by Dutchy » Mon Sep 24, 2018 12:02 am
James Boyd hasn't moved on -
We as a playing group don't hide away from the fact we were 47 points up during the game. North have been a great side all year and play an exciting, fast paced brand of football that can score quickly. However, momentum is a funny thing in football. And one that can not be measured.
At 3qtr time it was a 20 point deficit, not 40 odd points and in a final that's nothing! For a team to then start the last quarter with 19 players on the field, have numerous inside 50s, score 1.2 in that time to bring the score back to 2 goals early in the last qtr completely shifted the momentum. We as players, along with the coaching staff in the box, were wondering how they had an extra player free so it effected our teams structure severely. We then decided to drop a loose back to try and stifle the flow as we don't know where this spare is coming from which changed the whole dynamic of the game for that period and beyond. For the Judge to say that the extra player had no impact whatsoever clearly shows they had limited understanding of the situation as the loose player from the back of the square kicked the first behind of the last qtr!!
No impact?? Ok then!!
You can maybe understand 30 secs or even a minute and put it down to a miscommunication at the break but for a football club to be notified that their player named on the bench wasn't there and knowing that was happening and not do anything about it for over 4 minutes is nothing short of disgraceful. Furthermore, for them to make an interchange at the 45 second mark of the final qtr and to not realise then and pull a player immediately from the ground to me seems staggering. It was then 3 minutes after this that a player finally came from the ground. In this time they had scored 8 points.
At the absolute least no matter what the score, them winning by 20 points or 5 points the points in which they scored by having 19 players on the field should be wiped whether it meant they still win the game or not. In this case justice would have been served and their score deducted meaning the result overturned.
Its got nothing to do with next year. No one could care less the sanctions they get for next year. It's the fact that a game of football, hours, weeks, months of dedication and to be defined by an act of cheating and allowed to get away with it is disgraceful and something (they) have to live with!
If both parties in the end were happy for a rematch seems like that outcome is at least honourable, play it during the week and keep the grand final on Sunday. We as a football club were more than happy to put our hands up to do so.
They get an independent one-man tribunal, retired Supreme Court judge Michael David QC in to make the decision and so he comes to the conclusion that the most suitable outcome is to have a rematch, then saying that he doesn't have that option or the right to award that a rematch take place. Isn't that the whole point of getting another body in to make the decision for you? Yet he wasn't allowed to make the decision he deemed fair..
For the AFL to come out and say their governing body would have changed the outcome and overturned the result had this happened in an AFL game is telling you something. I didn't see Lance Armstrong just get a fine and keep his awards. Steve Smith, Dave Warner and Cameron Bancroft didn't just get a fine and were allowed to play the next test match... Guilty of cheating but can still play in a Grand Final the next week?? At the end of the day, cheating is cheating. Intentional or not.
He then goes on to say that the reversal of the result is too savage a penalty?? Did he consider that not reversing the result was equally a savage penalty to the Eagles? If we break that down, the Eagles were the innocent party. The penalty for the Eagles was elimination. North were the guilty party (grossly negligent – at fault). The penalty for North was elimination. Why is it that the penalty for North is too savage, when that is precisely, in effect, the outcome for the Eagles??
How every expert that has played or been involved in the game, greats of our game, people who have been around football or reporting on it for a long time can see exactly what the right and fair outcome is and yet (they) can't absolutely staggers me!
Coming from a players point of view, how our season has been made to come to an end not to mention the club, families, supporters, and wider communities it has and will continue to effect, think everything's fine now and we'll sweep it under the carpet with the grand final this weekend is an absolute travesty in itself. It's something my teammates (brothers) and I will take sometime to get past and something we won't ever forgive or forget with the way it was handled and dealt with.
A rematch at the absolute bare minimum was what should have taken place.