Lack of umps ‘at breaking point’

FORMER AFL umpire Shaun Ryan has defended the league’s hotly debated dissent crackdown, saying times have changed and declaring the game’s umpiring shortage is at “breaking point.”

Collingwood legend Tony Shaw said on Monday the AFL’s dissent crackdown was “embarrassing” umpires and called on the league to simplify its new set of rules for players.

Ryan (pictured), who umpired more than 350 AFL games and eight grand finals, said the new generation was not going to put up with what once was accepted when he used to blow the whistle.

“We just live in a different culture now,” he said.

“You and I probably grew up where the players told me to get f--ked and I’d tell them to get f--ked and we all moved on. But that’s not kids these days and they’ll say, ‘hang on, I don’t need to put up with this’.”

AFL football boss Brad Scott has said no dissent is acceptable but has stated it is up to individual umpires to decide what level of dissent will see them penalise players with free kicks.

Ryan said it would take time to reach the sweet spot.

“I don’t watch a heap of footy now, but a player may have been pointing to the ground to say, ‘hey, the ball hit the ground, he didn’t mark it,’” he said.

“There’s ones like that where you think, ‘I’m not sure that’s dissent or abuse.’

“So my hope is that by the end of the year and into next year we’ll find that balance with it all.

“It’s just the carry on really, because I think the outright swearing and abuse has stopped.

“The final frontier is just this demonstrative carry on where there’s no swearing but they’re belittling the umpire by pointing to their eyes or the replay, throwing their arms around to incite the crowd.” Outgoing AFL boss Gillon McLachlan earlier this year declared the days of players and coaches abusing umpires were over and apologised for allowing the disrespect of whistleblowers to go on for too long.

It came amid revelations of a national shortage of umpires across the community level.

“The reality is we’re at a breaking point in terms of umpires at grassroots level and they just cannot get them,” Ryan said.

“They’re thousands short and I live at Torquay and I’m seeing the grassroots level every day.

“You’ve got volunteers from the crowd that are umpiring reserve and under-18s footy because they just can’t get umpires.

“So they’re at breaking point and what the studies show is the main reason, if not the sole reason, that people take up umpiring and then quit after one year is abuse.”

Ryan said there was not enough incentive for young people to take up umpiring.

“What I was being paid to umpire a Hampden league senior game or a Geelong GSL senior game in 1993 is basically what they’re getting paid now,” he said.

“The pressure in those games, where it’s a skilful level of footy, they’re getting $150.”