Dons vs Tigers

[Thiele]

What a game Essendon were gone with 5 mins to play but ending up wining by 8 points

Richmond are still winless

[Hondo]

Tough umpiring call on Richo right at the end but, at the end of the day, they should never have let Essendon back in the first place. Bombers all over them in the last 5-7 minutes. That must gut the Tigers supporters and I feel for Richo - they have shown a lot of spirit the last 2 weeks, a W can't be too far away.

32 scoring shots to 24, right team probably won in the end.

[Dutchy]

The 50m penalty against Richo was rough also...he takes teh mark, hears the whistle...presumes teh whistle is for the mark and plays on....exactly the same thing happened at the Gabba tonight with no 50m penalty.

Essendon did well to win but not convincingly like most thought....last 2 games on concrete...

[MW]

Shocking decision re. Richo.....hands were in the side

[spell_check]

The way that it has been interpreted over the years, is that it will be paid against someone who plays on knowing that they have given away the free - Law 18.1 (f) 'has not returned the football directly and on the full to the player awarded the free or mark'

But also there has been times that a 50 hasn't been given because the field umpire believes that he hasn't heard the whistle/call etc. As soon as I saw that he had played on, I knew that he hadn't heard the call - the crowd was almost deafening when he took the mark and played on.

That's why I think that decision was terribly wrong, something which arguably cost them the match (although that's still debatable)

[Hondo]

Spelly, the way the last 5 minutes went down I reckon Essendon would have won even without the 50m. I agree tho that the 50m penalty was very rough.

[the joker]

hands in the back rule cost richmond the game

[spell_check]

Spelly, the way the last 5 minutes went down I reckon Essendon would have won even without the 50m. I agree tho that the 50m penalty was very rough.

It really changed the match in my opinion, together with the free kick, which was technically there. If it was just the free kick alone it may not have deflated the Richmond players as much.

[Hondo]

hands in the back rule cost richmond the game

Running out of legs and too many errors in the last 5 minutes cost them the game

Up to that free/50m penalty, the Tigers had already let a 14 point lead slip in 3-4 minutes

[Thiele]

Richmond were 3 goals up with 7 mins to go

[Dutchy]

As I said he can easily presume the whistle he heard was for the mark....is he supposed to look at the Umpire before playing on?

Either way we saw 2 teams that will finish bottom 4 this season, wasnt a real good game

[Brad]

I have calmed down now, I really hate Essendon and to see them come away with the win makes me want vomit, that and North's effort today have made me mad

[Sojourner]

Richmond are not far away from it being not mathematically possible for them to make the eight which is a little unusual for prior to the mid season break. No doubt everyone is an armchair expert, yet Richmonds problems are more than I can see a solution to at this point!

I cant see that changing the coach will help and I dont think that they have the players to trade for better players, so their change will likely have to come through draft picks and that could well take several years before results come in. The problem being that the draft is always a lottery in more ways than one and low finishes dont neccesarly garantee the best players!

[mighty_tiger_79]

i wonder how AG is feeling????????

[doggies4eva]

I thought that the in-the baxk contact was incidental. Richo was just holding his ground as his opponent backed into him. To mark and play on and kick a long goal was about the most exciting part of the game for a non-aligned viewer like me. To umpire this sort of play out of the game is a joke.

[Aerie]

That hands in the back rule is ridiculous. What a way to stuff up a great game. I hope the rules committee are happy.

The second thing that cost Richmond was at the 20 minute mark of the final term, they had the ball around centre half forward and their runner was out telling them to keep possession. If that was a directive from Terry Wallace then that is disgraceful coaching. They had the momentum and should have tried to be kicking goals, not defending. They ended up coughing up the ball and the rest is history.

[mighty_tiger_79]

i think the AFL need a 25m penalty because I believe the 50m against richo was certainly too harsh,


interesting to see the umpis sticking up for themselves saying Richo's push would have been a free kick in previous years, though im not so sure it would have been......but the umps are always right.