Umpires are the lifeblood of community sport, but it takes a special kind of junior to pull on the green to join the fray.
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Young Saints footballer Tadhg McGrath followed in his brother's footsteps when he became an umpire, but he soon fell in love with the sport for his own reasons.
"I didn't want to stand around and watch games as a crowd member," McGrath said.
"Seeing that I was able to do boundary umpiring and be involved... it occurred to me I would be able to get closer to senior games and be able to watch how they play.
"I'd be able to assess their gameplay, which would help my own footy."
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Since taking up the sport two years ago, McGrath has quickly risen up the ranks to become one of the region's most talented young umpires after 42 games.
His resume has grown in 2022, including stints at the V/Line Cup in Shepperton in April and umpiring half-time at the AFL's iconic Queens Birthday match at the MCG.
Most recently, McGrath selection for the School Sport Victoria Under 15 Australian Football Umpires Team.
The team will officiate in the School Sport Australia Football Championships to be held in Lavington, NSW from July 23-30, 2022.
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To be selected for the team, McGrath completed a "structured trial process".
Individual achievements aside, McGrath keeps himself grounded by thinking of each match as just a regular game.
"I haven't done Team Vic yet, so doing the V/Line Cup (in April) was a pretty good experience; I learned quite a few things," McGrath said.
"You can't go into it thinking it's a big thing, then you put too much pressure on yourself."
But individual plaudits aside, teamwork is one of McGrath's favourite aspects of umpiring.
"One of my favourite things is really simple, it's just signalling to your partner to let them know that you or they have control," McGrath said.
"I like it because the basis of it is trust, you need to trust your partner."
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Communication between umpires is as important, if not more so, than communication between players on the field.
Although umpires work as a team, McGrath said there have been "a few little disagreements".
However most disagreements are resolved very quickly, according to McGrath.
"I was involved in a disagreement where the ball had gone out of bounds from below a player's knee," McGrath said.
"I hadn't been able to see it, I called it out of bounds as I thought it went off the top of their leg, and the goal umpire let me know it was off their lower leg, and the field umpire ended up changing the decision,"
"We figured it out in a pretty good way; we all come into a group and usually its solved within 10 seconds."
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McGrath said becoming an umpire had also helped him become a better athlete.
"The best part to me is just sticking with the players, being able to continue watching footy and learning new things as well," McGrath said.
"I try to match the player's speed, and even go a little faster. Most of the time it does work, and that's helped my fitness, which then goes towards my footy and other sports.
"I'm still playing footy, I still love it."
Umpiring has changed the way McGrath has seen one particular aspect of the game.
"(Hearing) the voice of the players can change your opinion on what you think of some people," McGrath said.
"Especially when lots of other people say 'this is a nice person, this is a bad person', in actual fact it could be the opposite."
"It's actually kind of fun to learn."
Nevertheless, umpiring for the AFL is one of many careers McGrath is looking into.
"It's one pathway, I'm having to look at every pathway and umpiring is one I'm certainly willing to look at," McGrath said.
"I'll see where it will take me."
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