Round 23 Crows v Swans

[MattW]

Correct. I was surprised the goal umpire didn't call for a review.

Suspect he should have. We got very lucky.

[crackedactor 01]

My wife saw that the Swans were 32 points ahead at 3/4 time and said "oh you have got this won" . I responded, not this team.

[Nico]

With Papley off I don't think we got a centre clearance in the last quarter. Our team balance was all out of whack. The few times we went forward they had a spare player back and we only had lumbering talls there. Also with Mills tagging Dawson (he seemed to negate him somewhat) we lacked the run we needed in the last quarter.

[Sandridge]

I think we finish 9th if we lose and Giants beat Carlton.

Which puts in the position of hoping Carlton win next week! Yikes!!!!!!

[Mickeydee]

Would rather stick pins in my eyes than listen to Brereton…if football was as complicated as his verbosity makes it appear he would not have been such a good player

[liz]

How about they (Dermie and friends) focus on how many shots the Crows missed in the final quarter. I do think they (the Crows) deserved to win based on how dominant they were in the final quarter, but not because of what may, or may not, have been an umpiring error.

[Sandridge]

A Demon supporting friend of mine just sent me some pics of the last point/goal. Impossible to tell from the pics, of course, what the right call should've been but there's one thing the pics do show - the goal umpire was in the perfect position to make a call. And he was obviously confident enough to not "go upstairs."

[Daisi]

Well there's a lot of bitter ranting from Adelaide supporters. I think I'd be the same if the position was reversed.

But we've been on the end of some poor umpiring decisions too- so ..I guess it's just the way the game is...

[The Big Cat]

Would rather stick pins in my eyes than listen to Brereton…if football was as complicated as his verbosity makes it appear he would not have been such a good player

Absolutely. He’s now talking about whether the AFL should overturn the result. Sorry Derm there was about a minute left to play! Absolute fool. Cam Mooney not much better saying the Swans won’t beat the Dees so the decision has allowed Swans to stay in the hunt for a finals birth. Panel suggesting that other teams in the hunt for a finals spot have been dudded as well.

[Matty10]

Suspect he should have. We got very lucky.

It is a strange system. If the umpire has no doubt, from his position, why should he ask for a review? If he heard or saw it hit the post standing in the best possible position then it makes sense that his call should dictate what happens.

It looks like a goal, but it was very close. The AFL does not have the technology to make a definitive call possible. We simply do not see the full rotation of the ball due to the inadequate number of frames per second.

Despite the technological limitations, I think a review would have changed it to a goal - but would that be the right decision?

[Sandridge]

Absolutely. He’s now talking about whether the AFL should overturn the result. Sorry Derm there was about a minute left to play! Absolute fool. Cam Mooney not much better saying the Swans won’t beat the Dees so the decision has allowed Swans to stay in the hunt for a finals birth. Panel suggesting that other teams in the hunt for a finals spot have been dudded as well.

The AFL website is showing a "last 2 minutes" video. The commentators call it as a goal but then, when they watch the replay, say it hit the padding.

[Roadrunner]

Yeah, but it was ruled a behind. I don't think I've ever seen a behind replaced by a goal based on an upstairs decision without a goal review.

Let’s face it guys- we were lucky in the end whether it was a goal or not. They had all the momentum in the last quarter and even though the umps gave the Crows every chance with some ridiculous calls, we bottled it big time! We have some deep thinking to do to uncover reasons for this lapse.

Sure, we played very well in the first half but this clearly ain’t enough. Even in the 3rd we started to lose our way a bit but still had a 32 point lead going into the final quarter. Bottom line for me: we’re just not good enough both physically and mentally at this stage. Of course Paps going off was a big loss and not having a decent sub didn’t help. But players (and Horse) panicked and left our forward line bare- to me it feels like a loss!

[aardvark]

What worries me is Papley injured, Parker 12 touches and Mills 11 touches. If that continues next week we'll get smashed.

[Daisi]

I don't think any Swans supporters- players, coaching staff or fans were celebrating that win. It was close, too close and we relied on luck. We must do something about those final quarter fades- yes teams come back hard when they are behind, so we should be prepared for that- but it's just happened so many times this year, that there must be some problem, somewhere with fitness.

What Roadrunner is saying is interesting- is it a psychological thing? Have the team recovered from the GF loss mentally? or is it a physical fitness thing?

[liz]

I don't think any Swans supporters- players, coaching staff or fans were celebrating that win. It was close, too close and we relied on luck. We must do something about those final quarter fades- yes teams come back hard when they are behind, so we should be prepared for that- but it's just happened so many times this year, that there must be some problem, somewhere with fitness.

What Roadrunner is saying is interesting- is it a psychological thing? Have the team recovered from the GF loss mentally? or is it a physical fitness thing?

I think more likely to be fitness.

Luke Parker was huge for us against Freo - more than a month ago. That was a culmination of a couple of excellent months from him after his quiet start to the season.

Since then he's had almost no impact. I wonder if he's again struggling with some niggle.