Holding the ball

[Lozza]

Good effort by the boys last night with obvious instructions to take risks but whats with the red hot holding the ball decisions against us. It seems you are better just falling to the ground when receiving the ball rather than taking one step. We must have been pinged on at least five occasions when there was no prior opportunity but we attempted to get the ball away only to be caught holding the ball. Andrew Mcleod on the other hand runs through the centre and gets run down from behind, drops the ball and its called play on and they score a goal, very frustrating to watch

[TigerLand]

Agreed Lozza.

I nearly broke my TV remote in that exact moment.

Horrible Decision.

Then in the 4th qtr Cotchin and McCloed run for the ball Cotchin picks it up and gets tackled straight away while trying a pick up and handball and its holding the ball..

WTF.

[mightytiges]

I think we're suffering from being a bottom side with the umps. The first quarter last week and last night had some very inconsistent decisions where we were penalised for holding the ball or illegal disposal yet the better opposition wasn't for the same thing  . The umps were very whistle happy last night when we got tackled. Compare the umpiring to today's game where the game is being let go and is better for it.

[bojangles17]

can say that again...Mcleod was red hot holding the ball...play on...collins had his head ripped off play on...Rutten has Cat in a bear hug...play on...Tippet throws Cat off the contest...mark was allowed...appalling umpiring...Im not bothering to turn up next week on account of this mistreatment..ive had the umpires on notice ever since the Geelong game when we were penalised that 50mtr c'mon...was just about holding the ball on Corey and has never been paid the same context again this season

[Smokey]

Just watched the Geelong vs St Kilda game and it is obviously now official - the Holding The Ball rule does not exist.

[mightytiges]

Yep it appears in games between two top sides on tv over the past two months the umps are told to allow the game to flow and let things go whereas the bottom sides have to put up with ticky touchwood frees  .

[julzqld]

Even one of the official photographers was shaking his head at some of the umpires' decisions.

[dizza]

Good effort by the boys last night with obvious instructions to take risks but whats with the red hot holding the ball decisions against us. It seems you are better just falling to the ground when receiving the ball rather than taking one step. We must have been pinged on at least five occasions when there was no prior opportunity but we attempted to get the ball away only to be caught holding the ball. Andrew Mcleod on the other hand runs through the centre and gets run down from behind, drops the ball and its called play on and they score a goal, very frustrating to watch

the really annoying thing for me is that the umpires are often far too lenient on opposing teams when we are tackling, but when the roles are reversed they are only too keen to blow the whistle. in most cases throughout the competition this year, the umps have been less strict on holding the ball, but it seems that when the Tigers are involved it's a different story.

[RollsRoyce]

I've long been of the belief that the whistle-blowers umpire to reputations.The dominant teams get a better run than the battlers,and  highly-regarded players and brownlow medalists are treated far more leniently.I'll never forget a game we played against the Eagles a few years back, when we were consistently pinged the split-second we were tackled. Yet Judd had the luxury of being spun 360 degrees in a tackle, while being called  to "play on." It stinks. And nothing has changed.Yes, I remember the McCleod incident on Saturday night. Dead set holding the ball. Tippet slings the Cat to the ground around the neck.The mark stands. Goal. Silvester interferes with Tippet to a much lesser degree in the first qtr.Free kick.Goal.Morton was disallowed a diving mark that would've allowed a shot on goal. It just goes on and on and on, and I'm as fed up with it as everybody else.   

[mat073]

The umpiring is so fustrating at the moment.

There seems to be one set of rules for the marquee teams where as we get pinged for everything. ???

[dizza]

the really annoying thing for me is that the umpires are often far too lenient on opposing teams when we are tackling, but when the roles are reversed they are only too keen to blow the whistle. in most cases throughout the competition this year, the umps have been less strict on holding the ball, but it seems that when the Tigers are involved it's a different story.

one thing i'll add to that is an interesting conversation i had with my maths teacher last year. he's a crows supporter, and this was just after they lost to Collingwood in the finals, so he may have been slightly bitter, but he was of the view that the AFL would do all they could via the umpires (decisions, centre bounces etc.) to make a Geelong-Hawthorn Grand Final (Geelong-St.Kilda this season) with teams like Collingwood going further on in September than they deserve, purely because that would attract the most fans.

i have no doubt that we are seeing this again in season 2009, with teams like us, Melbourne, Freo and West Coast being pulled up for very minor infringements, if they are infringements at all, while teams like Geelong, St Kilda, Bulldogs and Collingwood get away with whatever they want.

[the_boy_jake]

one thing i'll add to that is an interesting conversation i had with my maths teacher last year. he's a crows supporter, and this was just after they lost to Collingwood in the finals, so he may have been slightly bitter, but he was of the view that the AFL would do all they could via the umpires (decisions, centre bounces etc.) to make a Geelong-Hawthorn Grand Final (Geelong-St.Kilda this season) with teams like Collingwood going further on in September than they deserve, purely because that would attract the most fans.

i have no doubt that we are seeing this again in season 2009, with teams like us, Melbourne, Freo and West Coast being pulled up for very minor infringements, if they are infringements at all, while teams like Geelong, St Kilda, Bulldogs and Collingwood get away with whatever they want.

Don't think there would be such a bias.

But watching the Geelong St. Kilda game it is quite obvious that umpires favour the better teams - interstate or not.

Personally I think that most umpires are pretty weak-willed. There were two or three red hot situations in the Geelong St Kilda game, scores tied few minutes to go, where a scoring opportunity would have resulted. The umpires put the whistle away because they were scared of making the wrong call.

First thing I reckon would be to get the umpires to stop using players firstnames or nicknames in conversations. Sometimes it looks as though the umps are starstruck.

[HD]

The umpires put the whistle away because they were scared of making the wrong call.

I can understand that side of it though. The umpires get crucified by the public in high profile games for making incorrect decisions at crucial moments. At the end of the day they have to decide something in a snap but it's always in the back of their minds about the public reaction.

(pause for food to be thrown at head)

Having said that, they're paid a lot of money to learn the rules, identify the infringements and police the game fairly and consistently - forwards are dropped when they aren't kicking goals. Defenders are dropped when they are. Maybe the solution is more reserve umpires so that umps can be dropped more often for regular poor performance. Don't know that it will help but it's worth a shot.

[Hellenic Tiger]

Umpires will always make a wrong call at some point in time regardless of who is playing.

In the Cats Saints game with two mins to go in that passage where for the most part the maggots put away the whistle they gave a free to Joel Corey on the Cats attacking 50 yet wrongly paid advantage and St Kilda whisked the ball away which resulted in Gardiners mark and goal.

Umpires will always get it wrong no matter who plays. It's just compounded when we have a team with poor skills and frequently get horribly exposed. Would not paying those frees that Adelaide were awarded changed the result? Probably not but yes it is galling and its a bitter pill we have to swallow. Just like the game someone mentioned in rd 5 2007 when we played the Eagles at the G with Kerr and Judd being slung 720 degrees and still not being pinned yet when we were within 5 metres of the ball we were being pinned.

Umpiring has a small influence if they make a decision like Richo's in dreamtime 2007 like they did at the 28 minute mark of the last quarter we remember it yet if that hapenned at the 6 minute mark of the first where the result is not hinging on this call it gets forgotten for the best part amongst all the twoing and froings of any game.

Look at Hawthorn they hardly won a free kick count last year yet they are the reigning premiers. If we were winning regularly it would be an issue but not a serious one. Do we want to turn into a Collingood where if the umpire sneezes or farts on the ground King Eddie and Mick are having coffee with Giesche and co and demanding retribution for what they perceive as a wrong. We need to get a good team on the ground that has aura and respect to all in the football fraternity and those calls that we seem to not get will go with us.  With an aura comes fear and comes respect unfortunantely we are lacking in all those areas and we get treated accordingly.

[WilliamPowell]

I've long been of the belief that the whistle-blowers umpire to reputations.The dominant teams get a better run than the battlers,and  highly-regarded players and brownlow medalists are treated far more leniently.

Agree - Ablett Jnr anyone. Disappointingly - Junior is now staging for frees  BTW Junior is better than that IMHO

Morton was disallowed a diving mark that would've allowed a shot on goal.

One of the worst decisions of the night IMHO, on par with the McLeod debacle