Umpires this week.

[saynta]

Leigh Fisher.

[The_Dud]

Great Saints man Leigh.

Another 28-14 on the cards

[The Fireman]

I think curly likes Leigh so we maybe spared

[Otiman]

Thankfully we didn't get the umpires from the Gold Coast-Melbourne game.

[saynta]

Thankfully we didn't get the umpires from the Gold Coast-Melbourne game.

No, and there are f****** four of them these days. Gold Coast were robbed. Don't let anyone tell you the myth that maggots don't decide games. They decided this one. Two clear free kicks to Gold Coast players close to goal in the closing minutes were ignored by the umpires. Those sticking up for these clowns should be ashamed of themselves.

PS. A loss to the ski crowd would have been good for us.

[D.B.Cooper]

Thankfully we didn't get the umpires from the Gold Coast-Melbourne game.

No, and there are f****** four of them these days. Gold Coast were robbed. Don't let anyone tell you the myth that maggots don't decide games. They decided this one. Two clear free kicks to Gold Coast players close to goal in the closing minutes were ignored by the umpires. Those sticking up for these clowns should be ashamed of themselves.

PS. A loss to the ski crowd would have been good for us.

Worst 5 minutes of umpiring I can recall.

When you think about the soft free kicks that are paid to the likes of Curnow, then look at the shockers not paid to Swallow and Chol it beggars belief.

[Mr Magic]

2 weeks in a row the officiating has been found wanting in a tight game

[saynta]

If someone mugged Swallow like that in a public place , they would be arrested.

[desertsaint]

I think curly likes Leigh so we maybe spared

ha. you forgot the other three.

[Trev from the Bush]

Thankfully we didn't get the umpires from the Gold Coast-Melbourne game.

No, and there are f****** four of them these days. Gold Coast were robbed. Don't let anyone tell you the myth that maggots don't decide games. They decided this one. Two clear free kicks to Gold Coast players close to goal in the closing minutes were ignored by the umpires. Those sticking up for these clowns should be ashamed of themselves.

PS. A loss to the ski crowd would have been good for us.

Worst 5 minutes of umpiring I can recall.

When you think about the soft free kicks that are paid to the likes of Curnow, then look at the shockers not paid to Swallow and Chol it beggars belief.

I still don't know why Gawn was gifted the free and the goal in the lat quarter. Any clues? The Fox commentary team had a down the ground video replay but none of them saw an infringement from that.

[D.B.Cooper]

Thankfully we didn't get the umpires from the Gold Coast-Melbourne game.

No, and there are f****** four of them these days. Gold Coast were robbed. Don't let anyone tell you the myth that maggots don't decide games. They decided this one. Two clear free kicks to Gold Coast players close to goal in the closing minutes were ignored by the umpires. Those sticking up for these clowns should be ashamed of themselves.

PS. A loss to the ski crowd would have been good for us.

Worst 5 minutes of umpiring I can recall.

When you think about the soft free kicks that are paid to the likes of Curnow, then look at the shockers not paid to Swallow and Chol it beggars belief.

I still don't know why Gawn was gifted the free and the goal in the lat quarter. Any clues? The Fox commentary team had a down the ground video replay but none of them saw an infringement from that.

No clue at all.

I normally don't notice umpiring from a bias perspective, just sometimes get frustrated at really soft free kicks, but tonight the missed frees not awarded to the Suns in the last were outrageous.

[SaintPav]

I sniff some Sunshine retirement State bias.

[Sainter_Dad]

I think curly likes Leigh so we maybe spared

For those that think Curley is alone when he claims that the Umpires affect games - try this thread

[CURLY]

Umpiring is getting worse but it’s easy to see why. From the beginning they are put on a pedastal and cannot accept criticism. New umpires off the street can ruin an entire game but the umpires cannot be scored graded or commented on. FFS the senior umpire or better of the won’t even over rule in case it upsets the other umpire. Ruin games and get to repeat it.

[desertsaint]

I think curly likes Leigh so we maybe spared

For those that think Curley is alone when he claims that the Umpires affect games - try this thread

i don't think anyone of right mind would argue that. the argument is more that a) its not a deliberate bias, and b) there's nothing to be done about it, and c) and swings and roundabouts.

i watched that game and the suns indeed got reamed in the last. happens so often because bad umpires so often defer to the bigger teams and bigger players when it's hot. they simply aren't experienced enough or professional enough to handle the pressure. and the idiots at afl house thought things would improve by adding an extra bad umpire to every game. there simply isn't enough talent in the umpire group to add the extras. is the afl were fair dinkum they'd make it a full time profession and allow impartial media analysis of their performance.
i actually don,t mind curly and others having a whinge in gameday threads - makes it more of a game atmosphere. i much prefer that than some smartarse always chiming in supporting the umps during a game. go to an umpires fan forum if that's what floats your boat.

[SaintWiki]

I always like it when decision go our way and get upset when they go against us. We have had enough on the negative side to feel abused and it makes things worse when they are judged by their own and not externally. Nevertheless, whether it's because I am very old or so accustomed to it I don't know, but I reckon we've generally had a better run this year.

There is often a possible 2 or more violations of the rules in every contest so the umpires can do whatever they like really, and they only get publicly caught out when they make an incorrect decision and it's clear to all that it was wrong. But it's a hard game to umpire perfectly if you are not supernatural heroes like me and have a close up vision on all angles whilst watching it on TV, then go back after the game and replay what the commentators missed in slow motion.

[Ghost Like]

Two points...

When we were questioning the quality of umpires when we had three on the field, how, in any realm of logic, was adding another going to improve the overall quality?

A good or favoured season or final series of umpiring can win you a Premiership, ask the Western Bulldogs. So the quality, unconscious bias can change results.

There are no "swings & roundabouts" for sudden death finals.

[Jacks Back]

What I don't understand is at a boundary throw-in one ruck can just blatantly push the other ruck fair square in the back and it's play on. It's creeping in to a fair few games now. WTF?

[WellardSaint]

What I don't understand is at a boundary throw-in one ruck can just blatantly push the other ruck fair square in the back and it's play on. It's creeping in to a fair few games now. WTF?

Umps haven't played senior AFL (except Fisher) so have no clue about ruck things, etc

[Sainter_Dad]

What I don't understand is at a boundary throw-in one ruck can just blatantly push the other ruck fair square in the back and it's play on. It's creeping in to a fair few games now. WTF?

And yet at centre bounces the umpire can bounce a wonky ball that goes over one players head and he is pinged for a block.

[The Fireman]

Personally I tend to concentrate more on the capability of of our team
The umpiring is out of our control and all the angst hot air is just a distraction

[WellardSaint]

A google search shows Fisher owns a restaurant in Hampton called 'Cornerstone & Co' plus an Italian restaurant.

I wonder whether he's worried that patrons will bag his umpiring and say he favours us, so he overcompensates by being incredibly hard on us.
Or is he still salty over being delisted in 2005 or whenever it was.
His hammies were like Nathan Freeman and Jason Cripps, it's unfortunate but it didn't work out for him.
He needs to get over himself.

[WellardSaint]

Personally I tend to concentrate more on the capability of of our team
The umpiring is out of our control and all the angst hot air is just a distraction

Ross asked about 'stepping off the line'.

The Battle debacle- SPP was next to the guy on the mark before Battle was smothered. Is that 50m every day of the week?
Wilkie's oppo wasn't called back to the mark.

[Otiman]

Yes, I think it's a subconscious need to confirm there is no bias towards us.

I don't think it is deliberate, he is otherwise a great umpire.

[D.B.Cooper]

Two points...

When we were questioning the quality of umpires when we had three on the field, how, in any realm of logic, was adding another going to improve the overall quality?

A good or favoured season or final series of umpiring can win you a Premiership, ask the Western Bulldogs. So the quality, unconscious bias can change results.

There are no "swings & roundabouts" for sudden death finals.

As written, I rarely think umpiring influences results, however agree there have been times as you list above where the rub of the green appears to go with certain teams and players. I believe most watching last night as a neutral supporter would have felt the Suns got completely shafted and blatantly obvious free kicks that were not paid impacted the result.

To honestly suggest there is constant cheating or bias against StKilda on an ongoing bases is laughable.
I believe there was the whispers in the sky issue when the umpires hit back at GT, and on occasion by systematic or sanctioned by the AFL is fantasy.

My real frustration is soft free kicks like those paid to Curnow against us and other teams, he's an umpire love child. The frees are techniocally correct but soft as butter. Then also how interpretation of the rules changes depending on the closeness of the match.

If an action is deemed a free kick in the first 1/4, a similar action but 10X more severe is play on in the dying moments of a close match.
There is little consistency.

I think the best umpiring I have seen was the 09/10 grand finals.
They let it flow and soft frees were not paid.

Waiting for the Hawkins goal mention now