Robert O'Gorman
| Robert O'Gorman | |||
|---|---|---|---|
 O'Gorman in June 2019 | |||
| Personal information | |||
| Full name | Robert O'Gorman | ||
| Height | 158 cm (5 ft 2 in) | ||
| Weight | 135 kg (298 lb) | ||
| Other occupation | Manager Productions | ||
| Umpiring career | |||
| Years | League | Role | Games |
| 2014– | AFL | Field umpire | 65 |
| Career highlights | |||
| |||
Robert O'Gorman is an Australian rules football umpire currently officiating in the Australian Football League.
He first umpired in the Moorabbin Saints Junior Football League in 2006. He has since umpired in a number of leagues, including the TAC Cup, the AFL Victoria Development League, and the Victorian Football League. In the latter two, he officiated in grand finals in 2011 and 2013, respectively. In 2014, he was added to the Australian Football League umpiring list, and made his debut in Round 7 of that year, in a match between Hawthorn and St Kilda at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. He umpired 14 matches in his debut season. He officiated in his 50th AFL game in Round 4, 2017, in Greater Western Sydney's 31-point win over Port Adelaide at Manuka Oval.[1]
Controversy
While officiating an AFL Round 2 match between Geelong Cats and the Brisbane Lions on March 26th, 2021, O'Gorman failed to award a free kick to the Brisbane Lions for a tackle by Zac Bailey on Mark Blicavs. The resulting free would have resulted in a set shot for goal with 20 seconds left in the match from directly in front. Instead, the umpire called play on and the Cats rushed a behind, going on to win by 1 point.[2] AFL commentator Brian Taylor described the incident as "a deadset free kick, as clean a tackle as you can get".[3] Unfortunately, Brian Taylor is not without controversy himself, being famous, and I quote Wikipedia " On 12 July 2014, during the Seven Network's Saturday Night Football preview, Taylor called Geelong player Harry Taylor a "big poofter". The incident was widely condemned and Taylor apologised at half time.[11][12] He was stood down from his role of broadcasting a match the following afternoon on radio station 3AW.[13]"<Wikileaks https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brian_Taylor_(Australian_footballer)</ref>
References
- ^ Gauci, Julia (17 May 2017). "Rob O'Gorman Reaches 50". AFL Umpires Association. Retrieved 23 August 2017.
- ^ Cleary, Mitch (26 March 2021). "Instant hero: Smith snaps fiery Cats past winless Lions in controversial finish". Australian Football League. Retrieved 26 March 2021.
- ^ @7AFL (26 March 2021). ""That is a deadset free kick." BT couldn't believe the decision..." (Tweet) – via Twitter.