AFL chief executive Andrew Dillon believes the standard of umpiring is as good as it’s ever been

AFL chief executive Andrew Dillon has responded to the widespread criticism of the quality of officiating this season – and his comments have raised eyebrows.

AFL chief executive Andrew Dillon believes the standard of umpiring is as good as it has ever been.

Amid widespread criticism of the quality of officiating this season, off the back of contentious decisions and mid-season interpretation tweaks, Dillon defended the whistleblowers.

“I think it’s as good as it’s ever been, the umpiring,” Dillon said.

“We’re in the second year of a four-umpire system so we’re on a journey with that system.

“There’s always been a focus on umpiring, it’s been around since I’ve been around, and it will continue to be but because the competition is so tight, maybe there’s an increased focus.

“It’s an incredibly tough game to umpire and we’ve got elite decision-makers.

“They’re continuing to work on their craft.”

Dillon said the league was not moving away from explaining umpiring decisions, but did not want to be up every Monday.

“If there’s umpiring decisions at the end of games and there’s a real focus on them then we will be up,” he said.

Brad Scott has defended the AFL’s decision not to publicly explain the contentious decisions, saying there’s “too much grey” in the game to analyse every umpiring error.

The Bombers coach on Monday revealed on AFL360 that he had spoken extensively to league umpiring officials who had admitted mistakes were made in the Saturday night clash.

But, while Scott said he could understand Bombers fans’ frustration over the lack of a public explanation from the AFL, he warned focusing on decisions midway through games was a slippery slope.

“(A video) is probably the simple answer (for agitated fans),” Scott said on Tuesday.

“I think you can make a bit of a rod for your own back though, in terms of is this going to be a weekly Monday morning explainer of every single decision that people want clarification on?

“I’ve said before, people generally only want the explanation they agree with, and we do deal with shades of grey in our game.

“I understand the fans’ frustration, and I think the concern for the game more broadly is that there are people who have been involved in the game all their lives who didn’t have a clear understanding of how the rules are adjudicated.

“If that’s the case, what hope is the fan who’s sitting up in the bleachers or watching at home on TV got? So the more we can be transparent and explain things, probably the better, without going down the rabbit hole of just nitpicking every single through every game.”