‘What if we paid them properly?’: Tom Elliott’s idea to stop AFL umpiring blunders

Tom Elliott has taken aim at the AFL for what he says was a “really high number of umpiring blunders” on the weekend.

“On Saturday, Carlton versus St Kilda, we saw a mark that was initially awarded right on the bell at three quarter time, and then taken away by a different umpire,” the 3AW Drive host said.

“I’ve reviewed the video footage… and I can tell you, the umpire has got it wrong!”

Tom says the poor umpiring decisions didn’t end there.

“Then there was Jack Riewoldt, going up, taking a spectacular mark in wet, greasy conditions on Sunday.

“Riewoldt gets done for this ridiculous studs up in the air rule!

“The league, without really thinking about it, brought in this rule just months ago because of the GWS footballer, Toby Green, who has a habit of fending people off by sticking his leg at them.

“So, because one player has an unorthodox marking style they change a rule that prevents other great players, like Jack Riewoldt, from taking legitimate marks!”

But that wasn’t all that upset Tom about AFL umpiring on the weekend.

“There’s the whole issue of what is deliberately out of bounds and what is not,” Tom said.

“I saw several contentious decisions of this again in the Tigers vs West Coast match on Sunday.

“It’s ridiculous. How do you honestly know, particularly on a wet, greasy day, whether someone has kicked or handballed the ball out deliberately or not?

“Why did we have to change that rule in the first place?”

Tom suggested making umpires fully professional may help end umpiring blunders.

“Apparently your average AFL field umpire earns about $50,000, they get about $2000 per game and they might to 20 games a year, plus a couple of extras.

“What if we paid them properly? If we paid them enough that all they had to do was umpiring, would they get it right?”

Press PLAY below for Cameron Ling’s thoughts on the weekend’s umpiring.