McGuire proposes radical umpire plan

GOAL and boundary umpires would be scrapped and matches officiated by a team of eight whistleblowers under a radical revamp being pushed by Collingwood president Eddie McGuire.

McGuire’s plan, raised by the Magpies boss with the AFL’s competition committee, involves two field umpires stationed on the goal lines and another four policing zones up the ground.

All eight would be able to make decisions, signal goals and behinds, and throw the ball back into play.

“And I’d dress them up like (NFL) referees ... and put them in long pants,” McGuire told News Corp.

“My suggestion is all about what would you do if you started the game again today.

“We have made the game very hard for our umpires. And a lot of our really good umpires are getting old, so I want to keep them in the game. We could even bring back (AFL umpires boss) Hayden Kennedy. If you zone the game up and let the action come to you, it’s much easier to officiate. They’ll be in the right positions, all of the time.”

AFL football operations boss Steve Hocking confirmed the league was exploring options to remodel umpiring at a media briefing two weeks ago.

“It also means you can get more women umpires and more former players,” McGuire said.

“And it would also cut down on the hysteria because they act as a collegiate team.”

McGuire, who also wants to remove the “touched off the boot” rule for goal reviews, said an overhaul of the AFL’s umpiring system would give longevity to elite decisionmakers.

“The team that does Friday night can turn up again and do a game on Sunday afternoon,” McGuire said yesterday.

“You end up with less umpires and more professional umpires who are paid more.

“It cuts fatigue and gives our umpires longevity because at the moment an umpire has to have enormous athletic feats and for a party trick be able to bounce the ball on his head.”