At the start of the 2009 AFL season Dean Margetts had an unusual experience that showed him what he had achieved in the last fifteen years.

But it also reminded him of where he came from.

He stood in the middle of AAMI stadium for the match between Port Adelaide and Essendon and waited for the captains to join him.

Newly crowned Port Adelaide skipper Dominic Cassisi jogs to the middle of the ground, shakes hands with AFL umpire Dean Margetts and waits for the toss of the coin. 

This exchange of pleasantries is nothing unusual but for Cassisi and Margetts their connection is much deeper.

Margetts and Cassisi first met over ten years ago when a young Cassisi arrived at pre-season training for an under 13s team coached by Margetts.

Margetts had played junior and senior football for the Maddington Football Club in Western Australia but by age 21 had lost the desire to keep playing.

In an effort to stay involved in the game that he loved, he started coaching and then a year later tried umpiring.

He spent two years umpiring at a junior level before quickly joining the WAFL ranks in 1998.

In 2000, after umpiring only 37 league games, he officiated in the WAFL Grand Final between East Perth and East Fremantle. Lining up for East Fremantle was a promising player named Dominic Cassisi and the two again crossed paths.

In 2002, Margetts was elevated to the AFL and, at age 34, is now umpiring in his ninth season.

Margetts concedes that due to his experience and age he was fast-tracked through the umpiring ranks. 

“I didn’t have a lot of challenges,” Margetts said. “I was getting opportunities and success really early. So I’m like how good is this so I was just waiting for my brick wall to come in my way and I haven’t had that in my development phase.”

But Margetts is also quick to stress that being an AFL Umpire is anything but an easy pursuit.

“Its hard, its hard work,” Margetts said. “People say do you enjoy it out there and I’d say you don’t actually enjoy it because there’s just so much to do. You’ve got to concentrate, everything we do is so scrutinised from each decision to each bounce to each comment to each skill.”

Margetts believes that the wider football community is ignorant of how heavily scrutinised an AFL Umpire is.

“Yeah probably one of the most frustrating things for me is when you hear talkback radio and people say the umpires are unaccountable,” Margetts lamented. “Well I’d love them to see what we go through, get a copy of my feedback, it is heavily scrutinised. People think we just lob up on the weekend and get paid all this money and there is no work.”

It is clear that even though Margetts, like all AFL Umpires, undertakes umpiring as a part-time interest the commitment it requires matches that of an AFL player.

During the pre-season they must pass a number of fitness benchmarks before even being allowed to officiate an AFL match.

And then during the season another set of performance indicators are utilised and there is an emphasis placed on a different set of skills.

“How we are measured includes correct free kicks, missed free kicks and unwarranted free kicks are the keys,” Margetts said. “Obviously the more correct you do the better, if you are going to make a mistake they’d rather you probably miss them if you don’t see them.

But despite this high level of accountability Margetts does not think that the scrutiny of the media and the fans is unwarranted.

“So I think it goes with the territory and we certainly don’t run away from that, we just go out and stick to our game plan and do the best we can and if we are unnoticed and invisible then we’ve done a reasonable job for that weekend,” Margetts said.

But AFL umpires often make the news headlines and are anything but invisible in the eyes of the fans.

In 2009, Hawthorn President Jeff Kennett created a furore with the AFL over his allegations about inconsistent adjudication of the rules and umpires chasing the limelight.

Margetts believes that these comments are disappointing and that many high profile football people make misguided statements.

“When we walk into the rooms for a game we don’t say give me the loudest microphone you’ve got because I want to make a statement,” Margetts said. “We’ve got two options: do you want the light vest or the heavy vest? We don’t have a choice, we don’t seek the cameras, we don’t seek the microphones, they are just put on us.”

The yearly rule changes are another aspect of the game that confuses and frustrates many but Margetts insists they are out of the umpires’ control.

“I mean we’re a bit like the police, they might not agree with the laws, but when they get out there they know that when you do 70 in a 60 zone you’ve got to enforce the law,” Margetts said. “Whereas if we get hands in the back we’ve got to pay a free kick, if you don’t your career is over.”

In addition to the challenges that umpiring poses, Margetts also has a full-time position as a sales and productivity manager and recently became a father.

“Obviously, it’s a bit difficult now with having Tate there, our young ten month son, who’s got some challenges because he was born with Spina Bifida,” Margetts said. “So Leanne [his wife] does a lot of work at home so I’ve just got to try and allow her to have some time away from Tate just to become a human being again. While she loves being a mum I’m very mindful that she’s going to need some time away.”

Nevertheless Margetts remains focussed on his AFL career and he believes that umpiring has enriched his life.

“Footy makes you a better person, it gives you great skills for life, it teaches you how to handle hostility, and how to make decisions under pressure and to be relaxed when you need to be. And I think it’s a great thing, I really do,” Margetts said.

“I was probably lucky, I think I was at the right place at the right time and when my opportunity came I managed to kick the door down and said yes I’m not going to let this slip and I’m hopefully half way through my little journey.”

President's Note: Dean continues to have a close association with the DDFUA and can often be seen watching training on a Wednesday night.