Umpiring today/ Sugar will cop a fine/ RFC cops $7,500 fine

[mightytiges]

Andy D was on Footy Classified and said he wasn't happy with Sugar's umpire comments but Adrian Anderson hands out the punishment.

Sugar and the RFC has received two "please explains". One for Johnson talking to the umps at half-time and the other for Sugar's aftergame comments. Andy also brought up that there'll be a fine because we had been warned last year about approaching the umps.

Caro reckons it could be $10,000. $5,000 a pop.

Andy D then went on about how so many experienced umps are out injured and the inexperienced ones are still learning the caper given the game is so much quicker. We'll soon be going to 4 field umpires.

[one-eyed]

Gieschen at odds with Johnson
01 May 2007   Herald-Sun
Mark Stevens

AFL umpires' boss Jeff Gieschen has given a pass mark to the whistle-blowers in Saturday's Richmond-West Coast clash.

Gieschen stressed the performance was no worse than average, and far from a bad day at the office for the umps.

The appraisal comes despite the protestations of Richmond captain Kane Johnson, who on Saturday criticised the umps for inconsistency.

Richmond has been sent a "please explain" for Johnson's comments. A fine for a first offence is $5000, with the maximum penalty $10,000. The club, not Johnson, will be liable for any penalty.

A review of the game by the umpiring department yesterday found West Coast had been awarded 30 free kicks to Richmond's 14.

"It wasn't a bad day out (for the umpires)," Gieschen said.

"There's a large discrepancy, but that's irrelevant.

"What is relevant is whether they are correct free kicks.

"There's nothing to say at the end of the day the free kick tallies need to be the same.

"Free kick tallies are based around which team infringes the most. It wasn't a bad day out (for the umpires)."

Gieschen said the game review revealed Richmond had received two unwarranted free kicks and West Coast three.

Of Richmond's four frees for holding the ball, one was deemed unwarranted. West Coast's seven frees for holding the ball were all ticked.

The umpires have come under scrutiny for holding-the-ball calls, but Gieschen said decisions were made on strict criteria.

He said players could not drag the ball under packs without making an attempt to dispose of it and again stressed that players with no prior opportunity had to make an attempt to dispose of the ball when tackled. Umpires have concerns about players wrapping the ball to their chests, gambling on the umpire calling for a ball-up, rather than risk disposing of the ball and causing a turnover.

http://www.heraldsun.news.com.au/footy/common/story_page/0,8033,21649861%255E19742,00.html

[one-eyed]

Umpires admit holding error, but Tigers left holding the bag
Michael Gleeson | May 1, 2007
The Age

THE umpires who awarded West Coast twice as many free kicks as Richmond last Saturday had made an error with the holding-the-ball rule, a review has found.

But the error was not as Tigers captain Kane Johnson and the black-and-gold army suspected. In fact, Richmond was given one too many free kicks for holding the ball.

The AFL umpires director, Jeff Gieschen, said the review of the match, which yielded 30 free kicks to West Coast and 14 to Richmond, delivered a favourable report of the umpires' game.

"We were happy with the effort — it was an average performance, it was not a bad game, it was not a fantastic game," Gieschen said.

He said umpires coach Rowan Sawers reviewed each of the holding-the-ball decisions after Johnson said the inconsistency of the rule had mystified players.

"West Coast received a total of seven holding-the-balls and they were all correct … and Richmond received four free kicks against West Coast for holding the ball and one of those was unwarranted," Gieschen said.

"So in terms of holding the ball, 11 were paid and we had one error and that was an unwarranted to Richmond. So they picked up one they should not have got."

Gieschen said the raw stuff count was irrelevant to the umpires' performance. What mattered was accuracy.

"It was 17-6 at half-time and finished up 30 to 14 but there is nothing to say stuff counts have to be even. stuff counts are based around what is presented to the umpire in the game. There is nothing to say they need to be even or nothing to say they need to be close," he said.

"What is relevant is were there major errors one way or the other? And at the weekend, there were not major errors one way or the other, it was just Richmond infringed more than the West Coast Eagles."

Richmond was sent a letter yesterday asking the club to explain comments by Johnson after the match when he noted the free kicks were "out of whack".

On the statistics alone, Johnson was right and although he said what each Richmond player and Tigers fan felt at the game, it might not be sufficient to save him from an AFL fine.

Gieschen, a former Richmond coach, said the umpires had made errors on free kicks for both teams but nothing out of the ordinary.

"Certainly, we had some errors to Richmond and we had some errors to West Coast we had a couple of missed free kicks for the Eagles and a couple of missed free kicks for Richmond. We paid Richmond some unwarranteds and we paid West Coast some unwarranteds but that is typical of any game," he said.

http://www.realfooty.com.au/news/news/umpires-admit-holding-error-but-tigers-left-holding-the-bag/2007/04/30/1177788056201.html

[one-eyed]

Tiger, Blue out of order
01 May 2007   Herald-Sun
Derek Humphery-Smith

RICHMOND'S Kane Johnson and Carlton's Brendan Fevola are unlikely to share a great deal in common, Derek Humphery-Smith writes.

However, their teams both suffered disappointing losses at the weekend and sit in the lower regions of the ladder.

One has been called an inspiring leader and the other a flawed genius.

Sadly, both will be quickly regarded as whingers if they repeat their pathetic attempts to criticise the umpiring of their weekend matches.

Johnson's performance at the media conference after the Tigers' loss to West Coast deserves a significant fine from the AFL.

Tigers coach Terry Wallace may have looked uncomfortable sitting next to Johnson, but he didn't step in to prevent the unfounded criticism. This criticism came after Johnson approached the umpires at halftime as they tried to leave the arena.

Good theatrics if you are a Richmond supporter, but baseless antics to any knowledgeable football follower.

The stuff count was in the Eagles' favour by nearly three to one. But so what? How many of those free kicks were errors? On my assessment, not many.

If anything, both sides appeared to have free kicks missed and both sides had an equal number of unwarranted free kicks paid in their favour.

In the end, Richmond might have had one (maybe two) free kicks go against them compared with West Coast.

The far greater focus for Johnson and Wallace should be the undisciplined performance of some of their players.

Let's hope Johnson was not trying to deflect the spotlight from Richmond's ordinary start to the season or his own performance, which has been only average compared with his stellar 2006.

Either way, he can expect a hefty fine from the AFL if it is true to its commitment to protect the umpires from this sort of criticism.

http://www.heraldsun.news.com.au/footy/common/story_page/0,8033,21649862%255E19742,00.html

[mightytiges]

Geischen the dill missed the whole point of our complaint . The Club's complaint was not with the actual frees paid but with inconsistency of decisions especially holding the ball/illegal disposal. 

The Club should make a CD of decisions not paid to us and called play on such as Eagle players just dropping the ball when tackled. Send it into the AFL and Geischen for their own please explain.

[letsgetiton!]

Geischen the dill missed the whole point of our complaint . The Club's complaint was not with the actual frees paid but with inconsistency of decisions especially holding the ball/illegal disposal. 

The Club should make a CD of decisions not paid to us and called play on such as Eagle players just dropping the ball when tackled. Send it into the AFL and Geischen for their own please explain.

giesh is a dumb bastard.  u r right mt, teh point was not the frees they paid , but all the ones they missed and did not pay.

tgim watson is baging the articles and teh giesh this morning on sen, saying he does not listen to a word the giesh says anymore cos he makes no sense!

you watch the umpires kill us v geelong this week! the a hole gieshen should be sacked and he is trying his hardest to destroy us cos we sacked him

[julzqld]

So the club gets fined because someone doesn't know how to do his job properly?  You've got to be joking!

[cub]

Geischen the dill missed the whole point of our complaint . The Club's complaint was not with the actual frees paid but with inconsistency of decisions especially holding the ball/illegal disposal. 

The Club should make a CD of decisions not paid to us and called play on such as Eagle players just dropping the ball when tackled. Send it into the AFL and Geischen for their own please explain.

Youv'e posted exactly what I was thinking when I was ready it, the problem is how many duffers are going to fall for it and call us sooks 

But like youv'e said before, I don't really care what anyone else thinks. Just hope it opens the umps eyes a bit (not holding my breath tho) 

[wayne]

Giesh says that it was no different to most games, then how come it was so noticeable.

Even Giesh is not allowed to bag the umpires.

[Fluffy Tiger]

To me the probelm is the umpires want to be part of the "show" not just one of the props.  This were the game has gone wrong by putting microphones on them and making them think they are a important part of the entertainment.  The best game you can watch is a game that you do notice these guys but that never happens anymore (they wont let it).  The whole standard of umpiring has gone bad (not just tigers games) and all the tinkering with the rules over the last five to ten years hasn't helped one bit.

Take a step back AFL and watch some replays of older games, listen to the fans and don't just say the game is getting better because more people go or because you get more TV dollars. Its not.

My 2 cents

[julzqld]

Spot on Fluffy.

[Ox]

Who else can tell that Jeff Gieschen was molested as a young boy ?

Rather obvious really.....I thought.

[jezza]

This is the standard response they come out with whenever there is a public criticism of umpires. All they do is change the names and churn it out. And people accuse Terry of media spin....

[mightytiges]

To me the probelm is the umpires want to be part of the "show" not just one of the props.  This were the game has gone wrong by putting microphones on them and making them think they are a important part of the entertainment.  The best game you can watch is a game that you do notice these guys but that never happens anymore (they wont let it).  The whole standard of umpiring has gone bad (not just tigers games) and all the tinkering with the rules over the last five to ten years hasn't helped one bit.

Take a step back AFL and watch some replays of older games, listen to the fans and don't just say the game is getting better because more people go or because you get more TV dollars. Its not.

My 2 cents

Well said Fluffy. It would also help if they were actually full-time professionals.

How is the umpiring meant to improve and refine their decision making if there are no means to objectively and independently critique their performance. It's not just Richmond games. The inconsistent modern interpretations of the rules is spoiling our game in general. We don't have the depth and quality of umpires. There are good ones (most are currently injured  ) but there are also those getting a game that shouldn't. And now Andy D is considering increasing the number of field umpires to 4 which will only show up the lack of depth even further.

[one-eyed]

Richo was very tactful this morning. Said you don't notice free kicks while playing but by halftime they were out of whack  .