A particular umpiring incident caught Andy Maher’s attention out of Friday night’s game between Geelong and Essendon.
Jeremy Cameron was lining up for goal just before the quarter time siren, with the Cats forward given instruction to start on his line in the dying stages of the first term.
It later appeared that the umpire told Cameron that the siren was about to sound, prompting questions about whether officials should be informing players how long there is to go in a quarter.
“Why is the umpire referencing the siren, he shouldn’t be telling Jeremy Cameron how long there is to go,” Maher said on SEN’s Crunch Time.
“He’s clearly getting some information from somewhere, he didn’t know whether the siren had sounded or not. Was that slightly odd?"
Former St Kilda and North Melbourne midfielder Nick Dal Santo was equally as perplexed by the situation, saying the umpire was technically right but shouldn’t be coaching players on field.
Dal Santo he was “as confused as anyone” by the interaction between umpire and player, saying Cameron should have been left to take the set shot without knowing whether the siren was close to being sounded our not.
“I found (the incident) very unusual,” he said.
“I was as confused as anyone last night, the umpire kept reference whether the siren had gone or not.
“By the letter of the law, the umpire is right that the siren hadn’t gone so Jeremy Cameron had to start on his line and play on from that position…but then for the umpire to say ‘has the siren gone, oh no it hasn’t', he was always helping him.
“Cleary there was some communication coming from the umpire’s earpiece, umpires are helping players do something or not do something. Their job is to adjudicative, if (players) stuff it up it’s their fault.”