waynewussell

I had to search for this thread because today I witnessed how far the current AFL machine (Admin, Umpires & Media) have drifted from the history and fabric of the game. This was a game where I was a 'neutral'... I picked the Bombers, but, for selfish reasons, I wanted the Hawks to get up. I found myself cursing and hostile over a game in which my beloved Demons were not involved. Today, Jake Stringer was allowed to get away with the most blatant throw I have ever witnessed. Three umpires saw it and rubber stamped it as fair play. It was a one hand sling that doesn't belong in this great game. I know there are many debatable disposals in every game, and we should expect a few to go without penalty... but this was so openly blatant that I think it epitomizes the illness that has invaded our code. The call from above to keep the game moving, the blatant greed of the broadcasters to get goals so they can advertise, the glazed eyes of our adjudicators, who no longer understand or have a feel for the spirit of the game... all of these agents of erosion have joined forces with the result that the great game is corrupted!

We departed from 'team first' -> as has been pointed out, Clarrie and Tracca tried too hard to be the man! Tracca's poor kicking was demoralising when we needed a steadier, calmer head. Next step for the champ! Max played a tired, cumbersome first half... his second half is what was needed from the first bounce Rivers was poor by foot too often. He is young and he is good, so I expect he will improve on this rapidly The Weideman experiment is over. M Brown offers more, without even considering BBB. Sparrow thinks he has VFL time when playing at the elite level Forwards who were having a poor day needed to do everything humanly possible to bring the ball to ground instead of standing flat footed allowing Woods intercepts

Done!

We are no longer contenders... We are the benchmark!

The Melksham bashing is so inane! If Sparrow, Chandler or Bedford came in and did the things Melksham did as recently as the Adelaide game, the same crew would be singing their praises as if we had unearthed a gem!

You had better read more carefully. My post was a question; which you arbitrarily chose to lump in with every other writer who felt the umpire made a mistake! I never used the word "cheat", another poster who seems to share your sentiments bought it up. That is why I thought some clarification was required... You seem to me to be wallpapering over any attempt to understand how an umpire can make such a blatant howler when the pressure is on.

We are not talking about an individual acting dishonestly or unfairly in order to gain an advantage, we are acknowledging the influence of association when arbitrating under extreme pressure!

Is anyone surprised that the umpire who didn't make the call looks a lot like #11, a South Australian!

Thanks KC & Werridee

11 MFC listed... better than expected.

9 MFC 13 Casey

That's just Mental!

If we need to give Weid his opportunity... here it is! ... but, if we need to switch like for like, its Majak

Spot on, Kent! The current interpretation of the rule encourages the 'stacks on' behaviour of the players, who have been encouraged to pull the ball in under the player being tackled because 50% of the time they can 'earn' a cheap free!

... and umpire #1 in perfect position to see the infringement. The same #1 who paid the series of ridiculous frees against Max in the ruck contests!

Weideman for Tomlinson (McDonald to continue down back) Chandler if Fritsch gets weeks Harmes if Baker is dropped

The negativity around Melksham is bordering on War of The Worlds mass hysteria. If you took the time to watch the second half replay you might notice that Melksham played a key link-up role in our recovery... Nah! you wouldn't notice!

So, you take the name of one of our all-time greats then come on here and call a player a "spud"; classy act you've got going there in your marathon contribution of 143 posts!

The 1999 quartette played 763 games between them... going to be very difficult to surpass! The 1986 trio played 522

Yes, SPC... that was a very good year. In 1986 we drafted Steven Febey, Matthew Febey, Andy Lovell & Darren Jarman!!! Then added Andrew Obst, Steven Tingay and Jay Viney in 1987 Another fair year was 1997 with Travis Johnston, Nathan Brown and Guy Rigoni Should we even mention 2009 with Scully Trengove & Max Gawn?

6 - Oliver 5 - Salem 4 - Petracca 3 - Kossie 2 - ANB 1 - Langdon

When opinion is being tossed around I like to provide perspective. You are entitled to read the facts as you want. From my POV, I'm not surprised by the crowd numbers, nor do I see them as evidence that the sky is falling. Please note that this is an automatically generated post, replies will not be answered.

Yesterday’s attendance of 21365 was the 4th highest out of a total of 15 occasions that Melbourne have met Freo at the MCG (3rd highest on a Sat aft). Here is the complete list. Year Result Attendance Day / Time 1996 W 15494 Fr (n) 1997 W 15036 Sat (aft) 1998 W 20365 Sat (aft) 1999 L 19178 Fr (n) 2003 L 17009 Sat (aft) 2005 L 21963 Sun (aft) 2006 W 23368 Sat (aft) 2007 L 16654 Sun (aft) 2008 W 19423 Sun (aft) 2009 W 13004 Sun (aft) 2011 W 19092 Sun (aft) 2013 L 13768 Sun (aft) 2017 L 27829 Sat (aft) 2019 W 20211 Sat (aft) 2021 W 21365 Sat (aft)

I haven't participated in this thread because I don't care what Mark Maclure thinks!

I think we have to be honest, we did not look like a top 8 team... and I have been watching the other pre-season games. Freemantle looked a lot better than us. I see a real struggle until we get Brown, Viney and the likes of Hibberd, Melksham & Weiderman back