BL&G Football League

[couch coach]

The only issue would be had the quarter started.
According to both time keepers the clock wasn’t running. Also if the game had of started the umpire surely would of called time on.
Didn’t happen either.
Willaston is not to blame.
The Umpire in question should have started the game then called the count, by that time James would have been off and no questions asked.
It’s just what happens when Dad sends his son to do a man’s job.
Gawler Centrals next week, should be a closer game than the last.
Let the league deal with the ramifications. I hope no one got it on tape for the league’s sake.

brook, the quarter starts when the ball is raised and the whistle is blown
the timing starts when the ball is balled up, therefore the quarter had commenced, started, begun, initiated, etc, etc. Therefore time-on was not needed to be called.


Therefore no ramifications are to be dealt with, apart from possibly adopting a by-law at the AGM dealing with the rule.

I beleive that the quater or game dose not start till the ball has been bounced. The umpire will raise the ball to let the time keeper know he is ready to start then the time keeper will blow the siren, When the ball is bouces or past to a player that has a free is when the game has started. As this didn't happen then the count was a waist of time.

[brook]

The only issue would be had the quarter started.
According to both time keepers the clock wasn’t running. Also if the game had of started the umpire surely would of called time on.
Didn’t happen either.
Willaston is not to blame.
The Umpire in question should have started the game then called the count, by that time James would have been off and no questions asked.
It’s just what happens when Dad sends his son to do a man’s job.
Gawler Centrals next week, should be a closer game than the last.
Let the league deal with the ramifications. I hope no one got it on tape for the league’s sake.

brook, the quarter starts when the ball is raised and the whistle is blown

the timing starts when the ball is balled up, therefore the quarter had commenced, started, begun, initiated, etc, etc. Therefore time-on was not needed to be called.


Therefore no ramifications are to be dealt with, apart from possibly adopting a by-law at the AGM dealing with the rule.

I beleive that the quater or game dose not start till the ball has been bounced. The umpire will raise the ball to let the time keeper know he is ready to start then the time keeper will blow the siren, When the ball is bouces or past to a player that has a free is when the game has started. As this didn't happen then the count was a waist of time.

See ramifications already. What’s true and what’s not, what’s in the rules and what’s not.
I can see Telstra shares going up this quarter, get on them.
Maybe this inexperienced umpire may have just done the worst thing in country footy history.
Could any legal ramifications come from this?

[Bag & Sledge]

The only issue would be had the quarter started.
According to both time keepers the clock wasn’t running. Also if the game had of started the umpire surely would of called time on.
Didn’t happen either.
Willaston is not to blame.
The Umpire in question should have started the game then called the count, by that time James would have been off and no questions asked.
It’s just what happens when Dad sends his son to do a man’s job.
Gawler Centrals next week, should be a closer game than the last.
Let the league deal with the ramifications. I hope no one got it on tape for the league’s sake.

brook, the quarter starts when the ball is raised and the whistle is blown

the timing starts when the ball is balled up, therefore the quarter had commenced, started, begun, initiated, etc, etc. Therefore time-on was not needed to be called.


Therefore no ramifications are to be dealt with, apart from possibly adopting a by-law at the AGM dealing with the rule.

I beleive that the quater or game dose not start till the ball has been bounced. The umpire will raise the ball to let the time keeper know he is ready to start then the time keeper will blow the siren, When the ball is bouces or past to a player that has a free is when the game has started. As this didn't happen then the count was a waist of time.

See ramifications already. What’s true and what’s not, what’s in the rules and what’s not.
I can see Telstra shares going up this quarter, get on them.
Maybe this inexperienced umpire may have just done the worst thing in country footy history.
Could any legal ramifications come from this?

Not blaming Willaston for any of this... Its not their fault. But lets be honest,
Firstly: The fact Roger James was within ten metres of the interchange gate running off and doing everything he possibly could to get off the ground should be enough to satisfy the alleged 22 year old umpire not to call a count.
Secondly: The fact this had no bearing on the score or game or play should of also been enough to satisfy the alleged umpire to not call a count.
Thirdly: The ball had not been thrown up to start the fourth quarter and the time clock was yet to start common sense and logic should of clicked over in the alleged umpires head but no...
Instead go and ruin a whole clubs season, sponsors money and most of all the time and effort the players had put into the hard fought game for three quarters and whole season to date.
At the end of the day its only local footy all local footy players, coaches and umpires make mistakes because it is local footy, but this debacle and alleged decision by an umpire to ruin a clubs season could of been avoided.

[NO-MERCY]

I beleive that the quater or game dose not start till the ball has been bounced. The umpire will raise the ball to let the time keeper know he is ready to start then the time keeper will blow the siren, When the ball is bouces or past to a player that has a free is when the game has started. As this didn't happen then the count was a waist of time.

See ramifications already. What’s true and what’s not, what’s in the rules and what’s not.
I can see Telstra shares going up this quarter, get on them.
Maybe this inexperienced umpire may have just done the worst thing in country footy history.
Could any legal ramifications come from this?[/quote]

The umpire must before holding the ball up for siren to sound make sure the playing arena is clear of all supporters & INTERCHANGE players stewards etc, once they are off the oval the teams must be in position, when in position the game is all clear to start so the umpire holds the ball up, siren is sounded, ball is bounced & game is underway.
NOT THAT HARD IS IT???????
Once the siren has sounded the game is underway, any captain has the right to ask the umpire for a count if he has doubts on the numbers fielded by the opposition., if the siren hadn't sounded then the game isn't underway & no head count is needed.
Officially the umpire has f....d up here & the League should step in & over-rule this stupid decision.

[Lightning McQueen]

The umpire must before holding the ball up for siren to sound make sure the playing arena is clear of all supporters & INTERCHANGE players stewards etc, once they are off the oval the teams must be in position, when in position the game is all clear to start so the umpire holds the ball up, siren is sounded, ball is bounced & game is underway.
NOT THAT HARD IS IT???????
Once the siren has sounded the game is underway, any captain has the right to ask the umpire for a count if he has doubts on the numbers fielded by the opposition., if the siren hadn't sounded then the game isn't underway & no head count is needed.
Officially the umpire has f....d up here & the League should step in & over-rule this stupid decision.

Over-ruling is pointless now, Barossa only scored a further 0.6, wouldn't be enough to win the game and you can't award them with a win for any other reason.
Poor all round IMO, playing coach should've been on the field "playing", umpire should've waited unless James didn't have a jacket on and he thought he was actually on the playing arena as a player.
There's a few versions of events on here already, without being there it's hard to draw an accurate summary of what really happened.

[Lightning McQueen]

Would've thought with a sh!tload of people there the umpire would've done his best to go un-noticed.

[daysofourlives]

by the sounds of it the umpire has stuffed this up big time.
Play it again this saturday, no reason why cant have that game on at the same time as the 2nd semi or play it on sunday

[From The Outer]

Very interesting discussion regarding the count. I think the League itself must take some responsibility. As I stated earlier on this forum in the RMFL the responsibility for the outcome of the count lies with the League. Takes enoromous pressure off the umpire and ensures that incorrect decisions do not occur on the spur of the moment. Very sad situation.

[MOHAMMAD]

So do Barossa have a case and will they be taking this further? Can imaging a busy night at league headquarters.

[Chuck Wepner]

Not blaming Willaston for any of this... Its not their fault. But lets be honest,
Firstly: The fact Roger James was within ten metres of the interchange gate running off and doing everything he possibly could to get off the ground should be enough to satisfy the alleged 22 year old umpire not to call a count.
Secondly: The fact this had no bearing on the score or game or play should of also been enough to satisfy the alleged umpire to not call a count.
Thirdly: The ball had not been thrown up to start the fourth quarter and the time clock was yet to start common sense and logic should of clicked over in the alleged umpires head but no...
Instead go and ruin a whole clubs season, sponsors money and most of all the time and effort the players had put into the hard fought game for three quarters and whole season to date.
At the end of the day its only local footy all local footy players, coaches and umpires make mistakes because it is local footy, but this debacle and alleged decision by an umpire to ruin a clubs season could of been avoided.

GOLD! Unfortunately, umpires generally don't tend to see the game the way everybody else involved in the game does ... that a good umpire is barely noticeable. This one should never have been in a position of such responsibility - it needed a wiser, more mature head and common-sense approach. This umpire really should be still plying his craft in the under 12s and unfortunately he will never be able to live this one down.

[Swooper]

Can't believe that this has all happened, was at the game and simply believe the Umpire & Willaston have really stuffed up here. Sure some people will call out the rule book but from what I saw it should have been let go, the result was never going to be influenced. Can't see the league stepping in and concur with Skip that Barossa should have played their hearts out and then taken it on this week but instead they dropped their heads.

All I can say is this is terrible for the league, there is no sportsmanship anymore and I believe this will seriously dent Willastons relationship with all clubs in the league and the Umpires with Barossa. I certainly do not believe any other club would have done the same and if mine did I would be bitterly dissapointed and would let them know. I was an impartial spectator at this game so I have no biased, I actually saw Barossa as a bigger threat to us than Willaston.

[MOHAMMAD]

Willaston have managed to push the envelope on many angles this year Swooper.

[Pinch Hitter]

Can't believe that this has all happened, was at the game and simply believe the Umpire & Willaston have really stuffed up here. Sure some people will call out the rule book but from what I saw it should have been let go, the result was never going to be influenced. Can't see the league stepping in and concur with Skip that Barossa should have played their hearts out and then taken it on this week but instead they dropped their heads.

All I can say is this is terrible for the league, there is no sportsmanship anymore and I believe this will seriously dent Willastons relationship with all clubs in the league and the Umpires with Barossa. I certainly do not believe any other club would have done the same and if mine did I would be bitterly dissapointed and would let them know. I was an impartial spectator at this game so I have no biased, I actually saw Barossa as a bigger threat to us than Willaston.

The willaston players would have preferred to win outright and it would be devastating for the bulldogs.

It's never been heard of in the blg before, I was there and it was obvious that players didn't know what was going on or what the ramifications were. I know Bakes doesn't have any ambitions to be an umpire so an opinion on the players sportsmanship as deciding factor to this result is poor.

[Pinch Hitter]

..

[The Patriach]

Some of you really need to take up umpiring. Having been in contact with the league, Barossa, Willaston and the umpires (BLG & SANFL), all parties have accepted what was a breach of the rules, as the quarter had started, the captain asked for the count and Barossa had 19 on the field.

[Shortman]

Its all about the spirit of the game for mine. If the 19th was affecting play then sure by all means call a count but that doesnt sound like it was so in this case

[Poultry in Motion]

Apologies if this has been mentioned already but a very similar thing happened in this years Country Championships in Pirie. It stimulated a lot of discussion at the time and I am sure the Community Football hierarchy would have been aware of this. So why hasn't this archaic interpretation of a "grey area" rule been ammended?

[couch coach]

The umpire must before holding the ball up for siren to sound make sure the playing arena is clear of all supporters & INTERCHANGE players stewards etc, once they are off the oval the teams must be in position, when in position the game is all clear to start so the umpire holds the ball up, siren is sounded, ball is bounced & game is underway.
NOT THAT HARD IS IT???????
Once the siren has sounded the game is underway, any captain has the right to ask the umpire for a count if he has doubts on the numbers fielded by the opposition., if the siren hadn't sounded then the game isn't underway & no head count is needed.
Officially the umpire has f....d up here & the League should step in & over-rule this stupid decision.

Over-ruling is pointless now, Barossa only scored a further 0.6, wouldn't be enough to win the game and you can't award them with a win for any other reason.
Poor all round IMO, playing coach should've been on the field "playing", umpire should've waited unless James didn't have a jacket on and he thought he was actually on the playing arena as a player.
There's a few versions of events on here already, without being there it's hard to draw an accurate summary of what really happened.

Saying that Barossa only getting 6 points in the last quarter means they didn't win the game anyway is poor, Think how any player would give a Sh*t after being told they are back on zero. I take my hat of to the players staying on the ground.

[brook]

The Gawler league folded over 20yrs ago and now we know why.
We need to get these clowns out and get the valley back in charge.
Be interesting to see what happens and what is said at the association presentation night.
I would love to be there to hear it all.
Could the umpire in question win the golden whistle to top off the year?

[Lightning McQueen]

The umpire must before holding the ball up for siren to sound make sure the playing arena is clear of all supporters & INTERCHANGE players stewards etc, once they are off the oval the teams must be in position, when in position the game is all clear to start so the umpire holds the ball up, siren is sounded, ball is bounced & game is underway.
NOT THAT HARD IS IT???????
Once the siren has sounded the game is underway, any captain has the right to ask the umpire for a count if he has doubts on the numbers fielded by the opposition., if the siren hadn't sounded then the game isn't underway & no head count is needed.
Officially the umpire has f....d up here & the League should step in & over-rule this stupid decision.

Over-ruling is pointless now, Barossa only scored a further 0.6, wouldn't be enough to win the game and you can't award them with a win for any other reason.
Poor all round IMO, playing coach should've been on the field "playing", umpire should've waited unless James didn't have a jacket on and he thought he was actually on the playing arena as a player.
There's a few versions of events on here already, without being there it's hard to draw an accurate summary of what really happened.

Saying that Barossa only getting 6 points in the last quarter means they didn't win the game anyway is poor, Think how any player would give a Sh*t after being told they are back on zero. I take my hat of to the players staying on the ground.

I was responding to N-M's post, all I was pointing out is that there is no ground for the league to over-rule the decision, do you think they should be awarded the win because they stayed out there?
I do agree, kudo's to them for playing out the game, it waould of been gut-wrenching.