Remember this post about how Norwood were 0-6 to start 2023?

Yeah... well since they salvaged a 6-1-11 record to finish last year, they've come into 2024 fit and unmovable, but not exactly firing.
Norwood defensively, have:

• The least 'Points Against' in the competition
• Kept all opponents to 60 points or less in a game
• Conceded 8+ Goals in a game ONCE

Offensively they have been okay. However:

• They have not scored more than 77 points in a game
• Scored below 70 three times
• Only won 1 game above 4 goals

Overall however, things are looking great for the Redlegs. They sit 1st on the ladder with the second best percentage of the competition, but their mettle will be tested in two weeks with a big game against Central Districts (away) to come.

Premiership Favourites? I don't think so yet, the SANFL is wide open this year IMO.

https://preview.redd.it/wrj86whrb60d1.png?width=1152&format=png&auto=webp&s=a3ab5a7b3f72d591d73b46e7edd25f8ab981d3c6

Did nothing for 3 quarters, stormed home in the last, lost by under a goal. Cannot make this shit up.

Just watched on the couch talking about Jeremy Cameron and how doctors were trying to assess his head knock on the ground in between contests.

I think it’s pretty clear when a player stays down because they copped a heavy hit, should it be like the blood rule when the ump sends the player off and waits for a replacement. Even have the third umpire quickly review the footage and send word to the ump to stop play and get the player off. Obviously a lot of contention and very subjective but err on the side of caution surely.

Feels like the AFL are all talk and no action except for when it comes to suspending blokes for accidentally bumping the head. Not sure if independent doctors are a thing yet but that is a must.

Edit - I meant send the player off to be assessed then the player will be allowed to return if they pass the assessment, rather then trying to assess on ground while the players is trying to continue playing.

https://www.afl.com.au/news/1129924/coaches-votes-r9-sydney-swans-star-isaac-heeney-surges-again-collingwood-magpies-star-nick-daicos-makes-a-move

We need them to be more black and white. I feel they are just getting way too subjective and thus the game is near impossible to officiate. I feel sorry for the umpires as it is at a point where it is a lose-lose scenario for them. Sure it's great to have umpire appreciation round, but lets actually help them by making their job easier. It would also make it so much better for fans, not only watching but less complaints.

Example point in case:

This weekend (Rd 9 2024), there was a play on advantage non-call in the Geelong v Port game with 2 mins to go. Butters is called HTB/Throwing it, ball is kicked straight away, Geelong kick a goal. Watch it here from 2:09:10 Geelong don't kick the goal with the replayed kick and they don't win the game.

Laura Kane said on Footy Feed that given Clark's kick had not been to the obvious advantage of the Cats, the umpires had made the correct call in stopping play. "The umpire's whistle has gone at almost the same time that the player (Clark) has disposed at the ball. It's worth noting it came off the side of his boot, it was a shanked kick, and the umpire has made the decision to bring that back and give Geelong the shot on goal. So we were comfortable with the way it was officiated."

Admittedly yes, that kick is shanked, kicked to a contested situation and the advantage is not obvious. Clearly got it right.

Now lets go back to the Round 4 game between Freo and Carlton. I'm not going to bring up the dissent rule double 50 which was realistically officiated correctly. The incident i will refer to is earlier.

3.10 to go. Alex Pearce catches owies holding the ball on the right HF flank. Aish picks up the ball and kicks it long down the wing. AFTER Aish kicks the ball, the umpires whistle goes to signal hold the ball. So the ball is in the air when the decision is made. The ball lands on Taberner's chest in an uncontested situation on the wing. He has at least 15 metres of space and has 14 Carlton players (from what i can count) behind him, should he face Freo's goal. You can even see a few Freo players asking for the advantage.

Skip to 1:57:30 in this game to watch

It was probably the most obvious advantage call and there was no genuine reason to not be allowed to play on. I even thought so watching it live. It would be fair to say that ball goes inside Freo's 50 after this advantage, at an absolute minimum. Yet what does happen is the ball is recalled back to Carlton's 50, Carlton's defence is set up, the ball is kicked to a contested situation, the ball goes back inside Carlton's 50 and they kick a goal to go 2 points down with 2.17 mins to go.

The umpires just can't be on top of everything and they clearly just missed this. Which sucks because I would hope Freo would hang onto a win in that scenario. Aish is clearly trying to take the advantage

Now we have 4 umpires who all have a subjective opinion about the rules from different angles. Honestly, it just makes the game worse. Let's make it easier for the umpires to officiate by making the rules clearer and then let's go back to 2 umpires just trying their best.

TLDR: Umpires do a good job, the AFL rules let them down. If our rules were less subjective then we would have so much less conjecture from our fans towards our umpires.

Hi I'm wondering if the current Freo guernseys available for sale fit tight or are reasonably loose. In the past I have bought 5xl. I wear 2xl generally

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Curious to know how people from the northern states became AFL fans instead of NRL. From stuff I read online some people up there still seem quiet hostile towards AFL

Another injured defender. Yaaaaaaay

Essendon and Carlton get there by virtue of what they did last century. I’m not sure a club that hasn’t won a final in decades can still be considered a big club?

Collingwood was big in the 20th century but have been consistently strong in the last 25 years. Countless finals series, 6 or 7 Grand Finals and a couple of flags.

I think clubs like West Coast and Geelong can also lay claim to being “bigger” than either Carlton or Essendon in modern terms.