G.F. Day Thread. Sydney V Western Bulldogs. MCG 2.30pm.

[mcs]

Great contest.
Devastated about the result.
Never booed the umps so hard in my life. A @@@@ing shambles.

That sums up my view of it too ScottH. That third quarter in particular was diabolical from the maggots in green.

After 2014, I was angry at our players and our team for not turning up. Yes some of our boys were below their best on Saturday, but I will always think, with something closer to a 50/50 run with the umpires (As you would expect in such a great, tight contest), it may have been a very different result. It will always be a 'what if' for me.

Hopefully the pain will help drive us to bigger and better things, like it did the Wees and Poos in 2013. We can only hope - this year's loss will burn longer for me than 2014, as I genuinely think we were the best team across the league this season. But that sadly means nought if you don't get the job done on the day that counts.

[mcs]

Us not receiving free kicks is also the Bulldogs not giving away free kicks. At the ground I kept track of the
free kick counts during the game.
The Bulldogs gave away 3 in the first quarter, 1 in the second quarter, none in the third quarter and four in the last
quarter. So, for an entire half of the Grand Final, an hour of very intense footy, the three umpires saw the leading
contested ball team in the comp infringe once. That's it. Once. Were they not watching the Bulldogs at all?
Can we have umpires that actually pay attention to both teams. They missed the Scully 50M the previous week
too and that likely put the Dogs into the GF in the first place. There is no conspiracy, these jokers aren't smart
enough for that, they are just not very good at their job.

I certainly don't think there is some sort of 'grand conspiracy' within it all - but I do think umpires do get influenced, even unknowingly, and so you end up with absurd circumstances like what happened on Saturday. Its not the first time its happened this year either - I seem to remember another game (may not have involved us) where one team got murdered on the free kick count, and only had 1 free kick in almost three quarters of footy.

[ScottH]

No charges laid by MRP. I thought the late high hit on Kennedy (for which Kennedy at least got a 50m penalty) was deserving of a fine.

But this was the MRP's view on the incident in which Hannebery's knee was damaged. I read it to imply ump should have given a free.

"Contact between the Western Bulldogs? Easton Wood and the Sydney Swans? Dan Hannebery from the fourth quarter of Saturday?s match was assessed. The panel said the ball was loose with Wood and Hannebery coming from opposite directions to the contest. The opposing players arrived at the contest simultaneously and Wood went down low in his approach and made contact with Hannebery?s knee as the Bulldogs? player took possession of the ball. While it was a decision for the umpire if the Swans? player should have received a free kick for the contact, it was the view of the panel that Wood had his eyes on the ball at all times and his action did not meet the definition of rough conduct under the AFL Regulations, in his approach to the ball and his opponent. No further action was taken."

I agree with your implied reading Meg.
They stuffed up.

[ScottH]

That sums up my view of it too ScottH. That third quarter in particular was diabolical from the maggots in green.

After 2014, I was angry at our players and our team for not turning up. Yes some of our boys were below their best on Saturday, but I will always think, with something closer to a 50/50 run with the umpires (As you would expect in such a great, tight contest), it may have been a very different result. It will always be a 'what if' for me.

Hopefully the pain will help drive us to bigger and better things, like it did the Wees and Poos in 2013. We can only hope - this year's loss will burn longer for me than 2014, as I genuinely think we were the best team across the league this season. But that sadly means nought if you don't get the job done on the day that counts.

Agree with 2014. They didn't turn up.
This year they did, but so did the dogs.

I spoke with a swans staff member at the Function, and he assured me they all gave 100% effort.
Just not 100% execution.

[cos789]

I certainly don't think there is some sort of 'grand conspiracy' within it all - but I do think umpires do get influenced, even unknowingly,

i don't think there is a conspiracy and i think only on a few occasions the umpires are influenced by the crowd but I don't think the umpires "see" the free kicks. Let me explain. I think the WB deserved their free kicks and the umpires did a good job of giving the WB their free kicks they just didn't "see" a lot of free kicks to the Swans. This cannot be simply explained away like the WB were first to the ball etc because it was extremely close all day. Most fans intently see what their players are doing or not doing. They only see the broad strokes of the opposition. IMO this is how the umpires saw the game. They simply weren't looking at the the Swans with the same intent.
Initially I thought the Swans would crush the WB with class but as the week wore on I changed my attitude that it would be a close G.F. solely because of the saturation hype over the WB. It was simply too much for an interstate team to overcome the fairy-tale hype of a Victorian team.
I'm not say the WB didn't deserve to win. Any team that takes two absolute screamers in the last quarter (when they should've gone the punch) plays to win, but it could've been an even closer and better GF.

[stevoswan]

I certainly don't think there is some sort of 'grand conspiracy' within it all - but I do think umpires do get influenced, even unknowingly, and so you end up with absurd circumstances like what happened on Saturday. Its not the first time its happened this year either - I seem to remember another game (may not have involved us) where one team got murdered on the free kick count, and only had 1 free kick in almost three quarters of footy.

It didn't involve us, but I'm pretty sure the team in the positive in that one were there Bulldogs...........

[Hotpotato]

However the Bullies did it, with a documented and significant extra serving from the umps , it was still a remarkable and intoxicating effort .
Of course the umpiring is barely rating a mention in Bleak City's papers .
I suppose there will be an official appraisal of it .
The weight of public euphoria certainly lifted them over the line .
I thought we would beat them by around the same margin they beat us.
There was nothing in it , so it did come down to the umps adjudication at very important moments .
It's a great event and needs to be seen as fair . What does the AFL reap in $$ from 2 Hrs of footy ? What a business. Employ professionals.
We love it, and Its a fabulous city.
Our favourite eatery is Ricepaperscissors, awesome food and brilliant staff, our favourite place for a drink is the roof top at Naked for Satan.
Thanks to Annie for encouraging us to book the Grand Final Dinner , whether we win or lose. It was a blast , especially the band Popcorn, and for the players turning up. Sorry we couldn't find you , however we sat with some excellent people.
Thank you also to Michelle from Redandwhiteonline who kept her word and let us 'have' her Ticket when she was unable to go.
Nearly home, a car just passed us with the number plate SWANS , with little red and white streamers on their aerial. Who is that ?
I hope they find a way to keep Mitchell, as I understand he wants to stay.
Thank you to Rachel, the fanatical Melbourne based Swannies supporter who knew more about the Swans , everyone's state of health , how many seconds to go in each quarter. She was amazing and cried at the end.
And to Johnie from Tasmania on my left who gave it to everyone making mistakes .
Bad karma to the bogan Bulldogs supporter who came and stood on our chairs to give us all the bird in the face of many disabled swannies supporters . What a flog.
Thank you to the dedicated team on redandwhiteonline for keeping this site active on a shoestring budget.
Don't hold the Granny on the same weekend as daylight saving starts.
If anyone tells me this week , it's only a game, I'll totally lose it.

I'm moving on to the spring racing carnival for awhile.

[Hotpotato]

Oh, and I've been to the Granny in 1996, 2005, 2006, 2014 and 2016. Missed 2012 .
Have seen one win . Hope to go to a few more.

[KTigers]

My point is the umpires saw the 23 GWS infringements last week, they saw our 20 infringements in the GF,
but they only saw a combined total of 21 infringements by Bulldogs players in the same two games (13 in the
prelim, and 8 in GF). And they didn't see the Scully 50M at Spotless. Did they just not watch the Bulldogs
players? It's fine, I don't expect anyone here to have an answer. I don't think it cost us a premiership, but may well
of cost GWS one. I know this is painful for many on this forum to admit, but deep down many of us know GWS
are most likely the best team in the comp. There were very few Swans fans wanting to meet them in GF.

i don't think there is a conspiracy and i think only on a few occasions the umpires are influenced by the crowd but I don't think the umpires "see" the free kicks. Let me explain. I think the WB deserved their free kicks and the umpires did a good job of giving the WB their free kicks they just didn't "see" a lot of free kicks to the Swans. This cannot be simply explained away like the WB were first to the ball etc because it was extremely close all day. Most fans intently see what their players are doing or not doing. They only see the broad strokes of the opposition. IMO this is how the umpires saw the game. They simply weren't looking at the the Swans with the same intent.
Initially I thought the Swans would crush the WB with class but as the week wore on I changed my attitude that it would be a close G.F. solely because of the saturation hype over the WB. It was simply too much for an interstate team to overcome the fairy-tale hype of a Victorian team.
I'm not say the WB didn't deserve to win. Any team that takes two absolute screamers in the last quarter (when they should've gone the punch) plays to win, but it could've been an even closer and better GF.

[Mel_C]

I feel worse today than I did on the weekend [emoji17] . I can't bring myself to watch the news, listen to the radio or read the papers. This hurts more than 2014...maybe it just feels that way because it's so fresh.

Did anyone else think it was a bad omen before the game when Leo Barry handed over the game ball and then Micky O handed over the premiership cup?

Sent from my HTC_PN071 using Tapatalk

[Levii3]

I feel worse today than I did on the weekend [emoji17] . I can't bring myself to watch the news, listen to the radio or read the papers. This hurts more than 2014...maybe it just feels that way because it's so fresh.

Did anyone else think it was a bad omen before the game when Leo Barry handed over the game ball and then Micky O handed over the premiership cup?

Sent from my HTC_PN071 using Tapatalk

I thought this was a bad omen (the cup)

Cup.jpg

[mattybloods]

I thought this was a bad omen (the cup)

[ATTACH=CONFIG]1673[/ATTACH]

Result was known before the ball was bounced


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[56-14]

I feel worse today than I did on the weekend [emoji17] . I can't bring myself to watch the news, listen to the radio or read the papers. This hurts more than 2014...maybe it just feels that way because it's so fresh.

Did anyone else think it was a bad omen before the game when Leo Barry handed over the game ball and then Micky O handed over the premiership cup?

Sent from my HTC_PN071 using Tapatalk

Not me.
Did however, see it it as a bad sign when K.Jack missed a sitter early in the game.

[Nico]

I watched the replay today and made notes on the play. I will try keep my observations brief.

Quarter 1. How on earth didn't Jack get 50 metres for the late hit. Was exactly like Kennedy's in the 3rd Q.
Free against Rohan for an arm chop was a good spoil.
McVeigh 50 metres against was plain dumb.
Our kicking was short of the target, too cute.
Q2. Johannesen had at least 3 clangers and continued such for the rest of the game. Just shows so called good judges miss turnovers. No way he was in the best 5 Dogs players.
Papley was Buddy centric. Horrible kicks. Very wasteful. Chippy kicks and fumbled.
Hewett hangs onto the footy. Refuses to play the team game and give it off. Never takes the first option. Selfish footballer for mine or is a serious flaw in his game. Did it a few times during the game. Created nothing.
The Bulldogs continue to blatantly throw the footy ( Liberatore the biggest culprit) and Dixon not penalised for an unrealistic marking attempt.
Grundy dropped the mark because he was being held. Hunter did a tunnel ball throw. Was so obvious.
Hambling/ Franklin - was either a high tackle by Buddy of HTB by Hambling.
Parker made an unrealistic marking attempt but no penalised and Kennedy goals.
Q3. Laidler not hard enough x 2, and Richards has no second efforts. Dunb 50 meteres by him but again the inconsistency with no free to Jack in Q1.
Continued throws by Dogs. Rampe clearly dragged down by the neck, Dogs crumb get a goal.
Hanners and Jack pile drived but no frees.
Our disposal is slow and Papley could have tried to shepherd a Buddy's kick for goal.
Boyd tried to barge through, caught and threw it away, yet Morris on Buddy in the 4th Q is paid.
Morris took Papley's legs out, play on. I doubt Hanners touched Smith, staged, goal.
Our forward pressure is not good. Rohan did that dumb attempt to run around Wood. What a wasted opportunity. Maybe that was one big difference in the sides. The Dogs didn't stuff around, they moved it on at every opportunity.
Johannesen continues to butcher the footy.
Q4.
Jack has his legs taken out and gets a free against for kicking in danger. A howler.
Mills lost his player outside the square when he went the wrong side of the pack, goal. He chastised himself.
Rohans arms chopped, play on.
Jones 2 poor kicks. Hewett poor at the contest.
Richards looks to be first to the ball but dwells and lets his opponent get there first. Not a good look. Should have gone harder.
Stringer unrealistic attempt, play on.
Papley's horrible kick into the man on the mark after he stuffed around without moving it on.
Rampe was clearly held off the ball by the arm. Big miss by umpire. McGlynn typical miss of a clutch goal with 4.45 mins to go. Our last chance was lost.

The purpose of my post was to highlight that it wasn't only the umpires but our less experienced players who were found wanting. Mills was probably short of a run.
The interesting thing for me was how we stayed in the game regardless of carrying a few players.
On the umps; the 3rd Q to me was not about infringements on our players but more the leniency given to the Dogs on hanging on to the footy, incorrect disposal from a tackle and the blatant throws.

[mcs]

Not me.
Did however, see it it as a bad sign when K.Jack missed a sitter early in the game.

Poor old KJ had been absolutely hammered as he took that mark however.