Frees. For and Against.

[CURLY]

The deliberate free against Lonie was a complete joke and something you would never see payed against a Collingwood player. The umpire had no reason to pay it wasn’t blocked was in the right position and still cheated.

[degruch]

I said this after the last practice match against the 'Dogs.
AR needs to do a Clarko and invite the head of the umpires out for a coffee - make it a nice morning tea - and then rock up with his laptop and some of the examples which need clarifying.
I am not going to complain about the umpiring today because we won, but I believe that we must be doing some things extremely wrong and our technique with spoiling, flying for marks, trying to keep the ball in, etc.
I know Hawthorn had a senior, or head of umpiring with them playing a simulated match on the Gold Coast recently. I think the players must be getting coached to play the game with poor technique, or at least not playing within the laws of the game with the number of frees paid against us regularly and it is the coach's job to get this right.

Could be an idea, we really need to ask for clarification on the deliberate out of bounds rule, and contact in a contest, as that's where we got reemed...but it would only highlight the fact that the Suns were not subject to the same interpretation. It would be nice to sit back and take a good sip of my coffee after pointing out the rapid escalation of frees against us during the second quarter when we were absolutely smashing the opposition all over the ground, and watch them scramble for an explanation.

[saintbob]

There were some absolute howlers paid today, the one against Long was probably the worst.

[CURLY]

There were some absolute howlers paid today, the one against Long was probably the worst.

Again clear biased by the umpires. Stood watching both go at it then pinged Long. Disgraceful umpiring.

[Linton Lodger]

You can complain about umpires but you're ignoring the elephant in the room.

Alan Richardson.

We were polaxed in the middle for basically the whole game. Witts gave Pierce a lesson and Ross/Dunstan were terrible. I don't know what that has to do with coaching?

Team selection is an important part of coaching I would have thought!

Marshall and Clarke would have improved things for starters.

Witts would have pushed Marshall out of the way and it may have been worse. I would have picked Clarke, but his form in the JLT wasn't great and there was no choice with Brown and Acres.

[samuraisaint]

I said this after the last practice match against the 'Dogs.
AR needs to do a Clarko and invite the head of the umpires out for a coffee - make it a nice morning tea - and then rock up with his laptop and some of the examples which need clarifying.
I am not going to complain about the umpiring today because we won, but I believe that we must be doing some things extremely wrong and our technique with spoiling, flying for marks, trying to keep the ball in, etc.
I know Hawthorn had a senior, or head of umpiring with them playing a simulated match on the Gold Coast recently. I think the players must be getting coached to play the game with poor technique, or at least not playing within the laws of the game with the number of frees paid against us regularly and it is the coach's job to get this right.

Could be an idea, we really need to ask for clarification on the deliberate out of bounds rule, and contact in a contest, as that's where we got reemed...but it would only highlight the fact that the Suns were not subject to the same interpretation. It would be nice to sit back and take a good sip of my coffee after pointing out the rapid escalation of frees against us during the second quarter when we were absolutely smashing the opposition all over the ground, and watch them scramble for an explanation.

AR has raised his concerns that we had some issues with matches in the back half of last season, the practice games, and today. He has also raised the noise of affirmation issue for teams playing in Western Australia. But the thing is this can all be sorted out by finding out where we are going wrong, and what we need to do to fix it, so that we are playing within the rules and within the spirit of the game. I was there today, and reckon there was only about a hundred or so Suns fans there, behind the goals at the Coventry end. If we say it is crowd noise which sways umpiring decisions, then clearly today that was not the case. Sometimes when you are at the game you don't always see things as clearly as those watching on TV. I have heard from several sources today who were not at the game that Longy gave away a few obvious free kicks. I was there but didn't see them. Maybe it was my bias, but anyway, AR needs to find out what we need to do to exploit the rules to best advantage, and I reckon a coffee over a laptop might be just the ticket.

[Enrico_Misso]

And hopefully the bloody roof will be closed.

Had to laugh.
The club had generously opened 6 level 1 bays to GA members -first come basis.
At the start of the game they were packed.
But those bays were looking diectly into the sun.

By 3/4 time 90% of the squinting fans had moved to other bays.

Great gesture from the club.

[mullet]

So I guess we were disciplined up until half way through the second quarter when we were getting on top. We need to look at what went wrong. Did we tire. I thought the suns looked like they were tiring too. I thought we had done a lot of work on our tackling. Hopefully the umpires director can set us straight.

[Joffa Burns]

There were some absolute howlers paid today, the one against Long was probably the worst.

Again clear biased by the umpires. Stood watching both go at it then pinged Long. Disgraceful umpiring.

You must be relieved the real stuff has started Curls so you can resume your relentless tirade against the adjudicating officials.

It must have been a frustrating wait big fella.

If nothing else Curls I admire the commitment and consistency of your vitriolic sprays and accusations.

Keep up the good work it is very entertaining.

[CURLY]

There were some absolute howlers paid today, the one against Long was probably the worst.

Again clear biased by the umpires. Stood watching both go at it then pinged Long. Disgraceful umpiring.

You must be relieved the real stuff has started Curls so you can resume your relentless tirade against the adjudicating officials.

It must have been a frustrating wait big fella.

If nothing else Curls I admire the commitment and consistency of your vitriolic sprays and accusations.

Keep up the good work it is very entertaining.

Watched the Geel v Coll game then ours on the Sunday the difference in umpiring is astounding.

[Life Long Saint]

As bad as the umpiring was we, for the most part, were far worse.
We played one quarter of sustained, pressure football. That was the second. And it was led by a first gamer. We had the momentum going into half time and let it slip in the last half to the point where we only scored four goals for the second half and nearly blew the game. The Suns have the worst list in the comp this season. And we fell over the line. That's where we are at.

Regardless of how terrible they were, you can't blame umpires for a drop in pressure and intensity. Nor can you blame them for missing targets by foot from 30m. How many times did we see a player under no pressure miss his target then putting that player under pressure because he had to change direction and pick up the ball? i lost count!

The win covered the obvious cracks in our game. I hope the coaching panel treat this like a loss and perform a critical review.

What yesterday showed me was that we have not improved enough to drag us out of the bottom three. We're a strong chance for another wooden spoon.

[Doctor Two]

Today's umpires were bloody dismal. I couldn't understand more than half of the free kicks they plucked out for GCS. Just obfuscating all afternoon.

Trouble is when you are the 17th & 18th ranked team , you get umpire 25, 26 & 27 in terms of standards.
There is minimal depth in umpiring ranks.
You need to be 4 goals ahead to be safe from the umpiring and yes it was shocking and over officiated yesterday

[saynta]

There were some absolute howlers paid today, the one against Long was probably the worst.

Again clear biased by the umpires. Stood watching both go at it then pinged Long. Disgraceful umpiring.

That's what Burkie said on air too.

[repta]

Rediculous and disgraceful are the two words that I come to mind.
How you can give away a free kick when you have 4 guys in your face pulling your jumper. Or whilst getting thrown to the ground kick the ball out on purpose when it misses your player by a 1.5m. OR pay several frees from 150m away whilst two other umpires are metres from the action.

Love to see the frees by umpire

Sorry AFL your umpire biase still couldnt get your love child over the line.

[CQ SAINT]

Risk versus reward. The GC player risked a 50m penalty. Long risked a turnover. Long retaliated (for the 4th time) and then moved forward and got in his face. This is when the whistle was blown. I cant excuse Long. I would have taken him straight off for a 3 minute cooler. His troubles are not over, he is a known hot head. Only maturity will help him. There is a fine line between aggression and stupidity.
I loved the way Parker responded when he was challenged physically. He dropped his hands looked at the bloke with distaste and backed out while his mates intervened.
Both guys attack the play aggressively, one is just ml ore mature about it when the ball is no longer in dispute.

[IluvHarvey]

I don't buy into the Umpires being biased.
I just think umpiring standards are below where they need to be.
It was just a classic display of Umpires not having a feel for the game.
Terrible display all day and they should be dropped next week.

[Sainter_Dad]

I don't buy into the Umpires being biased.
I just think umpiring standards are below where they need to be.
It was just a classic display of Umpires not having a feel for the game.
Terrible display all day and they should be dropped next week.

I also do not believe there is an umpire bias - but with 3 different umpires - you are going to get three sets of eyes seeing/not seeing different things - it used to be you only had to worry about interpretation week from week - now it is minute to minute or end to end!!!

[The_Dud]

Ask Suns supporters what they thought of the umpiring in the last few minutes when the game was on the line.

But of course those supporters would be wrong...

[saynta]

I don't buy into the Umpires being biased.
I just think umpiring standards are below where they need to be.
It was just a classic display of Umpires not having a feel for the game.
Terrible display all day and they should be dropped next week.

You could be right. I only said could be...

But we have been getting the rough end of the pineapple for years now.

[tedtheodorelogan2018]

The umps helped keep the Suns in the game at times. Some very poor decisions.

[Linton Lodger]

I don't buy into the Umpires being biased.
I just think umpiring standards are below where they need to be.
It was just a classic display of Umpires not having a feel for the game.
Terrible display all day and they should be dropped next week.

You're right, I doubt they're biased, I think its a lack of competence. A lack of competence in many umpires and the people coaching them. They must be made full time professionals.

The problems are their positioning and as you said, many have no feel for the game.

The Jack Steven reversal caused a 12 point turnaround and gave GC momentum.

[Linton Lodger]

Ask Suns supporters what they thought of the umpiring in the last few minutes when the game was on the line.

But of course those supporters would be wrong...

Finding a Suns supporter would be too daunting a challenge.

[saynta]

Ask Suns supporters what they thought of the umpiring in the last few minutes when the game was on the line.

But of course those supporters would be wrong...

Finding a Suns supporter would be too daunting a challenge.

[saynta]

I don't buy into the Umpires being biased.
I just think umpiring standards are below where they need to be.
It was just a classic display of Umpires not having a feel for the game.
Terrible display all day and they should be dropped next week.

You're right, I doubt they're biased, I think its a lack of competence. A lack of competence in many umpires and the people coaching them. They must be made full time professionals.

The problems are their positioning and as you said, many have no feel for the game.

The Jack Steven reversal caused a 12 point turnaround and gave GC momentum.

It certainly did, but still Long needs a kick in the backside.

[GSG]

I don't buy into the Umpires being biased.
I just think umpiring standards are below where they need to be.
It was just a classic display of Umpires not having a feel for the game.
Terrible display all day and they should be dropped next week.

You could be right. I only said could be...

But we have been getting the rough end of the pineapple for years now.

Of course, umpires can be biased, but probably more subconsciously. They all grew up barracking for a team, had some teams the quite liked and some they downright hated (like us!). They have their favourite players and players they dislike. However, towards the majority of players, they’re mostly neutral. I am absolutely sure they all try NOT to be biased, but it is only human that some bias will sneak in every so often, and this is on top of some bad decisions.