Swamp Donkey wrote:OnSong wrote:Three red cards shown on Saturday in a match umpired by the Umpire's Coach/Co-ordinator, Steve Bawden, who introduced the red/yellow card system.
If that's his interpretation on what warrants a red card, then he's going to have to maintain it across his whole umpiring group and throughout the season.
It will be interesting to see whether these reports are thrown out (I think a red card is automatic suspension, not sure), considering they were made by the central umpires.
The fact that Steve Bawden is the Umpires coach/coordinator is disturbing in itself. It was disappointing to see him umpiring in such a big match on Saturday while BJ was allocated the senior colts and reserves. IMHO BJ is the best umpire in the league so why on earth isn't he umpiring A grade every week? Bawden is a control freak that makes every game that he is involved in about himself - he over-rides decisions of his fellow umpires and quite simply appears to have a poor understanding of the basic role of the umpire in a game of footy. Every footy lover I know would prefer him to miss a few rather than over-officiate and dominate the match like he seems determined to do every time he's in charge.
Well said Donkey. The greatest thing about what you have written is the fact you are a supporter of the WINNING side and still feel this way about the game on Saturday.