You can’t keep SA-born umpire Craig Fleer down
The Crows are down and Port are out but there’ll still be one all-conquering South Aussie standing tall tomorrow.
SA News
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With the Crows taking out the wooden spoon and Port Adelaide missing the grand final by just one goal, Craig Fleer is the only footy fairytale for South Australian fans this year.
But his is a remarkable story of perseverance and hard-fought redemption that is worth cheering for.
Six years after being delisted as an AFL umpire, Fleer has won the honour of officiating at tonight’s “big dance” in Brisbance.
“It was brilliant news,’’ the 35-year-old says. “It is something you work towards for a very long time so it is a pretty amazing experience.”
His selection today follows a stunning comeback that included an outstanding performance in West Adelaide’s 2015 SANFL grand final victory over the Eagles.
Fleer had umpired his first AFL match in Round 4 of 2012 and says being dropped just two years later was a “bitter pill to swallow.
“But it lit a fire in me to go back to the SANFL and I had some success there,” he says.
“I got back on the AFL list in 2016 and moved to Melbourne so I could be around the competition.’’
Until now, Fleer was probably best known in the AFL as the umpire who was unceremoniously flattened by Melbourne’s Bernie Vince – a former Crow – during a clash against Adelaide in 2017.
He had to leave the field for treatment. But tonight, his grand-final appearance will write his name in the history books for a much more admirable reason.
The South Australian is the only rookie in the umpires’ team, with fellow field umpire Matt Stevic a veteran of seven grand finals and reserve Simon Meredith racking up four appearances.
It’s a long way from umpiring in the Glenelg school zone in 2000, when the former Hallett Cove electrician “started right from the beginning” with his career.
From there, he joined the SANFL junior competition in 2004. “I rose through the SANFL ranks and I was umpiring league games from 2009 and was the emergency for the 2011 grand final,” he says.
“It is nice to see the reward for the hard work that you put in.
“But it is a huge journey over 20 years of umpiring and many, many hours dedicated to a very difficult craft.
“It is very humbling (to be chosen for a grand final) and I like to think it is a reflection on all the umpiring people who have helped me in Adelaide and Melbourne.’’
Fleer – as with all AFL umpires – keeps his AFL team a closely guarded secret and says he officially barracks for “nobody”.
“As we all know, once you cross the white line on the field, it is strictly business and we are just out there to do a job,’’ says Fleer, who is nicknamed “Pepe” because of an “alleged” liking for the Disney character Pepe Le Pew.
“Once I’m all done, I will go back to the team I grew up barracking for but not now.”
And on the traditional rivalry between fans and umpires, Fleer diplomatically says: “I would say we all do it for the love of the game.’’
