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To Whom it May Concern, Hail to thee, brave custodians of the esteemed Melbourne Football Club! I hope this letter finds you well in these darkest of times. I pen this missive with a heart both emboldened by loyalty and beleaguered by grievance, on behalf of the ardent souls at Demonland. Verily, our spirits soar with every valorous contest you wage upon the hallowed greens, yet, of late, a shadow most vexatious hath been cast upon our beloved game by the officiators thereof. It hath come to pass that week upon week, the sagacious umpires, guardians of fairness and decorum in our grand sport, seem to have misplaced their spectacles! For, with great consternation we observe a plethora of blatant penalties that go unnoticed when they would aid our noble Demons, whilst conversely, the meekest of infractions against our adversaries are met with swift retribution. 'Tis a plight most woeful, and we, the fervent congregation at Demonland, find ourselves at our wits’ end. Thus, we humbly beseech thee, o' gallant Melbourne Football Club, to wield thy considerable esteem and influence. Pray, convey our collective ire and perplexity to the high councils of the Australian Football League. Implore them, with all the grace and fervor thou can muster, to address this inequitable scourge that blights our matches. Mayhap a gentle reminder to these esteemed umpires to polish their ocular aids, or better yet, to procure an eyeglass of greater potency, might rectify this lamentable oversight. We place our trust in your capable hands, confident in the knowledge that ye shall champion our cause with the same vigor and passion with which you contest every ball. Together, let us strive for a future where the spirit of the game is preserved and all spectacles—both literal and figurative—are clear and unclouded. In closing, we offer our unwavering support for the Melbourne Football Club and remain, as ever, your devoted fans and ardent supporters, assembled under the proud banner of Demonland. Yours in sport and solidarity, Lord Andyronicus the Third Administrator of Demonland Enthusiast of Fair Play and Optical Clarity

Damn, I'm going to get AI to write my posts! Will save me 30 hours a week. I'll just put all my DL posts into the AI machine and ask it to come up with posts in the style of binman. For example, AI please give a 200 word post on the low hanging fruit solutions the AFL could immediately implement to improve the standard of umpiring. And AI please a follow up post on the topic of the AFL deliberately maintaining stupid rules to create controversy and clicks. Sheet - even my AI parameters are long!

This week and next can see us consolidate Top 4 for now. The results so far show GWS has beaten no-one of significance- yes the Pies but they were rubbish in Round1, and same for Cats. Now both their slides commence having been over rated by the media. Our 6-3 so far would have been grabbed by many on here if offered befroe start of season. Blues game had positives in many regards but showed problems that the MC have time to seek solutions. Some players due back also wil improve. 3rd or 4th is ours if we want it badly enough, and under Max and Viney et al that will be the case.

It was 8-2 at quarter time and 12-3 somewhere in the second. The refusal to pay the same frees both ways is why the accusations of favouritism or cheating come. The coaching they receive has to be a contributing factor.

I suspect that you "know nothing", Schultz JVR and Weed are poles apart - JVR shows more aggression in every contest than (great guy) Weed did ever.

Not sure that is right. ANB and Sparrow did start to get more control around the middle. My frustration is that we saw what Collingwood did the week before. Cripps and Walsh were shepherded physically from the drop of the ball at centre bounces. The Pies nullified their influence. We had zero answer. Stoppage is Carlton's 1 wood. 5 goals direct from the centre. Also our delivery into our fwd 50 was shiite. we had more i50s in the first half but Fritsch, Petty and Kozzie had 1 possession between them. Weitering alone had 12. Bombs away baby. No lowering of the eyes. Dumb football After the first 3 goals we should have gone into hold the ball chip mode but we had no other plan. And Carlton kicked the first goal of every qtr. Seriously WTF? You can point to clearance stats and say oh we matched them but the goals they kicked from centre bounce were critical

I don't know why people keep making this comparison. JVR kicked 28 goals as a first year key forward. Weideman has never even reached 20 goals in a season despite being on a list since 2016.

The Friday evening rush hour clash of two of the VFL’s 2024 minnows, Carlton and the Casey Demons was excruciatingly painful to watch, even if it was for the most part a close encounter. I suppose that since the game had to produce a result (a tie would have done the game some justice), the four points that went to Casey with the win, were fully justified because they went to the best team. In that respect, my opinion is based on the fact that the Blues were a lopsided combination that had a small number of players (two to be exact) propping up a mediocre rabble while the Demons were far more even, albeit most of them were very ordinary. Casey was superb in the first couple of minutes with young forward Matt Jefferson snagging the opening scores of the game before a the Blues, more particularly, their two stars took over the proceedings. At this stage the Demons appeared to be continuing where they left off from last week watching as their opponents reeled off the next five goals (the last kicked just after quarter time) to take a strong grip on the game With Casey trailing by four goals early in the second term and with no sign of last week’s hero, uncle Roy, things were desperate. A pulse was detected and the team rallied with a momentum breaking goal from Bailey Laurie who showed great commitment for most of the game. The early saviour this week however, was Koltyn Tholstrup, a young prospect who seemed to be channeling Christian Petracca with two goals in mid quarter including a beauty from a long way out. He finished with 17 disposals but his effort when the game seemed to be slipping away was significant. Suddenly, the Demons were back in the hunt. Skipper Mitch White who earlier was putting his heart and soul into the effort of keeping his team in the game was instrumental in the turn around and fittingly snagged the goal that put his team in front before half time. He finished with 20 important touches and was a tower of strength for the team all evening. As the people of Melbourne made their way home from town for the weekend, there was little to interest them at Ikon Park as the game became a dour contest with goals hard to come by. Though he was way off target and struggled with the distance of his kicking, Ben Brown was the second half hero with two of his team’s three goals for that period. His day ended with 13 disposals, six marks and a score line of 2.6 which was worth its weight in gold. Lachie Hunter continued to build on his claims for a return to the AFL after his calf issues. He started slowly but finished with equal team-high 24 possessions and took four marks. Adam Tomlinson also had 24 disposals to go with his six marks in yet another high disposal game from the consistent defender. Others to impress on an otherwise gloomy evening were Laurie with 22 disposals and five clearances while Casey listed Roan Steele played his best game of the season. It was very much touch and go in the end with the pendulum swinging Casey’s way with a series of points seeing them narrowly across the line. It was hardly an exciting finish given that most of the crowd were asking “is it over yet?” The team is back home next week against the Brisbane Lions who don’t appear to be as strong as they were last year when they made it as far as the preliminary final. CASEY DEMONS 1.3.9 6.7.43 8.9.57 9.15.69 CARLTON VFL 4.3.27 6.6.42 7.11.53 9.12.66 GOALS CASEY DEMONS B Brown Tholstrop 2 Fullarton Jefferson Laurie Neocleous CARLTON VFL Cahill McMahon 2 Carroll Lemmey Monahan O’Keefe White BEST CASEY DEMONS Hunter Laurie White Jefferson B Brown Tholstrup CARLTON VFL Binns Fantasia Marchbank Young Carroll McMahon Statistics Jed Adams 3 kicks 6 handballs 9 disposals 1 marks 3 tackles 36 dream team points Ben Brown 2 goals 6 behinds 11 kicks 2 handballs 13 disposals 6 marks 3 tackles 88 dream team points Kynan Brown 1 behind 12 kicks 9 handballs 21 disposals 3 marks 3 tackles 73 dream team points Paddy Cross 3 kicks 1 handballs 4 disposals 1 tackle 17 dream team points Tyler Edwards 8 kicks 8 handballs 16 disposals 3 marks 2 tackles 57 dream team points Tom Fullarton 1 goal 1 behinds 5 kicks 4 handballs 9 disposals 3 marks 7 hitouts 44 dream team points Max Gregory 4 kicks 5 handballs 9 disposals 4 marks 34 dream team points Marty Hore 13 kicks 1 handballs 14 disposals 5 marks 57 dream team points Lachie Hunter 17 kicks 7 handballs 24 disposals 4 marks 3 tackles 89 dream team points Matt Jefferson 1 goal 1 behind 5 kicks 4 handballs 9 disposals 2 marks 4 tackles 53 dream team points Bailey Laurie 1 goal 14 kicks 8 handballs 22 disposals 5 marks 3 tackles 88 dream team points Shane McAdam 1 behind 5 kicks 3 handballs 8 disposals 1 mark 6 tackles 48 dream team points Andy Moniz-Wakefield 13 kicks 6 handballs 19 disposals 5 marks 3 tackles 73 dream team points Ned Moodie 7 kicks 5 handballs 12 disposals 1 marks 36 dream team points Harvey Neocleous 1 goal 1 behind 3 kicks 3 handballs 6 disposals 3 tackles 34 dream team points Ollie Sestan 1 behind 9 kicks 4 handballs 13 disposals 1 marks 1 tackle 37 dream team points Roan Steele 12 kicks 7 handballs 19 disposals 1 mark 3 tackles 63 dream team points Koltyn Tholstrup 2 goals 1 behind 11 kicks 6 handballs 17 disposals 4 marks 70 dream team points Adam Tomlinson 16 kicks 8 handballs 24 disposals 6 marks 1 tackle 82 dream team points Will Verrall 8 kicks 5 handballs 13 disposals 1 mark 1 tackle 11 hitouts 53 dream team points Mitch White 1 goal 15 kicks 5 handballs 20 disposals 3 tackles 75 dream team points Kai Windsor 4 kicks 2 handballs 6 disposals 1 mark 1 tackle 20!dream team points Taj Woewodin 6 kicks 5 handballs 11 disposals 3 marks 2 tackles 43 dream team points

The free kick count is the most irrelevant stat in footy. If an umpires objective was to ensure an even free kick tally, then they’d be punted to the bush and never to return. And we lost last Thursday because of our disgraceful first quarter, not because of a couple of umpiring decisions.

Brown to come in and Petty to play as the second ruckman.

Having just watched the replay its astounding how many times: Carlton players get tackled and simply drop the ball (looks like an instruction) Cripps throws the ball without penalty Cripps and Walsh are allowed to turn more than 360 deg before disposing of the ball The free against Max for hotting the ball OOB when it was Pittonet was disgraceful As was: Bowey being pinged for Deliberate when he was pushed in his side as he was kicking The JVR tackle when Hollands was rewarded for throwing his head into the turf Curnow pushing May into the pack before taking a chest mark and goaling. It seems In the back is a forgotten rule Chopping the arms is paid maybe 1 in 5 times An appalling umpiring evening. As for us. Fritsch is my most frustrating player. As good as he is he has very little intensity and can barely lay a tackle at times If only he had some JV mongrel Petty is way out of sorts. zero disposals 8m into the 3rd qtr. Weitering had 12. WTF? Our goal kicking hasn't improved (but Tracc has improved his). When Tracc was heavily tagged there was not help for him The umpires hate Clarry. Gets pinged for HTB and throwing while Cripps is Marine Boy with a 10m forcefield around him Pittonet never looks at the ball. He only looks at Max. That should be an instant free. At ball ups around the ground the Umps even said stand 1m apart. The players ignore them. Why do they selectively apply rules? We were cleaned up with their slickness around the centre bounce. 5 goals straight out of the middle. They kicked the first goal of each quarter. Why can't we come out breathing fire? Cripps and Walsh had over 70 damaging disposals between them. You could have written that script. We could not combat them We struggled to clear the ball from our d50 while they waltzed out of ours Billings is a poor decision maker. he is this year's Jordon. Stop and prop. Woey was really good when he came on. Sparrow was good when he moved to the middle but did turn it over a bit And for newman not to get suspended when Kozzie has been done twice for the same thing shows me how corrupt the AFL and MRO really are.

Yeah, I rarely have this kind of info, but a friend of the family knows him well. But we’ve learned from Max that these things can turn around in pretty spectacular fashion. We’ll see.

No McGovern in the Weagles next week.

Leaves the ground Elbow out No attempt to tackle Kozzzy got suspended for the same incident but it was determined that it “could” have caused a serious impact. But it didn’t. MRO is inconsistent. That’s the issue time and time again.

The Geelong doctor barely even questioned Cameron. Twice he was waived away and walked off. Barely 15 seconds of discussion on field. Cameron had to be withdrawn for HIA. His head hit the ground really hard. I think the AFL has again shown little regard for their own AFL “strict” protocols. Last year Port was fined $100,000. The Cats again have to be laughing at the AFL.

Finding common ground on any topic requires respectful debate. I'm well up for robust, respectful debate and whilst I can sometimes be guilty of being overly sarcastic and/or dismissive that is the exception not the rule Adding a laugh emjoji to my previous post, which was a genuine good faith attempt at respectful dialogue and debate, is your prerogative. However, given I didn’t make any gags, laughing at my attempt fo engage and debate respectfully is obviously not going to foster respectful debate or us finding common ground. Given a respectful debate seems unlikely, we wont find common ground and further debate will just be a source of annoyance to us both. Life's too short for that sort of palaver. So lets put a pin in it, agree to disagree and move on.

So you’re saying to not let them lead 36 to zero?? …

I think JVR is following a very clear trajectory. He has some good and some bad games, but always tries. He is young but has aggression. I think next year will be the one where he will really emerge, and will end up being a Brereton-style CHF and a champion.

It’ll be a cold day in hell when Fritta is not an automatic best 22. Did anyone actually watch the game? Fritta was moved onto Weitering in the second half and really curtailed his influence. He played a sacrificial role when it became obvious that Petty was not up for the task of drawing Weitering away from the contest. There is no better medium forward in the game. End of story. I would like to bring Woey into the 22. I love his ability to hit the contest and he’s a good user. Billings to sub for mine. He can make an impact but IMO we have better starting 22 options. If Salem is ready he will also be an automatic in, but unsure if they’ll risk him for a Perth trip post hammy. Also Chin is clearly struggling with his knee. I’d give him a well earned week off and give Kynan Brown a taste or even give Kolt another go in his home state. I wouldn’t take the Eagles at home lightly, but likewise think we can afford to try a few different things.

Puts footy on. Hears Kelli Underwood. Turns footy off.

Cheeky. Sneaking in at the exact time I close the thread. 😜

8 scoring shots in the VFL requires consideration. However, I doubt they’ll fly him to Perth.

LEADERBOARD AFTER ROUND 9 102. Max Gawn 78. Christian Petracca 66. Steven May 41. Alex Neal-Bullen 40. Jake Lever 33. Jack Viney 28. Clayton Oliver 21. Bayley Fritsch Trent Rivers 20. Ed Langdon 15. Judd McVee 14. Kade Chandler 12. Tom McDonald Christian Salem Tom Sparrow 11. Blake Howes Daniel Turner 10. Jack Billings Kysaiah Pickett 5. Caleb Windsor 2. Harry Petty Adam Tomlinson 1. Jake Bowey

As poor as the technology is to assist goal adjudications, I at least had some confidence in the cameras in the goal posts to determine if the ball was touched before it crossed the line. Centimetre perfect it seemed ….. until I was watching Footscray- Richmond game. A review was called for and rightly so, it was a line ball. From one goal post camera it showed the ball had clearly crossed the line before it was touched. The other goal post camera clearly showed the ball was touched before it crossed the line. The decision was ‘umpire’s call, insufficient evidence to make a definitive call’ (or words to that effect) More accurately- The decision should have been ‘umpire’s call, conflicting evidence provided by cameras in the goal posts’! Can’t even get the goal camera technology sorted!

I’m not questioning their effort, I’m questioning their ball winning ability. If they’re not winning the ball, then the opposition mids are. You can throw all your stats at me, but when we let the opposition prime mids get 34 and 35 disposals each with 2.1 goals between them, and lose contested possession, then it’s a smashing. Do you know when we also got smashed in the middle? The Lions game, Swans in OR and the Port game which we only really got over the line with unbelievable accuracy.

Feel a bit sorry for Yze but not for Richmond.

Gee yze can't take a trick with all these injuries. Judge him when he has a full list to choose from

Is David Roden the happiest goal umpire in the AFL ?

With respect ATBOG i think you are using out of date metrics to assess performance - certainly different metrics to those i use, and at the risk of coming across like a know it all, different metrics than what footy clubs use to asses performance in the modern era. In 2024 the metrics coaches use to assess individual performance would include a whole bunch of information we as fans do not have access to. The most important of these is playing their assigned role. Another is adherence to structures, systems and team rules - particularly those relating to the all system defensive system we employ. Another is work rate as measured by heir GPS numbers, including their total kms run, top speed, kms run at striding pace, sprint kms, defensive running, offensive running etc etc. I know for fact that each player gets these numbers for every game AND every training session so they know if they have hit their targets. A key one is the KPIs for their line, in this case the mid group. Coaches are interested in what individuals do as part of their specific line and any individual KPIs are directly informed by whatr that group is tryting achive and what the indicators of success. Others are pre and post clearance uncontested contested possessions and there are no doubt many more that I'm not aware of Then there are the numbers that are publicly available, including things like pressure, contested possessions, score involvements, goal assists, one percenters, contested marks, intercepts, spoils uncontested marks etc etc. Each player would have a group of stats and indicators specific to their role in the team. That's to say not all stats are relevant for each player. I doubt coaches use disposal numbers in of themselves at all, or if they do only for specific players because in specific circumstances (eg they have been asked to get more involved). Coaches are interested in impact and disposal numbers are absolutely useless as a measure of impact. Take Billings. Posters have been confidently predicting and/or calling for him to be dropped for weeks and it seems to me that is largely based on his low disposal numbers and seemingly low hurt factor. But as i argued on the podcast if he is a fixture in the side we can be certain he is meeting his individual KPIs, in particular playing his role and doing what he needs to do from a systems and structure perspective. Which is why i was so confident he would not be dropped this week (and it wasn't because we didn't have alternatives - Hunter, Laurie, Woey all could have come in for him). So given we don't have access to the critical information to say that you can 'absolutely guarantee you that Goody would not be happy with our midfield to date' is, to be frank, patent nonsense. A couple of other random comments: Viney has been quieter for the last 3-4 weeks but was brilliant in our first 4 games Oliver's numbers are crazy good given his limited preseason and playing with a broken hand for 3 games, sore ribs for at least one (the tiger game) and recovering from surgery in the last game Petracca is struggling with a tag? Really? Would have struggled to get 20 possessions if he didn't go forward? You are judging him on a scenario that didn't happen based on your predictive power? C'mon. Our mission are 'posting records low numbers'? I didn't 'blame the defenders' for giving up 5 goals from the centre In fact i explicitly acknowledged the mids are a factor in the ream giving scores from center clearances, noting the 'mids are only one factor in influencing whether an opponent scores a goal from a centre clearance' By the by, do me a favor and try to avoid misrepresenting my comments Yes i said the defenders were one of the factor, because Goody made clear in his presser, they were Clearances are no longer as important an indicator for most teams, certainly not for us - so whilst they are still important they are not nearly as important as they were say 10 years ago (turnover related stats are way more significant now) Take the Cats - before we played them they were unbeaten but were 17th for stoppage clearances won You seem to be under valuing the importance of the pressure stats - the clubs don't On pressure, there is a contradiction in your post above - you note how important it is mids don't allow their opponents out the front. How do you think they do that? Spoiler alert- by applying pressure

Whatever you think of the standard and difficulty of umpiring, to deny the above is simply foolish. The umpires are amateurs in a professional multi-zillion $ sport. Too easily influnced by crowds and the latest direction from HQ (well, for a week or two anyway). At least make them real pros. Perhaps some supporters who imagine their teams are hard done by the umpires aren't as one-eyed/brainless as some 'more rational than thou' people are claiming. If big crowds influence umpires (which I think is undeniable, though not 100% of the time of course) then over time those paranoid supporters of smaller teams would have some confirmation of their suspicions.

JVR is developing well and is ahead of reasonable expectations. Will be fascinating to see his career unfold and where he finally ranks against great demon forwards.

This just simply isn’t true. Cripps and Walsh both had 34 and 35 disposals and kicked 2.1 between them. If Cerra had run out the game he also would have had 30+. To blame the defenders on the 5 centre clearances is also extremely short sighted and black and white thinking. Our defenders rely heavily on the pressure up the ground and Carlton had numerous exits at the front of the stoppage which allowed them easy looks. Do you think the Dogs in 2021 blame all of Melbourne’s centre clearance goals on their defence? No they blame it on their mids who allowed clean exit from the centre square. Let’s also analyse your “mids are having a good season comment” by looking at our 3 prime mids. Viney: Averaging 21 disposals a game - very average for a full time mid and clearly down on form. Don’t throw me pressure stats, I’m talking about pure ball in hand stuff. Oliver - Averaging 25 disposals compared to his usual 29 and only 4 clearances compared to his usual 9. Petracca- Matching his usual career average but has struggled with a tag. If he didn’t go forward he probably would have finished sub 20 disposals for the match. As a team we’ve also only won contested possessions 4 times and clearances 5 which used to be our one wood. For a team that supposed to be focused on “contest and defence” our contest work, especially in the middle, has been lacking all year. I can absolutely guarantee you that Goody would not be happy with our midfield to date. I know our forwards were poor on Thursday night, but to give our midfield a pass is just crazy when they’re posting record low numbers. What makes it even more disappointing is that Gawn is having an almighty year but our mids haven’t capitalised at all. None of our mids except for Petracca (mainly on his score involvements) would be in the conversation for AA this year.

I really think there were a lot of very soft frees paid to the blues in the first quarter. Carlton had all the momentum and played well but when your team is pinged 11 to 3 against like us in the 20 odd mins than that momentum was difficult to break. The frees certainly contributed. I know we started poorly but maybe we did win if May did actually touch that kick.

His tackling and intensity was a lot better then I've seen this year. I'm hoping it's all starting to click. I would have like him to have stuck a few grabs but his intent was certainly there. I haven't written him off as some have on here, he's obviously a kid that needs time and more physical progression with his body. He's played 26 games in the VFL. Talk to someone like Paul Roos and he'll tell you that the right development for a young key position player is certainly to bide their time in the reserves and build up as much experience and good habits as possible. It won't be an issue for me if he stays I the VFL for the rest of the year unless he completely bangs the door down. I doubt he plays this year but next year should be the aim for him to play at least 10-15 games at senior level.

Have you been watching West Coast lately? Their recent form at home includes a win over a top 8 side (Fremantle), a close loss to a top 8 side (Essendon), and a win over Richmond. Prior to that run, they led Sydney away from home for a half and lost by 26. A 10+ goal margin is far too high of a bar. Right now, West Coast in Perth is not a walk in the park.

I thought Disco did play his role, just his role was to play 65% TOG with a whole heap of it in the fat side forward flank role away from play. If Tracc is forward we don’t need the third tall as much. Even if Tracc isn’t we might need to find a specific role that gets Disco more involved. I reckon he actually has the tank and mobility to do short stints on the wing like another converted tall defender in Kamdyn McIntosh. He also has clean hands and creativity on the deck so he could be trusted as the high half forward at stoppages sent in just to bang bodies.

Give Woewodin a go . He is improving every time he plays.

This is an interesting read: https://chewthestat.com/freekickeveryone-a-study-of-the-free-kick-count-as-the-football-fans-favourite-scapegoat/ Im just curious, out of the 11 free kicks paid to Carlton in the first quarter, which ones didn’t you like? Or conversely is there some we should of gotten but didn’t? Or is it a combination of both?

I'm convinced he's not a ruckman...

Onya Harmsey with the 4 star salute.

Reckon Viney might be playing with limitations. Shoulder keeps bobbing up every week. Is it impeding his ability to hit into contests as hard as he usually does? And that's a real worry for us as Jack's our main first use extractor. You limit his ability to do that to his optimum and we're gonna suffer at the coal face to get first use and clear as often.

Firstly, I can't stand Linton St, nor Carltank, nor the AFL. Secondly: the 300K umpire is like winning on Triple Chins' Minnionaire show - it's rare! You have to have officiated more than 200 games, umpire most games that year and do all the finals. Most field umpires are on 100K but their tenure is sometimes as short at two years, so, with them numbers (I went to Broady Tech), you have to stay working in your elected career.

The solution is, unfortunately, just about a complete re writing of the rules. The game is impossible to umpire.

media ban in full force

what a ridiculous statement, advocating for the retardation of the development of a player not surprised given the previous statements you've uttered utterly ridiculous

I’d be more likely to appreciate umpiring more than once a year when I’m told to with some simple rule changes to remove umpires guessing at players intention. Out of bounds but not on the full - last touch penalised. If inside 50 then indirect (cannot score goal directly). Rushing - rush all you like, whenever you like, point stands but no kick-in either - ball up on edge of kick-in box. Front-on/head high contact - always penalised, no need for umpire to rate player’s character, haircut, their own chances of getting out of carpark alive, etc Won’t happen though as AFL is a media business and controversy is free publicity = 💰

Were our centre stoppage set ups too aggressive in the first quarter? Even when they started putting scores on us, we never really reverted to a defensive set up, and continued to go for the clean break away clearance.

I thought we missed an opportunity with Disco last night to use him as a defensive forward. Carlton have two main intercept marking threats in Weitering and McGovern. I'd have liked to see Disco given accountability for one of them. So maybe next week we could give him a crack at this role against the other McGovern or Barrass.

Agree with you, but I have absolutely no doubt that different players are umpired differently. Take Oliver and Cripps as examples. Clarry is pinged for holding the ball or throwing in an instant, while Cripps is given an eternity to dispose and throws the ball without penalty regularly. I say that from years of watching both play.

I don't understand why unlike us, the umpires came storming out of the blocks and gave the blues 11 frees in the first quarter to our 3 and then only awarded 8 more to them for the rest of the game. I also didn't get why for 3 quarters of the game they completely ignored htb and then decided to pay it non stop. The htb particularly frustrating because we were not getting our tack to es rewarded. It must be hard for the players when one rule comes and goes in the course of a single game. Also the dob seems to be a coin toss . One which blues got the benefit of at least three times and one seemingly influenced by who has the most supporters. It's hard not to think the umpires had a Carlton win plan last night. That Jvr free for dangerous tackle was a shocker and umpires need to be better than that.