A SIGNIFICANT boost to the AFL’s umpiring department is imminent with the dual appointments of a new head of umpiring and a high-performance manager to be made within the next few weeks.
And there is a strong likelihood that one or both of the key appointments will be made from the ranks of the AFL clubs, as the League moves to bolster its football IP with the best and brightest people from within the industry, most of whom already work for clubs.
Steve Hocking, the AFL’s general manager of football, came across from Geelong last October after 11 years with the Cats in a variety of senior management roles, while the new head of coaching, David Rath, joined the League a fortnight ago after 13 years as one of Alastair Clarkson’s key lieutenants at Hawthorn.
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"Our job is to stay ahead of the clubs," Hocking said on Thursday.
"The AFL’s football operations had fallen behind in some areas. They (the clubs) are so well resourced and that's where we need to get to.
"It is recognition that the game is so highly evolved and professional and we need to bring some of these facets up to speed."
The new head of umpiring will replace Peter Schwab, who left the role last October, while the high-performance role is a new position entirely as the League looks to implement a similar management structure within the umpiring department that already exists at the clubs.
Hocking described the umpiring group as "amazing people" on Thursday but nevertheless, he has made them one of his key areas of attention since joining the AFL. Within weeks of starting, he announced the retention of the bounce, with the promise of appropriate care and resourcing so that the umpires can hone their craft without affecting their fitness and decision-making.
This will be a key brief for the new high-performance manager.
Former Geelong forward and Adelaide assistant coach James Podsiadly has been working with the umpires as a consultant, identifying their culture and values. But so too have the AFL senior coaches, with Hocking revealing on Thursday that they jumped at the opportunity to help shape the role of umpiring now and into the future.
He said that after widespread consultation, new values had been identified for the umpires with a set of behaviours expected to support each of those values.
There has already been changes to the umpires’ pre-season campaign, with their training loads managed through the summer in the same manner that clubs manage their players. Some umpires have enjoyed a later start to summer training, while a squad of 15 umpires have been identified for the forthcoming AFLX tournament.
Hocking also indicated there would be more transparency from the AFL’s football operations department this year, which will include regular updates from the umpiring department.
