Buddy does get a raw deal. The umpires are told not to give him frees. That was an issue that came up after 2008 when he kicked 100. Apparently the rumour was that a memo went out to the umpires to play hard-ball with him because he plays for frees. Nobody ever admitted it happened but the press had lots of fun with it. The truth is all players play for frees but most don't get scragged the way he does. Lonigan was literally bear hugging the man on the weekend but Nichol couldn't see it 'I didn't see the holding Bud'. Even Blind Freddy saw the holding Matthew, you need a bloody guide dog.
But what is more concerning are the frees that shouldn't be paid against and the dreadful umpiring decisions like the 8 metre kicks being allowed. Rohan's running too far was an unbelievably bad decision. The two 50 metre penalties were technically wrong because the umpires were too slow to order play on in both cases. Both players went off their line and in the Rampe case the player had handballed before Rampe moved. The umpire was not just technically wrong he was outright wrong and it was Nichol on every occasion. I wrote that seeing the AFL is now indebted to Crown Betting are they susceptible to corruption? To have links to a betting agency that tenuously has links to organised crime is unforgivable. The AFL, a sporting governing body, should NEVER have links to gambling because their honesty will always be in doubt.
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