Could someone please explain how is it that in AFL where the ball is in play all over a bigger field, that the after Grand final discussion is about the game and not the refs/umpire fark ups. Yet in the NRL where the play is essentially played under the referees arse so many stuff ups happen. Are we to assume that the our officials are so farking dumb that they don't know or understand the rules? I am not saying that AFL officials are perfect but there appears to be less controversy in their game than ours. Andrew Webster in the Sydney Morning Herald said that when he ran into Beattie he stated "what a fantastic game" when was told about the 6 again fark up he said "what 6 again he did not see it" Yet today he stated that the ref had made the right decision????? Talk about covering each others arse. But don't worry folks the NRL will ratify the 2019 Grand Final fark up by having another fark up in 2020 Grand final so that Canberra if in the Grand final will win. Watch how Canberra will get all the 50/50 calls and how much good luck they will get in 2020. I am not a betting man but I will place $100.00 bet that Canberra will win the premiership in 2020 there will have to be a monumental fark up of Titan 2019 standards by Canberra not to be in the Grand Final. God help who ever faces the Raiders because the Officials and the NRL will not help them.
I put it down to a couple of things, with regards to your question about how the AFL GF was controversy free etc...
1: It’s a style of game that is less able to be manipulated by the officials in the way that the NRL is. If one team is “on”, and the other team having a shocker, they simply can’t swing the momentum via the simple methods they’ve created in our game. Some leg up penalties, leniency in the ruck and 10m rule, anything 50/50 being ruled in favour of whichever team is scripted to win... to coin a phrase, “they’ve been doing it all year sir”...
Todd and his goons have written into the rules grey areas that make these methods both easy to apply and easy to defend, with enough latitude available to them so that they can always justify the on field bungles... they even have the gall to victim blame, as Annesley did when he told Dessie “tell your players to stop giving away penalties”... If the mistake is indefensible beyond their ability to defend, the ref gets a slap on the wrist and week in reggies and they STILL get the result they wanted.
2: The AFL seems to be run in a relatively professional manner by people who have the health and positivity of the game as their main goal. They’ve got a product that appeals to their audience (as do we) and they promote it well (which we don’t). The half assed journalists that cover the NRL are such petty, bitter and agenda driven creatures that they spend more time desperately trying to attack, destabilise and belittle the teams they dislike. They allow their egos to spin anything subjectively into some form of snipe at a club or player, and collectively do far more damage than good for the image of the game. It’s amateurish and boorish, and a millstone around the future of the game.
Clean up a few areas, stop the manipulation of the contest, use the media to positively promote the game and players, bring back the consistency in the MRC and game day officials, and give the fans the hope that their team can win the competition, rather than the sad certainty that the chosen few will be armchaired into contention at the expense of their own team.
People (your clients!) are becoming disillusioned with the game, and turning away in droves. Lose the passionate fans and the game dies. Simple.
