SYDNEY Swans coach John Longmire has called for a shake-up of the AFL umpiring department, saying more time and resources are required to get it up to standard.
Longmire insists his concern isn't just related to Lance Franklin, who was manhandled by West Coast defender Eric McKenzie for large parts of Sunday's game at Patersons Stadium.
The Swans had 194 contested possessions in the wet in Perth, the highest total for a team this year, while the 197 combined tackles represented the 11th-most in history.
Yet only 25 free kicks were paid, including one each against Franklin and McKenzie.
Longmire rarely comes to his weekly press conferences armed with an agenda, but he certainly had one on Tuesday, saying he had already sought clarity from the umpiring department.
"Yes, I have," he said. "The department hasn't reviewed the game at this point, so they're still going through the game, which probably opens up a broader discussion (about) more resources to the umpires.
"I think that'd be a really good start.
"We're sitting here on a Tuesday and the game's still not reviewed.
"There's 32 umpires on the list, 27 are available for this weekend's games, nine games, three umpires a game, without emergencies.
"In a broader sense the discussion should be about not what happened on the weekend and what we think should happen, or what happened against Richmond two weeks earlier.
"In a broader sense, the discussion should be pointed towards making sure we allow more resources to be dedicated to the umpires.
"It's such an important part of the game … are we spending enough time looking at that important part of the game?
"That is the challenge and probably the discussion we need to have."
While he stressed his beef didn't just involve Franklin, the fact Longmire referenced the Richmond game in round 14 gave an indication of an area of the game he would like scrutinised.
Similar to the McKenzie-Franklin battle, Tigers defender Alex Rance also used all manner of tactics to attempt to curtail Franklin's influence that night.
Longmire is confident AFL football operations manager Mark Evans will make what the Swans coach sees as some necessary adjustments.
"It's just in general. It wasn't specifically about Lance," Longmire said.
"I'm certainly mindful that it's not just about one or two free kicks and I understand that umpires make mistakes, as players do and coaches do.
"But it's a bigger discussion than that and something that we should, as an industry look towards doing.
"I'm sure Mark (Evans) will do it and is doing it, but we need to get there pretty quick and fast-track it and get it moving."
Longmire wants more umpires to be appointed, more coaching and technical help, as well as more resources.
"I don't spend a lot of time ringing the umpires and annoying them because I don't think it's time well spent and they've got other things to do, as have we," Longmire said.
"We have to fix our own mistakes, let alone ring the umpires.
"It's an area that takes four-and-a-half or five hours for each game to be reviewed for us as coaches.
"If (the umpiring department is) trying to do all those games over the weekend, you need manpower there and you need quality manpower and it just takes money and resources."
Longmire added he felt the umpiring had improved in some aspects, but more clearly needed to be done.
"The marking contest in general until the weekend was probably a bit better, the body-on-body contest," he said.
"The player with his head over the ball, leading with his head and not encouraging that, I think that's been an improvement.
"But in a general sense, whether the free kicks are being paid or not being paid, the way the play is left to unfold, those things need to be discussed.
"You can only do that if you have the time and the resources to do it."
