Wallsy - shut up for God's sake!!!

[luthor]

Until yesterday, I had a lot of time and respect for Robert Walls.

He was afterall the guy that saw us through our darkest days at Carrarra, not to mention coaching us to our first ever final in 1995.

Also thought he was a reasonably intelligent and impartial commentator, as commentators go.

Until yesterday's effort "commentating" on the game on TEN.

He prattled on all afternoon about how "delighted" Mick Malthouse would have been with the state of the game, stated the bleeding obvious ad nauseum, seemed to take particular glee when Lions players sustained injuries, informed us with majestic insight, how "Chris Johnson's kick-outs were always going to the same spot(WOW! - that's got to be a bad thing!!) and generally barracked for Collingwood all afternoon.

But the one that really took the cake was his whinging about Lynchy getting his first free kick for about 15 weeks. "YOU DON"T PAY FREES LIKE THAT IN A GRAND FINAL" he stormed indignantly.
Never mind about Lynchy getting poleaxed by Wakelin earlier on and NOT getting a free. Never mind that Lynchy WAS actually taken out of the contest by 2 Collingwood players well before he could even attempt to mark the ball. Never mind about the absolute crap 3, (YES...3!!) frees the PIES got donated in front of goal during the game.

Thank God Malcolm Blight cut him off and stated that it was "a clear free to Lynch".

Then there was Wallsy's favorite hobby horse....."Leppitsch and Johnson were ZONING OFF too much and not paying any respect to their opponents!!!"

I wonder if Walls has actually considered whether this zone defence that the Lions have used ALL YEAR is a legitimate tactic based on percentages? Or if he is actually aware that this defensive structure has resulted in us having the best defensive record in the comp, second only to Port??

I'm not a coach's bootlace but it seems to me that this zone defence is a deliberate tactic to give all our defenders as much space as possible to run to and spoil as many marking contests in the opponents forward line as possible. Force the spill and then have numbers to the ball at ground level to create run out of the backline.

OK - if a forward gets a pinpoint pass or if he outmarks you, bad luck. They can't do that all day...and they didn't. As far as I am concerned, it has absolutely nothing do do with "not paying any respect to your opponent"

If Leigh Matthews reckons this is a good idea, who is Wallsy to be bagging our style of defending.?

Matthews has got a B2B under his belt. When did Wallsy last do that?

If Walls reckons he knows more about coaching Premiership sides, he should quit the "expert TV commentating" and go back to coaching an AFL side.

In the meantime he should stick to calling kicks and handballs as they occur... and shut the f*** up!!!

 

[Adelaide Hawk]

I agree. I've noticed with commentators these days that instead of just calling the game they are telling coaches how to coach, players how to play, and umpires how to umpire. They are even telling trainers how to take care of injuries.
They seem to have this uncontrollable desire to try and convince the world they know more about footy than any other person on this planet, Robert Walls is a classic in this respect.
I wrote a post elsewhere about Gerard Healy on the radio. it was about 5 minutes into the third quarter, Collingwood were a few points ahead, and Healy has told the world that Collingwood would win the game!!! Even after Akermanis kicked his goal I still wasn't certain who would win, God only knows how Healy could assess the winner with nearly two full quarters to go.
Radio commentators are supposed to be our eyes. Their job is to call the game, tell us what is actually happening ... not try and show off by predicting what is going to happen. I get driven crazy by them when they call goals, and say "Sorry, it was only a point". Why can't they just wait until the goal umpire has lifted two fingers before screaming their **** off?
Rex Hunt is the worst at this, he calls goals before the player has even kicked the ball. And that damned "fat lady" sings far too early for my liking.

 

[luthor]

If I were that fat lady, I would seriously consider suing every sporting commentator on the planet for misrepresentation.

I wonder why tall or short or well built or voluptuous or emaciated ladies don't ever get to hum a few bars?

 

[Vintage 62]

So you think that Robert Walls is biased AGAINST BRISBANE ?

Go to the Essendon board and ask them what they think! LOL

I don't agree that Walls is a biased commentator actually, I find him fairly even handed and his remarks thoughtful. There is no doubt though, that he takes some satisfaction from Brisbane's success, and on Saturday may have been trying too hard to be 'unbiased.'

 

[Stocka]

I don't really have a problem with R.Walls's comments at all.

Often in a game, you will find that one commentator will be 'assigned' to commenting on aspects for one of the teams, while another commentator will be 'assigned' to commentating on aspects of the other team. For this reason, you may find that one commentator appears to be more positive, or negative to one team as opposed to the other.

Likewise, you can't say at one time, that you're sick of hearing the "obvious" from a commentator, only to have a crack at them when they then say something that you don't like. That tends to suggest being a bit over-sensitive, and perhaps just as 'biased' against the commentator as you're suggesting he/she is against your own team!

At any rate, R.Walls's job is to make comments, whether people agree with them or not. His job is to provide commentary which could perhaps be thought-provoking, controversial, or even just informative observations. I've always found Walls to be articulate and at least interesting. He often mentions various insights which amount from his experiences as a coach, which I always find interesting to hear. I don't always agree with everything he says, but more often than not, I believe he makes points worth considering. He doesn't over commentate, nor is he only capable of relying on resources to provide a second hand opinion (like so many other commentators are).

As far as I'm concerned he showed at three of the four clubs that he coached, that he was a brilliant coach. I don't see why his coaching career should be brought into question, in light of his commentary.

For what it's worth, R.Walls clearly indicatated in the lead-up to the game, that he would be supporting the Brisbane Lions in the contest, due to his dislike of Collingwood (for various reasons), as well as his involvement with Fitzroy and the Bears.

 

[Mr Ripper]

Don't reckon it was Wallsy's finest hour (or two), either, Lexy.

 

[fugitive]

Thank god he wasn't coaching Brisbane yesterday...I think he suggested to take Aka off early in the Q4 before he kicked the winning goal!!

I find him OK otherwise

 

[nick12]

talk about a whinge, just get over it. the lions won, and despite it all wallsy was doing his job.
there were some decisions that went the lions way in the last quarter, see: tarrant not paid, rocca goal not paid (even ashcroft said it was), and then lynchy in front of goal for diving.
despite the predictable arguments of 24 to 16 in favour of the pies, perhaps the 3 most influencial frees of the game went to brisbane in a time when the game was there to be won.
i would have thought that the poor decisions that went the lions way in the final quarter (and even in the final minutes) probably tipped the unfair treatment well and truly against the pies.

anyway, i dont think you guys should whinge too much as you owe a lot to wallsy.

try and be gracious in victory, and dont take any tips from akka as personally i feel he put a real blemish on the occasion with his outburst, a real show of poor sportsmanship!

 

[pedrothelioness]

Is there much difference between aka's outburst about the umpiriing and eddie's war on afl about the salary cap, in trying to say that the Lions are only what they are because of the extra money they receive? Isn't eddies memory just a lil small, in that not only does his team have nearly 10 players poached from interstate teams, three being from brisbane, but in the same sentence, proclaiming that at their new facilitys, the Pies will be the ENVY (his words) of the competition? Sour grapes anyone?

whats all this about wanting an equal playing field. Seems like captain 9, needs a lesson in humility, it lasted for a lil while after the game, but his real self, soon came out.

.......
As the lead bus was about to pull out, an ageing supporter fully decked out in Lions gear yelled out: “How much did we win by yesterday?”

Then he dropped the punchline. “By the same number as Eddie McGuire’s TV station!”

 

[nick12]

how can there be sour grapes for the winners???
why would a brisbane supporter waste their time whinging when they have just won the premiership??? Shouldn't they be out enjoying themselves rather than worrying about what Edward McGuire is doing????
Maybe its all the hot air up there in Summer Bay, but down here in melbourne we cant understand why brisbane supporters (and even players - Acnemanis) dont just enjoy the win rather than taint it!

 

[pedrothelioness]

we sure are enjoying the win. The thing is, all the news is pies based. The front page of the herald sun, pies, the first 9 pages, pies! The lions got a mention on what page 10?.

 

[nick12]

theres a reason

funnily enough, the newspapers are not government run and hense there is nothing to compel them but market share.

YES, funnily enough their's is a business too and they are a profit driven enterprise.

What this entails is a complex model (for you at least) of supply and demand. The Herald Sun is a MELBOURNE based newspaper. Melbourne has over 30,000 collingwood supporters and a half a million or so supporters compared to a measily 4000 fitzroy supporters. Now put yourself in the editior/owner's shoes. If your ultimate goal was to derive profit from your business you would obviously want to appeal to the broadest market wouldn't you...

????


And then the penny drops. You would cater to the majority, not minorities.
As the majority of your market is made up of collingwood supporters, then common sense would suggest the best approach financially would be to cater to that very demographic.

So genius, while you may profess that we live in an unjust and undemocratic world, this is the sad but very real reality of a market capitalist system. So stop your whining and take stock of what you are saying before you bore us with your squabble.

 

[Stocka]

Originally posted by nick12
talk about a whinge, just get over it.

You're putting together a self-help diary?

Originally posted by nick12
there were some decisions that went the lions way in the last quarter, see: tarrant not paid, rocca goal not paid (even ashcroft said it was), and then lynchy in front of goal for diving.

Finished rattling out your version of events yet?

Originally posted by nick12
despite the predictable arguments of 24 to 16 in favour of the pies, perhaps the 3 most influencial frees of the game went to brisbane in a time when the game was there to be won.

I'd say your 'argument' is more predictable than anything else I've heard so far.

The Lions won the game because they were the better side on the day. End of story.

Originally posted by nick12
i would have thought that the poor decisions that went the lions way in the final quarter (and even in the final minutes) probably tipped the unfair treatment well and truly against the pies.

No-one agrees with you. What makes you think that the game would have panned out so closely had it not been for the shockers that Collingwood got earlier in the game?

I'll say it again, the Lions won the game because they were the better side on the day. End of story.

Originally posted by nick12
try and be gracious in victory, and dont take any tips from akka as personally i feel he put a real blemish on the occasion with his outburst, a real show of poor sportsmanship!

Same goes for Rocca and McGuire.

 

[Stocka]

Originally posted by nick12


how can there be sour grapes for the winners???
why would a brisbane supporter waste their time whinging when they have just won the premiership??? Shouldn't they be out enjoying themselves rather than worrying about what Edward McGuire is doing????
Maybe its all the hot air up there in Summer Bay, but down here in melbourne we cant understand why brisbane supporters (and even players - Acnemanis) dont just enjoy the win rather than taint it!

Who says we're not enjoying it?

Considering that this is the Brisbane Lions board (which is therefore more likely to have a more subjective opinion displayed within, than as opposed to on the main board), I don't see that you've got much ground to be complaining about what's contributed on it.

I'm quite sure if we were to go to the Collingwood board, we could complain about some of the things contributed there as well.

 

[nick12]

stoopid

Same goes for Rocca and McGuire.

hey dumbass, have a look at what you're writing!
Rocca and McGuire weren't gracious in victory because....

wait for it....


THEY DIDN"T WIN!!!!


Honestly, use your brain (for a full explanation on the workings of the human brain please contact Brain of Morbidus )

you guys' arguments make about as much sense as **** on a bull.

 

[Stocka]

Re: stoopid

Originally posted by nick12


hey dumbass, have a look at what you're writing!
Rocca and McGuire weren't gracious in victory because....

wait for it....


THEY DIDN"T WIN!!!!


Honestly, use your brain (for a full explanation on the workings of the human brain please contact Brain of Morbidus )

you guys' arguments make about as much sense as **** on a bull.

Actually, my comment was about being gracious full-stop, regardless of victory or loss (although, apparently the semantics of it all were totally lost on the likes of yourself - not surprising, considering the semi-illiterate nature of your posts).

Just like Rocca and McGuire, you too also seem incapable of taking a loss on the chin by admitting that you merely weren't good enough. Now THAT is the best example of ingraciousness that has been on display of late.

 

[ian68]

Nick,

2nd 1/4
COLLINGWOOD: Nick Davis shakes off a strong tackle by Marcus Ashcroft on centre wing and is taken to ground as he kicks, by Brad Scott. A dubious relayed free kick is paid to Anthony Rocca downfield????? Rocca goals from 25m and 45 degrees. 17 MINUTE MARK. 1-8 to 3-4
3rd 1/4
COLLINGWOOD: After a string of fierce tackles around the Magpies goalsquare, Josh Fraser receives a free kick for in-the-back against Justin Leppitsch which had many critics divided about its worth. He rams the ball home from 12metres. 2 MINUTE MARK. 4-12 to 5-4

There are 2 "dodgy" goals at crucial times. Only the truely desperate could believe Collingwood got the short end of the stick. The saying goes "Winners are grinners and the losers can please themselves" not "say what you like". A couple more are the one about Glass Houses and the Pot and Kettle one

You lost, weren't good enough, never were. You should be used to "we'll be better next year" by now. Bye now