FireInTheBennelly

2nd is still open if we win all 3. It means we beat WCE, and I'd back the Lions to beat them in Bris.

Loving this carnage

One rule tweak I would make is a tackler can't be penalised for a lingering tackle if his opposition doesn't dispose properly. Quite often the ball carrier just drops it and the tackler has no way of knowing.

You're probably right but on a tv screen, which is where the evidence is, who's to say how far 5, 10, 20 metres is? Umpires get the distances wrong many times over in every game. Short kicks, running too far etc, so who knows how far 5m is???? I'd like to see the May hit again to see how far that was, comparatively. Regardless, the best the commentary team could come up with was 'Saad had run 4 steps' before he was hit. Pardon [censored] me? Apparently in the rules somewhere it says something about 5 metres, and commentators of all people should be up with that news, but is there something in the rules about how many steps a player takes before it's a late hit? Amateur hour. How much do these clowns get paid?

Admittedly I haven't seen the druggos draw, and be [censored] if I'd even bother looking, but I recall back in '98 we were looking like missing and everyone was saying we couldn't make it, but with the draw we had I was tipping us to make it, and we did. Are they really done, or is it still possible? Either way, the media know they cash in every time they talk about these cheats. That's all it's about.

And then picking Oliver instead. Has to almost go down as the biggest bullet dodge in history.

Hooker's just thrown 2 punches at a guy lying on the ground, near the head. How [censored] dumb could you be?

Does BT think it's cool saying Fantasia's name like that?

Fair enough

Wasn't it only a couple of weeks ago that Christian said it was ok to bump a guy after he disposes of the ball as long as the ball's still within 5 metres?

The only way Buddy dominates this game is if they move him to half back, because that's where the pill is gonna be.

Bugg to come in? What? Bad timing?

Neither did Jacko??? Was a massive coup.

How about the new one when you take a mark, or get paid a free, against the opposition player lying face down on the ground, it's a free shot to push them in the back. How is that allowed? I can't recall seeing that prior to this season. Now it's every opportunity.

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

So potentially misses games next year as well. Has to impact on his off-season movements, and price tag. I'd be surprised if the WCE matched any FA offer for him now.