Veterans go back to the future
A few months back I made a few discrete enquiries as to the health and fitness of some of our veteran umpires when I was formulating a plan for selecting umpires to officiate in the 2019 version of the EJ Whitten match. Justin Schmitt (calf), Scott Jeffery...
Round 23 shorts: Mark Thomson – 400 of the best
The boundary umpire factory of South Australia has produced another outstanding athlete, boundary umpire and more important, a great person. Stand and applaud, 400 AFL games, Mark Thomson. Mark is only the second boundary umpire in the history of the game to...
Round 22 shorts – The problem of being in the wrong place at the wrong time
Spare a thought for second year field umpire, Alex Whetton who weighs 60kg ringing wet when he inadvertently collided with Lachie Schultz weighing in at 78kg running at full pace. Alex was knocked unconscious and had to be assisted from the field. While he did not...