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Instead of going off at the umpires this year (doesnt seem to do anything) I want to make a plee to them for christs sake !!

The over officiating we see is getting beyond the joke. When we had just one feild umpire, I guess they had a more simplistic approach. Being the sole game day officiator, an umpire would just keep things simple without drawing attention to himself. Players knew a spade would be called a spade so to speak. Today we have 3 umpires who control only 1/3rd of the ground, and with this we have complete confusion every week. 50 metre penalies are given out like M&M's and this is not what the rule was brought in for originally. Umpires keep using this penalty for infringememts that are simply not worthy of the act. Line ball infingements should be given the benefit of the doubt. We are talking a 50 metre penalty here, not 15 so it has got to match the crime so to speak.

A defender must be able to defend. It is a contact sport so for god sake make a forward earn a kick. If its an infringement then sure, award the kick. But stop the mindless soft-on free's that keep slowing the game down and lose the contested aspect of our game.

The umpires at Claremont on Saturday were apalling across the board. I think there was about 40 plus free kicks paid in the first half. What is going on ?? At least 70% of those were not worthy of anything for either side. And one umpire in particular at that game (we know who he is) is always looking to showcase himself. I was hoping summer may have seen him re-jigg his attitude. Wishful thinking.

We know its a tough game to officiate, but an unnoticed umpire is a good one. Look at that knob on the AFL umpiring panel. Some dick in the media started calling him "Razor Ray" and he now plays up to the camera and microphone every week. Umpires are not the show here, the players are. I have no doubt WAFL umpires officiating televised games are much the same. They babble on so they get noticed, and race home to watch a taped reply of their game so they can spend Saturday night creaming themselves. The time has passed for this to be nipped in the bud. And giving supporters a 1 finger salute at half time sums up these jokers. If Micale gets sanctioned, then this umpire better be as well. At least 300 eyes saw it. They think they are bigger than the game and it is killing the code.

And before this post gets judged, understand players get questioned as well. It goes both ways.