A truly memorable AFL grand final

Kennedy was lucky to get the 50m penalty. It was a soft bump....nowhere near as forceful as the Bruest shirtfront of Picken in the semi-final (who still took the mark but wasn't given 50m). Picken was given the free kick but had taken the mark anyway.....so the free kick was useless....maybe things like this inflate the free kick ratio?

I'd say probably the highest intensity first ten minutes of a grand final I can recall watching, and people like swings in momentum and lead changes and that's what we got by and large for the first 3 quarters. My impression to that point was that bulldogs had the rub of the green with some umpiring decisions but I wasn't really aware of the numbers disparity, i guess because I thought free kicks should be determined qualitatively rather than quantitatively. The other thing I thought was if the bulldogs could have used the ball better they would have had a bigger lead than they did. This is a reflection of the quality of the grand final and why I wouldn't put it right up with the best I've seen but it was a thoroughly entertaining grand final. I think one part of the hyperbole surrounding this year's grand final in the wash up is due to the last two grand finals being non-contests and the one prior to that being a bit of a dog of a match and people just wanted it to offer something better, however I started watching football in the 90s when there were no close grand finals so I never thought of them as having to be great contests but more so a bonus when they are. Between 2002 and 2012 we had a golden period where 6 grand finals were determined by 2 goals or less. I don't see that as the norm but it was a welcome change from the grand finals of the 90s. So I think this grand final will probably be memorable, and it was enjoyable for a multitude of reasons, however as far as the quality of football it's not one of the greatest for me.

True

So true

Me too me too ! at least I am now able to move on from the 2015 debacle.

He knew he wasn't going to get to the ball yet he still jumped into his back - that's why it was 50. Same as the McLean one. Wood didn't jump, he just braced himself.

C'mon now. Let's not get carried away. This was an exciting final, and a relief after the last two demolitions, but it wasn't even in the ballpark of great finals as recently as 2009, 2010, 2011, and 2012. Any of those teams - winners or runners up, would have beaten these two. It was one of those years lacking any outstanding teams, allowing a lesser team to pinch one. Great pressure, poor skills, lots of clangers, and the most one sided umpiring seen in a grannie.

He was already in the air before the Swans player had taken the mark. I thought it was a soft free given the context of the game and what had been overlooked up to that point, that's all. No other agenda being pushed. Spare me the labeling designed to make it easy for your lazy mind to group everyone questioning the umpiring as "whingers"

He clearly jumped into his back after he took the mark; it was different circumstances and worth a 50. Just like when Toby McLean did it. You blokes are just looking for something to complain about now.

I'm not quite as pessimistic as you on the current skill levels but I do agree I think the margin and pressure papered over a lot of the negatives. I don’t think the umpiring was the decisive factor but it certainly was a factor. Agree too on the constant rule changes! Getting really sick of that side of things. Needs to be a moratorium where they don’t change the game for 3-5 years. Or something. But the tinkering is really annoying and is starting to damage the continuity between seasons. Once you lose your break with the past the continued relevance of the game becomes at risk.

Yeah, they got badly treated by the umps. I can't recall a grand final where it's been so lopsided. It makes me wonder if the umpires too were sucked in by the compelling Bulldog story. I can't imagine how frustrated Sydney fans would've been after the game. It probably didn't change the result, but it definitely needs more attention than it's received.

The only reason people were talking about Kieran Jack not getting a 50 is because there was a rubbish 50m penalty paid to the dogs a few minutes earlier when a Swans player got pinged for jumping into a dogs player.

What are you talking about? Jack and Wood were both going for the ball and Wood braced himself for impact when he wasn't going to get there. That's all. It wasn't a 50. I re-watched the whole game yesterday and I reckon the swans were stiff on 2, maybe 3 free kicks, but so were the dogs. The dogs outplayed them for the whole game bar the 5 minute patch when Kennedy kicked two goals in a minute. You're delusional if you think the umpires cost Sydney the win. I didn't even notice the lopsided free kick count during the game, and was only alerted to it by whinging Sydney supporters.

Agreed. As I said elsewhere... What's your favourite imaginary place? Maybe it's Westeros where you can be King in the North, or Wonderland where you can dine with the Mad Hatter, or Lankhmar brawling in a pub with Faffryd and the Grey Mouser, or Ankh Morporkh eating rat on a stick, or Pern riding a dragon, or Rivendell with Elrond, or Camelot with Guinevere, or Troy with Helen, sailing with Jason on the Argo, or with Beowulf fighting Grendel, or with John Carter on Mars, Sparrowhawk on Earthsea, Elric on Melnibone, or even crossing that Bridge to Terabithia... Whatever it is, my current fantasyland is NonVictorianUmpireLand! Here Jack gets the 50 after Wood crashes into him late and the Swans get the first goal. Mitchell gets paid several holding the balls against Dalhaus after the ball continually gets dropped in the tackle. Kennedy wins a free after Libba gets penalized for his 4th throw in a row. And Hanneberry gets the free for Wood sliding in below the knees, but still has to come off with an ACL. Here the world is consistent and fair, and the free kick count is 15-13 at 3/4 time, not 15-4. The Swans lead by 5 points with 2 minutes to go in the Greatest Grand Final Ever!!! But of course my fairytale has to have a bit of reality and Tom Boyd's kick goes through as the siren sounds and the Bulldogs win fairly and squarely The Greatest Game of All Time!!! Disappointed though Swans fans are, they know that they were beaten in a fair contest by a marginally better team. And not by three green maggots and the Hun (that's for you Margaret!) Ah well. These things don't happen in the real world do they? At least I can leave NonVictorianUmpireLand and return to Sydney

Agreed, along with the Non fifty metre that Kieren Jack should have gotten after he was shirtfronted taking the mark by a guy who didnt have eyes on the ball.. he missed the shot which should have been taken from the goal line. Swans should have been three goals up at half time. In the third quarter there was a couple of blatant push in the backs that were missed, one involving Jack again was only 25 yards out directly in front.... it was inconceivable it wasn't paid. Dogs played well no question... but the AFL have to have a look at how umpires are chosen. It is a fact that home and away, Victorian teams receive more free kicks across the board... most of the umpires are Victorian and have a subconscious bias toward Victorian teams. This was part of a guys PHD thesis a few years ago, and is backed up by statistics. Grand Finals should have neutral refs, ergo on the weekend it should have been Sandgroper and Croweater officiating.

I think a potentially famous win was ruined by the poor officiating. The Swans were hosed by the umps. There's no other way to put it. The fact no-one in the media will even bring up the lopsided free kick count that had blown out to 17-4 at one point in the 4th quarter, shows just how long the tentacles of the VFL mafia run across the media landscape. The media not saying anything I understand because the VFL use gestapo tactics. But I expected more from the general public. I think the lack of outrage from the general public reflects: 1. Peoples irrational, abject hatred of the Swans. 2. The tendency of Aussies to be completely obedient to and unquestioning of authority. It certainly says something about the Australian psyche at large when you can have a 17-4 free kick count into the 4th quarter, not a single free kick being given to Sydney during the premiership quarter (one free kick in total across the second and third quarters), at least 3 Bulldogs goals as a direct result of absolutely horrendous calls against Sydney, and people can say with a straight face that the Bulldogs would have won any way. If at half-time Sydney had 12-4 free kick advantage over the Bulldogs (with several soft free kicks resulting in goals), Sydney wouldn't have had a 2 point advantage at half time. I think it would have been a 4-5 goal advantage. It Sydney had of extended that free kick count to 17-4 in the 4th quarter, I think the margin could have blown out to a 7-8 goal Sydney advantage. One thing I like about the US sports media is they hold refs to account. If refs had blown this many calls in a regular season game you would have wall to wall dissection of the penalties with guys like Stephen A Smith frothing at the mouth. Forget about if this happened in the Super Bowl. These umpires shouldn't keep their jobs based on how they umpired on Saturday. These are supposedly the best umpires in the country yet don't even understand the sliding rule. Not only do they not pay frees when someone slides into someone's legs, but they award the slider with a free kick and a 50m penalty to boot (which resulted in a goal). In any other industry a senior employee would be fired for showing that level of incompetence.

All power to the Doggies, but the AFL need to come out and explain what happened with that sliding in rule. The umpires seemed to have the opposite impression of what constituted as a free with that and it gives you a massive advantage when you feel you can dive at the ball while your opponent is trying to get there and keep his feet (and avoid crashing into someone diving at the ball).

I agree. The danger aspect has been totally let go and the army of duckers way more prolific than our Lin have been ignored as the dogs fairytale got into full swing. Oh well to the winner go the spoils. Interestingly our kangas came second in frees for during the H and A for all the good it did them.

The Doggies are masters at going low and usually drawing free kicks themselves - although the Swans with Hewett had one of the expert duckers for the season. Umpires did just tend to let it go almost too much and made it somewhat dangerous.

Great win by dogs. Umpiring was appalling though. Sydney got hammered there as well. 3 Slide tackles or dives at the feet unpunished. Less ducking and staging by WB than usual perhaps.