Finals

[Sandridge]

So the AFL at last show some backbone!!

[Boddo]

And - not for the first time - a higher ranked non-Victorian club has to play the Grand Final on the home ground of their lower ranked Victorian opponent.

That may well be the way it has to be but you'd think the AFL would at least have the guts to make Richmond wear their away strip! The Crows finished higher and deserve to keep their usual uniform. But the AFL are apparently not going to adjudicate on the colour clash and are possibly going to toss a coin to see who gets to wear their normal colours! Amazing!

Click on the link I provided

[dimelb]

A few responses to the Cotchin (got chin?) incident:

North Melbourne great Wayne Carey said on Triple M Cotchin would be cleared.

"He is entitled to protect himself .... no case to answer," Carey said.

Geelong premiership skipper Cameron Ling also declared Cotchin would have no case to answer.

"Incidental contact ... there may have been head high contact but he didn't bump," he told Channel 7.

Fellow commentator Luke Darcy agreed: "You don't miss a grand final for that." (The Age online: Richmond vs GWS: Nervous wait for Trent Cotchin ahead of drought-breaking grand final)

I thought he might get off but one view shows him collecting Shiel's jaw before his chest - the sort of thing players get suspended for. The comments by the journalist are not so sure as the commentators.

[Wardy]

Well hopefully if Dusty wins the brownlow - the brownlow curse will be in place - some players who hv won the medal and were in the GF the following weekend - lose!!

[Ludwig]

The MRP will rule that Dylan Shiel



has and oversized head and a protruding chin, which contributed to the head high contact.

Fair call. Cotchin gets off.

[Sandridge]

Click on the link I provided

Thanks Boddo! We must have posted about the same time. I agree with you - sanity EVENTUALLY prevailed.

[sprite]

Forget the occasion, Shiel head down going for the ball and Cotchin chooses to bump him causing game ending concussion. Since the crackdown that has been suspension every time.

There is no way he can get off, I repeat that has been suspension every time so can't suddenly bookend the crackdown with a non penalised Cotchin jumper punch to Lachie Neale's jaw and a bump that leads to a match ending concussion.

Or in the AFL fairytale could they really let him off?

If watch carefully both players get the ball at the same time, Cotchin went in lower and made contact with the shoulder first. It wasn't a bump it was full effort to get the ball. Shiel sags off supporting his arm.

Shiel went to the forward and even had a snap for goal, he was struggling with his shoulder. Cotchin should be ok.

I feel that GWS are covering up the true extent of the injury which is he has damaged his good shoulder.

[liz]

I think Cotchin will be adjudged to have been contesting the ball and the high contact incidental. I don't have a problem with that. If it was one of our players I'd hope that's how it would be assessed.

There was another incident in the final quarter, however, where I could have sworn Cotchin made high contact with another Giants player in their forward 50. It was shortly after the incident on Whitfield. But the commentators didn't make any comment and they didn't replay it, so maybe I was imagining it. He certainly seemed to stop the Giants player in his stride.

[stevoswan]

Forget the occasion, Shiel head down going for the ball and Cotchin chooses to bump him causing game ending concussion. Since the crackdown that has been suspension every time.

There is no way he can get off, I repeat that has been suspension every time so can't suddenly bookend the crackdown with a non penalised Cotchin jumper punch to Lachie Neale's jaw and a bump that leads to a match ending concussion.

Or in the AFL fairytale could they really let him off?

Well, the good ol' boys at Channel 7 have done their darndest to make that happen....it was nauseating. "It would be absolutely criminal if Cotchin were to miss a Grand Final for that!" while even acknowledging that he had priors. Richo harping that "there's no doubt he was going for the ball".......WTF? The evidence says the opposite! Stevenson saying it isn't reportable so the third strike won't come in to play......the AFL has most likely duly taken note of the 'vibe' and Cotchin's pass to the GF will likely be granted.....

- - - Updated - - -

I think Cotchin will be adjudged to have been contesting the ball and the high contact incidental. I don't have a problem with that. If it was one of our players I'd hope that's how it would be assessed.

There was another incident in the final quarter, however, where I could have sworn Cotchin made high contact with another Giants player in their forward 50. It was shortly after the incident on Whitfield. But the commentators didn't make any comment and they didn't replay it, so maybe I was imagining it. He certainly seemed to stop the Giants player in his stride.

I saw that too, the Giants player looked hurt and Cotchin was the aggressor. Calmly ignored by the 'neutral' commentators. That could well be looked at as well. It will be an interesting week.

[Boddo]

My opinion is Cotchin gets a week. If that's round 9 it's a week. I don't see if your trying to run a professional competition you all of a sudden change it now. He had the choice to bump or go the ball n he chose the bump n a split second later decided to go for the ball.

[Blood Fever]

Well done AFL! Sanity prevails

Twitter

Well, isn't that big of the AFL. Now to actually have a credible National Comp, they can move the game to the home ground of the team that finished on top rather than the one that finished third. Tigers have done well but it makes a mockery of the league. Don't expect a peep about it in Melbourne. Nothing against Tigers but hope Crows win. They have been the best team over the year and shouldn't have to travel to opponent's home city and ground.

[aardvark]

Crows for me. Best team all year. The only real obstacle is an AFL inspired Fairycubs win.

As I thought.....another AFL inspired winner coming up folks. FAIRYCUBS!

[Wardy]

GO CROWS!!! Hv been in Adelaide this week - went to the good wood pub last night to watch the game - fantastic atmosphere - so hope the Crows win it next week !!

[Velour&Ruffles]

Well done AFL! Sanity prevails

Twitter

Sorry, but I totally disagree with you on the jumper issue.

The AFL approved Adelaide's jumper when they entered the competition. Presumably when they did so they considered whether it was similar to any other existing club jumper and decided that it wasn't, or at least not problematically so. I'm not sure how many times the Crows and Tiges have played each other before they started wearing a clash strip but the answer will basically be "lots". I'm not aware of any player from either club ever complaining of being confused during a game. Wear different coloured socks and shorts and the problem becomes even more minimal. The whole thing is an example of AFL officious bulltish, motivated by maximising merchandise sales rather than alleviating genuine confusion. They say they're all about the fan but this decision says the exactly the opposite.

The AFL can't possibly insist on either club wearing a clash strip without admitting that the AFl itself was mind-bogglingly incompetent in the first place. When we have literally millions of colours at our disposal, and millions more possible design combinations of those colours, are we seriously to believe that the governing body of a 13 team competition chose a design that was almost indistinguishable from one of the then 13 jumper designs that then existed, of all the many millions of combinations available? No even remotely competent organisation could do so. Either the AFL was grotesquely incompetent, or there is no clash worth worrying about. No other possibility exists. I say there's no real clash and that the Tigers and Crows should both wear their regular jumpers.

A few other observations, having been at today's game:

- Cotchin will (and should) be fine.

- GWS's supporters were in full cry. All 7 of them made a raucous din. At this rate, they'll have a decent following by the year 3746.

[KTigers]

Man, GWS just can't take a trick in prelims. Losing Ward to concussion in the first quarter last year, and Shiel very early in the
game today. If ever there was a team that would like the sub rule back, it's the Giants. Footy season now officially over.