Autopsy AFL 2021 First Semi Final - Lions v Bulldogs Sat September 4th 7:20 EST (Gabba)

[lioninthesand]

You’re flying through the stages of grief now. Pretty soon you’ll even accept that the umpiring was fine and the better team won. Don’t worry, you’ll get your Gabba frees back next year, except when you play us obviously.

Cheers Dr Phil.

And what about the thousands upon thousands (I've never seen anything like it) of other nutual fans all over the country, flooding threads and comment sections agreeing with me?

What grief are they going through?

You got a ****ing blessed run from the umpires, to be on the end of that in a semi final was utterly devastating, though entirely predictable.

But you won, you are the winner. Go and enjoy it.

 

[Black Saab]

I’m not going to wade into the actual umpiring conspiracy nonsense, but I’ll answer this.

You and any other poster saying it’s 100% because of the umpires that the bulldogs are in a prelim is not only wrong it completely disregards the efforts of the players, coaches and staff.

Cameron touched up Wood in the first quarter, coaches switch Duryea on to him who plays a blinder and saves the game in the last minute. Macrae plays a game for the ages, Bont great (goal kicking aside), Daniel and Dale composed most of the game, and Bailey Smith kicks an amazing goal with two mins to go which makes all the difference.

They lost their leading goal kicker late in home and away season to an ACL, haven’t had a functional ruck for weeks and their best small forward went down at half time. Looks like he’ll miss next week and probably the captain and best player is out as well.

They’ve also done it while playing their home final in Tassie last week and the semi in Queensland. Now they’re off to Perth to then fly to Adelaide for the PF.

Many teams (yours included) have done it tough this year with COVID and/or injury. But to say it’s 100% due to the umpires just invalidates their efforts.

So if a few dogs fans are triggered by this idiotic narrative then these are just some of the reasons why.

Your coach was a class act tonight, I’d be proud to have him lead my team. Hopefully the lions have a better run with injury next year and we meet again in a final. Good luck.

I thought Smith's kicking wasn't great last night. When he took possession of the ball to kick that last goal I was sure he was going to spray it. Was genuinely surprised he nailed it. Was a really great goal at a crucial time from a guy who hadn't kicked so well all game.

 

[RU_]

No you didn't.

Saw footage of the McCarthy free kick overturned. Bulldogs player instigated that and should never have been overturned.

 

[Iamspock]

Small minority.

You've done a poll have you?

 

[RichLeMonde]

Small minority.

When the AFL umpiring deparment reviews the game, I think there would be hardly any they would consider to be egregiously wrong from the last quarter, certainly not in a way that favoured one team (there were maybe 2-3 each way, either called or missed, that were probaby wrong).

All the calls fans like you are sooking about, like Big O's block in the ruck, would be considered correct on review by the AFL.

 

[pablo668]

I didn't think there would be over 100 pages of discussion of this game. (The umpiring was crap btw, over umpired game, some shit decisions)

 

[TiAn_]

Cheers Dr Phil.

And what about the thousands upon thousands (I've never seen anything like it) of other nutual fans all over the country, flooding threads and comment sections agreeing with me?

What grief are they going through?

You got a ******* blessed run from the umpires, to be on the end of that in a semi final was utterly devastating, though entirely predictable.

But you won, you are the winner. Go and enjoy it.

“Go” and enjoy it. What do you think I’m doing?

You’ve never seen bulk nuffies being whingeing morons over umpiring before? Well on behalf of the rest of the the internet, welcome, and I hope your first day online is going well

 

[Superhoop]

Not really, i mean i know where you're coming from but as someone who once loved the game i wanted the best teams playing deep in the season, unfortunately we've been robbed of that.
Its not about the spectacle, its about the fragility of the 'custodians' and their need for a finals fix to ward of the depression.

LOL. Looking forward to the weekend

 

[bilko2]

Let’s give the Dees flag now, the other teams are Gawn

Flag is Dee's. Only a top coaching effort will take it from them.

 

[Black Saab]

My team has major issues. Mental fortitude, lazy mids, down hill skiers. I am thinking and discussing this everyday. I also think the best 4 teams in the comp made prelims.

Thats how I make myself feel better, knowing we arnt good enough and probably would have lost to Port by 60 points.

And no - I was never a believer in us after round 23, we had beaten a bunch of bottom feeders and where massively banged up.

But I will not lie down on the fact the umps gave us a bath last night, why is it so tough to except you had a good whistle?

Why are dogs fans so defensive about it, its bizarre.

No doubt a very hard loss to cop mate and I can totally understand your frustration with the result.

I think what you said about Brisbane is accurate. The Lions struggled for form since the bye. Just when it looked like they would take hold of the competition the team began to falter and never regained that consistent, dangerous form.

Your mob had its chances last night through what they alone could control. They missed shots including what turned out to be some vital out on the full misses in the last qtr.

It was an epic contest. Both teams played really well. It wasn't like watching a game full of errors and riddled with terrible mistakes. It was a high quality game. Two desperate but skilled boxers fighting with everything till the final bell.

Again, I get the bitter frustration and it will likely hurt till who knows when. I remember how mad I was when the Tigers lost the 2018 prelim and it seemed like everyone on here was dancing on our graves.

 

[Sharpiesadog]

My team has major issues. Mental fortitude, lazy mids, down hill skiers. I am thinking and discussing this everyday. I also think the best 4 teams in the comp made prelims.

Thats how I make myself feel better, knowing we arnt good enough and probably would have lost to Port by 60 points.

And no - I was never a believer in us after round 23, we had beaten a bunch of bottom feeders and where massively banged up.

But I will not lie down on the fact the umps gave us a bath last night, why is it so tough to except you had a good whistle?

Why are dogs fans so defensive about it, its bizarre.

We are not defensive about it, we don’t agree that we had the better of the umpiring last night.

It is a bullsh1it narrative about us that took hold after 2016 and continues to this day.

We topped the free kick differential this season not because we got the most frees, but because we gave the least away. This has been the same for a number of years. Clearly a mix of our game style, coaching and individual discipline causes this, not some rubbish conspiracy to make us successful.

We didn’t give dumb frees away last night in the last quarter. No one threw a lions player to the ground off the ball, English didn’t run past the ball and block his opponent at a ball up for example - that was incredibly stupid at that stage of the game.

I m loving the win but getting sick of the complaints that we are favoured by the umpiring. It is an attempt to diminish that we were good enough to win in 2016 and good enough to win last night. We won because we were good enough. Not because of the umpires. We were good enough and the Lions weren’t. We took our chances and they didn’t.

 

[PenfoldsFan]

LOL. Looking forward to the weekend

Are you, im not which is a blight on the way the game is run.
Should i be excited, yep, great list, playing at home with a GF bearth on the line, am i, no, how can i be.
As it sits now my team must first overcome the most looked after side in recent memory, should that happen we book a spot in the GF against what will probably be Melbourne coming off decades of Premiership drought.

AFL is an entertainment industry where the competition plays backseat to the almighty dollar.
Melbourne winning the flag will bring in a lot more money than the handful of extra members we'd realise should we win.

Ive deliberately avoided suggesting any interstate bias in this summary as truth is its unnecessary when the dollar is incentive enough for the AFL and thats something i think we can all agree on.

It will never change, Victoria has the biggest supporter base, there is little incentive to accommodate us and so we are never anything more than a few lone voices in a sea of excuse making and deflection.

A good friend of our family was a life long Dee's supporter, she passed away recently and it will be a shame that they'll finally salute and she wont be here to see it.
I could live with a Dee's win over my mob if thats what eventuates, but let it be because they play the better footy on the day, not because its good for business.

 

[Deadly Darcy]

Are you, im not which is a blight on the way the game is run.
Should i be excited, yep, great list, playing at home with a GF bearth on the line, am i, no, how can i be.
As it sits now my team must first overcome the most looked after side in recent memory, should that happen we book a spot in the GF against what will probably be Melbourne coming off decades of Premiership drought.

AFL is an entertainment industry where the competition plays backseat to the almighty dollar.
Melbourne winning the flag will bring in a lot more money than the handful of extra members we'd realise should we win.

Ive deliberately avoided suggesting any interstate bias in this summary as truth is its unnecessary when the dollar is incentive enough for the AFL and thats something i think we can all agree on.

It will never change, Victoria has the biggest supporter base, there is little incentive to accommodate us and so we are never anything more than a few lone voices in a sea of excuse making and deflection.

A good friend of our family was a life long Dee's supporter, she passed away recently and it will be a shame that they'll finally salute and she wont be here to see it.
I could live with a Dee's win over my mob if thats what eventuates, but let it be because they play the better footy on the day, not because its good for business.

I like the fact you are basically setting up to whinge about unfair external factors as soon as your team loses. I really hope the team Port field goes out there with the same mentality

 

[PenfoldsFan]

I like the fact you are basically setting up to whinge about unfair external factors as soon as your team loses. I really hope the team Port field goes out there with the same mentality

And i like that as a Dogs supporter its never something you have to worry about.
Im also sorry that my honest opinion of our chances triggers you enough to be a campaigner but we're all different i guess.

 

[Gethelred]

On one hand, umps in the dying minutes of the second quarter completely lost the plot, and there were any number of frees in the last that went one way which didn't go the other.

On the other hand, reading WC supporters whinging about WB bias brings a sense of ironic satisfaction.

 

[Bald]

Why are Dogs fans defending the umps like they are your own? it's weird.

No one is saying the Dogs 'played' for frees, you just got the rub of the green.

Why are you so sensitive about this?

No one is saying that? Ok.

 

[ossie_21]

Sorry that this doesn’t fit the narrative

 

[adogsfan5]

So what happens if the afl come out during the week and say no dramas with the umpiring performance? Do we let it go, or do we start wondering if Hocking is dating Bevo?

 

[PenfoldsFan]

I remember how mad I was when the Tigers lost the 2018 prelim and it seemed like everyone on here was dancing on our graves.

Atleast you guys lost to a 7ft tall Yank playing the game of his life, you can live with being beaten in that fashion despite the heckling from the cheap seats.
The free kick count we faced early in last weeks game is evidence enough that our frustrations will be very different as they are for Lions supporters now.

 

[lioninthesand]

No doubt a very hard loss to cop mate and I can totally understand your frustration with the result.

I think what you said about Brisbane is accurate. The Lions struggled for form since the bye. Just when it looked like they would take hold of the competition the team began to falter and never regained that consistent, dangerous form.

Your mob had its chances last night through what they alone could control. They missed shots including what turned out to be some vital out on the full misses in the last qtr.

It was an epic contest. Both teams played really well. It wasn't like watching a game full of errors and riddled with terrible mistakes. It was a high quality game. Two desperate but skilled boxers fighting with everything till the final bell.

Again, I get the bitter frustration and it will likely hurt till who knows when. I remember how mad I was when the Tigers lost the 2018 prelim and it seemed like everyone on here was dancing on our graves.

Thanks Mate. I have seen a lot of trolling from Tigers supporters today about straight sets and being chokers etc.

I personally would never go put of my way to troll an oppo supporter the morning their team lost a final, you just wouldn't wake up and do that.

I am actually flattered that the supporters of the best team of the last 10 years care enough to death ride us, must be respect there.

I totally agree with that overall notion, we are young and mentally fragile - I saw straight sets coming a mile off.

It is a horrible monkey to have on the shoulder going into next season too, unwanted baggage and humiliating.

That for me is somewhat offset by the fact we are still in the bottom 4 teams most week for age profile, we were younger than North when we played them this year for example so to this point we are clearly overachieving.

After fagans first 2 years, I said 2021 was the year I saw us maybe making finals and 2022 when we would really challange - our rise to be a consistant performer has come along more quickly than a anyone expected.

So far we have lost finals to only eventual Grand finalists and this year, TBH whilst straight sets is humiliating- we finished 5th and guess what? we are and have been the 5th best team in the comp all year.

We arnt very good and IMO we were never winning a flag, Lions fans know that better than anyone.

So.. is it embarrassing and heart breaking? yes, straight sets is a dooms day scenario.

It is a choke? I don't think so, we overacheived, copped some injuries and bad luck and lost to 2 teams that are better than us.

Should have we found a way to win at home given the chances we had, probably.

But anyone watching that cant say we didn't handle the occasion, we went 12 rounds of enthralling footy and came up short.

Do we need to have better leaders? yes, are we mentally fragile, our big game record suggests so, do we have lots up upside? yes indeed.

We will be going into next year with a Gorilla on our shoulders, that's for sure.

 

[lioninthesand]

Sorry that this doesn’t fit the narrative

HAHAHA sharing the unvarified Twitter guys account again.... CASE CLOSED everyone

 

[adogsfan5]

Atleast you guys lost to a 7ft tall Yank playing the game of his life, you can live with being beaten in that fashion despite the heckling from the cheap seats.
The free kick count we faced early in last weeks game is evidence enough that our frustrations will be very different as they are for Lions supporters now.

Would it help if Stevic was 7 foot 1?

 

[RU_]

We are not defensive about it, we don’t agree that we had the better of the umpiring last night.

It is a bullsh1it narrative about us that took hold after 2016 and continues to this day.

We topped the free kick differential this season not because we got the most frees, but because we gave the least away. This has been the same for a number of years. Clearly a mix of our game style, coaching and individual discipline causes this, not some rubbish conspiracy to make us successful.

We didn’t give dumb frees away last night in the last quarter. No one threw a lions player to the ground off the ball, English didn’t run past the ball and block his opponent at a ball up for example - that was incredibly stupid at that stage of the game.

I m loving the win but getting sick of the complaints that we are favoured by the umpiring. It is an attempt to diminish that we were good enough to win in 2016 and good enough to win last night. We won because we were good enough. Not because of the umpires. We were good enough and the Lions weren’t. We took our chances and they didn’t.

Mate, when 16 out of 18 clubs supporter bases are in unison that the umpiring favoured the Dogs last night you cannot argue that it wasn’t. We all get it, those 2 club supporter bases that don’t agree are 1. The Bulldogs which is understandable because you all have the red, white and blue glasses on and for some reason Richmond supporters.

When 80% of people are combining to argue that the umpiring was a rort there is not a single thing you can say to change that. The facts are that you guys get favoured by the green twits week in and week out, you have had one premiership from it and we will see if you get two.

At the end of the day though, if you do a poll to see who thinks that the umpiring was heavily favoured to the Bulldogs there would be a landslide voting of yes.

Good luck next week, hopefully Port does what we couldn’t and ends your run. .

 

[Some Idiot]

Bailey Smith promoting drug use at the end there with that celebration.

He's copying the "I've got ice in my veins" celebration from the NBA. Flog behaviour but nothing to do with drugs.

 

[ossie_21]

HAHAHA sharing the unvarified Twitter guys account again.... CASE CLOSED everyone

It’s a good and balanced summary. Much more weight to something like this instead of “wE wAs RoBbEd”