Rowan Sawers oft used quote when talking about great umpires used the phrase “the best are those who perform at a consistently high level over a long period of time.
Forty-five umpires have achieved 20 plus years of service as full members of the AFLUA since it’s inception in 1909.
Our longest serving member is J.F.Currie who chalked up 30 years of service as a field, boundary and goal umpire in the years 1911, 1914-15 and 1919-1945.
Currie, field umpired 4 VFL matches (heritage number 75). As a boundary umpire (heritage number 72) he umpired 24 games before umpiring 232 games as a goal umpire (heritage number 72). Currie umpired 4 VFL grand finals as a goal umpire in 1931, 34, 35 and 37. He was inducted into the AFLUA Hall of Fame in 2008.
Shane McInerney moves into equal second place with Hayden Kennedy this year. Both have given a total of 27 years service to the AFLUA. Their statistics and achievements in the modern era are remarkably similar.
Kennedy umpired 495 games, including 39 finals and 5 grand finals. McInerney to date has 466 games including 27 finals and 2 grand finals. They sit number 1 and 2 on the table of games umpired in the history of the game in the VFL/AFL.
Both men have served on the AFLUA executive committee and their commitment to their fellow umpires has been selfless.
Two AFLUA Team of the Century members, R.C.Treloar and C.S.White both served with distinction for 26 years. B.N.Pratt and N.J.Barwick served for 25 years.
What remarkable achievements these men of distinction have made.