Sydney Swans coach John Longmire has told SEN Breakfast that umpires need to spend more time “working on their craft” to improve their decision making.
The Swans were on the wrong end of a lopsided free-kick count (20-8) in last year’s Grand Final against the Western Bulldogs, and Longmire said that it was a topic that had been discussed over the off-season with league headquarters.
“Yeah we had a chat, but its all done and dusted after the event,” he said.
“We need to put more resources into the umpiring and the umpires need to spend more time working on their craft.
“Its very difficult with the whole industry going full time, to have part time umpires.
“I understand there’s probably not an absolute full time role there, but to be able to spend more time working on your craft is really important in the industry to get better at it.”
Former league umpire Stuart Wenn, who officiated in over 300 game at AFL level, agreed with Longmire’s comments about umpires needing to work more on their skills.
“John’s comments were very balanced and in principle, what he is saying it right,” he said
“Whether full time (umpires) is the answer, I’m not so convinced.
Wenn said the one of the challenges faced is the majority of umpires continuing to have full-time jobs out of football – some of which are extremely lucrative.
“A lot of those guys are in very high paid careers and are well established in those by the time they actually get to the AFL.
“There would be guys on the AFL List that would be earning upwards of $250,000 to $300,000 a year in their day-to-day jobs, so you are asking them to give up a lot.”
Wenn said that the base salary is around $65,000 with match payments on top of that, with the finals and Grand final umpires making approximately $140,000 to $150,000.
In other news, Longmire said that he is hopeful that defender Alex Johnson can make his long-awaited return after five knee reconstructions – the unlucky former Oakleigh Charger last played in the 2012 Grand Final.
“His ability to bounce in everyday to training and get stuck into it is something that I’ve never seen before in terms of his determination and positivity around the place,” he said.
“We are hopeful he is able to get into ball-work over the next month or two, but we aren’t not putting any list of demands or expectations on him at this stage.”
Sydney kicks of its 2017 JLT Community Series campaign against North Melbourne in Coffs Harbour on Sunday, February 19.