FOCUS ON THE BALL, not the umpire

• Chris Yeend

Since moving to Brisbane in May of this year, I have become increasingly passionate about AFL field umpiring and the attitudes towards them from players, spectators, officials and club members.

One of the key reasons for the growth in passion, particularly at grass-roots level is that I’ve moved from an environment in Victoria where I knew clubs and the people around them, to arriving on match day and meeting a new panel of umpires and club representatives for the first time.

I have come from an environment where after the final siren sounds, the panel moves immediately off the field and towards the change rooms, to joining in the line and shaking each hand of the players and club representatives. This is a completely different culture than what I’ve grown up with as an umpire of 14 years in Victoria, and a new culture that I look on more favourably.

I have had instances where I’ve had some strong moments with players across the game, and even in the dying moments, to the siren sounding and that player rushing over to me and apologising and we both take a few moments to talk about things in a friendly manner. This aids in building the respect and bond between players and officials.

Taking the new culture on board, my umpiring is improving each week. No longer do I have to worry about clashing with people that I know in the heat of the battle of a game either on or off the field and not having that opportunity to discuss the matter immediately after the game, and I can focus on doing the best job that I can with the team that I am working with, and same with players.

This now brings me the reason for this post. There is clearly too much focus on what the umpires are doing, from those who are players and those on the sidelines, and a lot of negative backlash. I am strong on this because umpire numbers all over Australia are dropping at alarming rates. Umpire retention is in fact a major problem with this sport and the backlash in the media over one poor decision of those at the top creates a social media storm that makes the position of becoming a field umpire less attractive.

The AFL can throw all the money in the world to pay people to umpire from the top to the bottom, provide extra training, make the top level a full-time positions and have AFL umpires go out to regional umpire centres, but that will not work in a strong capacity. The attitudes of players, officials and to an extent, the media, needs to change to make it more comforting for anyone wanting to step into the role.

Yes, I do believe we as a sporting culture should calm ourselves and comfort umpires just a little bit. There was an incident on the weekend between Brisbane Lions and North Melbourne where the officiating umpire paid a decision that ultimately led to Brisbane winning the game. Fans cried out in masses with their discontent saying that this single decision resulted in North losing the game. However, if the Brisbane Lions player misses the shot on goal, attitudes on social media relax. Ignore the reality that North had 25 less inside 50s, far fewer scoring shots and surrendered a good lead just on their own.

If you're a young umpire that might be interested in taking your umpiring to the top level, the reaction to that single decision will make you question that ambition. I don't doubt it. The umpire in question probably had a day where 93-percent of the hundreds of decisions he made were correct, meanwhile only one or two players in that game had a disposal efficiency of 90-percent or more with a few dozen touches each, yet this umpire is getting torched at the stake for a single bad call.

Since picking up the whistle in 2006, I came across a moment on the field that I have never experienced in my life, but a fair reflection of the on-field attitudes of players that need to change, and to an extent, the coaches.

With the game firmly in the balance mid-way through the last quarter, Team A was in front by several goals. A player from Team A was bumped after he kicked the ball, which sailed out of bounds on the full in their forward line. The ball was recalled back to the kicker.

The player that infringed with the bump, was not happy. This player stood on the mark and proceeded to argue the point of the decision without looking at the player with the ball. I told the player on the mark to watch out, as the player with the ball would kick the ball at his head if he wasn’t careful. It was worse, the player with the ball played on while the player on the mark still argued his case (with his back turned to the kicker) and only noticed what was happening when the player with the ball ran passed him.

The player with the ball straightened up and kicked a goal just before the player on the mark got to him. Team A sealed the game with that kick, and I let the player on the mark know that he just cost his team the game.We had a chat about it and sorted it all out immediately in the break in play.

My concern in this case, and it happens too often on the field, is that players spend too much time focusing on what the field umpire is doing rather than focusing on the ball. It is extremely frustrating to see players argue with the field umpire after a contest, when the ball is within close proximity. Yet it's the decision of the umpire that comes under-fire more.

I put this back on the coaches too because as a coach, my concern would be what my players are doing when the ball is in their area and any focus on the officials should be stamped out.

In the case I experienced, if a player focused on the umpire essentially cost his team the game, and that should be addressed by the coaching staff immediately.

Whether you're on the ground or on the sidelines, focus on the ball, not the umpire.