The third of our female goal umpires, Sally Boud made her AFL debut on Saturday evening in the Fremantle v GWS game. Sally who has had an extensive apprenticeship including two WAFL senior grand finals becomes only the fourth woman but 344th goal umpire to umpire AFL football. Sally had a tough initiation with a couple of great goal line gets first up. it can only get easier from here!
A lot of talk in the press about free kick counts over the weekend and the discrepancy between the counts. Surely somebody needs to show the public that there is no such thing as the correct number of frees that have to be paid in a game! Does it appear that certain media outlets are happy to promote the controversy to sell papers?
Eleni Glouftsis proved just how tough she was on Sunday in the VFL when a Bulldogs player kicked a ball right into her head. Not only didn’t she flinch, she turned her head and kept umpiring.
Our Fiona McBurney Match Day participant Corbin also proved how resilient he was when he decided to go for a run to warm up with emergency umpire, Nathan Williamson prior to the game. As the photos on the website showed Corbin and his family had a ball. Thanks goes to our WA team for their support of the program.
Chris Donlon was assisting another young fan on Saturday night. The young Bulldogs coin tosser was left to his devices to toss the coin. He was vision impaired but fiercely independent. With white cane and glasses on, Chris asked if he wanted his mother to help him with the coin toss. He whispered into Chris’ ear, “Leave her there I can do this on my own.”