Twenty to six was the free-kick count at half-time, and the Richmond Tigers fans were not happy. A free-kick is given when a player infringes one of the rules, and the umpire gives the infringed player a free-kick.

Football fans dislike it when there is a big discrepancy in the free-kick count, especially if their team is not getting any of them. I know it sounds like sour grapes because my team is on the wrong end of the free-kicks, but we should expect a fair and even go from the umpires.

It doesn't pay for the coach or players to complain too much when the umpires are against you. The Australian Football League (AFL) doesn't like to see the umpires being criticised in public, and so coaches and players can be fined if they do it.

I can understand why the AFL wants to crack down on criticism of the umpires, as it often encourages people to criticise umpires at the lower tiers of football. Before you know it, no one will want to umpire local football matches. So the AFL is right to keep the criticise of umpires out of the public arena.

So, I will sit here and deal with my frustration at the free-kick count in silence because there is nothing I can do about it.