I think that the major issue here is that the vast majority of viewers – including disappointingly the channel 9 commentators – don’t know or understand the rules.
For example: I was listening to Bianca Chatfield on her “show” with Ash Braz this morning & neither of them knew the rule about the ball having to pass through the ring before the umpire’s end of play whistle. Bianca was suggesting the ball had to be on its downward flight and Ash wanted the rule changed to when it left the players hand. I assume neither of them realise it is the whistle not the siren that signifies the end of play. These are both international players & they obviously have never read the rule book!
This means that the commentators react in the moment and start talking about “rough play” and “clumsy challenges” and whether “there was anything in that”. The game management section of the rules lays out very clearly what was applied in this case and why.
Andrea Booth (an umpire with extensive CBT player experience as a shooter) reacted immediately to the challenge on Proscovia with “whistle, hold time, that was dangerous” and then proceeded to give the WARNING. Now it may have seemed innocuous from the TV angle, but she was right there and obviously saw not only the big hip & elbow from Manu’a, but also the fact that the challenge was on someone in the air and took away their landing space & was concerned for their safety. Having uttered the word dangerous (her immediate reaction), she had no option but to issue the warning which meant any other cautionable offence observed by either umpire would result in a suspension – as is the case for any player who is warned (as opposed to cautioned).
I would love Channel 9 to invite an umpire supervisor to explain the game management section of the rules (& maybe give a copy to each of the Ch 9 commentary team 😉) during one of the upcoming pre – matches.
At least people worldwide are talking about netball.
