Macca

Winner - I thought the umpiring was good tonight, I didn't notice them Opposition supporter (Loser) - It's the umpires fault, they are cheats Winner - Yeah you're right, the umpiring was bad, for both sides (patronising, condescending)

They (Richmond) have been caught flat-footed all season, often caught out playing from behind and they are happy to play an aggressive style and give away professional free kicks. They tackle with such intent that often leads to transgressions. Unsociable footy from a team that had run out of steam So they are at the other end of the spectrum to the bulldogs. There is a lot more to it that the numbers. In fact, the numbers don't tell the true story. They are just numbers

Umpires will nearly always favour the player in front or players who are first in for the ball (as a general rule) ... so the Bulldogs are the best at playing in front, they are very often first in for the ball and they know how to play for free kicks (which is a skill in itself) They are just smarter than the other teams. A well coached and well drilled outfit. The way they play, they are nearly always likely to win the free kick count Play the rules and play to the umpires and the decisions that they are likely to make. Play smart. Beveridge exploits the rules to the max - as he should. See's the loopholes and seizes the opportunity And if supporters want the rules cleaned up, take it up with the AFL, not the umpires. The umpires are just the people in between They just make decisions in a sport with more grey areas than a bleak Melbourne day

Regular Season Tipping Competition Year Winner Silver Bronze 2020 titan_uranus Gorgoroth Go the Biff Clintosaurus --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2019 JV7 Go the Biff Gorgoroth Macca Dee Zephyr Clintosaurus --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2018 DeeSpencer Clintosaurus Gorgoroth Dappa Dan Dee Zephyr Macca --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2017 Clintosaurus Go the Biff Dappa Dan --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2016 Gorgoroth cowboy_from_hell Clintosaurus DeeSpencer --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2015 Gorgoroth cowboy_from_hell Macca JV7 DeeSpencer --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2014 Dappa Dan DeeSpencer Gorgoroth --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2013 cowboy_from_hell pantaloons Gorgoroth Strafford Macca --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Post Season Tipping Competition Year Winner Silver Bronze 2020 Go the Biff Dee Zephyr Macca -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2019 DemonDave Go the Biff Macca Dee Zephyr Gorgoroth JV7 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2018 Gorgoroth Go the Biff DeeSpencer --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2017 Macca Clintosaurus Go the Biff JV7 Gorgoroth --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2016 Gorgoroth JV7 Clintosaurus Macca --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2015 JV7 cowboy_from_hell Gorgoroth Macca DeeSpencer --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2014 JV7 pantaloons Gorgoroth Go the Biff Macca --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2013 titan_uranus DemonDave cowboy_from_hell Macca --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Overall Medal Tally Gold Silver Bronze Gorgoroth 4 2 6 JV7 4 2 1 Macca 3 2 6 ---------------------------------------------------- Go the Biff 2 4 2 Clintosaurus 2 2 3 titan_uranus 2 0 0 cowboy_from_hell 1 3 1 DeeSpencer 1 2 3 Dee Zephyr 1 1 2  Dappa Dan 1 1 1 DemonDave 1 1 0 Strafford 1 0 0 pantaloons 0 2 0

@Gorgoroth @Dappa Dan @DeeSpencer @JV7 @Dee Zephyr @Go the Biff @titan_uranus @layzie @cowboy_from_hell @Clintosaurus @DemonDave @pantaloons @Strafford Tipping comp again? We get 5 or 6 starters it's a goer Reigning champions are Clintosaurus & titan_uranus whilst all previous winners include Clintosaurus (twice), Gorgoroth (twice), Dappa Dan, JV7, DeeSpencer, Cowboy_from_Hell, titan_uranus & Strafford. From 3 picks tip 3 road winners in any given week is the task at hand (for those new to this thread) Various points are on offer as we work our way through the season in order to find an overall winner. It's a breeze (apparently!) Weeks 1, 3, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12 & 14 are worth 1 point (for 3 correctly tipped road winners) and weeks 2, 5, 7, 9, 11, 13, 15 & 16 are worth 2 points (week 17 is worth 3 points) Click on this Link for the Free Magazine - Sports Illustrated 2021 Football Preview (Slow download is free - follow the links) Lines aren't in yet but here are the games for week 1

Good start to the day ... 'Forgot You' flies home to win. Soft7 at the Valley but strong headwind in the straight

With a boost about 30-1 can be had for the double I like 'Elephant' in the Feehan St but it's a wide open race. Streets can get into the finish as it is drawn the inside and likes to lead. 25-1? And at the Valley that can be a really advantage. 'Elephant' has drawn a great gate (1) as it too likes to lead My value runner is Sovereign Award at 25-1 as well Exotics could pay very well

Best Bet Saturday (Moonee Valley) R4 No.9 Degraves 4.60/1.75

Because they play in front and are very good at playing for free kicks (as we should be) And the AFL allows players to play for free kicks ... Spargo does it. Not an umpiring issue ... cause & effect Most free kicks (when the ball is in dispute) will go to the player in front ... just think about how hard it is to win a free kick playing from behind By contrast, Richmond play on the edge, are very aggressive at the player with the ball and are happy to give away professional free kicks. Result: Free kick differential the other way to the Bulldogs Besides all that, there are 1000's of footy acts that influence games which includes poor decision making, clangers & turnovers as well as all the rest of it

The real issue is that most won't realise that the sport is impossible to umpire properly ... and it's even more difficult these days with all the congestion and with so many players on the ball So using that as a starting point the end point by the tin-foil hat brigade and the crazed conspiracy theorists is that the umpires hate us and are cheats A gigantic shark is leaped and otherwise intelligent people end up joining in as the confirmation bias is enormous. It all starts at a young age and stays with us for our entire lives Unless you make a change So take 10 steps back, change your thinking and show respect. Don't be a bad loser and stop blaming umpires

Been reported that umpire Stevic left a message (with the relevant people) soon after the game that the contact was only light The defence will be jumping all over that you'd imagine. Not that it should matter as the act itself (and the intent) should be regarded as the most important aspect

An argument can definitely be made for Hunt but who goes out might depend on which team we're playing Can't see us going back to Hibberd and Bowie stays for mine. So Smith out for Hunt the only change Either that or no change and we stay tall down back But we need a bit of dash out of the backline ... Hunt had worked well with Langdon before being injured Bowie to work with Rivers & Brayshaw gives us some dash on both sides of the ground Salem often as the distributor to either half-back/Wing I'm more looking at how we want to play our style rather than being overly concerned with the opposition forward line (we've got May, Lever & Petty to mind the stay-at-home tall forwards) To be honest, the other teams need to be concerned about our collective backline. When we're all synced up, it's hard to find avenues through our backline (average score against - 65 points)

There's a lot more to it DN but we're winning out in one of the fundamentals of footy Our zoning, positioning, 2-way running, formations, pressure acts, 1%ers, tackling and all sorts of other aspects are very good as well And we consistently kick the footy to the right spots to give ourselves greater opportunities. And we're highly disciplined. There's a lot to like to a point where if we bring that type of total football, it's then up to the opposition to stifle us So I'm not concerned about other teams per se, more so wanting our team to bring our best

The biggest standout feature of our rise is how so many of our players now play in front of their opponents. And how we fight for the front position All over the ground but especially our forwards We're giving ourselves so many more opportunities to win the ball. Ball falls short we're in front and a large majority of frees are paid to the player playing the ball (think about how hard it is to win a free kick playing from behind) But free kicks are only a small part of the sport when factoring in the 1000's of football acts in any game of footy. Where we are winning out is when the ball is in dispute, we are playing in front. It is a huge advantage and can't be downplayed And our backman read the play so well that they are often playing in front by default So do all that and then break even or win the clearances and you're half way home By contrast, the Lions were caught out playing from behind too much so they paid the penalty As complicated as the game can be these days it's also a simple game as well

Mark Zahra out for the Spring as well now as he attended the same get-together (it's been discovered) Latest story is that all 5 jockeys might get an extra month for not being honest about it all. The Stewards have a history of being heavy handed for these types of things so why would anyone take them on? Strange goings-on

At local & country level that sort of behavior is not tolerated. Players get sent off for umpire abuse and then have to front a tribunal later on John Bourke got 10 years for pushing & tripping an umpire in a reserves game at VFL level Deisel Williams got 9 weeks for a slight shove Make no mistake, if they can prove intent in a deliberate way, he'll cop a lengthy sentence It's related to the 10 week ban for the Collingwood player for having a $10 bet. Zero tolerance for good reasoning

If that happened at local or country football level it's at least a year. Perhaps even 5 years or longer. It's just not on at any level Deliberate aggressive intent to a point where the umpire had to get out of the way to avoid greater contact They'll either come down on him like a ton of bricks or he'll get around 6 weeks And it were Oliver, I'd be equally as damning

Play well in a qualifying final with the team winning ... means so much more. The appraisals in the OP bear witness That player becomes a difference-maker and with it, a confident, extroverted winner Get enough of those types and you win - big! We went in as the superior team and we played up to expectations. In a qualifying final! (back in the day, the 2nd semi was the equivalent - sorta/kinda) It's been a while but we are primed & ready. Stage fright was 2018

What we now know about Brayshaw is that he is the ultimate team player He's a natural onballer/link player/released player who is needed to shore up a wing in a defensive role. And he does it without any fanfare But tonight was different ... suddenly his wing became an avenue of attack and Gus was front and centre. Kudos We had many good players tonight but a few who have previously copped flak shone through ... notably ANB, Viney & Gus. Rivers was back to his better form as well. Looked assured all night

Yep, and not unexpected either Big occasion player as he possesses an important quality - Class. In his element tonight His deft touches, knock ons & release possessions were immense. High IQ player. His wing was often the attacking aspect tonight I had him as one of our best players tonight along with Max, ANB, Clarry, Viney, Petracca & Salem Gawn was B.O.G ... the man is an absolute warrior. What a player & leader!!

We are men on a mission! Focused, frantic, frenetic, fabulous, fan-bloody-tastic!!! Where's the single-malt!!

Gus Brayshaw ... defensive wingman extraordinaire! Been good tonight

Excellent result Gorg I got the exacta twice and a big percentage of the trifecta ... needed Inspirational Girl to get into the finish for a bigger pay day Beau got the 1400m alright and hit the line like a good horse. So 1200m up to 1400m. The mile might be a tad too far but I wouldn't rule that distance out

Yep, the big boy is a star of the turf. Behemoth too good and Prebble rode it like it was the best horse in the race. Prebble picks ip $30k with a sling ... Jamie looks on forlornly!! That's racing! Beau was very brave with Tofane 3rd in a truly run race. The first 3 - all class

Ha ha! Ended up taking a wide exacta in the Memsie Stakes ... could pay ok with the right combo Good luck to all today!