That's nonsense. First, the umpires don't make the rules nor the interpretations. They are handed both and forced to implement them. The assessment as to how well they have done that, determines who is umpiring at the pointy end of the season - not necessarily the "best" umpires.Sainter_Dad wrote: ↑Tue 31 Aug 2021 12:50pm ...
Razer and his "Look at Me" Cohorts are one of the current problems...
Second, the rosy "good old days" view never existed. Umpires were far more idiosyncratic when there was just one of them.
Let me give you two examples. One from the 50s and one from the 70s. One day in the late 50s, Footscray were playing Fitzroy and Jack Irving was the umpire. Ted Whitten was captain coach of the Bulldogs. Right from the start, whenever Fitzroy got got a free, Whitten said "You're a mug Irving." In the last quarter, with scores close, a free went to Fitzroy in the centre of the ground. Once again, Whitton said "You're a mug Irving". Irving then said to Whitten, "How many times have you called me a mug today Ted?" Whitten replied, "About 4." Irving then said, "Right, 4 times 15 is 60" and paid a 60 metre penalty which brought the player to within goal. Fitzroy won the match by a few points. Irving was dropped from the panel the following week.
Second story. A game at Moorabbin in the 70s when it was wet. Paul Callery has been rammed in the back into the mud yet again and "enquired" to umpire Robinson as to why he didn't get the free. Robinson replied, " You haven't had a free today and you are not going to get one today." Robinson improved in this regard over the years.
Both of these stories came from the "horse's mouths" and indicate that the good old days were a myth. Although, I might contradict myself a bit. Back about 20 years ago, umpiring hit its peak in my view because the interpretation of the rules was broadened to be " Did the action put the player out of the contest?" This reduced trivial frees - like a finger tip grab of the jumper. Back then, two of the best umpires ever were going around - Mathew James and Brett Allen. They never paid what I call "weak" frees. This was of umpiring had been influenced by Bill Deller who had been that sort of umpire himself. Alas, our media friends got on the "consistency" bandwagon, so that these days the slightest grab of a jumper produces a free (if it is seen). I have no idea what constitutes a ruck infringement these days. Often, neither do either ruckman.
Ray Chamberlain is an excellent umpire and has been the victim of idiot media "personalities". One thing that hasn't changed much over the years, is that media "personalities" who are up themselves have little knowledge of the rules or which players actually have the ball. Of course I'm talking about that fool Taylor.
