Completely agree.
I don’t think that there is an official memo that says don’t pay free kicks to the Bombers but I would bet a lot that there would be conversations around how lightly we got off in the Saga and we weren’t really punished enough and wasn’t that pre-season training camp paid for by Hawthorn fun etc etc.
Build up the vibe and reward those who are the most zealous like 3 WA umpires in Perth.
Hawthorn may have been smart inviting umpires to their training camp but how could any organisation allow their officials to take part has me beat. I know the AWFUL doesn’t believe in governance but I thought they still had some semblance of looking like they did.
2 Likes
Its not umpire imcompetence when all the free kicks are going one way…people need to get that through there heads.
If you got technical and did a play by play of all the free kicks payed against us. I am sure 99 percent of them would be there, by the letter of the law. The rules are written in a way that allows this.
If in Isolation, you had a look at all the situations where we didn’t get free kicks when we thought we should of, The rules are written in way that allows interpretation, so it could be argued that they where not there.
BUT…if you compare the 2, ie similar situations where we didn’t get free kicks and they did the results are alarming.
The rules of the game make it very easy to manipulate outcomes.
15 Likes
I agree, and don’t think the AFL would blatantly say don’t give such and such a team free kicks, or make sure you umpire the games in a way that the games are close. But I am sure they have some type of crocked subtle way in getting the msg across, that I can’t even to begin to imagine.
Cosmic Pyschos summed it up best in this song.
This is pertinent. If there were no holding the ball decisions during a match you turn around and go wow, they really let that go.
However the general scenario in Essendon games is as follows.
Opposition player picks up ball, he looks around and decides to take on the tackler.
He is tackled, arm pinned with no chance of disposal, plenty of prior opportunity.
Tackler continues to spin the opposition player around, lets say three times, upon which he is finally dizzy and drops the ball.
UMPIRE: Ball up.
Essendon player gathers ball, does not look up and has less than 1 second before being tackled. immediately called holding the ball with prior.
Check out Devon Smiths stats. The guy is a fkn tackle machine, perfect execution and as he is small chances are low of an accidental high contact. With the most tackles in the league, surely he is up there for most free’s for. I highly doubt it.
Glad the club had some balls to go public with the complaint.
EDIT: Averages 8+ tackles per game. Averages 1 Free per game. Something clearly wrong with the interpretation of the Essendon tackles.
EDIT 2: Top 20 tacklers all average less than 2 frees, proving the Smith point useless.
Side note P Cripps gets 3.5 a game, so we also get a Fark Carlton in here as well. Double cheating maggots.
4 Likes
Some of the comments in this thread are simply amazing. Very creative bunch.
2 Likes
You are going to need a lot of that stuff Boot.
1 Like
After reading your stats i looked at the free kicks
Devon Smith 126 tackles and received 17 free kicks for 13%
Hugh Greenwood 99 tackles for 12 free kicks for 12%
Clayton Oliver 105 tackles and 17 free kicks for 16% return
So more to the point is the Umpires dont reward the tackle and holding the ball. Which clarko had a crack about. Ie you have to lay 7-8 tackles correctly before getting a free kick.
You are more likely to give away a free kick for a incorrect tackle - Ie slam player to ground to hard, hold on after player drops it…i mean ball spilled during tackle, or fall into the back of player as they drop their knees to the ground, or high contact as player ducks to break tackle to draw a free kick.
4 Likes
Yeah just did a second edit with the same point. No reward for the top 20 tacklers in the league.
I still think that side by side in the games we are not getting the correct free for holding the ball with prior, or incorrect disposal. Some video editing wiz is going to have to knock it up.
Rolling 10 game average free kick count differential for Essendon since 2000.
Interpret as you will. I have added a few annotations from further up in the thread, any additional ones?
In case its not obvious, blue is the drugs saga, green is the top up year. The year labels are on round 1.
37 Likes
wowee, that is impressive
2 Likes
Great work on the graph
It’s clear as day! Cannot tell me AFL directive to help us in top up year wasn’t there, likely to try make games competitive.
Not surprisingly free kicks were on the slide as we headed towards/were in finals last year.
–
And Pies lead the free kick differential this year with Richmond last. They got Tigers their flag. Now want Pies back up there again. $$
Additional stats:
Since 2000 R1 Essendon has played in 411 games, of which 174 of those we won the free kick count (41%).
111 of those were in the 206 home games, with only 63 positive games in away games.
2 Likes
Send it to Woosha. Or Twitter to EFC.
AFL Integrity Unit 
2 Likes
Out of the away games, how many were interstate vs Melbourne?
Mick Warner.
1 Like
So what you are saying is that the umpiring is not objective. It is based on the umpire’s emotional responses to what is happening on the ground.
