Introduction:
I’ve often been accused of being biased for the umpires. The accusation is right. I believe it is never the umpire’s fault when a club loses a game of football. An umpire can influence a game, which makes them no different to the players. If players and umpires make mistakes they should be reprimanded and dropped if necessary. Singling out an umpire or player for one mistake as being the moment the match was lost is to forget the rest of the game. It’s a team effort, for both players and umpires.
North Melbourne coach Brad Scott was furious as Scott McMahon sprinted off the ground midway through the third quarter. From the bench, a trainer handed him the phone as the vision split, a breakout panel focusing on Scott in the coaches box as he spoke in loud, offensive four-letter words.
‘What the fu*k was that,’ Scott appeared to scream. The next sentence was similar. ‘What the fu*k were you doing?’
McMahon had just given away a 50-meter penalty, putting Brisbane’s Jonathon Brown ten metres out. As Scott screamed in McMahon’s ear, the crowd squealed as Brown goaled. About a minute earlier, he’d taken an obvious chest mark, diving forwards. As he slid along wet turf, the ball dislodged. The umpire blew his whistle. McMahon ignored the blast, picked up the ball and took a few paces. The umpire whistled again, instructing the defender to hand over the ball. Brisbane’s Todd Banfield entered McMahon’s space, grabbing at the ball. McMahon held on. Banfield slapped at the ball and it slipped to the turf.
The umpire blew his whistle. McMahon was in trouble. The infringement took about three seconds but it swung the momentum Brisbane’s way after North had fought hard to build a lead.
Early in the last quarter, Brown marked 55 out and wound up to kick long. In doing so he ran slightly off his line. North’s Scott Thompson ran in from the side to smother. Brown’s kick went high and wide, but the umpire’s whistle suggested the ball was dead. Thompson had gotten too close before the umpire called play on. The penalty was 50-metres and another simple goal for Brown.
Scores were level.
North ran out of legs early in the final term, rarely getting clean possession into the forward line. Losing was inevitable. Pre-game rumours of a gastro outbreak at the club during the week had legitimacy. Some players were quarantined from the main group at training. Others lost a lot of weight. Several, on Saturday night, were fatigued a quarter early.
With the ball in dispute on Brisbane’s half forward line, Lions midfielder Simon Black, in long awaited poetic justice, delivered a two-handed throw to Banfield who found space and kicked a long goal. How the umpires missed Black’s throw is amazing, when everyone at the ground saw it.
Brisbane led by a goal.
Midway through the term, North’s Mick Firrito gathered the ball under pressure. In a tackle, Firrito punched the ball forward with his knuckles rather than using the side of his fist. The umpire, who was blindsided and obviously guessed, penalised him for throwing.
The Lions won by 14 points. North managed just two points for the final quarter. One of those points should’ve been a goal. It should’ve put the Roos 11 points up. Lindsay Thomas, who had kicked two goals, missed a set shot, directly in front from about 40 out. The ball skewed sideways off the boot. He was lucky to score a point. All year his finishing has been dreadful and it has cost North games. Through eight rounds, Thomas has had 31 kicks at goal, more than anyone at the club, so far this year. Drew Petrie, with 22 shots, is a distant second. By contrast, Coleman medal leader Nick Riewoldt has had 41 kicks at goal.
Thomas could be regarded as the best small forward in the competition but he can’t kick straight, just 10 goals from 31 attempts. Bad kicking is bad football. If he had put North 11 points up, the match might’ve been over. Drew Petrie played well but kicked 2.4. Had he kicked two more goals, the result might’ve been different.
During Channel Seven’s Game Day program, analysis of Brisbane’s win, Black’s throw and the crucial 50-metre penalties featured prominently. Unfortunately for the umpires, Black’s throw was also comical, completely undisguised and blatant. What makes it worse is that it led to a goal.
There was discussion among fans on Sunday afternoon about the performance of the umpires. Injustice fuelled the chat. The two 50-metre penalties to Jonathon Brown were pivotal moments. Of the two, the penalty against McMahon seemed the harshest. Yes, he picked the ball up, but Banfield didn’t give him a chance to return it to Brown. In front of the umpire, Banfield slapped the ball. The umpire, had he acknowledge the obstruction and applied basic commonsense, could’ve warned Banfield away and let McMahon hand it over without interference.
On replay, the offence wasn’t wilful. McMahon would not have dropped the football without Banfield’s assistance. Therefore, with a commonsense, approach, McMahon hadn’t infringed. Instead, by virtue of strictly applied law, McMahon was marched forward before he was dragged.
The umpires need to apply commonsense to every interpretation. Sometimes they’re a little too conservative.
Thompson’s eager attempt to spoil Brown’s kick in the last quarter was the more obvious infraction. Seeing Brown deviate off his line, Thompson invaded space before the umpire had called play on. The 50-metre penalty was correctly paid because the umpire hadn’t called play on. Perhaps, looking at the replay, he could’ve, because Brown wasn’t taking a set shot, he wanted to roost and that mean a few steps sideways.
McMahon has played 76 AFL games. On North’s list, he’s a veteran. He understands the rules and how to break them. Only he can explain why he picked up the ball when Brown had clearly taken a mark. McMahon didn’t need to touch it.
Thompson has played 68 AFL games. He may as well be a veteran. The rule about encroaching on the mark has always been clear. He knows the interpretation, if a footballer gets too close he gets penalised. Thompson was trying to help his side, but the act lacked one necessary element, a play-on call.
Following the match, Brad Scott, when questioned about the 50-metre penalties, didn’t mention the umpires or offer suggestion of unfairness or bad luck. ‘We watched footy over the weekend and the umpires seemed to be paying quite a few 50-metre penalties for encroaching on the mark,’ Scott said. ‘We were aware of that. We certainly don’t get a notice that they’re going to do that.’
Scott had warned his players before the match not to enter the protected zone. When he was asked if the penalties changed the game, Scott shrugged, pragmatic instead of victimised. ‘Scotty Thompson encroached on the mark,’ he said. ‘Scotty McMahon didn’t give the ball back. They’re 50-metre penalties. It was just undisciplined in the end.’
In being undisciplined, McMahon and Thompson broke a fundamental rule of football; do not give the umpires a chance to have an impact on the match. The umpires are paid to make decisions on tackles, marks and disposals. They are instructed to penalise acts of stupidity, of abuse and wilful arrogance. The best games of football are those where no one notices the umpires, which isn’t always the umpires fault. They pay what they see, and while the decisions were harsh, the focus shouldn’t be on the penalties but the decisions that led to them.
Forensic analysis McMahon’s 50-metre penalty is important. Hopefully Banfield’s act of slapping at the ball won’t be repeated in other games, and if it does happen, it shouldn’t be rewarded with a 50-metre penalty. Banfield eked a penalty. It needs to be looked at.
Black’s throw should never have been missed. It wasn’t an in-and-under throw, it was from his chest. There must be examination of that non-decision, not because it helped Brisbane win, they were likely to anyway, but those mistakes can’t be made, not at the top level. For all three umpires to have been blindsided to the throw means someone wasn’t in the right position or wasn’t watching the play.
Thomas, McMahon and Thompson made mistakes at the weekend, as all players did. North captain Brent Harvey, running out of defence at crucial stages in the last term missed a target and kicked into the man in front of him. Right now they’ll all be feeling awful. Letting team-mates down is never pleasant. The umpires might feel edgy too, leading into training. Their errors will be highlighted, but they needn’t worry about being blamed for costing North the game or assisting Brisbane to win.
Umpiring mistakes are as costly as turnovers, poor skills and missed shots on goal. When an umpire makes the wrong decision, he is vilified in the media as much as the players are, and rightly so. It’s all part of the cycle, swings and roundabouts, good luck, bad luck, whatever.
Remember too, last year at Docklands, Simon Black was penalised for a throw late in the game against North. The free kick led to a goal. North won by a point. Replays showed Black handpassed properly. The umpire had guessed and made a bad blunder. Black was horrified, as the umpire would’ve been during the match review.
Everyone on the field makes mistakes. Players guess at times. When it comes off, the guess is called instinct. When umpires guess, it is called horrible, dreadful and a disgrace, as it should be, but nothing can be done about it.
The fans can take little solace that umpires are just as accountable as the players, but the fans need to realise that mistakes are a part of football. Thomas didn’t want to miss the opening shot on goal in the final term. The umpires didn’t want to miss Black’s obvious throw.
It just happened. Brisbane won because they were better on the night. It makes no difference if it seems unfair.
Everyone in football is accountable. Each week the umpires are challenge, blunders highlighted, splendid moments commended. Umpires that don’t perform are dropped, just like players.
And deservedly so.
Pride Cup results
| 50 | Dave (5) |
| 49 | Stevo (6), Anne (7), Matt B (6), Adam L (6) |
| 48 | Russ (5), James (6) |
| 47 | Sandra (6) |
| 46 | Dallas (2), Matt (6) |
| 45 | Eric (5), Andy (5) |
| 44 | Adam G (5), Jim (5) |
| 43 | Graeme (5) |
| 40 | Paul (4) |
| 34 | George (2) |
