Autopsy 2017 Preliminary Finals, Liked, Learnt and Hated

[TheKanga]

Liked: Adelaide putting on a show, proved they are premiership favs.
Learnt: This week will be all about Richmond.
Hated: Shiel concussion & horrible bias commentary. May as watch games on mute.

 

[Carringbush2010]

Learnt: we have 2 worth contenders for the premiership!

Liked: the passionate crowds at AO and the MCG, also liked the decibel meter on ch7. Wow it was loud!

Hated: nothing!

Will hate: if Cothin or Sloane gets rubbed out, surely the mrp needs to start ruling on intent and not the outcome!

 

[Dee Train]

Liked GWS getting flogged twice, liked no Haw/Syd/Geel in the big dance. Learnt that Richo's a good commentator - he only let his guard down right on the final siren. Hated the fawning over Dangerfield, sickening.

 

[Garry Barry]

Learnt: Dusty is untackleable. Clubs will have to work out a technique against him over the off-season.
Liked: Dangerfield losing. It something about big names chasing glory and their former teams doing better. Buckley, buddy, now danger.
Hated: any suggestion that cotchin should be let off. ffs.!

 

[Ramify]

Liked : Whats to like? Okay, the finals series has been saved by the Tigers.

Learnt : If you play 14 games at home including two finals, you more than likely will play off, is there a more uneven run competition in the world?
Leon Cameron's Ferrari needs a tune up...probably a full service? A new head mechanic?
Cats did well to at least beat the premiership favourites in one final. They have to make some hard calls on a least three players who played the other night. They will be heavy duty players at the trade table...

Hated : Whinging Crows fans after THEY win, s**t a brick, what do these people want? It will be 47 days since they were in Melbourne when they arrive on Thursday (Is that when they turn up?) No doubt after the Tigers get through with them, they will be crying foul over the Tigers home ground advantage!
Geelong losing of course, but why the consistently poor starts?
Richmond board meekly folding to Gil's demands to wear their clash strip...

The solitary bitter post in the whole thread.
Kudos mate!
Keeping the stereotype alive.

Liked: Tiges crowd, team, gamestyle.

Loved:Crows crowd, team, gamestyle.

Learnt: We will have our work cut out for us.

Hated: The Cotchin incident and the stupid comparison to Sloanes collision with Dangerflop.

 

[Ron The Bear]

Liked: Tigers, finally
Learned: Ticketek are campaigners
Hated: Missing out on a ticket, there are apparently less than a thousand of us platinum (i.e. 25+ years) members at RFC. Happy to pay $750 for standing room... please PM.

 

[mattpolo8]

Liked:
That noise
The best side all season in the big dance

Learnt:
Just like Sydney, Geelong have alot to re-evaluate over the off season
Gws still a team of individuals

Hated:
Not much. Our sister bar in Richmond copping a belting and needing all our staff on chapel st

 

[Mogwai]

Liked: Adelaide's dismantling - fair to say we're the two best sides in the competition
Richmond's crowd - jewel of melbourne, really bought into the spirit.
Don't mind deledio booing - on a fair bit and held us back, leadership group a lot healthier this year, impressive lids made it to the very end as a VC. never really took us to these heights during his supposed prime during 2013-15, often tagged out of games and eclipsed by Cotchin when the latter was still young. that being said i would have claimed him as our own and wished him the most in every respect if the giants had made it.
Charlie Cameron - if the crows do lose him... good for me, but he's looks every bit an eddie protege. will give our small backs a huge concern, and I worry.
Motlop: bit like Klay at GSW, eclipsed by Durant. i fear duncan might feel the lure to lead at another team if the geelong slide *finally* happens (it doesn't seem to be the case *yet*)
D. Rioli: daniel variety around tigerland is going to be some player as well. nice to have Danihers and Riolis still running about, lovely tradition
Castagna: lifted a lot, career high numbers i think, 18p, 1g, 15 pressure acts, 1 almost screamer. still prefers shanks to sausages but gotta admire his 2nd efforts, might get a job on Laird - think Castagna got Shaw or Wilson and did well by sticking to his task, I have faith he can neutralize Laird..

disliked: Steve Johnson's third qtr - thanks for all you have done. i stood and applauded for you, in part among other pressing concerns, after the siren. that was some awful football, you could've been honest and kicked 6 in your last game.
Daniel Menzel: the game was crying out for you.
Tom Hawkins: Comparable to Jack Riewoldt goal-form wise, but influence is next to none. other sides take note, this isn't how you use key forwards anymore unless you have 4 like Adelaide or with a leader in Walker/Riewoldt.

 

[SBD Gonzalez]

Disliked:
- The footy world looking to get hard players suspended. A decade ago the Cotchin/Ellis hits would've been on the plays of the week, instead of character assassination. Let them play.

Concussion is concussion. Get used to it.

I'm not saying they should be suspended, but I most certainly am saying we can no longer say "let them play" as if one person's chance to playing a GF overrides another person's long-term health. The medical evidence has overwhelming for some years now. "A decade ago" is a long time ago, knowing what we know now.

 

[romeohwho]

Liked: tigers and crows the most worthy finalists making the big dance. Really looking forward to it.
Hated: nothing
Learned: falling for the temptation to play one more year in usually a mistake.

 

[JPetro83]

Liked: The Crows turning it on and restoring belief to me.. the feeling was amazing during that last erm.. the crowd on the hill where I was standing was unreal.. it was party mode and very emotional.
Learnt: This week will be dominated by "Richmond this and Richmond that" already on tv shows its all been about the tigers.. the crows are getting nothing. I really hope the pressure and hype gets to the tigers and the crows fly in under the radar a bit.
Hated: KB jumping onto "guernseygate" a second after his team just made it to the GF.. Geez mate enjoy the moment you old flog. Hate all the MRP talk.. the MRP should have nipped it in the bud and sat yesterday morning so fans and the two clubs can settle and know whats going on.

 

[HairyO]

Hated: Nothing.
Liked: The 2 teams which made it through to the GF.
Loved: Eddie Betts being so happy for his team making it to a GF, and the cheering from him every time a team mate kicked a goal.

 

[Bokonon_]

Liked: The Crows turning it on and restoring belief to me.. the feeling was amazing during that last erm.. the crowd on the hill where I was standing was unreal.. it was party mode and very emotional.
Learnt: This week will be dominated by "Richmond this and Richmond that" already on tv shows its all been about the tigers.. the crows are getting nothing. I really hope the pressure and hype gets to the tigers and the crows fly in under the radar a bit.
Hated: KB jumping onto "guernseygate" a second after his team just made it to the GF.. Geez mate enjoy the moment you old flog. Hate all the MRP talk.. the MRP should have nipped it in the bud and sat yesterday morning so fans and the two clubs can settle and know whats going on.

That's a really good idea to schedule the MRP early in a huge week.. Should be pre-scheduled for next year. That way there's no possible perception of preferential treatment. Most years will have something out of the PF's

 

[MinerBoy]

Liked: Tigers winning, Cats getting pumped

Hated: the Cotchin hysteria. Great play

Learnt: Riolis love September

 

[MinerBoy]

• The fact i won GF tickets a few weeks back and now the Crows are actually in it!

Congrats Have a great day.

 

[RupieDupie]

Learnt: After crying for a few days straight, trying to find some excuses, like it wasn't fair somehow, then eating a bucket of ice cream, then crying some more, then making up some more lame excuses, I'm nearly at the stage of acceptance.

But before I get there, here is another excuse, in the cold hard reality of Saturday evening, I ran a few stats to get my mind off the reality of what I just saw. I went hardcore too, including the use of Google Tensor Flow and video footage from the last 20 years of AFL Finals. Then I stuck it in a supercomputer. The results are in.

Aside from all the usual and useless stats of kicking efficiency and being accountable in defence etc I found another interesting stat. Apparently the meaner-looking team wins, or conversely, the attractive team loses.

Looking at the 2012 AFL grand final national anthem and even the thickest-necked heterosexual rugby league prop could be forgiven for feeling a stirring in his loins while looking at the Hawthorn starting line-up, yet Sydney looked like the Swans kitted out a few Sabre-toothed Tigers in the red and white. Then in 2014 the opposite happens, Sydney looked very pretty, but Hawthorn resembled a pack of hardened criminals.

Mean, also seems to be correlated with bald heads (remember how Geelong used to look like, compared to the sexier Geelong of the modern era), and bushy facial hair.

This is why IMO Adelaide have a bit of work to do between now and Saturday, because there are a few Richmond players who can give Ned Kelly a run for their money, and not to mention Dusty looks like an escaped 1788 convict. Incidentally, rumour has it that Dusty once coughed when passing an eight year old boy, and that kid went through puberty on the spot, shot up 7 feet, and has been recently drafted by the LA Lakers.

This is why GWS didn't stand a chance, GWS players wouldn't look out of place at a male model convention. As soon as these guys are old enough to grow some facial hair they should get on it.

But getting back to Adelaide, here's a few ugly guy tips for the pretty guy, Tex Walker needs to work on his pr0n-stache, but good on him for getting rid of that sexy-mullet he used to sport. In my reckoning, with his ability, he is currently at about 7/5ths the average player, but if he shaves his head or grows a beard between now and Saturday and he will be at 12/6ths. Sloane, tut tut tut, he isn't even trying, I'm recommending a Mohawk with a tattoo of a gaping wound on the side of his head. The Crouch boys need to start working on some asymmetry.

 

[RupieDupie]

Actually, this is no joke, check out Richmond vs WCE this year when it was bucketing down, Riewoldt's hair was sliding all over his face like an orange peeling on the top of his head, and then check out Wellingham for WCE, he flicked his head back and his thick black locks flew over his head like a stallion, and there were, apparently, one or two squirts from the audience. WCE didn't stand a chance that day.

Riewoldt - "I'm going to eat you for breakfast"

Wellingham - "This is what Jon Snow would look like if he ever smiled"

The resultant battle - 5:50 in the clip below (if my eyes serve me correct this is Wellingham?)

 

[Partridge]

Learnt nothing. Just confirmed that for all the arguments, complaints about biased umpiring, etc, the two most deserving teams are in the Grand Final ..... as usual.

I liked how all season we were told that finishing top 4 didn't matter, and that the final round bye changed everything (based off a sample size of 1).

In the end, nah not really. The top 4 teams all reached the Prelims, and the two best sides that smashed their opponents in the Qualifying Finals backed up and repeated it in the Prelims. Turns out that finishing top 4 is pretty important, and winning your Qualifying Final is too. Amazing.

 

[thecatattack]

Liked: Rioli dominating, Tiger army roaring. Adelaide vs Tigers GF will be nuts.

Learnt: We need to do a bit with our list to be proper contenders

Hated: Have a guess

 

[M0557]

Liked:

• seeing Adelaide comprehensively win a Prelim, particularly against a bogey side containing one P. Dangerfield
• seeing super electrified atmosphere at both venues
• seeing a changing of the guard (no Hawthorn/Sydney/Geelong in the GF)

Learned:

• GWS confirmed that old adage "A champion team will always beat a team of champions". They just don't get the concept of playing for each other
• A team CAN be made stronger even if it loses its best player
• Richmond proved they are worthy of a GF berth

Hated:

• The continued poor performance by umpires
• The "random" ticketing allocation system for the GF

This post. Bang on!
Enjoy the week.

 

[evo]

Hated: Missing out on a ticket, there are apparently less than a thousand of us platinum (i.e. 25+ years) members at RFC. Happy to pay $750 for standing room... please PM.

I feel your pain man, 20+ years constant support Gold membership. Dipped out in the ballot. My son is devastated.

 

[Ron The Bear]

I feel your pain man, 20+ years constant support Gold membership. Dipped out in the ballot. My son is devastated.

Have since managed to acquire one through an act of kindness. We all feel the same at missing out. Good luck evo.

 

[Adelaide Hawk]

I liked how all season we were told that finishing top 4 didn't matter, and that the final round bye changed everything (based off a sample size of 1).

In the end, nah not really. The top 4 teams all reached the Prelims, and the two best sides that smashed their opponents in the Qualifying Finals backed up and repeated it in the Prelims. Turns out that finishing top 4 is pretty important, and winning your Qualifying Final is too. Amazing.

Just serves to demonstrate how devoid the media is when it comes to expert knowledge of the game. There are a few good ones out there, but very few. It only takes one "expert" to devise a ridiculous theory and the majority just fall into line because they don't want to be the only ones who are wrong. The problem is, there's still a majority of supporters, especially on this forum, who give the media way too much credit for knowing what they're talking about. It is just ridiculous to think that finishing top 4 can be a disadvantage.

 

[Goggin Our Best]

That Neil Balme is a lucky charm - doesnt matter how many years you have been in the wildnerness - appoint Balmey as your football manager - and you are straight into a GF - you can book your GF tickets as soon as Balmey is appointed

I think this is his 7th GF as a football manager at 3 clubs .

 

[DangerSloane]

Learnt:

Sportsbet are good at tempting me, have Adelaide to win $30 next week or Richmond to win $80 next week and they are offering me $50 cash out right now. Damn you sportsbet

Liked:

The two best teams showing that the bye means little when you are clearly better then the rest
Yellow and black

Disliked:

Booing Deledio, the man bled for you, at least show him some respect.

This is always tough. Same thing with Dangerfield for us. He gave everything up til the last minute, knowing he was leaving.
But both players left because they thought that the grass was greener on the other side and the other teams were better chance of a flag (Dangerfield obviously also left for family + home, but if Geelong were 18th I bet he doesnt go). That always feels like a big FU to the club and fans.