Veteran umpire Ray Chamberlain has been dropped ahead of this weekend’s Preliminary Finals.
After taking part in the first two weeks of the finals, the 44-year-old was not selected for this week’s matches.
There has been plenty of talk surrounding the way he has bounced the ball in previous matches, with some criticising him for not executing the skill as consistency as other umpires.
Chamberlain said he prepared himself for hearing the disappointing news earlier this week, but would now turn his attention to supporting his fellow umpires for the remainder of the finals series.
“Middle of the afternoon on the Monday is when the phone calls are made and that’s what they do right throughout the year,” he said on SEN’s Whateley.
“Some people get (omitted) on the Monday and (that’s) the same during finals time and that’s when you’re hoping the phone doesn’t ring.
“Any time you get to this point of the year, and I’ve been around long enough, there isn’t an experience that I’m ignorant to around (selection).
“You do prepare yourself because ultimately you’re not in control of decisions that have to be made.
“We have six of our teammates that are left and the following week they’ll only be three left so there’s always a chance that you have to ready yourself for that.”
Chamberlain was pulled up for errant bouncing on a few occasions after umpiring in the Qualifying Final between Port Adelaide and Geelong at Adelaide Oval.
He revealed that the talk around him in the immediate aftermath of the game could have possibly seen him rush several centre bounces in Saturday night’s Semi Final between Richmond and St Kilda.
“The first final was difficult because of the relayed turf (at Adelaide Oval) for me – that doesn’t suit (me) as I’m not a prodigious bouncer and it puts me under the pump,” he said.
“There was then a bit of noise around it and I was rushing through a little bit of it on a delivery stride, but I had a couple of stinkers (on Saturday night).
“You go through a year and if you look over it, I’ll have three or four games in a season when I’ll have a rough night.
“Ultimately, that’s all it is, and I don’t think it’s more than that to be fair.
“My two proper stinkers throughout the night were my first and last bounce of the night so I take some comfort out of that.
“I’ve reached a point with all that sort of stuff where I used to carry quite a heavy load in terms of physiologically or emotively that when I bounced a bad one, I’d beat myself up about it.
“(Now) I just get on with it and umpire the game.”
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