News

Family tradition often dictates what walk of life a youngster follows.  So spare a thought for Josh Mather because umpiring was in his blood before he could walk.  He had no options but to follow in his grand father’s footsteps, AFLUA life member, George and those of his father, Mark.  “Dad umpired four or five Western Region Division One grand finals as a field umpire,” laughed Josh today when we spoke about his footy background. “I played junior footy on a Sunday and ran a  reserves game on one side of the boundary with my brother, Tim on a Saturday. I started umpiring when I was 11 years old, it was in the family.”

Congratulations to boundary umpire, Josh Mather who umpired his 50th AFL match in the Dreamtime at the ‘G game on Saturday night.  Josh, who comes from a strong umpiring and athletics background, has clocked up his games in his third year on the list.

Michael, or Leo, as he was commonly known passed away after a brief illness on Saturday May 21.  He was buried on Thursday 26 May.  Leo’s wife Margaret, told us of Leo’s love and passion for umpiring and of football that he shared with his grand children up until his passing.

The first of our state games is played this weekend, when rivals SA come up against the Vic’s in Adelaide. Tune in to Channel 7’s telecast to see a good rivalry play out with some of the best young umpires also representing their states.

Some individuals make a meteoric rise in their chosen profession or interest area, the AFL’s newest boundary umpire Peter Bock is one of those.

It is not very often that a twenty year old is appointed to umpire an AFL game but Josh Garrett did just that, following in his dad’s footsteps, to officiate the West Coast vs Brisbane game on 27 March.

It is very rare indeed for a man who never umpired VFL or AFL football to receive one of the highest accolades our association can bestow on any individual, honorary life membership.  That is what our association did in recognition of David Drane’s 20-year plus commitment to VFL umpires in 1985.

AFL boundary umpire, Darren Wilson officiated in his 400th AFL game on Friday night.  Darren becomes the first boundary umpire and fifth umpire after, Hayden Kennedy (495) Shane McInerney (429) Rowan Sawers (410) and Stephen McBurney (401) to make 400 games.  Interesting to note that Darren’s 400 games include 36 regular finals and 12 straight grand finals (1998 – 2009).  His tally increases with four night grand finals, four state of origin games and an international rules game.

AFLUA life member, 300 AFL game boundary umpire and current VFL boundary coach Matt Vitiritti, sat Damien Cusack down at the end of the 2010 season and gave him a few home truths.  “He said he thought I’d been at the VFL for too long and needed to work harder on a more consistent basis in order to take the next step,” reflected Damien today on the occasion of his 50th AFL game.