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It’s become increasingly clear that AFL umpires have forgotten their simple role in the game: the fact that they’re not meant to have one.
Strip back all the nonsense, and the reason we have officials is incredibly basic – it’s someone to watch the game and make sure one team doesn’t gain an advantage by cheating. That’s it.
Unfortunately over time this has snowballed to the point where games have the potential to contain three teams, one of which is more unpredictable and inconsistent than the actual competitors. Umpires have forgotten that they do not run the game, and it is not their responsibility. They are not bigger than the rulebook, and should not dictate the way a match is played.
After some decisions in Round 4 that potentially changed outcomes of games, we are left begging for answers yet again, let down by a system currently encouraging guesswork and overcompensation.
Most of this confusion surrounds the yearly ritual regarding ‘stricter interpretations’; the refining and tweaking of certain rules in order to improve the game. As a footballing public, we generally accept these pre-season promises; however, we will not accept these so-called ‘stricter interpretations’ that end up contradicting the actual rule.
This season we have two flavour-of-the-month rules that have been put under the microscope. The first is the minimum 15 metres required for a mark, and the other is the harsher policing of the deliberate-out-of-bounds rule. Most football fans didn’t seem to mind upon the announcement.
There were definitely inconsistencies in how these rules were applied and there was plenty of room for improvement – but something has gone seriously wrong.
Since 2002, 15 metres is the required distance the ball must travel for a kick to be called a mark. We can understand why the AFL made a point of highlighting this one.
Too often, kicks that were clearly too short were being paid as marks, and the game was the worse off for it. Bringing this to attention was meant to discourage these small passes and keep the game exciting.
What we’ve ended up with, however, is watching helplessly as marked kicks that have travelled almost 20 metres being met with screams of “Play on!” from umpires, desperate to show that they listened to the bigwigs, even if it means sacrificing the rulebook to do so. This is not the way it was meant to happen! Give ‘em an inch, they take a mile.
How frustrating it must be for players when the people employed to enforce the law are the only ones breaking it.
The other tweak comes with the confusing deliberate out-of-bounds rule. It shouldn’t really be that hard to police, should it? Here’s a hint, it’s in the name of the rule. Quite literally it means that making it your intention to take the ball out of bounds will result in a free kick paid against you. Nothing more, nothing less.
After four rounds we’ve already seen too many instances when players under immense pressure – often while being tackled – have rocketed the ball as far forward as they can, only for the beloved unpredictable bounce of the Sherrin to steer the ball over the line, and a free kick against them the result. Sorry, but this is madness.
To score, you need to propel the ball forward, and more often than not, the main intention of AFL players is just that – keep the ball moving; get it closer to goal. If it does indeed bobble around after a long bomb and trickle out, well, so be it. How can a ball that has randomly bounced twice possibly be adjudged under the deliberate out of bounds rule?
What if the ball bounces left instead of right? Does that mean the player has magically changed their intention after the ball has stopped moving? Of course not! Literally, by name, this rule is concerned with intent. With that in mind, there is far too much guessing going on.
Pull your head in umps. Keep footy great, and keep it fair. Get out there, make sure neither team is cheating, follow the rules and leave the game to the players.
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