The AFL will trial four field umpires in Saturday’s clash between the Brisbane Lions and the Gold Coast Suns at The Gabba.
This is a first in terms of the regular season, although it was trialled at the start of the year in the pre-season competition, the NAB Challenge.
“The umpiring department is keen to trial four umpires in a match to see how the umpires position themselves on the ground and particularly the impact on decisional accuracy,” AFL Umpiring Director Wayne Campbell said.
“We’ll be examining each umpire’s GPS results to see if we can gain an indication of whether the umpires can make decisions under less fatigue and are in better positions to make decisions,” Campbell said.
Upon reflecting on the four umpire trials at the start of the year, Campbell said the umpiring errors that were missed by umpires were “halved”, just by having an extra set of eyes.
The trial will eventually hit Melbourne, as Campbell explained that the umpiring department would look to continue tests throughout the rest of the year.
The move is important, as scrutiny has fallen on umpires in recent weeks, even more so than usual.
The average amount of free kicks paid in a game hovers around the 35 mark for season 2015. Two weeks ago, that number jumped by 10 across the nine games in round 17.
Fans, journalists and coaches alike were bemused at the spike.
“I actually spoke to our players before they ran on to the ground. I’d watched enough football on the weekend to know that the rules had changed for the weekend,” Melbourne coach Paul Roos said on Fox Footy last Monday.
Lower levels of football umpiring in Melbourne will not be affected by the AFL’s trials.
“We struggle to have three umpires for each game, let alone four,” said the president of the Victorian Amateur Football Association Umpire Association (VAFAUA), Greg Rolfe.
“Our biggest issue is the recruiting and retention. In most premier games we can only get two umpires, so these changes won’t have any effect on us,’ Rolfe said.
“Most local leagues have the same issue. It’s hard to bring in umpires. The AFL’s changes probably won’t change our situation at all.”
