19 minutes ago, monoccular said:

There must be data available, though no doubt the AFL have hidden it deeply somewhere, on the number of frees by umpire for and against each team.

Absolutely no doubt that Nicholls gives more to the Hawks than most, and fewer against them, and fewer to the Dees and more against than any other umpire.

Seriously we will need to be a five goal better than Hawks team on Friday to have any hope at all.

Thanks Gillon.

Sir Swamp Thing on Twitter may have the answer to this.

Just now, daisycutter said:

2 of them are ok. 

Best thing that can be done is give the big boo at bad decisions. With the large crowd,  that is a large noise of dissatisfaction, that will affect future final appointments. That is all they care about. 

TBH generally finals are  umpired fairly well. We just need to bring our best footy and umpires shouldn’t come into it.

Stevic's not bad. One out three at least.

Our only hope is their performance will be scrutinised for selection of umps for the semis and the The granny.  If he is a biased cheating pr1ck then he might miss on the big game.  Hopefully this is enough to smooth out his appalling bias (on the night), or hold it in check.

we have to win regardless.

Nearly every club's supporters hate Nicholls and are convinced he is biased against them.

But I just saw this on the Hawthorn Bigfooty page.

Stevic and Nicholls

 Get around us

 

Only thing to do is make sure our noise is the noise that influences the umps. Study the tapes from Perth to see how it's done.

GO DEMONS!!!

If Nicholls is umpiring it may be time to dust off the old Barrett M95 (aka Betty) 

52 minutes ago, buck_nekkid said:

Our only hope is their performance will be scrutinised for selection of umps for the semis and the The granny.  If he is a biased cheating pr1ck then he might miss on the big game.  Hopefully this is enough to smooth out his appalling bias (on the night), or hold it in check.

we have to win regardless.

Not so sure - the "biased cheating pr1ck" has after all been selected to do us over in this big game.

Sorry guys, but to me this just looks like pre-emptive sooking. Deciding in advance that the umpires are biased so that then every time any unfavourable decision looks soft or questionable you can have a moan and say 'see I told you so'.

Hawthorn and Melbourne have close to identical free kick tallies for the season overall, and there is no evidence, at all, of a free kick bias in our games against Hawthorn going back quite some years.

Rnd 4 2018 - Hawks 27 Demons 24

Rnd 7 2017 - Hawks 10 Demons 15

Rnd 20 2016 - Hawks 19 Demons 16

Rnd 11 2016 - Hawks 19 Demons 21

Rnd 7 2015 - Hawks 14 Demons 14

Rnd 20 2014 - Hawks 15 Demons 15

 

Some people need to pull their heads in because this is just shameful loser behaviour. I mean really, working up some baseless conspiracy theories, getting ready in advance lining up people to blame... just embarrassing.

Best thing to do to stay sane and enjoy the game is make a point of not knowing who the umpires are and not overdoing the second-guessing every time there's a decision.

 

1 hour ago, monoccular said:

There must be data available, though no doubt the AFL have hidden it deeply somewhere, on the number of frees by umpire for and against each team.

Absolutely no doubt that Nicholls gives more to the Hawks than most, and fewer against them, and fewer to the Dees and more against than any other umpire.

Seriously we will need to be a five goal better than Hawks team on Friday to have any hope at all.

Thanks Gillon.

Been more than noticeable for two years ... structured and manufactured outcomes with umpire selection and no doubt, instructions to a set result. This is going to be another of these to now wreck the momentum and co-ordination that the MFC have proven in recent games, to end their season due to the possible maximisation of gate receipts in the next finals round with a Hawthorn win this week. If it re-appears, Goody must take the team off the field and 50,000 Dees supporters will be in support providing the evidence of the corruption. Nicholls is the worst choice - with obvious evidence from a higher calling to prejudice our game.  

The number of frees isn't the issue sometimes - it is often where they are paid (or not) and to whom. 

3 minutes ago, Little Goffy said:

Sorry guys, but to me this just looks like pre-emptive sooking. Deciding in advance that the umpires are biased so that then every time any unfavourable decision looks soft or questionable you can have a moan and say 'see I told you so'.

Hawthorn and Melbourne have close to identical free kick tallies for the season overall, and there is no evidence, at all, of a free kick bias in our games against Hawthorn going back quite some years.

Rnd 4 2018 - Hawks 27 Demons 24

Rnd 7 2017 - Hawks 10 Demons 15

Rnd 20 2016 - Hawks 19 Demons 16

Rnd 11 2016 - Hawks 19 Demons 21

Rnd 7 2015 - Hawks 14 Demons 14

Rnd 20 2014 - Hawks 15 Demons 15

 

Some people need to pull their heads in because this is just shameful loser behaviour. I mean really, working up some baseless conspiracy theories, getting ready in advance lining up people to blame... just embarrassing.

Best thing to do to stay sane and enjoy the game is make a point of not knowing who the umpires are and not overdoing the second-guessing every time there's a decision.

 

It is not the number of frees that invokes the criticism, it is when, where and why a handful of frees are gifted to enact, sustain and facilitate a winning outcome at the detriment of another team. 

1 hour ago, Jibroni said:

Hawthorn will have 23 players now Andy.

I will try and get the air rifle through the airport checking station!

 

Just get a plastic 3D printed one, the wands won’t detect it ?

Just spoke to a colleague of mine at Champion Data and asked about Nicholls. Apparently the last game he umpired was the Swans game he actually gave Melbourne more frees than Sydney. He couldn't comment on other games.

 

Unless he is a Hawthorn Supporter he might as bad as we think?

 

Just now, Jibroni said:

Just spoke to a colleague of mine at Champion Data and asked about Nicholls. Apparently the last game he umpired was the Swans game he actually gave Melbourne more frees than Sydney.

He was on a 6 day break. Of course he wasn't up to his usual standard.

13 minutes ago, DeezNuts said:

Just get a plastic 3D printed one, the wands won’t detect it ?

Correct. But if the x-ray people detect it, you will quickly become acquainted with the technological advances in plastic 3D printed rubber gloves

A Hawks supporting colleague of mine is convinced Nicholls has it in for Hawthorn, says it is common wisdom among Hawk fans.

Goes to show perception is a funny thing...

 

 

But I still reckon he's a [censored] [censored]  

whatever. he is still a shyte umpire and sucks out the enjoyment of a good game with his bad decisions

27 minutes ago, Deemania since 56 said:

Goody must take the team off the field and 50,000 Dees supporters will be in support providing the evidence of the corruption. Nicholls is the worst choice - with obvious evidence from a higher calling to prejudice our game.  

Imagine how satisfying it will feel on Monday morning knowing we blew our best chance for a flag in many years by forfeiting a game.

Regrettably, the only other course of action open to us is to try to win the match regardless.

Is it just me, or do we seem to be getting a better run (razor ray as an example) now we are relevant, have bigger and noisier crowds, and are no longer looked down upon by the media?

the port game was the last time I thought we were truly butchered by the little green men - even the Adelaide and West Coast games seemed reasonably fair. 

1 hour ago, Mazer Rackham said:

Nearly every club's supporters hate Nicholls and are convinced he is biased against them.

But I just saw this on the Hawthorn Bigfooty page.

Stevic and Nicholls

 Get around us

 

Only thing to do is make sure our noise is the noise that influences the umps. Study the tapes from Perth to see how it's done.

GO DEMONS!!!

So all we have to do is boo everything?

Just drove passed Nicholls walking his dog, I actually gave way to him prior to knowing who it was.

He had his calf strapped so hopefully he’s a late out.

Good teams don't worry about who the umpires are.

This bald headed duck %$&(#$ should not be umpiring any afl games. Just watch Mcevoy be Hawthorns main player. How is Gawn now going to get any sleep with that d$%^h^%d umpiring on Friday.

With only 2 games this week you can't tell me this pelican is in the best 6 umpires in the league. 

2 hours ago, Lace Out said:

Just drove passed Nicholls walking his dog, I actually gave way to him prior to knowing who it was.

He had his calf strapped so hopefully he’s a late out.

I saw about 4 Hawthorn players having brunch today and can't believe I resisted the temptation to nobble them all.