AFL Rd 1 2023 In Game Angst Carlton vs Richmond

[LP]

My voice is gone. Worst umpiring I have seen in a while.

Because there is now four umpires I suspect the AFL has directed them to lay off the whistle so that it doesn't become a free kick fest.

But the same old problem remains, it's not the number of decisions, it's the variability in them that kills the game. For example, the holding on to Charlie all night, and yet in his contests I think he was pinged twice for holding the defender, yet as far as I know he did not receive a free for the same thing happening to him, you know it to be bad when BT starts highlighting a Carlton player as "A bit unlucky!"

The small Nthmond players continue to tunnel opponents, or throw their bodies at players well off the fall of the ball, yet almost none are penalised, is it a bizarre consequence of Dimma's continual complaining? You can see it in the Nthmond players attitude, they expect to beg and be rewarded, did you notice Dusty begging in puzzlement for being pinged for the fend off?

If TDK does what Nankervis does then TDK gets pinged for blocking, but Nankervis can charge across the centre line at the bounce and put out a straight arm or elbow free from repercussions.

Cotchin hardly had a play at the ball all night, he basically spent his time on the ground charging at opponents off the ball, yet he wasn't pinged for blocking once, at least twice Carlton players were pinged for blocking while shepherding a team-mate!

It's not the fact free are or are not awarded, it's the asymmetry.

Fans will point to Carlton getting more frees than Nthmond, but they must be reading stats and not watching the game, most of Carlton's frees last night came from successful tackles, pegging opponents with the footy, which is a huge plus for us.

I don't get why Cripps isn't protected to the same level as other players, he get's his head ripped off multiple times a match and is never given a free. It's like he is being penalised for being too strong to tackle, they try to tackle him, he shrugs it off and the tackle slips high, but he gets no reward. In the meantime, Dusty pokes another player in the throat and gets offended when once out of every 3 or 4 times he gets penalised!