Review The Grand Final Disaster of 2017.

[Interceptor]

I was at the game and I couldn't believe how blatantly bad the umpiring was. I figured it must've just been because of how high up I was in the stand but nope I was right.

Was there as well. Can remember being ropeable about the Rioli free -it clearly wasn't there.
We were outplayed, but yeah it was noticeable during the match we were being screwed by the umps as well.
I would like to think it's just the umps being influenced by the crowd, but this year and last make you wonder.
They should appoint umpires from outside the competing clubs' states, but do you think they'll ever do that? Nope.

 

[Maddogmetro]

whatever makes you sleep better lol

Seriously, what are you even doing on this board? You're the definition of a bad winner.

Also impressive that you can predict the outcome of past events with key information changed. What a talent.

So, I repeat, get ****ed campaigner.

 

[Crow_Magnon]

Didn't

We really were stitched up.

Wow, at the game I hadn't noticed how blatant it was (then again I was in the Ponceford stand ground level, so overall viewing wasn't great) - a pretty good summation - especially their jumper holds. I didn't see the Dusty one where he grabbed Brown's guernsey to get front position to take an uncontested mark in the second qtr though - that was another blatant, deliberate non-decision.

 

[Bam_Bam_Aus]

First time I've watched any footage and like

I was at the game and I couldn't believe how blatantly bad the umpiring was. I figured it must've just been because of how high up I was in the stand but nope I was right.

Me too. And I was having a nice, calm afternoon until I watched that.

 

[goyoucrows]

Can we just bury this thread already to stop reminding us of basically the worst day in club history.

 

[Niximus]

Another reminder that if you can't be respectful, you can expect an infraction...

 

[VKCrow]

What just happened?

 

[NaturalDisaster]

We really were stitched up.

come on mate, you are seeing things that are mostly not there because its what you want to believe.

Firstly, AFL umpiring is just crap and inconsistent, fact. It is a fast and tough game, so they can't always judge 100% especially depending on which angle they are standing. This happens to all teams and it happened against us the whole home and away season (if you have a look at the free kick differential)

not to mention whenever Richmond supporters blame umpires, we get told that its not an excuse.

Second there is way too many grey areas in the rules,most free kicks can be ambigious.

thirdly, lets have a look at some of these (I'm not going through all of them)

The Jack Riewoldt mark with Lever being held happens all the time and has especially happened to Jack all year, is our player meant to just let him leap at the ball?

The Betts on Rance was because it looks like he got him in the back (i think) Looks a bit dodgey, but one of our players marked it, so it didn't matter, we had the ball either way.

The Grimes in the back on Betts should have been paid, less so the one with him holding him in the goal square (as this happens a lot)

Dusty did not illegally dispose of the ball, have a look at his other hand, he handballs it.

at 2.53, again, have another look. He is clearly attempting to get rid of the ball by handballing.

4.22 probably should have been ran too long, however this happens a lot... Buddy gets away with it constantly

4.55, that is not an illegal disaposal, if you have a look it looks like Lever i think it was taps it out of his hand, it also looks like he gets a quick fist to the ball with his other hand, that is not a blantant throw or anything.

 

[jo172]

The Jack Riewoldt mark with Lever being held happens all the time and has especially happened to Jack all year, is our player meant to just let him leap at the ball?

Out of a series of comments that don't make any sense this makes the least sense.

 

[Geoffa32]

I had a tbought the other day if one way we could have mixed it up in the second half.
Shaun Grigg was Rucking and Sauce was dominating but we did not really get much advantage. Jenkins struggled.

We could have put Jenkins in Ruck to get him into the game and play Sauce up forward to stretch their defence. Jenkins would still outrun Grigg. Sauce and Gov are our most reliable markers of the ball. He is also a good kick at goal.

As far as I can recall this was not tried. Or at least for a decent length of time.

Sent from my SM-G930F using Tapatalk

 

[Big Crow]

We really were stitched up.

Wow. I had dismissed a lot of the one sided decisions because we were so clearly outplayed. That being said, it must be difficult when you have to play to a stricter set of rules and your opponent to a more relaxed rule book. It must have an impact on the mindset of the players.

What an absolute farce this league is, maybe I was young and naive watching footy in the past but it seems to have gotten more galling in recent years.

At some point the AFL has to make a decision. Are they going to consider Non-Victorian clubs a legitimate part of their competition, or are we forever condemned to be the "interstate" Generals to the Melbourne based Globetrotters. This **** is getting real old real quick, can't wait for free kick demons in 2018.

 

[Big Crow]

The jumper pull free kicks sum up the day.

The guernsey comes away from the body of the player, clearly flagging to the umpire that they have been held. We know historically that these are typically paid in Grand Finals. It's an easy one for an umpire to pick out in a high pressure game.

We didn't play this well, kind of dumb really. It should have been obvious to our guys going in that this would be one of the umpires' themes of the day, and yet we often committed the offence. When we did, we were rightly penalised. No problem there.

When a Tiger pulled the guernsey of an Adelaide player, they were rarely (if ever?) penalised. Yes we did some dumb things, but in this example one team was extended the luxury of tolerance and one was not.

This is the problem - The rules were not applied equally to both teams.

 

[CrowBloke]

Interesting post.

If you look at the team's results throughout the year, this really starts to become clear. I can't think of one game where we had to grind to win, where we won in spite of having a bad day, where we won narrowly, or where we came from behind to win. Maybe that Collingwood game, but that wasn't a win.

I think the Carlton win was a hard grind and turned around the mid-season blues.

That is Pyke's challenge, to build a team that can win when they're having a s**t day.

Yes, agreed. Winning ugly when they're playing poorly is a hallmark of a tough top side.
He has several challenges more than that, too. The team needs to be re-unified after the Leaver ill-feeling. New players from trade or the SANFL will need to find their fit. JJ needs a kick to the butt to play a harder, stronger game. Atkins can't disappear when the heat turns up.

 

[Niximus]

Once again. If you come here to gloat or take swipes expect an infraction.

 

[mistylake]

What’s was the age profile, games played.
Crows v Tiger on grand final day.

 

[mistylake]

Interesting post.

I think the Carlton win was a hard grind and turned around the mid-season blues.

Yes, agreed. Winning ugly when they're playing poorly is a hallmark of a tough top side.
He has several challenges more than that, too. The team needs to be re-unified after the Leaver ill-feeling. New players from trade or the SANFL will need to find their fit. JJ needs a kick to the butt to play a harder, stronger game. Atkins can't disappear when the heat turns up.

Lots of games nowadays seem to be one team running over the other.
We are equally capable of being on either side of the equation.
Is this a sign of the times, re: molly coddled youths with little resilience?
Game style?

 

[CrowBloke]

We are equally capable of being on either side of the equation.
Is this a sign of the times, re: molly coddled youths with little resilience?
Game style?

Good questions, especially regarding the privileged, entitled mindset of Generation Me. I don't know how much that applies to a team of fit athletes with one mindset (win the Flag), under a Coach whose main theme is team-first. Apparently the Club have employed a mind-exploring duo who suggested the pre-game Finals Anthem stance, about which I had no complaints since it seemed to focus our players for better first-quarter starts.
Mindset/attitude is a problem for all coaches and can be the winning factor in teams of about equal ability. Complacency and mental relaxation have been Crows' problems for some years now. It's either "We-should-win-this" (NM Round 7) or "We've-done-enough-to-win-this" (Dees, Round 8 and goalless last quarter against Geelong at AO).
We thrash some teams, but rarely win ugly against very good sides or when we're playing badly. That has to be a mental problem, which I hope Pyke addresses asap. We could step forward from 2017 and become the Flag-winning team-to-beat over the next 3 years (like Brisbane and Hawthorn), or make up the numbers in the Top 6.

As for game style, in the GF we folded under the relentless attacking pressure of Richmond (after the Umps evened things out mid-Term 2) and looked like a disunited, fumbly rabble after half time. Finding a way through the former and fixing the latter are two of Pyke's biggest challenges. Personally, I'd like to see less looking back and fewer references to Phil Walsh (RIP, whom I respected) with more existential focus on now, ie playing today's game, for now, for today's win.

 

[rezagun]

We really were stitched up.

Some of those decisions are so obvious you have to believe we had no chance to actually win the game. Richmond played well but * me what a joke. It reeks of the dogs swans gf last year.

 

[mistylake]

Good questions, especially regarding the privileged, entitled mindset of Generation Me. I don't know how much that applies to a team of fit athletes with one mindset (win the Flag), under a Coach whose main theme is team-first. Apparently the Club have employed a mind-exploring duo who suggested the pre-game Finals Anthem stance, about which I had no complaints since it seemed to focus our players for better first-quarter starts.
Mindset/attitude is a problem for all coaches and can be the winning factor in teams of about equal ability. Complacency and mental relaxation have been Crows' problems for some years now. It's either "We-should-win-this" (NM Round 7) or "We've-done-enough-to-win-this" (Dees, Round 8 and goalless last quarter against Geelong at AO).
We thrash some teams, but rarely win ugly against very good sides or when we're playing badly. That has to be a mental problem, which I hope Pyke addresses asap. We could step forward from 2017 and become the Flag-winning team-to-beat over the next 3 years (like Brisbane and Hawthorn), or make up the numbers in the Top 6.

As for game style, in the GF we folded under the relentless attacking pressure of Richmond (after the Umps evened things out mid-Term 2) and looked like a disunited, fumbly rabble after half time. Finding a way through the former and fixing the latter are two of Pyke's biggest challenges. Personally, I'd like to see less looking back and fewer references to Phil Walsh (RIP, whom I respected) with more existential focus on now, ie playing today's game, for now, for today's win.

I heard them talk about the work they have done on the mental side of things.
I kind of got the impression that they were only doing this at the end of the year and we’re going to continue it on for another 2 years.
The opening minutes of the grand final were identical to the prelim. Seemed to work.
I expect that the club knew we would need to remove the umpires from the game early. This really is an issue.
Like I know I’m as biased as all hell but I am not biased for the Bulldogs or Sydney, it was clear last year to. The selection of Victorian umpires only. It’s really beyond a joke. We clearly need to be able to handle pressure better. But it’s hard to practice it when you win by 8 goals every week.

 

[Mike Smyth]

Some of those decisions are so obvious you have to believe we had no chance to actually win the game. Richmond played well but **** me what a joke. It reeks of the dogs swans gf last year.

I was just going to say that. You think the umpiring was biased in this game go watch the 2016 gf and the 2012 prelim.

Let’s call it for what it is, blatant
Vic cheating.

 

[Mike Smyth]

17 wrong or non decisions were in the 1st half. We don’t know what impact that would have on the crows players psyche.

Cheating Vic bastards.

 

[CrowBloke]

We don’t know what impact that would have on the crows players psyche.

This is the big question.
It's a GF, you're getting mauled/scratched, blocked, held, held down and no free given, yet the Umps are giving soft frees aplenty to the Oppo.
Eddie in particular looked lost and frustrated after the two hand hold on him was ignored in Term 2. You'd be thinking "What have I gotta do?".

 

[VSTone]

This is the big question.
It's a GF, you're getting mauled/scratched, blocked, held, held down and no free given, yet the Umps are giving soft frees aplenty to the Oppo.
Eddie in particular looked lost and frustrated after the two hand hold on him was ignored in Term 2. You'd be thinking "What have I gotta do?".

nail them... run past the ball and nail them...make them earn a free kick or too

 

[Elite Crow]

Fages said at the GF breakfast that each player meditated for 5 hours for two days in grand final week.

It was designed to clear the minds of the players as they had not played in front of crowds of over 50,000 before. Whereas Richmond played in front of 90k for 3 weeks running.

That was unusual.

 

[Bojangles17]

What’s was the age profile, games played.
Crows v Tiger on grand final day.