The AFL currently uses three boundary umpires per match but from this weekend will start using four so umpires are familiar with the system come finals time.
However the practice won’t be completely foreign to them, with Geischen saying the umps had used four boundary riders successfully in pre-season matches as well as in the AFL’s showcase match – the Hall of Fame Tribute game – earlier this season.
Gieschen said it was hoped having more officials on the ground would lead to less risk of errors in the biggest games of the year.
“It’ll certainly help with accuracy because with the ball moving up and down the ground at such a pace it means we’re going to have boundary umpires either side of the ball,” Gieschen said.
“That’ll certainly assist us with accuracy with boundary throw-ins, but the other area where it’ll really help too is it’ll mean they’ll be able to assist the goal umpires.
“For all shots on goal, all balls moving inside 50, we’ll have a boundary umpire, down assisting the goal umpires in that situation as well.”
When asked if fans should get used to having four boundary umpires on the ground every week, Gieschen replied: “I guess that’s a decision we need to think about.”
“We’ll see how they perform through the finals with it,” he said.
“If it does have the dramatic impact on accuracy and assisting the goal umpires and getting the ball back into play … if all the boxes are ticked and if it’s deemed to be an outstanding success it’s probably something that’ll come up for discussion.
“We trialled it in the pre-season competitions in the past with a lot of success and it was also trialled in the Hall of Fame game earlier in the year with a lot of success.”
Gieschen said a significant number of rule changes in recent seasons had made the game faster than ever, not only increasing the demand on boundary umpires but also making it tougher for them to keep up with the speed of the fast-paced game.
“Certainly since some law changes a few years ago that sped the game up and made it more continuous – such as kicking in straight after a behind, quicker field bounces, tougher interpretation on holding the ball and deliberate out of bounces,” Gieschen said.
“There was a whole heap of rules brought in which just meant the ball was in play more … and it was also quicker, so the boundary umpires probably became the most vulnerable.”
