I’m not convinced video technology would work for goals, and time is the issue. As we can see from other sports - I’m looking at you, cricket - once umpires have the ability to use the third umpire, they become so gun-shy that they want to use them on every decision. It is fine if it was once a month, but once you open to door to video technology, we’d see 10 a game. My solution is four goal umpires - if they position themselves so that they’re either side of the post in question, they’ve got a better chance of being sure, and they can check with each other.
Give goal umpires a break
Hitting the post is over-rated. I think that we should change the laws so that if the ball goes through between the goal posts, it’s a goal, whether it hits the post or not. If it goes through between the goal and point posts, it’s a point. If it hits the post and goes back into the field of play, it’s a point - I’m not a fan of the play-on rule that they tried in the NAB Cup a while ago.
Collingwood - flag favourites
The Magpies deserve to be premiership favourites after their win on the weekend. The big factor at this time of the year is the shape of your list and how well your good players are going, and Collingwood have got everything firing on that front. Ben Reid might be an injury from the weekend, but the quality of their depth gives them a massive advantage.
Cats - still thereabouts
Geelong is now starting to look a little bit like the Brisbane Lions did when they played their fourth grand final in a row - when you’ve been up playing at that high standard for so long, that can sometimes be an issue. You look at the list and they’ve got some injury clouds - Jimmy Bartel’s elbow, Matty Scarlett’s knee, Joel Corey’s missed so much footy, Max Rooke, Josh Hunt, Paul Chapman. It’s one thing having your players out there, it’s another thing - as we saw with the Lions in that Port grand final - to have them playing at their full capacity. If Geelong can get everyone right, they’re still the side that can and will win the grand final. But it’s becoming a bigger “if”.
Swallow the younger
A name to mark down - David Swallow. He’s been scooped up by the Gold Coast, and is playing VFL at the moment. He kicked five goals and had 20 touches on the weekend, and he’s going to be an out-and-out star. Younger brother of Andrew, who won North Melbourne’s best-and-fairest last year, he’s more than ready to play AFL football, and would be doing so if he was on a senior list. It’s a good advantage for the Suns to get a couple into the system already, learning the way they play.
Bulldog tough
It was a really big effort on the weekend from my old team - they had half-a-dozen players who played ill, and Adelaide are tough, as we saw when they beat Geelong a couple of weeks ago. It was a massive result for the Dogs that will give them the chance to finish top four. Their contested possessions and hardness around the contest have been underestimated by a lot of people for a while now. In big games you need to be able to win your own ball, and that has been a criticism of the Dogs for a long time, but I reckon it hasn’t been fair for the last three years. Daniel Cross and Matthew Boyd are just brilliant contested players. Yes, they have players who like to receive on the outside, but the culture down there now is that when it’s your turn, you go get it.
Goodes again
Adam is still showing the value of playing blokes in their correct position - in his last five games since he went back to the midfield, he could have collected 15 Brownlow votes. I reckon that the Swans have got a finals win in them, especially given it is Brett Kirk’s final year. I don’t think they’ll go any further than that, but making the eight and getting a post-season win is what they’re capable of.
The views in this story are those of the author and not necessarily those of the clubs or the AFL.
