Umps Corner – Round 4

Round 3 and we experienced our first preview of what winter may have in store for us. After 3 glorious weeks, the rains came, the temperature dropped and we started to wonder what we were complaining about in round 1 (remember the heat?).

With the round coinciding with ANZAC day, it was a great experience for all umpires to take part in commemoration ceremonies before games. While it wasn’t the MCG, it gives some perspective as to what our AFL brothers and sisters experience over the ANZAC round, even if it is on a much smaller scale. Congratulations to all clubs for the way that you honoured one of the most sacred days in the country’s calendar. The service before my own game was given the respect that it deserved by the players and supporters and was a credit to the Ammo way. The game of footy was pretty good too!

Over the opening rounds we honoured 3 of our greats who called it a day over the summer. It is with sadness that we report that Leah “Spider” Gallagher has advised that she has had to retire due to injury. A life member of the Association, we will provide a full run down of Spider’s achievements in the coming weeks but in the interim, Leah, we thank you for your years of service and dedication to umpiring and the VAFA.

No Parking

Surprisingly, this tale has nothing to do with going to Melbourne Uni. It has come to light that John Bradford had an uninvited visitor in the lead up to his match a week or so ago. Concerned colleague, Shane McNamara, noticed Police, Ambos and the Fire Brigade out the front of John’s place. As John has had a few health issues in the past few years, Shane was naturally concerned. A quick call to Western Groups Umpiring Coach, Terry Gunn, revealed that a driver had lost control and decided that John’s lounge room was a pretty good place to park. Thankfully everyone was okay and John was able to take his place between the big sticks on Saturday.

Proof reading is important

All field umpires are encouraged to take part in the online forum as a means of learning and improving performances. Everyone is encouraged to provide constructive comments and feedback on the decisions that are presented, however it is important to proof read your answers before you hit submit. A lesson that has been learnt by Andrew Hartnett, who invented a new situation of a player being bumped in the act of cooking. Not sure if the player took a frying pan onto the pitch, but we have been assured that it was purely a typo.

Team work is important

Former President Daniel Silfo, forgot where his team mate was on the weekend. Lining up for a boundary throw in on the half forward flank the defending team cleared the ball 50m down the line towards their goal and Silf, called “yours” perfectly to his partner. Only problem was, his partner was correctly positioned in the arc at the same end. A quick trigger and his partner was able to cover most of the ground before the ball thankfully went out of bounds. It would appear that Dan’s partner had perfectly executed the “Blend into the game” part of the field umpires game plan.

Social Notes

All umpires are asked to mark Monday August 24^th in their diaries as the date for our night of nights, The Pre-Finals Dinner. Once again this will be in the Members Dining Room at the MCG and is a compulsory event for ALL Umpires.