AGB Footy

YOU'RE NOT WRONG!

Ump: I was wrong....

Ump: I was wrong not to give free

A FIELD umpire has admitted he made the wrong call on a crucial holding decision involving new Bulldog Steven Koops in the frantic final minutes at Telstra Dome on Sunday.

Umpire Corin Rowe told coach Rowan Sawers that he should have paid a free kick to Koops after watching videotape of the incident from a different angle.

As Ian Thorpe's phone friend noted: "KOOPS!" Maggot cost me a canny tip.

ALL ABOARD THE DAVEY TRAIN

I'd like to report a theft....

How I saw Melbourne's last chance of winning anything ever go out the window.

Balls!

Yes I was one of the 18000 odd there tonight to see Melbourne do their now traditional folding under pressure in the last quarter and go down to Geelong in the Wizard Cup semi final.

I was one of the 18,000 who saw them hard at it right up to the finish. A finish which unfortunately fell the Cats way. Neitz going off right at the crucial time hurt, but we missed too many chances to ice the game. Especially in the third quarter.

Shockingly I have no complaints with the Dome tonight. The turf was actually decent and they were kind enough to let us plebs sit in the expensive seats without having to sell our livers to shadowy internal organ dealers in Bangkok to fund it.

Best. Stadium. Ever.

The lesser lights shone. Scott Thompson is going to be a star and Aaron Davey appears to be closer in talent to Jeff Farmer than Scott Chisholm.

Thompson is what I like to call a "footballer". As opposed to an athlete. Knows where to get it, how to get it, and what to do with it when he does get it. Likes to mix it up too. On the down side, lacks a yard. Conversely, Davey is perhaps the quickest player I've seen at the Dee Mons ... like ever ... dude. If Farmer doesn't ... err ... "step up" for the Frockers this season, it could be his last. I won't mourn, who needs the Wiz when you've got the Biz. Of the other youngsters, Rivers looks the business.

There are signs. Good signs. With some more confidence we could (COULD) have a decent season. Probably finish last now.

Enough with the pessimism. Melbourne -- with the luck all sides need -- are certainly good enough to finish in the top eight.

We wouldn't have beaten either of the sides we would have played in the final.

Inclined to agree with that. Although the Saints are the Saints and therefore likely to blow up in a final, we're not yet ready for Essington.

Pissweak crowd again. You'd be lucky to get our fans to go out to Telstra Dome if you kidnapped their kids and threatened to kill them. No matter what the venue is you should always go to support your team if you claim to be a 'massive' fan. If your team decides to play for Premiership points in Amsterdam you at least should seriously investigate the possibility of going to see it.

Never understood the reluctance of Melbourne fans to go to Telstra. I'd rather go there than the MCG ... and I'm a member ... and it's right across the road.

The defence. Nicholson was outplayed by everyone and Carroll never had the chance to bring his shocking hairstyle onto the field. It looks as if the great "shaft Chris Lamb" campaign is on again this season as well. He would have fit in nicely tonight.

Nicholson was hosed tonight. Never looked confident at any contest and was the main reason we lost. Harsh ... but true. Carroll should have had a run, probably under-done. Lamb is a scrubber. His Queen Mary turning circle against Sav Rocca at Mar-Nooo-Car showed he hasn't overcome his mobility problems. Be lucky to play again this year. Big mobile defenders -- Steve Silvagni, Mal Michael, Mick Martin, Glen Jakovich, Dustbin Fletcher, Chris Mew -- who are rarely outmarked win you premierships because, apart from the obvious fact the opposition's key forwards are nullified, it means you don't have to overcommit players to help out the defence. The added bonus is you have extra players on the way back up the ground. Give or take the odd cameo -- Shanahan, Ingerson, the underrated Paul Prymke -- we haven't had a long termer since Sean White. Incidentally, Lamb had plenty of help in 2002.

Big guns fail to fire. Yze, Bruce, Green, McDonald, Brown not seen to fire a shot.

Yze was patchy. Bruce had a shocker. Why is he dropping the ball from chest-height when he kicks? McDonald spent plenty of time wood-arsing. Brown was servicable. But Green? Wacky call, boyo. Green was close to best on the ground.

The umpiring. They didn't seem to understand the rules, giving a relay free-kick as 6 points in the first quarter and then 9 in the last (and we still lost).

We had the better of the umps tonight. Least-ways after quarter time. I don't like the rule that says the ball is in play if it bounces off the post. It means a worse kick than a poster, which is worth nothing, is worth a point.

We lost. By a point. To a side who severely lack stars. Kent Kingsley has best days of the year against us.

We should have won, no doubt about that. We missed loads of gettable shots and all too often, turned the ball over into the Catter's flood. They then burnt us on the rebound. Kingsley is the Graham Hick "flat-track-bully" of the comp. Guaranteed to kick goals against sides like us -- like he did at K Park last year -- but just as assuredly will go missing when it's hot. Still, the fact we dominated large portions of the game and still kept at it when the breaks weren't going our way is surely a good sign.

We'll be playing some shitty regional challenge match in Manangatang next week.

Collingwood in Bendigo next Friday night.

I haven't seen the Dees as hard at it since the Northey days. I can handle losing -- just -- if I see them having a fair dinkum lash at it. Never the less, we're still very lightly framed compared to the top clubs and if we can't stop the opposition taking marks up front, we're in trouble. Nicholson was appalling tonight and must -- simply must -- get better. I hope Holland pays off, but I've doubts about his mobility too. Carroll can play -- Daniher must be easing him back -- and he has the requisite amount of c**t for a league defender. Ferguson is promising too, gangly and hard to mark against like Dustbin Fletcher.

The three point rushed in the first quarter proved crucial. Not only that, I mightn't have paid it were I the umpire. And I don't like the rule, nor do I see the point. I've never had a problem with players giving up a score to play it safe.

On the ever-optimistic side, losing may prove a blessing in disguise. Melbourne may have had trouble re-grounding in the fortnight between the final and the opening round so this gives us a chance to concentrate on Hawthorn in round one. It will be interesting to see what happens to Gee Long in the early games of the season proper.

Two o'clock! I shouldn't drink coffee at the night football.

THE YEAH YEAH NAAAS

It started with a kiss ... of death ...

RICHMOND'S most recent premiership coach, Tony Jewell, has questioned the game plan and self-confidence of coach Danny Frawley.

To which Mal Brown -- on 1116 SEN -- graciously and fondly observed ...

"Tony is a braindead simpleton who -- if it wasn't for Richmond -- would have nothing in his life. He's the dumbest person ever to be involved in football."

Today -- not surprisingly -- there's more.

Patrick Smith ...

Richmond, home of the blithering idiots.

That's the kind part.

Mike Sheahan ...

What would have been a frank appraisal of a football club by a departing director on Friday grew into a giant incendiary over the weekend.

Skiving from her main gig -- potting the Dee Mons -- Caroline Wilson ...

Which raised the question at Tigerland yesterday: With friends like T. J., who needs enemies?

Worse news to follow, The Australian ...

Speaking yesterday from Europe, Tigers president Clinton Casey said Frawley's position was guaranteed.

"As a board, we are hugely supportive of Danny and we're on track for where we want to be," Casey said.

The Herald Sun ...

"Danny Frawley will coach Richmond until the end of the season. That position is quite clear with the club and Danny."

For those unaware of the intricacies of Footy Speak, allow me to paraphrase ...

"We totally support our coach ... the board is fully united behind him ... he's doing a fabulous job ... we'll be appointing a new coach tomorrow"

I NEVER exaggerate, so I stand by what I've said a MILLION times -- Frawley can't coach.

If you don't kick it to them, the Tiges can't get it. He has no idea how to make the play and relies almost entirely on the other team spraying it into their forwardline so the Tiges -- with an extra man back -- can play rebound footy. Schoolboy stuff.

The prediction.

PS: Product Alert: Tiger Talk Back. 3AW online after a Friday night fiasco when the Tiges have been flogged. Champagne Comedy.