Best Runner Up in the AFL Era? - Poll

[Procrastinator35]

The weather in 2012 is taking on myth-like status. The truth is there was talk of bad weather in the lead-up that didn't eventuate. I'm told there might've been a light sprinkle at half time but if there was I was getting a drink and missed it. I'm sure the Hawks know every nook and gust variation given the MCG is home. An advantage and statistical anomaly to this whole poll most teams don't enjoy.

Go back & watch it, it was blowing a gale, which meant skills were atrocious on the day.

I also notice how you have avoided the none too obvious 'theft' on the part of VLAD & co, for their Sydney franchise....In gifting the 3rd ranked side all the benefits that were hard fought for & won by the First placed side.

A factor which made all the difference in those last pulsating minutes at the end of the 4th quarter.

Both your premierships will be forever tainted as *Assisted by the AFL.....2006 for the pardoning of Barry Hall at the tribunal for a full-on direct to the body punch, which was a complete joke....And 2012 for the utter & complete swindle.

 

[kid_a]

The weather in 2012 is taking on myth-like status. The truth is there was talk of bad weather in the lead-up that didn't eventuate. I'm told there might've been a light sprinkle at half time but if there was I was getting a drink and missed it. I'm sure the Hawks know every nook and gust variation given the MCG is home. An advantage and statistical anomaly to this whole poll most teams don't enjoy.

how anyone can actually use that as an excuse is still to me totally astounding.

Go back & watch it, it was blowing a gale, which meant skills were atrocious on the day.

I also notice how you have avoided the none too obvious 'theft' on the part of VLAD & co, for their Sydney franchise....In gifting the 3rd ranked side all the benefits that were hard fought for & won by the First placed side.

A factor which made all the difference in those last pulsating minutes at the end of the 4th quarter.

Both your premierships will be forever tainted as *Assisted by the AFL.....2006 for the pardoning of Barry Hall at the tribunal for a full-on direct to the body punch, which was a complete joke....And 2012 for the utter & complete swindle.

agree completely with the bolded bit, but it was actually 2005.
as for the rest, well clearly you are still very bitter about the 2012 GF, fair enough if thats your perogative.
Personally though i thought the Swans played a terrific finals series in 2012 and were well worth the win that day, although the Hawks certainly had chances to clinch it too.
Dont feel too bad mate, you still got three flags directly after that.....plus you even got to play all the gfs at home even against teams that finished higher than ya´s

 

[Procrastinator35]

how anyone can actually use that as an excuse is still to me totally astounding.

Agree completely with the bolded bit, but it was actually 2005.
as for the rest, well clearly you are still very bitter about the 2012 GF, fair enough if thats your prerogative.

It's not an excuse, it's what actually happened.

Yeah 2005/2006, I always confuse who won & who lost those years out of you 2 sides.

As for any bitterness?......No, the Swans were the better side on the day....But they got a fair old leg up there to start with.

That's called injustice......Apologies for taking such a concept as that so seriously.

 

[ScottBo]

It isn't some grand conspiracy of injustice from AFL house, it's scheduling and logistics. Take 2016 for example. Sydney finished top of the table but started its finals campaign a day after Hawthorn and two days after eventual premiers the Bulldogs. We didn't play the first final at the SCG as we were entitled, we played it at Homebush where the Swans were beaten by GWS. It's swings and roundabouts. If you blame an extra day in 2012 against a team that had to travel to the GF anyway and gusting wind at the Hawks home ground -- where they should be able to read the conditions better than a visiting team -- what about the amount of travel some teams do over others, Geelong playing finals at the MCG etc etc. The AFL isn't a level paying field. I kind of wish you were a Swans supporter. Given the Swans had to play a team below them on the table at their home ground in the 2016 GF with umpiring even the league described as below par you'd still be contesting it at the International Court of Justice.

 

[ManOfClay]

Given the Swans had to play a team below them on the table at their home ground in the 2016 GF with umpiring even the league described as below par you'd still be contesting it at the International Court of Justice.

Did you know the bulldogs didn’t play any more MCG games in the home and away season at that ground than the Swans in 2016? Because it isn’t our home ground.

Or that the league described the umpiring as below the standard expected in a grand final, not favouring one side.

Sydney 2016 is a great example for this thread. Such a great side but hannerberry and co shirked it when the game got tough

 

[Procrastinator35]

Did you know the bulldogs didn’t play any more MCG games in the home and away season at that ground than the Swans in 2016? Because it isn’t our home ground.

Or that the league described the umpiring as below the standard expected in a grand final, not favouring one side.

Sydney 2016 is a great example for this thread. Such a great side but hannerberry and co shirked it when the game got tough

Buddy certainly 'shirked it' when the going got tough in that last quarter.....Much as he did in 2012, when he couldn't hit the side of a barn door.

It's tough to win premierships when you're essentially a one man forward-line.

3 losing grand finals for the Budster…..And he's been a major factor in deciding the outcome of 2.

 

[ScottBo]

Did you know the bulldogs didn’t play any more MCG games in the home and away season at that ground than the Swans in 2016? Because it isn’t our home ground.
Or that the league described the umpiring as below the standard expected in a grand final, not favouring one side.

My point wasn't to rehash the 2016 GF it was to point out the the AFL isn't a level playing field and blaming an extra day and the weather conditions for the Swans beating the Hawks in 2012 is, in my opinion, ridiculous. I was pointing out there are inconsistencies everywhere.The AFL has set in stone a system where in 2016 the top of the ladder team had to play the seventh placed item in its home city. You win some you lose some. But I disagree with you on the assessment of the the umpiring.

From The Australian...

Overall, the Dogs received 20 free kicks to the Swans’ eight. The differential of 12 was the biggest in a grand final since the three-umpire system was introduced in 1994.

The AFL review didn’t deem last year’s umpiring performance to be poor, but it was the view of the league that it was beneath the level expected, especially considering the highly-experienced and more than capable trio who officiated — Stevic, Meredith and Scott Jeffery.

The league were embarrassed to the point that then-acting AFL general manager of football operations Mark Evans rang Sydney chief executive Andrew Ireland on the Tuesday after the match to apologise for the umpires costing the Swans four goals. The winning margin blew out late to 22 points after the Bulldogs kicked the final two goals in time on of the final quarter.