Why?

[Bomber_Fan]

Could somebody please explain to me why it seems that we get absolutely no holding the ball decisions in our favour week in week out. Opposition players seem to be allowed to throw the ball or touch the ball to ground and get away with it. Or they're spun around a couple of times and given the benefit of the doubt. I think I counted at least 5-6 occasions this happened tonight. Yet when we get tackled like this, our players are pinned without mercy. Still our tackling needs to improve - too often opposition players have their arms free. At least tonight, tackles weren't being broken as easy as usual but still definitely room for improvement. And this is to Essendon's credit because Adelaide definitely are one of the bigger bodied teams in the AFL.

[Boyler_Room]

Could somebody please explain to me why it seems that we get absolutely no holding the ball decisions in our favour week in week out. Opposition players seem to be allowed to throw the ball or touch the ball to ground and get away with it. Or they're spun around a couple of times and given the benefit of the doubt. I think I counted at least 5-6 occasions this happened tonight. Yet when we get tackled like this, our players are pinned without mercy. Still our tackling needs to improve - too often opposition players have their arms free. At least tonight, tackles weren't being broken as easy as usual but still definitely room for improvement. And this is to Essendon's credit because Adelaide definitely are one of the bigger bodied teams in the AFL.

THought we tackled pretty well tonight, but we weren't rewarded anywhere near well enough. Adelaide players would just drop the ball or throw it away (as you say) or still hold onto it for an eternity and eventually get the pass off without reward for the tackler. They missed a mountain of too high decisions as well... and a bunch of holding the man calls. Wasn't the best game but wasn't why we lost.

[swoodley]

Looking at it objectively, we got quite a few holding the ball decisions paid to us tonight.

Having said that, the umpires missed a shitload of really blatant free kicks (to both sides)

[Bomber_Fan]

Looking at it objectively, we got quite a few holding the ball decisions paid to us tonight.

Having said that, the umpires missed a shitload of really blatant free kicks (to both sides)

I remember only one Swoodley. I don't count the "diving on the ball" as holding the ball decisions - although the umpires got this one right last night and didn't miss any.

[Bomber_Fan]

Looking at it objectively, we got quite a few holding the ball decisions paid to us tonight.

Having said that, the umpires missed a shitload of really blatant free kicks (to both sides)

I remember only one Swoodley. I don't count the "diving on the ball" as holding the ball decisions - although the umpires got this one right last night and were surprisingly consistent.

[hop]

Not the reason we lost - but I still want to take Nicholls and McLaren out for ritualistic torture followed ridicule and then castration.

The most gut wrenching one was the 'non-mark' to Hille in the dying minutes.

How many frees did the throws get inside their forward 50?

[pear]

Not the reason we lost - but I still want to take Nicholls and McLaren out for ritualistic torture followed ridicule and then castration.

The most gut wrenching one was the 'non-mark' to Hille in the dying minutes.

How many frees did the throws get inside their forward 50?

Yeah, that Hille one was a shocker - a mark and a free kick missed.

What about when our bloke got bumped in the head in the 1st qtr (Lovett?) - Better be a report on its way...

[rockhole]

I wonder if the AFL are game enough to give Nichols (#15 bald headed git) an Essendon game in Melbourne over the next few weeks. He simply does not appear to know the rules and has no "feel" for the game. Let's face it. Umpires could award double the number of frees than they do now if they wanted to get really technical. The better ones tend to pay the more obvious frees but at least try to enable the game to flow.

I will cop the 50/50 decisions that go against us, but missing the really blatant errors such as Hile's mark, the dropping the ball incident from a superb Essendon tackle and Slatt's head high tackle are simply inexcusable. Not even a free paid. Whoever the prick was that missed that one should be dropped like any poorly performing player.

At least they showed consistency on diving on the ball.