Reminiscing - and not in a good way

[Go Swannies]

If you are feeling strong you may wish to go to this YouTube compilation of all the free kicks we didn't get in last year's GF. It was like reliving the nightmare - and reminded me why I've given up on Grand Finals - I hate robbery movies. It's very well done - and the perfect way to describe to your partner why last year was so gutting. The Hawks ones we lost but maybe less so this one . . .

Free Kick Bulldogs | 2016 AFL Grand Final - YouTube

[WauchopeAnalyst]

I still haven't watched a replay of the GF. No point. At least it saved my about 2 hours of total BS umpiring and there are plenty of others, particularly the WOOD barging JACK after the mark very early in the game, and would had been a 50 and a certain goal but it was the Swans. The selective use of the rules and its interpretation is a joke.

[aardvark]

I wish I hadn't watched that. Combined with 2014 it probably has a lot to do with my lack of love for AFL at the moment.

[liz]

It's easy to draw too much from a compilation like that without seeing all the frees we did get (wouldn't be a long video) or the frees that the Dogs didn't get. And I have no intention of watching the whole game again. The in-the-back frees, in particular, are hard to judge because that's a rule that is very randomly applied in pretty much every game.

There are a few of those frees/non-frees that are especially irritating though, starting with the first one highlighted. Not only does the Dogs playing going to ground nearly take out Jack's legs (mitigated by Jack's evasive action), it's hard to see that there was any high contact at all to the Dog's player. Jack's jump took care of that. So why on earth did the umpire decide to pay a free TO the Dogs. The 50m penalty, on top of that, was especially galling. Where there is reasonable doubt over whether a player realises a kick has been paid against his team, the umpires almost always give the benefit of doubt to the player who plays on.

That one set the tone for the rest of the match.

[Cheer_Cheer]

I wish I hadn't watched that. Combined with 2014 it probably has a lot to do with my lack of love for AFL at the moment.

+ 1

[KTigers]

I can see how when two teams who play a contested style play each other then one team may give away 20 frees in a game, what I don't
understand is how the other team can only give away 8 frees in the entire game. If it's any consolation GWS were the team that really
got hurt by the umps "dismal performance" in the finals last year. They lost their prelim by 6 pts, and the free kick count 23-13, and didn't
receive an obvious 50M that would have put Tom Scully in range with about two mins to go. It's hard to argue
ten additional free kicks isn't worth at least a goal. In a just world, we would have played GWS in the GF last year. And the result? We'll
never know. Over the entire finals series the Dogs free kick count was 82 for, 47 against. Now of course the footy media are starting to
wet themselves again as they all chant "The Dogs are back" after stringing a few wins together over incredible teams like Essendon, the
Suns & Carlton.

[S.S. Bleeder]

Makes me sick to the stomach watching this. I still find it hard to believe that these were all one-off, one-sided errors. I can just picture Gillion telling Luke Ball during GF week, "you know what to do don't you".

This GF will go down is history as the worst umpiring performance in a GF ever. The Dogs do not deserve that premiership. They shouldn't have even been there. It should have been an all-Sydney GF.

[swanwolf]

Corruption is such an ugly word. The AFL prefer the term "managed outcomes". I can tell you that after the 2006 Grand Final, a cadre was formed to ensure a Victorian team would always be in the Big Dance. Judge for yourself how successful they've been.

But I'd be a hypocrite to complain about it too much on account of having won vast ammounts of filthy lucre over the years from their nefariousness. When Geelong lost last year's prelim, anyone who didn't put all their spare coin on the bravedogs over GWS must really hate money.

[Mel]

Wow. I've never seen the GF. I was overseas and although I'd arranged to watch it at 4am in an Irish pub, there was a misunderstanding and somehow I was stuck with the Caribbean ESPN station showing baseball Once I heard the result I decided not to ever watch it. That clip is ridiculous. Even if the decisions being all singled out makes them look worse, I can't imagine they looked good to begin with.

[AnnieH]

I'm not watching that!!
The whole thing just didn't happen.
OK.

[Hotpotato]

I was there, and was flabbergasted, to watch it again is awful. Some of them are 50/50 but quite a few are blatant .
For an interstate team to win the Granny, it's best to be done emphatically, because the vociferous crowd WILL affect the umps.
But 82-47 for the Dogs over the whole finals series is rigging in a far too overt manner.

[barry]

I was there, and was flabbergasted, to watch it again is awful. Some of them are 50/50 but quite a few are blatant .
For an interstate team to win the Granny, it's best to be done emphatically, because the vociferous crowd WILL affect the umps.
But 82-47 for the Dogs over the whole finals series is rigging in a far too overt manner.

Especially when you consider they played a final in Perth, and usually the Perth team gets more free kicks.

[crackedactor]

Brilliant video.!!! Thanks for having the courage to compile this. You also missed Liberatore's throwing the ball, which happened about three times. Can someone tell me how the Best AFL umpires in Australia can be accused of Mis Management??? It is either incompetence or Corruption, take your pick. As Long and Gil M and his wife cheating brigands rule the AFL, you will never see a Swans side win the Premiership. I know people will not what to hear this but it is true. Pay Back time for signing Buddy!

[goswannies]

If you are feeling strong you may wish to go to this YouTube compilation of all the free kicks we didn't get in last year's GF. It was like reliving the nightmare - and reminded me why I've given up on Grand Finals - I hate robbery movies. It's very well done - and the perfect way to describe to your partner why last year was so gutting. The Hawks ones we lost but maybe less so this one . . .

Free Kick Bulldogs | 2016 AFL Grand Final - YouTube

I'm not the sort of supporter who typically blames poor umpiring. That's just me.

I was at the granny (albeit somewhat oxygen deprived seated in the nosebleed section). From there is really didn't notice the free kick discrepancy.

I watched that compilation.

I want to vomit.

[S.S. Bleeder]

Wow. I've never seen the GF. I was overseas and although I'd arranged to watch it at 4am in an Irish pub, there was a misunderstanding and somehow I was stuck with the Caribbean ESPN station showing baseball Once I heard the result I decided not to ever watch it. That clip is ridiculous. Even if the decisions being all singled out makes them look worse, I can't imagine they looked good to begin with.

Don't watch the full match whatever you do. They were constantly throwing the ball, even to the extent of doing it over their heads and between their legs and they NEVER got pinged for it.

I'm waiting for the day when we be the beneficiaries of bad umpiring but I'll be dead by the time that happens.