When he found himself under the ball in the marking contest (think it was Garland immediately behind him, with both arms stretched to the heavens to catch the ball). Flung himself forward, great acting to imitate being shoved in the back. Good enough for those umpires, gave him the free and resultant goal. Guess it's the mark of experience.

But great to see him totally shut down and outplayed by Frawley once he went on him. Some justice in that! Frawley was one of our very best, imo.

Loving Chips work at the moment. Has the confidence to take the game on and most importantly keeps his feet in contests.

For Chips height and weight he must be the quickest guy to cover 50m in the AFL. I know everyone loves to bang on about the speed/agility of Franklin, but chip does the exact same thing on the other side of the ground. He beats his opposition with speed, agility and strength.

He truley is one of the keys to the MFCs future. If he can keep this up and build form and experience, he will be a premier backman in the AFL.

We were making that fossil look good in the first half.

When he found himself under the ball in the marking contest (think it was Garland immediately behind him, with both arms stretched to the heavens to catch the ball). Flung himself forward, great acting to imitate being shoved in the back. Good enough for those umpires, gave him the free and resultant goal. Guess it's the mark of experience.

Garland has two hands in his back. It was there to be paid.

But great to see him totally shut down and outplayed by Frawley once he went on him. Some justice in that! Frawley was one of our very best, imo.

Frawley was BOG. Shut Burton down.

Garland was serviceable for first game back in over a year.

Garland has two hands in his back. It was there to be paid.

Frawley was BOG. Shut Burton down.

I didn't see any hands in his back, either real time or on the replay. Watching from on the wing, it was wrong angle to make a judgement but the replay I saw seemed pretty clear (Garland's hands in the air). But in the heat of battle...

I defer to your judgement, if you saw it clearly.

Thought Frawley, Grimes & Warnock were inspirational today.

A big difference between hands in the back and push in the back. There were definite hands in the back, and because of the milking that took place, the umpire had to pay a free.

No cheating from either side; don't forget, we had a pretty good 5 minutes or so early in the last when things went our way.

I didn't see any hands in his back, either real time or on the replay. Watching from on the wing, it was wrong angle to make a judgement but the replay I saw seemed pretty clear (Garland's hands in the air). But in the heat of battle...

I defer to your judgement, if you saw it clearly.

Thought Frawley, Grimes & Warnock were inspirational today.

As RR said he did have two hands clearly in his back whislt there was little or no "push" he did have the hands firmly in the back so it was a fair free kick whether he "staged" or not.

Chipper was really good.

Yep the hands were resting on his back (basically Garland using them for touch on Burton) but definitely did not extend his arms & Burton made the most of it. Frawley should get the most dangerous forward every time because he has all the tools to shut them down... Burton could have iced kicked uus out of the contest before half time if he had kicked straight.

Thankfully Tippett was close to worst on ground so didn't need to shut both of them down.

Yep the hands were resting on his back (basically Garland using them for touch on Burton) but definitely did not extend his arms & Burton made the most of it. Frawley should get the most dangerous forward every time because he has all the tools to shut them down... Burton could have iced kicked uus out of the contest before half time if he had kicked straight.

Thankfully Tippett was close to worst on ground so didn't need to shut both of them down.

He was awful, but I think you have to pay credit for that to Warnock. He played a superb negating game on the most dangerous forward on the ground. His best game this season (all three games of it).

Just out of interest, what should you do if you want to maintain touch of your opponent? Do you use your elbow/forearm or do you play beside or in front of him, or what?

Just out of interest, what should you do if you want to maintain touch of your opponent? Do you use your elbow/forearm or do you play beside or in front of him, or what?

Stay beside him or in front, hands on the side or front, but not he back.

And the Gold Logie winner is.....Burton for his stunning performance against Melbourne in Rd 3.

Hands in the back, I think Garland's hands did brush past him as he reach up, but you can hardly call it in the back.

Burton is a very good footballer, but this bloke has form when it comes to diving. How many times did he go to ground and what about the short steps on a few of those chases

Yep the hands were resting on his back (basically Garland using them for touch on Burton) but definitely did not extend his arms & Burton made the most of it. Frawley should get the most dangerous forward every time because he has all the tools to shut them down... Burton could have iced kicked uus out of the contest before half time if he had kicked straight.

Thankfully Tippett was close to worst on ground so didn't need to shut both of them down.

Saw it clearly on the replay. Garland did have his hands on his back, but Burton dived forward as Garland stretched is arms out to take the mark. That was what indicated the push - it sort of looked like he pushed Burton and went for the mark in the one motion. But replays indicated his arms were bent and practically unmoving when Burton dived.

Also, Tippett WAS worst on ground. Five disposals, three marks, one out on the full to three quarter time and he came off injured sometime in the last quarter.

I couldn't see Garland's hands in Burton's back but clearly others did. What I saw looked like a monumental stage, and the replay only showed Burton flinging himself forward while Garland had his arms in the air. But hands in the back, push or not, is a free. So that's that. Like someone said, Burton's milking it simply made it obvious to the umpires.

I actually thought we got a pretty fair go from the umpiring today (makes a change).

I thought the umps did a good job today.

If anything, a couple of times they seemed to be looking for something to pay a free kick for,but in the main a thumbs up from me.

Credit where it's due ... Burton played a very good first half and kept them in it. Yes he was eventually shut down but by game's end he was still in their best 5 players on the day.

In the spirit of the law it was a free. Sure he made it obvious but so be it.

Robbo used to do this on a weekly basis, maybe it is karma for that.

I saw the hands clearly in the back too. Burton was also very stiff not to be paid a free kick in the last few minutes of the game - was scragged without the ball in Adelaide forward pocket MCC side.

I saw the hands clearly in the back too. Burton was also very stiff not to be paid a free kick in the last few minutes of the game - was scragged without the ball in Adelaide forward pocket MCC side.

Agree with the free kick missed.

Happened right in front of me. It was JoelMac. Burton was clearly retarded by JMac in his attack on the ball.

Glad the umpire had put the whistle away!

Just out of interest, what should you do if you want to maintain touch of your opponent? Do you use your elbow/forearm or do you play beside or in front of him, or what?

Forearm. As a backman, it is hard to play in front all the time as you end up 2nd guessing what the forward will do - so, I would advise a youngster to use the forearm and either do it from right behind his backside or right beside him & dig it into his ribs.

Btw - really really happy with the way our backline is combining with each other and backing themselves. Keep going boys!!!!!

I thought the umps did a good job today.

hahah so did I... funny that, how it seems the umps do a good job when a few decisions go your way.. wish it happened more often! We need umpires to stop being influenced by crowd noise and pay decisions based on evidence in front of them.

I am sure if we were playing a stronger supported team down here we may not have recieved as many free kicks, alternatively, we may have had a couple more paid against us.

Most frustrating aspect to umpiring IMO.. inconsistancy and corruptable temprament.

same thing kinda happened in the dogs hawks match

One Hawks player pushed Hall into the back of another Hawks player, the hawks player got free you could see Hall was not happy with the decision