We all know about Jordan’s footy career with Essendon and Carlton but it is his resurgence to get to 50 games as an umpire that has pleased him the most. “I was dying to get back,” reflected Jordan last week. “When my family came to terms with how to best support Ricky following his accident and things settled down I realised just how much I missed being involved.”
An invitation into the inner sanctum of the weekly AFL umpires review debunks a few myths surrounding the men who adjudicate the national game.
Twenty five weeks into a tough season that will go to the wire for teams fighting for a top 8 finish and our field umpires are dropping like flies. Heath Ryan has finally succumbed to a season ending Achilles injury following his first game back in round 18 for 8 weeks. The idea was to rest, recover and go again but the season was simply too long.
Evergreen field umpire, Stuart Wenn announced his retirement from the AFL umpiring panel effective from the end of the 2014 season at a meeting of his umpiring colleagues on Monday night.
Brett Rosebury will become the first West Australian born umpire to reach 300 AFL games this coming weekend in the North Melbourne v. Geelong match on Saturday. Brett becomes the 18th field umpire in VFL/AFL history to reach the milestone. It is a milestone that only the very best achieve. In fact only two of the 18 to achieve the mark have not umpired a VFL/AFL grand final. He is the youngest man to debut as an AFL field umpire, aged 20, in the game’s history.
Jason Venkataya represented umpiring with distinction at the AFL opening of the Multi-cultural round. Jason was part of a panel interviewed by Jason Mifsud, AFL head of diversity. He outlined his families journey to Australia, his introduction to footy and why it was important for his connection to Australia’s culture. Jason also gave an insight into what umpiring meant to him.
AFL South Australian based Goal Umpire, Mathew Wilson visited Western Australia over the weekend.
Ask Rob Taylor what his best or most enjoyable game was and he fires right back without any ego “I haven’t had it yet!” Rob goes on to say, “there were plenty of times in my short career when I didn’t think I’d make it to 50.”