FireInTheBennelly

I'll take it a step further and say I fully believe the umpires are taking on field instructions from a 3rd party via their headsets. The number of very late calls this year has skyrocketed, and in 1 particular game a voice could clearly be heard saying '15 seconds' when players were lining up on goal. The umpire would then yell to the kicker for the 15 seconds. Who was it?

From memory, this punch didn't even result in a free kick, with the umpire looking in the general direction. Play on. They've lost control of the game. I grew up in a rugby league state, and I can recall in my teens any tackle that went near the head was penalised. Now they get away with it and everyone is so desensitized that commentators and spectators alike complain about penalties that are clearly high, and clearly intentional. AFL is slowly going the same way with all kinds of illegal play going un-penalised. When one is paid out comes the 'tiggy touchwood' line. The 'Gaff defense' is a perfect example of where things have gone wrong. I punched him in the guts not long ago and got away with it so I thought I'd have another crack. I guess he broke the tag in the end so achieved the desired result. Now that's not to say Brayshaw is totally innocent here. He was holding, and blocking Gaff's run outside the laws of the game (5 metres) and should've been pinged in the first place, which would've prevented all of this 100%. In my opinion most taggers are breaking the laws of the game constantly, even ours.

Couldn't agree more. If umps were doing their job properly, rather than taking instructions from head office on what frees to pay, we wouldn't be here right now.

So his defense was he'd punched him in the guts not long ago, so thought he'd go again. So what was the MRP outcome for the original punch?

Agreed, and it's amazing how many teams still manage a win a man down. I don't think it would be the same in AFL, but we'll never know until it happens. Would be very interesting.

I think that's where the AFL has resisted the urge for a red card system. It's far too big a penalty to be a man down on field. The opposition still has 18 on the field, they just have one less rotation, so I think it makes more sense to say the carded player is out of the game leaving the offending team a rotation down also.

Hilarious isn't it. I'm surprised Barry Hall hasn't done the same, although he's probably still locked in his room.

Has anyone seen mention of Gaff reaching out to the Brayshaws? A la the serial pest and overall evil individual Thomas Bugg.

I've been saying this for a while. It's been brewing all year with all of the off the ball aggression we've seen. Umpires and officials have just let it go and it's only inevitable that it will get out of control. I said at the time, if fans see all of this and it's deemed ok, then fans will think it's ok for them, and that's what will trigger crowd aggression, leading to violence. You can probably add to that the umpire bias towards the WCE at home, and Gaff subconsciously thought he'd just get away with it. Enough is enough. Start paying the free kicks, and start suspending players for these off the ball jabs etc. I can tell you where it all started getting out of control as well. Richmond last year came out at the start of every game swinging. They were allowed to do it and ended up with a flag. It's a free for all now, unless you're Clayton Oliver of course.

In that case it must be common knowledge that he's coming to the Dees

I think it's pretty simple, no need for zones. Just get rid of all coaches and Gil sets the predetermined tactics that players of all teams need to adhere to. SSSSSSSS. Free kick Hawthorn, Gil said.

Not to mention 90% of those '3rd tackles' are directly into the back. So take your pick, holding the man, or push in the back. Nope, ball up, who's rucking, Bueller, anyone, anyone. Ok, Gaz or Paddy, umm, righto, Max and Paddy in the ruck. SSSSS, Free kick to my man Paddy, what do you mean you didn't know!

Yes that's another reason to go hard at him. Might be the last straw for old Chins.

It's too early this year, but the player I'd be in the ear of is Ed Richards at the pups. I reckon he steps straight into Bernie or Lewis' spot and the upside is huge.

Sloane's no good anyway, he's never won a B&F or been All Australian.

Dusty dreams of being as good as Clarry

We need to accumulate players of Gaff's quality

Take it to the draft, we're starting to see a turnaround in the fortunes of the number 31.

Apparently the blues are stocking up on large size brown paper bags.

He must've built good relationships with the likes of Emirates and Holden. Go get em champ.

Fair enough. Out of interest though, what did you think about the Jetta move at the time? Personally I think Kent's shown more than Jetta had.

I reckon he's a candidate for the 'Jetta maneuver'. Delist and rooke if available. Can't see anyone trading for him, but he's worth having around and if he can get his body right there's decent upside.

[censored]. I need to hit the gym!

[censored]. I need to hit the gym!

We'd probably try to turn him into an inside mid unfortunately.