Long apprenticeship pays off

Aug 25, 2014 | Milestones, News

Field umpire Andrew Mitchell (Mitch) walked onto Blundstone Arena on Saturday quietly confident that he could handle whatever the game threw at him.  “I had an eight year apprenticeship in the VFL with almost 150 senior games of experience.  Five years ago it...

Umpire Shaun Ryan is back with a bounce

Aug 25, 2014 | News

Shaun Ryan has not thumped a football into the turf since the last quarter of the 2011 grand final, and his back feels all the better for it. Please click here to view the full article from The Age newspaper.

Round 21 – Shorts

Aug 19, 2014 | News, Umpire Shorts

The comebacks continued from VFL to AFL this week.  Simon Meredith and Chris Kamolins were back from long term injury and illness.  Both of these experienced umpires bolstered the ranks and brought a level of experience to the group.   Caught the pre-match comments...

Open door coaching for older legends

Aug 14, 2014 | News

The AFL Umpiring Department in collaboration with the AFL Umpires Association opened its training and coaching doors on Wednesday afternoon and evening to our retired umpires who wanted to see if things were done any differently in the modern era. Twenty-three past...

Round 20 – Shorts

Aug 11, 2014 | News, Umpire Shorts

AFL goal umpire David Dixon has equalled Colin Hood’s record of 311 games this weekend when he officiated in the St.Kilda v Western Bulldogs match at Etihad Stadium on Sunday.  This puts David and Colin equal fourth on the all-time list of VFL/AFL games umpired...