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I’m a seasoned Demonlander but even so I’m surprised at the negativity in this thread. That was a high pressure game for 3.5 quarters in front of a massive crowd. We started poorly, but the incredulously bad umpiring didn’t help. A 50-point turnaround is something we should be impressed with, not describing as “papering over cracks”. We have to stop expecting to blow every side off the park, or to be leading start to finish, or to be flawless. The competition is too even for that. What I want to see is improvement in key areas of concern. We started tonight leaking goals from innocuous inside 50s but ended it with our intercepting game in much better shape (what a difference Lever and Gawn make). No idea why Hibberd is copping so much heat, thought his job on Cumberland and his strength in contest was critical to us evening the game out. As others have said, Grundy’s third quarter stoppage and ruckwork helped turn the game, but I also thought Langdon and Hunter were huge in the middle two quarters when the pressure was right on. I’m far from convinced about Petty as a forward but we have to pick a spot and leave him there. Can’t keep flipping him between forward and back.

We just needed two blokes to run in circles outside the protected area to put off the kicker. Simples

Well when BBB is lining up for goal, you better vacate the MCG.

That was a brilliant game, all those dismissing it are not crediting Richmond who really brought the heat. Richmond won the 1st quarter and then our team went to work. Exactly the sort of effort you want to see. JVR, haven't been as excited about one of our forwards since Schwarz in 1995! McVee is playing like Jarred Rivers did on debut, just so bloody reliable and clutch. Quickly becoming my favourite player, he's one of those guys that doesn't drop his head, just goes every time, not a confidence player, just a player and will get a RS this year. It was a hard game to watch because it was close, we are too used to perfection, but we won, we are still a team you can trust. Jack Viney, people can go punch themselves in the heads when they bag him, you just don't understand football, it's not ice dancing. I honestly feel like he is one of the reasons (along with N.Jones) that we got through the dark years. Did you see the way he barreled in when JVR was getting kneed? (shout out to Grundy as well), provided pressure but didn't give away a silly free, tell me that you don't walk taller with the way the team back each other. Our defense is so much better with Lever and Hibberd in it, and I am still firmly in the Petty forward camp, feel like today was proof. He stretched Richmond and Fritsch was unlucky to not get off the leash. Time and again he provided body and protection. Gawn, welcome back, our rucks managed to swing the game after we arrested the early damage. Brayshaw super reliable, another huge team man, ran all day, huge km, likewise Langdon, just got where he needed to be, great efficiency lovely goal. This ruck combination, if fit, will clean up this season. Petracca and Oliver got into the game, Oliver looked to really think his way through disposals today, and that 2nd qtr goal was class under pressure. Trac did thing that I take for granted and shouldn't, great presence. Chandler another tribute to our recruiting and craft brining young men on. ANB provided huge defensive pressure and run, easily tracking for best season so far. Carlton can take their beauty queen bunch of a team, I will take the ANB's and Chandlers that just do a power of work to get the best out of themselves and play a role perfectly in a team game. May needs a reset, he's riding the wrong emotions in game, needs to get his head right, am worried he's NQR 'cos his calf isn't right for explosive movements feel like he's going to cost us a free or two in critical moments. Bowey is still a bit off but after a booboo he laid a smother that Bradley Hill would've been proud of, was pleased he kept his head in the game, but at the moment if Salem is fit, Bowey is who I would drop. Umps sucked, but our class is such we didn't drop our heads. Loved the Crowd, we match Richmond for Noise, well done @WCW and others. More to say but am dealing with Sudan right now, this is the first time off I've had in seven days, 18hr days, 3 colleagues killed, after distributing rations to refugees, another three shot (one of who we couldn't extract for 3 days, a good friend kidnapped, and dear friends still trapped inside. That and I've lost everything I own, clothes, photos/HD, blah blah, but seriously seeing the stress of friends who cannot get out of a warzone is emotionally tough, my french colleague was in Cairo for weekend and her kids were trapped for a week, one 10yo son with a family in Amarat, the 8yo daughter in Riyad with the nanny and noone else, they only just made it to Djibouti yesterday, mum is going insane. I needed today, thanks Dees.

He’s played 3 games and won it for us last night. Some talls play their entire career and never put on that sort of performance. The contested marking, regardless of who was defending him or not, and the composure to go back and slot 3 difficult shots under pressure was unbelievable. He deserved all the raving and more. Edit: and the mental fortitude to have a stinker for 3 quarters and still back yourself in to dominate in the last in front of 84,000 people in a tight game that wasn’t going our way is truly special.

Yep. Last night was laughably, distressingly bad. And the AFL continue to do way too little about it. An extra umpire isn’t the answer. Full-time professional umpires, paid accordingly, selected for decision-making clarity and ability to adjudicate impartially under pressure, then further educated and experienced as only full-time employees can be, then we might get somewhere.

Did anyone else think the umpiring was questionable, or was that just me?

You and Deva 5160 are both correct. it is clearly a rule and it’s not paid. I must admit I was just unaware of it until last night, when that diagram was shown on here. According to the rule it was a clear and obvious breach. The funny thing is that Lever and the other players appeared unaware of it, as did the commentators. Richo said he had never seen it paid before and why was it paid, as Lever was behind the man on the mark. The others didn’t know either. Interestingly, when you take a side on kick, the players must be 10 metres away from the side of the man on the mark and they never are. Why isn’t that officiated properly? Last night was as poor and what seemed biased umpiring as you could see. Our players appeared dumbfounded at times and to their credit kept their cool. The mistakes all seemed to go the Tigers way. A Bombers mate messaged me to say the umpires were killing us and it was blatant. The ANB non 50, the Gus deliberate and holding the ball when he kicked it and wasn’t tackled, but was bumped, the 3 round the neck to Sparrow, the Hunter holding the ball, the Petty holding the man on Vlastuin, when they were standing still and Vlastuin just dropped it, the Fritsch reversal, several soft frees in front of goal and many others, all mistakes and all in the Tigers favour. I can only imagine the Scotts and Dimma if it had been them on the receiving end of constant bad decisions. To overcome all that and a poor first 2/3rds of the game, was great by our boys. Well done Dees, those types of games build belief. Everything going wrong, but still finding a way to win.

Let's try and add a different flavour to this. Fre supporters have to suffer enough having Luke Jackson and giving up a top pick. Now they have to suffer the fact we have JVR... Went and checked out bigfooty at Freo. It's not @Lucifers Heroquality but close enough. Enjoy! • Awesome mark and goal by JVR. • Anyone know if we are in Van Rooyens ear? • Van Rooyen on fire here • JVR is a gun. Wish we had drafted him. • JVR + Amiss. Imagine if we had the guts to do it. We had the picks. Could have set us up for 15 years. • JVR, Amiss and Johnson woulda been quite the haul • Set up the contest for the goal. Mark and goal. Free kick and behind. Mark then goal. JVR doing it all • It's hard not to think that Amiss and JVR could have been our version of a Buddy and Roughead haul to set us up for a decade. • Probably hoping he would've slid to 21... should've just had the balls to take him at pick 10 instead of Erasmus. I rated JVR much higher then where he actually went. • Could of done a Hawks and gone JVR and Amiss pick 8 & 10. Jobs done. And no go home factor • Think we are hoping Treacy can do a JVR. • Doubt it. JVR spent his whole first year in the VFL and kicked 37 from 19 games. Treacy's best return is 19 from 14. • JVR again, * me what a player • He just looks so much like a FF. The toughness, the swagger. He did in his draft year too 🙁 • How did JVR slide to pick 19? I mean seriously. • Sigh. What could have been, what could have been... • JVR will be attracting quality defenders from now on. • We’re gonna regret not picking JVR up Freo supporter, right under our noses this ******* club. • Thing is I don't think JVR would've been a reach at pick 10. All the recruiters must've been on drugs or some s**t for him to slide to 19. • JVR has some aggro and swagger about him. Powerful unit and physically imposing. Plays a bit like Treacy but with more talent and athleticism. Would have been a perfect combo with Amiss. He was ranked right up there to start the year, then had glandular fever (?) and slid down. We were handed two WA spearheads on a platter and still wouldn't take both. Mids can always be found in later years. • Until & if Erasmus starts to boss AFL it’s going to look like a hell of a blunder not to take Amiss & JVR. Couldn’t have known Johnson would still be there at 20 but even so, as others have mentioned mids are easier to find & quicker to develop and we could have had our key forwards sorted for 10 years. Sigh . . . lastly, my favourite one. • All good we’ll give Melbourne 2 first rounders and a second for him in 2 years time.

I thought Sparrow was rock solid. Nibbler was Nibbler but he helped turn the game. And I’m not sure what more you could want from Langdon who was excellent.

Let’s soak up the joy of a win, even if it’s just for tonight. We can do the critiquing starting tomorrow morning. YEAH THE MIGHTY DEES!!!

Can I just say what a wonderful job Hibberd did on cumberland last ngiht after he went to him after he kicked his 3 goals. Kept him virtually statless after that and did brilliantly.

I really try not to let poor umpiring get to me at the footy. Remind myself that it usually evens up. But it was flat out appalling last night. And we copped the really bad ones. None worse than the non 50 to nibbler. That scenario was EXACTLY the reason the 50 was brought in - ie player wants to release straight away (kick or handball) and his opponent stops him from doing so. If nibbler was able to give to langdon immediately we were away with mutiple free players ahead of the ball. You'd could argue that cost us two goals. Given a 50, nibbler kicked from 20 out dead in front. Yes, the handball to lamgers was sloppy, but he was just trying to do what rioli stopped him from doing. And then they score on the turnover. And ok, let's say the blocks they paid against us were there. W ell how the hell doesn't maxy get 5 such frees a game given the Amount of blatant scagging and blocking he cops EVERY marking contest. And don't get me started on the hits to the head he cops week I'm week out. So much for the head being sacrosanct. The conspiracy theory stuff with umpires is ridiculous. The issue is we have well paid amatuers, not tbe afl is engineering results. Thought experiment. Why is the grand final usually umpired super well? Because the best umpires are selected for the match. Its a multi billion dollar industry- EVERY game should umpired to that standard. We won that game. But could have lost because of umpiring error. Too much is at stake for such an important part of the game to be so hopeless.

Last night's game, in some ways, was a mirror image of so many games I've watched the Dees play over the years. The lower ranked team scraps, goes hard, leads for much of the game but in the end the higher ranked team, maybe flag favourites, prevails. Nice to be on the opposite side of the ledger for a change.

Glad the Dees won for a temporary relief for you. Good luck with everything there mate.

I think Hibberd was our best Defender and after Viney was our second best 4 quarter player. Tigers brought real tackling and in your face intensity, so a couple of panic disposals resulting in turnovers, in a high turnover game would be expected. I don’t quite understand the lack of appreciation for Hibberd amongst many on this site. Couldn’t believe that many didn’t have Hibberd in their pre season best 22’s.

All we want is consistency. The umpires pick and choose when to pay frees for certain rules. One week you can’t breathe near an umpire. The next week you can go off at them. One week touching a player with a feather after a mark is a 50. The next week you can be smashed to the ground after a mark and it’s play on. If that is a rule, fine. I just want to see it paid every time it happens. Which is about 15 times a game.

Richmond were alright tonight. I think they should win enough games to finish ahead of the Dockers this year.

Take heart that this will have done more damage to Essendon than good for Collingwood. A net gain for civilization.

Today would have been a good day to go down to Centrelink if it was open.

Max’s kick for goal last game v Cats 2021 showing 5 Cats players within the protected area of the man on the mark. No 50m of course.

I didn’t know that bounce made a difference, but that’s a terrible rule. If the only option to effect a contest is to leap and spoil the ball (which is fine if the ball doesn’t go out of bounds), then the umpires should be giving the benefit of the doubt to the spoiling player as long as he doesn’t have another option. He clearly wasn’t trying to deliberately put the ball over the line as the main action, he was doing the only thing he could do to effect the contest. Paying deliberate out of bounds is when you have other options (in theory). Not sure what else Brayshaw could have done other than not even go for the contest, sit back and wait for the opposition player to collect the ball. That is not in the spirit of Aussie Rules.

I didn’t understand when I saw it and Lever clearly doesn’t know the rule, or had a brain fade. But if that’s the rule then he broke it. On the other hand you and Richo are both correct, that it’s never been paid until tonight. We seem to make a habit of creating new decisions by umpires when we play. The non 50 to ANB was mind boggling, as was the standard of umpiring on the whole tonight.

Max and Lever 18 marks. Makes a difference. Jvr turns it on at the right time. Umps go and get...

I’m sure it’s been already mentioned but. Three of the worst calls I’ve ever seen by an umpiring group. The deliberate out of bounds for a an intercept spoil, payed against Brayshaw. ANB a clear 50 after rioli tackled him after he took a mark? The shepherding free against who knows for a Tiger defender falling over? When Fristch took that mark close to goal. it seemed to kill our momentum breaking moments every time! We did well to grind that out!

Wear a Richmond jumper for starters

I rarely lose my sh.t when it comes to umps , but fair dinkum layz, the two decisions against Gus one for deliberate and the other for ball when he clearly got a boot on it had me blowing a valve.

Shout to Chandler. He’s kicked 10 goals in 6 games and kicked some crucial goals against Sydney and Richmond in the third quarter of both games when the heat was well and truly on. That holding the ball and goal in the 3rd quarter was one of the plays of the year for us so far, and will lock him in the side for many weeks.

How appropriate for Jack to get the medal. He goes to war every week.

It’s not a day of celebration but of remembrance and reflection. I, for one, remember one grandfather who was a stretcher bearer in the trenches during WW1 and whose lungs were wrecked by mustard gas, another grandfather who was wounded in France and had to have daily dressings for the rest of his life and my father who was at Tobruk and Shaggy Ridge in New Guinea and battled PTSD until the day he died.These were courageous, honourable men and deserve to be remembered in perpetuity.

You forgot the HTB against Gus who clearly kicked the ball before getting smashed side on by Rioli Absolute joke of a free Roseberry with all his experience lost control of the umpiring last night. The other 3 were inexperienced baboons and the AFL should do better.

Strength is front and centre ground ball inside 50s which was poor tonight. Needs to stop flying with the big KPFs

Heck, the match I watched I thought McVee had a better than average game and certainly held his own.

Massive omen for this thread and tonight's game. I've just bumped into Kozzy's old man. We had a brief chat and exchanged pleasantries about the Dees, the GF and shared photos of us at the GF and a the like. As all Demonlanders would expect i politely asked what Kozzie's movements we're for next year, he told me with a grin that I'm sworn to secrecy that Melbourne and Kozzie are in good hands. Take it as you like, the grin and smile tell me all i needed to know. We will win big tonight.

QB we need a hard tag on ND. i don’t care what people say you can’t have a bloke sit off the play and collect forty 95% uncontested possessions. i do not subscribe to the idea that you cannot curtail that for an uncontested player. bring in Harmes. he will smash it

Yelling at each other is May & Lever’s love language

I’m very happy for Weideman. He was never going to make it at Melbourne. A chance of scenery was good for him. Wishing him all the best.

Don’t think he did. Umpire explained the rule on the goal line, when May asked what happened.

He picked his moment beautifully last night. I don't see the Schwarz comparison. Schwarter had tremendous agility pre knee. Some of his blind turns (1994 finals) were out of this world for a guy of his size. A thumping kick, great field kick, and a clean one grab mark. JVR strikes me more as a young Dermie. In the early stages of his career he was very much a cameo player - a great 15 or 20 minutes here and there but absolutely loved the big occasion. He debuted in the 1982 finals but it wasn't until the 1985 season when he started to play really consistent footy. He hit bodies hard even as a youngster and like JVR was marginally undersized compared to opponents but played a bit taller. JVR loves the physical aspect of the game, he doesn't waste the opportunities he gets and he impacts at important times.

He really got scragged, jumper dragged, interfered with in general, not one umpire saw anything. He kept going though, good sign.

Normally dont take much notice of the umpires but last night was so bad i couldnt help it.Just ruinsthe game

Kozzie needs to get back to basics, he’s trying to do the impossible all the time. Just hunt the footy and bodies and the rest will come

Or two groups of 8 going around the circle in different directions, one group hopping the other doing silly walks in weird syncopated timing

Happy birthday @Monbon

Brayshaw went at 95%. Come on mate

Honestly one of the worst umpired games I’ve ever seen. Paying all the technical ones one way. Missing so much key defender holding. Missing a stack of late Richmond hits.

Grundy was great. Loved the way he flew the flag when the richmond player left the knee on JVR's head after he took that pack mark.

Tonight showed us how close the comp is right now. True grit from 25 down. If there’s one moment to stand out from tonight, it was Hunter winning a clutch ball on the Members’ wing just before 3/4 time to set up the Oliver goal on the siren. The roar after Oliver’s goal was the loudest I’ve heard here since the Wattsy 2017 QB goal.