AFL stands by off-centre umpire Ray Chamberlain
The AFL has decided to stick with umpire Ray Chamberlain for the semi-finals as it works towards appointing its officials for this year’s grand final.
The AFL has decided to stick with umpire Ray Chamberlain for the semi-finals as it works towards appointing its men for this year’s grand final.
Chamberlain’s off-centre and shallow bouncing in the Adelaide Oval centre circle created a storm on Thursday night, with Geelong coach Chris Scott teeing off at the field umpire at halftime.
While 12 field umpires were required for week one of the finals, only six are needed this week – and Chamberlain has made the cut.
Not only has Chamberlain won selection, News Corp understands he will come face-to-face with Scott again after being appointed to the Geelong-Collingwood semi-final at the Gabba.
While Chamberlain’s bouncing created a stir, his decision-making received a tick from league headquarters.
But some in the umpiring fraternity were surprised that Chamberlain didn’t simply recall his shoddy bounces to sidestep the furore.
Umpires are empowered to swallow their pride and recall any bounce which is either offline or favours one ruckman.
But Chamberlain waved ‘play on’, reigniting calls to scrap the bounce from the game for good.
Meanwhile, Richmond’s lack of discipline has been laid bare with the Tigers ranked second-last for free kick differential and last for giving away 50m penalties in 2020.
The Tigers have coughed up a staggering 25 50m penalties this year, with Jack Riewoldt, Dustin Martin and Shai Bolton all conceding three each.
That’s effectively giving away 1250m gained, which is further than Dustin Martin, Shai Bolton and Trent Cotchin advanced the ball on Friday night.
No other club has given away more than 17 this season, while fellow finalists Western Bulldogs (six), St Kilda (eight) and West Coast (nine) have conceded far less from the same number of games (18).
Bolton’s two unforgivable 50m penalties against Brisbane on Friday night gifted the Lions two goals in the 15-point loss.
“We gave away undisciplined free kicks in the back end of that second quarter and the reality is that was the difference in the game,” Hardwick said.
“We have got to get better in that part of the game. Every now and then it rears its ugly head and unfortunately it was on the big stage, so it’s really disappointing.“
The Tigers addressed their mild case of white line fever after Martin and Josh Caddy gave away 50m penalties in the Round 11 loss to Port Adelaide, with players told
Martin and Josh Caddy gave away 50m penalties in the Round 11 loss to Port Adelaide.
“We’ve got a bit of a protocol at the moment, if you do give away a 50, young Parker’s nappy, Trent’s baby, will be getting changed by that person,” Hardwick said a the time.
Hardwick said at halftime the umpires were “trigger happy” and, after the loss, called for them to just let the players play.
Free kicks were down from 32.2 (home-and-away) to 27.6 (week one) to start the finals
But the Tigers are -64 for the season, which is 15 worse than the 16th-ranked Essendon.
Scott’s team isn’t far behind the sloppy Tigers, with Geelong -44 in free kicks, ranked 15th.
Collingwood (+76) and Port Adelaide (+45) are the umpires’ darlings this season, ranked No 1 and 2 in the AFL.
The Magpies even managed to win the free kick count 16-12 against West Coast at Perth Stadium on Saturday night.
The other remaining finalists have just about broken even, with the Lions +3 and St Kilda -3.
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