Umpire watch: will we cop it today?

[meher baba]

St Kilda has been portrayed as evil incarnate in the press throughout the week.

I have observed in the past that, when an AFL team is under a barrage of media criticism, this can coincide with one or more matches in which there are lopsided free kick counts against them, with every 50/50 call seeming to go the way of their opponents.

I won't be surprised to see Buddy and Reid score bags of goals from a succession of questionable free kicks, especially against Carlisle.

I'll return to this topic after the game.

[The Fireman]

the swines always the get the rub of the green.

the thing I worry about is that almost always there seems to be something controversial after a saints game ...what will it be this week ?

PS in all honesty I was going to post this question before the carlton game...seriously.

[meher baba]

the swines always the get the rub of the green.

They tend to do better in Sydney than in Melbourne. They used to get a lot of unjust free kicks for holding the ball by encouraging the crowd to scream at the umps. In the last couple of years, the umps have been far less inclined to play frees for holding the ball: indeed, I would suggest they've gone too far the other way.

AFL is the greatest game on earth IMO, but we do have a great deal of trouble with the rules and how they are interpreted. Watching last night's game, I started to think that - if the umps are going to keep letting so many blatant throws go unpunished - then the game is going to be transformed into something more like rugby. On a couple of occasions, I saw something like a ruck form, with the ball then being dropped and paddled/kicked out the back into the clear: this sort of thing is entirely outside the rules as I understand them.

I have also noticed this year that we are seeing instances of one player simply handing the ball to another and not being penalised. Perhaps we'll start to see rugby mauls soon as well!!

[meher baba]

Oh, I forgot to say that the merciless punishment of the "deliberate" kick to the sidelines suddenly seems to be off the agenda again!

For a highly lucrative professional sport, this sort of stuff is beyond amateurish.

[Joffa Burns]

And the persecution complex continues.

Next we'll have statements about umpires who are instructed to cheat at the bequest of the corrupt AFL officials.
Not to mention the media, ex players and expert commentators who all have it in for us Saints.

Why is there an agenda against us?
Why do all of the power brokers in the AFL use their position against us?

[WellardSaint]

Matt Stevic is on today.
I searched his name here, and on about 2 -3 posts he was called a 'cheat' and 'vile',
I wonder if he'll crucify us.
The other 2 maggots I don't know about.

[Joffa Burns]

Matt Stevic is on today.
I searched his name here, and on about 2 -3 posts he was called a 'cheat' and 'vile',
I wonder if he'll crucify us.
The other 2 maggots I don't know about.

Who does that say more about, the poster or the umpires?

[saintspremiers]

CURLY???

[WellardSaint]

Matt Stevic is on today.
I searched his name here, and on about 2 -3 posts he was called a 'cheat' and 'vile',
I wonder if he'll crucify us.
The other 2 maggots I don't know about.

Who does that say more about, the poster or the umpires?

The umpires that I have not heard of, obviously haven't caused enough grief
to be notable.

But Stevic is a person who has a certain fixed mindset and judges things against us
in a biased way, based on past history.

[kosifantutti]

This will be an interesting study in confirmation bias.

[satchmo]

This will be an interesting study in confirmation bias.

That's it...confirmation bias. A popular method of adjudicating free kicks.

[The Fireman]

Oh, I forgot to say that the merciless punishment of the "deliberate" kick to the sidelines suddenly seems to be off the agenda again!

For a highly lucrative professional sport, this sort of stuff is beyond amateurish.

totally agree with what you have said but would like to add that the game is so quick sometimes the only way to pick up a throw is on slow mo replay.

[meher baba]

In response, let me be clear that I'm usually one of the last posters to bag the umps. It's a tremendously difficult job and I greatly admire most of them (a couple of them are wankers, as you will find with people in any walk of life). Any biases they demonstrate are largely unconscious IMO.

But, when everyone in the AFL world is stomping on a team, it seems to be the case that the umps give them a serve too. It's undoubtedly a form of unconscious bias: eg, if you're inclined to see Jake Carlisle as a bad egg, you might be a little harsher on him if his opponent falls over in a marking contest.

I don't think it's a conspiracy: I'm happy to leave that sort of talk to other posters.

[The Fireman]

if you were an ump you would most likely to have loved footy from an early age and would have had a fav team....how hard would it be to be impartial when adjudicating ? or if you really hated a team.....If i was an ump the Skunks would want to hope I didn't umpire them

[meher baba]

if you were an ump you would most likely to have loved footy from an early age and would have had a fav team....how hard would it be to be impartial when adjudicating ? or if you really hated a team.....If i was an ump the Skunks would want to hope I didn't umpire them

True professionals psych themselves into thinking of "team black" and "team red" rather than the actual teams.

Of course the AFL has made this much harder for umps by directing them to address the players by their first names.

Unprofessional BS IMO.

[WellardSaint]

This will be an interesting study in confirmation bias.

That's it...confirmation bias. A popular method of adjudicating free kicks.

I seem to recall that Lindsay Thomas of Norf got bad treatment from umps, according to their coach,
or was an umpire overheard telling him "we are onto you, you always duck"
Which was it?

[The Fireman]

if you were an ump you would most likely to have loved footy from an early age and would have had a fav team....how hard would it be to be impartial when adjudicating ? or if you really hated a team.....If i was an ump the Skunks would want to hope I didn't umpire them

True professionals psych themselves into thinking of "team black" and "team red" rather than the actual teams.

Of course the AFL has made this much harder for umps by directing them to address the players by their first names.

Unprofessional BS IMO.

what if they are not true professionals ?

[BigMart]

They are f***ing horrendous

A game that is impossible to umpire properly anyway... more interpretations than rules
It's a joke

[WellardSaint]

They are f***ing horrendous

A game that is impossible to umpire properly anyway... more interpretations than rules
It's a joke

+1

[ChrisRyanSaints]

5 decisions that shoulve hone our way in this 1/4
NO f****** WORDS

BUT ALSO we suk GILBERT IS OUR BEST PLAYER FFS. Thats how s*** WE ARE!!!
Mccartin for brice was a joke!!!

B GRADERS. Thats all we are

[ChrisRyanSaints]

Ffs why is the roof not on??

f****** WELLER BIG HERO PASS IT YA FLOG!!!

[ChrisRyanSaints]

IF YOU THROW THE BALL WHY ISNT THAT A FREE??
Just cause ya going for a bounce??

[suss]

Yes, getting reamed. Unsurprising.

[jonesy]

Resounding yes, close thread