Biggest what-if in the AFL this decade

[Pistol Night]

I heard he's pretty close to release from his facility, that's nice for him.

Thats ****ed. Murder someone because you're a crackhead and get 5 years.

 

[Milanista28]

Thats f’ed. Murder someone because you're a crackhead and get 5 years.

Yep, he's been on part time supervised leave since 2018 I think.

 

[Pistol Night]

Yep, he's been on part time supervised leave since 2018 I think.

Back on the glass barbys and do it again probably. Some justice

 

[atlas1]

I still wonder how the 2011 GF would have gone had we held on against the Pies.

Would've got smacked.

 

[queensberryrules]

What if Dank was uncovered earlier at another club?

What if Ball stayed at Saints?

What if Fyfe didn't fluff his lines?

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[BBC1967]

Ah yes, the guy that every Richmond fan talked up massively but in reality was never that good.

You have no idea how valuble he is to our team. Your ignorance is breathtaking.

 

[NSWCROW]

I heard he's pretty close to release from his facility, that's nice for him.

If this were south america , he'd have been clipped by now

 

[The King!]

what if scott jeffrey wasnt a ****ing cheat

 

[Niggles]

Its quite disturbing how many think this year is the last of the decade.

You forgotten to take your pills again? 2020 is the start of the next decade. The 20's

 

[Papa G]

What if North was forced to go to the Gold Coast? Biggest misstep the league has made. So many of the league's issues over the last decade have come from them wimping out on that.

 

[docks]

What if....

People stopped f###ing around and just admit the booing of Adam Goodes was entirely based on racism, and was a disgraceful blight on the game, instead of trying to apologise for and excuse racists?

Has Adam Goodes dome research into his Irish ancestors, his father is Irish after all.

 

[Engimal v3]

What if North was forced to go to the Gold Coast? Biggest misstep the league has made. So many of the league's issues over the last decade have come from them wimping out on that.

I don't think the league can necessarily force anyone to relocate. In theory, I believe the North Melbourne members have to vote on any relocation proposal. Maybe a more invested North supporter can clarify. If I recall, they did offer a juicy ~$150 million package to the club, but it was turned down.

 

[Scholz Supremacy]

They just had Richmond vs Essendon in Round 17, 2016 on Fox Footy.

The Essendon top-ups actually almost won that game. So what if Essendon actually did win that game?

Would that have been curtains for Hardwick? Richmond had a very poor 2016 and Hardwick hadn’t coached a finals win at that point. So losing that game could have been the last straw for him, and then things probably turn out different for Richmond 2017-present.

 

[sunsofanarchy]

What if GAJ is the postman's

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[Back One Out]

What if Isaac Smith kicked the goal after the siren against Geelong in the 2016 Qualifying Final.

I've thought about that a few times. It's tempting to say we'd have beaten the Swans at the MCG 2 weeks later and then used our edge in experience to knock over the Bulldogs, but I don't think so. The Swans were red hot against the Cats in that Prelim Final and had beaten Hawthorn at the MCG in 2016, 2015 and 2012. Even if we'd got past them, the Dogs midfield was also way too hot for our boys. They would've whipped us.

In 2016, the Hawthorn players had extreme confidence from 3peating and maybe a few of our opponents were psyched-out by our winning aura. It helped us pinch a number of close victories that year; games we probably should've lost. That more than #freekickhawthorn was the cause of our 6-0 W/L record in close games that season. We could've easily been 1-5 or 2-4 in those games and finished on 13-9 or 12-10.

The reality is we weren't that good. We were on the slide, but winning on memory.

Forget the 6 close wins ... Let's just focus on our 3 point win over the Bulldogs in Round 3. If that result was reversed, we'd have slid from 3rd to 7th on the ladder. That was the Rob Murphy knee injury game when Hawthorn came back from 19 points down and young Sicily kicked the winning goal from 50m with a minute to go. The Dogs dominated us in general play 420 disposals to 330, but somehow found a way to lose. They were clearly the better team, IMO.

The Top 8 ladder postions were absolute raffle in 2016: 3 teams on 17 wins, 3 teams on 16 wins and the injury-plagued Bulldogs on 15 wins. If the Bulldogs had not had injuries, they probably would've finished on top of the ladder (and choked in September!) Their injuries and 7th place finish was almost a blessing for them because it lowered the fan expectations and perhaps enabled them to ambush their opponents in the finals.

The Hawks played really well to almost upset Geelong in the Qualifying Final. We nearly pinched victory, but the Cats weren't that great either.

The Doggies started really nervously in the Semi Final and gifted us a 4 goal head start, but once they knuckled down in the 2nd half, they completely dominated us. It wasn't close. If they played that game again, I reckon the Bulldogs might've won by 8 goals.

 

[Scholz Supremacy]

I've thought about that a few times. It's tempting to say we'd have beaten the Swans at the MCG 2 weeks later and then used our edge in experience to knock over the Bulldogs, but I don't think so. The Swans were red hot against the Cats in that Prelim Final and had beaten Hawthorn at the MCG in 2016, 2015 and 2012. Even if we'd got past them, the Dogs midfield was also way too hot for our boys. They would've whipped us.

In 2016, the Hawthorn players had extreme confidence from 3peating and maybe a few of our opponents were psyched-out by our winning aura. It helped us pinch a number of close victories that year; games we probably should've lost. That more than #freekickhawthorn was the cause of our 6-0 W/L record in close games that season. We could've easily been 1-5 or 2-4 in those games and finished on 13-9 or 12-10.

The reality is we weren't that good. We were on the slide, but winning on memory.

Forget the 6 close wins ... Let's just focus on our 3 point win over the Bulldogs in Round 3. If that result was reversed, we'd have slid from 3rd to 7th on the ladder. That was the Rob Murphy knee injury game when Hawthorn came back from 19 points down and young Sicily kicked the winning goal from 50m with a minute to go. The Dogs dominated us in general play 420 disposals to 330, but somehow found a way to lose. They were clearly the better team, IMO.

The top ladder postions were absolute raffle in 2016: 3 teams on 17 wins, 3 teams on 16 wins and the injury-plagued Bulldogs on 15 wins. If the Bulldogs had not had injuries, they probably would've finished on top of the ladder (and choked in September!) Their injuries and 7th place finish was almost a blessing for them because it lowered the fan expectations and perhaps enabled them to ambush their opponents in the finals.

The Hawks played really well to almost upset Geelong in the Qualifying Final. We nearly pinched victory, but the Cats weren't that great either.

The Doggies started really nervously in the Semi Final and gifted us a 4 goal head start, but once they knuckled down in the 2nd half, they completely dominated us. It wasn't close. If they played that game again, I reckon the Bulldogs might've won by 8 goals.

The Geelong vs Bulldogs SF is the interesting alternative.

Geelong are the only team that the Bulldogs did not beat in 2016, and they played twice. If anyone could have beaten the Bulldogs that finals series, it was Geelong.

 

[RichLeMonde]

Yeah, for some reason people are trying to rewrite history on this topic. Towards the end of his career Goodes dived so frequently and obnoxiously that it'd make Lindsay Thomas blush.

And yet no one booed Alex Rance or Matthew Lloyd...

 

[Pessimistic]

And yet no one booed Alex Rance or Matthew Lloyd...

orlly?

 

[RichLeMonde]

orlly?

Well, Hawks fans did after Sewell hit, but not for diving

 

[Hawker55]

What if Buddy kicks straight in the 2012 GF. Hawks four-in-a-row!

Hawks were arguably a five goal better team than the Swans and most teams all year, but found a way to lose the 2012 GF! Buddy kicks 3.4 and two OB's during the match.

About 6 mins into the last quarter Buddy is lining up for goal from 35m in the right hand pocket to put the Hawks 17 points up - but it barely scrapes in for a point....!
Swans rebound and shortly after kick a goal to put them just a goal behind - in hindsight these two outcomes were the turning point of the match.

The fact I've attended only three GF's in my life and flew half way across the World to be there (I was based in BKK at the time) just adds to pain of what could of been....

If we win 2012, we don't win the next 3. It was the near misses of 11 and 12 that motivated the threepeat.

 

[Sttew]

On the field the biggest impact has undoubtedly been the introduction of two new clubs.

So the biggest what-if is how things would’ve gone if they weren’t introduced.

Geelong would have kept GAJ and who knows what then....

 

[HairyO]

What if Hawthorn matched the Buddy offer.

We would have won 2014. But 2015 onwards we would have seen players like Breust and Sicily and Smith move on and couldnt have gone for OMeara and Wingard.

 

[MadMundy]

. What if the Adam Goodes racism saga didn't occur?
. What if Fremantle won their first premiership?
. What if Carlton hadn't sacked Ratten or Gold Coast with McKenna?

 

[HairyO]

. What if the Adam Goodes racism saga didn't occur?
. What if Fremantle won their first premiership?
. What if Carlton hadn't sacked Ratten or Gold Coast with McKenna?

Ratten is the big one there.

Letting Betts go over $50k is another.

 

[beema limapep]

What if Treloar chose Richmond?

What if Lynch chose Collingwood?