Early recovery and then into Sydney. The umpires had the whole day to explore. Some activities included lunch in China Town, Bowling at Darling Harbour, photos in front of the Bridge and the House along with some shopping.
The coaches had some time at AFL NSW along with their own down time.
The evening was spent at NEAFL (North East AFL) training. This is the state level (equivalent to VFL) in NSW. It was great to visit another group and see who they go about it. Once again Steve Keating was a great host as we met all the umpires and staff.
Steve also highlighted the work that still needs to be done in Sydney around growing the game. Some of our umpires were shocked to see Rugby posts on the training field.
We joined in the coaching session where one of our own umpires, Nic McGinness (From the NEAFL Canberra) spoke to the group about the championships. It was great for Nic to meet some of the umpires that he will officiate with come finals.
Many things has come into perspective for me on the trip. One is around travel. In Melbourne we have many umpires complain about the distance they travel for games. They need to come up here for a year. The NEAFL is so spread out, they needed to Sype into Canberra tonight for their coaching meeting. Umpires in QLD travel for up to 3 hours to get to games and at times need to fly to Darwin.
Our great game is growing very fast and its an exciting time to be involved!
Big day tomorrow...... The finals of Division 1.
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