Jaded No More

Did Mitch Brown travel? I haven't seen him in any of the photos the club posted

I actually thought that our game on Saturday night was really well umpired. Except a couple of idiotic dangerous tackle calls, which went both way, it was a game where you didn't notice the umpires at all. And that is a good game. Say what you like about Ray, he is a good umpire.

If Hunt is fit it's not an involuntary change. It is bringing back a regular best 22 player for a fringe player in Smith who has just had 5 goals kicked on him. Our backline has been settled all year. Hunt got injured late, and I think we have missed his drive off half back. Smith is not only not defending that great, he is not giving us any drive off half. Bowey is giving us some, but he can't be expected to take the game on like Hunt has been doing all year. I am backing Hunt to come back if fit. Whether he replaces Smith or Bowey I don't know. Hibbo could very well come in if we play GWS to help with Greene. Time will tell.

I would play May on Greene, Petty on Himmelberg and Lever on Hogan. Viney will need to ride Greene when he's in the middle. Just absolutely pummel him at every contest. That is if he's even eligible to play! If Hunt is fit he comes in regardless of who we play. He has been a mainstay in our backline all year and he gives us a lot of drive and speed off half back which will stretch both Geelong and GWS, and he is also good at ground level. Smith is too unreliable. He is too raw and inexperienced in what has been a very settled backline. It is just too risky to play him. Cameron kicked 5 goals on him. Greene would kick 11.

Replacing a CHF in a prelim final is a really big call. Structurally it will be a massive change. Can't see us doing it, so long as Tmac can keep his opponent busy and bring ball to ground.

The lack of publicity and recognition for our Paralympians is really sad to me. I was shocked to learn we give our athletes $20,000 prize money for winning gold but our Paralympians get $0. What a disgrace.

As always, context is everything. Greene sought out the umpire in a break. He pointed a finger at him. He back chatted to him. He then chose to walk into him and then turn back and continue to chat to him. There was malice and aggression in that. Heppell is in play. Split second not watching action. He grabs the umpire instinctively to stop him from falling. Intention to intimidate and discredit the umpire in one. Accidental in the other. It’s like when sometimes a player accidentally knocks over the goal umpire. There’s no malice in that and the AFL has stopped punishing players for any umpire contact because it’s a fast game and accidents happen. Things that happen in play always need to be taken under the “split second heat of the game” consideration. Players can be so focused their peripheral vision fails them. I mean how many friendly fires do we see in games. It’s not disimilar. For me the bumping action from Greene is not the issue alone. It’s the entire interaction with Stavic. It’s aggressive and it’s disrespectful and it’s completely unnecessary. It’s 30 very ugly seconds that could set off a lot ugly behavior in junior ranks if we don’t stamp it out.

Look I don’t disagree. Geelong is a very experienced well drilled team. They have plenty of guns who can unleash. But they could barely keep up with us in the last half in round 23. 3 weeks later and still no break, three road trips and some bruising football later, I’m not sure that scenario gets any easier for them. I don’t want to meet them 3 times in a season, because law of averages suggests we are due for a loss. But I also don’t know how much more they have left in the tank. Likewise Greene back from a possible one week suspension against us in a prelim and Mumford kneeing Gawn at every Centre bounce is not something I want to deal with either!

Correct. His hit on Gawn deserved suspension. Although weirdly him being able to play next week makes the Lions a worse side so maybe it’s a win.

I imagine the pre grand final bye is there to help the winner of the Adelaide prelim to get across to WA to quarantine without it hampering preparation or pre finals events too much. It does mean that if Melbourne makes the grand final we would have played one game in 3 weeks which is not ideal. Hope Burgo has a plan.

There won’t be a bye after the semis. That will give the teams that won the qualifying finals 2 weeks off. No way in hell the AFL will do that. Only chance for a bye is prior to the grand final, and if Covid situation gets shaky they might just scrap it altogether.

May all semi finals be hard slogs with lots of bodies being hit hard.

Seriously Ross Lyon is a disgusting grub. Freo had to pay female employees hush money for the crap he did to them. He’s a disgusting human being and Langdon is entitled to his opinion of how he felt playing under him.

I definitely didn’t want Essendon to win but I also can’t be bothered with these cheating a-holes from the Dogs winning games thanks to soft umpiring. Lions will kill them. They are soft and lazy. Their game plan is too based around perfection which doesn’t work in finals. I would love them to get smashed next week.

He’s no Oliver. It’s ok. We won.

My Essendon mate complaining about Dogs fans booing Stringer. I reminded him that his supporters boo Hibbo.

You spoke too soon.

Can’t stand that [censored]

Umpires as per usual giving the Dogs the game. What a disgrace.

Jesus the Dogs are soft. Lazy two way running. Absolutely disappointing in every way.

As deliberate as you can get. Still back chatting. Walks into him. Then continues to mouth off. The finger pointing at the start is even worse. Just total lack of respect. I have no idea how the AFL can justify not banning him and then demand we respect umpires at all levels. Stamp it out or it’ll keep happening.

I would go and quarantine but we won’t get exemption to even enter the state to quarantine. That’s the issue.

Cameron is very good. It’s less about small forwards and more about the number of goals we concede from ground balls. We are virtually impossible to penetrate in the air down back. But if the ball spills to ground we can get caught out. It’s mainly because May Petty and Lever aren’t great at ground level. Salem is also very very poor for a small. That leaves Hibbo who I think is good at ground level but is losing his speed and touch, and Hunt who is injured. Bowey is a baby so hard to tell. I worry a lot about Greene and Grey for this reason. Greene probably needs May on him. Petty can take Himmelberg and Lever on Hogan. Port do well to bring ball to ground. Dixon and Georgiadis are both good at that. This is where Grey can really hurt you and Rosie. Hunt being fit is key for us I think. Because Smith leaves us far too vulnerable in the air and at ground level. He gets totally lost in the play.

I don’t give Essendon much chance. Could be wrong but don’t see the Dogs losing 4 in a row nor losing to Essendon twice in a month. I reckon Dogs will do a job on them.

He would never get a game in our team. That he keeps getting a game at Brisbane shows their poor depth. Culturally he’s a cancer. I mean he’s also a crap player which doesn’t help. Absolutely. Greene is a grub and a thug and I hate him but he’s a sensational player. Top 5 in the AFL when he’s on song.