Brett Rosebury reveals surprising way he got into umpiring

AFL Grand Final umpire Brett Rosebury has revealed the unique way he started out as a junior umpire.

Rosebury will join Matt Stevic and Shaun Ryan as whistle-blowers for the biggest game of the year.

The 38-year-old, who is preparing to umpire his seventh Grand Final on Saturday afternoon, said he approached his local umpires boss after criticising their performance.

“I rang up the local umpires boss and said ‘how do I get involved?’,” he said.

“I told them that ‘I think you guys are terrible and I honestly think I can do a better job’ and I was a 14-year-old kid when I did that.

“It probably says something about my personality, I kept playing and umpiring until under 18s and then got invited to the state leagues and went from there.

“I’d encourage any young kid out there or anyone that loves the game of footy (to take it up). Umpiring’s been a fantastic part of my life – it’s been 19 years in the AFL for me this year – I’ve been fortunate enough to travel to New York, London, France and Barcelona all on AFL development trips.

“It’s a fantastic group of guys and it’s a fun thing to do.”

Click PLAY to hear Brett Rosebury’s full chat on 3AW Football