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For Australians below the Barassi Line, one sport takes the prize: Australian rules football. After all, ‘footy’ was invented in Melbourne in the 1850s, making it a truly homegrown game and a big part of our identities.
What makes Aussie rules football so appealing is its quirks. It’s played with a rugby-style ball on cricket’s oval grounds, the scoring system (with its four posts) is unlike anything else and it boasts 360-degree gameplay. Another distinctive aspect of the football code is in how the rules are adjudicated at the top level (the Australian Football League or AFL), which can be uniquely challenging.
‘The most dominant factor is the subjective nature of the rules, which is not seen to the same extent in other high-profile sports,’ says Lochlin Hamer, graduate researcher with Deakin University’s faculty of business and law.
‘For example, the NFL (National Football League) has clear stipulations on what constitutes a catch, fumble, or incomplete pass. In AFL, however, a mark is awarded based on the umpire’s interpretation of whether the player controlled the ball or not.’
With so many rules left up to the umpire’s discretion, AFL umpiring decisions often attract attention from fans, players and the media. With that in mind, let’s take a closer look at the rules, decisions and pressure that shape the decisions of AFL umpires today.
Despite the difficulty and importance of AFL umpires making the right decisions, umpiring isn’t a full-time job. AFL players are all full-time professionals but, for anyone umpiring AFL today, the job is only part-time, meaning most umpires have day jobs in between training and matches.
In Hamer’s opinion, this isn’t necessarily a negative.
‘Shaun Ryan, for example, had forged a career as a barrister,’ he says. ‘This is an important, respected job that he likely would not have been able to continue with or come back to if he were forced into umpiring full-time. On the flipside, if he had chosen his legal career over umpiring (in the event that both required a full-time commitment), the game would have lost out on an eventual 350-game, 8-time Grand Final umpire.’
As for how many umpires are in each AFL game, the current total is 10 – but it’s not set in stone. In 2023, the AFL introduced a fourth field umpire to officiate matches alongside four boundary umpires and two goal umpires.
AFL umpiring decisions aren’t always straightforward. Australian rules football can be subjective, with people interpreting the rules in different ways. One reason for this, says Hamer, is that footy fans often learn the rules in different places and pick up their own biases.
‘Footy is a social sport, and many fans learn the game by being surrounded by other people,’ he says. ‘They therefore learn the subjective rules based on the subjective social environment they operate in.’
‘Although entirely anecdotal, I do find it interesting how notable this bias is,’ adds Hamer. ‘From my 20 years’ experience, I’ve noticed that rule interpretation can vary not just across fan bases and where the match is played, but also where you are in the stadium.’
Umpires, however, are taught and trained according to the ‘correct’ interpretation of the rules, as codified by the AFL. Fans, former players and members of the media don’t get this insider perspective.
‘This results in a disconnect between how these stakeholders, such as fans, want or expect the rules to be enforced and how they are actually being directed to be enforced,’ says Hamer. ‘An umpire could award the perfect free kick at the perfect moment, perfectly in line with how they have been coached to do so – but chances are most of the people that witness this decision will not agree with it, based on their own interpretation of the rules.’
One of the great sounds in an AFL game is a stadium full of passionate fans shouting ‘Ball!’ at the top of their lungs. The word is shorthand for the ‘holding the ball’ rule and, if the decision is paid, the shout is followed by a Roar of approval.
Holding the ball, though, is one of those grey-area rules that can cause controversy in AFL umpiring decisions, mostly due to rule mechanics like ‘prior opportunity’.
‘For example, prior opportunity, which is the period of time prior to a tackle where the player has had a reasonable opportunity to dispose of the ball,’ says Hamer. The adjudication of holding the ball varies based on the level of prior opportunity and the actions that follow.
Insufficient intent is another constant source of controversy in AFL umpiring decisions.
Under previous interpretations (which penalised players for a ‘deliberate’ attempt to take the ball out of bounds), the rule had been difficult to adjudicate. Under the current ruling (in which players are penalised for failing to ‘demonstrate sufficient intent to keep the football in play’), Hamer suggests that the rule has become ‘more mechanical (like the NFL) rather than subjective’. Despite the change, though, the rule still often draws the ire of fans who either disagree or misinterpret the rule.
Technology in general is having a positive impact on Australian rules football, from using analytics for decision making and AI for strategising. With social media technology, though, there are some downsides.
The impacts of social media are well documented. Studies show that negatives can include an increased risk of mental health symptoms and impact on adolescent social identity, though it can also be beneficial in forming relationships and finding information. But does the impact of social media extend to AFL umpiring decisions? Hamer suggests it does.
‘Quite catastrophically, in my opinion,’ he says. ‘The issue with social media is that it provides a platform for unreliable sources to conflate – reaffirming the mindset of many. Essentially, it takes away the umpire’s voice. It silences the most reputable, qualified voice in the discussion.’
Considering Hamer’s point about the subjectivity of AFL rules and the difficulty of decision making, he believes social media debate could negatively affect the way some people interpret certain rules.
‘One fan could have a video sent to them by a friend, with the corresponding message of “look at this horrible decision”,’ he says. ‘Socialised in the same circle and likely predisposed to share the same view (with or without the leading corresponding message), a perception of the umpire and their performance will be formed with or without respect for the umpire or the genuine rules of the game.’
The AFL as an organisation is trying hard to give umpires more respect. In recent years, they’ve been doing this through targeted respect campaigns, cracking down on negative on-field behaviour and making more inclusive talent pathways for those just learning how to umpire AFL.
There’s also talk about changing some of the more controversial and subjective rules, like insufficient intent, to make it easier for umpires to adjudicate.
One thing is clear: Australian rules football, from local leagues to the AFL, cannot continue without umpires. Despite the notorious difficulty of AFL umpiring decisions, all stakeholders have to work together to ensure the future of AFL umpiring remains bright.
