Macca

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

Interesting stat from the past Under the old final 4 system (which ran from 1931 until 1971) no team that finished 3rd ever won the premiership Yet at least a couple of teams won the flag under that system from 4th position And North won their first 2 premierships from 3rd place under the final 5 system (which came into operation in 1972)

I distinctly remember hearing the saying back in the 70's and it might have started then (or perhaps it goes back a long way) So it's at least 50 years old and I reckon the connection relates to the leading full forward and those who passed to that player in that position

Well, you push the envelope but don't cross the line Lyon has twice rested 8 or 9 players on the eve of finals. Brad Scott did the same To me, it's not about resting players, more so avoiding any more injuries As it stands, Fritsch is still out and we've run out of tall forwards who can impact games (good luck Smithy!)

If Port beat Freo the odds are that we'll be finishing 4th so whoever finishes 1st or 2nd will be what it is So the chances are that win or lose, we will probably finish 4th (if Port win their last 2 and the Lions beat the Saints) There might be an upset result which would therefore change everything. Mine is a hypothetical where any resting of players is dependant on how the other results go By the last Sunday of the season we'll know what we have to do (or not do) First of all, we need to beat the Hawks

The point is do we want to risk imjury to any of our best players in a dead rubber? (if the Swans game is a dead rubber) And people are the same all over especially when it comes to winning at all costs

So is Harley Reid a potential difference-maker like Gawn, Petracca or Oliver? If so, take the punt and secure the player. We might have to pay overs with regards to draft picks but that's the price you have to pay We're a team in contention so to make that an ongoing feature, adding a star enhances our attributes Why fall out of the window?

Well, good to have to you back, Wyl When it's all said and done, we all barrack for the same footy team @cowboy_from_hell used to say the same thing all the time and he was right By the way, he was the OP of that infamous thread ... "Relax, we've got this"

5 months! We were worried sick, Wyl Btw, whatever happened to Biffen? And where's Cards13? Hope they're well

I don't believe the Collingwood hierarchy would be concerned With the weekend off and a home QF final in front of tens of 1000's of crazed Pie fans, they'll be up and running on the day (maybe even with the wunderkind available) They've previously earned a top 2 spot and that's where their thinking is at (in my view) Tonight's game was not about Collingwood being at their best

But it's not like they'd be couch-potatoing (is that gramatically correct?) They'd still be training and simulating match practice These days, the best are plug-in-and-play I'm more concerned with injuries than rust

Yeah, I reckon tanking is the wrong word (or description) for teams resting their starters prior to the finals Bottom teams aiming at a draft pick number do not want to win But teams 'preparing' for finals aren't necessarily effected by a win or a loss Those teams are simply resting their starters in dead rubbers and therefore, not risking injury to their best players

Right now, we can't catch Collingwood and if Brisbane beat the Saints next week, we won't catch them either The Lions will be up for a home QF final So it's 3rd or 4th for us, six of one, half a dozen of the other Beat the Hawks and rest up for September Put it this way, I wouldn't be risking Oliver if we're playing in a dead rubber. Or Gawn. Or Petracca

And if we were at our best, we'd win and win well. I'm normally reasonably confident but the Hawks are up and about and if we give them a opportunity, they can beat us I'm a great believer in blowing lesser teams out of the water but for whatever reason, we often make hard work of our wins

Richo quoting stats? What would he know? He's just a talking head to me ... blah blah blah The Pies will be thereabouts when the whips are cracking. Their best is very good We need to take care of our own backyard. We haven't been at our best since the game against the Pies and that's 2 months ago now Let's face it, are we confident about beating the Hawks? If we were in our best form, we'd obliterate them And we'd all be super confident of a victory.

I used to think the same way ... just 5 years ago. But I've changed my tune The flirting with form argument is ancient thinking. Don't take that personally, it's more an observation of a way of thinking Players not playing will still be simulating the playing of the sport without the contact or the pressure A lot like le tour riders who still ride a lot of kilometers on the rest days

As I mentioned to Jaded, the trend overseas of resting starters in games that don't matter is old news If it was allowed, I'd be happy to play Casey against Sydney if that game had no impact on our finals position But there's the whole disrepute stuff etc that would rear it's ugly head Why risk injury to the best players? Makes zero sense

Are you up with modern sporting trends? Teams aren't serious in games that don't matter once they've locked in their pathway We're just a bit behind in Oz. Which is par for the course Those here who follow the NFL or the NBA or even the MLB and soccer know what I'm talking about

Brisbane look alright but how serious are the Pies? This isn't Collingwood's best by any stretch