Thought it was a good hard contest.
Too many people brainwashed by negative vibe ATM.
I love watching footy, and I would rather watch it than anything else - except maybe cricket, but thankfully they don't overlap often - but this is one of the areas in which the press and I am in agreeance.
Sure, the game opened up a little later, and sometimes the ball movement was scintillating, but too often I see blokes trying to avoid taking possession to try and draw a holding free rather than go and get the ball themselves; the side effect is that they are deliberately fumbling the ball. You add that to the actual fumbling that goes on, the borderline handpasses - I refuse to call something a handpass when the hand holding the ball determines the direction it goes - and the amount of time apportioned to umpiring - how unbelievably long it takes for an umpire to throw the ball up or in, the ensuring that the player goes behind the mark, the bullshit that players get away with when complaining about frees regardless of whether or not they were there - and you've got a recipe for roaming packs of players, all looking to get a free kick or lay a tackle instead of getting the ball.
The problem for me isn't the congestion, or even the rate of scoring. It's the pretty darn clear coaching directive to show a complete lack of courage when it comes to ball movement, and the clear coaching directives that encourage players not to get the ball themselves, instead playing a hyper defensive, kicking from a free/mark situation style game all match until suddenly a game of footy breaks out for ten minutes while the coaches struggle to maintain control.
Just play footy. Is it really that much to ask? Footy's not mark to mark; it's not waiting back for someone else to get the ball, or tackling in such a way as to get someone pinged for having prior opportunity. Footy's what happens when sides win the ball, and move it quickly, when they runin waves and play bravely, relying on their mates' determination to ensure they don't turn the ball over or if they do they'll get it back.
It's why I'm actually enjoying Collingwood more than I am Richmond at the moment.