear the suspension was not for headbutting the umpire but for RECKLESSNESS, basically a charge you can wrap any on field ill discipline up in...seems the public once again has got carried away and forgot that there are two sides to the story.

Interesting to hear that the umpire made contact with the player with his whistle hence inflaming the situation further, but apparently this was quickly refuted at the tribunal and that the player had apparently headbutted his hand which held the whistle which was down by his side ????.
Heard the majority of the suspension which is until the end of next year is for alledgedly telling the umpire he would headbutt him, this was after the umpire feigned the headbutt from the player initially and only a couple of weeks for actually striking another player ??? I know Australia has a flawed judicial sytem but i would have thought that at a footy tribunal the majority of the suspension would be for striking not threatening to strike.

Also hear that the umpire in question is a police officer who has had dealings with the player off the park and apparently approached the player before the game and warned him that he was going to be watched closely. And because the fact he is a police officer believes he can be over officious whilst umpiring.

I used to umpire both Juniors and Seniors in the SFL so i know that not every game is going to be a pleasure to umpire and unfortunately there is always going to be several games during the year which get heated and the need for a calm head is required. It sounds like in this instance the umpire has failed to deal with the situation and has made accusations which were found untrue.

As i said earlier, this was from the someone who attended the tribunal and not 5th or 6th hand info, please feel free to refute or add anything else that i may have missed.

[Dols]

Sorry Fred I don't care whether he head butted him or threatened to do so, the umpire is and always should be protected fully. Penalty should have been much harsher.

[sherminator]

No excuse for this at all.
To play sport you need to have self discipline, this kid has none, so zero tolerance, ban him for as long as the kid from GSFL got.
Why would you want to umpire?

I played cricket against the young lad from the GSFL last year and was astounded at how quiet, well mannered and respectful he was.
Whilst obviously I can never condone his actions on & off the footy field that day, I am sort of glad he wasn't banned for life. Maybe it was a wake up call for him and a valuable lesson.

[Caramels]

Spoke to someone who was at the tribunal that night and interesting to hear the suspension was not for headbutting the umpire but for RECKLESSNESS, basically a charge you can wrap any on field ill discipline up in...seems the public once again has got carried away and forgot that there are two sides to the story.

Interesting to hear that the umpire made contact with the player with his whistle hence inflaming the situation further, but apparently this was quickly refuted at the tribunal and that the player had apparently headbutted his hand which held the whistle which was down by his side ????.
Heard the majority of the suspension which is until the end of next year is for alledgedly telling the umpire he would headbutt him, this was after the umpire feigned the headbutt from the player initially and only a couple of weeks for actually striking another player ??? I know Australia has a flawed judicial sytem but i would have thought that at a footy tribunal the majority of the suspension would be for striking not threatening to strike.

Also hear that the umpire in question is a police officer who has had dealings with the player off the park and apparently approached the player before the game and warned him that he was going to be watched closely. And because the fact he is a police officer believes he can be over officious whilst umpiring.

I used to umpire both Juniors and Seniors in the SFL so i know that not every game is going to be a pleasure to umpire and unfortunately there is always going to be several games during the year which get heated and the need for a calm head is required. It sounds like in this instance the umpire has failed to deal with the situation and has made accusations which were found untrue.

As i said earlier, this was from the someone who attended the tribunal and not 5th or 6th hand info, please feel free to refute or add anything else that i may have missed.

Any charge named on the umpires report sheet may be changed to suit the circumstances,i.e. charging becomes deliberate or intentional rough conduct
The only people who would have access to the complete story from beginning to end would be the commissioners who sat on the tribunal and I doubt they would compromise their position by general discussion. If you spoke to a person who spent some time inside the hearing giving evidence, the bits you were told may well have been merely snippets to suit the occasion. IMO the lad was lucky to get off as lightly as he did. No room for that in any sport, he's better off having some anger management lessons and then maybe he'll learn.

[Super Fred]

Spoke to someone who was at the tribunal that night and interesting to hear the suspension was not for headbutting the umpire but for RECKLESSNESS, basically a charge you can wrap any on field ill discipline up in...seems the public once again has got carried away and forgot that there are two sides to the story.

Interesting to hear that the umpire made contact with the player with his whistle hence inflaming the situation further, but apparently this was quickly refuted at the tribunal and that the player had apparently headbutted his hand which held the whistle which was down by his side ????.
Heard the majority of the suspension which is until the end of next year is for alledgedly telling the umpire he would headbutt him, this was after the umpire feigned the headbutt from the player initially and only a couple of weeks for actually striking another player ??? I know Australia has a flawed judicial sytem but i would have thought that at a footy tribunal the majority of the suspension would be for striking not threatening to strike.

Also hear that the umpire in question is a police officer who has had dealings with the player off the park and apparently approached the player before the game and warned him that he was going to be watched closely. And because the fact he is a police officer believes he can be over officious whilst umpiring.

I used to umpire both Juniors and Seniors in the SFL so i know that not every game is going to be a pleasure to umpire and unfortunately there is always going to be several games during the year which get heated and the need for a calm head is required. It sounds like in this instance the umpire has failed to deal with the situation and has made accusations which were found untrue.

As i said earlier, this was from the someone who attended the tribunal and not 5th or 6th hand info, please feel free to refute or add anything else that i may have missed.

Any charge named on the umpires report sheet may be changed to suit the circumstances,i.e. charging becomes deliberate or intentional rough conduct
The only people who would have access to the complete story from beginning to end would be the commissioners who sat on the tribunal and I doubt they would compromise their position by general discussion. If you spoke to a person who spent some time inside the hearing giving evidence, the bits you were told may well have been merely snippets to suit the occasion. IMO the lad was lucky to get off as lightly as he did. No room for that in any sport, he's better off having some anger management lessons and then maybe he'll learn.

So when would a striking charge be changed to recklessness? obviously when there is no evidence that the player actually struck the umpire. In this instance the player has then been found guilty of threatening behaviour towards the umpire rather than striking.
The lad from great southern only got 5 years IIRC for being found guilty of striking an umpire multiple times. Was this too lenient, fair or unfair. If striking an umpire warrants 5 years, maybe 2 years for threatening behaviour is fair.

[gutterboy]

threatening or striking an umpire doesnt cut it at all...should be scrubbed for life....hard enough do get umpires now!!!!!

[Caramels]

As i said earlier, this was from the someone who attended the tribunal and not 5th or 6th hand info, please feel free to refute or add anything else that i may have
...seems the public once again has got carried away and forgot that there are two sides to the story.


You must get sick of being correct all the time but you're correct in one respect . The right side and the wrong side so take your pick!

[Homer J]

Heard Tuesday that this team is in more strife from a game 2 weeks ago, Coach Suspended for 12 months, another player gone for 6 weeks, the whole team was suspended for last weeks game.
Parents & Kids have had enough, leaving in droves.
The NEMJFA Exec want to kick the team out and suspend all players for the rest of the year.
Bit harsh on the majority of players who just want to play footy getting punnished for a few idiots mainly spectators who think they can run on the field and join in if theres any trouble during a game.
I wouldn't mind if they kicked the team out of the 16's comp, that a fair punishment to EP, but let the "good" players get permits to play elsewhere. everyone knows who the troublemakers are and wouldn't touch them with a barge pole.