West Australian Football

Boundary umpire Greg Smith will set a new record for the most WAFL/AFL games officiated by a West Australian on Saturday when he pulls on his boots for the 320th time.

The former AFL umpire will break the mark set by goal umpire, Paul Smith (no relation) in the TV game between Perth and East Perth. The achievement has plenty of symmetry to it because the two Smith’s umpired together in Greg’s WAFL debut, and also officiated in many AFL matches together. The Demons and Royals also played each other in Greg’s 300th game.

Paul Smith waved the flags in 319 games including 109 AFL matches and four WAFL grand finals. Greg Smith has officiated in 159 AFL matches and was appointed to the 1996 and 2005 WAFL grand finals. He also umpired the 2006 reserves grand final.

Having recently become a father to five week old Sophie, Smith said he hadn’t had much time to even think about the record. But he said 15 years of football had flown by.

“It’s hard to believe that I’ve got this far. Three hundred games is a lot of games but it’s gone so quickly,” he said.

“I am yet to walk off the field and think to myself ‘what are you doing this for?’. I’ve enjoyed every game and I enjoy being around the blokes. People say how long will you keep going for and I don’t know. I don’t come into a pre-season saying this is my last year. I just try to improve on the previous year. If I do that, I’ve achieved something.”

While he’s been involved in some classic games of football and will now move to the top of the umpiring tree, Smith said his biggest highlight remained the moment he stepped into the umpire’s rooms for his 300th game.

Coaches and umpires had been planning a surprise for that game for several weeks. AFL boundary umpire Jamie Giles had a rostered week off from national duties and he joined retired AFL boundary umpire George Pampacos, who had been gaining match fitness in colts games under a fake name for several weeks. Smith had no idea his former AFL colleagues were appointed to his milestone match.

“I walked into the room, saw both of them there and it blew me away,” Smith said.

“We’d built up an amazing bond in the AFL and it all came back together for one day. The fact they went to great lengths to arrange it meant so much to me. George didn’t have to come out of retirement and Jamie was entitled to a week off. It was a huge buzz doing that game with them. I’ll never forget that day.”

With retirement appearing some way off, Smith could go on to set a mark that no-one will ever break. Only two current WA umpires – field umpire Craig Hendrie and goal umpire David Shawcross, have officiated in more than 250 games, so they’ll have to umpire every game for three seasons after Smith retires to break his record.

Smith’s name is already guaranteed to remain a part of WA umpiring history. The most improved umpire awards for each season are named in honour of the games record holders in each of the three disciplines, so the Greg Smith Medal is presented to boundary umpires. Smith is also a life member of the umpires’ association.

Life and football have changed dramatically since Smith debuted in round 1 1994. Reigning Sandover medallist Anthony Jones also made his debut that day, Fremantle hadn’t entered the AFL, Peel weren’t part of the WAFL and West Coast had only won one flag. The average price of a house in PerthIt's Alright”. was just $112,900, Paul Hogan’s movie Lightning Jack premiered that week and East 17 held the number one song in the country with “