AFL umpires boss concedes over mistakes - Sports News - Fanatics - the world's biggest events

AFL umpires boss concedes over mistakes

09/08/2010 07:23:17 PM Comments (0)

AFL umpires boss Jeff Gieschen has conceded video technology would have prevented three incorrect goal-umpiring decisions being made on the weekend.

In an endorsement for lineball decisions to be sent to the television replay, Gieschen said Geelong, Essendon and Carlton would have all been awarded the goals that were called behinds at the MCG had technology been an option.

"Looking at the three from the weekend, had technology been up and about and it can be quick and it can show us the right angles and it can be done in a timely fashion, certainly that would have assisted us on the weekend, I've got not doubt," he said.

As the debate over video reviews continued, the AFL confirmed the umpire involved in the most blatant of the three errors - where Geelong's Shannon Byrnes was ruled to have overstepped the goal line - would not stand in games this coming weekend.

The other two umpires were spared.

Increasing the number of goal umpires is also an option, but Gieschen conceded an extra set of eyes might have only corrected one of the three errors.

That was when Essendon's Jay Neagle was ruled to have missed a shot on the run although the ball scraped through.

Carlton's Jarrad Waite was also denied a goal on Friday night when he was adjudged to have missed kicking the ball, when he actually scuffed it through.

Byrnes was incorrectly ruled to have overstepped before he kicked the ball, when he clearly had not.

The AFL has ruled out introducing video technology for the finals even though goal-umpiring mistakes are up on last year.

But the laws of the game committee could next month recommend to introduce the measure for 2011 and bring the sport into line with cricket, tennis and rugby league, which use television replays to adjudicate close line calls.

The committee has previously decided against introducing the video because of the delay it would cause.

Gieschen said the AFL had taken steps to make things easier for goal umpires in recent years, such as making posts taller, getting umpires fitter and encouraging them to ask boundary and field umpires when in doubt.

Gieschen said in the three mistakes, the umpires were all in good positions, but failed to seek the advice of their colleagues.

"Obviously with these three decisions there was a lot of doubt over all of them," he said.

"We felt that had the umpires had a deep breath, thought about it a little bit more and gone to the consultation process, we might have come up with a different result."

Coaches Brett Ratten (Carlton), Matthew Knights (Essendon) and Mark Thompson (Geelong) were all reticent on the weekend on the subject of extra goal umpires or video reviews, but Collingwood's Mick Malthouse supported the latter, as a pause in play was worthwhile if the correct decision was made.

Gieschen said the umpiring department was disappointed there had been a "spate" of goal-umpiring errors in recent weeks, as there were only three last year, although Geelong's Tom Hawkins was awarded a goal in the grand final when he actually missed.

Brought to you by AAP AAP © 2024 AAP

0 Comments about this article

Post a comment about this article

Please sign in to leave a comment.
Becoming a member is free and easy, sign up here.

« All sports news