There was a blood rule.
I long for the day we get rewarded for great tackling
We didn’t just cop the rough end of the stick today, the stick was then broken in half and stabbed into our eye
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I thought today’s umpiring was very ordinary.
Did anyone else think this?
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The game is run by a pack of sycophants who allow ineptitude of the highest order.
We’ve won for more often than not this year but the amount of unrewarded free kicks makes you want to turn the game off.
4 umpires is not the answer.
So it seems the AFL adjusted the HTB rules for all of 2 weeks just to shut the media up and have now reverted back to how they were interpreting this rule earlier this year. Nice work AFL House!! 
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Recency bias obviously but today felt like one of the clearest cases of different rules for each team that I’ve seen this season.
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Wasn’t good, wasn’t horrendous. So yep, ordinary.
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Nicholls is a ■■■■.
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Look, I’m no gynaecologist, but I do tend to agree with your considered and well weighted diagnosis.
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Did he pay a free kick in the last quarter against us for not giving the ball back to him?
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Today’s umpiring was the worst this year. Merrett and Stringer got held and scragged all day and few frees. More than once, we got smashed after taking a mark and no 50 metre penalty.
We did some great tackles and got nothing.
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I’m not sure that umpire 16 is even an umpire. He couldn’t bounce and had no idea what a mark or holding the ball was. May have just been some random bloke walking past Marvel.
Edit. Just looked him up and he umpired the 2022 Grand Final. 
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Good question. I didn’t see it and wondered the same thing?
Nah that was someone else.
it’s very easy to fail upward at AFL House
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How many HTB were paid all game?
Seems like it’s a big advantage if you have the ball.
The person laying the tackle has to gently place you down before you:
A) can throw it out,
B) drop’ it in the right direction
C) smuggle it to another player.
and if all these options fail there is no way you will get a HTB call because they don’t cal it anymore.
On top of this you can go for the bonus prize by lowering your shoulder, ‘bang’ your head on the ground or just generally exaggerate contact.
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Pr(probity=0)=1.
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I had a VERY hard time enjoying the game today. I walked out of Marvel and my mind was mostly occupied by Nicholls. These random rules interpretations are just making the game more confusing for everyone and are hurting my own personal enthusiasm for the sport.
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Nicholls did pay a free kick for not getting the ball back. Think Draper might have been the offender.
Free kicks were 8 Essendon. 13 WC.
There were at least 3 blatant htb that the bombers were denied.
I also noticed WC ensured our guys hit the ground after several marks and no 50 forthcoming. Seems you are allowed to crunch an opponent as long as it is within a half-second or so.
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He has always hated us. I fear the worst when I see him jog out for one of our games.
Some Blitzers may recall a game vs Port in 2008 at the Dome.
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