Macca

With regards to the mooted medium sized forward line it should be noted Smith can often play tall and that Fritsch can take a high mark on occasions JVR is a tall and as each week goes by his physicality is coming to the fore And Petracca can therefore become the wild-card forward much like how Dusty Martin was used If we take Petracca out of the forward line more often, the flow on effect is what do we do with Brayshaw as someone ends up getting squeezed out of the centre bounces? (and that can't be Viney or Oliver) And then there's Kozzie Pickett as the other wild-card forward (or at some of the centre bounces) So, despite the loss of Petty, our forward line is looking dangerous (with the return of Fritsch) and with the goal kicking capabilities of Melksham It's almost like we've got one extra but that's for the MC to sort out

In the last 16 seasons only 3 of the flag winners didn't win a QF Hawks in 2015, Bulldogs in 2016 and the Tigers in 2020 So the 3 aberrations are in fact that, aberrations. Not the norm. And in the case of the Hawks & Tigers, both were champion teams heading for their 3rd flag in a short space of time The only real outlier was the Bulldogs and in their case, their players were trained to the minute with regards to exploiting the holding the ball rule ... ball dribbles free in a tackle and then regained by another Bulldog - rinse and repeat with no penalty (an AFL rules of the game issue, not the fault of the umpires) So if we're looking for a pattern, follow the norm. But sports fans can have high hopes at times. A bit like punters on the horses But as previously stated, if we lose a QF final, there's still hope but the odds are against you. And deep down, most know that Thus, there lies the importance of winning a QF. You don't want to lose that game even though you do get a 2nd chance

Spurs have started very well under Ange. For those who follow other teams, are they everyone's 2nd team? Hammers started well too with a big win over Chelsea De Bruyne out for a few months for City but they've won their first 2 (as have Brighton) Liverpool & Arsenal are thereabouts and the Gunners are at Palace later this morning

13 of the last 16 Grand Final winners also won their QF So the odds are well and truly in the QF winners corner

And Steven May came out not long ago and declared that he'd instructed his fellow backmen to always claim they'd touched the footy when near the goal line (even if they hadn't touched it) It's quite a toxic environment isn't it? We set up the umpires to fail and then scream blue murder when they make mistakes The sport needs an overhaul with regards to all the grey areas. Flopping & staging needs to be stamped out as well. Retrospectively rub the cheats out ... weeks on the sidelines like the Italian league (Serie A) dealt with the divers And as previously stated, the area around the goal line needs a complete overhaul

Not necessarily The video available at the time might have been inconclusive just like it was in the Petracca incident And if the initial call was that the ball shaved the post, the soft call might have stood We've seen various angles since but what was available at the time? We can't be sure of anything And the umpire was miles out of position to make a call anyway ... again, not his fault because we tell the goal umpires to get out of the way of the players. Which is farcical in itself The goal umpire should sue the AFL for wrongful dismissal It's classic scapegoating to appease supporter bloodlust

Ok, if he isn't ready for Sydney he might be ok for Casey against Footscray the week later (if Casey gets past North this weekend) Or, they might give him a run against North to get some sort of match practice (again, if he's good to go)

What's the go with Fritsch? Is he at full training and ready to go? I'm in favour of managing a few especially if we can't move from 4th but Fritsch needs match practice if available

Cutting to the chase, the game needs 4 goal umpires for starters and state of the art technology to help the goal umpires If the AFL do that, the angst will subside As things stand, we can almost bank on another controversial goal line moment and that could decide a final

That's right and I wasn't having a go at you anyway The point is that the review system is farcical so we can't expect correct results... it's in the lap of the gods So with the Petracca kick (and other numerous examples) the review process was inclusive either way And the review process (if used) in the Crows/Swans game could easily have been inconclusive as well and they might have stayed with the soft call The system we have in place is garbage and because of that, it can't be relied it We don't know what we're going to get. Grainy video, how many angles? It's a joke of a system And the goal umpire is out of position because he has to get out of the way of the milling players (or risk getting crushed) In the Crows game and with regards to the shot at goal, the umpire isn't even in the picture because he can't be. He can't stand next to the post as that's the players domain By contrast, the players have to get out of the way of the field umpires (or risk getting reported)

But the review process is farcical with shoddy technology. So we'll be waiting around for skewed results There will be no consistency and confusion will reign supreme At a guess, I reckon I've seen about 50 reviews and nearly every time I'm none the wiser on what the correct outcome should be

If the Gold Coast can build an above average off-field crew to surround Hardwick, he and their team will have a chance If he has to build the club up on his own, that's problematical. Just hanging on to their young talent is a task in itself O'Neil, Gale, Balme & Caracella were as much a part of Richmond's rise to success as Hardwick was. Not forgetting Dustin Martin and his 3 Norm Smith medals A 6 year deal? Is part of the contract including the new caveat that only a 6 month payout is required upon dismissal?

How on earth can the AFL justify not having their own GM of football? And how long has it been now?

The technology around the goal line could be so sophisticated that we'd have no need for goal umpires at all (so instead of sacking them, they'd become surplus to needs - at the highest level) Cricket is heading that way and we've seen certain types of adjudicators become obsolete because of technology (tennis linespeople etc) Soccer linespeople only flag the obvious off-sides I believe? Otherwise they let the play go and let VAR decide But as someone else here mentioned, the cost might be the reason that the AFL are using such a shabby system currently You get what you pay for

You're not suggesting that the AFL likes to remain in the news 24/7 by keeping the punters yabbering on about issues that could be resolved? haha There are conspiracy theories and then there are factual occurances (repeated ad nauseum)

Excellent points and well researched, SD My observation of the double chance for finishing 4 is that more and more supporters view that opportunity not as a fail-safe (if the QF is lost) but as a real chance to win the QF and therefore have a much greater chance of playing in a GF Because as soon as a QF is lost, a feeling of dread emerges. You get a 2nd chance but that pathway means that a PF berth means you're up against a well rested opponent (if you get that far) So personally, I view the QF as a must win

So tennis linespeople no longer get abused. Why? Because by and large, they no longer exist because of the tracking technology (apart from clay court tournaments) Cricket umpires are now more like orderly's (effectively) VAR in soccer day by day is now being accepted by even the strongest opponents of said technology. Sooner or later, 98% of soccer fans will live with it and most will embrace Numerous other sports have gone ahead in leaps and bounds embracing technology So what do we do in the AFL? ... we hang on to a 19th century style of thinking and sack goal umpires to satisfy our bloodlust

I'd fix the system first ... 2 goal umpires at each end of the ground backed up by a sophisticated goal line camera system (with a chip in the footy to make sure whether the footy has been touched or not) See how that goes and then maybe have 1 or 2 captains call's I'm actually surprised we haven't seen a lot more goal umpiring errors ... but what we have seen are a lot of referrals. Which should tell us something about the lack of surity of the adjudications In other words, if the goal umpires are unsure of the obvious, there lies the problem (system issue)

The umpire in question has almost certainly made similar calls when not in the right position to do so. And probably got it right on most occasions, if not every time But the AFL asks him to make judgement calls under duress so therefore, mistakes are going to occur. It stands to reason So it's an impossible situation where the umpire has been shunted away from the correct position through no fault of his own We've got our pound of flesh but the problem will remain Nothing has been solved because the next time we see a mass of bodies near the goal line, the goal umpire will probably be in the wrong position to make the correct call Some would call it a toxic environment but because of the universal hatred of umpires in general, we prefer to blame the a-end of a major problem

So we once again are blaming the a-end of a problem So goal umpires have to make decisions in completely chaotic situations and we want exact results? Ludicrous The goal umpires cannot consistently get into the correct position to adjudicate correctly (for obvious reasons) There's often a mass of bodies where the one goal umpire should be ... how do you fix that? For a start, there should be 2 goal umpires and maybe even 4 at each end if points scraping in near the behind posts are to be adjudicated correctly And then backed up by a state of the art camera system, VAR style Also, the football should have a chip in it so as to see the balls actual path The AFL are cashed up to their eyeballs so why are we still asking goal umpires to adjudicate in 19th century type conditions. It's insane The goal umpire in question should be given a written apology, not sacked It's pure amateur hour once again

The AFL might try and make the pathway easier for those teams finishing 5th to 8th but I'm not sure how you would do that without compromising the system we have now However, we might see more EF winners reach the PF as the years go on For instance, I can possibly see Carlton winning 2 finals and maybe even GWS as well as long as they actually make the 8 Right now, there's not that much between all the finalists as compared to other seasons

Also, in that final 4 system, the winner of the first semi got a 2 week break before playing the loser of the 2nd semi (who only got a 1 week break in comparison) The overall results indicate that winning the 2nd semi was a big advantage And with the final 8, the QF has over time become an extremely important game to win In the modern game, fresh legs, rest and recovery is a big deal in our sport but perhaps it always has been Just history repeating itself, SD?

8 goals from JVR, Smith & Melksham is more than reasonable especially with Fritsch to be added (sooner or later)

@Redleg A very nice run by Pinstriped and running 2nd to a proven G1 performer in Mr Brightside is an achievement in itself ... an excellent ride by Ben Allen to tail the winner throughout I had a good day thanks to David Gately's tips ... why bother reading the form when Gator can do it for you?!

Carlton won from 4th in 1945, Essendon in 1949 & 1965 won from 4th and Richmond in 1969 won from 4th And no team ever won from 3rd until we entered the final 5 era in 1972