It was 1995 at Waverley Park, and Larter was barreled to the ground by former Essendon defender Dustin Fletcher, just as the ball was traveling through the big sticks.

"I was actually knocked to the ground by Dustin Fletcher when St Kilda played Essendon and didn't see the ball go through the scoring air," Larter said.

"The ball was balled up on the end of the square which used to be the rule because there wasn't any other umpire that could make a decision at that time so that led to a change in the way other umpires would come in and provide advice to the goal umpire."

Earlier that year he'd made his goal umpiring debut at the same venue, when St Kilda hosted Richmond.

Five years later he entered the AFL Canberra umpiring fraternity and has since amassed 178 first grade games between the goals including five top-grade grand finals.

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Larter's fondest memories over the past two decades were the old AFL grand finals that used to be played at Phillip Oval (formerly Football Park).

"I loved when we used to train out at Footy Park back in the early 2000s and they used to play the grand final out there, used to get three or four thousand people into the ground, used to be an old wooden grandstand which had the changerooms underneath it and it used to rock pretty well when there was big crowds there," Larter recalls.

"I did my first grand final there in 2000 and yeah certainly a memorable experience."

After starting out as an umpire in 1983, Larter's influence has been felt just as strongly off the field in a career spanning almost 40 years.

The 59-year-old is a passionate educator of his craft, and has helped countless aspiring goal umpires come through the ranks.

One of his students is Marist College graduate Michael Barlow, who will umpire in next weekend's AFL grand final between the Melbourne Demons and Western Bulldogs.

"He is someone who was seen as a 12 or 13 year old, he had a perfect action and he was just a little short arse," Larter remembers.

"We all knew that once he started to grow that he was going to be a great umpire.

"It's very supportive, everyone is encouraging to each other.

"The thing I've enjoyed most throughout my time is watching other people I've been involved with move forward in their own umpiring careers."