Autopsy AFL 2025 Round 3 - Hawks v Giants Sat March 29th 7:35pm AEDT (UTAS Tasmania)

[Leather Poisoning]

Do you think if I pulled up comments from you about Selwood they'd be consistent with this view?

I have never said that players should not run with bent legs and/or leaning forward

 

[Coasters7]

wow You are not a football fan if you cannot enjoy watching the hawks. (unless its against your own team then i get it)

I feel a bit gross watching Reid go about it currently rather than playing footy. Can’t imagine trying to talk myself into enjoying an entire team playing that way.

 

[triple treat]

Seems umpires are central to Hawks gameplan - the sad thing is they will keep getting it when it counts.

Head fu@ked…. Love it, keep whining

 

[Leather Poisoning]

The thing about the Watson hate is when he gets a legitimate free kick against (there were 3 or so tonight) people think it's more evidence that he gets free kicks only by staging or playing for them.

The last one he got tonight he had the ball and was sprinting and TWO opposition players accidentally copped him in the face as he ran through their tackles. Completely legitimate free kick and David King rage baited everyone by including it in the highlight reel tonight and saying that Watson is good at "driving through the legs" (which is a meaningless phrase)

The other free kick he gets a lot is when he picks the ball up and people tackle him too high. He's not ducking at all. To call him a ducker is the dumbest thing you can do. He might draw free kicks, accentuate contact - but some of you are so primed to see what you want to see you're making yourselves look stupid.

 

[Delisted]

I feel a bit gross watching Reid go about it currently rather than playing footy. Can’t imagine trying to talk myself into enjoying an entire team playing that way.

You won’t have to be watching him doing it for west coast for too long.

 

[WalshistheGOAT]

I have never said that players should not run with bent legs and/or leaning forward

No but you did say these...

"Selwood is a massive cheat. Every week ducks and flops"

"Call it ducking, shrugging, whatever - he plays in a way that thousands of fans think is outside the spirit of the game"

"I think that generally speaking if the afl brought in a rule that stopped Joel doing that free-kick-drawing thing he does there would be widespread applause. Call it whatever you want but it’s fairly universally disliked outside of Geelong fans."

 

[triple treat]

Nah, if they make finals, they're not going to reach the grand final, they're too inexperienced.

I think your to inexperienced as a football analysed

 

[WalshistheGOAT]

Whats that old saying from Obi Wan...

 

[HairyO]

Whats that old saying from Obi Wan...
View attachment 2266076

Its like Geelong and player payments. If you cant stop it, give your players massive paying jobs with sponsors.

 

[Reign Man]

I feel a bit gross watching Reid go about it currently rather than playing footy. Can’t imagine trying to talk myself into enjoying an entire team playing that way.

This is a myth that you have made up in your own head. So i dunno, enjoy that i guess.

 

[Coasters7]

I have never said that players should not run with bent legs and/or leaning forward

Watson picks the ball up and then leads with his head as a battering ram. Completely different to putting your head over the ball. It’s weak as piss.

 

[Coasters7]

This is a myth that you have made up in your own head. So i dunno, enjoy that i guess.

No one likes players that play for free kicks, especially their own players.

 

[HeHateMe]

Selwood did both, the ones where player wins the ground ball and gets caught on the way up like Watson or even Puopolo from he back in the day. But also the ones where he felt contact on the arm and lift the arm to duck under the tackle getting the forearm to the temple on the way through. Those are closer to that way Ginni once went about it.

I think people get these actions confused.
I'm in the camp if the tackle starts low and is lifted up it's no free but the rules should protect the player with the head over the footy.

Maybe people want both ruled out but if you start ruling out the ground ball ones your going to start seeing alot of mids from all teams start missing out and getting more head knocks.

 

[Delisted]

Watson picks the ball up and then leads with his head as a battering ram. Completely different to putting your head over the ball. It’s weak as piss.

 

[WalshistheGOAT]

Its like Geelong and player payments. If you cant stop it, give your players massive paying jobs with sponsors.

After SDK's performance tonight I'm tipping a new 200 acre farm is about to go on the market for a quarter of the price and Jon Ralph will come out with "New landing spot for TDK uncovered"

 

[amazingjoshy]

Obviously the one that got about 4 high frees in the last.

Did you get this upset when Shuey won you a final after the siren doing the same thing

Obviously

 

[Coasters7]

You won’t have to be watching him doing it for west coast for too long.

Melbourne media only rusting him on to WA

 

[Strapping Young Lad]

You support a club hell bent on bending rules rather than playing footy. Sam Mitchell’s bread and butter so not really unsurprising

Keep melting.

 

[Hodgey 15]

You support a club hell bent on bending rules rather than playing footy. Sam Mitchell’s bread and butter so not really unsurprising

You're embarrassing yourself dude.

 

[RCAB]

 

[earthworms]

if you don’t want to give away a free kick then don’t tackle the opposition player above the shoulders smh

 

[Dewyyyyy]

Honest question, if Nick Watson came up against Luke Hodge and Jordan Lewis in their primes in the unsociable Hawks era what do you think would happen?

Would you have been cheering on the serial ducker?

They’d of probably coat hangered him like everyone else until they realise that there’s nothing to gain from tackling lazily. Drive for the hips and lock the arms.

 

[Dewyyyyy]

I'd like to think as footy fans we could all agree ducking is bad. Team bias shouldn't come into play there.

Watson is a wonderful little player who certainly doesn't need to duck to be effective. So I'd like to see it out of his and other players games too. But if umpires keep paying them they'll keep doing it.

Big difference between ducking and just going low. Ducking insists that the player has gone down at the knees or shoulder and raising the tackle high. Watson didn’t do that and doesn’t. He drives low and hard to gather it however that may be, ground ball etc. He drives up through the tackle as he’s A short and B powerful and often gets taken high as he’s going up and through.

 

[Mr Meow]

I’m sure with the fitness and flexibility levels of AFL players these days that they can lower themselves and tackle in an appropriate area.

They failed to for Selwood's whole career. The thing with Joel's approach is it was still a football action, in that he would break clear of the pack regardless of copping one high. 2009 GF goal was an example. Also he was tough as nails. The shrug while going through a pack was tactical, but it would still work in isolation without a whistle involved.

The complete flop style of Watson/Ginnivan etc is often giving up on the play because there's no capacity to keep going - it gets called or the player is caught.

Despite this the hysteria about it, and the free kick Hawthorn narrative, is still completely overdone. The onus remains on players to adjust and do better. Do I love seeing players do it? No. But it is what it is. And most of them are legitimate free kicks.

 

[MasterSamurai]

I see free kick Hawthorn narrative has begun! So, therefore, it can only mean one thing.... WE'RE BACK BABY!!!!!