The Whistle Blower Weekend 23rd September 2006 The GFL Grand Final today, brings the Geelong Football Umpires running season to an end.
I have umpired on this final day of the season several times, and it certainly is an exciting experience. To be umpiring a Grand Final at Skilled Stadium is a real highlight, it’s the crowd, the players and a magnificent ground that usually hosts AFL matches. Some of today’s umpires will be the most outstanding umpires for the year in each discipline and will be honoured accordingly at the GFUL Presentation night. Some umpires have already been invited do pre-season with VFL, which could ultimately lead into the AFL, as has been the case for a couple of outstanding AFL umpires who have umpired with the GFUL in the past. Brett Allen has once again been awarded the Jeff Crouch Medal (the equivalent of the ‘Brownlow’, for AFL umpires) by the Herald Sun, while Shaun Ryan did extremely well to come in third. To all those umpires who have just started umpiring careers this year and for those who have been umpiring for some time, I hope the season has delivered what you wanted to achieve and you’ll be back for more again next year. There have certainly been some great milestones reached this year and it’s a big congratulations to all on a wonderful season. I didn’t hear anyone in the crowd at the Geelong and District Grand Final refer to the umpires as ‘you orange bellied parrots!’ so it looks like the orange uniform is a hit and will get the go ahead for next season. We’ll have to get them all decked out with our sponsor’s names and logos in preparation for 2007. On that note I would like to thank our sponsor’s who have been onboard with the umpires this year and given us great support - Major Sponsor, METRICON who have already given us the thumbs up for next year, the Clarendon Hotel, Ford Credit Co-op Society, Balls‘n’Bumpers, Faggs Mitre 10, Steve Keating Financial services and Tony Brooks Jims Mowing. A reminder to all umpires that pre-season training will begin at the end of January 2007 - Mondays and Wednesdays until the cricket season finishes. If you want to play some cricket in the mean time - see Dave Chaston. Don’t forget the Presentation night on October 7th, make sure you’ve got a ticket. Most important is the Annual General Meeting and all umpires are urged to attend as two positions will be vacated. Keep your eye on the Advertiser’s “Situations Vacant” column, as all coaching positions will soon be advertised. The website www.gful.com.au has been a huge success this year with plenty of hits every week. Thanks to Norm Douglas “Nerds on Site” for setting up the new easy to use website which Bill Fulton is able to edit regularly. Keep your eye on the website as it will be constantly updated during the off season with news and information. If anybody is travelling north for the off season and wants to umpire, see Adam Edwick as he has umpired in the Northern Territory and can give you contact details. We have ventured back to the Clarendon for celebrations after the BFL and G&DFL Grand Finals, but tonight it is back to the umpires rooms and then, well, your on your own! I hope the whistle blower for 2006 has been an interesting read, not just for the umpires but for the players and supporters as well. Graham Rawlins thinks it has been a great success and wants me back on board next season, well someone’s got to do it, so it might just be me again, and yes, a very special thanks to my wife Roxanne for editing the column and coming up with some pretty good lines. See you all in 2007 ‘Macca’ Damian McMaster GFUL
Weekend 16th September 2006 Another Weekend of Grand Finals is upon us with only one more local Grand Final to go after this week, followed by the AFL Grand Final, the finale for football for the year. Most people will have a break, some will play cricket - see Dave Chaston if you want to play with some of the umpies over the summer. I’ll be having a break but will continue to do some training on my own. Don’t forget the Presentation Night on 7th October and make sure you’ve got a ticket. Most important is the Annual General Meeting and all umpires are urged to attend as two Board positions will be vacated. Keep your eye on the Advertiser’s “Situations Vacant” column on 30th September and 7th October, as all coaching positions will be advertised. The umpires for today’s G&DFL Senior Grand Final will all be wearing orange uniforms. It should see some of the abuse restricted as we can no longer be referred to as ‘white maggots’ – I wonder who’ll be first to yell out ‘you orange bellied parrot!’ On Thursday the 7th of September a great number of umpires and many of their family members attended a packed Uumpires Room for a Pre-Grand Finals dinner. The evening started with presentations for footy tips winners and losers, VCFL Service Certificates and the Jack ‘Ripper’ Robinson Training Awards. Recipients for the “Ripper” awards were, Russell Pritchard, Bertie Touwslager, David House, Paul Holmes, Daniel Dorling and Laura Cooling. Dinner was then served, a feed of lasagne followed by apple streudel, before the Annual Auction, where auctioneer extraordinaire, Goal Umpire Mark Osborne oversaw all bidding, declaring he would be the sole judge as to any bidding decision that needed to be made ” typical goal umpire! The night concluded with the announcement of all 2006 Finals Appointments, including the prized Grand Final Appointments. Some were disappointed but most were joyous to be rewarded for the hard work they had put in over the whole season. Despite the early announcements, there was still minor changes required to the appointments, including a senior GFL Final last Sunday. The coaching panel racked their brains on Saturday night when they were made aware of the vacancy. They had no hope of getting one of the boys from the Bellarine Grand Final to do the job and at such short notice it wasn’t looking good, but luckily Murray caught sight of James Stephensen, who was in a party mood, very early in the night and got to him before the bourbons had. He did the Sunday game before rushing off to work at the bottle shop at Warn Ponds only to serve most of the Colac folk who had been to the game he had just umpired, as they headed home with yellow and black flags flying. Last week we ventured back to the Clarendon for Bellarine Grand Final celebrations where we had a great evening. Tonight after the Geelong and District Grand Final. it’s again back to the Clarendon Hotel again for more of the same. Cheers ‘Macca’ Damian McMaster GFUL
Weekend 9th September 2006 Some umpires’ season’s have now come to an end. Most of the umpires that officiated in the Junior Grand Finals last week, have now finished blowing the whistle for the season. On Sunday I got along to see a couple of the Junior Grand Finals and it was great to see the umpires putting in such great performances in their final games for the season. The junior finals were great, they were well organised, good team spirits, great umpiring (what else can I say), team officials, gate keepers collecting the coins and selling records, ground announcements and professional videos of the games. It was fantastic at the end of each game to see the umpires recognised with a medal, along with the winning teams, which was geatly appreciated. My finals campaign came to a tragic end last week – not only did my calf take a strain that would probably have benched me, but last Thursday morning I dropped my umpiring runners out the back door to air out for training and upon returning home to get ready for training, all set to go, I looked out the back door to collect my runners only to find them GONE! Not there! I asked Rox, “haven’t seen ‘em”, asked the dog, they weren’t chewed! The cat? No way. GONE! Anyway someone seems to have nicked a pair of ACSIC Kayano runners from the back door. (New $250), but second hand (they’ve done 25 home and away games, two in the mud, 2 finals, 35 weeks of training twice a week, 3 times a week morning walk, 12 laps in a V8 Supercar and a developed cut above the left toe), I’d say $20 tops. Problem isn’t replacing them for the finals, easy enough, but they just happen to have my ORTHOTICS in them. And replacing your orthotics doesn’t happen over night. So I’m officially out of the finals race and someone can thank me for their finals spot. Last week Junior Field Umpire Coach Paul Grossman had three nephews involved in the G&DFL U/18 First Semi-Final. Kane, son of Don Grossman was playing for Bell Post Hill, David, son of Stephen was in the Bannockburn team, and Ryden, son of Bernie, was one of the Boundary umpires. Where would the GD be without the Grossmans! After the Bellarine Grand Final today it’s back to the Clarendon Hotel starting around 6.00pm. Drinks, meals and celebrations are the order of the evening. Remind all GFUL umpires that the GFUL presentation night is on the 7th of October at Buckleys. No ticket no entry, make sure you have organised your table with names to Steve Allinson or Bill Fulton, along with any extra money. Cheers ‘Macca’ Damian McMaster GFUL Weekend 2nd September 2006
The finals puts pressure on everyone in different ways, players, umpires, officials and spectators. For some boundary umpires in the finals excitement, they have forgotten some pretty important items. My stepson, Jack Krzywdzinski, on his 3rd game for the weekend on Saturday morning (8.00am start mind you!) running the boundary, was a classic example. As the ball crossed the line for the first time, he put up his hand to blow his whistle only to realise he forgot to put his whistle on. Hand up but no sound! Must be contagious, apparently it also happened to a boundary umpire at St Albans! GFUL Junior Co-ordinator, Jack Ververs, has been selected as one of the Volunteers of the Week in the AFL sponsored “Toyota Make Your Move Volunteer” Promotion. Jack was nominated by Russell Pritchard, who was one of Jack’s trainees in the AFL’s Junior Umpire Development "Green Shirt" Program. Both Jack and Russell have been invited to attend the clash between the Western Bulldogs and Essendon. The evening will commence with an exclusive pre-match function in the Cougar Bar hosted by Brian Taylor and featuring David Parkin as the Guest Speaker. At the conclusion of the function and prior to the commencement of the match, Jack and Russell will enjoy the "money can’t buy" experience of running through a banner and doing a lap of honour around the ground. The ladies of Portarlington Football Club are renowned for the hospitality and great service they always extend to the Umpires, particularly during Finals. Lisa, Maureen and Susie, otherwise affectionately known as B1, B2 and B3, upheld the tradition from previous years during the first round of Bellarine Finals held a fortnight ago, however, B3 has added a new dimension to the term "service". One of the GFUL's most senior umpires was the main beneficiary of this new and unexpected level of service. Whilst in a very vulnerable position (lying on his back on the floor) during his warm-up routine, he was completely taken by surprise to be on the receiving end of some seriously amorous attention from B3, completely shattering his normal pre-game preparation and concentration to such an extent that he took some considerable time to regain his composure, if he ever did at all. The word has spread and a great number of umpires have volunteered to umpire at Portarlington in the future. Keep up the good work B3 and always try to stay on top. A Reminder to all umpires. Thursday 7th Sept, a "Grand Finals Dinner" at the Rooms, prior to the announcement of Grand Final Appointments. Cost is $5 per head. Bookings and payment is essential by Tuesday 5th Sept to Bill Fulton. The evening will conclude with the Annual GFUL Monster Fund Raising Auction, where many bargains will be offered. Following closely on the heels of Felik Sculz's 1000th game as a goal umpire two weeks ago, the current club house leader, Trevor Cromer, notched up his 1100th game last weekend to extend his lead to the ton. Feliks reckons he is a stayer with plenty in the tank, whilst TC is starting to slow down after setting a hectic pace and is confident he will eventually overtake him. Good Luck Feliks and congratulations to Trevor on a magnificent performance. See you back to at the rooms this week. By the way I must congratulate my sister Andrea for tying for the Best and Fairest “The Margaret Webb Medal” in the GDFL, playing for Inverleigh. Cheers ‘Macca’
Damian McMaster GFUL
Weekend 26th August 2006 The Geelong Football Umpires League launched the 2006 Finals Series last Thursday night with a dinner in the Fred Flanagan Room at Skilled Stadium. Guest speaker was Stephen ‘Stoffa’ Lewry, who gave us an insight into becoming a professional runner and winning races at Stawell. He emphasised that being around positive people had helped him achieve goals that he could only dream of. After "Stoffa" took some questions from the floor, the first week of Finals Appointments were announced which included two impressive milestones. Feliks Szulc, who I had the pleasure of umpiring with on Saturday, made his 1000th appearance in the goals and to acknowledge his great achievement, we let Feliks lead the Reserves umpires out onto the hallowed turf at Port and hold the Ball aloft. Feliks made his 1000th appearance between the big sticks after 23 years, averaging 2 games per week. The other major milestone last week was that of Dennis Hargreaves, notching up his 600th at Leopold. Dennis has been running the boundary line for 26 years. Huge milestones boys! To kick off the finals series for 2006 last Friday night at West Oval, we had a male and female combination in control. Russell ‘Rusty’ Pritchard and Leigh Davis were the two field umpires anointed with the honour of holding the ball aloft to signal the start of the series. On Thursday night you could tell Russ was pumped, in his bag of fruit, with training bag at his side, he was loosening the vocal cords with a cold cascade stubby. Still on the finals we had some earlier than normal starts last weekend. The first Football Geelong U/18 Cup Final kicked off at 8am at Portarlington on Saturday and Mark Atkins and Ross Bennett were right on the ball to get to the pick-up 10 minutes before embarking. Mark must have gotten up at 5:00am to shower, have time for breakfast, read the paper and make his way to the scheduled 6.45am pickup. I was still hitting the snooze button well into the second half. Young GFUL Field Umpire, Nathan Gleave, will strut his stuff on the hallowed turf of the MCG on Saturday 26th August. Nathan was one of two young umpires selected to control the curtain raiser to the Richmond v Essendon AFL game. The game will be played between two teams comprising the most promising 15 and 16 year old indigenous footballers from across Australia. Remember the Training Sessions times.
All Boundary Umpires plus all U/14 and U/16 Field Umpires at 4.45pm.
All Senior Field and U/18 Field Umpires at 5.30pm, along with All Goal Umpires. There were some exciting games and close results in the finals last week and I’m sure it can only continue, See you back to at the Clarendon this week. Cheers ‘Macca’ Damian McMaster GFUL
Weekend 26th August 2006 You can smell the finals in the air - all junior football and the Bellarine Football League start this week, Geelong and District next week and Geelong Football League the following week. Each finals match will have a full compliment of Field, Boundary and Goal Umpires. All Senior matches will have 3 field umpires, the Reserve and U18 football will also have 3 field umpires after this week due to the number of field umpires still required. I must remind all umpires that it is very important that if you are unavailable on Saturday or Sunday that you register in the book or with your coaches before Tuesday 6pm. K-Mac has done it again! Kevin McMaster has just received the news that he is the annual winner of the Jetstar Shooting Star Award. He was selected from a distinguished field of 15 locals who won weekly Shooting Star awards for volunteering their precious time in the regions sporting community. Kev will receive return flights for two from Avalon to Brisbane and stay at fancy hotel courtesy of the Independent, Jetstar and the Geelong Football Club. Just on Kev, he retired from the field in 2004, but a couple of weeks ago he did pull the boots on for one last time. He helped out Bob Hallett, Peter West and myself umpire the Agriculture Colleges round robin competition at The MCG. (That’s the Modewarre Cricket Ground). Marcus Oldham came up trumps at the end of the day winning the Grand Final. Heard a whisper last week at Inverleigh, Daniel Dorling who usually umpires junior football on Sundays and Senior Boundary on Saturday Afternoons, found himself in charge of the senior game. Sean Rafferty broke down, so Daniel stepped up and helped out Adam Larkins get through the remainder of the game. Milestones from the past weeks:
July 22 - Paul McElhinney 250, Jeff Barratt 200, Damien George 50
July 29 - Chris Villanti 250, Stephen McDonald, Chris Sorensen 100
August 5 - Adam Edwick 650, John Villanti 350, David House 300, Colin Wells 200,
Michael Dwyer 100 and Kimberley Dowling 50 games. Revised training schedule for the Finals.
With effect Thursday 17th August 2006, training commencement times for Tuesday and Thursday Training Sessions will be as follows:
All Boundary Umpires plus all U/14 and U/16 Field Umpires will commence training at 4.45pm.
All Senior Field and U/18 Field Umpires will commence at 5.30pm, and
All Goal Umpires will commence at 5.30pm. See you back at the Clarendon this week. ‘Macca’ Damian McMaster GFUL
Weekend 12th August 2006
Last week saw the First Year umpires gather and be thanked for their participation at the GFUL for this season. Of course there are finals still to come and many of these umpires will be required for them. About 80 people gathered at the umpire’s rooms for a nibble and drink, and to acknowledge each first year umpire with a memento. Carbo gave some wise words on the history of the umpires, how we serve the football community and where you can get to today, regarding the path to the AFL, in particular Brett Allen and the many other current AFL umpires that have come through the GFUL ranks. There are a number of rewarding things that I see with these young kids coming through as new umpires. Improving their fitness, as shown by the results in the time trials, the confidence that these young people gain in making line ball decisions that could determine the outcome of a game, not forgetting the players pleas and the sometimes hostile crowds, the new friendships that are developed with fellow umpires and recognition by players and club officials. If you are a first year umpire and couldn’t attend the function, see Bill to claim you memento and cap. Last week I had a function in Melbourne on the Saturday night so I made the trip from Werribee after officiating in the afternoon. The Werribee hierarchy were wondering where their resident umpy Smithy was. “In Geelong so you’ve got me”. I must thank the Werribee club officials for being very welcoming on the day and the opposition Inverleigh’s club officials for saying gidday. More Milestones from the past weeks:
June 17 - D Chaston 400, M Atkins 300, A Werry 250, J Wheelahan 200,
D Dorling, R Hughes and L Voogt, all 100
June 24 - T Evans and W Kirtley 200, A Parsons and W Foley 100
July 1- J Eyles 50
July 8 - A Tattersall 100
July 15 - A Touwslarger and J Tatnell 300, T Gillard 200, D Bubb 100,
P Holmes 50. This week August 12 is a Sportsmans night at the rooms. Hear the likes of Mark Osborne and Ray Edwards telling us what it was like when they where at the helm of the umpire’s, see Brad Smith for bookings. Coming up Finals Launch
All members are invited to attend a dinner to celebrate the commencement of the 2006 Finals Series in the Fred Flanagan room at the Geelong Football Club on Thursday 17 August at 7.00pm. Family members are also most welcome to attend. Guest Speaker. Cost $10.00 per member and $15.00 per non-member. Remittance to Bill Fulton by August 10. ‘Macca’ Damian McMaster GFUL
Weekend 29th July 2006 Last Thursday saw the Annual Geelong Football Umpires League’s Life Members Night at the Geelong Football Club, where 32 Life Members attended for a chat, nibbles and an annual meeting. The President of the Life Members Robert Beattie, stood down and Mick Robinson was duly elected. After the meeting the 32 Life Members made their way into the umpires rooms where they were individually announced to the current running members of the GFUL before two more Life Members were inducted into the GFUL's "Hall of Fame". Last year was the inaugural "Hall of Fame" induction, with Eric Wills, Leigh Mensch, Jack Henry and Kevin McMaster accepting the honour. This year Harry Stapleton and Everett Foster were both given standing ovations from the members when their names were announced for the 2006 "Hall of Fame". Shane Carbines asked the two new "Hall of Fame" inductee’s some questions about their involvement in umpiring in the past. It was amazing to hear that Everett Foster used to umpire solo back in the ‘good ol days’, while Harry Stapleton thought fellow Life Member, Ray Gurrie was the best umpire going around in his time. Are the scouts out for some new AFL umpires? Albert “Berty” Touwslager and Tim Callander thought so at the U18 Joey’s v West Saints game the other week, when current AFL umpire Brett Allen called in to have a look. Just on Joeys, in the senior game in the wet weather conditions the other week, apparently two brand new match balls split. I wonder if they got out a Kangaroo Brand Sherrin in the end. A sight you don’t normally see. Rumour has it in a junior game at North Geelong the other week, a Goal umpire was given a Yellow card. I wonder if he went off through the interchange. I haven’t done any Milestones for some weeks so here they are bring them up to date:
May 20
S Pokorny 500, D Baensch, S McDonald, D McMaster 450
S Williams, C George 200, and N Douglas 150.
May 27
M Osborne 650, A Smith, P Grossman 400, P Farnsworth 250
D Martin 150, G McCallum 100, L Darbyshire, J Gilmore 50.
June 6
J Gregory 100, S Wagstaff 50
June 10
N Hooper 850, A Love, G Pearson 100, J McGillivray 50. Coming up August 12 is a Sportsmans night at the rooms, see Brad Smith for bookings and back at the rooms this week, wonder of Missus Grossy turns up this week after the Pies big win last week. ‘Macca’ Damian McMaster GFUL
The Whistle Blower Weekend 22nd July 2006 It’s a tough gig at the best of times but in wet weather it makes it even tougher to umpire. The wet weather causes player skill levels to drop, you get many more contests for the ball and the ball is in dispute a lot of the time. There are lots of bumps, hits, holds and scrags, many more packs, wrestles and ball ups. As long as you are consistent throughout the day, it helps, but in the wet weather, umpiring football is one difficult job. On Saturday last week, it was the same at most grounds, wet and muddy. In the first 5 minutes I had wet feet and they stayed like that for the rest of the game. At least it wasn’t blowing a gale and freezing cold. I thought about changing my socks at half time but why bother when my feet would have gone back into wet boots. I did feel for my boundary umpire (or his Mum at least), he changed into a pristine white top at half time. He was nice and warm at the end of the day and two shirts that were white in the morning were black at the end of the day. Lucky Mum. 
I’ve copped a bit of flak over the photos in the Geelong Advertiser last Friday. They certainly weren’t the best photos, and no I wasn’t half charged, here is the photo they didn’t publish myself with Dichen Lachman (Katya) from Neighbours. Paul Grossman did have a busy weekend last week. Friday night at the Bannockburn Team of the Century when Grossa managed to get into the team of the 70’s, he finished in the wee hours of the morning, junior football observations Saturday, helped June cook up the Chow Mein in the afternoon and made it to the umpy’s rooms after. Good effort Grossie. A reminder to Umpires with regards to Taxation and umpiring. The GFUL is no longer required to provide members with a Group Certificate. Umpiring with the GFUL is categorised as a Hobby Sport. It’s not an income and umpiring deductions cannot be made. Seek advice of a Tax Consultant should you have any queries. Umps, see you back at the rooms this week after the game. ‘Macca’ Damian McMaster GFUL
The Whistle Blower Weekend 15th July 2006 With no GFL football and a split round in the District last week, three umpires were appointed to all senior games. It provided a good opportunity to fine tune and remind ourselves of the three umpire system to be used in the finals. Out at Newcomb the 3 umpires were thankful that there were 3 of them as the game was extremely quick and would have been hard work if there was only two. A couple of breakdowns last week, David Kiss strained an Achilles and was not seen after half time at East Geelong, while James Stephenson also had a break down – not himself but his car - on the way home from Drysdale. I must apologise for running late on Saturday, I was running in the U18’s at Bell Post Hill and thought I’ll turn up in my gear ready to go. No Problems except that when I was driving to the game, the roads were quite wet so I panicked a bit and decided to go back home for my boots. I thought I had plenty of time up my sleave but upon arriving at the Hill I discovered all the umpires ready to go and two goal umpire coaches waiting with 2 first gamers in the goals Tracey Jones and Kelvin Clissold (Kelvin’s legs have given up on him for this season so he has taken to the goals). He was looking very smart on Saturday with some impressive goal umpire signals. Mind you, he still managed to tell me how many free kicks I missed and how good he would have been if he had been umpiring the game! John “Match of the Day” Tatnell, wasn’t so much as late to his game the other week, he just managed to travel directly from Vietnam to his game at Galvin Park, Werribee. Paul Grossman’s got a busy week this weekend, I don’t know how he’ll have time to partake an ale. His busy schedule starts on Friday night at the Bannockburn Team of the Century function, followed by junior football observations Saturday morning, help June cook up the Chow Mein in the afternoon for the umpy’s on Saturday night, to the rooms Saturday night to lockup the bar, and to finally top it off, he will be celebrating his and June’s wedding anniversary, if he can find the time. Geelong junior umpires, under the tutelage of Jack Ververs, are officiating Auskick games at half time in all Geelong Home games this year. The GFUL’s great organisation of the events and the reliability and talent of the umpires has been recognised and rewarded with 8 of our junior umpirers being given the opportunity to have a run at the MCG and Telstra Dome this season. I wonder if they’ll give me a game at the “G”. Just a reminder to the Life Members of the GFUL that the 2006 Life Members’ Evening will be held on Thursday 20th July and you must RSVP to Bill Fulton ASAP if you will be attending. Bill I’m there! ‘Macca’ Damian McMaster GFUL
The Whistle Blower Weekend 8th July 2006 The “Whistle Blower” seems to be a very popular article with a large following. Last week Scownie from North Geelong, made a comment to me asking how my toe was going. He obviously reads the Whistle Blower column. Some other legends of local footbal were also very complementary toward the “Whistle” Blower over the past week. Thanks, Tickle Wilson and big Maxxie Foran. By the way, according to the Nerd himself, our website developer, Storm’n Norman Douglas, he has statistics which prove that, apart from the weekly umpire appointments, the “Whistle Blower” is the next most popular hit on the www.gful.com.au website. I’d hate to think how long we would have had to wait for the flags to be waved at North Geelong last week if a score had been awarded after the siren – this is what happened - at the end of the first quarter a North Geelong player was having a kick after the siren at the clubroom end. Luckily he didn’t trouble the flagman as the goalie down the other end of the ground was nearing the middle of the ground as the player took his kick! Good on ya Bill Kirtley. Bill stands in the goals all afternoon in the reserves and seniors, and a birthday coming up in the next month, will see him pushing well into his 80’s. Noel Hooper recently passed the 850 game mark. Noel began his career with the GFUL in 1971 umpiring junior games in the mornings and seniors in the afternoons, taboo these days. By 2002 Noel had notched up a staggering 700 games and was devastated when a faulty heart valve forced him to hang up his whistle whilst undergoing open heart surgery. However, such was his passion and love of umpiring, that a mere 7 weeks after the triple by-pass operation, Noel was back in training and rearing to restart his umpiring career. Since that difficult time, he has added a further 150 games to his tally and seems unstoppable at the moment, although nowadays, he has restricted his umpiring to the Juniors where his experience and knowledge is invaluable in the education of young umpires and footballers alike. Noel was made a Life Member of the GFUL in 1996. Just a reminder to all Life Members of the GFUL that the Annual Life Members’ Evening for 2006 will be held on Thursday 20th July and you must RSVP to Bill Fulton by the 14th July if you will be attending. After a good session at the Clarendon last week, we are back to our own rooms this week and who knows what surprises the social committee will have in store for us. ‘Macca’ Damian McMaster GFUL The Whistle Blower Weekend 1st July 2006
Got to have a look at the Grand Final replay between South Barwon and Newtown last weekend. The crowd was bamboozled in the last quarter by an umpiring decision that looked like South Barwon got another shot at goal after passing the ball and Newtown intercepting the play. I suggested to a couple of spectators that the Newtown player had run into the umpire and that a free kick was given. Speaking to the umpire after the game, he said that if a player just brushes past him he normally lets it go, but this time the player ran straight into him with some force and then payed the free kick according to:
Rule 15.5 which states “A Free Kick shall be awarded against a Player or Official who:
(c) intentionally, recklessly or negligently makes contact with an Umpire”.
Don’t ask, but I have had a week up North in Port Douglas where I managed to break a toe. It was dark, it was bedtime, I’d had a couple of drinks, and not knowing the layout of the room I walked beside a chair and my little toe poleaxed into the leg of the chair. Say no more. Thanks to the Grovedale Club last week, their first game at Burdoo Reserve for the year, and the cans of drink for the umpires after the U18 match were very much appreciated. The Sports Trivia night was a great success last Saturday night with good numbers attending. The questions were put together by our Training Supervisor, Steve Keating, and its pretty weird and very obvious that his favourite show must be Home and Away. Bushy was in control of the song trivia where you had to name the song and artist. Well just let’s say Bushy’s CD collection isn’t up there. Santa looked after the handball and netball goal shoot, and there were some pretty ordinary scores from the competitors. Thanks to Bazza behind the bar, Santa’s Mum and Dad for the nibbles throughout the night and congrats to Bill Harrison's team who took out the prize. I’m sure after the break from training last week and being about half way through the home and away games, it will be “full on training” from now on leading into the finals. Milestones from last week:
Noel Hooper 850 and David Chaston 400, both of whom had great spreads in the Addy, Mark Atkins 300, Allan Werry 250, Tim Evans 200, Wayne Foley, Richard Hughes, Anthony Love, Daniel Dorling, Gary Pearson 100 games. This week sees us back at the Clarendon Hotel for our After-Match, so please turn up and support one of our most generous sponsors. ‘Macca’ Damian McMaster GFUL The Whistle Blower Weekend 24th June 2006
Last Saturday David Chaston umpired his 400th match as a Field Umpire at Kardinia Park West in the St Mary's v South Barwon clash. Obviously, to umpire 400 games as a field umpire is quite an outstanding achievement in its own right, but included in those games are 8 Senior Grand Finals (10 if you count the GFL replay in 2003 and G&DFL replay in 2004 which David claims to his total). His Grand Final appointments were five BFL (1998, 1999, 2000, 2001 and 2005), three GFL (2003, 2004 and 2004 replay) and two G&DFL (2004 and 2004 replay). It is unusual for an umpire to participate in a drawn Grand Final, but David did so on two occasions in successive years 2003 (GFL) and 2004 (G&DFL) which must create some sort of record having umpired four Senior Grand Finals in two years. David has also held the very important administrative position of Junior Development Co-ordinator for several years and was made a Life member of the GFUL in 2004. He regularly wears a Western Bulldogs top to training which always makes me think of him as ‘Where’s Wally’, but over the years with his head down and bum up, sprinting to position he has often been referred to as Chasto doing a ‘Casey Jones’. He is a character of the league and always has a quick witted remark on the track and in coaching sessions.
A couple of Debut Senior Field appointments last week were Ryan Jones umpiring the BFL match between Portarlington and Barwon Heads, and Adam Larkins at Queenscliff v Drysdale. And I must also mention Scott McLeod who a couple of weeks back officiated in his First GFL senior match. I’ve had the pleasure in the past to run with Ryan and its no surprise to see the young fellow up there. I spoke to Adam after his senior debut and it was also no surprise that he said he was absolutely knackered. He has played senior football for Cressy and Bell Post Hill in the past, coached U16 Bell Post Hill and was their Club umpire for the reserves. Last year he was in the junior development mentor program umpiring in the GJFL U14/U16 competition and now Senior Football. Last week back at the rooms there was gallons of Soup “Pumkin or Tomato” thanks to Emma Harrison and Christine Bushfield and a further reminder of the Sports Trivia Night tonight back at the rooms. There are places left so let Bushy or Billy know if you’re coming along. With school holidays this week I’ll be extremely generous and give you a week off training. ‘Macca’ Damian McMaster GFUL
The Whistle Blower
Weekend 17th June 2006 A legend of the GFUL and Hall of Famer, Kevin McMaster “K-Mac”, who is the current Appointments Co-ordinator and League Statistician, and yes, my father, was nominated by Bill Fulton for a Jetstar Shooting Sports Star Award. Of course he has won the prize, two tickets to a Cats game at Skilled Stadium, an invitation to The Presidents Lunch and access to the rooms pre-match, plus seats in a private enclosure to watch the footy. The question is, who is he going to take? . Hint..Hint…
If you missed the Independent last week, K-Mac’s award was acknowledged with a huge photo and story. He has served 44 years at the GFUL, was awarded Life Membership 30 years ago and last year 2005, was inducted into the GFUL’s Inaugural “Hall of Fame”. He became a field umpire in 1961 and umpired 444 games, only handing in his whistle in 2004. He has been Chairman of the Board, on which he served for some 19 years and was the League Life Member Roastee in 1999, where the story of his life was revealed to all and sundry. When working in Melbourne he was a member of a Joggers Club, and in October 1998, ran the Melbourne Half Marathon. Kev still tries to keep active by trying to get a run in every couple of days. Tinashe Nyatsanga had his intriguing story screened on Fox Footy last week. The story ran for about 8 minutes and gave a bit of insight into Tinashe and his background. He’s been here for two years, studying commerce at Deakin University on a scholarship from Zimbabwe. Knowing nothing about football when he started, describing it as being a cross between soccer and rugby, he is now running around in the Seniors and has dreams of turning to field umpiring and one day officiating in a game at the MCG. Good luck Tinashe. School holidays this week and the V/Line U15 Championships will be played in Melbourne. Four of our very promising young umpires will be officiating in the games, namely, James “Spike” Milligan and the Wackett twins “Mike” and “Mal” while Adrian “Stevo” Stephenson will be an emergency. The boys are staying up in the big smoke and are sure to put on good umpiring displays. All four were in charge of the GFL v BFL U/18 Inter-League game played on the 20th of May where they all produced impressive performances. Back to the umpires rooms after the game this week when the Social Committee will be preparing a “Soup Kitchen” and a reminder about the Sports Trivia Night to be held on Saturday 24th June. There are limited places so see Smithy, Bushy or Billy Harrison to book a team table. ‘Macca’ Damian McMaster GFUL
The Whistle Blower
Weekend 10th June 2006 A couple of weeks back, as part of the fortnightly coaching sessions, the GFUL coaching panel had to remind us about our commitment to training.
Some key points made were:
· Punctuality: make sure you are on time 4:45pm or 5:45pm
· Training attire: make sure you’ve got the appropriate gear, shorts, top and runners (it’s worth remembering - back in the days of the “old rugby oval” as it was known before the new cricket ground, even if you forgot your runners on a training night, legend has it some “real” umpires were know to have completed the program in bare feet!)
· As winter and cold, dark, wet nights approach, we start to see all that extra warm gear being worn. Beanies, Skins, Spray jackets and of course, some extra sensitive members, even don the gloves.
· Couple of other points were to: make sure you sign on and speak to the training supervisor if you have to leave the track
· Make sure you’ve got a whistle handy
· And “what you put in to it is what you will get out of it”. Following on from that, I just have to mention the time trial last week. Some great times were recorded for the 3k sprint. In the Early group Justin ‘Moose’ Nolan cruised in at 10:41, Adam ‘Sticks’ Bell 10:35 and only 16 year old, and another youngster James Mariner 11:15. In the Late group another absolute star and youngster James Milligan 11:12 pipped Golden Boy Steve Trotter 11:22. Times have improved for most umpires, The Media Star, the man from Zimbabwe, Tinashe Nyatsanga took about 3mins off his time of 12:40, David Cooling -2mins and Jack Krzywdzinski “Jack K” as he is known, a first year boundary umpire (and my stepson) who ran a 1.5k time trial in Feb in 9:38 completed the 3k in 16:32 you do the maths that would be +1.5k -2:32 (fantastic!) Still on the training Steve Keating our Training Supervisor who keeps coming up with some ordinary jokes at times to keep us entertained, had an interesting towel at training. He says he just grabbed a towel out of the cupboard, it was something of a whitish terry towelling rabbit suit with pretty pink ears. What’s going on there Steve? Back in the U18’s at Bell Park last week was a pleasure thanks to Allison, the team manager, who made sure we were looked after with a bowl of mixed jubes at half time, much appreciated by all. Great to see parents taking an interest in their sons umpiring progress - Nathan Kennedy on Saturday was given a couple of tips about his ‘out a bounds on the full signal’ by his Mum, “Get your arms out straight” Good on ya mum. Some umpires have been known to get in front of the mirror and practise their signals, just ask Chasto, he loves looking at himself in the mirror.
‘Macca’ Damian McMaster
GFUL The Whistle Blower Weekend 3rd June 2006 In case you didn’t notice last week, all AFL matches were officiated in green uniforms. The Green Shirt Round has been introduced by the AFL to acknowledge the new and inexperienced umpires who wear green shirts at local level to identify them as “learners” and for everyone to give them a fair go under the AFL’s Umpire Mentor Program. The GFUL have put 36 umpires through the program since its inception in 2004 and this year, eight young and some not so young umpires officiate each week as field umpires in the U14 or U16 competitions in our local GJFL competitions. A snap shot in the Geelong Advertiser last week saw some of the these “Green Machine” Umpires with umpiring mentors Jack Ververs and Paul Grossman. Last Sunday umpires wishing to complete Level 1 and Level 2 Umpire Accreditation, were invited to attend the umpire’s rooms for a lecture session. The lecture was conducted by Jock Hillgrove, current GFUL Field Umpire Coaching Panel Member and Paul Grossman one of the Junior Development Squad “dynamic duo” Co-ordinators. About 25 umpires attended the sessions, including about 8 local Club umpires, “those guys you see running around in the Reserve competitions”. It is fantastic to see these guys wanting to improve their knowledge of umpiring and with the right coaching it will make it easier to make the right decisions more of the time with the correct positioning and interpretation. A lunch time feast of Sausages in bread was planned for the umpires, however, GFUL’s favourite Umpy widow, Doctor Jo, had her birthday bash the night before where I’m sure there would have been copious amounts of champers consumed, but the food intake was a bit down. The Accreditation umpires fortunate enough to attend the Sunday sessions got to enjoy a sumptuous feast of left over gourmet sandwiches, stuffed mushrooms, stuffed cucumbers and chicken skewers, just to mention a sample of what was on offer. I hope the umpires don’t , expect that sort of feast after every coaching session. (PS, Happy Birthday Doc). It seems some have taken the water boy issue to heart. I’m sure that League officials will come up with a ruling to monitor the situation more closely. On Saturday I myself had to stop a game and remind a water carrier that standing in the middle of the ground coaching players as the ball went by, was not within the rules. Why should a water carrier be on the field of play when there is not a stoppage? Reminder for umpires again of the Sports Trivia night on June 24th. There are limited places so see Smithy, Bushy or Billy to book a team table. Milestones from May 13
· Adam Bell flies on the track and has just flown to 50 games
· Peter Schilder and Steve Keating 150 games
· Chris George 200 games
· Bill Harrison and Barry McCrae 250 games
· Sean Rafferty 450 games
‘Macca’ Damian McMaster GFUL
The Whistle Blower Weekend 27th May 2006
Chairman Shane Carbines just is not in the electronic age. He asked the troops the other night to put up their hands if they had been on the METRICON Umpires website - www.gful.com.au - and nearly fell over backwards from the rush of air caused by all the hands going up. The website has had a major over haul this year by the Storm’n Norman Douglas, yes the Nerd himself “Nerds On Site”, the man about town “Norm from Newcomb” who reads the “GT Magazine”. The site is now full of information, coaching notes, plenty of photos, and is easily managed by the General Manager, Directors and Coaching staff. More information will be updated in the future and if anyone has ideas for the website please let Bill know. If any football clubs are interested in having an easy to manage website give Norm a call 0439 579 520.
A few of the umpires would like me to mention the great hospitality shown when they go down to Portarlington – when it comes to umpires, the Port Demons know how to look after you! At a recent lecture the Director of Umpiring reminded us of the job that the water carrier should be doing, that is. “Asking players if they would like a drink”. It has come to our attention that in some cases the water carriers are ex-players and are using water delivery to give instructions to players and coaching them. If the leagues cannot resolve the problem, the umpire will, with “free kicks”. The Interleague game last week sharpened up the look of our lads on the field - new runners, and hair styles! James Stephenson had blonde locks the previous week, as seen by the photo on the website and acknowledgement by the crowd at Colac. It didn’t stay blonde for too long. Just on the Stephenson’s, Ray took an early morning call - 3am and not from one of the boys wanting a ride home from the night club. It was a police officer from Melbourne asking him where his car was. In the garage? No it was the car he had sold a week before, its plates were used in a petrol drive off. Coming up June 24 is the Trivia night. There are limited places so see Smithy, Bushy or Billy to book a team table. Milestones from April 22
· Peter Hedges 400 games
· Adam Larkins 50 games
· Alan Schnaars and Mick Zaljevic 350 games
Milestones from May 6
· Jamie Quarrell 50 games
· Apollo Shelton 100 games
· Robert Steel 50 games ‘Macca’ Damian McMaster GFUL
The Whistle Blower Weekend 20th May 2006 Had a trip down to Winchelsea the other week and caught up with local legend and club stalwart Roger Mathison before the match. Roger got a bit of publicity for the Queen’s Baton Relay and I could relate to this as my wife Roxanne, got to carry the baton in Sorrento. I was nominated by Roxanne but unfortunately missed out to Adam Gladki who has umpired 600 plus games. Adam managed to carry the baton on the ferry and got plenty of coverage on the national news. Roger said he and his wife were over the moon being the only locals to carry the baton in Winchelsea. Celebrations included the official opening of the Grandstand at Eastern Reserve and I must say they look amazing. After the game the umpires ventured into the clubrooms for a quick refreshment before the trip back up the highway and it was great to be publicly acknowledged after the game and ‘El Presidente’ Kev, shouted us all a drink. Umpy’s, make your self known to Kev, cos he will always look after you!
In case you didn’t know there is a new rule the VCFL has adopted - when a field umpire calls for a field ball-up, time-on is automatic and time keepers are required to stop the clock. If we don’t already have enough time on-now - you would think that with common sense this time adding to the already long quarters should mean that the 25 minutes per quarter be reduced! Some quarters have been known to go for 37 minutes! Now, that’s just getting ridiculous. AFL quarters go roughly 28/29 minutes, so we are doing an extra maybe 30 minutes per game. If they are not going to shorten the quarters then the umpires might have to look for a pay rise – what about it Nev??? Had a boundary umpire break down last week and had to call in ex-(experienced)-boundary umpire Neil Hogg to fill in for the last quarter. Thanks Hoggy you can run all day even after your effort in the Reserves. I even gave Ewen Handley, who was running the bar, some money to buy you a drink Hoggy in appreciation. As I mentioned last week the umpires would be happy this week as money went into their FCCS accounts, but I didn’t mention - if you had purchased any gear through the umpires, money would be taken out of your pay to cover the costs (hopefully my account hasn’t been drained too much!). Ps – thanks to the Villanti’s for coming up trumps with a good feed of pizza for all the umpies after last Saturday’s games! ‘Macca’ Damian McMaster GFUL The Whistle Blower Weekend 13th May 2006 Heard a good one last week, - tragedy, when an umpire got run over by a police car crossing the road, - apparently he didn’t hear the siren! Might sound funny but there was some siren drama at the end of the third quarter at Newtown U18 – the siren had a bit of a burst then failed the umpire finally ended the quarter when the teams were heading to their 3 quarter time huddles – it didn’t have any bearing on the result of the game though!
A boundary umpire broke down at Newcomb last week and thanks to Paul Welsh, who has done almost everything in football,now has a boundary umpiring job to his credit. And yes Paul, you don’t have to hang out with the umpires at quarter time, you can go the team huddle.
What about the Ocean Grove player at Queenscliff last week who, running into goal kicked a point and the ball continued on straight into the back of a Falcon station wagon with the rear door open. How many points is that worth I wonder?
We thought Tinashe got a good run on the front page of the Addy, then on National Nine News. Apparently there is more to come as Fox Footy is now going to do a story on him. I’m sure METRICON will be happy. Tinashe is looking good at the moment and I’m sure the GFL Grand Final will be on his agenda. Another umpire to make the news last week was Gavin Skurrie. Not a front page spread but in the sports section for basketball. Gavin was awarded the U/21 Male Country Basketball Referee of the year award. It didn’t mention that he umpires local football and last year he was one of the boundary umpires to officiate in the GFL Grand final. There should be plenty of happy umpires around this week as their pays were deposited in their FCCS bank accounts on Wednesday. A great new feature of the all new Geelong Football Umpires League website, www.gful.com.au is that you can now find your appointment so much faster. Simply type your surname into the "SEARCH" box at the top right corner of the page, and your name (if you have been appointed this week) will be displayed as a link, in the main body of the search results. This makes it so much quicker and easier when you are trying to find your umpiring appointment. If anyone ended up with an extra sock last week young new boundary, Darcy Nolan has lost one. ‘Macca’
Damian McMaster - GFUL The Whistle Blower Weekend 6th May 2006 It’s a family affair of umpiring at the Stephenson residence and congratulations to Adrian Stephenson on his first senior field appointment last week. I had the pleasure of running with Stevo at Easter and I didn’t think it would be long before he made the senior ranks. Not only having the pressure of his first senior game, Stevo was also given the car driver job and wait for it, the broadcast "Game of the Day" at Ocean Grove. The Stephenson’s have all umpired together previously in the past. Father Ray, a goal umpire and brothers James, a central and Lockie, a boundary. Next time we should see both James and Adrian in control with Ray in the goals and maybe Lockie could make a return after his stint as VFL boundary. Of course they all would not be on the ground each weekend without ‘Super Mum’ Maxine, who has kept them in pristine whites and transported them to endless games in the past. At a recent Thursday night meeting, us field umpires were asked if we wanted to know if we were going to be observed or not. Last season observation games were listed on the appointments with an (o) in brackets beside the game. This year it was decided that it would be fairer if observations weren’t known. So it was a bit of back luck to the boys that travelled to Colac the other week – the umpires usually take it a bit easy at Colac as you would never get an observation that far away. ‘Parso’ and ‘P’Mac’ may have been surprised to see Jock Hillgrove at the ground. He was heading down to Warrnambool and thought it would be a great idea to surprise the lads. Hope they weren’t taking it too easy. Have you noticed that the goal umpires are now waving the point flag in a new spot? I did a couple of weeks ago after the goal umpire signalled a point he then proceeded to wave the flags at the point where he signalled the minor score - In between the goal and point posts. I am getting used to it and the players must be loving it as it has reduced the chance of getting a whack in the head from the flagman after recovering the ball before bringing it back into play from the goal square. I must remind any first year umpires to make sure you have a FCCS account set up so you can get paid. Drop into 107 Gheringhap Street, Geelong with a couple of forms of ID and if you’re under 18 you will need a parent/guardian to co-sign. See you back at the rooms Saturday for all the goss from today’s games. ‘Macca’
Damian McMaster GFUL ..... | 
Calendar 2008 (2008-03-28 00:00:00)
