TOPIC:

Incredibly soft on Franklin's charge. Thought it was worth minimum of 2 weeks on plea. He went for the player intentionally to harm him. VERY SOFT penalty. Tippett's was right. Franklin has a licence to kill.

Leather Stops wrote: Incredibly soft on Franklin's charge. Thought it was worth minimum of 2 weeks on plea. He went for the player intentionally to harm him. VERY SOFT penalty. Tippett's was right. Franklin has a licence to kill.

One week is one week more than I thought he would get. One wonders whether someone like Ballantyne would have got one week for the same offence. Personally 3-4 weeks should have been the penalty.

It's becoming a blight on and an embarrassment to the game now. Yeo got the same penalty a few weeks back, tell me they were the same? Franklin should have been suspended many times in the past for much worse offences than other players were suspended for. Just how much do they want Sydney to succeed, they have to let them win on thier merits sooner or later. Agree with Swan this was a 3 - 4 week suspension.

JB wrote: It's becoming a blight on and an embarrassment to the game now. Yeo got the same penalty a few weeks back, tell me they were the same? Franklin should have been suspended many times in the past for much worse offences than other players were suspended for. Just how much do they want Sydney to succeed, they have to let them win on thier merits sooner or later. Agree with Swan this was a 3 - 4 week suspension.

Perhaps some one can explain the physics of how Tippett could pssibly be attempting to spoil when he has his arm bent at the elbow and where his elbow is closer to the player's jaw and the ball than his fist. Both should clearly have recieved at the very minimum 3 weeks each. Rules for one and different rules for others.

JB wrote: It's becoming a blight on and an embarrassment to the game now. Yeo got the same penalty a few weeks back, tell me they were the same? Franklin should have been suspended many times in the past for much worse offences than other players were suspended for. Just how much do they want Sydney to succeed, they have to let them win on thier merits sooner or later. Agree with Swan this was a 3 - 4 week suspension.

As a SPORT afl is becoming more irrevelent. Its all to do with $$$ and entertainement ( lets make sure the big stars are on show). The time will come when people will realise its becoming more like a reality show than a sport. Sad really

UNKA2 wrote:

JB wrote: It's becoming a blight on and an embarrassment to the game now. Yeo got the same penalty a few weeks back, tell me they were the same? Franklin should have been suspended many times in the past for much worse offences than other players were suspended for. Just how much do they want Sydney to succeed, they have to let them win on thier merits sooner or later. Agree with Swan this was a 3 - 4 week suspension.

As a SPORT afl is becoming more irrevelent. Its all to do with $$$ and entertainement ( lets make sure the big stars are on show). The time will come when people will realise its becoming more like a reality show than a sport. Sad really

I am by no means an Eagles' supporters but what he got compared to Franklin and Tippett is an absolute disgrace.

UNKA2 wrote:

JB wrote: It's becoming a blight on and an embarrassment to the game now. Yeo got the same penalty a few weeks back, tell me they were the same? Franklin should have been suspended many times in the past for much worse offences than other players were suspended for. Just how much do they want Sydney to succeed, they have to let them win on thier merits sooner or later. Agree with Swan this was a 3 - 4 week suspension.

As a SPORT afl is becoming more irrevelent. Its all to do with $$$ and entertainement ( lets make sure the big stars are on show). The time will come when people will realise its becoming more like a reality show than a sport. Sad really

One of the more profound statements on the issue and one I am in total accord with.

Players have been reduced to overpaid circus clowns. Rigged fixturing, different rule interpretations for different players, endless rule changes to appeal to some demographic or other...its all about the money.

Footy is in a death spiral of increasing irrelevance as it morphs from its original unique form into a bastardised amalgam of every other team sport.

Dazzler wrote: Players have been reduced to overpaid circus clowns. Rigged fixturing, different rule interpretations for different players, endless rule changes to appeal to some demographic or other...its all about the money.

Footy is in a death spiral of increasing irrelevance as it morphs from its original unique form into a bastardised amalgam of every other team sport.

Yes true and us older wiser types have seen the change in "our" game, its not really "our" game anymore of course. Younger people don't know what we are all fussing about, they rave about todays game and describe games that have a 15 goal to 13 goal game as a SHOOTOUT. The generations will never see eye to eye on the issue of how footy should be played, because they never saw it when we did.

In terms of the match review panel, they have been a joke since marquee players became the foundation of an entire competition. Going right back to when Barry Hall belted a St.Kilda fella in the guts in a preliminary final, only to get let off because of the occasion the following week. Didn't work that way for Crackers Keenan back in the 70's, and that was probably because that was the time when the game was not over run by the media and when the game itself was easy to understand. A spade was called a spade so to speak. These days a spade mentioned is turned into a racial circus for every AFL tabloid in the country, and we spend an entire week talking about this type of over baked horse shit and nothing about the game itself. The game becomes irrelevant to make way for bullshit stories.

jardine wrote:

Dazzler wrote: Players have been reduced to overpaid circus clowns. Rigged fixturing, different rule interpretations for different players, endless rule changes to appeal to some demographic or other...its all about the money.

Footy is in a death spiral of increasing irrelevance as it morphs from its original unique form into a bastardised amalgam of every other team sport.

Yes true and us older wiser types have seen the change in "our" game, its not really "our" game anymore of course. Younger people don't know what we are all fussing about, they rave about todays game and describe games that have a 15 goal to 13 goal game as a SHOOTOUT. The generations will never see eye to eye on the issue of how footy should be played, because they never saw it when we did.

In terms of the match review panel, they have been a joke since marquee players became the foundation of an entire competition. Going right back to when Barry Hall belted a St.Kilda fella in the guts in a preliminary final, only to get let off because of the occasion the following week. Didn't work that way for Crackers Keenan back in the 70's, and that was probably because that was the time when the game was not over run by the media and when the game itself was easy to understand. A spade was called a spade so to speak. These days a spade mentioned is turned into a racial circus for every AFL tabloid in the country, and we spend an entire week talking about this type of over baked horse shit and nothing about the game itself. The game becomes irrelevant to make way for bullshit stories.

You both make some very good points and another one to note upcoming unfortunately with a new television deal to be thrashed out in the near future they won't be suspending "stars" like Franklin, Ablett et al for any extended length of time as it may come back to bite at the negotiating table when discussing ratings figures-dollar values ..ridiculous I know but this is the reality of the commercial entertainment world of "AFL"!!

Yep agree with all, absolute disgrace.
The decision that baffled me the most was that Schulz gets let off for essentially the same thing as Gibbs who cops 2 weeks!?