Finals

[Industrial Fan]

Tigers have been much better today. Kept Wilson and Greene very quiet

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Ellis should go for the hit on Whitfield, doubt Cotchin will get fined/suspended

[stevoswan]

No doubt the Melbourne media will do their best to whip up as much hysteria for the Fairycubs during the week, Dusty will win the Brownlow to add to the 'destiny' tag and it will be nauseatingly unbearable. I actually don't dislike Richmond that much but it is reminding me too much of the pain of the what the Fairypups hysteria lead to last year. If indeed Adelaide win next week, it will go down as one of the most deserved premierships in history given what they've been through in recent years.....I fear they are up against it though.

[longmile]

Carn the crows!

[dimelb]

I'd like to see the Tigers win - longest drought of those in the finals - and although they played well tonight I don't see them beating the side with an extra day's rest. And I won't be disappointed if Adelaide win after they've been through in the last year or so. So I'll enjoy the game!

Above all, I hope the umps have a great game!

[707]

Damn looks like Richmond is going to win. It's going to be hell here in Melbourne ????.

All we're going to hear about is the Cotchin bump. If he doesn't get suspended (especially with his 2 fines) then the fix is on.

Forget the occasion, Shiel head down going for the ball and Cotchin chooses to bump him causing game ending concussion. Since the crackdown that has been suspension every time.

There is no way he can get off, I repeat that has been suspension every time so can't suddenly bookend the crackdown with a non penalised Cotchin jumper punch to Lachie Neale's jaw and a bump that leads to a match ending concussion.

Or in the AFL fairytale could they really let him off?

[Thunder Shaker]

I hope Adelaide wins. They have been consistently the best team all year.

Richmond are not ready. To see why, take a look at the first half of St Kilda vs Richmond from round 16.

[Nico]

Tigers have been much better today. Kept Wilson and Greene very quiet

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Ellis should go for the hit on Whitfield, doubt Cotchin will get fined/suspended

Disappointing that both hits to the jaw were ignored by the umpires. The Whitfield one the umpire had a clear view.

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Forget the occasion, Shiel head down going for the ball and Cotchin chooses to bump him causing game ending concussion. Since the crackdown that has been suspension every time.

There is no way he can get off, I repeat that has been suspension every time so can't suddenly bookend the crackdown with a non penalised Cotchin jumper punch to Lachie Neale's jaw and a bump that leads to a match ending concussion.

Or in the AFL fairytale could they really let him off?

It will be deemed incidental. He only needs a fine to miss the GF.

[dejavoodoo44]

Glad to see the Giants go. Hopefully their much vaunted dynasty now never happens.
Personally, I don't think Cotchin will get suspended: he was going straight for the ball and the contact was more or less incidental. If Shiel went for it as hard and as low as Cotchin, he probably would not have got any high contact. I do think Ellis will miss the GF though: ran past the ball and hit the GWS player with a shoulder to the jaw.
Having said that, I was more impressed with Adelaide last night and I think they'll win fairly easily.

[Boddo]

Well done AFL! Sanity prevails

Twitter

[Sandridge]

So the AFL at last show some backbone!!

[Boddo]

And - not for the first time - a higher ranked non-Victorian club has to play the Grand Final on the home ground of their lower ranked Victorian opponent.

That may well be the way it has to be but you'd think the AFL would at least have the guts to make Richmond wear their away strip! The Crows finished higher and deserve to keep their usual uniform. But the AFL are apparently not going to adjudicate on the colour clash and are possibly going to toss a coin to see who gets to wear their normal colours! Amazing!

Click on the link I provided

[dimelb]

A few responses to the Cotchin (got chin?) incident:

North Melbourne great Wayne Carey said on Triple M Cotchin would be cleared.

"He is entitled to protect himself .... no case to answer," Carey said.

Geelong premiership skipper Cameron Ling also declared Cotchin would have no case to answer.

"Incidental contact ... there may have been head high contact but he didn't bump," he told Channel 7.

Fellow commentator Luke Darcy agreed: "You don't miss a grand final for that." (The Age online: Richmond vs GWS: Nervous wait for Trent Cotchin ahead of drought-breaking grand final)

I thought he might get off but one view shows him collecting Shiel's jaw before his chest - the sort of thing players get suspended for. The comments by the journalist are not so sure as the commentators.