Autopsy AFL 2022 Round 15 - Cats v Tigers Sat June 25th 4:35pm EST (MCG)

[PhatBoy]

The incident is what it is … that will be sorted out …. I’d like to comment on the actually game and it’s intensity…. I’ve not been so pumped during a home and away game as I was on the weekend …, that match had everything ….. if we happen to make the finals a rematch with the cats will be electric …. Saturday was as close as you could get to finals football

It was a very very good match to watch and 100 per cent had a distinct finals element to it.

 

[Falcon3518]

It was a very very good match to watch and 100 per cent had a distinct finals element to it.

If we play you in finals you confident you can beat us? What do you think your odds of winning would be? I think it would be 70-30 our way.

 

[BringOn2017]

Yes, in other words an ability to not make bullshit excuses and attribute every single thing that went against Richmond to a conspiracy.

Not giving a novel length reply to a post but still acknowledging it and raising a considered thoughtful response to one aspect of it, is slightly different to ‘Selwood is a dog, Stewart is a sniper, that was pre-planned, Brad Scott will get Stewart off, Umpires are in their pockets, we win when it counts’ and assorted other boobery that we saw in the aftermath of Saturday.

I'm not saying any of that. It was just s**t umpiring for the day which your team clearly gained an advantage which won the game and probably will be the difference between a top 4 spot. The game was decided by extremely hard to agree with decisions in front of Geelong goal/ centre bounces. 26- 13 free kicks won the game. Of course, when your get advantage by any system, you are much more likely to be motivated not to see it and defend said system.

 

[PhatBoy]

If we play you in finals you confident you can beat us? What do you think your odds of winning would be? I think it would be 70-30 our way.

We beat you by 3 points with one of your best players missing and after leading by 35. And we have a terrible finals record against anyone, and we have a bunch of newish players who don’t have a lot of finals experience as it is.

No, I wouldn’t be confident playing anyone but Collingwood and the Dogs in finals.

 

[PhatBoy]

I'm not saying any of that. It was just s**t umpiring for the day which your team clearly gained an advantage which won the game and probably will be the difference between a top 4 spot. The game was decided by extremely hard to agree with decisions in front of Geelong goal/ centre bounces. 26- 13 free kicks won the game. Of course, when your get advantage by any system, you are much more likely to be motivated not to see it and defend said system.

Because the system doesn’t exist.

 

[BringOn2017]

That is what everyone says. There is quite obviously a system.

The AFL system where they have been changing rules for 20 odd years now, to the point where it is a completely different game where the umpires have way too much power to ‘interpret’ every contest and thus having way too much influence on the game.

Whenever there is a point in the game where the umpire needs to decide to ball it up or give a free kick for holding the ball…. There is very little actual logical reason for why they decide which one. It really is just like WWE where no one knows the umpire will do.

I think a lot of the time it’s just if the umpire doesn’t call it a ball up in the first 2-3 seconds, the pressure just builds to pay a free kick for holding the ball.

But when you win by 3 points and win the free kick count by a 2 - 1 ratio, including some terrible decisions that directly resulted in goals, you will claim there is nothing to see here.

Enjoy the win, just don’t tell me it is an even playing field, when it is clearly not. The umpiring across the field is just purely woeful and they directly impact results on a regular basis.

 

[Phipppppa]

If we play you in finals you confident you can beat us? What do you think your odds of winning would be? I think it would be 70-30 our way.

60-40 your way.

I’m never normally confident in finals, I was only confident last year vs GWS in the second week.

 

[Royce Hafey]

I don’t expect compliments. I expect grace.

And the home and away to finals umpiring differential has one very obvious explanation.

In finals MOST sides - unfortunately not us - put a much bigger focus on pressure and intensity. The weighting of those things against game plan change completely in finals. The tigers game plan generally revolves around that anyway. They don’t have to change their game. Other teams do and they get adjudicated on the same spectrum.

Grace is unavailable. Only Agnes and Gladys are on duty.

 

[dangerwood]

It is hard to take the game seriously when the result is so evidently decided by terrible umpiring. No consistency at all. We just have this mentality that any criticism of the umpires is being a sore loser, so we therefor never try to change it.

Seriously, 26- 13 free kicks for the game. Miers getting that free kick for 'holding the game' right in front of goals is just one example. Watch the replay, even Geelong players were not expecting to get a free kick. But its an easy shot in front of goal. The countless free kicks at centre bouncers for god only knows what. The most laughable 50 m penalty to bring the Geelong player right in front of goal. All of that, plus more, is easily more then 2 points, so therefor the game was decided by unprofessional amateur umpiring and a sport that is turning into a joke. And it is not just one game, this random blowing the whistle, random 'interpretations' has been happening for 15 plus years now.

The holding the ball rule is just funny at this point. Run with the ball and just drop the ball when tackled apparently is not holding the ball... but the umpires will randomly just pay holding the ball to someone at the bottom of the pack.... but then the next contest someone will drag it under them and have no intent to get it out and it is not paid. LOL there is no rule anymore, just whenever the umpire wants to randomly give a a free kick.

The same happens with the 'protection zone' and the new 'stand' rule on the mark. Sometimes, the umpire just pays a 50 m penalty. Other times you hear them screaming at a player to get back and they dont listen and nothing happens. Other times a player runs through the mark, Like Buddy Franklin a few weeks ago, and the umpire just looks at him and doesn't pay a free. I'v never seen a sport where the interpretations of the rules are so wide that it basically means anything.

The game is s**t and I hope it loses its relevancy as a sport in this country.

Nothing against Geelong, enjoy the win. But lets not pretend like any of us have any idea the majority of the time when the umpire blows the whistle what the heck decision they will come up with. And then pretend that it has no impact on the result of the game.

Fair enough. I wouldn't deny the umpires had an influence and I agree to not understand how or why many free kicks are paid (ruck contests in particular), so no denying or pretending it's not an issue from me but I still love the game and I thought Saturday was an epic contest, bad umpiring and all.

I'm not sure umpiring woes are limited to the last 15 years, yes there's lots of changes, many rules I actually like but people have always been complaining about umpires. I'm not sure you'll find a team game where umpiring calls aren't an issue.

Anyway, not sure why I'm responding, you're not going to change your mind, guess I just think it's a great game despite umpiring issues and it's disappointing to read you saying you hope it fails.

 

[STPer18]