The Panglossian

The umpire was only a few yards away, looking straight at the incident. No report. No Footscray players remonstrated.

How could anyone have checked this stat?!

I can’t see the relevance of this “ one-off” stat from round 2. .Is it trying to show the Dogs DONT get a dream run?

I think the fallacy in the reasoning above about the Bulldogs is apparent when the number of possessions is taken into account. The Bulldogs often have a large differential greatly in their favour, even when the opposition has more possessions.So the man with the ball in the opposition is being penalised. They must be far better tacklers than any other side.

I think our persistent tendency to be on the wrong side of the free count is crucially significant in our prospects of becoming a powerful club. I think we need a strategic approach to fixing this. Here are some suggestions from me, and I'd welcome other Demonlanders to contribute..... 1./ invite senior umpires to training. Tell them we're worried about our players giving away too many frees. Ask them what we should do to stop it. Especially invite umpires who have been noted to treat us badly(Nicholls, No.22, Margetts ) 2./Instruct our coaches to study footage of the Bulldogs, to try to determine how they do so well with frees ,year after year . 3./ Without complaining publicly about the umpires, make it clear, through the media, that our free kick differential is unacceptable to us. I think umpires need to be aware that some free statistics look bad. It's been noticeable on occasions ,when the half-time stats are bad ( say, 12 to 4), there appears to be an attempt to even it out. It's as if the umps have been informed of the discrepancy. 4./ On field....be polite to umps. Chat to them happily in the rooms , and before the bounce while waiting for the ads to finish.Always pick up the ball for the umps and hand it back with a grin after a skewed bounce. It's worth trying to ingratiate yourselves. It might just turn a 50:50 our way soon after. I loved Max's comment at Docklands that day in 2020 after a dubious ruck free.."that's ruck-craft, bigboy!"...BUT..he's suffered with adjudications on 50:50's ever since. What do other Demonlanders think?

NicNat has a beer-pot. He was totally stuffed before the lightning. A half hour break, and he was full of life again, taking one of his very few marks at CHF for the first, rallying goal. McGovern also looks overweight, so the break was a godsend for him,too.

Weid can't hold a mark in dry, still conditions. He would be a liability tonight. I'm not writing him off altogether. The guy has had no chance to regain form with the reserves not playing etc. Please don't play him tonight!!!

My MFCSS is fulminating. This reminds me of the Cairns game last year (was it Swans or Freo), when the torrential rain came in horizontally in a gale. We missed the finals as a result. We'll miss JV in these conditions. I just can't help being very worried. Please , someone, give me confidence.

Unbelievable!!! Time and time again crucial 50:50s were paid to the Bulldogs this evening! The Bont, in particular was caught with the ball dead in front of the Essendrug goal, and was given a dubious in the back. This happened twice. There were at least two other similar “ aberrations”, but I can’t remember the players involved.

Is it ridiculous to suggest that the free kick discrepancy was significant in the outcome of tonight’s match?

So predictable… 11 frees to 25…… though we had more disposals! What’s the answer against Footscray? Play behind, and don’t go in for the ball!? Perhaps we should wait back till they’ve picked it up, then jump on them. iIt seems to work for them… has done for decades, but the best example was the GF against the Swans.

It was great knocking Hawthorn out of the finals in 1990, BUT.... it opened up the finals for Collingwood to win their first flag since 1958. Hawthorn were their nemesis.

I feel very uncomfortable to hear you and Joeboy describing Viney as selfish. The guy gives his all for the team, and for the club. He is so brave for the team's cause that he endures repeated physical onslaughts. I hope to hell he doesn't read Demonland. If he does , I hope he realises that the vast majority of Demon supporters appreciate and admire his efforts. I am appalled by suggestions that we should consider trading a guy who I think of as the heart and soul of our club.

When did Collingwood or Essendon last play on that narrow ground in Geelong?

Thanks Freo, for knocking us out of the finals last year, then playing like two_toed sloths tonight. Shame on you Walters for looking like a champion in Cairns, then disgracing yourself tonight.

This thread wasn’t meant to be about throwing. It’s about trying to work out how the Bulldogs get such favourable treatment from the umpires. Many posters seem to agree that they do ( and have done for many years). I don’t think our players whinge about decisions more than anyone else( or that Footscray whinge less)( as suggested in Mazer Rackham and Dee Spencer’s posts) I agree that there are a lot of good, likeable guys there......but there are at all clubs. And that shouldn’t matter!

"The team being chased"???? They had less possessions than the Swans. You don't get chased when you haven't got the ball.

I don’t agree that we’re any worse than other sides on short kicks. But Fork’em,( love the sobriquet),have you noticed how well Footscray go with all the other adjudication?

I admit I was a biased observer( going for Sydney for Dees’ sake), BUT ......... 28 frees to 15 in Scraggers’ favour, despite less possessions. Very similar to their GF win, when their run with the frees was unbelievable against the Swans. They’ve been doing it to us for DECADES! We need to find out what it is that the umpires like about them, and copy it. If we meet them in the GF it’ll happen again. Nothing more certain. Its not just the frees. The umps let them move both ways with steps to either side before calling play on. Then quickly yell “ play on “ when the opposition even look to one side. Similar bias with adjudicating the length of very short passes. Has anyone else noticed this?

It would have been handy if Carlscum didn’t kick 1:12, or whatever. If they’d kicked with average accuracy, they’d have beaten the cats.

Mr Morrison should say....”anyone who sacks an employee for not turning up tomorrow is a bum!”

And kicking for goal at a normal level of accuracy

More important than being polite to the runners, etc., I think, is....be polite and friendly to the umpires. I think it could be worth a free or two, or a non-holding-the-ball, if you're chummy with the umps. Remember the Brayshaw/Razor Ray exchange? So players should always pick up the ball for the ump when getting up after a scrimmage. A smile or a wink when returning the ball to the ump after a stuffed ball-up, could just counteract one of those dubious "blocking" frees against Gawn at the centre bounce. The one time I was in the rooms before a game, when the umps came in to check the players' gear, they hardly acknowledged them. That was the perfect opportunity to ingratiate themselves! Please don't think I'm suggesting that some umps might have a weakness in their psychological make-up by making these suggestions. Surely not!!!!

Hey Skuit, I wish you'd pressed "Kaspa" on whether he hit it. It didn't look like it to me. But I'll never forgive Ponting for sending them in. Actually, the question was whether his gloved hand was on the bat when(?if) the ball hit it. Have you met Craig McDermott at any cooking shows? I want to know whether that ball from (?Walsh) hit his helmet or his bat when we lost by one run in 1996.