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

[Daisi]

Here's the thing Faunac8- the biased officiating is bad for the AFL and bad for the Bulldogs. Everybody will now wonder if they should have won the flag. Instead of celebrating an untainted win, the 2016 GF will be remembered as the flag that was won by umpiring decisions.

That's not fair on the players of either team.

[Flying South]

The better team on the day won. Bulldogs' disposal was generally cleaner than ours, both by hand and by foot. Their skills are outstanding.

Our blokes fought hard, it was no pushover. The early injury to Lance had a big bearing on the outcome, but our forward lines need either rejigging or personnel change or both. We really missed Aliir. Umpiring was very ordinary, inconsistencies galore, but not, in the end, the reason why we lost.

And now we turn to the task of building and renovation for next season.

Agree with all that!

Some of my observations
1. There was too much of a gap between our best and worse players. We had a lot that had little impact on the game
2. We were 1 point down with 10 min to go. We just couldn't match there intensity. We just couldn't get it out of our defensive end.
3. We looked slow all day. We need to inject some pace in our midfield and HB.
4. I don't normally comment on umpiring and i certainly don't buy into conspiracy theories. But the umpiring was very inconsistent. They were gifted at least 3 goals from poor umpiring decisions. In a tight GF were momentum is key, it makes a huge difference.

[longmile]

the slide free against jack followed by the 50 was when I knew
Was always gonna be tough against 25 and they got over us in the final quarter

[Daisi]

I just think it must be so difficult for the players when the rules suddenly change in a match and for all your effort you don't get a free kick.

So I don't blame the players for being overrun in the last quarter, they must have realised that there was nothing they could do to get an even playing field.

[#73]

Here's the thing Faunac8- the biased officiating is bad for the AFL and bad for the Bulldogs. Everybody will now wonder if they should have won the flag. Instead of celebrating an untainted win, the 2016 GF will be remembered as the flag that was won by umpiring decisions.

That's not fair on the players of either team.

this

[Cheer_Cheer]

Agree with all that!

Some of my observations
1. There was too much of a gap between our best and worse players. We had a lot that had little impact on the game
2. We were 1 point down with 10 min to go. We just couldn't match there intensity. We just couldn't get it out of our defensive end.
3. We looked slow all day. We need to inject some pace in our midfield and HB.
4. I don't normally comment on umpiring and i certainly don't buy into conspiracy theories. But the umpiring was very inconsistent. They were gifted at least 3 goals from poor umpiring decisions. In a tight GF were momentum is key, it makes a huge difference.

Summed up perfectly Southy !

[RogueSwan]

... Instead of celebrating an untainted win, the 2016 GF will be remembered as the flag that was won by umpiring decision...

Unfortunately only by (some) Swans fans. All that will be remembered will be the winners.

[dejavoodoo44]

Well, congratulations to the Bulldogs. They did play the game extremely hard and showed a lot of flair. I also feel sort of happy for their long suffering fans. With every Grand Final, one set of fans are going to be in various stages of delirium, while the other set is going to be in various stages of pissed off. Just a shame that it is us today, but I did like the look of cold determination in Kizza's eyes, when he stated that we will be back. I have no doubts that we will be. Though I do wonder how much he was thinking about the umpiring when he said that?
I certainly do think that it made a difference today. And it's certainly making a difference to how I feel right now. I would actually like to get on social media and be quite magnanimous towards the Bulldog supporters. As far as clubs go, I really quite like them and there are certainly other clubs that I really hate losing to. Yes, the mustard on turd, I'm thinking about you. But the rage that is still lurking within, that says that we were dudded today, prevents me from being quite the good sport that I would like to be.
I do think that the umpiring cost us the match. When there is very little between the two sides, it does make a difference when one side gets the message that they can basically do whatever they want, while the other side goes in hard, only to look up in amazement, when the umpires pluck one. Or you're left clutching your knee or your head and thinking that was a free all year, why isn't it one now? Their were so many critical ones that went the Bulldogs way, that I haven't even got time to go into them now. But as they say, a large part of the game is played between the ears. And today, one critical aspect of this, was the fact that when we had momentum, there always seemed to be a dodgy decision getting them back into it. Or more exactly, we could never get far enough in front to exert real scoreboard pressure. The sort of pressure where the Dogs may have started to doubt themselves, where panic might have started to set in and where our players might have had the opposite experience. Where we could start feeling that it was our day, where we get the positive feedback of knowing that the game plan is working: which then means that the skills start to function that tiny bit better. And with both teams going at it ferociously and with it only being a one point game with ten minutes to go (despite the umpiring), I feel that little bit of mental edge would've made all the difference.
And speaking of our players, I have absolutely no intention of claiming that some of them were passengers, some of them weren't up to it, or claiming that there were some that weren't giving their all. While some obviously had better games than others, it is an impossibility to assemble a team of superstars. From my point of view, every player gave their all: which I thought was abundantly clear at full time, because everyone of them was spent and everyone of them was devastated.
And finally, as far as team development goes, I do think that this was a year when the Swans achieved much more than most people expected at the start of the year. Which should give us plenty of optimism for next year.

[Hotpotato]

Umpiring aside, the Doggies journey was indeed remarkable . I don't begrudge them such a complete Fairytale.
It's such a lot of coin to go and witness it .

[Maca1701]

Being at the game, whilst I agree with common thread that the Bulldogs had the run of the umpires for the whole game, in the end it still was level with 10 minutes to play. In that final 10 minutes the bulldogs were harder at it and we were run off our feet. We will be back next year, and better for the experience

[Maltopia]

Being at the game, whilst I agree with common thread that the Bulldogs had the run of the umpires for the whole game, in the end it still was level with 10 minutes to play. In that final 10 minutes the bulldogs were harder at it and we were run off our feet. We will be back next year, and better for the experience

We would have been up 3-4 goals with 10 minutes left if the umpiring wasn't so biassed, so who knows who might have won?

[RogueSwan]

Whether it was the Dogs, the Umpires, the day, our injuries or our inexperience we didn't play the second half the way we played the first.
The second half we bombed long and down the line where in the first half, we switched, we cut inside and lowered or eyes when around the forward fifty.
Also, even though he was again one of our best, Buddy need to not try and break every single tackle. Try and offload before the tackle every now and then.?

[Matty10]

It is impossible to know whether we would have won had the umpiring been more consistent and even, but they can make a difference. To suggest that they don't have an effect is ridiculous - otherwise what would be the point in having them? Free kicks are important aspects of a game that are required to even up an unfair advantage. We didn't get our fair share of those today.

Having said that, we can't control what the umpires do. So I doubt that it would feature in any review of what we could have done better as a means of trying to win games (or premierships) in the future. You just have to do your best and hope that they umpires do theirs.

Although sometimes it is not just about free kicks. The one aspect of today's umpiring that really annoys me is the below the knee contact decisions. Years ago, Rohan breaks his leg (from an egregious act) and a new rule is introduced, but we seem to get screwed over by it. Goodes was subsequently castigated over sliding (on a wet day, from a mile out, barely brushed his opponents back and was never likely going to cause injury). Today, two blatant below the knee contact decisions should have been paid prior to Hannebery (one of which resulted in a 50m penalty when our player naturally would have assumed that we had the free kick) and then Hannebery gets crippled. It is unlikely that this would have happened had the earlier decisions been made.

A litigious individual might suggest that the umpires failed in their duty of care to provide a safe working environment today and sue the AFL for damages.

[top40]

We would have been up 3-4 goals with 10 minutes left if the umpiring wasn't so biassed, so who knows who might have won?

I agree. If the umpiring had been fair, the last 10 minutes could have been much worse: giving up 4 goals with 10 minutes , and losing in the last few seconds, consistent with four of our Home and Away losses this season including the Round 15 loss against the Dogs.

[crackedactor]

Agree with all that!

Some of my observations
1. There was too much of a gap between our best and worse players. We had a lot that had little impact on the game
2. We were 1 point down with 10 min to go. We just couldn't match there intensity. We just couldn't get it out of our defensive end.
3. We looked slow all day. We need to inject some pace in our midfield and HB.
4. I don't normally comment on umpiring and i certainly don't buy into conspiracy theories. But the umpiring was very inconsistent. They were gifted at least 3 goals from poor umpiring decisions. In a tight GF were momentum is key, it makes a huge difference.

never in my wildest dreams did I think such a bias umpiring would occur in a GF. Just because we did not play well, does not mean we should have not won. Anyhow who says its pathetic to blame the umpiring, well stats show 15 free kicks to 4 at 3/4 time. That's almost 4 times the amount of free kicks, or around an extra 300% in the free kick extra department. However if anyone knows of a side were the opposition had 4 times the amount of free kicks they did and still won! Then I will be quite on the umpiring. What you never heard of one!!! I rest my case. My prediction: Melbourne press saying they was nothing wrong with the AFL GF umpiring, however when Cronulla sharks receive 15 penalties to Melbourne's storms 4 penalties tomorrow and win the rugby title, They will cry blue murder.