The (umpires) elephant in the room.

[Greening gold]

Bucks has had a gutful too.

http://www.afl.com.au/news/2015-05-17/cloke-deadset-gets-nothing-from-the-umps-and-buckleys-had-enough


Cloke 'dead-set gets nothing from the umps' and Buckley's had enough

Ben Guthrie May 17, 2015 8:32 PM


Cloke 'dead-set gets nothing from the umps' Nathan Buckley doesn't understand what Travis Cloke has done wrong


"He dead-set gets nothing from the umps ... when it looks like he's being infringed and he only has to sniff to give a free kick away"
Nathan Buckley

TRAVIS Cloke "dead-set gets nothing" from umpires, according to Nathan Buckley, and the Collingwood coach has had enough.

The Magpies will again seek answers from the AFL umpiring department over what they believe is Cloke's rough treatment when it comes to free kicks.

The big forward received just one free kick against Richmond on Sunday and conceded four, taking his overall tally in 2015 to 11 free kicks for and 13 against.

WATCH: Nathan Buckley's full press conference

"He dead-set gets nothing from the umps," Buckley said in the wake of the Magpies' five-point loss.

"I don't know what it is. He gets nothing when it looks like he's being infringed and he only has to sniff to give a free kick away."

It is not the first time Buckley has queried the umpires' treatment of Cloke, who kicked three goals and took 10 marks against the Tigers.

In April last year – also following a match against Richmond – Buckley said Cloke was being umpired to "a different set of rules" than any other player in the competition.

Buckley made a similar argument after the Magpies' duel against Adelaide in July last year, leading to a concession from umpires coach Hayden Kennedy AFL.com.au's Whistleblowers that the key forward had deserved more free kicks.

Five talking points: Richmond v Collingwood

The Magpies coach was quick to note the umpires did not have any bearing on the result against Richmond, however he also made the point known that he would be speaking to umpires boss Wayne Campbell this week.

"I think [Campbell] and those guys are doing a fantastic job… but we need to understand what Clokey's done wrong, because it's not working for him," Buckley said.

"It's not the issue of [today's] game, but it's something ongoing.

"Trav's attitude has been first-class. I'm not saying he never gives a free kick away but his ledger's not great."

Click here for full match coverage

Buckley said the Magpies' failure to ram home their advantage after a four-goal-to-one opening term was costly.

"The second quarter was really disappointing. Our tackle efficiency was poor, we couldn't stop them on turnover – and it's been a strong point (of ours)," Buckley said.

"It was a breakdown of the way we want to play. We've had 15-20 minute periods in almost every one of our games.

"That's our challenge, to become a 120-minute football side. But even early this year, we've given sides a look and taken the foot off the throat."

Buckley said it was his side's inability to stick tackles that was a major factor in their close loss.

The Pies had 110 "tackle efforts" and were credited with 54 made tackles by Champion Data, well down on the expected output according to Buckley.

"We're 25-30 (tackles) shy of what we wanted to do. But that came down to technique and being able to find the handle at the right time," Buckley said.

"We would've given away seven or eight free kicks away for high tackles. It went from a turnover opportunity to an unpressured opportunity for the opposition, so that's something that hurt us, especially in the second quarter."

Important defender Alan Toovey was substituted out of the game with a jarred knee early in the second term, but Buckley is "not anticipating any bad news long-term".

Buckley said Toovey would have a scan on his injured knee on Monday.

[Flashman]

We've been dudded by the umps for as long as I can remember.

A classic example from a while back was when poor old Blake Caracella was playing for us against the Lions. He got collected square in the head by Tim Notting's hip in a contest for the ball which jarred his neck alarmingly, caused vertebrae damage and ended his career. The umpires verdict? Play on!

It's not just the frees against, it's also the neglect of frees for that frustrates so much.

[princem007]

I wonder if umps get docked their pay for bad performances? Surely they wouldn't get paid for that shite today.

[Dave The Man]

[E]

[John Wren]

it's also true that the better players are given more time to dispose of the ball and more leeway when it comes to perceived transgressions because umpires don't think they are capable of erring as often as others.

[David]

Weird, though, that Cloke seems to get the opposite treatment.

[eddiesmith]

Cloke suffers because the umpires know he has the strength to beat most opponents so they ignore it, but then next contest when he does the same thing to his opponent they penalise him because it is against the rules but they feel he can take it but don't let him dish it out. Anthony Rocca used to get the same treatment and I reckon a lot of big strong key forwards do as well. Plus an umpire prefers to penalise a forward rather than give them a free kick, a wrong free in the backline, who cares? A wrong free to a forward is game changing

Ball players I think are looked after especially once tagging became a big thing, the OOZ umpire will pay especially close attention to any pulling of a jumper by the tagger and you will see Pendles and others get a few holding free kicks paid by the OOZ umpire. Plus he along with a lot of players have copied Selwoods tactic of turning a good tackle into a high tackle

[John Wren]

[3rd degree]

[Dave The Man]

The VFL was just as bad

[perthmagpie]

I noticed yesterday Richmond have seriously caught the ducking, trying to break tackles with their heads habit. They looked like Geelong and WC. Stupid umpires have no idea that the ducking players most often is responsible for the high contact and is actually intentionally hurting themselves. Somehow they think when a player with the ball rams his way out of a pack with bent knees and is leaning forward the player he tries to barge through can somehow adjust his tackle within a metre and a micro second. It's complete crap.

[David]

^ Happened so often. Even the first-gamer got in on the action when he came on early in the last quarter. They're clearly practising it at training.

I don't care if everyone does it, and I don't care if it's technically "within the rules". Umpires need to start penalising it, or at least learn to ignore it. Dropping the knees is both dangerous and poor sportsmanship.

[piester]

I am fairly sure one of the free kicks paid to Richmond was for holding the man, when he clearly still had the footy in his hands.

[richo]

Shit again.