Fan behaviour is ruining the AFL match-day experience
Last weekend, I was able to attend the Carlton-St Kilda game at Marvel Stadium with my family as a guest of an AFL member.…
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Last weekend, I was able to attend the Carlton-St Kilda game at Marvel Stadium with my family as a guest of an AFL member.…
When the first Carlton practice match took place last week, not having access to Kayo, I went to desperate measures to try and keep…
Apologies to all for my poor attempts at journalism but after a frustrating few weeks of very few AFL articles (especially not ones about…
When trying to figure out how the AFL tribunal came to uphold Lachie Plowman’s suspension on Tuesday night, I came across some very dangerous…
Ahh yes the delicate nuance of being able to pick and choose exactly where you will finish in a competition like the AFL – like 2016 when the Blues pulled off a win against a top 2 side in Geelong and also beat all 3 bottom sides just to fool the AFL that they weren’t actually tanking.
And just incase the 7 years of first round picks of Watson, Bootsma, Menzel, Cripps, Boekhorst, Lucas & Yarran wasn’t good enough for you to see how s..t the Blues list was by 2015 here are the second round picks in that time
2008 – no one but we took Robinson in the 3rd round who Matlhouse shipped off in 2014
2009 – No one but we took Marcus Davies in the third
2010 – Patrick McArthy and Luke Mitchell
2011 – Sam Rowe
2012 – Tom Temay
2013 – no one but we took Cam Giles and Nick Holman in the third round
2014 – Dillon Viojo- Rainbow
So out of that 7 years of drafting how many of those players made it to 10 AFL games? How many were still on the Blues list for the 2016 season?
If the Blues were deliberately tanking they started the elaborate plan way back in 2008 and just to throw the aFL off the scent went and made finals 4 of the next 5 years.
So I’ll ask again – “where is this massive draft manipulation and how can you say what the Blues is draft manipulation but trading first round picks for a bunch of fourth round picks is not?”
'The Essendon Edge': The Bombers are trying to fake it until they make it
Doc – if there is a choice between a c0 ck up and a conspiracy I go with the c 0 ck up every time.
if you look at those results you would notice;
a) if the Blues were deliberately manipulating the system they wouldn’t have got to 16th, let a lone 14th
b) a team trying to fail wouldn’t have put up 7 wins in 2 of the 5 years and 6 i an another
c) when you look at the list that was left after Malthouse had been in charge (and the terrible drafts the BLues had in the 5 years lading up to the rebuild – first round picks of Watson, Bootsma, Menzel, Cripps & Boekhorst from 2010-2014) it is pretty clear the Blues were “exceptionally $%1t” (I could include Lucas & Yarran from the prior 2 years as well)
So I’ll ask yet again “where is this massive draft manipulation and how can you say what the Blues is draft manipulation but trading first round picks for a bunch of fourth round picks is not?”
'The Essendon Edge': The Bombers are trying to fake it until they make it
Well I started at 2015 because you referred to the “re-build” period and that didn’t start until after the 2015 draft.
If you want to go back further be my guest but I struggle to see that the Blues were deliberately trying to manipulate the draft in the 2013 -2015 Malthouse years given they went with Malthouse specifically to win a premiership.
However if you want to include them;
2013 – 9th 11-11 plus a finals win
2014 – 13th 7-1-14
2015 18th 4-18
So again where is this massive draft manipulation and how can you say what the Blues is draft manipulation but trading first round picks for a bunch of fourth round picks is not?
'The Essendon Edge': The Bombers are trying to fake it until they make it
Hang on – so trading away late first round draft picks for multiple worthless 3rd and 4th round picks to bid on a top 5 five player isn’t abusing the draft but trading players for first round picks is abusing the draft?
And how is trading for picks and getting the natural pick from where you finished a “handout” but being gifted a top 5 player for massive unders (you get a 25% discount straight out of the gate) isn’t.
Come on Doc – even you don’t believe that.
PS – FWIW for the 8 years since the BLues started the rebuild in the 2015 draft they went
14th (7-15)
16th (6-16)
18th (2-20)
16th (7-15)
11th (7-10)
13th (8-14)
9th (12-10)
5th (13-9-1)
So just out of interest where exactly were these massive draft manipulations and “handouts”?
'The Essendon Edge': The Bombers are trying to fake it until they make it
Exactly, that’s how the academies work, as handouts.
I don’t have a problem with the academies as such and I quite like the idea of father Sons (like Scarlett, Ablett, Hawkins etc) what I do have a problem with is supporters claiming they didn’t get AFL assistance despite benefiting greatly and bemoaning struggling clubs getting even the most meagre assistance.
And what AFL assistance did the Blues get for their decade of poor football?
'The Essendon Edge': The Bombers are trying to fake it until they make it
Yeah my fault – the Blues shouldn’t have gone hard at the draft to build a list and then top it up with quality established players – they should have just waited for their ex players to have kids who are good at footy!! When we pick up the 2 Camporeale’s and Andrew Walker’s kid in the next couple of years it will all be down to great list management not just good luck and a generous AFL “handout” (although knowing the Blues luck the AFL will change the rules before we can get our hands on them).
Speaking of reality though – you still haven’t told me what “handouts” the Blues have got in the last 10-15 years?
Oh and if you are after an example of the Pies picking up a charity selection – how about Quaynor – he fell into the Pies “academy” simply because his Dad was born in Ghana
'The Essendon Edge': The Bombers are trying to fake it until they make it
Hang on you are conflating 2 things – you said the Blues are Kings of the handout –
what handouts have they got from the AFL in the last 10-15 years?
And yes the father/son rules are the same for each club – as are the draft rules – AS ARE THE RULES FOR DRAFT CONCESSIONS – that doesn’t change the fact that some clubs (like the Cats & Pies) have done very well out of “handouts” via father sons and academy selections and yet their supporters always claim they are self made.
“Don’t bring the Cats’ new stadium into the discussion.” Is it – part of the Blues issues in the early 2000’s can be traced back to the massive debt they went into to build the Legends stand – the Cats had to level’s of Govt falling over themselves to give the Cats handouts – but the Cats don’t take handouts do they!!
'The Essendon Edge': The Bombers are trying to fake it until they make it
Freo seem a bit like the Aussie team ATM, letting the opposition get on top before being bailed out by the lower order.
'The Essendon Edge': The Bombers are trying to fake it until they make it
Carlton are King of the handouts? Exactly what have the AFL given them in the last 10 years? How about in the last 15?
“At least the Pies didn’t deliberately have to play awful footy for 10 years to acquire those players.” Isn’t that the point – welfare going to the poor is the way the system should work – welfare going to the rich is another thing altogether.
While we on the topic of government “handouts” – how much state and federal government money has gone into that shiny new stadium the Cats play in 7 or 8 times a year?
'The Essendon Edge': The Bombers are trying to fake it until they make it
Pies and Cats don’t do handouts – how many father son/academy players have those 2 had?
The Pies had 5 players make the 2023 AA squad – 4 of them were either father Sons or academy players.
'The Essendon Edge': The Bombers are trying to fake it until they make it
I have said a couple of times already the Bombers could improve a lot this year and still miss finals.
You are dead right Cam – when you look at the clubs that made finals last year and the ones in the 9-12 category who are the ones that the Bombers are better than?
'The Essendon Edge': The Bombers are trying to fake it until they make it
It looked very much like the “make ’em earn it” attitude of 30-40 years ago to me
Wright learns fate as massive hit on Swan sent directly to Tribunal
Not sure beating St Kilda & the Crows have “silenced” doubters but they have given them pause for thought.
Don't count 'em out just yet: Geelong silence doubters with a strong start to the season
I watched it live and immediately thought I was back in the 90’s.
Wright might be a nice bloke but he decided to make a physical statement and elected to bump from a long wayout
Wright learns fate as massive hit on Swan sent directly to Tribunal
He didn’t even try to mark, made the decision to bump from a long way out.
Six Points: Papley's hypocrisy, Wright's Tribunal verdict the wrong call, and why are we retiring Pendlebury?
With his arm crossed across his body and leading with his shoulder
Wright learns fate as massive hit on Swan sent directly to Tribunal
😂 Yeah everyone knows the best way to take a chest mark if to put your arm tight across your chest and point your shoulder towards the ball
Wright learns fate as massive hit on Swan sent directly to Tribunal
Just no.
I have freeze framed and scrolled it through frame by frame and he commits to the bump very early and at no stage did he look like marking the ball but did see his opponent from a long way out.
Wright learns fate as massive hit on Swan sent directly to Tribunal
I presume your take on Wright is just for clicks
Six Points: Papley's hypocrisy, Wright's Tribunal verdict the wrong call, and why are we retiring Pendlebury?
Pretty easily I watched the footage. He never got his arms up in an attempt to mark and his eyes lowered onto the player plus he was quite late
Wright learns fate as massive hit on Swan sent directly to Tribunal
Seemed to realise a long way out he wasn’t going to make and committed to the bump anyway
Wright learns fate as massive hit on Swan sent directly to Tribunal
Yeah they really need to make a statement against North
Footy Fix: Fly's Pies have officially been worked out - but that's just the start of their problems
The end comes quickly
Footy Fix: Fly's Pies have officially been worked out - but that's just the start of their problems
Honestly how many games have the Pies ripped to shreds or dictated terms in the last 2 years.
More often than not they have relied on a big last quarter to overcome a deficit.
Small things, like age finally catching up with Pendlebury and Sidebottom, Murphynot playing and fringe players returning to type are having a massive impact in a situation where the room for error was small.
Still time but confidence works both ways (and McRae didn’t seem to have much of it after the game) so a big couple of weeks loom
Footy Fix: Fly's Pies have officially been worked out - but that's just the start of their problems
So an incompetent side managed to manipulate the draft with an elaborate scheme where they won just enough games to avoid detection?
At least we have come down to 10 years of handouts, to 5 years of poor results at least partially down to incompetence.
Now you just need to answer “and how can you say what the Blues is draft manipulation but trading first round picks for a bunch of fourth round picks is not?”
'The Essendon Edge': The Bombers are trying to fake it until they make it