John Longmire blows up deluxe in Swans' box... while 42 points up
There's some high standards at Sydney!
Sydney coach John Longmire could only laugh when asked about a lopsided free-kick count in the AFL grand final.
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The umpires awarded Western Bulldogs 20 free kicks compared to Sydney’s eight at the MCG, where the Swans fell 22 points short.
A couple were clear errors from the whistle-blowers and led to set shots for the Bulldogs, while some were iffy at best. The minor premiers received a total of four free kicks in the first three quarters.
Longmire noted it would be wrong to take anything away from the Bulldogs when asked about the discrepancy.
But he was clearly far from impressed.
“Look the Doggies were good,” Longmire said, having regained composure after a brief chuckle.
“All we can ask for is that they get paid both ways. I’d have to sit back and have a look at it in the cool light of day before I can comment on that.”
Longmire was unwilling to discuss specific examples, such as when Dan Hannebery had his legs taken out by a sliding Bulldogs players in a fourth-quarter contest.
Hannebery suffered a knee injury and played no further part in the game, while the umpires waved play on and ruled the midfielder wasn’t infringed.
“I don’t know – do you guys think it should have been (a free kick)?” Longmire quipped.
Josh Kennedy, who starred for the Swans and finished second in Norm Smith medal voting, was also tight-lipped when asked about the issue.
“I feel like those sort of things tend to even themselves out and credit to the way the Doggies went about it,” Kennedy said.
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There's some high standards at Sydney!
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