BL&G Football League

[antidog]

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.

No. Barossa shouldn't get the win for staying on the ground. Willaston didn't do anything wrong, The Ump should of let James get off the ground and then let the game be won by the best team on the day. How mant times has the ump blown his whistle when one team is ready and the other team is still being spoken to by their coach. Quarter time breaks get extended to wait for teams to get on the ground and coaches and interchange players to get off. Teams beter be careful in the future as clubs will be asking now long does the quarter time break go for and get the upm to start the quarter and do a player count.

[couch coach]

Barossa can't get the win for staying on the ground.

[hotspur]

There's alot of emotional comment about the Willaston and Barossa game, and lots of people have come up with a lot of fair, and not so balanced, arguments. Lots of people who were there will have their opinion,as will lots who weren't. The rule was certainly inplace for the league to ALLOW the umpire in question to do what he did, but it certainly wasn't in the ofspirit the game. It's a hollow victory surely if you win a final this way?
Umpires are supposed to be there to ensure a smooth running of a game and administer the rules as they interpret them. It sounds like this guy got caught up in his own agenda for both these things. He'll certainly get all the publicity he craves now - umpires really are bigger than the game.
Not a reputation I'd want in the footy history books though.
Oh, and yes there will be ramifications for all country footy in the future!

[Maybe]

The umpire in question i think is the Umpires Coaches son
After the count i was appalled at Willaston supporters comments and language
The Coaching staff wasnt much better with their comments and antics either

[Full Stop]

Wow what a weekend of football to miss!
By the sound of things willaston were within there right to follow the rules. I guess everyone can have an opinion and say if it was the right or wrong thing to do but it was a elimination final with there season on the line. Im sure the people in charge of the BLG will have to look at changing the rule, very harsh punishment to be delt in a game, let alone in a final. I feel for barossa but rules are rules.
There hasn't been to much said about the game up until 3/4 time anyone care to write a summary of best players ect??

Tanunda to win by 10+ goals on saturday!

[hotspur]

Well, Maybe, as well as a hollow victory for Willaston, they sound as if they showed their usual sympathetic approach to this situation. They get better every year. What a classy bunch eh?

[Full Stop]

Well, Maybe, as well as a hollow victory for Willaston, they sound as if they showed their usual sympathetic approach to this situation. They get better every year. What a classy bunch eh?

Hotspur call it as you see fit, you along with me and everyone else's opinion means very little now. The BLG won't change the outcome of the game so keep having your educated stabs at willaston i guess they can have the last laugh playing off in a prelim in a fortnights time.

For the record everyone is playing for 2nd spot anyway and in 3 weeks time the Tanunda lads would have made a mockery of whoever they play and the circus that happened on the weekend will mean very little.

[hotspur]

They say winners are grinners Ritchie. Fair call. I doubt the umpire in question is grinning though.

[MR FOOTYHEAD]

You wouldn't even read about it.

[Stewie Griffin]

This is burning out of control now. Hardly the young umpires fault,
He followed the rule book completely.
Is not fair to point the finger at everyone, especially a young bloke doing a job we all need done,
Without the white-maggots we don't have a game, and he has only done what the rule book says.
If someone calls for a head count he has to follow it through.
This is all missing the point, the rule remains the problem.
Not one person did anything outside the rules on Saturday.
Energy would be better spent lobbying for a change to the rule rather than playing the blame game.

[Ruben Carter]

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.

Still it goes to the SPIRIT of the game. There have been many examples this season and in other years where a team refuses to assemble on the field when the siren & umpires have called for play to resume after a Quarter or Half-Time break and the other team is waiting and in position to recommence play. The umpires are continually encouraged by the team being held-up to re-commence play but they will not do anything until that other team finally gets into position. This is critical in games where there is no time-on because lost time can affect results and percentages,etc. So they allow teams to blatantly ignore their authority and the laws of the game in that instance, but insist that last weeks' turn of events was all ok & above-board
I sense something of a double-standard here....

[hotspur]

Calling for a count isn't a very usual thing in Our game - doesn't happen once in 10 years usually, but isn't this the second time this year this umpire's been in the same position? Too much reliance on the rules? Quick draw McGraw.

[Lethal Dose]

Re: my awards - I'll leave that to others to decide; it was just my suggestions. There were lots of others under consideration - there still are! Perhaps lethal could choose?

You seem to be the expert buddy, might leave that for you to make up, seeing as i dont have that kind of time to analyse and make statistics of others posts on this topic like you have. Keep up the good work champion

[diggaditch]

Terrible antics all round.
Could it be proven that Roger James was mid stride and thus was not in touch with the ground at the time the count was called?
Thus not on the ground.
What happened to the elderly well built umpires who rarely left the centre square, frequently called "play on, nothing in it" and only blew the whistle hard when it was a good grab or coat hanger. You played the game and enjoyed it because the umpire was there to see some good footy and have a beer or four after the game.

[hotspur]

I thought it was a complement Lethal; I said I liked the comments, but obviously you didn't understand that. We all make mistakes.

[Skip Dimes]

Well, with all the differing opinions on last saturdays matter, maybe we should change the subject.
Next week is approaching, and surely we are all thinking Tanunda easily, but who wants to tip the Team Of The Year?

Mohammed has had a crack so far, not sure about a couple of his selections...

[hotspur]

Great idea Skip! Mighty Mal or Taylor have not had the greatest of years. Turrell and Nicholls will go close to B&F at their clubs after great years so I'd have them in the 18 instead - if we're going on form this year. Surely Howard has been the number 2 ruckman after Wells? And Mensforth kicked a heap of goals.

[Lightning McQueen]

I thought it was a complement Lethal; I said I liked the comments, but obviously you didn't understand that. We all make mistakes.

I took it as a p!ss-take aswell Tottie. Anyway, play on.

[Lightning McQueen]

All, I think the Willaston vs Barossa debacle has ran it's course and everyone should agree to disagree, there's a lot of hypothetical's and what if's but at the end of the day it's history and unfortunately Barossa were defeated in bizarre circumstances.
Could we try our best to push past it and concentrate on this weeks game and let the authorities deal with something that no one can do anything about now.

[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.

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.

Pinchy can see some of your points here, and after the reading the papers today you can see that Willaston where well in your rights to do what they did. This still does not change my opinion that it was not in the spirit of the game and I would be very dissapointed if my club did this. Also the way your supporters carried on was very poor. We may meet yet this final series and I certainly hope the game will be played in the best spirit.