AFL: Refs made the wrong call

Followers of WA teams expect Umpires to favour Vic teams,as we have seen it so many times. If a team "just stand there like stunned mullets" following a bad decision,it can be decisive in the game's outcome. If they just "suck it up",& go on,they can still win,regardless of Umpiring. Commentary is something else-------it would be nice if they were neutral,but it's not going to happen anytime soon. They (except Dennis Cometti) pretty consistently push the party line of how great the Victorian team is,& are ecstatic when that team is winning. What particularly annoys me is when they virtually "write off" one team on the basis of the first quarter,then have to "eat their words when that team comes back & wins-----& they don't even have the decency to be embarrassed, :(

Come on guys,let's not get a precious as the "true Believers" on the :"Football" tab--------"REF" was just a slip by the headline person.

How come no one is talking about te worst desicion of all. The turn around of a clear goal to the crows, fully registered, then made a point 2 mins later. I thought only collingwood had the power to overturn umpiring descions?

Gene - I jst had a look at the dying few minutes of the game and there is a point where the blues lakc of patience actually cost them a big chance to win the game. After the final boundary throw in on the wing the blues gain possession, switch it sideways to Graham who give off the quick handball with 16 seconds to go at this point the blues have the player with the ball under limited pressure on half back, a player free in the middle running to the wing, another player running forward between the centre and CHF with his Geelong opponent looking like being sucked towards the player on the wing and Rowe in a 1 on 1 with RIvers on the 50. if they had of been patient and used the short option to the wing they probably would have had a free man running into 50 for the next option, however the kicked long to the 1 on 1 and Rivers took the mark. Have a look at the vision here http://www.carltonfc.com.au/video/2014-08-15/cfc-tv-gutsy-blues-fall-short

Take the Geelong scarf off your neck then ask me again.

Conspiracy theory? Nah, Geelong's charmed run with the match officials has become an open secret this year. Just ask Mick Malthouse, his team is 8 premiership points in arrears thanks to the men in yellow's dogged determination to get their preferred team over the line. If I stated it was the result of a directive from the AFL itself then that would be a conspiracy theory, but when have I ever suggested that?

Reckon Gene might have had a little to much agent orange during his time.

It would have Gene and that is why I said "they probably didn't roll the dice enough" and Judd on the radio said a similar thing yesterday but it is an easy thing to say when you know exactly how long there is to go and you haven't been going flat out for 2 hours. I also think the blues being down rotations for so long effected it as well, the players up field weren't working as hard as they needed to to make the space purely through fatigue. I would also say that if Simpson or Touhy had of blazed away only for Taylor to take the mark there would have been people saying the blues didn't have the mental fortitude to be patient and work their way through the situation.

"The Roar editor responsible for the heading " You failed to notice this is an AAP article, the roar doesn't make titles for AAP articles, AAP does.

The Roar editor responsible for the heading - based in Newcastle - gives you an idea of issues here in northern States however Swans No 1 pick coming from newcastle so some hope.. WEst Coiast decision worse though it may have been on a push on Heppell off the ball Who is Eddie going to blame this week - all those Brisbane draft picks from the Townsville league??? Eddie doesnt want a strong northern States otherwise Nine will have to pay more for the TV rights now they own the Adelaide and perth stations that are struggling because they have no AFL.

Wouldn't it have been prudent to at least try at that point? Better to risk a turnover with a chance to score then hold it and chip sideways for 3 minutes with no hopes of winning.

That Josh Hill free was abhorrent and I'm a Freo supporter. Such a joke of a decision.

Gene I know you quoted the word Could but when you follow it up with But that's the thing, the inference is that you are correcting me, attempting to make me see that I should be putting more importance on the could than I am, which is clearly not the case. On the final 3 minutes I think from memory the blues gave away a clumsy free from the centre counce that cost them, then after winning the ball back they probably didn't roll the dice enough although not being at the game it is hard to tell how many numbers Geelong had behind the ball and whether a long bomb forward would have resulted in anything other than a turnover.

Try not seeing everything as an attack on yourself, you have gotten way too precious of late. I know you said could, it was in the part I quoted, in fact the 2nd word. I never said you were wrong. I was just adding to the conversation, read the general replies on this site and it becomes obvious most of the commenters had no idea there was 3 minutes to play. 3 minutes that I releise Carlton was tired for and down on rotations but they looked to me like they gave up too. They spent a good 40 seconds just hanging onto the ball near their 50 meter arc with a couple chips sideways, thats not the way to play with little time and a small margin to overcome. Once Christensen kicked that goal, Carlton didn't look like they had the mental fortitude to try and take the game on and win it. Again just for clarity sake I know they were down on rotations and tired but one only need to look at the Suns in the game they lost Ablett and others to see if your side is willing to work it can be done. I'm interested in what your take is about the final 3 minutes (after the free that shouldn't have been).

Hence me using the word COULD Gene, if you read my entire post the point I made was that the blues got some decisions that went there way as well and that the blues should blame their own errors not those of the umpires. As an aside, and again not blaming the umpire, the non decision in the first game the blues played against Geelong that the umpires admitted was wrong would have won the blues the game as there was no time left for Geelong to get back in front, however again in that game the Blues made there own mistakes that hurt more. Try not to see everything as an attack on Geelong.

Or it could be that the Geelong-Carlton game happened on Friday(giving reporters time to talk to the head of umpiring) and the Essendon-West Coast game happened yesterday. But you are spot on. Any game where the free kick count is not completely even should be replayed in front of the losing teams home crowd with umpires of their choosing. I watched the Adelaide-Richmond game last night, it's amazing how a bunch of Victorian commentators started getting excited when the team that was losing all night finally hit the front. Funny how neutral observers get excited when the team that has been losing all night hits the lead. In summation: I think you and others who share your opinions of umpire bias against non-Victorian teams are full of crap. The AFL loves non-Victorian teams winning. It gives the game more national credibility. Not only that but the AFL's worst nightmare is the Essendon doping scandal impacting on the finals.

"that could have cost the blues " But thats the thing, it didn't have to, yes it shouldn't have been a free, but who knows what happens if it wasn't called, Carlton may have cleared, Geelong may have goaled, we'll never know. What we do know is there was 3 minutes 5 seconds still on the clock at the centre bounce after that goal from the free. Your Blues had plenty of time to change the result but couldn't.

Funny a mistake made by an umpire for a Victorian team makes front page news. Not the same for a team outside Victoria Look closely at the Eagles Essendon game ,last quarter,not to mention more than a few other free kick blunders by the umpires .Why was there nothing said about the Josh Hill Incident which would have had him lining up for a goal from 45 metres Free kicks total Essendon 21Eagles 13 What a joke,just makes me sick ,it's still the VFL .Even the commentators changed their tone of voice once the bombers hit the front Absolute joke, it was that obvious it could be called cheating

Geez I know in the AFL they are umpires and I dislike them being referred to as Refs but do we really need a dozen comments on the headline with no reference to the content of the article. On the content of the article it is stating the obvious to say it wasn't a free and it is quite frustrating that in 2 games against Geelong this year we have had the umpires admit to a mistake that could have cost the blues the game at the end of the day umpires make errors just like players and the blues got a couple they shouldn't just as Geelong did. I think the blues will focus more on things like Whites dropped mark on 3/4 time rather than an umpiring mistake.

What are refs??? Guernseys not jerseys. Please.