AFL Season 2018

[Ambrose Burnside]

Victorian fans can thank Brisbane and West Coast - which joined the competition in 1987 - for effectively saving the league.

Asked why he did not close the league down, Judge Lewis said the league convinced him that the licence revenue from the new teams would prop up the competition.

Peter Cohen, who was a policy officer with the sports department at the time, said the state government had to be convinced the VFL had to go national to survive.

"Up until then the government's position was that it not only preferred that the VFL remain a state-based competition but that it was prepared to legislate to ensure it. Our advice was that the VFL would not survive like that," he said.

You're welcome

It must suck going from supporting a big fish in a little pond beating up on the likes of North Melbourne every year, to an irrelevant rabble in a national competition where North Melbourne of all clubs has been just as, if not MORE successful than your "Big 4" basket cases. I really feel for you. Maybe you can design some custom "Make the VFL Great Again" caps or something

Or just cheat the salary cap and dope up your squads. Whatever.

[Peppermint Lounge]

Or run with bikie gangs and train + play games on meth. Whatever. Beat up on North Melbourne? We don't hate on other clubs the way WCE ferals hate on Fremantle. Essendon v North was the biggest show in town in the late 90s when both were at the top of the comp ('99 prelim shut up, Vince ). Nothing but respect for NMFC's success. I don't measure a club by its financials. You think I knew EFC's balance sheets when I was a little kid? I guess when you're so starved for clubs you'll pay one to merely be listed on its reserve membership waiting list it warps your priorities somewhat. And duh I remember the state of intra club footy and the GF entertainment back in the VFL days. We knew the league and some clubs were not exactly flush. It changes nothing. WCE is a VFL side that became an AFL side the same day as every other club in the league. Interesting to observe the evolution of interstate clubs. They've gone from 'West Coast' and 'Adelaide' which is as generic a grab as you can get to being more region specific, you know, like a football club. Port Adelaide with a history of success in the SANFL. Fremantle, also a traditional football region. I wonder how many bandwagon supporters of the generic first teams hopped off to join the more area and historically relevant second state sides. Brisbane and Sydney have done well to retain links with Fitzroy and South Melbourne respectively and engage directly with supporters of the old teams.

West Coast. *The* west coast? 10k or so kms in length. Righto. It's got the word 'West' in it I suppose. 2019 membership - 90,445.
Essendon. Melbourne suburb. Number of train stations - 1. Postcode 3040. 2019 membership - 84,237.

[Froggy]

Ports not a state side we are a club. The only club outside of Melbourne that was good enough and big enough to force our way into the AFL. Infact we all know we were meant to be there first as being clearly the dominant team in SA we went to join the Vic's to create the AFL and be where we belong but the pissants in this state quickly made the AFC and hence anything borne out of hate has no culture. People see where they are now, a product of that is having the SANFL tap turned off and the culture of the last 25 years is being winnings great but we want to destroy Port, end them as a club and cash in on that second license. There's a notable difference going to a Port game vs going to a Crows game in Adelaide as a visiting fan you're sitting amongst another group of fans who are club football supporters and not your a grade retard Adelaide, Sydney, WC bandwagoner got nfi types. You wanna know why Never Tear Us Apart took off so fast is because we were finally free of the SANFL's strangle hold and fuck me did they come ever so close to destroying us. We still are under AFL license control until we get rid of our debt (thx SANFL) but at least they have the best interests in mind.

I also couldn't give two shits about clubs balance sheets, especially when the AFL is tipping in a couple of hundred million to just two clubs, there's no way anyone else is going to get folded. It's a common thing amongst your Adelaide and West Coast fans to bang on about though, same with the crowds, it's bizarre. Like you'll be at a game with 35k people and they think that's bad lol. To be fair though, unlike the rest of you schmucks both AFL clubs get absolutely reemed by the SMA here because the SANFL controls it. So instead of owning our licenses they then got control of the upgraded Adelaide Oval and absolutely rape each team dry to the point we lose money hosting games with our crowds. Get twice as many to a home game as most clubs in the league and come out at the end of the year millions of dollars behind, it sucks even more that when you compare the experience with service and food/drink it is completely shit on by the MCG and docklands. Vics have it sorted with the food and beer at the footy, can take past half time just to get some hot chips in Adelaide ffs.

Remember the most successful club in Australia is Port Adelaide.

[Ambrose Burnside]

Went back to try and see where I last spoke about financials, and I got up to the 2018 Grand Final aftermath and gave up to watch some highlights of that game again.

So it's been at least two years unless I've missed something.

I don't hate all Vic clubs, I admire North, it's the Big 4 I hate, their sense of entitlement and superiority despite the fact they've only ever been average or worse since the game went national, and in the case of Essendon and Carlton, completely irrelevant since the turn of the century and the most significant thing either team have done was cheat massively.

7 home games to Richmond in the lead up to last years Grand Final. Fuck off. Collingwood never travel. North, the Bulldogs, St Kilda all get fucked over. That's the sort of bullshit I hate.

Carry on.

[Peppermint Lounge]

Went back to try and see where I last spoke about financials, and I got up to the 2018 Grand Final aftermath and gave up to watch some highlights of that game again.

The 'big four' and 'supporing a big fish in a little pond beating up on the likes of North Melbourne every year'. Given North's success in recent decades you could only be talking club size and/or wealth. As I said, I didn't know anything about club size or status when I was a kid. You want to keep stroking yourself over WCE's size vs our suburban clubs and their single postcodes? Be my guest. It would be consistent with the standard of football knowledge evident at every WCE home game.

Ports not a state side we are a club.

Correct. I let 'state side' slip when describing a second time. I wish Port could wear their traditional strip more often. One of the more irritating things in football is hearing Eddie go all anal over Collingwood's ownership of black and white stripes. That said I like Ports current home guernsey. One of the best in the league. Especially after the original guernsey.

[Ambrose Burnside]

Went back to try and see where I last spoke about financials, and I got up to the 2018 Grand Final aftermath and gave up to watch some highlights of that game again.

The 'big four' and 'supporing a big fish in a little pond beating up on the likes of North Melbourne every year'. Given North's success in recent decades you could only be talking club size and/or wealth. As I said, I didn't know anything about club size or status when I was a kid. You want to keep stroking yourself over WCE's size vs our suburban clubs and their single postcodes? Be my guest. It would be consistent with the standard of football knowledge evident at every WCE home game.

More a comment on how when it was a VFL free-for-all the rich powerful clubs dominated year-in-year-out. It was like the Premier League. Nothing to do with the Eagles.

Footscray - 1954
St Kilda - 1966
North Melbourne - 1975, 1977 (and only managed that by exploiting the 10 year rule)

And I'm sure it's very similar for the other smaller clubs with no success for decades. Your Fitzroys and your South Melbournes etc. Why would you care about how big your club was when it was one of the biggest and won all the time? I'm a massive fan of AFL equalisation despite supporting the richest club in the country. If we went back to VFL rules, the Eagles would be like Alex Ferguson's Manchester United.

If you got ~59k Essendon fans (or any other club) and ~1k opposition fans to every home game, the noise in the crowd would sound identical to Optus. Dumb comment.

But when it went national smaller clubs have proven just as successful as the big Vic clubs despite still getting screwed over by the AFL in terms of stadium deals, travel, fixturing etc. while your Essendons and your Carltons jack off to 16 VFL premierships each or whatever it was. You sound like Tories getting all misty eyed over the British Empire. So I'm not surprised it's these clubs that committed the biggest cheating scandals in the game's history, the sense of entitlement is staggering. And now Richmond is having a big sook over hubs when the Eagles, Dockers, Port and Adelaide have been in a hub for weeks on end even though WA and SA are, for all intents and purposes, covid-free. Richmond? Travel? PREPOSTEROUS!!!

I don't give a shit about postcodes or train stations or any of that. Not sure where that's come from Mr Strawman.

Ports not a state side we are a club.

Correct. I let 'state side' slip when describing a second time. I wish Port could wear their traditional strip more often. One of the more irritating things in football is hearing Eddie go all anal over Collingwood's ownership of black and white stripes. That said I like Ports current home guernsey. One of the best in the league. Especially after the original guernsey.

Port should stick it up Eddie at every opportunity

Wearing the prison bars for Showdowns is pretty much the most reasonable request ever. Trust a Big 4 Vic club to oppose it.

[guttermouth]

Most Victorians have no issue with Port wearing the stripes.

Love watching the reactions when Port wear their traditional jumper. Eddies tears are priceless. Listening to his hypocrisy this week over Sidebottom was gold. He explained to us in 8 minutes of dribble why his stance wasn't hypocritical

[Froggy]

Eddie is a dick. For one the guernseys do not even look a thing a like. What irks me most is the fucker changed Collingwoods to be predominately black to try and make it look more like our traditional top to bolster his argument. We played Collingwood in a preseason trial in 1993 both wearing our home jumpers and they look nothing alike, this was when Collingwood was with it's white base.

You have to be insane to say they even look remotely the same. Only in the AFL can you have this shitty argument and the league hasn't stepped in and told him to fuck off. For one I can't see why we can't wear it whenever we want when playing in SA and just say whenever we play Collingwood we won't wear it. I don't trust our current club leadership to fight the good fight and I think they'll sign the house away on us wearing it just once a year in a home showdown. At a minimum they should get permission to wear it in both showdowns a year and sign nothing which says that's what it stops at, I think once people can see that the sky hasn't fallen in and it's nothing like Collingwoods then we can wheel it out more. Classic Eddie pulling his shit out about us wanting to be the Magpies etc, no we are the Port Adelaide Football Club and that's our top, the Magpies like the Power is just a nickname, no one could care less at Port what our nickname is.

[Ambrose Burnside]

BuT yOu JoInEd OuR lEaGuE

Go BaCk To SaNfL LOL

[Peppermint Lounge]

More a comment on how when it was a VFL free-for-all the rich powerful clubs dominated year-in-year-out. It was like the Premier League. Nothing to do with the Eagles.

Footscray - 1954
St Kilda - 1966
North Melbourne - 1975, 1977 (and only managed that by exploiting the 10 year rule)

And I'm sure it's very similar for the other smaller clubs with no success for decades. Your Fitzroys and your South Melbournes etc. Why would you care about how big your club was when it was one of the biggest and won all the time?

Ambrose from his perch in Perth and with the aid of Wikipedia has us Vic footy club supporters all pegged it seems. I didn't care because Essendon won all the time. Righto. Never mind when I started supporting them in '79-'80 they hadn't won a premiership since the 60s. I was a kid, lived in the area, my favourite players were Paul Vander Haar, Tim Watson and Tony Buhagiar. That's it. That's how people traditionally pick a club, or get picked by a club. Win, lose, big, small doesn't matter.

If you got ~59k Essendon fans (or any other club) and ~1k opposition fans to every home game, the noise in the crowd would sound identical to Optus. Dumb comment.

Proverb: 'West Coast supporters would boo at a funeral'. All clubs have their ferals but WC home games are painful to watch. Fair weather fans with no knowledge of the game booing anything that goes against them. On the rare occasion WC gets pumped at home you could hear a pin drop. These are among my favourite games of football.

But when it went national smaller clubs have proven just as successful as the big Vic clubs despite still getting screwed over by the AFL in terms of stadium deals, travel, fixturing etc. while your Essendons and your Carltons jack off to 16 VFL premierships each or whatever it was. You sound like Tories getting all misty eyed over the British Empire. So I'm not surprised it's these clubs that committed the biggest cheating scandals in the game's history, the sense of entitlement is staggering. And now Richmond is having a big sook over hubs when the Eagles, Dockers, Port and Adelaide have been in a hub for weeks on end even though WA and SA are, for all intents and purposes, covid-free. Richmond? Travel? PREPOSTEROUS!!!

Either buy another box of tissues or go support the WAFL.

I don't give a shit about postcodes or train stations or any of that. Not sure where that's come from Mr Strawman.

Because you keep crapping on about EFC, Carlton and other foundation clubs being 'irrelevant rabbles', meanwhile a Vic suburban club has close to as many members as your 'richest club in the AFL'. Actually my bad, Richmond has over 10k more members than WC in 2019. Do you even know what a football club does outside of fielding a team and playing games of football. How does EFC manage to grow its membership despite its horrible recent run of performance and controversy? Traditional footy clubs support their local postcodes with community programs and infrastructure. Their doors are open to families to take advantage of the kid's fitness programs they run. This is why they're called clubs. It's not all about wins and losses. Wins help of course. More wins encourages the fair weather supporters to open their wallets again and their money is always welcome.

[Ambrose Burnside]

Traditional footy clubs support their local postcodes with community programs and infrastructure. Their doors are open to families to take advantage of the kid's fitness programs they run. This is why they're called clubs. It's not all about wins and losses. Wins help of course. More wins encourages the fair weather supporters to open their wallets again and their money is always welcome.

Indeed:

Essendon Football Club will continue to profit from poker machines in one of Australia's most disadvantaged suburbs, despite moves by rival Victorian clubs to abandon gaming revenue and a strong desire from the AFL for the competition to be pokies free.

Such an amazing club. Kudos Essendon. Support that community!

Hopefully Victoria sorts their shit out soon, one comment about hubs being tough and you've lost it

[Peppermint Lounge]

Hopefully Victoria sorts their shit out soon, one comment about hubs being tough and you've lost it

Who was up there screaming in caps again? Oh yes it’s the aggrieved supporter of the AFL’s richest club with their second highest number of premierships in the AFL era.

I’d love EFC to get out of pokies entirely and so would many other members. Same goes for the AFL’s deals with betting agencies. Good on local clubs such as the Roos and Dogs who sold off pokies machines and licenses. Collingwood also I believe. The pressure for remaining clubs to sell off their interests will continue to increase.

[Froggy]

At least WC and Freo are actual clubs, something the Crows have never morphed into. Just a franchise to hate on Port and soul less.

[Ambrose Burnside]

Nothing like the SA scenario happened in WA. East Perth made a bid to join the VFL by itself before the Eagles, but it didn't go anywhere and from what I can tell, there were no long-term bitterness or recriminations like in SA. East Perth were even aligned with the Eagles (in two separate stints) in the WAFL, before the Eagles got their own WAFL club last year.

Could you imagine the Magpies being the Crows' SANFL team?

I think there was always broad agreement that the first WA team in the VFL had to be a composite side. Every league in the country was fucked in the 80s and on the verge of bankruptcy, I think a composite side is the only way it could have worked given the $4 million upfront licensing fees the VFL demanded (which Brisbane never ended up paying because how good is Christoper Skase?). No single WAFL club could have afforded that. And even then the Eagles almost went bust.

The whole period of the VFL becoming the AFL is one of the most fascinating periods in the games history. I haven't read Ross Oakley's The Phoenix Rises (yet), but I heartily recommend Football Ltd by Garry Linnell, Footy's Revolution by Elliot Cartledge, A National Game by Hess, Nicholson, Stewart and De Moore, Behind the Play by Anthony Barker (for a WA perspective going back to the first games of footy played in the state) and Soaring by Geoff Christian (for an Eagles perspective that doesn't feature my trolling )

All sources are better than a quick scan of Wikipedia

[Froggy]

Could you imagine the Magpies being the Crows' SANFL team?

You laugh but the state was fucked like this for ages. When the SANFL had both licenses they were STILL paranoid Port would be too strong in the SANFL if all our players played for the Magpies as our reserves so they had this mini draft were all the AFL players were playing in SANFL teams all unrelated to the AFL programs. So any draftees would find themselves training with the Crows or Port and their SANFL team each week and then playing for their SANFL team with no input from the AFL club on how or where they are played, it was ridiculous. So the Magpies would have a bunch of Crows draftees then Port draftees would be at Sturt, Norwood etc. Then if you had a gun player coming back through the SANFL for injury say a Chad Cornes had to go and play for Glenelg for a few weeks or the Magpies would have Andrew McCleod play for us (was a Port boy originally hence he was so good ).

The SANFL still also acted (and still does) like the SANFL is and equal competition with the AFL. This meant requiring copious amounts of money so they were setting stadium deals for both clubs which they owned and used both clubs to fund all their AAMI stadium upgrades, the local league and their administration. So when we were shit and going broke we were struggling along on fumes because the SANFL was literally milking us dry, they'd have a stadium deal we'd have to have like 35k at to break even and if we were under they we paid them hundreds of grand per game. They would then "loan" it back as saving us when they were the ones taking all the cash, they managed to mismanage the Crows into debt as well and that's the only reason that it all came to a head with the AFL and we were able to extricate ourselves. The Crows being broke was also including that the SANFL was covering all their rent and upkeep for free as well so over 2million a year off the books etc, they basically were born of and were an extension of the SANFL management to hate on Port so anything they could do to try and keep them above us even if it hurt all football here as long as it hurt us more was worth it.

I know it all sounds ridiculous like a one eyed supporter but that's how bad it was here, going to watch a Port game at AAMi stadium when you're in there and all the stadium workers (SANFL employees) literally HATE you and they wonder why no one wanted to go to a Port game there, Crows shit everywhere, the Crows Tavern hanging off the side and staffed entirely by Crows mongs with attitude. To give an example of what it was like and the power they had, when we moved to Adelaide Oval the same people moved across from Red Coats to Blue Coats tried the same kind of stuff that they used to do at AAMI (bare in mind I'm in the expensive seats where this happens), at the game and standing to the side of a walkway as I had a baby in a pram asleep near us. It's all fine Port playing Melbourne your fine to stand there they tell myself and a friend so OK we are up against a wall out of the way anyway, as soon as Port turn it around and start winning late in the 3rd suddenly she's like you can't be here and if you don't move I'm calling security, it's like wtf? No I'm not moving it was OK before so yep she gets security but it's not your AAMI security anymore, the guy comes up and just laughs at it all and walks off. If that were at AAMI I'd have been removed and my mate and they wonder why Port crowds hated the place. Anyway this is why never tear us apart took off so rapidly because they were so close to creating their dream of the Crows no 2, the Southern Power where we had to get AFL house to step in and stop them overnight one night. That close.

[Ambrose Burnside]

When the Eagles almost went broke in the late 80s the state government formed the WA Football Commission, a not-for-profit to run football in the state:

After three seasons the Eagles had lost around $13 million, were broke and on life support.

Amid public calls in 1989 for the Eagles to be scrapped, the West Australian Football Commission assumed 75 per cent control of Indian Pacific [the company set up to own the Eagles, the "good" old days of private ownership of footy clubs]. Brian Cook was appointed chief executive and Mick Malthouse was named coach.

The WA Football Commission administer the WAFL and own the licences for both the Eagles and Dockers. West Australians are rather protective of this model because it means we can operate pretty much independently from the AFL, and the dodgy stadium deals that have screwed over Port and Marvel tenants isn't a thing here because an independent not-for-profit sits above it all. The closest dodgy deal would be Subiaco (the WAFL club) benefiting from having their social club and members bar etc at Subiaco Oval. They became a powerhouse once the Eagles joined the AFL (9 premierships since 1987), but Subiaco Oval no longer exists, so I'm not sure the good times will last. And because of this model the Eagles essentially bankroll WA football - junior development, the women's game, the WAFL etc. because of the royalties they pay the Commission. So, while I'm sure the WAFL is annoyed they're no longer number one, everyone benefits. And it's also why I pump up the Eagles being rich and powerful because it means WA football is doing well

The WAFL went through several models on how to incorporate AFL players. The most common historically has been the top draft pick goes to the lowest-ranked WAFL team. So the AFL players were spread all over the WAFL. There's been several different alignment models, most recently Freo with Peel and the Eagles with East Perth. But in 2018 the Eagles finally got what they wanted all along, their own WAFL team (as part of that deal, the Eagles are required to play every home and away match at their opponent's home ground, a one-off sign-on fee of $90,000, and an annual contribution to the WAFL of $800,000 (on top of their usual multi-million dollar annual royalties paid to the Commission)). Freo are still aligned with Peel. That works cos Peel is shit (they finished last or second last 16 times out of the 18 seasons they competed before they aligned with Freo). They've since won 2 premierships with stacked teams which forced the WAFL to change the rules as to how many AFL players could play finals for an aligned team, because they'd scrape into the finals with Freo rookies etc, then steamroll through the finals with pretty much a Freo AFL side once Freo failed to qualify for AFL finals, it was ridiculous Now at least they're competitive, but can't steamroll the finals if they qualify.

[Froggy]

Yeah but that's the big difference, adults run footy in WA. Freo ended up in the same spot as Port and deep in debt but instead of trying to kill them they worked out what was wrong and fixed it making them financially strong. The Marvel deals are nothing compared to the deals the SA teams get. Negotiated deals between your license holder and themselves about how much they are going to take each year and how much they'll leave with the clubs to keep operating. It's why it was ridiculous when Port's supposedly in all this debt under the SANFL ownership as they are the ones taking it. I'd have taken a North Melbourne Marvel deal over the Footy Park deal in a heartbeat. Here's Vic teams whinging about not being able to make heaps off games because they require like 25k to rock up at a game to break even and we were having to get something like 37.5k before we were even a chance to make a dollar and anything under that we had to write a cheque to the SANFL each home game. The stadium deal at the new stadium you have there is great, everyone wins, it's not that hard. The worst thing that happened is to get out of SANFL control the SMA was formed and the SANFL got to run it in winter time and of course first thing is 40k+ was the minimum before Port or the AFC started to see any cash from a home game. Then it's been negotiated on a couple of times to get that moved down a little but it's still very high and on top of that the stadium isn't clean skin either so it's basically an accepted loss each year for both AFL teams unless we have a home final where suddenly we can make some money back, two home finals is the only way to make some money in Adelaide from game day.

Oh and the SMA (SANFL) shut down our game day village as they run by the old boys club in SA so they lent on the liquer licensing commission to pressure Tennis SA out of allowing it, they whinged about drunk people coming into the game off cheap alcohol outside (beers were $5 bucks at the Port game day village) and bad behaviour. It was all because they want to sell their $10+ beers and monopolise everything, so after saying they had legitimate complaints about drunk people and behaviour they opened their own pop up bar selling $5 beers right next to it and pretending to be part of it, with no toilets or anything until they got Tennis SA to bend. They then set their sites on the otherside of the river and bars over there and started the same shit and what happens next? Oh the SMA has opened up a new bar on the other side of the river as well.

You can see why the Crows have ended up as a basket case because the SANFL still own the board and it's all the old boys club, your Gil and Hamish old boys mates. John Olsen runs the SMA (which should say enough) but yeah it's all interelated but it's why theres no culture and it's never been a "club". Never had clubrooms and always acted like it's a elite circle and the peasant fans should be happy with any access they get. It's a stark difference to Port where being a 150 year old club you can just go down the club any day of the week and have a chat with the players who are wandering about, half the time one or two will be pulling drinks behind the bar etc, you know, no different to going to any other footy club suburban or AFL and that's why we don't have the player retention issues as well.

[Ambrose Burnside]

There hasn't appeared to be any covid spike from the derby, so I grabbed tickets to the Eagles vs Collingwood game on Sunday.

A half-full ground will be surreal, have literally never experienced that in all my years as an Eagles fan, even when we were wooden spooners in 2010, Subi would sell-out, but I am so pumped for footy!

Must warm up my vocal cords to piss of the Victorians that were perfectly OK with it during the derby because it was a Freo home game and they don't count: "BOOOOOOOOOO!!!"

[Froggy]

Yeah, I'm off to Port vs St Kilda this weekend too. Be interesting how it goes 1/3rd full and everyone having to sit in their marked space. Classic here, the SMA as per usual tried to minimise costs for profit so shut all the top decks and shoved everyone in the lower one for the game last weekend and said there were 20k there. I remember looking on TV and thinking I thought they were going to be spaced out. Anyway they've obviously realised they are in breach of the states COVID rules so now claim the official crowd was 13k which just happens to be OK for the SA Health regulations. As a surprise to no one the entire stadium is open this weekend to spread people about.

[Peppermint Lounge]

The most disappointing thing about Richmond’s loss to GWS is hearing Toby Greene played well.

[Ambrose Burnside]

Toby Greene would be my most hated player in the AFL.

Flyin' Ryan's in serious doubt for the game tomorrow, his nephew was on his way to school last week, was hit by a car, and died Was my old primary school too, I used to live about 200m away from where the accident happened

Ryan was granted leave by the club and it's basically up to him if he plays. Was named.

Nic Reid may debut in Ryan's place. Mature-aged rookie (24 year old school teacher) who was playing amateurs as late as 2018 before securing a spot as an inaugural WAFL Eagle in 2019, and added to the rookie list at the end of last year.

It's pretty crazy that all our current injuries/suspensions/personal tragedies have involved our small forwards: Rioli, Petruccelle, Venables, Jamaine Jones, Ah Chee (if he counts) and Ryan are all out (or may miss in Ryan's case). Cameron has only just come back from injury (this will be his third game for the year I think?) and Cripps badly is out of form and probably only getting a game because there's literally no one to replace him.

[Ambrose Burnside]

That was the best home and away performance by the Eagles since we made Richmond look third rate back in 2018.

By far Tim Kelly's best game as an Eagle, Nic Nat destroyed Grundy in the ruck (I do not get the Grundy hype, he was slaughtered by the Lycett/Vardy combination - twice! - in the 2018 finals series too), Oscar Allen will captain the club one day, and Josh Kennedy was unstoppable.

Great performance and platform to build upon.

[Vince]

Eagles probably pinched that 1 against the blues in the end. Umpiring was fucking woeful all fucking game. Never have I ever blamed umpiring for any loss, but my god this is as close to a game where I would put a loss down to blatant umpiring mistakes as I could get. God it was fucking terrible.

I'm sure Ambrose will come in to put his usual Eagles spin on it or say Vic bias or something silly like that, but there is NO spin on the bullshit that was dished up on Sunday in Perth by the umpires. Disgraceful across the entire board in fact.

Pep, bombers were probably robbed as well against GWS. Shocking decision at the end to pay that pathetic dive. I actually laughed out loud and thought that's crazy! Then the umpire paid the free kick! Unbelievable!

[Ambrose Burnside]

The umpiring was indeed horrendous, the SPS HTB call the worst of the lot. But +2 free kicks to the Eagles doesn't explain the what? 40 point turnaround And during our third quarter surge, the free kick count was in fact +2 to Carlton

The Eagles are also dead last for frees for this year

But yes, do tell me how we pinched it

The dive against Essendon was also an hilariously incompetent call

[Vince]

The umpiring was indeed horrendous, the SPS HTB call the worst of the lot. But +2 free kicks to the Eagles doesn't explain the what? 40 point turnaround And during our third quarter surge, the free kick count was in fact +2 to Carlton

The Eagles are also dead last for frees for this year

But yes, do tell me how we pinched it

The dive against Essendon was also an hilariously incompetent call

So you are happy to go on the +2 as the ONLY factor for free kicks? Watch the game again and realise the Liam Ryan dropping the ball TWICE in your faorward 50 which directly resulted in a goal (during the 40 point turnaround). The De Koning tackle against Nic Nat just before the start of the turnaround where he just dropped the ball and it was deemed play on?!? 10 meters out from our goal almost directly in front! 10 seconds later Nic Nat receives a free kick, ball goes down to eagles forward line and the rout starts. Imagine if De Koning had received that free kick outting us 25 points up...
SPS getting pinged for holding the ball when he wasn't even standing upright resulting in ANOTHER eagles goal! I mean, it went on all fucking game! Sad fact- the blues laid 17 (possibly 18 from a different report) tackles inside our forward 50 for ZERO free kicks. The eagles on the other hand laid 5 tackles inside their forward 50 for 3 free kicks, resulting in 2 goals!

You can quote the free kick count all you want, but every single teams supporter (apart from eagles supporters) have been saying how pathetic and pretty much 1 sided the umpiring was. The deliberate against Curnow yet your player kicked it directly to the boundary line and it was deemed not deliberate but a throw in?! He literally kicked it straight to the boundary! Cripps was tackled by Nic Nat WITHOUT THE BALL and smashed into the ground... result? Play on! Casboult is being held in the ruck contest so pushes his opponent off him. Result??? Blocking against Casboult, free kick eagles! I could seriously go on and on as it was so blatantly 1 sided it wasn't funny.

I'm not having a go at you Ambrose. And i'm not saying that those free kicks, if given, would've swung the game our way BUT, geez it makes it hard to lay the most amount of tackles by any team this year and not receive 1 inside our forward 50 area? The better team possibly won on the day, but when former umpire director Peter Schwab even had a go at the SPS decision and said he couldn't figure out the holding the ball rules anymore.

Geez I sound bitter, but god this game was ours and some of those decisions really fucked us.