Clutching at straws a bit there. We lost it because we kicked 5 straight points from fairly easy shots in the last quarter. Its a completely self-inflicted wound. No need to complain about the umpiring. Essendon can complain about the umpiring. I looked at all Cody Weightmans goals from free's and I dont think any of them were clear free kicks.
Swans v Giants Elimination Final 2021
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Absolutely. And while some are singling out lower players on little money like Bell... we pay one bloke $1.5m a year to kick critical goals and win finals, and he went missing in the second half and failed to nail a shot in the last quarter to win the game. Blame should be apportioned based on contract value in my opinion. With big bucks comes big responsibility. He gets away with a lot due to his reputation.
I’m still filthy at how we let this game slip and how so many things went wrong. There had been so much hard work and struggle under very difficult circumstances to get to this point & we really should have nailed it.
I don’t put the blame on any player - but more in the way we approached the game (& the previous few weeks included) , the selections, the game day strategy, the inability to adapt quickly enough, the lack of composure when we needed it (& I don’t mean the missed goals - I blame the coaching panel more than anyone here). We choked (as a club) & I’m gutted for the players themselves more than anything.Comment
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Umps seem to like the doggies in finals. At one time (yesterday) the free kick differential looked very similar to another game I can remember. Dogs were better team yesterday, however.Clutching at straws a bit there. We lost it because we kicked 5 straight points from fairly easy shots in the last quarter. Its a completely self-inflicted wound. No need to complain about the umpiring. Essendon can complain about the umpiring. I looked at all Cody Weightmans goals from free's and I dont think any of them were clear free kicks.Comment
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In the end yes, but Cody got most of his gift goals when the game was in the balance. Either keeping the dogs in it, or when they pulled away. A free kick inside 50 is an extremely valuable contributer to momentum.Comment
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I'm not claiming that we would've won, if only we were paid a free to start the final quarter. I was just wondering if we should have been paid a free? And overall, I thought the umpiring was a fair bit better than I was expecting, with Stevic and Nicholls kindly sent our way by the AFL.Clutching at straws a bit there. We lost it because we kicked 5 straight points from fairly easy shots in the last quarter. Its a completely self-inflicted wound. No need to complain about the umpiring. Essendon can complain about the umpiring. I looked at all Cody Weightmans goals from free's and I dont think any of them were clear free kicks.
Although I did think it was grimly ironic, that the gamed ended with the ball in the hands of Greene, after Stevic gave him a free, after what was at best, an incidental head clash involving two players going for the ball.
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Yes, definite momentum killers.Comment
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Not limited to just finals. Been the darlings of the umpires for years now, both regular season and in finals."You get the feeling that like Monty Python's Black Knight, the Swans would regard amputation as merely a flesh wound."Comment
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Totally agree. Hence the comment about the free count. When & where the frees are paid is critical. Dons got a few in junk time.Comment
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How you'll know if the AFL is serious or not? The second one, when he simply fell over the boundary line, was such a bad decision. The umpire clearly guessed at what happened, which is cardinal sin in itself. You can forgive the occasional missed decision given the blur of play and angles sometimes leaves them blind-sided. But you'd rather that than have them guess, or get it plain wrong.
If that umpire gets another game this finals series, the whole system is a joke.'Delicious' is a fun word to sayComment
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+1 I don’t get the criticism of coaches, MC on here. Even if Bell was the wrong choice, we played without 3 key players and should have won if we kicked any one of the 6 consecutive behinds in the last quarter.Comment
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That was immensely disappointing. Any number of things during the game could have changed the result, so singling out players is unfair. That said, I think if Wicks had kicked a goal rather than hitting the post we would have run away with it.
As an aside, I am reading Brandon Jack's book. It is evident that how the football club values performances is quite different to the usual, readily available statistics. So we might see someone having five kicks and a couple of handballs as a dreadful game, but they may have contributed a number of pressure acts, responded quickly to how the game moves and in general made life more difficult for the opposition.Comment
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Don't get me wrong, I thought it was pretty bad team selection too! But also it was the Giant's best team all year and we still should've won
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So you'd like to be the first speaker for the negative, when it come time to debate/evaluate Buddy's career?Absolutely. And while some are singling out lower players on little money like Bell... we pay one bloke $1.5m a year to kick critical goals and win finals, and he went missing in the second half and failed to nail a shot in the last quarter to win the game. Blame should be apportioned based on contract value in my opinion. With big bucks comes big responsibility. He gets away with a lot due to his reputation.Comment
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Are you serious? Buddy has had an amazing season and the kick from 50 was hardly a gimme.Absolutely. And while some are singling out lower players on little money like Bell... we pay one bloke $1.5m a year to kick critical goals and win finals, and he went missing in the second half and failed to nail a shot in the last quarter to win the game. Blame should be apportioned based on contract value in my opinion. With big bucks comes big responsibility. He gets away with a lot due to his reputation.
I won't comment any further on Bell's selection or performance on the day and season because it's already been done, but the size of his pay cheque doesn't make him immune from criticismComment

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