AFL chief executive Andrew Dillon makes bold umpire call despite category of howlers that have left fans raging

AFL main executive Andrew Dillon has insisted that nan modular of umpiring remains arsenic bully arsenic ever, contempt a class of decisions angering fans.

Dillon fronted nan media connected Tuesday to take sides caller umpires main Steve McBurney amid wide disapproval of calls that person impacted nan result of a number of games already this season.

'I walk a batch of clip pinch nan umpires, talking to Steve McBurney who's heading it up, but besides individual umpires,' Dillon said. 

'Our umpires, it's an incredibly reliable crippled to umpire, but we've sewage elite decision-makers, they're elite athletes, but they proceed to activity their craft.

'All sports are really difficult to officiate, but I deliberation our athletics is 1 of nan hardest ones.

'What our attraction connected is really conscionable preparing our umpires and making judge we get nan processes correct and proceed to umpire arsenic good arsenic we can.

'It's arsenic bully arsenic it's ever been, nan umpiring.

'We're successful nan 2nd twelvemonth connected nan four-umpire strategy arsenic well, truthful we're connected a travel pinch nan four-umpire system.'

Dillon theorised that nan accrued scrutiny connected umpires was a by-product of a competitory convention this season. 

'The title is truthful tight,' he said.

'I don't understand why, but there's ever been a attraction connected umpiring — I'm beautiful aged and it has been astir for arsenic agelong arsenic I've been astir and will proceed to be.

'But I deliberation because nan title is truthful tight that possibly location is an accrued attraction connected nan umpires.'

But Dillon's comments person not sat good pinch fans and pundits. On AFL360 connected Tuesday night, Mark Robinson and Gerard Whateley took rumor pinch nan AFL boss's remarks.

'I don't deliberation it'll beryllium comfortably pinch nan footy public,' Robinson began.

'The mentation alteration has near everybody confused.

'When it comes to these caller adjudications, everyone is lost.'

'When Brad Scott is philosophically opposed to nan umpiring section of nan AFL, if he can't understand, really tin nan intends of footy fans successful nan bleaches and astatine location are expected to understand it? We've sewage a problem,' Robinson added.

'Why didn't Andrew Dillon – if you were his book writer – alternatively opportunity thing for illustration this: we emotion our umpires and we understand what's going connected astatine nan moment, we've changed nan rules mid-year, and we are having immoderate teething problems. Just accepting what is going connected astatine nan crippled successful nan moment, but I guarantee you we are moving done this, we are talking to nan players and coaches, we are going to activity our measurement done this together and travel up pinch what we each judge to beryllium nan correct scenarios and correct decisions successful each those scenarios.

'To opportunity we don't person immoderate problems and it's great, I deliberation that ignores nan issues staring astatine us.'

Whateley added that nan modular of umpiring has been 'suspect' each play and said nan AFL is astatine consequence of going into diminution for illustration rugby national if it does not act.

'I wonderment really galore of nan AFL level were astatine nan MCG connected Saturday night, I consciousness for illustration there's a belief that they reckon this is simply a media hit up. Well, if you were successful nan stands, you tin consciousness this build, it's not confected, it's existent successful our community,' Whateley said.

'I deliberation nan umpiring has been fishy successful its cardinal moments each twelvemonth connected each different rules, not conscionable holding nan ball. I do deliberation you can't wantonness your umpires arsenic nan main executive, truthful I wholly get that, I deliberation pretending everything's arsenic bully arsenic it's ever been is pretending, that's not it.'

'I reckon there's a cautionary communicative successful rugby union, if you watch rugby national now aft 20 years of improvement you can't travel what's happening successful nan crippled anymore,' he said.

'It swings wholly connected nan penalties that are given, you can't recognise them, you can't understand them, you can't travel it. You don't want nan crippled to go for illustration that, you request holding nan shot to look for illustration holding nan ball, you request push successful nan backmost to look for illustration push successful nan back, you request deliberate rushed down to beryllium instantly recognised and paid successful specified a vein. That's wherever I deliberation nan wide speech is, you don't want to time off nan shot nationalist down present arsenic you spell pinch an esoteric type of interpretations of nan existent rules… we're successful high-risk territory.

'What we've seen astatine nan flash points, what's warranted, what's necessary, nan wide consciousness of nan game, sometimes it's there, sometimes we're going pinch nan literal exertion of what's being said, sometimes we're pretending they're right, sometimes we're justifying things, sometimes we're acknowledging they're wrong, I reckon it's a bad confluence of factors astatine nan infinitesimal which is worthy of a spot much thought than going you've each sewage thing to talk about. There's truthful overmuch to talk astir successful footy correct now, nan truth that this is astatine nan apical of nan agenda, that's wherever nan reddish emblem is.'