Aussie Rules Footy

Wow, Eddie actually deigned to come this year? In that case ... yeah, I'm definitely even more gladerer they lost.

Whoa. WTF, D'Arcy? That was bloody D'Stupid. I'll try catch a replay during the week. Foxtel's bound to replay all the matches.

This Demons vs Giants match is an absolute cracker. Such a pity it's not on FTA TV.

And I'm gutted to see Erin Phillips is a late out for the GF rematch. Damn!

A present for ajaye:

http://www.theage.com.au/afl/afl-ne...ommits-until-end-of-2020-20180204-h0te5d.html

Thought you'd enjoy that.

ION, I thought the 2 week ban for D'Arcy was pretty lenient, considering how deliberate her kick was.

And so it begins (again)...

AFL SEASON 2018 IS HERE! (Well, tomorrow night, anyway)

But first, let's look to the AFLW Grand Final.

AFLW Final! Woot! Doggies vs Lions

Saturday sees the women's final between the Western Bulldogs and the Brisbane Lions at Ikon Park ... so it's a good thing the match starts at 12:35pm, because the lighting at that ground remains a debacle (oh, we didn't budget for lighting for the women's season, says the multi-billion dollar AFL machine. Dickheads).

The Bulldogs are mounting a last-ditch challenge to skipper Katie Brennan's two week suspension, to be heard tomorrow. I hope she gets off. Yes, the sling tackle was bad, but I still have memories of the AFL letting Barry Hall play the 2005 GF after punching a bloke, so ... yanno. What's good for the goose, etc.

*is still bitter*


AFL 2018


The season kicks off with its now traditional Richmond vs Carlton matchup. The Tiges will unfurl their 2017 Premiership flag before the game (cue more ajaye happiness). The big question for me: Has Carlton finally managed to find a full forward who can kick straight? Also: Will I stop annoying Mr. Beef with questions of "Who's that?" about Carlton's glut of nondescript brown-haired GWS cast-offs?

While Richmond still looks hungry, their GF opponents Adelaide have been very quiet over the summer months. What kind of form will they be in after that crushing 2017 loss and the spate of players jumping ship at the end of last season? (Though sadly not Mitch McGovern, who totally should've come to join his brother out west...)

An Ablett-less Gold Coast plays the first of a slew of "home" games away from home (this week, it's off to Cairns' humidity). Thanks to the Commonwealth Games and other scheduling quirks, they won't actually play on the Gold Coast until mid-season.

West Coast also have an awkward "home" game fixture, opening their season at the new Perth stadium, which has totally different dimensions to Subi. Given the Weagles Web won't work at a wider ground, here's hoping they have a new game plan. It'll be a few years before we regain a home ground advantage over there. In positive news, NicNat's a chance to return (though without match fitness), but how will my Eagles cope against a Buddy-led Swans outfit when Josh Kennedy's out for the first few weeks of the season?



AFLW - GRAND FINAL

Western Bulldogs vs Brisbane


AFL ROUND 1

Richmond vs Carlton
Essendon vs Adelaide
St Kilda vs Brisbane
Port Adelaide vs Fremantle
Gold Coast vs North Melbourne (Cazaly's Stadium, Cairns)
Hawthorn vs Collingwood
Greater Western Sydney vs Western Bulldogs
Melbourne vs Geelong
West Coast vs Sydney


SEASON TIPS

Premiership AFLW:
Premiership AFL:
Coleman:
Brownlow:

AFLW - GRAND FINAL

Western Bulldogs vs Brisbane

I'd be tempted to tip the doggies if Brennan gets to play, but Frederick-Traub's found form, so it's the Lions to avenge last year's defeat for me I think. Ack. The bullie's have some great players though. I think it'll be close!


AFL ROUND 1

Richmond vs Carlton Sorry, Mr. Beef. Round's 1's always awful to tip - upsets are a real possibility. No hangover for the Tiges, though.
Essendon vs Adelaide Tough one. In contrast to the fired-up Tiges, I anticipate an Adelaide slump this year.
St Kilda vs Brisbane
Port Adelaide vs Fremantle I tipped Port before changing my mind. I like freo's recruits, and Fyfe's back in form.
Gold Coast vs North Melbourne (Cazaly's Stadium, Cairns) Meh. Whatever. Hate North, so GC it is
Hawthorn vs Collingwood
Greater Western Sydney vs Western Bulldogs These teams hate each other. Could get interesting.
Melbourne vs Geelong Opposite logic to ajaye. The Melbourne players banded together and overcame adversity.
West Coast vs Sydney No Kennedy, no home ground advantage, no Priddis ... gah, I can't believe I'm tipping against my guys in round 1!


SEASON TIPS

Premiership AFLW: Brisbane. Maybe. Might change my mind depending on tomorrow's outcome.
Premiership AFL: Richmond. Yep, I'm picking your boys back-to-back, ajaye! (Second choice: Sydney)
Coleman: Buddy. Would've gone for Kennedy, but he's out for 4 weeks minimum and has no match practise.
Brownlow: Dusty

ajaye said:

Phew, last night's game was a beauty. We got there but it took a while.

Carlton played some good fast footy and Mr BF must be v pleased with Charlie Curnow.

Click to expand...

How'd I miss this post before? Congrats on the win! It took 10 good minutes in the last quarter for the Tiges to get the job done, but they got there in the end. Yay, you! (As an outside observer, it was a great game to watch).

From the moment the Blues recruited Curnow, Mr BF was certain he'd be their best player.

BTW, best (?) commentary call of the night: Matthew Richardson, last quarter, with Carlton on 94 points ...

"It's been a long time since Carlton's kicked 100 points, but if they kick a goal now, they'll be a good chance to do just that."

At first, i thought I'd misheard him, but when I checked Twitter, he was being (rightfully) pilloried for it!

ajaye said:

So the AFL has said two of those Groundhog Day 50m penalties against us last night for entering the 'exclusion zone' were paid incorrectly, and a third was dodgy. Way to confuse the players. Let alone the rest of us.

Click to expand...

I just saw that. There was a lot of over-officiating last night (as there always is in round 1) but some of those frees and 50s were clearly dodgy calls.

ION, Katie Brennan takes the AFL to the Human Rights Commission with a sex discrimination case. There's an excellent breakdown in The Guardian. Basically, the AFL could be in all sorts. Brennan gets a ban whereas a bloke would get a fine. Why? Because the women don't get paid enough to make a fine a fair punishment. So ... yeah. She gets a worse penalty because the league pays the women too little.

Interesting to watch this one play out.

Eta: that Guardian article.

ajaye said:

Super interesting. Putting the fact that the girls should be paid much more aside, doesn't the AFL pro rata the ban weeks in line with the season? So why not pro rata the fines?

Click to expand...

Why not indeed.

The AFL's initial justification for the suspension was: "It's in-line with what you'd get for a similar offence in a suburban game," at which point ALFW fans AGAIN asked the AFL to please stop with the constant undercutting and devaluing of AFLW. It's your women's pro-league, not a suburban league, so STFU.

- - - Updated - - -

ajaye said:

but Charlie gave me the shits last night.

Click to expand...

I bet! Carlton could actually be really good over the next few years, if they've found a forward who can kick straight.

- - - Updated - - -

I can't believe I just wrote that!

- - - Updated - - -

Carlton? Potentially good? The end is nigh!!

Well, the umpiring in my match was rather ... interesting.

Buddy was fantastic, but apparently he is allowed to throw the ball without penalty (leading to goals by other Sydney players). He is also allowed to run many metres and get tackled and dispossessed without penalty (allowing another Sydney player to pick up the ball and kick a goal), when people in blue and yellow get pinged for holding when tackled immediately. He is also paid legitimate free kicks when held by a defender, whereas if your name is Jack Darling, you will not be rewarded for any such thing (leading to goal down other end). He is also allowed to kick in danger and the goal will stand, unlike Mark LeCras, whose goal will be disallowed and a free paid against, leading to an immediate goal down the other end.

But I'm not annoyed about the umpiring or anything.

I usually feel like the frees / frees-not-paid even out over the match, but this match was ridiculously one-sided.

Heh. People on twitter are having a go at the West Coast fans for booing Buddy, but they're not booing Buddy, they're booing the lack of umpiring decisions against him. He still would've kicked a bag, but every time we got momentum back, the umpires intervened in their favour without any logic. It was really infuriating.

Also annoying, the commentators, who only once in the course of the whole match thought it an interesting fact to mention Josh Kennedy was out for us. Because having our awesome forward out wouldn't possibly have a bearing on the game.

In better news, NicNat was great in his return game.

Sorry, unexpectedly busy day today!


Adelaide v Richmond
Nth Melbourne v St Kilda
Carlton v Gold Coast
Collingwood v GWS Giants
Brisbane v Melbourne
Fremantle v Essendon
W Bulldogs v West Coast actually changed my tip here
Sydney v Pt Adelaide
Geelong v Hawthorn

- - - Updated - - -

Sorry, unexpectedly busy day today!


Adelaide v Richmond
Nth Melbourne v St Kilda
Carlton v Gold Coast
Collingwood v GWS Giants
Brisbane v Melbourne
Fremantle v Essendon
W Bulldogs v West Coast actually changed my tip here
Sydney v Pt Adelaide
Geelong v Hawthorn