After watching Aker on Before the Game i get the feeling that its a formality Hall will join the dogs.
After watching Aker on Before the Game i get the feeling that its a formality Hall will join the dogs.
I footage on the show, showing Griffen crying in the rooms after wards made me feel gutted again.
I'd like to see how we go with a tall forward to kick to. Could be a great thing for the Dogs next season.
No player in the history of the competition would fall down with a tiny little 'howdy do' from Brian. Except the softest yip-kicking 'big man' to ever play the game. Roo is uber-talented, but boy, he's a soft shit of a sook. Always has been.
That's what kills me about this Saints team. They still have some of the softest guys going around (Gilbert, Milne, Roo, Kosi), but they're amply protected by Lyon's brilliant game plan.
Can you blame Roo for falling over as if shot, if it gives his team the chance to win a soft free kick and goal scoring opportunity in a tight final? The problem with this rule interpretation is that there is absolutely no disincentive to try and pull one over the umpire. You chop the arms, you are gone. You hold onto the jumper, you are gone. You dramatically accentuate contact to seduce the umpire into giving you a free kick, you are not penalised at all for staging. So the rewards are infinite, and there is zero risk in doing it. Well done to the AFL for single-handedly developing and fostering a culture of staging and diving. Now every single club (ours included) has a couple of players that exaggerate body contact in order to win soft free kicks.
What a surprise that the AFL deemed the free kick as correct, and KB this morning justify the decision on his AFL sanctioned propaganda medium
Yes. It's called cheating.
We can't give it to soccer, calling them soft because players dive (something they are working very hard to fix), and on the other hand laud dickheads like Roo (and make no mistake, for all his incredible talent, he's always been a dickhead) for falling over when the wind blows.
Do you think that Italians the world over think Grossi is soft for cheating, or do you think they are all still celebrating winning the World Cup in 2006 and are eternally grateful to him for creating the opportunity for his team to progress to the quarter-finals?
At least soccer has finally recognised the problem they created in the first place. Inexplicably the AFL is going in the other direction.
Don't you think everyone the world over thinks that the Italians are the softest sooks in soccer (and has thought so for a long time -- I remember a cliche I learnt as a kid, that Italian soccer players are taught to dive before they learn to kick a ball), and that Grosso's only claim to fame for the rest of his existence will be being linked to being a diver in a World Cup (long after anyone remembers he won anything)? Say 'Fabio Grosso' in 20 years time in a free association test, and the answer won't be 'World Cup Winner', it'll be "dove to win dodgy penalty". Don't believe me, just look up his Wikipedia entry.
People remember these things.. I don't know why some people say that no one remembers the dickheads and only remembers that they won. No they don't -- Argentina's World Cup win in 1978 will always be rubbished because of its links to the military and their dodgy win against Peru to get into the final, Maradona's so-called 'Hand of God' retains its notoriety (and contributes to the glee over his many falls from grace), the memory of Germany's win over France in the 1982 World Cup semi-final is still marred by German goalie Harald Schumacher's sickening assault on Patrick Battison that left him hospitalised (the French recently voted him the most hated German in history, with Adolf Hitler second!), people still talk about East Germany's drug-riddled Olympic wins, people still talk about the controversial Muhammad Ali/Sonny Liston phantom punch, West Coast's drug-enhanced win still attracted comment in the press this year etc etc etc.
It's the 'asterisk' effect of doing something shitty, when people (mentally or literally) put an asterisk alongside the official record to remind everyone of the dodginess of the win. You win, but at the expense of your reputation and soul. Forevermore will St Nick, when discussions are had about 'great players' in the future, have an asterisk alongside his name that says - 'soft-as-shit, cheating sook'.
Could Riewoldt's knee problems have contributed to his fall? I'm not sure which knee is sore or which one he landed on, but there is the potential that when knocked, he fell onto his sore leg and, because he didn't want to put undue pressure on the joint, he fell.
If you ask Italians, the answer will be World Cup Winner. Ditto the Argies who are still celebrating '78 and '86 with gusto. Same for the Bomber fans in '00, despite Michael Long and Dean Wallis cynically cleaning up the Demon youngsters. Ditto Carlton supporters if asked about their '95 flag, no matter how many brown paper bags contributed to the overall TPP. Same for West Coast fans talking about '06. And ditto St Kilda fans if they happen to win in '09.
Lantern, I totally understand your argument and where you are coming from. But none of the aggreived parties will ever get back their moment in the sun. The moment in time is lost forever, just like our 2009 moment is now consigned to history.
If you believe in the law of karma, then we are in for a lucky streak the length of George W Bush's entire political career at some point in the future. And Roo will have a legitimate claim for a free kick waved away in the dying seconds next week and they lose by a kick. But to be honest none of that really interests me - I only want to see the Bulldogs have our moment in the sun and experience that feeling. And if there happens to be a staged free kick that contributes to this moment, I would not care in the slightest.