Rnd.12 Match Day Thread. GWS V Sydney. 4.40pm at Spotless.

[Jewels]

Thank you doctor. I am getting sick of the personal abuse i am getting on this forum for simply expresing an opinion.

Is this the way you want to operate this forum ?

If you disagree, disagree, don't make it personal. You dont know me and i don't know you.

Sent from my GT-N7105 using Tapatalk

You are very, VERY correct here Barry, what you cop for merely expressing an opinion is a disgrace.
I stopped posting on here a year ago because of the dreadful bullying that seems to be the accepted norm on this forum these days and I'm pretty certain I'm not the only one.



And now lets see my post get deleted...........

[undy]

You are very, VERY correct here Barry, what you cop for merely expressing an opinion is a disgrace.
I stopped posting on here a year ago because of the dreadful bullying that seems to be the accepted norm on this forum these days and I'm pretty certain I'm not the only one.



And now lets see my post get deleted...........

I would respectfully submit that Barry cops it for expressing a couple of his opinions ad nauseum.

[aardvark]

I would respectfully submit that Barry cops it for expressing a couple of his opinions ad nauseum.

There are ways of dealing with this problem without being abusive. Not sure what any of this or the GWS stuff has to do with the match day thread.

[Triple B]

I would respectfully submit that Barry cops it for expressing a couple of his opinions ad nauseum.

But some of Barry's more outspoken critics go on ad nauseum about GWS (sorry GW$), the supposed travesty that is the Riverina academy, Manly etc etc.

Give me Barry's often tongue in cheek banter about ANZ any day...

[CureTheSane]

I think it's quite funny that Barry isn't tolerated by others.
But then I thought Matt copped a lot of undue criticism, and that he only sniped when he was sniping back at someone.
Some skins here are very thin....

[dimelb]

You are very, VERY correct here Barry, what you cop for merely expressing an opinion is a disgrace.
I stopped posting on here a year ago because of the dreadful bullying that seems to be the accepted norm on this forum these days and I'm pretty certain I'm not the only one.



And now lets see my post get deleted...........

Quite right. Sometimes I agree with barry, sometimes I disagree. And I am choosy about which post to reply to, which I think is a policy that might be adopted by any who think he is a troll - an opinion I don't share, by the way.

He has a perfect right to trot out a hobby horse, just like a few others of us on the site.

[Doctor]

You are very, VERY correct here Barry, what you cop for merely expressing an opinion is a disgrace.
I stopped posting on here a year ago because of the dreadful bullying that seems to be the accepted norm on this forum these days and I'm pretty certain I'm not the only one.



And now lets see my post get deleted...........

I wouldn't call it "dreadful" any more. I think it used to be far worse but the mods do a pretty good job these days, and I think others here regulate each other regularly too. I spoke up for barry earlier, but I'm not the first or last to back someone on here. Compared to what I have seen from many forums (fora?) oever the years, I think RWO is pretty darned civilised.

[kilroy]

I have no right commenting as i am very new around here but i will anyway. An online community that doesn't accommodate or even allow differing opinions or even innovative opines, ends up dying because only the old regulars post as everyone else is turned away for having a different opinion than that of the regulars.

Just my 2 cents worth.

[CureTheSane]

Yeah this place has its moments of being very cliquey, and that's always going to happen.
But compare this to other football forums and the over moderation probably keeps a lot of the trashy people away.

[Auntie.Gerald]

well finally back online to have a chat

i felt that the GWS team showed every sign of the talent that it posses and quite frankly their ability off the wings and HBFs is scary in speed and kick

Shaw, Williams, Wilson are seriously quick counter attack players

combined with the kicking of Shiels, Kelly and Lachie there is no doubt they can kick the ball as good as any team in the comp on the counter

for me we don't have the speed nor penetrating kick in the same numbers as the GWS Giants

But I'm not saying we can't get a game on our terms against the Giants..........yes out classed we were on the weekend .........they beat us in pressure on the ball in the middle and up front and counter punch is as sharp as a Muels hit to the head.

I do believe though we can hunt as good as any team in the comp on our day and meet us at your peril on that day..........The Giants could go all the way and they have the squad to do that now....cant wait for the finals

[Mug Punter]

well finally back online to have a chat

i felt that the GWS team showed every sign of the talent that it posses and quite frankly their ability off the wings and HBFs is scary in speed and kick

Shaw, Williams, Wilson are seriously quick counter attack players

combined with the kicking of Shiels, Kelly and Lachie there is no doubt they can kick the ball as good as any team in the comp on the counter

for me we don't have the speed nor penetrating kick in the same numbers as the GWS Giants

But I'm not saying we can't get a game on our terms against the Giants..........yes out classed we were on the weekend .........they beat us in pressure on the ball in the middle and up front and counter punch is as sharp as a Muels hit to the head.

I do believe though we can hunt as good as any team in the comp on our day and meet us at your peril on that day..........The Giants could go all the way and they have the squad to do that now....cant wait for the finals

In terms of talent and ability I reckon the Giants are more than ready.

But they seem to freeze when they play in front of a big vociferous away crowd with virtually zero fans.

It must be a truly surreal feeling and it will only be amplified x 20 for a Grand Final at the G. My bet is there'd be more GWS Giants consumers in the Corporate Boxes, business twats that have latched onto it as a plaything, than there would be in the crowd. Unless the AFL ship them down there and pay for their trip. The AFL GF weekend is a $1,000 minimum experience per person when you add it all up, I can't see too many of those happy clappers from Sunday making the trek though I'm sure Mr Smirk Waugh will find a way to get photographed, media whore that he is....

Yeah I know that was a cheap shot but I think the fact they'll barley have any support at te biggest game of the year would be the most unimaginable experience for a player. They've grown up all their life dreaming of this day and when they get out there nobody, and I mean nobody, cheers for them.

Even worse, what about if they win and there's nobody to cheer and they get booed? I'd hate to see that but I can see the anti-Giants hysteria in Melbourne becoming totally extreme.

It will also, I might add, be an absolute embarrassment for the AFL

[Mug Punter]

As loathe as I am to reply to any of your posts, as they give you oxygen, I must say this tops the list of inane comments.
If you'd ever been to any of these smaller RIVERINA/WAGGA WAGGA towns then you'd know how much sport and Australian Rules Football, in particular, means to the communities.

+1

And the Academy system was not designed to fill the Northern States with local kids, though that is an obvious nice little side benefit, especially with the loss of COLA and increased go home factor as a result.

The reason for the academy system is simple. The AFL needed to find roughly an extra 100 players of AFL quality with GWS and the Suns' inclusion. If they don't the standard of the comp drops and that's bad for all concerned. The only way that can happen is from new markets and based on an average list life of four years that means an extra 25 AFL quality draftees every year.

These kids won't come from existing football states and whilst a few might come from NSW and QLD without academies they would be few and far between given the draft histories of these states. And Ireland, Texas or NZ won't cut it. Clearly the states with nearly 50% of our national population needed to grow more players and the only way to do that was to provide a pathway from these states to local teams. As we all know talented kids usually choose between sports (see Mills and Heeney as prime examples) and if a kid in Brisbane wants to throw away rugby league and the Broncos then he at least wants a chance of playing for his local team.

[bloodspirit]

It seems some swans supporters are more worried about the giants, than the giants are about the swans.

All this worrying about what Melbourne will think is pathetic. The bears played finals in Melbourne, and the AFL survived. Crowds were ok. We have had two non-vic sides play in a grand final. Crowd was ok. Good teams attract fans whether they support them or not.

All the Giants need to worry about is maximizing attendances, sponsorship, revenue in Western Sydney and Canberra.

If the Giants are to become a 4 premiership dynasty, the swans had better not go into ladder free fall, otherwise.....

One of your more cogent posts, Barry. Some of these other whiners and conspiracists are making you sound ok.

I think the reaction to this loss and the arrival of GWS is overblown. I think the Swans are travelling well (despite this result and the losses against the Crows and Tigers and so-so performance against the Lions) and I am really enjoying this season. So much more to feel good about than last year! I think the Giants are also going well and good on them, I wish them well. I think they are exciting to watch and will consider getting a 3 game membership for them. If the Dogs or Crows were based equally nearby I would consider doing the same for their teams and I wish them well too. This was a game won by the better team on the day, regardless of umpiring.

Likewise, it has to be ok for our players to sometimes have a bad game or not all be among the elite of the competition. Sometimes a player may even have a bad season or go on a year too long or whatever but it pays to remember their overall contribution. Sometimes there will be good explanations for a player having an off game that we don't know about e.g. an injury or family misfortune etc. That said, I still think it's fair enough to criticise and call out a poor performance or say a player has gone on too long or is soft; I just wish people would keep a bit more perspective and context when they do it. I don't enjoy reading reams of over-the-top negative posting that seems plain dumb and ill-considered. I do enjoy the analysis, anecdote and humour that so many others bring to this forum.

[barry]

+1

And the Academy system was not designed to fill the Northern States with local kids, though that is an obvious nice little side benefit, especially with the loss of COLA and increased go home factor as a result.

There are two motivations for the academies. The primary one that the swans, giants, suns and lions have is to fill their teams with local players to overcome all the problems of homesick players (losing players, and having to pay overs). Neither of those clubs have any interest in developing players for other clubs (ie, the greater good argument). The swans even suggested they go exclusively from the academy and be excluded from the national draft at one stage.

The secondary one is from the AFL which have a greater-good angle, and they leverage the (now illusional) path to swans, etc as the carrot.
Swans, etc have counter-leveraged this angle to get the AFL to fund it. Hence it gets murky.

If the swans spent a single cent converting a kid bound for rugby league to AFL, and then he went and played for Collingwood, I'd be seriously questioning how the club can justify that.

[crackedactor]

Very good summary of the situation, particularly the last paragraph. But other clubs that show their jealousy towards the academies also forget the many players that the Swans/Suns etc that have put a lot of time and effort into, but never make the top grade. Of course they are never talked about.