Rob makes his mark

Twenty-two year old New South Welshman, Robert Taylor, made his AFL debut as a boundary umpire in the now memorable GWS v GCS match at Manuka Oval last weekend. So what was it like being part of football folk law?  "It was unreal, the last 10 minutes of the game saw the whole crowd get into it and they made some amazing noise. I didn't want it to end", exclaimed Rob when we caught up with him earlier this week.

Rob, played junior footy with his club side, Willoughby, and loved the game. He became a club boundary umpire to help out and enjoyed that even more. He started official umpiring in 2007 and then umpired the '07, '09 Sydney Football League Grand Finals and the 2011 NEAFL Grand Final in Alice Springs, which was the highlight of his career prior to his AFL call up in March. "I thought I was a chance to get a contract so I did a very big pre-season, physically, but it is the mental side of things I have to work on.  The additional scrutiny and pressure is amazing." Rob knows he still has a lot of work to do in all aspects of his game. He credits colleague, Michael Saunders as his biggest help along with coaches, Stuart Eckerman and Graham Glassford for his continued improvement.

Rob was amazed at the speed and skill of the players and their ability to keep the ball in play. "I woke up pretty sore on Sunday despite my extensive rehabilitation program. I've never done so much backwards running in my life!"

Hey Rob you must have gone OK, good luck in your second game at the SCG Saturday.