In the Australian National Football (AFL) competition, each game has nine referees who act as a team to adjudicate the rules of the game. There are three field referees, four boundary referees and two goal referees. In order to create a successful game from their perspective, they must work as a team during the game. At different points in the game, the field and boundary umpires; the field and goal officials and, lastly, the goal and boundary officials function as small teams within the game.
These working relationships are favored by the use of signals between each group to guarantee the proper development of the game.
Initially, it is the responsibility of the goal referees to get the team to the oval on time and to ensure that each of the other referees is properly dressed and has their equipment. (Whistles, pen and report forms). Once on the field, with the game ready to start, the field officials take control.
Following is a discussion of how each group of referees communicates during a game.
Field to Field Umpires:
An umpire will start each section of the play and control the play until it gets too far away, whereupon they will verbally deliver the play by saying “Yours” to the umpire closest to the play and then move to their next position on the field. If he wants to maintain control due to a disruption in play, he pats himself on the back, usually three times, while the other umpires adjust their adjudication position for the next continuation of play.
The field umpire in control of the play will give signals designed for the players. These could involve a play and signal or a signal to indicate a free kick and why it was awarded.
Range and Boundary Umpires:
The boundary referee decides when the ball crosses the boundary line. He indicates this by blowing his whistle and raising his arm/s to indicate how the ball crossed the boundary line.
If the ball goes out of bounds after bouncing, the boundary umpire raises his arm vertically while blowing the whistle to indicate that the ball is out of bounds. The field officials blow their whistle and signal a throwing action over their head to signal the boundary official to put the ball back into play.
If the ball completely flies over the boundary line, the boundary officials raise both arms parallel to the ground and indicate where the ball crosses the boundary line for the field referee to place the opposing player on the mark to allow a free kick to be taken . taken by the attacking player.
If the ball goes over the boundary line but was touched in flight, the boundary official raises one arm vertically and hits his raised arm three times to indicate that it was touched. Then, if it looks like you were kicked all the way but came off your leg above the knee, the boundary umpire will tap your knee three times to indicate this is happening.
When the ball is in the back post area, there are three scenarios. They are:
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Out of bounds completely when hitting the back post; (The boundary umpire’s arms are stretched parallel to the ground and the back post is touched..)
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Out of bounds hitting the back post square but touched; (J)The boundary umpire hits the post and then indicates that it was tagged by hitting its raised arms three times)and
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Out of bounds hitting the back post after dribbling in the game. (The bounds umpire raises his arm to indicate that the ball is out of bounds.)
The goal referee can help in these situations by giving signals to the boundary referee:
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Outside arm raised parallel to the ground to indicate that the ball is completely out or hits the back post completely. It will also touch the post.
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If the ball is simply out of bounds, raise your outside arm vertically. Again, if you hit the post after rebounding, you’ll also hit the back post.
Field and goal referees;
When a goal umpire detects a score, they will move towards the goal line, stop, and wait for the field umpire to call “all clear.” There are five scenarios here. they are
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A goal is scored; (The field referee will place both hands on either side of your face and call “all clear”).
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A rear is marked; (The field referee will put a hand to his face and say “all clear”).
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The ball is touched in flight; (The field umpire will put one hand to his face, then raise one arm vertically and hit it with the other hand while yelling “tag, all clear”).
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The field referee is not sure. (He puts both arms behind his back and says “all clear” indicating that it is the goal referee’s decision).
Once the go-ahead is given, the goal referee will indicate the result. Sometimes he will indicate that the ball has been hit or has hit the goal post by mirroring similar signals made by other referees.
Line and goal referees:
The goal and boundary officials exchange signals. They include:
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The goal referee chest-beating to charge a rear has been noted to indicate that the boundary referee may move along the boundary line ready for play to resume. If the goal umpire advances for an “all clear” from the field umpire, he is signaling to the boundary umpire that a goal has been scored and that he and his fellow boundary umpire must retrieve the ball to return it to the center square.
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The goal referee taps the butt to indicate that he knows that the boundary is placed next to the back post.
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The goal umpire receives a call from the boundary umpire to tell him that he is in his place next to the back post.
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The boundary umpire points to the back or goal area to indicate that a goal has been scored to the goal umpire.
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Lastly, when a confusing situation occurs in the goal area, the goal referee steps over the goal line to the field referee to indicate that they need to conference with all the referees in the immediate vicinity.
In referee training, all of these scenarios are practiced. After each game, “problematic” situations are discussed and the action taken by the various referees is reviewed. Often these “troublesome” situations are rarely experienced by most referees and can affect the outcome of the game. Therefore, the correct procedure for future use is discussed.