Round 21– Fearless 2015: Zac Dawson/Beaker (The Muppets) Separated at Birth –LOL!

Port travelled to Etihad and used the earlier 2015 win against the Hawks as motivation. They were never headed and showed the footy world that they’re far from a spent force. From a sizzling start, two shades of Gray led the charge ably assisted by Chad Wingard with 4, Monfries and Schulz 3. Hodge bang, Wingard lucky!

Collingwood dropped their bundle. 38pts down early in the last against the Tigers and lost by 91. Buck’s fizzers as the young Pies got pushed aside as the Tigers continued their September dreaming. Vickery got 6 in a breakout performance. He was always a good kick. Richmond in 2015 getting better service from the next tier.

Battle of the Bridge is inane marketing on a par with Q-clash. The Westies vs Easties clash saw the Swans wipe the floor with their crosstown rivals. GWS succumbed to a Sydney team still struggling to hit the heights of previous years. Tippett kicked 5.3, fine tuning for finals as was Cunningham and newby Rose both 3. Swans by how far…

Essendon had endured a fair degree of heartache over the previous week alone. Whilst a four quarter effort was a boon for interim coach Matthew Egan, Gold Coast won by 2pts. The shackles were off and a reasonably high scoring encounter ensued. Had Carlisle kicked a goal in the dying seconds, maybe a different result but alas…

Geelong and St.Kilda squared off at Etihad on Saturday night and the Cats surged in the third having let the Saints control the first half. The best and worst of Stevie J was on show and big Cat Vardy made a timely return to take on athletic Saints US-born and raised Jason Holmes. A seesawing last qtr ended up in a draw. Cats costly?

Brisbane took their winning form to Adelaide and started well enough to lead by the first break. A scoreless 2nd qtr brought the Lions back to earth with a thud. 8.1 by Adelaide in the 2nd and the Crows led by 41pts. Tex Walker discovered some touch up forward with 7.3, with Betts at his feet. 10 goals to 3 in the 2nd half. Crows by 87.

Fremantle came to Etihad on Sunday to take on the Roos and started like a Premiership favourite with a 7 goal to 3 opening term. From there, the Roos steadied and took two qtrs to get back to within a goal at the last change. Big Sandi and Goldy battled hard. The Roos chipped away to an 11pt win. Boomer 4, Waite 3. Neale 29.

Melbourne came back to the G and Carlton stood in their way on the road to redemption. The Blues led by 47pts at the main break and the MCG members was stunned by such poor application. Young Blue Cripps stood up, moreso after Murph went off injured. The Demons came hard after half time but… Blues home by 23pts.

West Coast regained Nic-Nat-Noo after absence against a Doggies side that didn’t contain a recognised ruckman. The Doggies hadn’t played a top 8 side in 14 weeks. Fixturing??? Josh Kennedy kicked 7 and the Doggies came unstuck as Sinclair supported NicNat to give Priddis and co first use. Eagles by 77pts. Dogs – a lesson.

 

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We all know Fremantle’s Brownlow favourite Nat Fyfe was cleared. Good. We all know Luke Hodge got 2 weeks. His record counted against him or so it was said.

 

What concerns me is how much influence the slo-mo replays are having when in the context of the game incidents occur at full speed. How much analysis through the footy world is based on slo-mo replays being repeated ad-nauseum on all the footy shows. Incidents occur on a footy field such as those featuring Fyfe and Hodge at the weekend. These incidents feature split second actions and reactions. Repeated and repeated and repeated via the media, the internet and the videos of Youtube. I’m sure neither were overtly deliberate actions to maim or seriously injure their opponents. Nobody could tell you how they could do it better without use of the slo-mos, but at the speed of the current game dictates, nobody thinks in the game contexts in slo-mo. Instinct forms the basis of reactions and indeed actions on the footy field more often than not.  Both players have form in these matters over their careers but at the same stage I’d like to think both were overtly ball players who played hard and fair.

 

The amount of press coverage is excruciating and really could act to influence the Tribunal’s sitting members judgment. Ex-Saints Skipper Nathan Burke commented as such and was subsequently removed from any deliberations on the Fyfe case. Burke is normally quite well researched via his Inside Football articles but his comments were unnecessary. The AFL acted appropriately in removing Burke.

 

Less reliance on slow-mos would actually assist the AFL and help instruct the stakeholders on umpiring matters. The excessive media coverage that focuses on incidents with slow-mo replays is actually counterproductive and leads to incessant commentary on the rules and rule changes. Then it falls under the banner of leave the game alone. It will evolve in good time.

 

Time to remove the Slow-mo from the AFL.

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