Redleg

Same umpires as crows game same umpiring. 9-1 first quarter now 10-2 .

Umpire 31 has not paid us a free in 5 quarters so far. Disgrace.

Umpire 31 has not given us a free in5 quarters.

That is the very problem Jnr, if a team mate goes in to even up we will get frees against us and maybe reports and suspensions. If Max defends himself it is less likely to be as impacting, as he has a defence in that he is merely defending himself. A legal threat to the AFL will see them back down IMO.

Jake has laid 11 tackles and had 5 x 1%’s in 9 games this year, which is a bit I’ve 1 tackle per game and 1x1% every 2 games, exactly half his tackle and 1% average of last year. That shows his effort is down by half on last year. That deserves the reward of Captaincy for a day!

I agree absolutely Dazzle. Max needs to advise the umpires in the game where it is happening that he will defend himself if they don't. If he is ignored by the umpires, IMO Max needs to belt the next bloke that hits him illegally off the ball. It doesn't matter if he is reported for it, but he has to stop it. If he gets any suspension, you threaten to take the AFL to Court, for allowing him to be assaulted each week without protection and then penalizing him by denying him his legal right of self defence. No one plays football and consents to being assaulted. Everyone has the right of self defence. Just because you are involved in sport doesn't deprive you of that right. Make it clear if you are assaulted, deliberately off the ball, you will retaliate and then do so. What is the difference between a player running 50 metres to bump you off the ball in a footy match, ora bloke knocking you to the ground in the street? There is no difference. You are entitled to protect yourself. Actually it's worse on a footy field,because the coward is relying on you not fighting back for fear of being suspended. How is this type of off the ball assaulting allowed to continue by the AFL? What does it tell young players about stopping star opposition players? Is this the look the AFL wants? If not, do something about it, or the player has to himself.

Rivers and Hannan are not real pace, but I agree they are not slow. Watch what Bolton is doing for the Tigers, he is creating scoring chances for the team continuously. We need a burst player to break up the pack.

Would imagine he is pretty sore there though and might be a bit reluctant to crash in. I am still a bit disappointed we didn’t bring in some more pace.

I thought they said VDB had a fractured eye socket.

Have a feeling he will play instead of Tom Mac. Hunt must really be on the outer if he is behind Spargo, who is small, slow, a short kick and can’t mark, the opposite of Hunt.

Can you organise it.

Then we tell guys to make position and change the one dimensional gameplan of always kick it to Max. Makes us more unpredictable. We need to add some pace for sunday to break lines and change the dynamic.

But we are in Adelaide not Tassie and they also have Ziebell, Cunnington and Brown out, who have played against us in the last few close losses.

I wouldn't like LJ taking the centre bounces. Too easy to get a knee injury, from a big strong experienced ruckman. Happy for him to do the boundary throw ins and taps, at a ball up, where not running at each other. He is still an inexperienced kid.

Reassuring to know the former players agree with us. Loved the tweet from Tim Gossage that Paley's stage is the same penalty as Tiger's Lynch, punching a bloke to the back of the head, $500 fine. Know what I would rather my opponent do.

If he is uninjured and has been for a few weeks, then he could be as fit as any player not currently in the side.

You want another example of the "STAR" avoiding a penalty in the AFL? Clarko attacked the umpiring a few weeks ago and what did the AFL do, they changed the interpretation of the rules. Then a couple of weeks later he actually accused the umpires of cheating, saying his opponents had an extra man. What did the AFL do, they told all Coaches to not criticize the umpiring. Where was the fine for Clarko? Can you imagine a lesser Coach saying that, he would be fined immediately. He didn't even get a please explain letter. Big clubs and stars in the AFL have always been favoured and that unfortunately is a corruption of the fairness of the competition. No ifs or buts, the AFL is all about money and they see anything interfering with that as an impediment to be removed. No reasonable person with any knowledge of the AFL, could argue that Selwood, Ablett, Martin, Pendlebury, Kennedy, Fyfe, Heppell, Mitchell etc would have got 4 weeks, or even have been sent to the Tribunal in the first place. PS. I think all DL's would agree we fall into the lesser club category. Can anyone find a 4 week penalty for a sling tackle, given to anyone other than Melbourne players Trengove and ANB? In ANB's case with the shortened season it is like a 6 week penalty. That is nearly as much as the Gaff/Brayshaw broken jaw, by punch, penalty. PPS. Can anyone find a player penalized like Beamer Moloney was in 2005, for a few games, when he actually never made contact with the opposing star player Jimmy Bartel's head. Bartel thought he might and fell over avoiding him. Eddie would have exploded and ranted on air for days. " Melbourne Football Club will not appeal the two-match suspension given to in-form midfielder Brent Moloney. Moloney received the penalty for rough conduct after he appeared to make contact with a former teammate Jimmy Bartel during last Friday night's match against Geelong. Bartel hit his head on the ground as he stumbled. The Geelong midfielder was carried from the ground on a stretcher, suffering concussion. Demons coach Neale Daniher voiced his disappointment with the tribunal's decision before his club's training session at the MCG this morning. "They (the tribunal) termed it medium-contact (to Bartel) ... the evidence we put showed there was no contact to the head at all. It was just a slight brush to the shoulder," Daniher said. "It's on public record that we thought that James (Bartel) sustained his injury when he hit his head on the ground, so from that point of view we were disappointed that the tribunal didn't see it our way." Advertisement

As I posted before, the words “inconsistent” and “corrupt” are interchangeable when discussing the AFL.

In a reduced season it is more like 6 weeks.

As I can recall, only 2 players have got 4 weeks for sling tackles. Both had no priors and both were Melbourne players. Clearly from a lesser club in the AFL who won’t do anything about it and upset head office. I feel sorry for ANB as he is the sacrificial lamb.

No, surely we on DL know better.

Get ready to laugh, because cases aren't sent to the Tribunal for a 1 game penalty.

As you all know, I am not a fan of ANB and the AFL clearly wants to get rid of dangerous tackles and rightly so. But, as many have posted, ANB who is not a star player, will have the book thrown at him, as an example, that the AFL is doing the right thing by its players. There is no reason the MRO couldn't have simply given him 2-3 weeks and end of story, but they are clearly milking the coverage by the media on this, showing how caring and protective they are of their players. Who would have complained if a 2-3 week penalty was given? I think quite possibly Hocking could have told Christian to send him straight to the Tribunal. Hocking has admitted he is involved in the MRO process previously. In ANB's favour was the fact he left one arm free, only grabbing one arm and the jumper, allowing the player to brace for a fall with his other arm. The fact that the player didn't come back on, obviously goes against him. But it is far from the worst of these incidents, that don't usually go to the Tribunal. The Burgoyne incidents earlier this year were a disgrace, as they were far more dangerous and yet because of who he is, he got off. I recall Jack Trengove getting 4 weeks for a sling tackle on Burgoyne's first victim, who was allegedly never going to play again and then the next week played and was BOG. Since then, worse sling tackles have never received 4 weeks, with many getting off completely. We have seen so called "clean star players" like Cotchin, repeatedly commit dirty acts, resulting in players being put out of games, even finals and nothing happens. With the AFL, I think the words inconsistent and corrupt may be interchangeable

Goldy, is experienced, tough and match fit. I wouldn't put LJ against him in centre bounces and risk injury. Obviously if Preuss is fit and they rest Max, Preuss comes in and I would instruct him to take every centre bounce, with LJ giving him a chop out on boundary throw ins, which are less dangerous. Remember LJ is still a kid and we don't need him getting injured from a flying knee at centre bounces.

If he is fit.