I do like the idea of Boo-cancelling headphones for umpires.

I choose to believe the AFL rigged all our games in 2013 as well. Filthy maggots. I blame them for every 100 point loss we had. 

I’m staggered this thread is up to 7 pages

4 minutes ago, america de cali said:

Aside from the VDB free, there was an incident with a blatant front on spoil  without looking for the ball  to stop a certain mark by one of our players  by I think Barrass in the second quarter close to the goal square that was never paid. 

Yes I saw that and thought should have been paid

BT just fobbed it off

Gee, we're a serious bunch aren't we. Post is obviously tongue in cheek, but the reactions are priceless.

Rigged is when the yellow maggots end up on the oppositions best player list.

Like the Port loss, 18 frees 2 against after half time!

23 hours ago, Demonland said:

This was posted to reddit 2 months ago.

The other interesting thing  about this table is that Melbourne is the ONLY club not to have had a positive differential of more than 11 in ANY year. #MFCSS lives

I think the "crowd affirmation" works on more then just umpires. Was sitting at the game with my very level headed WC mate and by the last he was getting in (the ferals around us were filthy from the opening bounce) on the "you've had a good day with the umps" bandwagon, he was pretty surprised by the free kick count at the end. Maybe Joeboy got pulled in by it too?

The problem with the stereotypical WC supporter is that they believe that a free kick should be paid to WC at every single contest and most of the time the free that they want is non-sensical.

It must be said they aren't the most educated footy crowd, but that is probably understandable given the amount of media froth that goes on about WC in Perth, the old duck who I had the displeasure of sitting next to repeated told me that she knew footy because she had been an Eagles member since 87, she then proceeded to loudly repeat ad nauesem that the umpires were wearing red and black under their green....i didn't have the heart to tell her Melbourne doesn't wear black.

My take on some of the contentious decisions 

OMac - this is the only one that we got away with - clear holding the ball

AVB - enough said about this, bad decision by the non-controlling umpire - goal WC

Tyson on the goal line - watch the replay - he's got a fist in his throat - if the Barrass/Spargo free is high contact then so is this one

Tyson at the top of the goal square - is tyson lucky, yep, does he get hit in the head, yep - there was a WC free on the wing for one of their players driving their head into Weideman, same, same 

Unfortunately my WC mates don't seem to understand that you cant have it both ways 

 

 

On 8/21/2018 at 9:46 AM, joeboy said:

For all those who are outraged by my personal opinion, I hereby resign from this thread , and thank you for revealing the error of my ways, particularly drysdale demon who’s outed me as a closet Collingwood supporter

Joeboy, just out of curiosity where in my original comment did I suggest you were a closet Collingwood supporter, perhaps you didn't read my post correctly whilst you were watching the replay for fourth time.

16 hours ago, beelzebub said:

To answer the op

How CAN you rig a game ? Seriously.  The various lines of structure to cover ( from leaking the secret )...seems incredulous imho

It is incredulous, so when it happens (often repeatedly and regularly), one is left challenging one's own credibility for the thought as if mimicking a cat chasing its own tail. It is a point of executed game and season interference without any revision; rigging or merely favouring occurs in a perceived balance across a whole game providing 'eveners' and 'kept in play' outcomes to appease crowd, club and predominantly interested party sentiments that benefit more than just the combatants - the gate receipts of the near and far future might well be at stake, otherwise - and the secular interests of the influential within the AFL structure dare not challenge what has been done for them, ultimately by them and their perceptions of the good of the game from their perspectives. Challenge to this irony is left virtually useless because such an episode would lead to severe 'black marks' on any immediate or longer-term success and the maintenance of an 100-year status quo that our game represents. It is now no longer a governance system, it is an entertainment industry with swinging moods and exemplars.

The crowd behaviour in the west is cultural and ingrained; they do it now instinctively, and it clearly has an influence on the umpire’s decision making.  It was clear to see that the umpires were (rightly) resisting the crowd’s pleas and abuse this round, as incorrect or borderline decisions that usually go their way, were not awarded.

The most staggering part for me however was the WCE players reactions to not being awarded free kicks.  Clearly they are just as conditioned as the crowd is to getting the good side of contentious decisions.  They complained more than any team I can remember seeing to the extent that they looked rattled and irritated.

Oh please. They had more frees and plenty of dodgy ones. If any games were fixed, the Port and St Kilda games were, we got absolutely reamed by the umps.

To be fair, Oscar McDonald not being pinged for holding the ball after dropping an easy mark (fumbles and a lack of composure will be our downfall) then ducking into a tackle was a shocker.

 

7 minutes ago, Clint Bizkit said:

To be fair, Oscar McDonald not being pinged for holding the ball after dropping an easy mark (fumbles and a lack of composure will be our downfall) then ducking into a tackle was a shocker.

 

Agreed.

The number of times this never gets paid in Melbourne's favour when an opposition player does that, is shocking too.

I have watched the game  again and for reasons that I wanted to see for myseif  the frees that were given to both the sides and if they were there.  At one stage we were leading the count 3 to 7 MELB  and at the end of it we were in arrears 18 to 14 MELB . Although there was instances where Tyson could have been deemed as holding the ball in front of the Wce  goals , the umpire became lenient and gave us the benefit of the doubt. There was one with Vanders  on the HFF which could have gone against him but we worked a goal out of it. All in short.

There are ifs and but in in frees and l am not saying  that they can or cannot win you games however there are times they have a saying and it can hurt a side. IMO.

I believe the Umpires were instructed to not be perceived  as been favourable towards WCE due to the crowd atmosphere and the pressure it places upon them. 3 Victorian Umpires  over 700 games between them. Schmitt, Hoskin and Stevic.  They were there to umpire the game and not to be noticed.    Well done.

To me, umpires are just like players - some are better than others and they all have good games and bad games. I have no problem criticising an ump for a bad decision, just as we criticise our players for making mistakes. But to suggest that umps are cheats, or that they rig matches is, in my opinion, a joke, surely. 

Good teams overcome bad umpiring. West Coast sit second on the ladder, so should be a good team. They won the frees count yet they still complain? Imagine if they actually get a free kick count against them!!! I thought it was good finals like umpiring where they err on the side of not paying the free. Clearly West Coast will be better with their two forwards back but I think Nik Nat and Gaff are massive losses and the West Coast fans will have plenty to cry about in the next few weeks.

On 8/21/2018 at 5:39 AM, Gorgoroth said:

What about the two legged frees we didn’t get?

so many not paid either way. 

They were so blatant even the West Coast fans were booing the non calls.

3 hours ago, Neil Crompton said:

To me, umpires are just like players - some are better than others and they all have good games and bad games. I have no problem criticising an ump for a bad decision, just as we criticise our players for making mistakes. But to suggest that umps are cheats, or that they rig matches is, in my opinion, a joke, surely. 

One thing I do know is that the better teams can end up with more frees because the better players can put themselves into better positions to win frees.

So the free kick count and the supposed equality of the count is a flawed idea as well.

The good news is that we are becoming one of those better teams.

Edited August 22, 20186 yr by Macca

1 hour ago, Clint Bizkit said:

To be fair, Oscar McDonald not being pinged for holding the ball after dropping an easy mark (fumbles and a lack of composure will be our downfall) then ducking into a tackle was a shocker.

 

You should change your name to 'Clint Fumbles' soon.  It's all you ever talk about.

Novelty thread aside, the McDonald duck into a tackle being paid a ball-up was awesome. About time the Eagles copped it at home.

7 minutes ago, Wiseblood said:

You should change your name to 'Clint Fumbles' soon.  It's all you ever talk about.

You should change you name to “Wisebizkit” soon. I’m all you ever talk about.

OMG this is seriously wacky stuff, we win against a top 4 side and we have supporter who questions some dodgy umpires calls and attributes them to the AFL wanting a good new story. 

Firstly dodgy umpire calls happen in most games

Secondly why would the AFL want to compromise their own competition for the sake of a feel good narrrative.

As the OP says it is their conspiracy theory. Like all conspiracy theories it is pretty poorly evidenced and has more conjecture that fact. 

IMO the OP should look into it more and provide other instances of this theory occurring in other games with other clubs, as it would make a great story.

There are times in this great game where I have thought wow you just  can’t write some of the drama, joy and tears that can happen in this competition.

But I will admit sitting with Demon Army at Optus Stadium on Sunday my care factor for the fairness of umpires call paled into significance when the boys took it up to Weagles and I have little sympathy for them or for a view that they did not win the game fairly or without assitance. The way I see it the Weagles have form for imbalanced umpire calls so all fair in live and war.

Go the Dees!

31 minutes ago, Clint Bizkit said:

You should change you name to “Wisebizkit” soon. I’m all you ever talk about.

You wish.

1 hour ago, felixdacat said:

Secondly why would the AFL want to compromise their own competition for the sake of a feel good narrrative.

I'm not going to touch the "rigged" theory with a barge pole, but the above sentence leapt out at me.

 

The words "AFL", "compromise" and "feel good narrative" do go together well. Perhaps people can think of a fairly recent example?