TOPIC:

Can someone please just inform the umpiring department to ONLY PAY the bleeding obvious free kicks eg when someone has their head nearly taken off, or when someone has had prior opportunity to dispose of the ball and doesnt before tackled or is spun around 360 degrees etc!
It is when the tiggy touchwood, neither here nor there frees that are picked by one umpire and not the other 2 inside a teams forward 50 that players, coaches & fans become confused, frustrated, angry etc
A recent example was from the SD vs WART game where Jack Darling just threw Alex Howard out of the contest with the ball still a good 10m away in flight that was paid a mark to Darling and resulted in a goal for goodness sake Stevie Wonder & Ray Charles could see Howard was held without the ball and just disposed of illegally, well all but that man Stuart Parry it would seem!
And then later a 50/50 contest in WART's forward 50 again saw a free paid to Wulff for an apparent hold that looked to everyone like they were both involved so the umpires can spot a tiggy touchwood one at a crucial time of the game but then also miss a blatant as the nose on your face free in which a well known WCE was involved both resulted in WART goals in what was a close contest all day!
My suggestion is just go back to basics in only paying the bleeding obvious free kicks and this may take away some of the complete confusion and inconsistencies.

well BH EP complained about the umps and got the reward.
Subi have money and clout so they should do the same as I am in shock to be reading on here that Subi supporters are complaining about umpires in a game they won, they must be getting bored with winning and making money.
its certainly not good for the comp for Subi to cop a raw deal for the umps.
hopefully Barney has got Ron and Bruce onto this and gets it sorted.

Umpires are slimey green vermon who think they are part of the game people pay money to watch when their not part of it..each week looks they are all competing to be the next Ray Chamberlain!!

MarkOlsen wrote: well BH EP complained about the umps and got the reward.
Subi have money and clout so they should do the same as I am in shock to be reading on here that Subi supporters are complaining about umpires in a game they won, they must be getting bored with winning and making money.
its certainly not good for the comp for Subi to cop a raw deal for the umps.
hopefully Barney has got Ron and Bruce onto this and gets it sorted.

MO, I don't usually get on the soapbox about umpires but I'm just at a loss to see how a team that is currently dominating the comp which indicates dominating the play hence significantly first to the ball can have such a negative free kick count over the first half of the season and in this last game have a 24 - 12 against count. You could understand one of the bottom 4 teams getting a negative count as they would more often be second to the ball. I don't think Subi are a particularly ill-disciplined or overly vigorous team so one is left to wonder??

they are biased against Subi, simple as that.
now that we have cleared that up you dont have to complain anymore since you have a go at swans supporters for going on about the umpires, i thought you Subi guys were better than that.

SS what essentially you are saying is the exact same point I have been banging on about but just from the SD point of view since the footygoss days.
In the tally's I have been doing since those days Swans have always been in the negative and sitting in the bottom 3 in regards to the free kick ladder but we have played in the finals in all but 3 years since 2004!
As Mike has succinctly put it far better than I could ever have either SD are the most undisciplined side to ever play the game or there are other factors at play consistently from year to year???

I don't believe umps are biased one way or the other...I just think Subi's lopsided free kick count so far this year is a combination of umpires not being consistent and Subi's style of play. Sure umps may subconsciously pay or not pay a free to even the game up or respond to a home crowd but I don't think they do it deliberately. Subi play an aggressive style of footy and if winning means we get hammered in the free kick stakes then so be it.

BC wrote: I don't believe umps are biased one way or the other...I just think Subi's lopsided free kick count so far this year is a combination of umpires not being consistent and Subi's style of play. Sure umps may subconsciously pay or not pay a free to even the game up or respond to a home crowd but I don't think they do it deliberately. Subi play an aggressive style of footy and if winning means we get hammered in the free kick stakes then so be it.

BC with all due respect can you explain how an umpire can go 6 quarters without giving a free kick to a team? It is also not how many but WHERE and WHEN the free kicks are awarded. Free kicks awarded in one team's forward line and similar infringements not paid in the other team's forward line. What also appears to be remarkable as was the case in the Mt Barker game was how many free kicks Swans received in its backline in the last 10 minutes or so of the last quarter.

Another challenge for you BC is to explain the Schloithe free kick phenomenon of 2014 where he was something like 30-40 free kicks more than the next player at the end of the season.

Off topic but still on the umpiring theme congratulations to the 3 umpires in the SD vs EF game on Sunday who let the game go in the last 20 minutes and let both sides just slug it out without any momentum shifting decision paid funnily enough resulting in neither side scoring a goal in that time. More of this style of letting the game go umpiring would be very much appreciated on behalf of all the WAFL spectators.

Inconsistency 42....that's how I explain it. Also, where the infringement occurred should have no bearing on whether a kick is paid or not...if it's there.. pay a free kick regardless of where it is. In relation to Schloithe, Hams and ROB ducking and drawing frees, the sooner umpires are instructed to call play on when someone drops their knees or lifts an arm to draw a high contact free, the sooner the practice will stop.