WHISTLEBLOWER Eleni Glouftsis is looking forward to just being treated as "one of the umpires" after making her historic debut in Sunday's clash between Essendon and West Coast.
The AFL's first female field umpire made an impressive start to her career but was left disappointed by her centre bounces after a fresh strip of turf was laid in the middle of Etihad Stadium.
With the build-up to her groundbreaking achievement behind her, Glouftsis said she was now focused on performing consistently and umpiring as many AFL games as she can.
"I'm pretty pleased for the game to be over … I understand how significant it was, but I'm really pleased to have it out of the way and just concentrate on my umpiring," Glouftsis said.
"I really love umpiring and being a part of it, and I just want to be treated as one of the umpires.
"[My goal is] to basically be to be as consistent as possible and try and get as many games as I can. To do that I have to be consistent out here as well as in the VFL."
Glouftsis said she was pleased with her decision-making but disappointed with her bouncing after recalling two centre bounces in the first half.
She spoke with umpires coach Hayden Kennedy at half-time and decided to throw the ball up in the second half, with all umpires struggling to get good results on the freshly laid turf.
"I'm generally a pretty good bounce so I was pretty disappointed to be honest with the way I bounced today," Glouftsis said.
"But at the end of the day it's about the decisions and I think I did an OK job with that.
"Hayden and I had a bit of a chat and we just thought the best outcome for the game was probably just to throw it up.
"With the bounce being reviewed as it is it's not really one of the parts of the game we're focused on too much. We'd rather get the decisions right."
Eleni Glouftsis shakes hands with Essendon captain Dyson Heppell. Picture: Adam Trafford, AFL Photos
Glouftsis said she received great support from the Eagles and Bombers players, who even offered their advice when the centre bounces were failing to take off in the first half.
"A lot of the boys were just, 'keep going, be confident', which is really lovely in a not great situation," Glouftsis said.
Essendon coach John Worsfold said he was happy to see the bounce scrapped, while West Coast coach Adam Simpson said a change of approach mid-game was not ideal, but the future of the bounce needed to be assessed if it restricted good decision-makers from entering the whistleblower ranks.
Earlier this year, umpires boss Kennedy said the bounce was detrimental to officiating and could stop promising umpires who struggled with the skill from rising to the top level.
The bounce was scrapped from the TAC Cup this year, raising doubts about its future at higher levels.
Glouftsis raises the ball aloft as the pre-game siren sounds. Picture: Adam Trafford, AFL Photos
Glouftsis addresses Eagles and Bombers players at a stoppage. Picture: Adam Trafford, AFL Photos
Glouftsis signals for a free kick during the Dons-Eagles clash. Picture: Adam Trafford, AFL Photos
Glouftsis confers with goal umpire Chelsea Roffey at Etihad Stadium. Picture: Adam Trafford, AFL Photos
