For what it's worth, I'm not a fan of umpire bashing either. I don't know a great deal about umpire talent pathways, but one way to improve umpiring decisions would be to improve the quality of umpires by encouraging more to take it up, keeping those who give it a crack, developing those with talent, and then promoting and training those at the elite level. I gave umpiring a crack at my junior club as a nipper, and I thought it was ok, but the abuse you copped from the sidelines was pretty feral, and I sensibly decided there was a better way to make a quid. I'd make a terrible umpire (I'm too mouthy), but if that cycle repeats itself enough times, it's not hard to see that you are reducing your talent base.
Does what happens at the AFL level trickle down to local levels? I don't know, but it can't help. If it was up to me, I'd take a zero tolerance approach for players mouthing off at umps (like rugby). I'd ban coaches for mouthing off at the umps in press conferences. I'd instruct peanuts like BT to stop trying to make celebrities out of umpires. They should basically be anonymous as possible.
I'd also make the umps professional, and, where possible, use the best umps for multiple games on a weekend. If you pay umps money, perhaps you incentivise people to give it a crack, and incentivise the AFL to monitor their performance more.
But, in my view, the umps are up against it. AFL rules are incredibly subjective, and constantly changing - and that's before you include 'points of emphasis'. Plus, with three out there, if one makes a boneheaded call, you find the others making the same boneheaded call for consistency. Then, if one gets missed, the crowd goes feral. It's a really, really tough gig.
That said, bad decisions affect the outcomes of games, so you can't blame the punters for having a crack. And if you can't have a crack on a footy message board, then where can you?
But my thinking is that it's better to save the pitchforks for those that really deserve it, and umpires are actually out there trying to make the sport better, which is more than most of us do. .