The Swans do not bottom out, in this fickle town it spells doom, not for the true followers of course.
The Swans do not bottom out, in this fickle town it spells doom, not for the true followers of course.
The best part is knowing Weagles fans are looking at the draw this morning for respite and seeing their next two games are … Brisbane and Melbourne
'Delicious' is a fun word to say
"Unbelievable!" -- Nick Davis leaves his mark on the 2005 semi final
Are the WCE worse than we were in the 90's under Buckerina?
If such cheating was penalised more harshly, there would be less incentive to do it. Cracking down on umpire dissent without also cracking down on staging for frees has left the game vulnerable to this farce.
In soccer, it's called "simulation" and attracts a yellow card. If we apply this to the AFL, staging for a free would be penalised with a $3000 fine for a first offence, plus suspensions thereafter. In addition, simulation that's caught by the umpire (or in a review bunker) should be penalised like an interchange infringement: a free kick from the centre, plus a 50-metre penalty, or a free plus 50. That's how harsh the penalties have to be to send a message that it's a blight on the game. Finally anyone who is found guilty of a staging offence loses their eligibility for best and fairest awards, including the Brownlow, because cheating is not fair play.
"Unbelievable!" -- Nick Davis leaves his mark on the 2005 semi final
That's difficult to judge after only a few games. At present, I would say no. We were quite awful in the 1993 season under Buckenara due to a lack of fitness. Then Barassi took over and got the team fit, and by the end of the year we had gone from losing to bottom sides by 20 goals to losing to a top side by a point. I am forever grateful to Barassi for what he did to get the side competitive again, and I have no problems at all seeing Barassi enjoying Melbourne's current success.
West Coast is having issues because they have not had any team cohesion. Only three Eagles players have played all seven games so far. Sides like Brisbane have had about 15 players play all games. One can only make so many replacements in a side before team structure is compromised. The Eagles are also down on confidence. I expect they will get back some team cohesion and be more competitive later in the season, but I still expect them to finish last.
"Unbelievable!" -- Nick Davis leaves his mark on the 2005 semi final
A starting point might be to instruct the umpires not to pay a free kick where they see exaggerated reaction from the player, regardless of whether the actual contact/action did merit a free kick. That might start to persuade players not to actively play for free kicks, especially since doing so frequently takes them out of the next play if they don't receive the free.
Following up with fines (and shaming) for the most egregious of instances (those where there was no contact at all to warrant the reaction) might further ram the message home.
All good points, TS. I read that WCE have not had a top 10 draft pick for 10 years! Some of that is due to their high positions most seasons, but a lot of it is deliberate - trading out draft picks to buy in ready made players like Kelly (a disastrous trade given what they gave up) and Yeo.
Compare them to us over the past 10 years. No big name signings since Lance (free agent) at the end of 2013, trading out reasonable players for draft picks (not always by choice eg Dawson) and going to the draft every year. Of course, the Academy has provided us with Heeney, Mills and Blakey which is elite talent by any measure.
We lost 25 in a row in that period around 1993. The worst team since then was Fitzroy who in their last season of 1996 only won a single game for the season. I don't think the WCE are anywhere near as bad as either of those two sides.
It was sad to watch the death throws of a failing club with a long and proud history. I live next to Fitzroy and some of the pubs there eg Napier still have loads of Fitzroy memorabilia on the walls - they treat the move to Brisbane as the death of their Club. This contrasts with us South supporters who largely embrace the Sydney move.
Instructing umpires not to pay exaggerated free kicks is the most direct solution. As for penalties, I would look at players being penalised with demerit points. This gives flexibility to penalise points based on level of exaggeration, repeated offences which then leads to suspensions. I think this will be more of a deterrent than just fining players, considering the wide range of pay scales players are earning.
One of my fondest memories as a Swans supporter:
The Swans on July 19, 1987, scored 30.21 (201) in defeating the West Coast Eagles by 130 points at the SCG.
Both sides were making a claim for a spot in the finals at the time.
It's very hard to live in a studio apartment in San Jose with a man who's learning to play violin. That's what she told the police when she handed them the empty revolver.
The Scarlatti Tilt - Richard Brautigan
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