News

Fifty years in umpiring and guess what, Denis Edmund Gollop at the ripe old age of 70 years, is still umpiring in the Queensland Football League. Crickey makes one feel tired just writing about it.  Not only does Denis complete his duties as a field umpire, he butters up and takes his turn in the goals, when required.  Denis who now is the Field Umpire Coach for AFL Queensland Juniors on the Sunshine Coast, claims it’s never too late to get started as long as you love the game, and to cap it off you have the best seat at the ground. Denis thoroughly enjoys the role as a coach of junior umpires on the Sunshine Coast.

Former AFL goal umpire and AFLUA Historian David Flegg was presented with an Australian Medal for his services to umpiring by the Hon. Linda Dessau AC, Governor of Victoria at Government House on Friday.

Amazingly, this weekend will be the first time since 2011 that both preliminary finals will be played at the MCG. In the last 7 years one has been at the MCG with the other being played in Sydney, Adelaide or Perth. Indeed in 2015 both preliminary finals were played in Perth.

Here in the AFLUA office we are never far from supporter’s ire.  The phones run hot and our email line at times, is prone to melt.  Imagine the hysteria we were met with on Monday morning after Shaun Ryan’s comments to GWS player Adam Kennedy on Saturday night.  I fail to understand how commentators and then supporters have such short memories.  When has anyone on a football field been able to continually punch an opposition player whether he is injured or not?  You only need to go back to round 11 when Ben Stratton and Charlie Cameron were seen tangling off the ball with Stratton continually punching and pinching the back of Cameron’s arm.  Commentators and supporters were outraged and wanted the behaviour stopped and for the umpire to intervene.  Fast forward two weeks and Stratton was reported for doing the same thing to Essendon’s Orazio Fantasia and suspended for 2 weeks.  He was told very clearly during the game by Ray Chamberlain, “We are watching you, stop doing it, or you will be free kicked.”  Where is the difference?

Congratulations to the two remaining 2019 finals debutants, Andrew Stephens (field) and Lachlan Rayner (boundary) who were appointed to semi-final weekend. 

The NEAFL grand final this weekend at Southport is the first of our state league partners to announce their grand final umpires.  Congratulations to all AFLUA members who have earned the right to manage the best game of the year in their competition.

We sat on an old wooden picnic table outside the library in North Sydney, the sun warming our backs, sipping on a coffee chatting about footy and life.  I was the old fella and Alex Chisholm, the fresh faced young man who is 18 months into his AFL career but who had just farewelled the greatest influence in his young life, his father, Steve who passed away aged 58 following a 5 year battle with cancer.

Three of the four finals on the weekend were decided on the scoreboard by over 40 points. Take one look at the results and you could be excused for thinking the games were all one-way traffic.