Mark Thomson just keeps on keeping on and this weekend moved into equal 3rd on the all time list of games umpired by a boundary umpire equaling Murray Williams (320). John Morris moves into equal 7th all time joining John Hicks (308)
Another boundary umpire, Chris Roberts is on the recovery trail after succumbing to appendicitis prior to round one. When we caught up with Chris this week he was in good spirits and expecting to be up for senior selection soon. Hopefully it will end a period of wretched luck for Chris who missed most of 2015 with a fractured foot.
Newly listed AFL boundary umpire, Peter Bock has returned from Hungary and the world schools cross country championships where he coached the Australian team. “I was appointed to the coaching role in August 2015 without any knowledge that I would be offered an AFL contract.” Peter will be available for AFL selection shortly.
WA based goal umpire Sally Boud will be keeping her fingers crossed this week hoping to make her debut as the 3rd female on the current AFL list. Sally and Peter Bock are the only two AFL listed umpires who have not debuted in 2016.
Michael Palm is a true journeyman. Michael umpired his 50th AFL game on Friday night at the Nth Melbourne v Western Bulldogs game. He has umpired in South Australia, Ballarat and the VFL before making his AFL debut in 2013. (See the article on Michael’s journey on the website later this week)
While most guys went on a quiet recovery run on Sunday some of our boundary umpires, led by Graham Bergroth challenged Puffing Billy and with some success I might add. Graham has supported the run for many years now that he lives in Cockatoo, deep in the Dandenong Ranges. The other boundary umpires who gave up a pleasant Sunday to run 13.5 km were Michael Marantelli (finished 4th overall), Ian Burrows and Shane Thiele. So fresh were they after running their AFL games on the weekend they took out the teams event finishing first. The BBQ back at Graham’s afterwards was sweeter for the win.
Shane Harris, SANFL Umpire Manager supported this weeks FM-MDE program that was held in Adelaide for the first time. Eugene Callaghan and his family had a great day at the football supported by the AFL umpire family. Shane, on the back of this success and his commitment to the Sportability program will introduce a similar program into games in the SANFL. Shane is hosting a Down Syndrome Training day next Tuesday, May 11 at SANFL training.