How many more times will “vision inconclusive” pass the lips of AFL umpires before the league decides to review the system itself?
There is perhaps no greater killjoy than the use of the league’s highly contentious score review system. At the ground, the atmosphere lulls as footage of a ball passing a post or clipping a player’s fingers is poured over repeatedly, alienating the fans at the match completely. Goal celebrations are cut short both in the crowd and on the field as the animated officials declare their opinions on the decision before signaling upstairs – then the chaos begins.
The digital umpire is meticulous in his work, making sure that he uses every camera angle that he has available. Here lies the crucial problem – at venues such as the under-construction Sydney Cricket Ground, the footage used is awful for general television viewing, let alone for video analysis that could determine the fate of a game. These ground-to-ground inconsistencies must be done with if the system is to succeed.
Examples of the system’s shortcomings are aplenty. Port Adelaide has a thrilling talent in Chad Wingard, but the young midfielder can consider himself lucky that he was awarded a goal that was reviewed in round two – a low snap appeared to have collected the post as it passed by and the goal umpire calling in the technological aids available. It was blindingly obvious that the ball had deviated off the woodwork – it may not have been by much, but it was certainly noticeable – however the pictures were unable to conclusively prove that there was a deflection.
A possibility would be to introduce a rule that allows one review for each team per match to be used at will by the captain of each side. If a review is found to be wrong, the team loses it. If correct, the system is still available in the future. Pedantic reviews would be a thing of the past and the players involved would only take their chances on certainties.
It is all too common to see decisions stay with the umpire’s call because of the lack of concrete proof. The system is consistently unable to give us a conclusive answer, so now the time has come to either upgrade it so that it can or scrap it altogether. It is immensely frustrating viewing.
The score review system was introduced to avoid howlers but has instead bewildered coaches, players and fans. It may have the occasional success story, but the tale of woe will continue until the AFL commit to their promise of fair, consistent umpiring.
Photo Source: Fox Sports
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