Round 16: the other games. VFL Round.

[Bangalore Swans]

I don’t take joy in another person’s downfall (if that is what it is - and this is by no means clear), and Clarkson has achieved far more than most in the game. He is a brilliant tactician and developed (or rekindled) an unrivalled winning culture at the Hawthorn Football Club.

However, his success has been a success for him and his team - it hasn’t always been a benefit to the AFL at large. Everyone doesn’t need to sing his praises. I’ll leave that to those who shared in his glory.

Also, “poached” is a bit rich to refer to a restricted free agent whose management supposedly contacted the Swans about a potential move north.

So if Jordan Dawson wants to join the Crows then no Swans supporter will use the term poached to describe the Crows deal making.

[dejavoodoo44]

That is the part that frustrates me the most about that day. Look I can get that we conceded more frees and they were first to the ball. But I can't get, in a ferocious contest like that, that they were 'perfect' for almost 3/4s of the game like the umpiring led it to be believed. Utterly ridiculous.

Happy to accept we didn't play as well as we could on the day, but still reckon with some umpiring that actually reflected the contest, not the want for the 'fairytale' we could easily have been well to the good before they kicked their final few goals and it might have been a very different result. Alas, still makes me seethe with frustration.

The mention of Hanners on another thread, reminds me of what I hated most about the umpiring on that day: the fact that the season's interpretation of the contact below the knees rule, was arbitrarily reversed. A number of times, the Bulldogs got momentum changing frees for high contact, when by the previous six months interpretation, we should have got the frees. Which led to Hannebury being taken out of the game in the final quarter: when his relentless running would have come in very handy.

[stevoswan]

No joy for me at all. Clarkson is a brilliant coach and your lack of respect needs to be called out.

Clarkson beat us despite the Swans poaching his best player. He won again in 2015 without Franklin.

I respect Clarkson and people should respect what he’s achieved in the game.

Come on BS, you should know that footy banter can involve the word hate but it doesn't mean the same as actually hating someone. It's just part of Aussie footy vernacular and should be treated a little more lightly maybe? It's not as if he's going on social media and sending hateful vitriol Clarkson's way and I highly doubt Alistair is combing these pages.

Maybe just counter that you think he's a great coach, with which most of us would agree.....but that doesn't automatically mean he still isn't a grub ....and he does seem to hate our club!

[dimelb]

The mention of Hanners on another thread, reminds me of what I hated most about the umpiring on that day: the fact that the season's interpretation of the contact below the knees rule, was arbitrarily reversed. A number of times, the Bulldogs got momentum changing frees for high contact, when by the previous six months interpretation, we should have got the frees. Which led to Hannebury being taken out of the game in the final quarter: when his relentless running would have come in very handy.

The same specimen who cleaned up Hannebury also cleaned up Kieren Jack; both were worthy of a 50m free, neither got it, and their effect was reduced for the rest of the game. And Buddy had an injury that reduced his effect by 50% or thereabouts. The umpiring was unbelievably biased.

[Roadrunner]

The same specimen who cleaned up Hannebury also cleaned up Kieren Jack; both were worthy of a 50m free, neither got it, and their effect was reduced for the rest of the game. And Buddy had an injury that reduced his effect by 50% or thereabouts. The umpiring was unbelievably biased.

We weren’t at our best but if not for that dreadful umpiring we would have won the flag. Simple!

[barry]

I think clarkos kids are in high school, so he won't be leaving Melbourne.

[i'm-uninformed2]

No joy for me at all. Clarkson is a brilliant coach and your lack of respect needs to be called out.

Clarkson beat us despite the Swans poaching his best player. He won again in 2015 without Franklin.

I respect Clarkson and people should respect what he’s achieved in the game.

He was a great coach. But he sullied his reputation by taking pot shots at opposition players (particularly ours), thinking he had the right to tell the AFL how to umpire the game (and they caved) and he did make a stupendously wrong call on their list.

Maybe I'd admire him more if he hadn't singled out our players. But once he did, he lost me completely.

[Ludwig]

Why are we talking about Clarkson as if he had died? His long career at Hawthorn may be coming to and end, but he will probably be looking at a huge contract to coach another team and his career in football will continue in a new phase.

[KTigers]

Clarko will finish up a year early at Hawthorn after this season, move to Sydney, take over at GWS and continue his dominance over us for
many years. The opportunity to beat us twice a year will be the main reason he becomes the Giants coach. He will only be the GWS coach
for the two games against us. The other twenty H & A games of the season the Giants will be coached by Amon Buchanan and his new
assistant Shane Mumford. The Giants will finish the 2022 season 2-and-20 and Clarko will regard his first year in Sydney as a huge success.

[KTigers]

But if the AFL have anything to do with it, Clarko will end up on the Gold Coast ala Roos going to Melbourne...

[Bangalore Swans]

He was a great coach. But he sullied his reputation by taking pot shots at opposition players (particularly ours), thinking he had the right to tell the AFL how to umpire the game (and they caved) and he did make a stupendously wrong call on their list.

Maybe I'd admire him more if he hadn't singled out our players. But once he did, he lost me completely.

He sullied his reputation with you obviously but all high achievers in life never got anywhere without making some enemies along the way.

If he did single out some of our players then our players should use it as a learning opportunity.

I still remember his face in the coaches box as Malceski took his dream away. He came back from that heartbreak to win the next three.

That demands respect.

[Blood Fever]

Clarko will finish up a year early at Hawthorn after this season, move to Sydney, take over at GWS and continue his dominance over us for
many years. The opportunity to beat us twice a year will be the main reason he becomes the Giants coach. He will only be the GWS coach
for the two games against us. The other twenty H & A games of the season the Giants will be coached by Amon Buchanan and his new
assistant Shane Mumford. The Giants will finish the 2022 season 2-and-20 and Clarko will regard his first year in Sydney as a huge success.

Clarkson's dominance over Longmire is mythical. Overall, it"s around 60/40 his way after 18 games. 50/50 over the last 6 games. Hawthorn's list, from 2011 to 2016, was far more brilliant than ours. Longmire's record, I would suggest, is admirable and includes coaching a significantly less skilled team to a flag over Clarkson in 2012.