Sydney Swans coach John Longmire believes umpires should be given more time to "work on their craft" in order to improve their decision making.
The Swans were smashed in the free kick count (20-8) in last years Grand Final, they received just one free kick in the second and third quarters of the match.
Longmire told SEN Breakfast he spoke to the AFL about the officiating and believes umpires need more time to work on their craft.
โYeah we had a chat, but its all done and dusted after the event,โ Longmire said.
โWe need to put more resources into the umpiring and the umpires need to spend more time working on their craft.
โIts very difficult with the whole industry going full time, to have part time umpires.
โI understand thereโs probably not an absolute full time role there, but to be able to spend more time working on your craft is really important in the industry to get better at it.โ
300 game umpire Stuart Wenn told SEN he agreed with Longmire's comments.
โJohnโs comments were very balanced and in principle, what he is saying it right,โ he said.
โWhether full time (umpires) is the answer, Iโm not so convinced."
Wenn said one of the hurdles the AFL face is that umpires often already hold full time jobs, some being very high-paying.
โA lot of those guys are in very high paid careers and are well established in those by the time they actually get to the AFL.
โThere would be guys on the AFL List that would be earning upwards of $250,000 to $300,000 a year in their day-to-day jobs, so you are asking them to give up a lot.โ
Wenn revealed the base salary for umpires in the AFL is $65,000, with finals and Grand Finals umpires making between $140,000 to $150,000.
