Ben Hudson from Western Bulldogs and Mark Jamar from Melbourne contest a boundary throw-in during the AFL Round 07 match between the Melbourne Demons and the Western Bulldogs at the MCG, Melbourne. The Slattery Media Group
Twice in the past week officiators have had an unnecessary influence on a potentially game defining moment. Luckily for Essendon it mattered little, but for Melbourne an error on the AFL’s behalf has proven much more costly.
While there’s no doubt the league should be applauded for finally showing some transparency and accountability when it comes to issues involving our umpires, you can’t help but question whether a simple apology from the AFL is enough?
Of course like anyone, I understand the sentiment and intention of the AFL to have the umpires wear pink in Friday night’s Field of Women game between Melbourne and the Western Bulldogs, but surely the powers to be must show more common sense and foresight when it comes to such a blatantly obvious jumper clash.
A sea of pink filled the MCG before the match to help raise funds and awareness for breast cancer, a cause close to the hearts of all Australians and none more so than the Demons considering the plight of President Jim Stynes.
But when Melbourne replaced its traditional red with pink for the occasion, the idea to have the umpires also wearing pink tops and blue shorts was nothing short of stupid. They looked almost identical!
I thought the whole idea of umpires wearing different colours was to avoid a jumper clash with players, not confuse them?
On several occasions in the heat of the battle Melbourne players passed the ball towards the umpire having mistaken him for a teammate.
The issue highlighted by Clint Batram’s handball in the dying minutes that could be argued actually influenced the game.
“To be honest I did think it was a player, they had the similar socks and similar tops,” Bartram said of the incident.
“The pink does catch your eye with the colour and the movement does catch your eye, that happened to me as that incident showed.”
Is it time we scale back the umpires involvement in the extra-curricular type AFL activities?
Melbourne Captain James McDonald comments suggest it is.
“I think even during the week the umpires were wanting to wear pink socks as well so we had to put a stop to that.
This is a crucial reminder for the AFL that umpires are there to officiate, not to be swept up in the emotion of the many events the league promotes around games.
Making matters worse, reports also suggested Melbourne CEO Cameron Schwab had expressed his concern to the AFL during the week.
At the very least AFL Operations Manager Adrian Anderson admitted they got this one wrong
“I think that was a mistake, certainly done with the best intention, we won’t be doing that again; we’d have the field umpires in a different colour” he said on Melbourne radio.
The public acknowledgement though is still little consolation for the Demons, after the Bulldogs kicked two late goals to steal the match by 4 points.
When Bomber Henry Slattery was penalised for a deliberate rushed behind, the Bombers still won the game, regardless, umpire boss Jeff Gieschen happily dumped veteran umpire Scott McLaren for his poor performance. This type of accountability is important.
The AFL has lost face on this but Melbourne has lost four premiership points.
What if they narrowly miss the finals by only one win?
While the AFL has failed to see a glaring problem, what is much clearer is Melbourne’s status within the competition; Demons fans would find solace in the results achieved so far this season by their young and developing side.
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