milne and umpires

[terry smith rules]

two holding the ball against 44 were questionable at best

it is time the club went to the umpires and asked how he can get pinged almost every time.

there are a handful of afl players who are permanently on the wrong side of the umpires

led by milne, mooney, (dare i say it) b.hall, sometimes fev

it is not good enough that a players "reputation"is taken into account by umpires

[lazy]

Given Milney is much maligned by opposition supporters and given he is nearly at 200 Games and 400 Goals we ought to start a dedicated thread in the lead up to this fantastic achievement. In fact, I am going off to BF now for exactly that purpose.

[starsign]

i think it's more Milneys style of play that leaves him close to those type of calls, long as he gets the unfair infringement ones deserved we have to wear a few when he tries to do a bit much I recon

The boy is an enigma...always has been .... but you gotta love him ...
and tonight he got us up and firing AGAIN with a couple of gems and he's become much more unselfish and team oriented over the past couple of seasons
200 games 400 goals near enough speaks plenty

[Solar]

averages half the free's for and three times the free's against in the past 2 years. Disapointing that he is targeted

[saintbrat]

Given Milney is much maligned by opposition supporters and given he is nearly at 200 Games and 400 Goals we ought to start a dedicated thread in the lead up to this fantastic achievement. In fact, I am going off to BF now for exactly that purpose.

already one there I beleive.

Go Milney
2 games and 2 goals to go

[Sainternist]

It seems to me, umpires these days, are too quick to give away holding the ball decisions for when there's a rugby scrum. invariably it's one guy underneath a pack of more than 5 players and the umpires are almost speculating that the guy with the ball has pulled it in when there is basically no hope for him to release the ball.

It's about time umpires made players really earn a free kick from a holding the ball decision by laying a great tackle, instead of playing this guessing game.

[OneEyedSainter77]

Given Milney is much maligned by opposition supporters and given he is nearly at 200 Games and 400 Goals we ought to start a dedicated thread in the lead up to this fantastic achievement. In fact, I am going off to BF now for exactly that purpose.

Are you Rough Edges on bigfooty?

if so, i caught that post.

Very clever!

[35...LEGEND]

It seems to me, umpires these days, are too quick to give away holding the ball decisions for when there's a rugby scrum. invariably it's one guy underneath a pack of more than 5 players and the umpires are almost speculating that the guy with the ball has pulled it in when there is basically no hope for him to release the ball.

It's about time umpires made players really earn a free kick from a holding the ball decision by laying a great tackle, instead of playing this guessing game.

Agree.....just no incentive to go after a ground ball any more.

Why do you not get prior opp if you are on the ground ?

As soon as you pick it up,or attempt to pick it up and dish off, are tackled immediately,you are pinged.

I defy anyone to be able to get a ball out from under them self with 3 or 4 blokes laying all over you,arms and legs everywhere.And a couple of them trying to push the ball back under you......it's impossible IMO.



It's F@#$ked

[plugger66]

It seems to me, umpires these days, are too quick to give away holding the ball decisions for when there's a rugby scrum. invariably it's one guy underneath a pack of more than 5 players and the umpires are almost speculating that the guy with the ball has pulled it in when there is basically no hope for him to release the ball.

It's about time umpires made players really earn a free kick from a holding the ball decision by laying a great tackle, instead of playing this guessing game.

Agree.....just no incentive to go after a ground ball any more.

Why do you not get prior opp if you are on the ground ?

As soon as you pick it up,or attempt to pick it up and dish off, are tackled immediately,you are pinged.

I defy anyone to be able to get a ball out from under them self with 3 or 4 blokes laying all over you,arms and legs everywhere.And a couple of them trying to push the ball back under you......it's impossible IMO.



It's F@#$ked

If we didnt have that rule there would be an extra 30 ball ups a game. thats certainly one thing I dont want to see especially since our rucks struggle in ball ups anyway.

[35...LEGEND]

It seems to me, umpires these days, are too quick to give away holding the ball decisions for when there's a rugby scrum. invariably it's one guy underneath a pack of more than 5 players and the umpires are almost speculating that the guy with the ball has pulled it in when there is basically no hope for him to release the ball.

It's about time umpires made players really earn a free kick from a holding the ball decision by laying a great tackle, instead of playing this guessing game.

Agree.....just no incentive to go after a ground ball any more.

Why do you not get prior opp if you are on the ground ?

As soon as you pick it up,or attempt to pick it up and dish off, are tackled immediately,you are pinged.

I defy anyone to be able to get a ball out from under them self with 3 or 4 blokes laying all over you,arms and legs everywhere.And a couple of them trying to push the ball back under you......it's impossible IMO.



It's F@#$ked

If we didnt have that rule there would be an extra 30 ball ups a game. thats certainly one thing I dont want to see especially since our rucks struggle in ball ups anyway.

So be it as far as ball up's go.

Give the bloke a chance to do something.

It's still F#$%ked.

Solution .....start pinging the player's who are over the top of the poor bastard on the ground and shoving the ball back under him.

What ever happened to the Ump saying "pull him off it...pull him off it" ?

Now it's jump on him and hold it under him........the players doing this are just as(if not more) guilty as the player on the bottom of it all......it's all F@#$ked IMO

[Waltzing St Kilda]

MIlne's problems this year began when the umpiring department released a dvd explaining their new policy re staging. And Milne was one of the players selected to showcase "staging" events in the past.

But why select current players? Why not use footage of retired players? Surely they realise that by publicly shaming a current player they're encouraging the umpiring fraternity to treat him sceptically?

[CORDZ]

[quoteit is not good enough that a players "reputation"is taken into account by umpire[/quote]
Couldn't agree more - On the flipside also good reputations are also rewarded. Ablett and Judd get caught with the ball most games but never get pinged in situations where any other player would be given half as long to get rid of it.
Umpires need to be given the instruction that everyone receives exactly the same treatment. Even getting the umpires opinions on who in the AFL are the biggest stagers - as promoted on this year's official DVD is a call beyond their role in the game. THey must bee 100% impartial to be taken seriously!!

[Solar]

loved it when the crows player was on the ground, milne stretched over him, pulled the ball under the both of them and they went on to wrestle over the ball, with the crow player ending up with the ball.

Explain why it was holding the ball against milne? Bizarre

[35...LEGEND]

loved it when the crows player was on the ground, milne stretched over him, pulled the ball under the both of them and they went on to wrestle over the ball, with the crow player ending up with the ball.

Explain why it was holding the ball against milne? Bizarre

ha ha ,are you serious lol...............i'm like a lot of people who follow this game (including umpires).......in that I have NFI these day's !!

Harsh decisions.
Lenient decisions.
WTF decisions.

All in every game, every week.

I know they can't be expected to be perfect.
Some consistency would be nice but.......

[Solar]

loved it when the crows player was on the ground, milne stretched over him, pulled the ball under the both of them and they went on to wrestle over the ball, with the crow player ending up with the ball.

Explain why it was holding the ball against milne? Bizarre

ha ha ,are you serious lol...............i'm like a lot of people who follow this game (including umpires).......in that I have NFI these day's !!

Harsh decisions.
Lenient decisions.
WTF decisions.

All in every game, every week.

I know they can't be expected to be perfect.
Some consistency would be nice but.......

It is like they are a bunch of accountants these days. They pay it to the letter of the law, without a feel for the game or even common sense.

Things that annoy me are players getting tackled, having a player free in front of him but the tackler is holding his arms. Of course he would want to get it off to his team mate but obviously can't. yet the umpire ignores this and calls holding the ball??? HUH?

I'm like you, just got no idea why they call free's these days

[35...LEGEND]

[

They pay it to the letter of the law, you think ??




without a feel for the game or even common sense. agree

[Gilbert The Great]

[quoteit is not good enough that a players "reputation"is taken into account by umpire

Couldn't agree more - On the flipside also good reputations are also rewarded. Ablett and Judd get caught with the ball most games but never get pinged in situations where any other player would be given half as long to get rid of it.
Umpires need to be given the instruction that everyone receives exactly the same treatment. Even getting the umpires opinions on who in the AFL are the biggest stagers - as promoted on this year's official DVD is a call beyond their role in the game. THey must bee 100% impartial to be taken seriously!![/quote]

This is so true, I hate how ablett can get swung around twice before handballing and not pinged. If not publically the AFL has to address this discrepency privately

[meher baba]

[quoteit is not good enough that a players "reputation"is taken into account by umpire

Couldn't agree more - On the flipside also good reputations are also rewarded. Ablett and Judd get caught with the ball most games but never get pinged in situations where any other player would be given half as long to get rid of it.
Umpires need to be given the instruction that everyone receives exactly the same treatment. Even getting the umpires opinions on who in the AFL are the biggest stagers - as promoted on this year's official DVD is a call beyond their role in the game. THey must bee 100% impartial to be taken seriously!![/quote]

Encouraging a culture of impartiality towards individual players would begin by requiring umps to call them by their numbers rather than their given/nicknames.

Even the use of surnames would be a start.

What gets me is that the umps are directed to be personal. It's supposed to help them gain the confidence of players and keep better control.

Other codes don't do it.

Doesn't work in prisons or schools.

So what's so special about AFL?

More than anything, this - and other aspects of our very poor umpiring set-up- make our game look like the amateurish, parochial, backward-looking game that its leaders so don't want it to be

IMO anyway.

[saint75]

MIlne's problems this year began when the umpiring department released a dvd explaining their new policy re staging. And Milne was one of the players selected to showcase "staging" events in the past.

But why select current players? Why not use footage of retired players? Surely they realise that by publicly shaming a current player they're encouraging the umpiring fraternity to treat him sceptically?

They should have used Lloyd or Johnson......

[35...LEGEND]

MIlne's problems this year began when the umpiring department released a dvd explaining their new policy re staging. And Milne was one of the players selected to showcase "staging" events in the past.

But why select current players? Why not use footage of retired players? Surely they realise that by publicly shaming a current player they're encouraging the umpiring fraternity to treat him sceptically?

They should have used Lloyd or Johnson......

Typical of the AFL...... a chance to do something properly.................and blow it..............

[bozza1980]

[quoteit is not good enough that a players "reputation"is taken into account by umpire

Couldn't agree more - On the flipside also good reputations are also rewarded. Ablett and Judd get caught with the ball most games but never get pinged in situations where any other player would be given half as long to get rid of it.

Ablett or Judd would never get pinged ala Lenny Hayes against the Eagles a couple of weeks ago.

Back to the original post, my feeling with regard to the holding the ball rule as it is applied to Stephen Milne, if he is tackled, it is holding the ball.

It's a bit like if he bends over to pick up the ball and is caught high, he must have ducked and is doubly likely to be pinged for holding the ball.

Don't umpires realise to pick a ball up off the ground you have to bend over??

[bergholt]

On the flipside also good reputations are also rewarded.

riewoldt is also the beneficiary of this.

[AlpineStars]

At umpire HQ there is a score board that reads "How many times you have pinged Milney for holding the ball"

You can just tell as soon as its him they can't wait to pay it, it really is laughable I have given up complaining. I just giggle to myself now.

[St Ick]

The thing that gets me is a bloke can scoop it, throw it do anything bar dispose of it correctly and as long as it gets out of the pack thats all that matters. The dropping the ball, sorry - 'spilt free' - issues get to me as the tackler always gets pinged for holding the man. The holding the ball rule has gone backwards IMO.

Milne has always been a target for holding the ball because of the way he plays - because he takes blokes on and is showy its like the umps are ready to pay it when he gets the ball in his hands.

The other bloke who is desperately unlucky with frees is Schneiderman. Why he clapped that umpire I don't know (well I do know why and I agreed with his clap!) but man has he paid for it ever since!

[ralphsmith]

At umpire HQ there is a score board that reads "How many times you have pinged Milney for holding the ball"

Wouldn't be surprised if there is.

To umpires eyes Milne has no neck and no back.

When they see him touch the ball they're immediately looking for a reason to ping him for holding the ball.

When Ablett touches the ball and is tackled by 2 players and takes 7 or so seconds to get rid of the ball umpires swallow their whistle for the theatre of it all.


Unfortunately for Milne, people find his appearance annoying. The most "punchable" head in the AFL according to many on bigfooty. And apparently umpires are people, so this simple problem means he gets no free kicks.

I'd love the umps to rise above the perceptions of Milney and to treat him fairly.