AFL Rd 2 2022 Post Game Permutations Carlton vs Western Bulldogs

[LP]

One thing the Doggies do well is blocking in F50. I remember one example late in the game where the ball was kicked to around 40m out towards Naughton/Weitering & Weightman/Saad. Weightman turned around to face Weitering and acted like a Defensive Tackle in the NFL, putting open hands either on or near Weitering's shoulders. He moved a bit left & right but it only lasted a second or 2. Meanwhile, Naughton took advantage to run at the ball and leap, and Saad had no option but to follow and try to apply some pressure. Of course, Saad got nowhere near it and Naughton took an easy mark. It was as subtle as it was effective. 

Yes, that was just 1 example but I'm guessing there was a fair bit of work being done to stop Weitering and the Gov being able to access the ball, creating mismatches for their forwards.

The AFL has so many umpires on the ground now, they should focus on stopping this off the ball stuff and completely ignore the trivial contacts between direct opponents that they continually reward. A good example is that one on one between Weiters and Naughton, Naughton holds Weiters by the collar of the jumper, Weiters has and arm around Naughton's waist, they are in physical combat, but the umpire arbitrarily rewards a free kick.

Fans want to see the one on one battle, we don't want to see some $10 tagging spud shepherding the stars 15m away from the contest!

I abhor what Weightman did, if he wants to get in the way put his body on the line like LoB did at the feet of the KPDs a week earlier, like Owies and Durdin did multiple times last night standing under the ball!