The differences in the interpretation of the rules are having a farcical effect on the competition, writes Dana Johannsen
KEY POINTS:
The umpiring in the ANZ Championship is emerging as another major bugbear of the new transtasman league.
As the play-offs draw near and seasons are on the line, several coaches have been outspoken about the different interpretations from one side of the Tasman to the other.
Perhaps because the Aussie coaches have been more outspoken - or maybe because armchair critics rant about the amount of whistle in the game - there is a perception that the Aussie way is better. They allow more contesting of the ball, which means less whistle and a more "free-flowing" game.
Certainly there is a lot the Kiwi whistleblowers can learn from their Australian counterparts. For instance Aussie umpires are more verbal and engage with the players more so they know where they are going wrong.
But if you allow a free-flowing match, it can quickly become a free-for-all and I'm not convinced having more-lenient umpires makes for a better spectacle.
Though the commentators raved about the intensity of Monday night's match between the Melbourne Vixens and Waikato/Bay of Plenty Magic, it was in reality a pretty ugly match to watch.
At some stages the game resembled tennis as the ball swung up and down the court with neither side able to convert their possession.
With the umpires taking a liberal approach, any attacking flair was effectively bullied out of the game. The defenders were allowed to climb all over the opposition, the obstruction rule was not effectively policed and there were a lot of off-the-ball contacts.
The Vixens' games over the past two weeks have presented an effective case study on just how different the two countries' umpiring styles are.
In round 10 the Vixens suffered a shock one-goal loss to the Southern Steel in Invercargill after racking up an incredible 76 contact calls against them. That's more than three times the number of calls they drew against the Magic back home in Melbourne.
Even more farcical was the fact the number of contact calls against the Magic was double that of the home side - a statistic Magic coach Noeline Taurua found "very weird" given her side play a space-marking defence as opposed to the aggressive man-on style the Vixens employ.
