The Bulldogs and Umpires: Time for a Royal Commission?

[matthew_s]

Id also like to know how West coast is in 4th when they are stone cold motherless last

its gotta be a misprint for the eagles. Usually need the ball or to lay tackles to win free kicks.

 

[Sentinel]

Oh no, the Bulldogs are now on the lower end of a statistic which has no statistically significant correlation with score differential, and therefore no significant effect on winning or losing games of football (a point well and truly lost on the OP of this thread). This is devastating and will change everything!

 

[Dogs_R_Us]

Oh no, the Bulldogs are now on the lower end of a statistic which has no statistically significant correlation with score differential, and therefore no significant effect on winning or losing games of football (a point well and truly lost on the OP of this thread). This is devastating and will change everything!

I'm sad about this. How are we supposed to win games without more frees than anyone else?

 

[bresker]

What were the results of this commision? Have they been published?

Are they still taking submissions ?

 

[Maddo11]

Had their usual ride for 3qtrs, then get one 50/50 50m call against them and everyone in the media is trotting out the brave dogs narrative again. Script writers getting boring, re hashing the same old tunes

 

[PenfoldsFan]

@ 17 min mark of the 1st qtr the Swans were up 18-12 and the frees werd 2-2, Dogs recieved next 5 frees to be 7-2 and went into the 1st break 2pts up.
Dogs maintained the 3-5 free advantage until late in the 2nd when it evened up at 12-12 and went in 4pts up.
After half time only 3 frees were paid, to finish 13-14 Swans outscored Dogs by 3 goals.

 

[Struggle]

@ 17 min mark of the 1st qtr the Swans were up 18-12 and the frees werd 2-2, Dogs recieved next 5 frees to be 7-2 and went into the 1st break 2pts up.
Dogs maintained the 3-5 free advantage until late in the 2nd when it evened up at 12-12 and went in 4pts up.
After half time only 3 frees were paid, to finish 13-14 Swans outscored Dogs by 3 goals.

So you're saying we got 5 less free kicks in the second quarter and doubled our lead?

 

[bresker]

It ended 14 frees to the Swans, 13 Buuldogs . The umpires trolled us with that final 50 at the end. One of the umps was heard to whisper “that’s for 2016” as he left the ground .

The umpires were under strict instruction from AFL house to “even things up” after 2016.

 

[PenfoldsFan]

So you're saying we got 5 less free kicks in the second quarter and doubled our lead?

Yes, thats how it played out.
You were awarded an extra 5 frees to get you going, which it did to the tune of 19pts before a late goal by the Swans narrowed it to 2pts.
You then maintained the free advantage and lead until late in the 2nd where the umps evened it up.
They then put it away after half time and Swans kicked away.

 

[Sentinel]

Yes, thats how it played out.
You were awarded an extra 5 frees to get you going, which it did to the tune of 19pts before a late goal by the Swans narrowed it to 2pts.
You then maintained the free advantage and lead until late in the 2nd where the umps evened it up.
They then put it away after half time and Swans kicked away.

Fascinating story. A-grade analysis.

"To get you going"

 

[bresker]

They then put it away after half time and Swans kicked away.

So if the umpires stop blowing their whistles it’s a signifier that the “May the best team win!” phase of the game has started ?

Given that we had a handicap of three players down, the umpires should have given us an extra 5 -7 free kicks to even things out . You’re suggesting that’s part of their job.

 

[Sentinel]

The umpires: "we'll give the Bulldogs some frees early to allow them a chance to take the lead and really get them going, but after that they're on their own. Our generosity in fixing the match in favour of the Bulldogs only extends to the first quarter".

 

[matthew_s]

The umpires: "we'll give the Bulldogs some frees early to allow them a chance to take the lead and really get them going, but after that they're on their own. Our generosity in fixing the match in favour of the Bulldogs only extends to the first quarter".

You laugh but if that came out in a scandal tomorrow that the umpires did this for teams, who’d be that surprised?

 

[Sentinel]

You laugh but if that came out in a scandal tomorrow that the umpires did this for teams, who’d be that surprised?

Every rational football supporter.

I'm not suggesting umpires aren't potentially prone to corruption, but the way it's talked about on here you'd think it's commonplace. It's obviously not. And to use last night's game as an example is lunacy.

 

[PenfoldsFan]

So if the umpires stop blowing their whistles it’s a signifier that the “May the best team win!” phase of the game has started ?

Given that we had a handicap of three players down, the umpires should have given us an extra 5 -7 free kicks to even things out . You’re suggesting that’s part of their job.

No actually im not.
I think it was fairly well umpired with a slight lean to the Dogs that helped keep it close early.
The scoring run that coincided with the frees supports that to an extent.
If they wanted you to win it would have continued after half time, but it didnt, they let a lot go for both teams
It is strange though, that they found 24 frees in one half and only 3 in the other considering the intensity of the contest remained fairly high.

 

[Dogs_R_Us]

No actually im not.
I think it was fairly well umpired with a slight lean to the Dogs that helped keep it close early.
The scoring run that coincided with the frees supports that to an extent.
If they wanted you to win it would have continued after half time, but it didnt, they let a lot go for both teams
It is strange though, that they found 24 frees in one half and only 3 in the other considering the intensity of the contest remained fairly high.

It's great to find out that the umpires deliberately control wins and losses. I didn't know that. Does this apply to every game? I'll watch out for it. Thanks.

 

[ashep]

Did we all see Bont call his own free against Heeney last night?

Ump was going to let it go until Bont looked at him and gave the signal mid tackle then suddenly the whistle blew.

Beyond belief.

 

[CarnTheScray]

Did we all see Bont call his own free against Heeney last night?

Ump was going to let it go until Bont looked at him and gave the signal mid tackle then suddenly the whistle blew.

Beyond belief.

Bontempelli, the first player in history to appeal for an obvious free.

 

[Cookie]

Did we all see Bont call his own free against Heeney last night?

Ump was going to let it go until Bont looked at him and gave the signal mid tackle then suddenly the whistle blew.

Beyond belief.

Obviously, you have never played a single game.

 

[bloodsbigot]

Sydney were pumped in week 1 of the finals, by a team that we beat in the prelim two weeks later.

'Beat' with a little help from your mates in yellow.

The dogs had 4 impressive wins through September. The Swans had 1, against Geelong. Thanks for that by the way. We weren’t beating Geelong.

The only impressive win you had was the west coast eagles game. Hawthorn mediocre. You were handed the prelim and grand final by the AFL.

The Swans couldn’t beat the dogs in 2015 at the SCG, 2016 at the SCG, nor in the GF at the MCG. None of these are our home ground.

Bulldogs supporters talking about run of the mill regular season games like it's an indicator of grand final outcomes. We pumped Geelong in 2022 regular season and they annihilated us in the Grand Final.

nor in the GF at the MCG. None of these are our home ground.

Why was it played a short drive from you when you finished 7th and we finished 1st?

You could sleep in your own beds, do your regular prep, meet family members. Train at yor regular home ground. Etc. And we had to throw off our routine by travelling and staying in a shitty hotel for 2-3 days, practice in an alien environment.

In the grand final, Sydney had a long list of players who significantly underperformed on the day including Parker, Papley, Tippett, Rohan, Mills, McVeigh, McGlynn, Hewett and Smith.

Gee wonder why.

Xavier Richards played in the GF and never
played another game. Hardly a player that was deserving of a premiership, especially when you consider he was Sydney’s tallest defender on the day and Tom Boyd ran around largely as he pleased.

Paul Bevan was in a premiership team. Not even sure what your point is.

None of this is fiction. It all happened.

If you think you won it fairly without heavy umpire assistance it's pure fiction.

 

[F6Typhoon]

'Beat' with a little help from your mates in yellow.



The only impressive win you had was the west coast eagles game. Hawthorn mediocre. You were handed the prelim and grand final by the AFL.



Bulldogs supporters talking about run of the mill regular season games like it's an indicator of grand final outcomes. We pumped Geelong in 2022 regular season and they annihilated us in the Grand Final.



Why was it played a short drive from you when you finished 7th and we finished 1st?

You could sleep in your own beds, do your regular prep, meet family members. Train at yor regular home ground. Etc. And we had to throw off our routine by travelling and staying in a shitty hotel for 2-3 days, practice in an alien environment.



Gee wonder why.


Paul Bevan was in a premiership team. Not even sure what your point is.


If you think you won it fairly without heavy umpire assistance it's pure fiction.

Still floggin the same dead horse Bloodsbigot!
You’re gunna wear your keyboard out..

 

[bloodsbigot]

Still floggin the same dead horse Bloodsbigot!
You’re gunna wear your keyboard out..

Keyboard is fine mate.

 

[bloodsbigot]

Even if it were true that we received a gift, Sydney supporters pretending like they've no history of gifts is funny.

Progress. You admit it was a gift. That's all I really want honestly. For bulldog supporters to collectively admit it was a gift and then I can move on to enjoying my teams Grand Final losses and you can get back to enjoying your single charity premiership and your traditional 14th~8th spot finishes.

Gifts for us? Like having our cost of living allowance and draft picks stripped off us for following the rules? Having to play the Grand Final outside our state for finishing first? Being forced to pay Buddy and Tippett within our cap if they didn't fulfil their contracts even though it hadn't been done to anyone else up until that point? Yeah ok. Gifts.

 

[threenewpadlocks]

If you think you won it fairly without heavy umpire assistance it's pure fiction.

Aboslutely incredible.

Been done to death that many of the umpiring decisions - even if you debate that they were fairly adjudicated - led to advantages to the Dogs on the day.

If there was some conspiracy, you'd think they wouldn't have overturned JJ's goal, which absolutely should not have been overturned. Scientifically you cannot be certain that wasn't a goal projecting a 3D imagine from a 2D still. Take the ball and move it closer to the camera while still keeping it the same amount over the line and it looks "bigger" and therefore appears it hadn't crossed the line yet. If anything, the conspiracy was the other direction.

Why was it played a short drive from you when you finished 7th and we finished 1st?

You could sleep in your own beds, do your regular prep, meet family members. Train at yor regular home ground. Etc. And we had to throw off our routine by travelling and staying in a shitty hotel for 2-3 days, practice in an alien environment.

Most research shows that crowd noise impacts umpiring decisions leads to HGA. 2nd most is ground familiarity. Very little is to do with travel effects.

Swans clearly have a greater general HGA - GF included - across entire seasons than the Dogs. I'd be happy for the Swans to host the GF if the Swans were forced to play every away game vs. the Dogs at the Whitten Oval.

Bulldogs supporters talking about run of the mill regular season games like it's an indicator of grand final outcomes. We pumped Geelong in 2022 regular season and they annihilated us in the Grand Final.

There's an entirely fair point that the Dogs managed to win 15 games with an injury list in 2016 that was far worse across the season than many others. We still had 4 best 22 players out on GF day (Adams, Redpath, Murphy and Wallis).

On the season, we had to give numerous games to players like young Dale and Williams, Honeychurch, Hrovat, hell, even a past-it Jed Adcock played 7 games for us in 2016. Our 31th most used player in 2016 played 7 games. Sydney's 31st most used player in 2016 played one game. I can peel off a list of players than played fewer than 17 or 18 of the 22 H&A games that season.

Swap Sydney and Dogs' injuries throughout 2016 and Dogs give top of the ladder a push and Swans would have struggled to make finals. Neutral punditry didn't seem to realise through 2016 that we had our least injury hit team in finals with merely 4 best 22 players out since round 2. Swans fans genuienly can't accept that the Dogs may have been thea deserving flag team in 2016. Dogs fans, once the euphoria wore off, can. We don't have to pretend that we were advantaged, but we can agree that we were fortunate that we managed to not have to play some of our weakest players in the finals like we did in the H&A season.

 

[joey_jo_jo]

Looking like a bog average team now
No wonder bevo was the one dissenting voice regarding the tighter "holding the ball" calls. The dogs have been one of the teams to most benefit from the AFLs focus on reducing stoppages by favouring the ball carrier.

I have also noticed umps have cottoned on to players dropping their knees and propelling themselves forward as soon as they feel a tackle from behind to get an "in the back" free. Probably coincides with macrae's drop off this season, he was a master of drawing that free.