Dr. Gonzo

These days I expect it

We play Brisbane at the Gabba in round 23 so we may be playing there to decide where we play week 1 finals

I don't even worry about the first half anymore - unless a team gets 8+ goals up on us by halftime I just calmly wait for the 3rd quarter where we put the opposition to the sword. If it's relatively even at half time I have full confidence we will run over the top in the 2nd half.

We'll probably lose 3 or so through the middle part of the season when we up our training loads. It happened last year and not to teams we would expect to lose to - Collingwood, GWS, getting pushed by Essendon.

Or Tomlinson. But I don't think we have to worry, Lever should be a certainty.

I reckon next week will be different.

🤣🤣 So very true.

You'll get shouted down for being spoilt but I agree. I watched the 3rd quarter from last week several times but the rest I haven't really felt compelled to go back and watch. I put it down partly to the wins and getting that flag - in the past I'd obsessively watch trying to identify areas for improvement etc because I'm a maniac who acted as though he was in the FD. Now I'm just enjoying banking the wins til we get to the business end of the season.

Plus Lynch's first goal was an absolute gift.

Agreed, we were very fumbly all over though and part of it is down to the pressure from the Tigers. They went all in on making sure we couldn't dispose of it without pressure but they didn't have much going back the other way. Once we got the game played in our forward half they had nothing really other than those 3 quick goals at the end of the 2nd quarter. Agree with the sentiment here, that really was a 10+ goal win we just didn't convert so many that we usually would, ANB x2, Gawn, Pickett, Petracca, Harmes - I'm sure theres probably some others too. Both teams seemed to play as though it was quite slippery which was weird considering how beautiful it's been in Melbourne this weekend but walking out after the game it felt like the temp dropped at least 5 degrees on exiting the stadium so perhaps there was plenty of dew on the grass to make it a bit tricky. Players falling over and fumbling uncharacteristically on both sides.

On the Deebrief podcast they mentioned one of their mates was at a business lunch with Kate Roffey and he told her he was a Melbourne supporter. Apparently during the discussion he made a comment along the lines of "it's great but still waiting for it to fall apart" - she looked him in the eye and said "we are not that club anymore." Demons by 40

Disagree, he's taken contested marks against Essendon and GWS.

I like the decision to keep in Weid He has been ok in his 3 games and needs some regular games to build consistency and synergy with his teammates. He has started clunking marks which should be the main aim at the moment. Do that and the rest will follow. TMac may feel hard done by but can bang down the door in the 2s to demand a spot back. He was brilliant early last season but hasn't been to that level since probably the Port game last year.

Pefect timing for when Maxy is looking at retirement 🤣

My kids are wearing their Demons guernsey's/hoodies everywhere they go these days. They get upset when they have to go in the wash! Only solution is to buy more 🤣

Ever since I've been following the game, players who ducked their head were not rewarded with a free kick. Not sure why that's changed in recent years, if anything it leads to further encouragement of players putting their head/neck in danger by milking free kicks. It's simple, if you duck into a tackle or initiate the contact it is not a free kick and you will be deemed to have had prior opportunity to dispose of the ball. If you don't and the tackle sticks it is holding the ball against you.

You'd be wrong. The AFL commissioned a report into this and that came in as 8th on the list of reasons at 6% of responses. https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-03-12/afl-umpire-shortage-in-community-australian-rules/100903628

I'm not talking about my view or your view though, I'm talking about the difficulties faced by umpires that have contributed to the crisis in umpiring in community footy.

The concern is that the contradictory rules and "grey areas" particularly around interpretation makes the game extremely difficult to umpire. Combine that with having to be an endurance athlete to qualify as an umpire and having to master a skill (bouncing the ball) it is one of the toughest games to umpire in the world. The AFL exacerbates this with their rules and interpretations.

Long term it leads to disengagement though.

That's great but you didn't answer my question. My problem is not with the umpires it is with the AFL, it's rules committee and whatever department Brad Scott is in charge of.

I agree there will always be grey areas but they can be minimised. There are also the farcical situations where the same action could be deemed a free kick either way depending on how the umpire interprets the situation eg player A goes to kick off the ground while player B dives at the ball causing player A to fall. Is it kicking in danger or taking out the legs?

I agree with your premise but not your conclusion. The AFL needs to do far more than pay mere lip service they need to actually take responsibility for the debacle they have allowed grass roots footy and umpiring to descend into.

Early in the game. Now imagine its in the dying minutes of a tightly fought game, ala Hewett from Carlton against Port. Putting these demands on players is downright idiotic and I doubt it is something the umpires even asked for. It has been dictated to them by head office because of the disaster they've allowed to fester at grass roots level. Instead of actually doing anything to fix up that abomination they are demanding grown professional sportsmen be treated like pre-schoolers. It is a farce.