Autopsy Hawks fall in a heap against the Dogs - Rd 2, 2019

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Read the quote again. Kennett has used the fixturing to get a point across.
I don’t need to read the quote again, you’re giving it a non-existent context to try and back up your hair-brained thoughts that the AFL dictate umpires to throw games.

Kennett made no mention of umpiring in any context.

Stop being a loon.
 
Dec 22, 2007
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Kennett made no mention of umpiring in any context.

Because he can't. Because if he did all hell would break loose and law enforcement would intervene based on allegations of match fixing.

But if you don't think that the AFL are deliberately setting out to disadvantage us then I can't help you.
 
Because he can't. Because if he did all hell would break loose and law enforcement would intervene based on allegations of match fixing.

But if you don't think that the AFL are deliberately setting out to disadvantage us then I can't help you.
Ha! So you admit that Kennett made no mention of umpiring, despite that being the sole evidence you attempted to use in order prove the conspiracy and bump this thread.

“He didn’t say it, but I know he meant to!”.

Gold.
 

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hk89

Norm Smith Medallist
Jul 12, 2009
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Ha! So you admit that Kennett made no mention of umpiring, despite that being the sole evidence you attempted to use in order prove the conspiracy and bump this thread.

“He didn’t say it, but I know he meant to!”.

Better than that, I think it was more :
"He didn't say it, but I know he would have if he wasn't scared of getting the police involved".

Sometimes I wonder how people can believe the moon landing was faked, and then I come to big footy and get reminded that some people just have a very low barrier for 'conspiracy confirmed'.
 
Dec 22, 2007
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Better than that, I think it was more :
"He didn't say it, but I know he would have if he wasn't scared of getting the police involved".

Kennett? Scared?

giphy (3).gif
 
The Bulldogs game was how many weeks ago?
So he waited until now, and didn’t mention umpiring......yet according to your bump post you made he was talking about the umpiring without mentioning the umpiring...

Which is it?
 
Dec 22, 2007
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So he waited until now, and didn’t mention umpiring......yet according to your bump post you made he was talking about the umpiring without mentioning the umpiring...

Which is it?

The post I bumped was a continuation of a conversation that started in the Welcome to Scully thread where you were responding to posters who were claiming an anti-Hawthorn narrative (here is the first part of the conversation)

Abasi said:
Sorry guys, but you’re batshit crazy if you think the AFL is out to get us.

People hate us winning, they can’t stand the thought of Hawthorn being a power again already, but there is no concerted AFL narrative to see Hawthorn disparaged. It’s rubbish.

You’re just buying into the amount of social media clowns and ex-players who can’t stand Hawthorn dominating again.

And my response to you...

Don't kid yourself, if you can't see the silent war being fought between the club and the AFL then you are blind.

And yours to mine...

Batshit crazy.

The next post from me in this conversation to you was in this autopsy thread following much anger at the umpiring in the aftermath of the Bulldogs game.

Ok...

In 2017, a bloke who absolutely despises us was hired by the AFL as the General Manager of Football Operations, a role that has control over the AFLW competition, the MRP, the Tribunal, the Laws of the Game and the Umpires.

In the two seasons he has been in charge we have seen;

1. Our bid for an AFLW license rebuffed in favour of Geelol and Norf.

2. the introduction of rule changes that have brought the ire of our coach eg 666 and the extended goal square which impacts our defensive structure / set-up more so than any other club in the competition.

3. Severe MRP sanctions against our players yet an elbow to the head by a Geelol player in consecutive weeks are called play on.

4. a number of extremely dubious umpiring decisions and lack of decisions late in games that have ultimately turned the course of games against us.

You can continue to argue there is no anti-Hawthorn narrative, but you will be losing friends quickly.

If you knew your boss hated something would you be more inclined to support or reject that something?
 
1. Our bid for an AFLW license rebuffed in favour of Geelol and Norf.

2. the introduction of rule changes that have brought the ire of our coach eg 666 and the extended goal square which impacts our defensive structure / set-up more so than any other club in the competition.

3. Severe MRP sanctions against our players yet an elbow to the head by a Geelol player in consecutive weeks are called play on.

4. a number of extremely dubious umpiring decisions and lack of decisions late in games that have ultimately turned the course of games against us.

You can continue to argue there is no anti-Hawthorn narrative, but you will be losing friends quickly.

If you knew your boss hated something would you be more inclined to support or reject that something?
1. Geelong are in a significantly different region to the rest of the Victorian clubs. The AFL have made no secret of trying to get North a foothold in Tassie at the expense of Hawthorn. Giving them a head start in the AFLW helps them.

2. Has there been ire from Clarko? All I've heard from him is that all clubs will need to adapt, which is true. If they wanted to change rules to hurt us specifically then they'd have made changes around shepherding on the mark, kicking backwards, or the minimum distance for a mark to be paid.

3. We've had one player get a one week suspension in 2019 for making contact to the head. Ablett got the same suspension but Geelong chose to fight it and got it reduced. We didn't fight it. If we had and didn't get it reduced then maybe there'd be a case forming. And before you point out this past round where Ablett and Fyfe didn't even get fined for head high bumps, that was about the AFL having double standards for Brownlow contenders than it was about whether or not they played for Hawthorn. Tom Mitchell arguably received similar leeway for his strike on Goldstein in 2017. As for 2018, recall Burton avoiding suspension for that big hit on Higgins. They could've easily made the case for a long suspension there if they really wanted to.

4. There were some dubious calls in some of our games. But I doubt they are symptoms of a conspiracy against Hawthorn. The Bulldogs one against Sicily was an umpire being way over the top and it hasn't been seen again despite the AFL supporting it because it would destroy the game if it was called every time. The AFL have form this season supporting bad calls against any team. We just saw it again this week with the Rampe stuff. If the AFL umpires were really out to make us lose then they'd have found a way to make us lose to Carlton.

The only thing that appears to be a genuine issue is the fixturing. The vast majority of our home fixtures are commercially horrible and our club leaders are on record with their dissatisfaction on that matter. We have just two genuine blockbuster slots this year as the home team. Easter Monday and our Friday night against Collingwood. With us only having that Easter Monday fixture due to it being a long standing event that just so happened to be our turn to host, and the Collingwood game was only given to us after the club kicked up a stink (hence the fixture announcement delay). I have little doubt our fixture ended up this poor by accident, but I feel it's less about hurting Hawthorn for the sake of hating Hawthorn. It's most likely (as Jeff has suggested) in regards to Tasmania.

As you have implied above, Jeff isn't scared to call the AFL out on things. He has expressed disappointment in regards to many things that are no doubt disappointing. But the only suggestion of a conspiracy I've seen from him has been in regards to our fixturing and the AFL's position on us and Tasmania. While I agree with him on that matter it's still really just another conspiracy theory that just so happens to be subscribed to by our club president.
 
Dec 22, 2007
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As you have implied above, Jeff isn't scared to call the AFL out on things. He has expressed disappointment in regards to many things that are no doubt disappointing. But the only suggestion of a conspiracy I've seen from him has been in regards to our fixturing and the AFL's position on us and Tasmania. While I agree with him on that matter it's still really just another conspiracy theory that just so happens to be subscribed to by our club president.

Yet he writes and I quote, "I can’t help but think they must sit around the table at the AFL trying to think of ways to weaken our club..."

Why would Jeff write this if he believes it's a one off attempt to weaken our club.

Fixturing is one way, and I wonder what other ways Jeff is referring to...
 

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Yet he writes and I quote, "I can’t help but think they must sit around the table at the AFL trying to think of ways to weaken our club..."

Why would Jeff write this if he believes it's a one off attempt to weaken our club.

Fixturing is one way, and I wonder what other ways Jeff is referring to...
I think you're reading too much into what is clearly a tongue in cheek line.

It's in the AFL's best interests for us to be a strong club. Ultimately they want all clubs to be strong clubs. So they don't "hate" us. If anything we're probably just about one of their favourite clubs - well run, self sustaining, profitable and overall a good promoter of the game.

But that doesn't mean that if in the process of trying to make a very weak club (ie. North Melbourne) much stronger they need to apply a bit of pressure to a stronger club (ie. Hawthorn) to make them step aside (ie. GTFO of Tasmania) then that is something they'll do "for the greater good of the competition".

All Jeff is doing there is flagging to the AFL, "We know what you're trying to do with the fixture you've given us. I'm putting it out on the table, and I'm ready to fight back if you persist."

No doubt the AFL will get what they want in the end and we'll walk away from Tasmania (at least in the arrangements current form) but I expect it will come with some pretty favourable returns thanks in large part to Jeffrey. A more placid president might have been prepared to just roll over and take it.
 
Nov 13, 2018
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If there's a s**t sandwich to be served, the AFL most definitely think about who is most deserving of it.
At the moment, and since they tried to remove us from Tasmania, it's us.
Doubt it if you like, but that's how the AFL operates.
 

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