Yep get involved everyone!! It takes like two minutes or less to set up an account! 
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I’m in - winner will get a mediaspy badge of tipping honour
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I don’t do tipping online but I am thinking that Carlton will win by a thriller over Richmond thanks to Patrick Cripps scintillating form.
I’m in
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Haha I was worried it was just going to be an @TheIdiotBoxAU for a bit there. Thanks for those that joined.
Your thoughts of the 2019 afl season?
- More Scintillating
- will stay the same as last year
- Meh, it will probably take a backwards step
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Will reserve the right to change my vote depending on if my team loses a grand final again
Hasn’t even started yet… so who knows whats going to happen.
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I have just entered turdall’s tipping competition, so every week I will be entering the same tips for both MediaSpy and Delta Goodrem Forum tipping competitions at footytips.com.au
By the way, I came across a general thread on AFL tipping in this forum: AFL Tipping
Can’t wait for the new season to begin!
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Last day to get in before the first game begins tonight. The link is above. There is a few of us who have joined now so should be a bit of fun!
Wow. What a win for Richmond over Carlton in the opening match of the season. Alex Rance 200th match was hit by knee injury. Carlton have lost 7 matches in the opening match of the season. Jack Riewoldt played well.
Mcg crowd was about 84500 people
I’ve been boycotting the AFL for a year and a bit over the disgraceful umpiring against the Sydney Swans. This table, if correct, is quite shocking.
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It is funny that the two teams at the bottom of that table are arguably the two most successful clubs in the last 10-15 years.
Perhaps it just proves it doesn’t matter how many free kicks you get.
Which makes the Swans’ success all the more remarkable, imo. They basically have to play two teams every week. I think the umps have it in for Buddy Franklin in particular (perhaps that’s why Hawthorn are second worst?)
Hawthorn is an interesting one (they are still a very distant second, though). It would be interesting to see the finer detail- perhaps the umps only got tough on them after their premiership success.
Maybe. But maybe its also the way he plays? Some players just play a bit edgier. And that edginess sometimes pays off and sometimes it doesn’t. If Buddy kicks 4 in a week and gives away 4 free kicks he will likely win the game for the Swans so the frees aren’t a big deal.
The trouble is, Buddy can be brilliant one game and a dunce the next. But the avalanche of free kicks against Sydney is a constant, match after match, even when playing at home. I agree that some players bend the rules a little more than others.
I’ll keep a running tally of the free kick count this year for all matches involving either the Swans or GWS. It will be interesting to look at come hayfever season.
Collingwood banner for tonight’s match, referring to last year’s Grand Final.
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It’s an interesting topic that’s for sure. Please do keep a tally. Not trying to stir trouble but I’ve watched a lot of Sydney games live and they do seem to like to niggle and get under the opposition skin. With that sort of tactic comes consequences.
They are also known for their defensive pressure and always have been and obviously with that free kicks against will come.
The defensive (dare we say ugly) play of the Swans is certainly a factor. The worst free kick anomalies were from 2005-2007 when that style was most effective.
I really think there is a strong element of systemic bias in umpiring, though. The astounding number of frees given to West Coast is perhaps even more startling. If you were to run a hypothesis test on the data, you’d probably reject the null hypothesis that there is no systemic bias.
Many of the AFL rules are open to interpretation and thus potential abuse by wayward officials. There are parallels with the black letter law vs principles debate in jurisprudential analysis.
I’m certainly not one to swallow conspiracy theories and would welcome a coherent alternative hypothesis, but the statistics seem to lend some weight to my grievance.
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After Western Bulldogs president Peter Gordon reviewed this week he would support a new Tasmanian team in the next decade, a new push has emerged to have such a team by 2026.
But the key here is the health of grassroots footy in the state. The new AFL team should not come at the expense of clubs in the local leagues. Tasmania needs more people to move there to provide the young talent needed for local clubs which will lead to them drafted by the new Tasmanian team.