by The White Knight
Welcome to season 2019. Our umpiring group trains at Moorleigh Reserve, Bignell Road, East Bentleigh on Wednesdays starting at 6:15 pm and finishing before 8 pm. If any former footballers would like to stay involved in the game please contact the SFNL office for more information about becoming an umpire.
After the 2018 season, our Director of Umpiring, Peter Marshall, called time after three successful years in the role and has taken on the role of Field Umpires Coach with the Ammos. Under Marshie’s leadership, our umpiring numbers increased, by almost 50% and last year, for the first time, we were appointing three field and boundary umpires to many senior matches. Marshie’s apprentice, Jonathan Auditore, has stepped up to the Director’s role in 2019. Jonathan has been our field umpires’ coach for the past three years and has been umpiring since joining the SFLUA as a brat way back in 1994.
In that time, he has umpired over 500 games of football, spent 2 years umpiring in Cairns and officiated games in London and Japan. He spent 5 years at the VAFA umpiring their highest level of football before spending 3 years as the Head Coach at the SMJFL. Jonathan is an Umpire High-Performance Coach and received the award for Vic Metro Umpire Coach of the year. He has spent time observing umpires at the VFL and has been an on-field coach focusing on skill and game development. The White Knight wishes Jonathan the very best in his role and is proud he took his advice and guidance about curbing his youthful exuberance in his early years as an umpire.
There have been some other changes to our umpiring department for 2019 with Cam Watts and Matt Mahoney taking over as our field umpire training skill coaches. Mark Mounsey and Brett Chard will be our on-field coaches. Craig Davenport remains as Head Coach of the goal umpires and will be supported by Jeff Mark, Brett Marriott, Andrew Gillespie & Bill Keilor. Tim Fierenzi is the Boundary Umpire Coach and will be assisted by Mitch Lea. Our Match Day Facilitators are Harry Stamos (North Side) and Peter Bailey (South
Side). Peter will also continue as our video analyst. Jaye Edmunds is the new Field Umpire Fitness Coach and David Smith is our Match Day Observer.
At Committee level, Alan Manning continues as President, with Rodd Johnson as Secretary, John Borg as Treasurer and Kevin Mitchell as Property Steward. Other committee members are Hannah Faulkes (Boundary Umpire Rep and Media Manager), Thomas Grundy (Social Secretary), Elise Cooper, Glen Emery (Field Umpire Rep) and Tony Levett (Goal Umpire Rep).
This week the VFL announced its lists for 2019 and we are ecstatic with the 16 SFNL umpires on VFL senior, senior development and development lists.
Field Umpires: Luke Porter and Cam Watts (VFL senior), Matthew Mahoney (Senior Development), Jack Cannon, Nathan Guy, Darcy Trewarn
(Development List)
Boundary Umpires: Matthew Crowley and John Cooper (VFL Senior), Joel Davis (Senior Development), Kaitlin Barr and Lachlan Menara (Development List)
Goal Umpires: Dean Jones, Tayla Manning (Senior List), Patrick Aurish, Daniel O’Shea and Samuel Rogers (Development List)
The SFNL Umpiring Department is continuing to work closely with our SMJFL colleagues. Our own Cam Watts heads up the SMJFL Umpiring Academy with Nick Bergman as Head Coach, Glenn Emery and Matthew Mahoney coaching the experienced field umpires, Doug Haworth, Chris Hughes and Nathan Guy are coaching the first year field umpires, while Courtney Stelling and Nick Ritchie are looking after the boundary umpires. The SMJFL would welcome as many senior SFNL umpires as possible who can help with mentoring the next generation of umpires every Sunday during the SMJFL season.
We are adopting most of the new AFL rules and interpretations for 2019. For example, when a player is kicking in from full-back, the player on the mark must now be 10 metres back from the goal square. Players have the option of playing on from full-back without kicking the ball to themselves but must start with both feet inside the goal square. They can run up to 15 metres from the square before disposing of the football. If a player doesn’t start in the square or handballs from the square, they will need to reset and bring the ball into play correctly. Players which kick the ball out without it being touched by a player will not be penalised unless the umpire deems it to be a deliberate kick
out.
Defenders taking a mark or a free kick deep in defence will have the mark set in a line with the front of the goal square (nine metres from the goal line. This applies even if the kick is to be taken from outside the behind posts.
At the start of each quarter and after each goal, the players are required to set up in the 6:6:6 formation, with one player from each team in each goal square. Use common-sense in implementing this rule, giving players time to set-up and only paying a free kick for deliberate errors, or a delay in responding to instructions to set up correctly. If a team has one or more players sent off or injured, then one or more zones can have less than six players in them. Each team is given one warning per game.
Remember that:
“The Ump in Green Should Not Be Seen” and
“We Bounce, We Blow, The Rules We Know”