Matt Stevic – 350 AFL games, Shaun Ryan – 300 AFL games, Tristan Symes – 150 AFL games and Chelsea Roffey floored by Oscar McDonald in the Melbourne v Sydney clash. It doesn’t get bigger than this.
The Queensland football scene has changed significantly since Tristan’s arrival to AFL football. He was first appointed to the AFL panel in 2007. At first, it was tough going to get a game with four goal umpires based in Queensland and Brisbane Lions the only AFL team in town. In his first year, Tristan only umpired 4 AFL games.
My next “where are they now” is an umpire who officiated in close to 500 games during his career.
There is no doubt that Ballarat would’ve made some type of football history on Sunday. Played in arctic temperatures with hail, wind and rain the weather bureau said the temperature felt like minus 5 degrees. Add that to the sub-standard lighting and the game certainly took on a country game that needed car headlights around the perimeter of the oval turned on to allow players and coaches to see.
AFLUA Life member John Gray (Jack) passed away peacefully on Monday 23rd July aged 92.
AFL UMPIRE Rob O’Gorman knows the importance of organ donation.
My next “Where are they Now” is a gentleman not many umpires would know, but to the city umpires, field, boundary & goal, Noel Rose was our umpires’room attendant at the Melbourne Cricket Ground for a number of years. As a part-time employee with the Melbourne Cricket Club, Noel was in charge of the umpires’ room with responsibility for valuables, paperwork, security and for making sure the pies were hot for post-match consumption.
Some of our best umpires seem to have been cursed this season and no matter how hard they work, recover and rest they just can’t seem to get a break!