Rob Findlay returned to the ground where his career started this weekend, when he officiated in his 200thAFL match between Melbourne and Collingwood in the Queen’s Birthday classic at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in front of a huge crowd. Sitting in the crowd were his proud parents, wife and three children, all cheering for #23!
The split rounds have commenced and when we look around we have to ask ourselves where has the season gone? It is fair to say that we all just get onto that treadmill called the weekly cycle and start peddling hard, just to keep up.
Please click here to view the interview between Dennis Cometti and AFL Field Umpire, Jeff Dalgleish – from the West Australian.
Luke has never been conventional. He has been unpredictable at best. It’s why his closest colleagues were bowled over when he retired from the AFL panel at the top of his game last year after another grand final and All Australian award. It didn’t deter Luke from calling time on his outstanding career.
How long is a piece of string? Eleven 50 metre penalties is a record in a game of AFL football said the statisticians who have been measuring everything in football forensically for the past few years. Dane Rampe from the Sydney Swans probably summed it up best when he was caught on field umpire, Nick Foot’s microphone wanting to know if he’d also had a coffee with “Clarko”, after Nick awarded Dane’s opponent a free kick for being held in the game against Carlton. Who said banter was dead?
Athletes clad in clumsy footwear took to Leonora’s main street during festivities after the elite mile heats to race in the annual Golden Gift’s Work Boot Sprint on Saturday night.
For Matt, it only seems like yesterday that he walked into his first AFL training session alongside Chris Esler and Matt Jenkinson but last Saturday Matt Tomkins officiated his 150thAFL game.
How do we separate the score review system from our elite performers, the goal umpires? This is the vexed question the AFL needs to grapple with as the score review comes under extreme pressure from key stakeholders. Coaches, players, commentators and supporters are becoming increasingly frustrated with the apparent inequities in the system. General Manager Football Operations, Steve Hocking ticked off two controversial score review decisions in the Richmond v St Kilda match saying that the score reviewer had more camera angles and better vision than that of the broadcaster in making the correct decisions on Sunday. Then 24 hours later the AFL reversed one of these decisions. The goal umpire was correct! Sadly, the crowds at games, who appear to have a limited understanding of the process take their frustrations out on goal umpires and umpiring in general at games.
Umpires have been front and centre in the past few weeks.