#AFL Round 7 Weekly Discussion Thread

[stevoswan]

So, likely to be his manager spreading inaccurate rumours, about Moore being chased by us. Because Eddie is a bit Swans obsessed, it probably resulted in a handy bump to Moore's contract.

Classic manager play......'plus my extra cut thanks'.

[stevoswan]

A lot of rightful talk on RWO regarding the crap umpiring we receive and of course, statistics don't tell the full story because they don't include 'free kicks not paid', which is where the Swans cop a lot of injustice.....so, while it comes as little surprise that we are -15 for the season in frees for v frees against, we are actually not the worst off in this area. I have to say, I was surprised that our deficit over seven games

Not sure if these stat's are post Rnd 7 or 6 but overall, there are 10 teams in the negative, 7 teams in the positive and one even (Freo). Of the negatives, Port Adelaide is worst off at -22 and Carlton are -20. We are fourth.

Of the positives, third is Geelong at +17, second is Collingwood at +21.

First place goes to.....and this will surprise no one, the 'Fairypups' at +43.

Some things never change.....

Stats Pro - AFL.com.au

[mcs]

A lot of rightful talk on RWO regarding the crap umpiring we receive and of course, statistics don't tell the full story because they don't include 'free kicks not paid', which is where the Swans cop a lot of injustice.....so, while it comes as little surprise that we are -15 for the season in frees for v frees against, we are actually not the worst off in this area. I have to say, I was surprised that our deficit over seven games

Not sure if these stat's are post Rnd 7 or 6 but overall, there are 10 teams in the negative, 7 teams in the positive and one even (Freo). Of the negatives, Port Adelaide is worst off at -22 and Carlton are -20. We are fourth.

Of the positives, third is Geelong at +17, second is Collingwood at +21.

First place goes to.....and this will surprise no one, the 'Fairypups' at +43.

Some things never change.....

Stats Pro - AFL.com.au

Indeed, some things do truly never change stevo. Your point about 'frees not paid' is a key one in the context of the swans, as that has been a real area of injustice imho for a long time. A lot of our excellent play (Primarily prior to this year) saw us unrewarded so often for quality tackles, forcing incorrect disposable and everything else. It didn't just happen in run of the mill games either. Had umpiring been more consistent with upholding and implementing the rules as they are, I have little doubt we'd have an extra premiership cup in the cupboard right now. But we don't, and we can't change history sadly

[stevoswan]

Ablett just got off....fair enough I reckon. Although he was careless, contact was hard to avoid and I doubt it was intentional.

[liz]

Ablett just got off....fair enough I reckon. Although he was careless, contact was hard to avoid and I doubt it was intentional.

I admit I haven't seen vision of this particular instance, but you need to be careful interpreting what "intentional" means in the context of the AFL tribunal rules. It really drags in an element of what used to be classified as reckless. For example, I don't believe Jeremy Cameron actually intended to knock Harris Andrews out last season but the way he entered the contest took it into the "intentional" category for the AFL rules.

I suspect there's a difference in interpretation between the tribunal and the MRP, with the tribunal more likely to interpret "intentional" to exclude reckless acts. Meg and I have an ongoing debate (away from this forum) about whether the system needs a third category brought back, or whether two does the trick. I'm generally in favour of retaining the two categories but I don't think "intentional" is a helpful label for the more severe of the two, because it does risk conflating more dangerous behaviours that the AFL wishes to stamp out with the common usage of the word.

(And again, all caveated on the fact I haven't seen footage of this incident - I just know that he entered a contest in the air with his forearm extended.)

[Sandrevan]

Ablett just got off....fair enough I reckon. Although he was careless, contact was hard to avoid and I doubt it was intentional.

Have to say i'm not impressed that Gaz got off. I saw the game on TV and they repeated the incident a number of times. If the AFL mantra of 'the head is sacrosanct' is real then he should have been suspended. Watching the footage his action was clearly intentional. He hit Dylan Shiel in the head with a forearm - he could have easily avoided doing this. Clearly, he didn't do a lot of damage as Shiel continued in the game.

Intending to hit someone in the head and intending to do damage are 2 different things. However, if you intend to hit someone (and do some damage) it's difficult to say 'I didn't intend to actually hurt him'. There are too many if, buts and maybes. My view is that if a player hits another player in the head intentionally they should be suspended. Incidents like this one just open the door to hitting your opponent in the head, knowing there's a good chance you'll get off if you go to the tribunal.

I like Gaz but i think he should have copped a week.