Last weeks game of Collingwood and West Coast was a flop but this weekend we saw three close games with all games decided under one super goal. We still have not seen a free kick by a rushed behind which I am more than disappointed about. How can we discuss, praise or slam this new NAB rule if we do not see it in action?
Essendon defeated Western Bulldogs by 1 point
This was a close exciting game with Essendon getting home with a point in the last 30 odd seconds. Again the Dogs struggled up forward and while Grant and Wood showed promise as key position players they looked young and weak and are not the answer for season 2009.
Now it is time to slam this new rule with no umpire having enough guts to make a decision to give a team a free kick for goals for a rushed behind. I bet if the rule was 3 points instead, Lake’s and the other points would have been given and the Bombers would have won by 5 points.
Essendon will play Brisbane in NAB round 2 and St Kilda will play the Bulldogs.
Robert Eddy must be wondering if he said anything to an umpire after being attacked blindly by a 'star gassing' umpire.
Brisbane defeated St Kilda by 9 points
On the #aflfooty discussion on twitter, it was discussed whether if Voss would do a good job with his first coaching game and while the Lions gave up a 40 odd lead, I would say he and the Lions hierarchy would be happy as the Lions showed courage, heart and some flair. What would be slightly frustrating is the fact that again the Lions went missing which has not yet changed.
Again the new rule had a chance to shine when a non contested mark was punched over the goal line, again no free kick which again was the wrong call. Another umpire fiacso which I am surprised is not getting any attention is when an umpire tripped up a player and put him out for a month with a knee injury. I have to agree with coach Lyon:
“It was disturbing,” said Lyon, “and it could have been a lot worse. If it had been a marquee player like Jonathan Brown or Matthew Pavlich, it would have been a much bigger story.”
This has come around because of the increasing numbers of umpires on the ground and the fact that they believe that they are the big fish on the ground. It should be the umpire needs to watch out for the players, not the players watch out for the umpire.
Essendon will play Brisbane in NAB round 2 and St Kilda will play the Bulldogs.
Richmond defeated Fremantle by 3 points
Richo, Richo Richo, you are the man! Wallace will become the man who made the move of the century which Walls, Frawley and others have all failed to do and that is move Richo away from the forward line and used him as the X-man of the side. If he was 5 years younger, he could become one of the best players and win several brownlows.
Fremantle played a very young side and their new midfield of Halseby, Palmer and Hille showed their talents off and will ensure Coach Harvey finally has something to build on. Grover playing forward may seem a surprise move but this will enable Pavlich play forward and Freo are a better side when they had other options.
Richmond will play Collingwood in NAB round 2 and Fremantle will play the looser of North Melbourne/Carlton at Manuka Oval.
NAB Week two talking points
Again following on from last week, hear are a few issues from the weekend which I want your opinion about. I know its a bit early to have a final decision on all of them but give us your views at the moment. If you have your own talking point please list it and your other views in the comments section below.
I will list the talking points in bold and give my views after.
- Will we ever see a rushed behind free kick decision? No as they are too scared to make the decision.
- Could Richo win a Brownlow? No but if he was moved in the midfield a few years before, yes.
- After one game, did Fremantle make the right decision to recruit Hille instead of Rich? Yes but long term? Only time will tell.
- What is your views of Eddy’s injury by an umpire? Stupid stupid umpire. Wonder if he was trying to get in line with the camera.
- Can the Dogs win a Grand Final without a tall key forward? NO! Grant, Woods, Cordy and others still have at least two years to develop and by then Johnson etc would have missed the chance.
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February 16th, 2009 at 1:23 pm
Will we ever see a rushed behind free kick decision?
I think we may, it will be like deliberate out of bounds though and have to be pretty blatent
Could Richo win a Brownlow?
No, which is a shame.
After one game, did Fremantle make the right decision to recruit Hille instead of Rich?
I think this is impossible to judge.
What is your views of Eddy’s injury by an umpire?
I think it’s a pretty big deal, at least it should be, because it is if situations are reversed.
Can the Dogs win a Grand Final without a tall key forward?
Anyone can steal one if they make the top 4 but its unlikely.
James Roses last blog post..Dons Defeat Dogs in Thriller
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February 16th, 2009 at 2:53 pm
So do you agree James that if the injury happened to an umpire or a know big name footballer the issue would be bigger than what it is currently? I know St Kilda are not happy and the AFL umpires have cleared the umpire who tripped Robert.
I can guarantee it would have not been the same result if it was Robert who tripped the umpire…
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February 16th, 2009 at 8:22 pm
Riewoldt said during the call of the Brisbane-Saints game that the clubs had been told a rushed behind would have to be “fairly blatant” was the terminology he used I think. Clearly, the AFL have cocked this one right up by not providing a useful definition of the interpretation for the paying spectators and TV viewers. Hell, even the media blokes don’t know how it’s supposed to work.
I know you’ve got a thing going for Richo, Jermayn, but get serious.
First look at both Freo Hille and Rich. Hille looked more assured and more dangerous, but clearly both can play a bit.
Dogs will always find themselves just a little short of a flag with Johnson as their go-to man up forward (pardon the word play). When it looked like Darcy could play the square with Johnson roaming and crumbing a few years back, they looked like a dangerous unit. It’s going to be tough without a couple of bigger blokes. Young Grant has got a decent pair of hands though. Took some very good contested marks Friday night. Sadly, his kicking accuracy is similar to Richo’s.
Extras:
Saints looked pretty ordinary early. Long year ahead.
Tigers looked as ordinary as usual early. Longer year ahead.
Freo midfield looks pretty exciting.
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February 17th, 2009 at 8:40 am
The problem is that fairly blatant was the uncontested mark 10m out and he punch it across the goal line, if thats not blatant what is? Or are we only talking about walking over the line with the ball? If this is the case why not say so?
Come on AussieRulesBlog, Richo was the man on Sunday…
Have to agree that St Kilda are in for a long year, without Riewoldt and Kosi they look lost and toothless up front. They dominated the rucks (even with M Gradiner stuffing up every time he touched the ball) and yet their midfield of over rated players of Ball, Dal Santo etc could not dominate and give their side any benefit. Think they need to give up on some of their players and get rid of them (Ball, Dal Santo, Clarke, Gardiner, Kosi etc).
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February 17th, 2009 at 10:16 am
Perhaps it IS only the Bowden Manoeuvre that the trial rule will penalise. The last thing we need is umpires making judgement calls on intent for free kicks on the goal line. Look how well it works on deliberate-out-of-bounds!
When Richo does the ordinary, week in and week out, as well as he OCCASIONALLY does the extraordinary, I’ll happily jump on the bandwagon.
Interesting that you mention Gardiner in the St Kilda comment. Has the game left a super-tall unco-ordinated ruckman in its wake? Saturday night he looked lost. In his defence, it has been a long, long time since he played any decent amount of footy at the elite level. There’s a BIG step down to VFL level these days. I’m not sure there’s a place for him in the 2009 version of senior AFL.
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February 17th, 2009 at 1:52 pm
@AussieRulesBlog: Why did the AFL not say this then? I agree that this maneuver needs to stamped out. I wish the AFL dealt in Black and White decisions for once.
Yes I agree with that, especially with bringing in the four boundary umpires. Do not forget that ~5 years ago, he was the best ruckman in the AFL and now he will struggle to get a game for St Kilda let alone the VFL.
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February 17th, 2009 at 8:04 pm
See my post “AFL should be free-kicked: “dropping the ball”” re the rushed behinds . . .
BTW, haven’t you changed your tune on this? See http://www.kick2kick.net/afl/rushed-behind-rule-changed
It’s not four boundary umps that has done for Gardiner. He’s always been rather ‘unco’. In the slower game of three of four years ago, his height was of greater value than the downside of his mobility/skill. If he was breaking Dal Santo’s sternum with every tap out, he would probably still be more valuable than his downside. Trouble is, he’s not.
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February 18th, 2009 at 9:25 am
@AussieRulesBlog – enjoyed your article and the bit about any deliberate rushed behind will be punished confuses me a bit. I have listed a few interesting quotes from the article. If this is true, then what Riewoldt said on the weekends game in the commentary box is wrong and the way the umpires have umpired this rule is wrong. Someone is making a big mistake…
Taken from this article from AFL.com.au
Using these ‘rules’ as criteria especially the ‘similar criteria’ as deliberate out of bounds the 3 questionable weekend incidents need to be looked at:
1) Brian Lake’s punching the ball over could be accepted as the right decision.
2) The St Kilda punch over the line even though he was uncontested 10m+ out, under no pressure should have been a free kick.
3) and Gilbee (think it was him) turn and run towards the goals and kicking over the line also should have been a free kick.
AFL fails imo
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February 19th, 2009 at 9:16 pm
Re: Mick Gardiner
He has been out of touch for about 4 years – not the least affected by some extra curricular activities. Surprised the Saints kept him on the list at all
Tristan Heffernans last blog post..2008 AFL Draft Review – North Melbourne Kangaroos
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February 20th, 2009 at 9:15 am
@Tristan – I wonder how much had to do with Ben Cousins?
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