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

[Dave]

I've actually managed to find a recording of a conversation between Gillon McLachlin and Mike Fitzpatrick from last Monday morning! I've transcribed below:

GM: Well despite our best efforts in the last couple of years those bloody Swans have made it through again.

MF: Well let me tell you something, as long as Franklin is at that club, I?ll be doing my best to wreck their go at another flag. Made me look like a bloody idiot they did. And even after banning them from trading for a year they manage to find a way back. I hate them, I HATE THEM!!

GM: Relax Mike, I know you?re a bit antsy at the moment about your mob getting pipped at the post by the dogs, but we really couldn?t have an all Sydney final, we wouldn?t be able to walk the streets down here!

It?s just lucky that Scully?s 50m penalty for Johannisen going into the protected zone at the end was missed, chuckle. I reckon that would have got them home. Oh well.

Of course you understand that we really need to give the locals something before your boys are whipping everyone for the next decade?

MF: Yeah, I know, I know. So have you spoken with the umps dept yet?

GM: Not directly, but I?ve issued some directives to be passed on. I told them not to make it too obvious but hey, it hasn?t mattered for the last few years, ha ha!

MF: Ha ha, you?re right there. OK, so I?ve also planned a whole week of pro-dogs media saturation to really make it uncomfortable for those scumbags and the press are also onside to disregard any umpiring howlers in their post-match coverage.

GM: Nice one Mick!

MF: If only those dumb punters knew how much we actually control these outcomes.

GM: It?s good to be king.

"sound of glasses clinking"

[Hotpotato]

There were plenty in Fed Square who were wearing brand new Dogs Scarfs etc ...
Some openly admitted they had been Dogs fans for 1 month !!

[splatto]

I agree with everything you said, except for the Bulldogs being cheats. They didn't cheat, the Swans were simply umpired out of the game.

The Bulldogs played hard and deserved to win. We can only hope their game plan was not altered to take advantage of the lopsided umpiring.

[Velour&Ruffles]

I second that motion, I can no longer be a member of the club whilst the AFL Mafia run the show. Anyone who even believes you can play 2 quarters of AFL football and not even receive one free kick are living in Fantasy Land . I am glad the Daily telegraph ran an article on the fact the Bulldogs could push us in the back, slide and take our legs out, high tackles, and never have to worry about giving away a free kick or 50 meter penalty. What a luxury to have!!!

You forgot to mention the luxury of being able to blatantly throw the ball out from the bottom of packs. Liberatore alone must have done it 10 times. A couple were so blatant they were comical ..... one in clear view that was back between the legs like the snap in American football ....... play on.

[CureTheSane]

#playonbulldogs

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I have to admit, I took the loss a lot worse than I normally would because of the umpiring.
Had we simply lost in a fair game, I would have been upset, but not as upset as I was.

[Go Swannies]

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....

Big Footy last night said the Swans didn't exhaust their allocation and it was passed on to the Dogs.

[blackdeathmetal]

Hey guys. I'm not sure if this has already been posted but someone has started a petition for an AFL enquiry into the umpiring for the grand final. I'm not sure if any good will come from it but if you feel like action must be taken then by all means go ahead and sign up.

Attention Required! | CloudFlare

[rb4x]

Does anyone have the breakdown of the free kick stats by umpire. Total was dogs 20, Swans 8 but I would like to see if any of the individual umpires had a more extreme bias against the Swans. Even my wife made the comment that the blue team were being helped by the umpires. It probably was more by the free kicks that were not paid than the ones that were paid that got my ire up though a couple of the free kicks were absolute shockers.

[ugg]

The AFL has specifically barred Champion Data from publicly releasing the umpire stats. But it might be possible to make your own notes from watching the game and listening to the umpire audio on the telecast

[stevoswan]

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.

The first sentence displays some delusion in that we should still win without Buddy firing as there is 21 other players, the second is just plain patronising........

[undy]

My lifelong doggies mate told me that he thought we had had the benefit of some dubious umpiring. I thought the first half in particular was crap. But we were still in the game.
Too many passengers in our team for my liking. Their intensity in the last quarter when the game was there to be won was greater than ours.

[stevoswan]

Try telling Melbourne and StKilda that a flag won 4 years ago is a long time ago. The competition and everything connected to it is designed to even it out so everyone gets a go. If that doesn't happen the AFL sees that as a failure. If you don't believe the AFL wants us to drop down the ladder ask them why the trade bans and why remove cola? Can you think of a better reason for these things happening?

Except if Hawthorn win it! Yes, they obviously would like to see us drop down the ladder, but I don't see any evidence of them knee capping the Hawks......

[Maltopia]

Except if Hawthorn win it! Yes, they obviously would like to see us drop down the ladder, but I don't see any evidence of them knee capping the Hawks......

Why would they kneecap the Hawks, that would make it worse for the AFL when we are the other dominant club at the moment - better for the AFL for the Hawks to win 3 in a row (for the story) than Sydney win another so soon after 2012.

[Jewels]

There's a difference in thinking we got the raw end of the deal with the umpiring today vs it's all a big conspiracy against us.

Interesting snippet on the AFL website today. Point 5 of Ten Things We Learned in the GF.

Need to have a few bucks on Melbourne....they now have the longest premiership drought so it's their turn next year.....

No I'm sure the planning has already begun to plot the exact course for GWS next year.

[707]

Let's not pussyfoot around, here is the article straight from the AFL website

5. Did the men in green feel the pinch of a tense Grand Final?As hard as it is for the players, the job of the umpires must be even more difficult on Grand Final day, and there were some puzzling decisions at the MCG. The Bulldogs led the free kick count 12-4 at half time, with more than a couple of head scratchers going their way. The third term ramped up the pressure on the players and the Dogs were given another two or three questionable decisions, with a 50-metre penalty against Jeremy Laidler, and a high shot on Clay Smith among them. The Swans didn't land a free kick at all in the third quarter, and co-captain Jarrad McVeigh certainly made his feelings known to the whistleblowers. The below the knees rule also seemed to be abandoned with Tom Papley and Dan Hannebery both brought down by Dale Morris and Easton Wood with no whistle.