Great win by the Cats this arvo.
Sadly, the TV coverage was marred by what has to be one of the most disgracefully biased presentations I have seen in a long, long, long time.
Before the game the coverage was 100% about the Dogs - how there was a sense of destiny, how their last lot of premiership players had talked to them to inspire them, how they had lots of great young players, how they had the form, blah blah blah.
At various stages an interview with Rodney Eade was promoted, focusing on the Dogs 09 finals campaign. David Smorgon was also shown repeatedly throughout the game.
Luke Darcy was transparently barracking for the Dogs throughout, letting anything unfair (umpiring errors, infringements) favouring the Dogs go by without comment but complaining like a toddler about anything that went the Cats way. After the game he looked like he was going to cry (good on Huddo for pointing out that he looked disappointed).
Even at half time with the Cats in front and looking pretty good the commentary was all about Geelong's (alleged) history of fade-outs and the Dogs (alleged) history of winning last quarters. The gradual backpedaling was predictable and pathetic ("of course Geelong are a great side, blah blah blah") after getting the impression early on that the Cats may as well not show up.
After the game the theme was that Geelong had sent "a message" but that the Dogs would "take a lot out of it" and would feel like they had missed a great opportunity to win.
Surely it's not right to have a recent player for a club commentating on its matches? And surely when a team like Geelong has been struggling a bit and had a lot of people questioning it, the focus in the commentary should be about how they have responded to that challenge and pressure, not about how great it would be if their opponents won. Unfortunately that didn't fit in with the 'theme' and 'script' that 10 had evidently decided to go with.
I'm sure some will call this a pointless whinge, but the whole presentation was unprofessional and pathetic. It makes AFL seem incestuous and petty instead of being presented in a serious, professional fashion.
Sadly, the TV coverage was marred by what has to be one of the most disgracefully biased presentations I have seen in a long, long, long time.
Before the game the coverage was 100% about the Dogs - how there was a sense of destiny, how their last lot of premiership players had talked to them to inspire them, how they had lots of great young players, how they had the form, blah blah blah.
At various stages an interview with Rodney Eade was promoted, focusing on the Dogs 09 finals campaign. David Smorgon was also shown repeatedly throughout the game.
Luke Darcy was transparently barracking for the Dogs throughout, letting anything unfair (umpiring errors, infringements) favouring the Dogs go by without comment but complaining like a toddler about anything that went the Cats way. After the game he looked like he was going to cry (good on Huddo for pointing out that he looked disappointed).
Even at half time with the Cats in front and looking pretty good the commentary was all about Geelong's (alleged) history of fade-outs and the Dogs (alleged) history of winning last quarters. The gradual backpedaling was predictable and pathetic ("of course Geelong are a great side, blah blah blah") after getting the impression early on that the Cats may as well not show up.
After the game the theme was that Geelong had sent "a message" but that the Dogs would "take a lot out of it" and would feel like they had missed a great opportunity to win.
Surely it's not right to have a recent player for a club commentating on its matches? And surely when a team like Geelong has been struggling a bit and had a lot of people questioning it, the focus in the commentary should be about how they have responded to that challenge and pressure, not about how great it would be if their opponents won. Unfortunately that didn't fit in with the 'theme' and 'script' that 10 had evidently decided to go with.
I'm sure some will call this a pointless whinge, but the whole presentation was unprofessional and pathetic. It makes AFL seem incestuous and petty instead of being presented in a serious, professional fashion.
Didn't think they were too bad, but yeah, there was a little bit of bias in there. Like listening to Eddie commentate a Pies game.
