There could not have been a worse decision in history.
Please consider:
Play was stopped.
So the maggots had no other distractions except to ensure the fairness of the kick after the siren
Everyone could see him climbing the post
For the avoidance of doubt (as our legal friends say) and just to make doubly sure, Stringer expressly pointed this out to the maggots
There were THREE (3) maggots there. As we have seen even a maggot 100 metres away can race in to make a game-changing free kick based on what they imagined they can see. In this case, they were ALL there and ALL could see what was happening
The maggots knew the rules for this situation
The maggots deliberately ignored the rules so that Essendon would lose
And just to top it off:
Vlad the Younger approved their actions.
Feel free to add additional factors I may have missed.
For all these reasons, this is the most appropriate trophy for the maggots:
Rampe was told twice by the closest field umpire to get down from the post as well. You could hear it on the telecast.
Not only did the umpire decide not to pay a clear free kick that would have decided the outcome of the game, he told Rampe more than once to get down so he didn’t have to pay the free.
Well the question you must ask yourself is if an Essendon player did the same thing what would the result have been?
The likely result is the free paid, the player cited for bringing the game onto disrepute, club fined $25k and player given a 4 week ban.
Any journo reporting on the news in a negative way given a ban and the other 17 clubs fully supporting the AFL stance on evil Essendon players with the prime minister even stating the AFLs stance on the integrity of the game should be used as a model for all other sports
Decisions like this just make you want the AFL to collapse. If COVID’s still going around next year (hopefully it’s not of course), I hope it takes the AFL with it. It’s a joke of a competition and they’ve ruined a once fantastic sport.
I’ve been a paid-up member since I was 6 or 7 (I still am), and went to most games up until about 7-8 years ago when my two boys started playing for our local junior club. Local footy is where it’s at for me now, and with one in both our junior and senior clubs I normally have footy all weekend in winter. I have missed it this year with it being cancelled in Victoria.
IMO one of the problems with AFL now is that its not really about footy any more. It’s a huge industry with a massive gravy train and it’s only answerable to itself. There are no shareholders or electorates to keep them honest, it’s just themselves. The industry has become so powerful now that the AFL are now simply making it up as they go to suite their narrative and nobody can challenge them.
Footy, in a way, has become a bi-product of the AFL machine, and I think that’s why it’s in the state it’s in today.
Someone posted in another thread that AFL footy peaked in the late 90’s. I’ll stretch that to 2000, but I think that’s pretty close to the mark. That’s not because of our lack of success, but because the AFL has simply become too big, and has lost sight of what it’s actually there for – to run the game of AFL footy.
Yes - the afl is arguably the worst thing to ever happen to the code, as somebody said on here recently.
Would love the sport to remain more than just about anything, but in this current form? Nah, fark it - why bother with this ego-centric pit of corruption and greed. Absolute w@nkfest that society may be better off without.
The best chance is for this BS to be dissolved, strip everything back and refresh. It just won’t happen though, will it
This one comes to mind too as the one i can remember feeling the most angry at the ground (I was overseas for Anzac Day ‘19).
Was this one also McKernan’s debut? I have this memory of him marking in the goal square and either getting cleaned up in front on contact or the ball being literally punched out of his hands after he cleary marked it and ‘play on’ being called… amongst many other outrages…
I remember this game when Geelong played a long kick down the line and Heppell went up in a marking contest and punched the ball out of bounds - Given as deliberate. Geelong then play the exact same kick from the free and the same thing happens - given as deliberate again.
I left my Geelong supporting mate who was on crutches at the ground. I’m not a very good person.
ANZAC Day 2019 worst by a country mile and Rampegate one bad as well. But this year seems consistently bad. And not just our games but across the league. Yesterday’s was the worst but a lot was due to Richmond obviously being coached to cheat.
l haven’t read through this, and have nothing to add to the discussion, apart from question why Blitzers want to do this to themselves. This thread is a painful exercise in futility.
I have been avoiding this thread because I know it going to make me angry. But screw it.
3 games came to mind immediately
2004 vs stkilda- we copped bad decision after bad decision. The one @Stallion mentioned was the worst. Andrew Thompson sprinted at Hird who was pretty much cm from the fence, Hird pushed him. Thompson dived and got a free. Was the very first time at a game I completely lost the plot at the umps. My Older brother had to drag me down to get me to sit on the seat
A few years ago be sydney. Within about 30sec they got a dodgy free. And then things got worse. Hurley almost got Decapitated by Hannebery when he had his head over the ball. Play on was called.umpire got knocked out, got rightly booed for being a cheating douche. Fans wanted blood that night. Was right in the middle of the saga too- so everybody was already on edge
Anzac Day 2019- my goodness. The umpiring started off really bad and then somehow got worse with each passing qtr. the. The last qtr was something that had to be seen to be believed. Never heard sustained booing after a game like that.
I honestly think essendon fans have had enough of the poor umpiring and a lot have reached their breaking point, as seen by the abuse/ threats made to ward and grimes.
I honestly believe if it doesn’t improve, something bad is going to end up happening to an umpire or opposition player
I remember the whole crowd lost it… people starting throwing beer cups and bottles over the fence… at one point.
Hurley had his head over the ball, and (can’t remember if it was Kieran Jack or Hannebery cleaned him up). Hurley Got absolutely cleaned up with a hip & shoulder to the head at speed. No free kick.
Hurley was laying on the ground. The supporters went f*cking nuts.
A few minutes later, Pannell got stretchered off. TBH, Hurley looked like he should have been stretchered off.
The worst part was… commentators and MRP, said “Hurley was at fault because he left himself vulnerable for going front-on at the contest”.
In other words. Swans were protected species at that time.
It was the same season Adam Goodes would get reported each fortnight, and some how got a fine or carry over points for every report… and started copping a lot of anger From opposition supporters because he was getting off everything.
