That's it. I'm giving up Australian Football.

[Bexl]

feeling really deflated guys

why bother?

AFL is corrupt. We get Franklin and break no rules but loose COLA , get a trade ban and now this umpiring in a grand final. Forget winning a flag for years it wont happen with these guys in charge. They are petty, hold a grudge and are corupt.

[Bexl]

feeling really deflated guys

why bother?

AFL is corrupt. We get Franklin and break no rules but loose COLA , get a trade ban and now this umpiring in a grand final. Forget winning a flag for years it wont happen with these guys in charge. They are petty, hold a grudge and are corupt.

[Reggi]

AFL is seriously corrupt. Umpiring was unbelivable. By the final quarter Sydney supporters were just laughing.

I hope Hannebury sues as it had serious implications. No way Wood does that except that the Umpires gave them free licence to do anything.

I really wish the club would stand up and put in an official complaint. Longmire implied it.

Really was just diabolical

Gillon and Fitzpatrck need to go

- - - Updated - - -

If you don't think the umpitlring was influenced by the AFL you are extremely niave

[Reggi]

I also think we need better Journos for AFL in Sydney who will go to town writing articles on this stuff. Current batch simply don't

[Reggi]

I also think AFL in Sydney needs new Journos. OneS at SMH and Daily Telegraph are too meek and mild. It is obvious whatvtgey are thinking on twitter , nonwvwilling to sau "umpiring bias decides grand final"

[dimelb]

There are no NSW umpires at AFL level. None.
A state that supplies two teams has none.

Yeah, BYO umpires should fix it ?

I agree that we were severely handicapped by non-decisions on the part of the umps, but there were other reasons for the loss. Lance's injury was a match turner, and he made a couple of crucial errors in the midfield trying to compensate. It also showed that our forward setup needs work, as Xav wasn't able to step up, Tippett didn't impose himself and Gary Rohan was uncharacteristically quiet; they all seem to function better when Lance is up and about.

Unfortunately for us the Doggies' style - lifted from Hawthorn with a few wrinkles of their own - is one we find hard to counter. As I said elsewhere we really missed Aliir, who can intercept as well as Laidler but uses the ball much more accurately. Add that the experience of our younger players is still a work in progress and our prospects look better. We made great strides this year and we'll be back next season.

[Industrial Fan]

I don't think it was corruption etc but I was thinking this morning if we'd had the benefit of the bulldogs calls we win and media goes into meltdown about cola academies etc etc

[Reggi]

If you don't think it is corruption you sre niave

[Faunac8]

If you don't think it is corruption you sre niave

Big step up from basically poor umpiring to organised corruption .
I am not naive but I am also not a believer in your conspiracy theory.

[KTigers]

Basically everything fell the Bulldogs way. Sixteen "home" games, the bye after round 23, which allowed
them to get five guys back, and and simultaneously took away the traditional advantage of the qualifying
final winners, injuries to the best players from opposing teams (Ward, Buddy) and two consecutive
ridiculously favourable free kick counts. It wouldn't
have mattered if they were playing poorly, but it was enough to get them over line. They are not the best team
in footy, they just got a push start and rolled downhill with it.
It's unfortunate that the country & the code can't support a proper national comp with an even draw, so for
the foreseeable future we'll have to put up with the current regime. To me Grand Finals are just the icing,
the cake is rocking up to our spot at the SCG for the home & away eleven times a year.

[Reggi]

Big step up from basically poor umpiring to organised corruption .
I am not naive but I am also not a believer in your conspiracy theory.

The question you need to ask people like Gillon et al is "once bias was obvious, what steps did you tale to correct it"

When the answer is nada. Corruption

[Dosser]

If there was even the slightest hint corruption, the AFL would lose billions from sponsor/media lawsuits and lost sponsorship. To say there is active corruption really is tinfoil hat stuff. It is incompetence, pure and simple.

[Thunder Shaker]

Whatever gets you by......but that 'raw deal' cost may have cost us a premiership. Does that not piss you off just a little?

What cost us the premiership more than anything was Franklin spraining his ankle in the first quarter. The dubious umpiring had a role, and let's not forget there was another team on the park too.

But here's the biggest thing that cost us the premiership: we were 22 points behind on the scoreboard when the game ended.

[mcs]

Gary Rohan was uncharacteristically quiet
.

Sadly the game he had yeaterday is all too characteristic of rohan. For someone taken as a first round draft pick with a huge wrap, he continues to disappoint overall on the biggest stages in the game. As much as i love how he goes about his football, he just isnt the player he should be.

I blame Lindsay Thomas for Rohan not fulfilling his potential - as up to the broken leg he was developing very nicely. But that doesnt excuse the fact he was poor again on the big stage yesterday

[Number 43]

To add to the conspiracy theories... I thought each club got the same ticket allocation on Grand Final day. There appeared to be more Bulldog bays...or was that just the corporates/members being given free scarves perhaps....