Mad Mat wrote:I thought the umpiring reverted to H&A-like umpiring (which affected both teams). There were too many soft free kicks that you would not normally expect to see in a final. Which brings me to another point, why do the umpires put away the whistle in finals, particularly the GF? It irks the **** out of me. There is one set of rules, however the interpretation changes significantly on GF day. Has 'The Giesch' ever come out and explained this phenomenon?
Having said that, even though I was cheering for Carlton, I'm not upset that Walker wasn't awarded a free in the last minutes. Even though the way the game was umpired it probably should've constituted a free, I wonder what the decision might have been if it happened down the other end?
Umpiring was average at best