Forward umpires 'hate' most

[Big Al]

I'm not as outraged at the lack of frees to Buddy as I was with Hally and Plugger which leads me to think that he has it better than those two. (That's in depth scientific analysis I think you'll agree)

Hall would get mugged, have his wallet stolen and the Umps would say incidental contact and call play on. I don't condone the Staker hit but if you watch the game Staker did everything but jump into Hallys pants that night and received zero from the umpires.

[dimelb]

Am I the only one that cracks the cringes when we get an easy free for in the forward fifty? I hate it. I'd rather a non-call than the Matty Lloyd armchair ride.

What's the problem? You wouldn't be cringing too often!

[Triple B]

Am I the only one that cracks the cringes when we get an easy free for in the forward fifty? I hate it. I'd rather a non-call than the Matty Lloyd armchair ride.

I also prefer not to get the soft/incorrect frees in front of goal as usually the other 2 umpires watching on the big screen will even things up and you finish off twice as badly off...

[penga]

Am I the only one that cracks the cringes when we get an easy free for in the forward fifty? I hate it. I'd rather a non-call than the Matty Lloyd armchair ride.

[paper_rival]

People will always think full forwards get a raw deal. The reality is that 1) forwards will always be more inclined than defenders to push the rules of a marking contest because giving away a free is not as costly given the field position and 2) like it or not, I do think umpires adjust their adjudications (even subconciously) based on where on the field the ball is. Giving a FF a 50/50 free that results in a gimme goal will result in far more scrutiny and outrage than incorrectly calling play on or paying the same free in the centre square.

At the end of the day, I think the Swans players and coaches (rightly) focus on what they can control - delivering to advantage, strong contested marking and roving. I can't stand coaches like Lyons and Buckley who whinge about field conditions, rules or umpires, which both teams ultimately have to deal with.

I agree.
I experience this a lot playing netball. I find the best umpires are men who generally haven't spent years growing up playing either forward or defence. They're more objective and make decisions based on the rule book rather than personal experience. It's subconscious as you say though

[Markus26]

Buddy gets a far better run with the umpires than Plugger or Hall used to get.

I think Hall was a little hard done by for his left hook on Staker's jaw.

[stellation]

It's like we have Barry Hall back, I'd forgot how fun it was to implore that a big forward was mugged and got no love from the umpires.

[bodgie]

Its the glaring unpaid frees that might tell a different story

[dejavoodoo44]

Good work, Neil. But I'm wondering how you correct for the fact that Hawthorn, throughout that time period, have been encouraged to play antisocial football?

[neilfws]

If you listen to Hawthorn supporters they say that Buddy has it easier now !

I don't listen to Hawthorn supporters But it's a little early to say, he's only had one full season with us.

You want a chart don't you. All of Buddy's frees for + against by year.

franklin_frees.png

Last season he both received and conceded a little more than his career averages. Both his for and against were above the average 5 years out of 9 at Hawthorn. So I'd say he has it about the same with us as them, so far.

EDIT: really this should be corrected for number of games played...just bear that in mind for now.

EDIT: OK, here it is with averages per game instead of totals; does not change things too much.

franklin_frees_avg.png

[mcs]

I'm not sure what span the article covers but On The Couch had a list of key forwards and their free kicks for and against in 2015 only last night and Buddy came off reasonably well. Jeremy Cameron was at the bottom of the list. I guess the list doesn't show non-decisions mind you. I do agree with a couple of other posters that Franklin does better with the umpires than Hall ever did. Roosy actually talked about their frustrations with Hall's free kick record.

It was also interesting to see that Tippett's F/A free kick count was worse than Franklin's.

Its the non decisions that kill Buddy - the instances of players consistently doing what Lonergan did to him on Saturday night and getting away with it for most of the day.

[Doctor]

I'm not sure what span the article covers but On The Couch had a list of key forwards and their free kicks for and against in 2015 only last night and Buddy came off reasonably well. Jeremy Cameron was at the bottom of the list. I guess the list doesn't show non-decisions mind you. I do agree with a couple of other posters that Franklin does better with the umpires than Hall ever did. Roosy actually talked about their frustrations with Hall's free kick record.

It was also interesting to see that Tippett's F/A free kick count was worse than Franklin's.

[dejavoodoo44]

It's always been either feast or famine with FF's when it comes to frees and it seems like the same guys are always feasting while some are always famished.

Among the eternally famished over the years have been Buddy, Bazza, Richo, Cloke, Plugger whilst you only had to breathe heavily on Lloyd and StNick and they'd be lining up for goal.

Yes, Lloyd did seem particularly sensitive to heavy breath, as it seemed to often cause him to swoon to the ground.
Actually, as I wrote that, I had a vision in my mind of Mathew Lloyd as a toddler, hurling himself on to the supermarket floor in a major tanty and being rewarded by his mother, with the chocolate that he so desperately desired.

[Triple B]

It's always been either feast or famine with FF's when it comes to frees and it seems like the same guys are always feasting while some are always famished.

Among the eternally famished over the years have been Buddy, Bazza, Richo, Cloke, Plugger whilst you only had to breathe heavily on Lloyd and StNick and they'd be lining up for goal.

[Hotpotato]

The call on Rohan was indeed astonishing , he was going very fast and still bouncing it. There were others on the weekend haring towards goal that didn't bounce that were let go and they ran further than Rohan.