I'm not sure what people are getting so upset about here. Salem whacked a bloke in the head and quite rightfully was suspended. This is the fourth time this year that one of our players has been suspended for hitting a bloke in the head. What is it that is difficult to understand about this? If you don't want to get suspended, don't whack blokes in the head.

The AFL / MRP have made it clear that you can hit blokes anywhere else in the body without sanction. Therefore, if you feel the need to whack someone, hit them in the guts. Or with a jumper in your hand. 

Ultimately we got sucked in by North getting physical early. They then settled quicker and focused on the footy, whilst our players worried about settling scores. It took us basically the entire first quarter to fix that. That is poor leadership and poor coaching, and that is why we lost the game. 

Two weeks for Salem way overs. Idiots on MRP invited more jumper punching with Cotchin decision. Why didn't they address it last week if concerned?  Jimmy where were you last week son ? That's strike two for you Jimmy in my book . Ridiculous , biased, unbalanced ( $1000 fine - haha) inconsistent penalties are being dispensed inequitably by people who simply cant handle the job and should resign..

  On 22/05/2017 at 23:01, Clint Bizkit said:

Dumb by Salem, but I would be arguing insufficient force.

Definitely, how it can be seen as more force than Cotchins hit on Neale is laughable. 

  On 22/05/2017 at 21:23, beelzebub said:

You can't have read much of this thread then if you come up with that.

I'm affraid you , and i dont say this personally per se , only you often vocalise the clubs action, or lack of, typify what is wrong with Melbourne.

You assume the club does something. Where is any evidence to this effect ? The AFL is agenda driven. A bit like the umpiring it's all over the shop. No longer does it keep shop for the member clubs to whom it should be answering it now wags the dog.

Beasts like Gils Dills are swayed by few things but media scutiny ( as you hint ) is one. When you're given lip service , if that, by official chanels then, just as in politics , you play the game of third parties. That is you throw out 'word bombs' triggering off discussion and pressure . The AFL wont blink if we get annoyed but it will act if it thinks its darling reputation as doyen of sport and all things wonderful is being tarnished.

You see the AFL is all about them. Over time they have essentially gone rogue on the clubs.

Its time to pull them back into line.

The more astute clubs know how to play the game, in fact one tells us exactly that....and they do.

Just like the school yard. Bullies only flourish if you give them the power. Take it back and they kowtow.

Time for MELBOURNE to remind Gil and his useless mrp etc who's game this is. It's not Gil's.

You want respect. Stand up for yourself.

Satyr works for the AFL or would happily take such a position. No Doubts

Just accept everything and move on...has always been his attitude

Get Angry MFC

Bernie and Christian got hung out to dry by that Scott Brother and Nought

Anyone seen our President???

 

  On 23/05/2017 at 00:56, Clint Bizkit said:

Salem has accepted the penalty, there's one forced change.

 

Silly boy.

You'd think after Lewis and Hogan directly cost us wins against Geelong, Freo and Richmond, no player would even contemplate dishing out cheap shots.

Totally unacceptable and not good enough from Salem.

  On 23/05/2017 at 01:28, Dockett 32 said:

Two weeks for Salem way overs. Idiots on MRP invited more jumper punching with Cotchin decision. Why didn't they address it last week if concerned?  Jimmy where were you last week son ? That's strike two for you Jimmy in my book . Ridiculous , biased, unbalanced ( $1000 fine - haha) inconsistent penalties are being dispensed inequitably by people who simply cant handle the job and should resign..

quite agree dockett. if the mrp are complaining about lack of rules to follow they had one very simple option (which has been used before).......all they had to do was refer any incidents they were unhappy with (cotchin, cunnington and others) straight to the tribunal who have much more interpretive  power ....simple,.....and it forces the issue to be recognised and acted on by the afl. they are just a muddled, incompetent group of box tickers

So we just accept Salem's Lot?

WAP MFC as per usual.

Meanwhile the umpires don't want to bounce the ball anymore because it's too much like work.

Time for a change up at board level.

  On 23/05/2017 at 00:29, Lucifer's Hero said:

I was just listening to SEN and apparently Lethlean goes to the MRP meetings to hear what they are going to do. No wonder he never appeals a decision.

That is a blatant abuse of the supposed MRP independence.  After all, Leathlean represents the AFL and the AFL appoint the MRP members. 

Now he wants to change the rules.  The rules are fine!  Its the interpretation of intent, impact, in play, risk of injury etc are the problem.

Lethlean should stay out of the MRP process altogether.

THE F()CK !?!?!?

I heard Gil himself on the radio yesterday talking about how we have an independent MRP/tribunal.

The AFL have lost control of the officiating of the game. And they run a corrupt competition.

  On 23/05/2017 at 00:57, poita said:

I'm not sure what people are getting so upset about here. Salem whacked a bloke in the head and quite rightfully was suspended. This is the fourth time this year that one of our players has been suspended for hitting a bloke in the head. What is it that is difficult to understand about this? If you don't want to get suspended, don't whack blokes in the head. 

I saw the Richmond captain hit a bloke in the head. He wasn't suspended.

 

The outrage is not that Salem got done. It is that the MRP repeatedly make topsy-turvy decisions as if the members have taken too many shots to the head themselves.

  On 23/05/2017 at 00:57, poita said:

I'm not sure what people are getting so upset about here. Salem whacked a bloke in the head and quite rightfully was suspended. This is the fourth time this year that one of our players has been suspended for hitting a bloke in the head. What is it that is difficult to understand about this? If you don't want to get suspended, don't whack blokes in the head.

The AFL / MRP have made it clear that you can hit blokes anywhere else in the body without sanction. Therefore, if you feel the need to whack someone, hit them in the guts. Or with a jumper in your hand. 

Ultimately we got sucked in by North getting physical early. They then settled quicker and focused on the footy, whilst our players worried about settling scores. It took us basically the entire first quarter to fix that. That is poor leadership and poor coaching, and that is why we lost the game. 

I don't really care but from a consistence perspective Higgins hit Vince in the jaw and it wasn't even looked at by the MRP.

  On 22/05/2017 at 06:30, w00dy said:

How is a punch to the guts, forcing a player from the ground,  resulting in him dry reaching 'low impact' ?

 

 

 

i'm presuming that is a rhetorical question, choke

Hit 'em in the guts and you won't get rubbed out. That's the clear message from the outcomes of the weekend, and it's just given carte blanche to thugs and snipers.

  On 23/05/2017 at 03:39, daisycutter said:

i'm presuming that is a rhetorical question, choke

http://knowyourmeme.com/memes/ancient-aliens

  On 23/05/2017 at 03:48, Choke said:

http://knowyourmeme.com/memes/ancient-aliens

you actually watch that stuff, choke? <rhetorical>

  On 23/05/2017 at 04:15, daisycutter said:

you actually watch that stuff, choke? <rhetorical>

Both the MRP and Ancient Aliens are preposterous.

 

 

The internet has these things called memes, used entertainment and comedic purposes.

  On 23/05/2017 at 00:57, poita said:

I'm not sure what people are getting so upset about here. Salem whacked a bloke in the head and quite rightfully was suspended. This is the fourth time this year that one of our players has been suspended for hitting a bloke in the head. What is it that is difficult to understand about this? If you don't want to get suspended, don't whack blokes in the head.

The AFL / MRP have made it clear that you can hit blokes anywhere else in the body without sanction. Therefore, if you feel the need to whack someone, hit them in the guts. Or with a jumper in your hand. 

Ultimately we got sucked in by North getting physical early. They then settled quicker and focused on the footy, whilst our players worried about settling scores. It took us basically the entire first quarter to fix that. That is poor leadership and poor coaching, and that is why we lost the game. 

Good on you. Brad Scott couldn't have put it any better.

We were getting whacked from before the opening bounce. The players think "OK, the umps will sort it out for us, that's what they're there for." About 10 minutes in, they see Oliver flat on the ground, whacked high by Higgins not far from the umpire while play is stopped, and the umpire does nothing, waves it through.

If you're North, you'd think, "Beauty! Scotty was right! We can get away with just about anything today! Throat punches! Let's go!" And they do.

If you're a Demon, you'd think, "Well, the umps clearly aren't going to protect us. But we can't just cop this. We've got to give something back!" And they do.

I'm assuming you're not suggesting they should have just copped all the whacks and "played the ball", knowing the umps wouldn't protect them? Do we want to be known as the club that's not willing to hit back hard when we get hit unfairly?

I do agree with your last sentence about "poor leadership and poor coaching" though. Scott, whose only elite quality as a player was knowing how far he could bend the rules and get away with it, would have spent much of last week watching the video of us against Adelaide and working out how to nail us. Were we really so naïve as to not expect them to go the biff (and probably to get away with it)? We seemed to be totally unprepared for them to come out and go the biff from the start. If we weren't so naïve, we should expect this to happen every single game.

Just a hint. In two weeks we play a club who desperately wants to beat us, whose coach is probably coaching for his career. I wonder whether we can predict what will happen in the first 10 minutes? And I wonder whether our coach will be yet again surprised when it does happen. Or do you think we could possibly plan for it.

  On 23/05/2017 at 01:54, Ted Fidge said:

I saw the Richmond captain hit a bloke in the head. He wasn't suspended.

 

The outrage is not that Salem got done. It is that the MRP repeatedly make topsy-turvy decisions as if the members have taken too many shots to the head themselves.

I saw the Richmond captain hit Viney in the head in a similar fashion to Salem, and start a melee, for which he was later cited. He actually got a free kick for it, which led to a goal. Did that deter him from doing it again, or did it encourage him?

I'm surprised at the disappointment some have with the club for not speaking out about these decisions.

You want respect in this comp? Shut up and win games of footy. Even when thats unfairly made harder to achieve, just get on with it. 

Saying the club has no backbone for not speaking up is unfair. I mean, just look at the Scott brothers... It's not our style to whinge and complain. We're better than that. 

  On 23/05/2017 at 05:52, Juicebox said:

I'm surprised at the disappointment some have with the club for not speaking out about these decisions.

You want respect in this comp? Shut up and win games of footy. Even when thats unfairly made harder to achieve, just get on with it. 

Saying the club has no backbone for not speaking up is unfair. I mean, just look at the Scott brothers... It's not our style to whinge and complain. We're better than that. 

That's interesting, as I have heard the so called best coach in the competition, complain about everything from umpiring, to the thickness of the walls in the coaches box and his club have won 4 flags recently and he and his club are well respected.

The worm will turn.

We have a list full of young brutes. And they can all hurt you fairly.

They also have Lewis as a mentor.

They will be adults soon. But they won't forget.

And by then, the MRP and umps will be biased in our favour.

No case to answer Melbourne.

  On 23/05/2017 at 05:52, Juicebox said:

I'm surprised at the disappointment some have with the club for not speaking out about these decisions.

You want respect in this comp? Shut up and win games of footy. Even when thats unfairly made harder to achieve, just get on with it. 

Saying the club has no backbone for not speaking up is unfair. I mean, just look at the Scott brothers... It's not our style to whinge and complain. We're better than that. 

Without doubt the best way to earn respect is to win games. There's no question. When attempting this it is hoped to play under something vaguely approaching a level playing field.  It was an uphill battle Sunday. Hard to play 21.

That aside many of the most successful teams/club of the modern era are also the ones who are quick to back the coaches and players in other arenas  before different umpires.

Does that make them 'sore' winners ?  I wouldnt think so . More it makes them complete and thorough in playing the game. 

It's not about being pucka, nor stiff upper lip/she'll be right etc It's about standing up for yourself on and off the field.

Hawthorn for example  I'm sure are incapable of taking a backward step. Come at them with silly fines and irregular penalties and they'll wig up and march you into the nearest court or tribunal;. Everyone at the club knows they are backed to the hilt.  

Melbourne: ( on the other hand )

 

Hawthorn are the most successful club of the modern era. God I wish we were more like them !

  On 23/05/2017 at 06:01, Skuit said:

The worm will turn.

We have a list full of young brutes. And they can all hurt you fairly.

They also have Lewis as a mentor.

They will be adults soon. But they won't forget.

And by then, the MRP and umps will be biased in our favour.

No case to answer Melbourne.

Good luck thinking we'll ever see a MRP or the umpires in our favour. I'm constantly amazed by the number of people in the general community who dislike us and take pleasure in our misery. I can only assume it's a residual dislike from the days, long gone now, when we were the preferred team of the elites. These days the spivs are all sitting in the Hawthorn corporate box.

  On 23/05/2017 at 05:58, Redleg said:

That's interesting, as I have heard the so called best coach in the competition, complain about everything from umpiring, to the thickness of the walls in the coaches box and his club have won 4 flags recently and he and his club are well respected.

I hear what you're saying. Gregg Popovic sprung to mind whilst I was writing my post. Of any sport, anywhere in the world, he is arguably the greatest coach of all time. Never one to shy away from giving his 2cents worth in a not so friendly manner.

 

Would Clarkson be even more respected had he of been a little less outspoken over the years? Uhh, probably. But would he have still been as successful?

  On 23/05/2017 at 06:19, Juicebox said:

I hear what you're saying. Gregg Popovic sprung to mind whilst I was writing my post. Of any sport, anywhere in the world, he is arguably the greatest coach of all time. Never one to shy away from giving his 2cents worth in a not so friendly manner.

 

Would Clarkson be even more respected had he of been a little less outspoken over the years? Uhh, probably. But would he have still been as successful?

I agree I really think Coaches speaking out makes very little difference to how the AFL deals with issues.

Pop has that killer demeanor where he literally looks like he will stare you down until you simply disappear. So good to watch. A true legend of the game.

Can you imagine Goodwin trying to act all steely and tough in front of the media? 

That constant slight smirk on his face and standard safe answers are going to be the norm for a while I think.