In defense of Hall

[dimelb]

Interesting to note the AFL website has changed the facts to make Hall look guilty. Everyone, except the umpires saw Roughead try to run through Hall and fall to the ground. Utter BS.

How I saw it too.

[JF_Bay22_SCG]

There are times when I feel sorry for him.

He didn't mean to hurt that Xavier Ellis ..that was unfortunate.

He is crucified by the umpies at times..

but I still don't like him.

I was at the game. Can somebody explain why his goal was disallowed in the 3rd quarter?

JF

[573v30]

The Herald Sun's Jon Ralph has taken the old fashioned stick to his report as well. What game was this guy watching??


Barry Hall brain explosion gifts Hawks game | Herald Sun

The media are doing their job well it seems...

[goswannie14]

I was at the game. Can somebody explain why his goal was disallowed in the 3rd quarter?

JF

The commentators said the umpire paid a push in the back against Hall.

[ROK Lobster]

Well it was still wrong of him to protest, he shouldn't of done it.

Most players protest every decision, especially for decisions not paid such as deliberatelu OOB and holding the ball.

[Nico]

Most players protest every decision, especially for decisions not paid such as deliberatelu OOB and holding the ball.

While we are on deliberate OOB, what about that obvious one against our point post in the 3rd Q. The Hawthorn player simply put it OOB from 20 metres towards our goals.

[dimelb]

While we are on deliberate OOB, what about that obvious one against our point post in the 3rd Q. The Hawthorn player simply put it OOB from 20 metres towards our goals.

True - and our blokes demonstrated. Much good it did.

[Melbournehammer]

I was at the game. Can somebody explain why his goal was disallowed in the 3rd quarter?

JF

he was holding and there was a clear tug on the shirt - hall does tend to grab jerseys before treating players like rag dolls - but this is one of the afl's interpretations - if you grab a shirt you get pinged if you grab an arm you won't unless it is completely obvious.

[Robbo]

It's understandable for Hall to be upset over the raw deal he got from the umps. But the way he reacted was his choice. Nobody forced him to act like a 6 year old.

I believe the issue here is Hall's failure to keep his emotions in check.

[msb]

As bad as it was, I dont believe it cost us the game. We still had our chances after that, especially those couple of missed shots towards the end from jolly and goodes that would of put us within 4 or 5 points I think with a minute or 2 left, who knows what could of happened. I was at the other end of the ground up with the seagulls (geez its high up in those stands at the G) and couldnt see exactly what happened with hall, had all these hawthorn *&&^% standing up going berserk in front of me. Is he likely to be suspended or come under any scrutiny from the match review panel?

[goswannies]

BBBH seems most frustrated (and prone to brain explosions) when he's either being ignored on a lead; being man-handled - and ignored by the umpires (which occurs when he's 1:1/2:1 in a contested situation in the goal square); or when the passes come in badly.

How would it be playing him up the ground... where he doesn't have that relatively static 1:1 goal square contest; where he can use his explosive 15-20m pace; and where he can use his underrated foot delivery skills to accurately pass to other key forwards. Reg/RoK/Magic/Goodsey & Jolly all have good hands and with better ball delivery leading to set shots, might enable better conversion. Two/three presenting lead-up forwards would give greater variation to scoring avenues making the forward-line less one-dimensional (ie Hall focused).

Just a thought.

[kangle4]

he gets crucified by the umpires time and time again just bcos of who he is and then people wonder why he gets annoyed. i'd be the same and he must feel like he just wants to end it all sometimes.

[goswannie14]

It's understandable for Hall to be upset over the raw deal he got from the umps. But the way he reacted was his choice. Nobody forced him to act like a 6 year old.

Have you actually seen the incident or just listened to the press? Because your over-reaction is exactly what I would expect from a member of the press.

FWIW the momentum shift in the game was starting when Bevan gave away that blatant free kick to Williams right in front of goal, just before the Hall free kick not being awarded. But it's always easier to blame Hall than face the obvious.

[skaterboi1973]

I see a lot of posts arguing that Barry Hall is badly treated by the umpires. But this is not true, he does bring a lot of it on himself with his style of play and lack good body positioning and body work. This has become more evident since the rule changes that occurred around 2007.

I advise you all to youtube the 50 metre penalties, you will notice that the first one actually shows Hall holding onto his opponents geurnsey (why a forward is doing that is beyond me) and that the player only held onto Barry because of that.

The second 50, its up to Barry to move out of the players path with the free kick, which Barry didnt, its smart play by the player to get the extra 50. Barry should have got out of the way or sprinted back to resume the mark 50 metres down the track.

The third 50 should be reportable, even tho it was a love tap, it was still contact to the head and a punch.

This however doesnt really have much to do with Hall's temperment or passion, its more to do with his technique. Anyone who sits next to me at the footy can usually hear me having a go at Barry (they must think I'm from the opposition lol).

For a man with his physique, his body work and positioning is attrocious, hence he has to scrag and give free kicks away to try and get the ball. He doesnt read the trajectory of the ball well, and hence the backman is usually in the better position.

As for calling for leads, well, the number of times i have seen him just point to the air for a player to kick lon astounds me. As mentioned above he hardly wins these types of contests or gives a free kick away. Barry Hall is at his most potent when he is on a lead. If he lead earlier and kept with the lead, he would either get it in front, would help the swans move the ball up the ground quicker as there is an option, and clear out the forward line for the likes of Micky O etc and provide more options for the players kicking the ball into the forward line.

It all comes down to technique, Micky O showed that with great body work to nudge out a player for a mark. The difference with Barry is that he would have used his hands and given away the free kick. What Micky did was correct and legal, you can use your forearm, body etc to move a player out of position (within reason, ie you cant just shove them out, but you can hold your position with your forearm), you just cant use your hands in anyway in relation to the back, which Barry is prone to do.

Whether its too late to teach Barry these things, I dont know. To be honest I would move him to centre half forward, have him provide an option for the second kick out defense, and have him provide the kick into the forwards. Full Forward would be Reg, he can fly (we have seen this recently), has good body work skills, and a decent goal sneak. With sme time up there I reckon he could be a more than handy full forward in years to come. I would also play the three ruckmen, one on teh bench, one in the ruck and one in the forward line.

Anyways, thats my 2 cents

ps. Have been a swans fan since 1982. And played a couple of years in the Sydney Football League.

[connolly]

Have you actually seen the incident or just listened to the press? Because your over-reaction is exactly what I would expect from a member of the press.

FWIW the momentum shift in the game was starting when Bevan gave away that blatant free kick to Williams right in front of goal, just before the Hall free kick not being awarded. But it's always easier to blame Hall than face the obvious.

Jeez i was almost going to agree with you. But Hall was CRUCIFIED by an extraordinary inconsistency again by the umpires. Compare the Bevo free to the treatment Big Beamish received from the triple tag team they had on him. The Bevanators arm momentarily slipped over Williams shoulder. On several occasions Hall had defenders facing him and jumping into him. Don't you reckon that the Bevo free had something to do with Big Beamish's reaction. Players watch the big screen. Also there should be a thread on this but Roos reaction to the peanlties was simply disgraceful. A great coach does not humiliate a player in front of world by disciplining a passionate and courageous player like a school kid. Roos should have thrown him in at the next centre bounce and tried to harness the aggression and frustration or sent the message to him. Afterwards he should have dealt with it in-house. Roos has become less of a coach and more of a PR flak. Lost a lot of respect for him yesterday. Also where was the Dalai Lama with some calming words?? Very poor effort by Roos as well to denigrate Hall after the game. The big bloke is basically finished at the club but there is a thing called dignity and respect.