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Review Cats into ANOTHER PRELIM (14 of 18) after beating Lions by 38 points

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Lethal was on AFL360 last night trying to justify the umpiring decisions. He’s in the tiny minority. No conflict of interest at all. 🙃
I watched that and I think Leigh was correct overall really. I don't think he was justifying the umpire's decisions, he was more rebuking the AFL for their reaction to it.

Things he said:

  • It was technically a free kick, push in the back. I agree with that. Technically.
  • He said it was contentious - he didn't harp on about that but he agreed it was.

The key thing is, this was a judgement call and whilst the umpire's judgement was an outlier to just about everyone else, it was his call and he made it. Having the AFL come out and tick off or repudiate every contentious decision would be a tiresome and pointless exercise. I mean, OK so the first one "wasn't a free" according to the AFL. Cool. What do we do with that.


He then went on to say the AFL threw the umpire under the bus by saying it shouldn't have been paid. I do agree with him generally about this - the AFL should be standing by their umpires a lot more and not reacting to every media request for 'does the AFL sanction this or that decision?'

So he has a point there. AFL should only comment more broadly on umpiring where there are systemic problems with it or systemic misunderstanding of the rules on the part of players, coaches and fans.


On this 'judgement call' though: In the back has been almost a non-rule though for a while so he (Leigh) could have expanded upon that a bit.
 
Yeah, on the surface of it, it sounds like he was being really over the top. Being photographed at an open session isn't a crime.

It raised my eyebrows that he was so sensitive to a seemingly innocuous and normal situation.

It seems to be a real overreaction - unless it's revealed that there's more to it, but the pics and observations suggest not.
 
Wish I took a screenshot of it at the time, but noticed with amusement this morning a post on Brisbane's FB page which somehow got in my feed where Cam Rayner mentioned he heard someone had their Cam Rayner cap stolen at the 'G on Friday night and that he's working to get them a replacement, and the first reply to the post was someone asking if it was a floppy hat. 🤣
 

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It raised my eyebrows that he was so sensitive to a seemingly innocuous and normal situation.

It seems to be a real overreaction - unless it's revealed that there's more to it, but the pics and observations suggest not.
Something bothersome about getting photographed receiving treatment
Not sure, feels wrong

Having said that the blow up deserves an apology, not acceptable.
 
Something bothersome about getting photographed receiving treatment
Not sure, feels wrong

Having said that the blow up deserves an apology, not acceptable.

It was an open session to the media.

He was treated in full view of those attending.

Not sure where there was a basis for complaint.
 
It raised my eyebrows that he was so sensitive to a seemingly innocuous and normal situation.

It seems to be a real overreaction - unless it's revealed that there's more to it, but the pics and observations suggest not.

It was a dumb moment, he over-reacted, sure, but it's not worth caring about. People aren't perfect and say or do stupid things sometimes. I don't think that those things should be considered automatically newsworthy though.
 
It was a dumb moment, he over-reacted, sure, but it's not worth caring about. People aren't perfect and say or do stupid things sometimes. I don't think that those things should be considered automatically newsworthy though.

Agreed, but made the news it has, and now there's just that little more scrutiny on him.

Maybe he needs to be just a little smarter.
 

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It was a dumb moment, he over-reacted, sure, but it's not worth caring about. People aren't perfect and say or do stupid things sometimes. I don't think that those things should be considered automatically newsworthy though.
As long as it raises people's eyebrows, sadly it will be a "story". And through the interactions of other supporters trolling Geelong counterparts, you also have the guaranteed content engagement built in. This will always be how Smith and doing stupid stuff is going to work. It doesn't really phase me that much to be fair. I highly doubt the team performance fluctuates on things like this. If he had a 4 day bender at Crown it would be different.
 
As long as it raises people's eyebrows, sadly it will be a "story". And through the interactions of other supporters trolling Geelong counterparts, you also have the guaranteed content engagement built in. This will always be how Smith and doing stupid stuff is going to work. It doesn't really phase me that much to be fair. I highly doubt the team performance fluctuates on things like this. If he had a 4 day bender at Crown it would be different.

Ah, a clever drive by.

It was a story before it raised my eyebrows, and it only did so because it seems he's made something out of nothing, which naturally raises the question as to where his head is at given past issues.

His overreaction has fuelled the media, which increases the scrutiny, which increases his sensitivity, which powers the cycle.

The media is going to be all over every muscle twitch as everyone heads into the finals, and Smith just played into their hands.
 

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As long as it raises people's eyebrows, sadly it will be a "story". And through the interactions of other supporters trolling Geelong counterparts, you also have the guaranteed content engagement built in. This will always be how Smith and doing stupid stuff is going to work. It doesn't really phase me that much to be fair. I highly doubt the team performance fluctuates on things like this. If he had a 4 day bender at Crown it would be different.
If the players let stuff like this tamper with their form, then we've got much bigger issues too.

Almost all of you were all in this same position last year, and it didn't go as planned.

There were absolutely mitigating circumstances for why, but that's not really the point. We lost, and it would have burnt them ever since.

A bit like Hardwick's comments about the Suns and finals "If you need me to motivate you to play in the clubs first ever finals series, then we're in a bit of trouble" - this is similar IMO.

Baz acts like a dickhead. More news at 6. I doubt Scott even thinks about it twice, he'll be all in on Friday week.
 
Ah, a clever drive by.

It was a story before it raised my eyebrows, and it only did so because it seems he's made something out of nothing, which naturally raises the question as to where his head is at given past issues.

His overreaction has fuelled the media, which increases the scrutiny, which increases his sensitivity, which powers the cycle.

The media is going to be all over every muscle twitch as everyone heads into the finals, and Smith just played into their hands.
It's not a driveby at all and I'd appreciate you don't make sniping comments like that. My observation was a general one, not that you specifically are somehow part of the problem. I was not insulting you in any way whatsoever, it is human nature and we all have our buttons pressed in the same way. The media know how to manipulate us for just the right amount of engagement too. The media will continue to do whatever necessary so long as you AND I comment on things like this and think they are interesting.
 

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Review Cats into ANOTHER PRELIM (14 of 18) after beating Lions by 38 points

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