Sydney Swans VS Brisbane Lions at the SCG @ 1:10pm

[Primmy]

Re Jed: I had the binoculars on the 3/4 huddle and watched Horse pull Benny aside and have a chat and a nod, and Benny gave him a a "no worrries" pat on the shoulder. I said to friends then that Benny would be the sub for Jed, and there you go. I am pleased to say that Jed took full advantage of the opportunity imho, and threw himself in as much as a first gamer can do - he has a certain amount of poise that bodes well for the future.

I sat in the red zone. I have never been so cooked in my life. The heat was amazingly damaging and we eventually moved to the upper dress circle and sat in front of a row of blokes of all ages. Who knew that men were worse gossips than women, and that they were at the footy and were not in the slightest bit interested in the game.

It was an amazing game. We were amazed the Lions were so crap. We were amazed at the umpiring (I mean three maybe four of their goals were from frees????), but as it was umpiring team lead by Troy Pannell who have umpired like this with the Swans before - its like oh hey we must not be seen to be favouring the premiers - I had to shrug my shoulders. B ut honestly.....

I am moving Nic Mal up the leaderboard for the B&F. I wonder what his brief is this year. It has changed. Maybe its because Shaw is not there as his slingshot partner.

Nice to see Sammy get his mojo back, and I applaud Jett's more rounded approach to the game , he will only get better in his innate knowledge as well nurture as his natural ability. Those goal assists were something else. As for MikePyke. The man has learned to kick, and kick accurately!

I am now going to watch the game again this morning. Being retired has its advantages. Last night I was too wiped out to keep my eyes open. Yesterday I could hardly see half the ground due to the glare. The weather might have looked pretty but, damn it was tough. However I do have to say that being seated in the Trumper Stand has its benefits. They have handrails on the stairs! and Lots of Ladies Loos. And broad walk areas! And normally not bad coffee (yesterday was an exception). Hope they keep it the Red Zone in the future.

[Big Al]

Umpire [insert favourite swear word] Appreciation Round.

That's the most frustrated I've been with the officials since Razor Ray gave us a High Colonic a few seasons back.

[stellation]

I dreamt about Paris last night.
Sorry to disappoint!!

Off topic, but have you seen Midnight in Paris? Good flick.

[dimelb]

The thing is, we gave a few silly frees away. Sloppy tackles seemed to be a particular issue. I can't recall thinking any of the frees that led to goals were howlers.

One that stood out for me was when Marty gave an excellent impression of a jockey getting on the favourite at Randwick, right next to the sticks. It cost us points, and was blatant/clumsy/careless. I'm pleased he did better after that.

[DamY]

Sydney Swans VS Brisbane Lions at the SCG @ 1:10pm

[QUOTE=Primmy;610290

I am moving Nic Mal up the leaderboard for the B&F. I wonder what his brief is this year. It has changed. Maybe its because Shaw is not there as his slingshot partner.

[/QUOTE]

Too right, he has been really clever with the ball this season. I agree he'll be up there as well. And also the heat was intense, went upstairs to hide away from the rays!

[ScottH]

Off topic, but have you seen Midnight in Paris? Good flick.

No, but it does look good. Mrs H and I might be able to make our own later this year.

Too right, he has been really clever with the ball this season. I agree he'll be up there as well. And also the heat was intense, went upstairs to hide away from the rays!

Malceski, as noted by the commentators as well, is playing the loose man role to perfection.
Knows when to move fwd and when to drop back. Getting many 1% and still racking up the stats.
That snap at goal he missed would have capped off an excellent afternoon for him!!

[mcs]

Umpire [insert favourite swear word] Appreciation Round.

That's the most frustrated I've been with the officials since Razor Ray gave us a High Colonic a few seasons back.

The umpiring in general this season has been absolutely baffling at times. At least yesterday it didn't impact on the result, but the inconsistency is at times is infuriating. we were sloppy yesterday at times and gave a few away that we shouldn't, but some of the frees given just were not there. The umpiring this season in general has lessened the quality of the footy imo and is playing into hands of teams like Geelong who always are looking for frees and trying to squeeze everything they can out of the umps.

[mcs]

No, but it does look good. Mrs H and I might be able to make our own later this year.


Malceski, as noted by the commentators as well, is playing the loose man role to perfection.
Knows when to move fwd and when to drop back. Getting many 1% and still racking up the stats.
That snap at goal he missed would have capped off an excellent afternoon for him!!

Mal was excellent yesterday. That is unless you asked the goose that was sitting behind me. I like anyone love shouting out at players, getting excited, getting frustrated and doing all that out loud. But, if you don't go to the footy too often, or know who the players are, then perhaps being quiet would be a better bet. The guy behind me spent the whole day whining about how poor Malceski was, how ordinary 'White' was in the Ruck, and saying how useless Nick Smith, (who he thought was no 43) was! He spent the whole game complaining and generally had no idea. If I hadn't bought my better half along for her first AFL game (she has since said she enjoyed it and wants to go again!), then I would of turned around and politely corrected him.

[ScottH]

The umpiring in general this season has been absolutely baffling at times. At least yesterday it didn't impact on the result, but the inconsistency is at times is infuriating. we were sloppy yesterday at times and gave a few away that we shouldn't, but some of the frees given just were not there. The umpiring this season in general has lessened the quality of the footy imo and is playing into hands of teams like Geelong who always are looking for frees and trying to squeeze everything they can out of the umps.

You have to consider that the new rules and interpretation changes have some grey areas, and are open for interpretation.
So you can't blame the umps for everything. They have many things to look at now. Blame the rule changes!!

[mcs]

You have to consider that the new rules and interpretation changes have some grey areas, and are open for interpretation.
So you can't blame the umps for everything. They have many things to look at now. Blame the rule changes!!

Fair point Scott. Either way, I just don't think the footy has been as good to watch this year- probably as you say due to the rule changes more than the umpiring.

[Primmy]

I noted that Mummy's retro porno look has been removed. I wonder if that was part of the leadership sanctions for stuffing up last weekend. If so, YAYAYAY!!!

[Melbournehammer]

Fair point Scott. Either way, I just don't think the footy has been as good to watch this year- probably as you say due to the rule changes more than the umpiring.

I too have found it hard to be interested in the game now - the whole approach seems to be to create a game for nic natanui - high jumping, high athletic types - strangely there is already a game for them called basketball. The basic flow of rule changes has been to encourage van der haar versus knights everywhere. Strangely that was an era which i dont look back upon with any fondness whatsoever, unlike what appears to be the views of mike fitzpatrick, demetriou and bartlett.

I actually like a game where tackling not dropping is rewarded. I like a game where players compete for position, not just reward the player in front because someone puts a hand on them because the ball is going over their heads.

The continuous movement of the game is defeating the inside player because the game has just become a scrum until an official says someone has infringed - the ball goes to the outside for a length of the field play. Umpiring has never been so critical as it is now because it creates genuine uncontested possessions - if you look at the differential of uncontested possessions in games you will find that a free kick differential will often be as large as that difference early in a game.

I dont feel I am enjoying it as much as in previous years because of (1) the large number of uncompetitive teams; and (2) a style of game which encourages players to throw it to a teammate or drop it in the general vicinity of a teammate because failing to do so rewards the tackler - ie you can tackle well and if the player drops it that is ok, but if they are jpk who stands in the tackle they get pinged.

finally the apparent decision this year to always penalise the third player into a tackle because they must have tackled around the head annoys the bejesus out of me. it is leading to exactly the same problem as sides dont tackle the player and the ball spills around on the ground endlessly, as what appears to be the rule again is that the player tackled can place the ball on the ground for the next two players to do exactly the same wrestle and drop as the previous two. If continuous play means a series of players tackling, dropping, picking up, tackling and dropping again they can go shove it. I would far prefer the umpire to just say ball pinned throw it up and try again. at least then there is a purpose to ruckmen, and you might get a nice tap to a running player. what seems to happen now is the ball moving on the ground for about 1 minute with 15 players around it and each picking it up, getting tackled, ball spilling to ground and repeat.

[bodgie]

I too have found it hard to be interested in the game now - the whole approach seems to be to create a game for nic natanui - high jumping, high athletic types - strangely there is already a game for them called basketball. The basic flow of rule changes has been to encourage van der haar versus knights everywhere. Strangely that was an era which i dont look back upon with any fondness whatsoever, unlike what appears to be the views of mike fitzpatrick, demetriou and bartlett.

I actually like a game where tackling not dropping is rewarded. I like a game where players compete for position, not just reward the player in front because someone puts a hand on them because the ball is going over their heads.

The continuous movement of the game is defeating the inside player because the game has just become a scrum until an official says someone has infringed - the ball goes to the outside for a length of the field play. Umpiring has never been so critical as it is now because it creates genuine uncontested possessions - if you look at the differential of uncontested possessions in games you will find that a free kick differential will often be as large as that difference early in a game.

I dont feel I am enjoying it as much as in previous years because of (1) the large number of uncompetitive teams; and (2) a style of game which encourages players to throw it to a teammate or drop it in the general vicinity of a teammate because failing to do so rewards the tackler - ie you can tackle well and if the player drops it that is ok, but if they are jpk who stands in the tackle they get pinged.

finally the apparent decision this year to always penalise the third player into a tackle because they must have tackled around the head annoys the bejesus out of me. it is leading to exactly the same problem as sides dont tackle the player and the ball spills around on the ground endlessly, as what appears to be the rule again is that the player tackled can place the ball on the ground for the next two players to do exactly the same wrestle and drop as the previous two. If continuous play means a series of players tackling, dropping, picking up, tackling and dropping again they can go shove it. I would far prefer the umpire to just say ball pinned throw it up and try again. at least then there is a purpose to ruckmen, and you might get a nice tap to a running player. what seems to happen now is the ball moving on the ground for about 1 minute with 15 players around it and each picking it up, getting tackled, ball spilling to ground and repeat.

Well said!!! Some of the rules this year have been impossible to follow consistently or understand.

[Melbournehammer]

anyway on topic I found the game yesterday to be pleasant. it was the first game in a while i was able to watch without any real sense of us being threatened and we had some nice passages of play. I still think we are a fair way off our best game. specifically reid, jetta, goodes and mummy are all down as is marty mattner whose hands have been a bit poor so far this season. most of the mids are playing pretty well currently, which is a credit to them and grundy and richards have played well against some of the worst forward lines in the comp - and i think they kept us in the game against geelong for large parts of it. rampe has done well since coming in but we clearly miss shaw both ways. we do lack a bit of footspeed given the way the game is going. morton clearly should be in the 21 starting because he actually provides a goalscoring option which we really need. mcglynn is playing really solid footy and i am happy with jude overall.

I'm annoyed at the coaching staff for starting lamb on the bench and only playing him for 20 minutes. i know the view here is that everitt, lamb and morton are all playing for the subs vest at the moment and i am ok with that, but i think we need to start from the basis that if someone is picked in the 22 for the first time you need them to play for long enough so that when we are playing one of the big beasts in the comp they are ready for it.

anyway next week now and it will be good to see them live.

[wolftone57]

I hated the rugby style maul that was going all day.

The umpires do have a choice Scott, even with all the rule changes, they could ball up a lot quicker and tell the players to clear the area. Any player not obeying will incur a free to the opposition.

the umpires were pathetic and have been all year but it probably isn't their fault it is their bosses fault.

They allow players to throw, hand the ball on, drop the ball, flick pass, two hand movement handball (a throw), dive (outlawed after 2011), bend knees (see dive) and hold the ball under a player to get holding the ball (rule changed in 2011). holding the ball under a player became outlawed in 2011 and players doing it were meant to be penalised. There is too much umpiring to rules that have been changed. Plus many of the new holding the man and holding the ball rules are interpretive not easily discernible. There is too much emphasis on umpire interpretation today.

I would like to see some of the rules to go back to their original written form and make it almost black and white not interpretive.

A player does not release the ball when tackled unless the ball is held to him; Holding the Ball. I don't believe in 'Prior Opportunity' as it is too open to umpire interpretation.

If a ball is held to a player under any circumstance; Ball Up.

If a player is held without the ball; Holding the man

If a player throws, hands the ball to another player, drops the ball; Incorrect Disposal

If a player pushes, elbows, shoulder shoves in the back; Push in the Back

A player is deemed to be shepherding illegally if he is not within 5 metres of the ball, has his arms out in a shepherding action in a marking contest to prevent an opponent from having a run at a marking contest. In last years preliminary final LRT did not put his arms out and Leigh Matthews said he was shepherding. Matthews is on the rules committee and should know better.

The problem with the new rules is that they are all interpretive. Never give an umpire too much room for interpretation or you get a nightmare of a game. Make the rules as simple as possible, the least interpretive the better. If an umpire has a bet on the match you soon know it that way LOL.