Press Conference

[bigkev bleeds purple]

Seems like I'm not the only one who reckons that tonight's umpires deserve to be thrown into the fiery furnace of hell and left to burn.

Harvey simmers

Author: Chris Pike 1:25 AM Sat 26 April, 2008

AN ANGRY Mark Harvey had a lot to ponder after Fremantle's one point loss to Geelong, but one thing he was delighted with was the effort and commitment of his players.

Fremantle led from the start of the game until the 14-minute mark of the final quarter, and by as much as 39 points on two occasions. But the reigning premiers found ways to fight back, and in the end Fremantle captain Matthew Pavlich hit the post with a shot that would have put his side in front.

After Geelong's Joel Selwood put it out on the full, Fremantle had one more entry into their forward 50. Ryan Murphy took the kick but was called back as it was meant to be Byron Schammer.

Nine seconds elapsed that shouldn’t have with Murphy's kick coming back to Schammer, whose kick was marked by Geelong's Harry Taylor as the final siren sounded.

Harvey was livid but would not elaborate after the match.

"There are areas of the game that I can't go into, but I'm angry and so is the club. I can't go into what it is, though. Outside of that, it was a good performance," Harvey said.

"I'll wait on the AFL's response to what happened with the time clock. We were just outside the forward 50 when it happened. Everyone knows about it and I'll await their response. There are a lot of things going around in my head at the moment that bewilder me."

Harvey and his coaching staff felt Pavlich's kick was home from the box and even though it hit the post, Harvey was delighted in the leadership shown by Pavlich and Peter Bell. Aaron Sandilands' dominance in the ruck and the game of youngster Garrick Ibbotson were other encouraging signs.

"It looked like it was home, there was a bit of lifting off the chairs in the coaches' box, but all of a sudden it hit the post," he said.

"Sandilands played the best game he has for this footy club and he should be recognised. Not that it's about individuals, but he gave the team a terrific sense of combatant direction that we needed.

"Some of our other guys are growing in stature. Ibbotson's game was terrific, Rhys (Palmer) kept coming and never gave in and Michael Johnson had a lot of the ball, but in the end it takes us to 1-5."

Fremantle did control the game for large patches apart from a run of six Cats goals leading into half-time, and five to start the last quarter. Harvey was happy with the jobs Josh Carr and Ryan Crowley performed on Jimmy Bartel and Gary Ablett respectively, but with his side losing Roger Hayden, Antoni Grover and Steven Dodd to injury, they just lacked the legs to keep their noses in front.

"I thought we kept Ablett and Bartel quiet, but then guys like (Joel) Corey and Selwood bob up and hurt you quickly. In the end, we weren’t good enough, but geez our players were brave," he said.

"It would have been a sensational game to watch, it had all the ingredients of Anzac Day and I told the players to be last man standing and give all they had, which they did. The opposition was just a little bit better at the end of the game under circumstances that we couldn’t control."

Harvey was heartened to see that his playing group can match the very best when they bring their A game.

"It's actually very encouraging to know that if you play to that standard regularly, that you are not far away from the premiership team," he said.

"There is great belief that we are a genuine chance every week on the back of that performance".
Source: Exclusive to AFL BigPond Network

 

[dominguez]

The umpires were poor but Harvey should be angry that our forwards failed to provide a contest when that kick went inside 50. The fact that the Cats were able to take an easy mark makes the missing seconds irrelevant IMO.

 

[pistol17]

Agree dom... too many missed opportunities again up forward. Great effort tho, just wish we played like that every week

 

[Memories]

The umpires were poor but Harvey should be angry that our forwards failed to provide a contest when that kick went inside 50. The fact that the Cats were able to take an easy mark makes the missing seconds irrelevant IMO.

Unless they fumbled and/or needed to run it back over the line. I mean it was right there and the ump would have blown him on 6 seconds into it you would think. Certainly interesting, another ____ed decision that doesn't go our way.

 

[poshman]

The umpires were poor but Harvey should be angry that our forwards failed to provide a contest when that kick went inside 50. The fact that the Cats were able to take an easy mark makes the missing seconds irrelevant IMO.

yeah it was a poor effort, someone had to get to the contest! sandi was well shielded from it, and there was no one else close.

no points but an awesome effort. Harvs should have a look at the tempo game style that cost us at least 5 goals tonight. We don't have the skills in close or to consistently hit the lead to play it.

 

[Rob]

Where the mark was set should have been of greater concern. Watching the replay, Selwood was right on the boundary line when he kicked it, and the ball would have crossed the line immediately after hitting his boot. The kick should have been taken basically where Selwood was.

 

[eminbee]

The issue turned on where the ball went OOF. The umpire adjudicated it went out quite close to where Selwood had kicked it AND IMMEDIATELY SIGNALLED WHERE THE MARK WAS (watch the replay). The first kicker missed all that and took the kick from near where Selwood's kick had landed. Of course the ball had to go back to the Freo player closest to where the ball went OOF - that's the rule! Had the umpire blown time-on because Freo stuffed it up, THAT WOULD HAVE BEEN AN ERROR.
Anyway, FFS, you wouldn't be complaining about the 4 Freo goals from frees (a couple very soft), or Sandilands' wild 'attempted' hand pass (ie throw) that fell to Palmer for a 3rd qtr goal.
Seriously though, and with the greatest respect, that is the first time I've seen Freo play with a game plan AND stick to it for nearly all the game. The challenge: do that every week no matter who the opposition is. If players can only get themselves up to play the top side / WCE etc etc, sack those players and get some who attack the football like that ALL THE TIME.
And good luck!

 

[Sman-21]

I think the media has got it wrong i dont think harvey is having a go at the timekeepers.
He mentions that later in the interview

I think he had a problem with actual umpiring decisions an non decisions in that last quarter an thats what he cant talk about.

He talks abit about the time an it angered him more but think his major problem was the umpiring in last quarter which he isnt allowed to talk about.

 

[bigkev bleeds purple]

I think the media has got it wrong i dont think harvey is having a go at the timekeepers.
He mentions that later in the interview

I think he had a problem with actual umpiring decisions an non decisions in that last quarter an thats what he cant talk about.

He talks abit about the time an it angered him more but think his major problem was the umpiring in last quarter which he isnt allowed to talk about.

Yep, that's what I thought too. Harvey spoke during the week about not being in awe of Geelong. There were three blokes out there who were in awe of Geelong, but none of them were wearing purple.

 

[dockers_bengals]

Umpiring was poor again but not as bad as last week or it has been.We always seem to have decisions go against us at crucial times.the time clock incident can't be helped and I hope they don't worry about it.

 

[sportsmaniac89]

I'm known as a classic umpire basher but I don't think the umpires were that bad last night. They were a massive improvement on the previous 2 weeks. They still have a bit of a way to go to get ticks from us but they weren't at all bad.