Former AFL umpires boss Wayne Campbell has defended Ray Chamberlain after the veteran umpire struggled with the bounce last Thursday night.
Chamberlain was called out by Geelong coach Chris Scott during the game for bouncing to the left of the centre circle, favouring the closer ruckman.
Campbell believes the turf at Adelaide Oval would have been causing issues for umpires.
“If you watch umpires when they first get to the ground, they’ll go straight to the centre circle. Sometimes the turf in the middle gets re-laid because it gets a bit worn and it’s an umpire’s worst nightmare,” he told SEN’s Bob and Andy.
“If it gets re-laid, it’s soft and they can’t bounce the ball up. They love getting to the SCG and the Gabba because of the cricket pitch because you don’t have to worry about that softness.
“If you watch Ray he’ll be padding a spot down to try and get the hardest possible surface because he’s not built to bounce the ball.”
Campbell elaborated, saying the bounce causes more damage mentally and physically to umpires than many would expect.
“I’ve been pretty strong about this … it’s not his fault. (Chamberlain) is a bloody good umpire and a bloody good decision maker, but he’s got really short arms and he can’t bounce the ball high,” he said.
“(Chamberlain) cops it and I just feel so sorry for him. What he’s trying to do is find a hard surface which is then to the left of the line and then because it doesn’t bounce that high it favours the player that’s closest to the ball.
“I can understand Chris Scott’s frustration, but it’s hard to direct it at Ray given we’ve got this game that demands this ridiculous skill that I think is sort of outdated.
“Ray Chamberlain has had a shoulder reconstruction and it’s only because of the bounce.
“Shaun Ryan has had a bad back for 10 years and it stopped him umpiring a little bit.
“If we want the bounce to be there, there’ll be issues with the bounce and you’ll have umpires getting injured when if you took the bounce away you wouldn’t have those injuries.
“Once you get inside umpiring and you see the mental and physical anguish (the bounce) causes, for me the upside is not quite worth it.”
The Herald Sun reported that Chamberlain will umpire Saturday night’s Semi Final between Collingwood and Geelong.