Veteran umpire Ray Chamberlain has spoken about the difficulty in adjudicating the legality of Richmond star Dustin Martin’s customary fend offs.
The 2017 Brownlow Medallist’s ability to fend-off an oncoming tackler is one of the hallmarks of his game, although some supporters have questioned why he isn’t penalized for high contact more often.
Chamberlain says that it is important for umpires to get into the correct position to clearly see where contact is made.
“They are really tough calls to make. (Making contact) in the chest – that’s not illegal,” he said on SEN Afternoons.
“(Is it) in the chest? Is it in the throat? You have to be in the right position to see where the point of contact is.
“Just because a guy’s head goes back doesn’t mean he’s been hit in the head – if Dusty shunts you in the chest I reckon your head will go back.
“For us to feel confident to hit the trigger and pay a free kick against him, he really has to flush them in the face.
“I think everything can understand if you miss something, I don’t think people are rapt when you guess and you get it wrong.”
Chamberlain said the game is much harder to umpire now than what it was in the past, mainly due to the congestion around the ball.
“In terms of umpiring the footy, it’s more difficult (now),” he said.
“We don’t run as far, I remember going over to Perth and West Coast would have Judd, Cousins, Kerr and you’d just do circle-work there for two hours. You’d rack up 20km and come off and want to die … it was just horrendous.
“We don’t run those kilometers now, but decision-making is so hard.”
What else did Razor Ray say? Listen here: