Was it the last one a run and dob from about 30 out directly in front and he just snuck it in?
Heppell fixing his hair for the cameras before taking a mark in front of goal.
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There was an older gentleman about ten rows in front of me having what looked like a seizure just before the first bounce. I happened to be walking past it up to my seat in the Great Southern Stand. Someone seated near him was passing info onto stewards and St Johns that it was a stroke.
Absolutely awful. I was excited about the start of the game and how electric we were early but I kept thinking how surreal it was for it to be going on and the noise, whilst someone might potentially be dying nearby. Anyhow, I believe I saw him standing in a daze being propped up. Perhaps it was an epileptic fit? Either way, I hope heās somehow okay or managing.
Iām sure these things happen at the footy from time to time and more than weād all realise but it put things into perspective for sure.
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Richo would heavily imply he thought BT was a imbecile.
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I believe that is why there is a morgue at the MCG.
Iāve got no issue at all seeing frees paid if a player is blocking a ruckmans run BUT in this case you can clearly see that Zak was simply standing in position, defensive side of his man with his eyes on his opponent. The throw in was short (a trend I have noted ) which led the ruckman directly into Zak not the other way around. The rule was changed to stop a non-ruckman being penalised simply because the ball falls short & they take possession in a ruck contest & I believe this is in the exact same spirit & where umpires need to use their brains a little harder. The other example of robot umpiring was the free paid against Heppel - yes there was high contact but that was in Heppel winning the ball just as Langfordās head arrived. In the spirit of how I believe the game must be played that should never ever be a free against Heppell regardless of what technically the rule might say.
Overall, thatās possibly the best run weāve had from umps in a few years as well.
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I agree with the Heppell one, was bemused when I saw it and he won the ball. I will have to re-watch the Zerrett one again for positioning.
However if we have to take into account positioning and other factors then we are going to be set for heaps of bad calls as it is great in theory but one problem I have with officiating in Aussie rules is āthe spirit of the gameā and umpires being required to read the minds of the players. That is fraught with danger. It will only end in tears for most stakeholders. Look at the rushed behind or deliberate out of bounds interpretations.
I reckon I pointed out heaps of instances where the players wanted the ball out but it was not paid. The interpretation should either be did they try to keep it in (which I think is the slight change of interpretation) as opposed to trying to get the ball out so that the team could re-set for a stoppage.
I think the Tippa out of bounds was the ācorrectā call but that said, I donāt like the way the game is going because that was a breathtaking run and what the game should be about in my opinion. He was taking anyone on and making the play. I donāt think he wanted it out more that he wanted to make the ball further away so he could use his pace advantage that he thought he had.
I also think the rushed behind is a blight on the game because of the way that players were unsure if they could rush a behind. If there is pressure then as I understand it you can rush it. Today in the crows-Giants game there was one that I thought was horribly wrong paid against the defender. I cannot remember names or the circumstances but the two players were almost shoulder to shoulder but I think the umpire pointed out that because the defender hit it from further out than the goal square he paid it a deliberate rushed behind. To me the pressure was there and it was the wrong call.
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Watched the replay and Ambrose is a tank. On numerous contested ball situations he will steamroll into his opponent and just take them out without giving away the free. Kind of reminds me of his coach back in the day.
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Definitely missed hearing BIG BOI MCEVOY
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I watched the replay and you can see in the third the resurgence started with one Shaun Smack Daddy tapping, slapping, roving, smacking clearance after clearance in our favor, and because he had the other beastman blonde madman Parish in the square with him at the time, chaos and essendon goals ensued.
Thereās a ten minute period of the 3rd and the beginning of the 4th where these two just take the game away from the hawks midfield when it had been a bit of a dog fight all game.
If you think about it, both are super hard at it competitors, and if you watch the game, you can actually see Smack do some amazing taps, like he may actually beā¦dare i say it,.a ruckman?
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If you could somehow eliminate a high % of the brain farts Smack has he could be one of the most damaging ruckmen in the game. He was brilliant at times last night & his physical work in the packs was huge. He had heaps of non ruck taps & in the pack slap outs to our advantage as well as using his body to attack opposition mids around him. Unfortunately again he was almost free kicked out of the game. 6 frees against is such a huge negative that can in closer games be the difference. He really is an enigma - last night was probably a bigger overall impact than any ruckman weāve had for a long time. Leuny was really solid last year in his ruckwork but didnāt really impact games much & doesnāt really have a forward presence. Belly has form impacting forward & is probably a better round the ground mark than both but has never really been great in the middle tapwork. I have no idea what our best ruck setup is.
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Well we will find out how good smack is next week.
Martin IMO is the best ruck going around
If Smack plays the same next week he would be undroppable surely?
Who ever said Bags is cooked can EAD.
This bloke does good work with these videos.
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I love that Walla creates goals by his sheer pressure.
There were a number of times he created turnovers through putting pressure on the Hawk kicker, which created an interception, and a couple more goals on top of his official 4 score assists.
The opposition must find his proximity intimidating together with the insane anticipatory crowd buzz that comes with it.
I love the cult of Walla, he puts the spectacle into the spectacular.
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He is very good at using his body to impede his opponentās run at the ball.
Heāll get called at some stages but so far he has it down. Nice to see him take a few marks too.
Jobeās kicking is worth a mention too.
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lol. 10/10
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