Something not right about the 28-11 free kick count in favour of Bulldogs, writes Scott Walsh
LATE in the third quarter Saturday night, Channel 7 flashed up a graphic showing the key stats that told the story behind Adelaide’s scoreboard deficit.
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LATE in the third quarter Saturday night, Channel 7 flashed up a graphic showing the key stats that told the story behind Adelaide’s scoreboard deficit.
The five big categories. Disposals, minus 48. Contested possessions, 16 down. Tackles, +5. Clearances, -6. Inside-50s, -25.
In fairness, uglier than socks with sandals.
But the Seven crew missed one. Richmond great and special comments guy Matthew Richardson didn’t. Neither did the angry Twitter universe.
Free kicks.
At the time, it was 18-5 the Bulldogs’ way.
“Five free kicks, Adelaide,” Richardson mused. “It’s not many for the game, is it?”
By the final bell, even with a handful of last-quarter square-ups, it was 28-11 to the home side.
Central to the frustration was the non-calls to Crows players, like when defender Kyle Hartigan was put in a choker hold that would’ve sent Andre the Giant to sleep. “Play on” was the call, and the Dogs strolled into open goal.
The final tally doesn’t count the boundary umps joining the party, when Eddie Betts straddled the boundary and delivered to Josh Jenkins in the goal square, only for the ball to be called back for a throw-in.
Seven boundary rider Cameron Ling, sitting directly behind the line of the ball, reckons it was still in play.
By late in the final term, umpires started dishing out two-for-one deals to the Doggies. Jack Redpath had a free on centre wing, when Liam Picken came off the bench and ran into Hartigan on the mark, and won a free for a high tackle. Despite his team-mate already holding it.
Even Crows coach Don Pyke, whose game-day heart rate measures only slightly higher than a rock, started forcing himself to laugh off the calls.
And, sure by the end, those other stats made a solid case. All up, the Doggies won the clearances 41-24. Contested possessions 162-140. Inside-50s 68-37.
Faced with numbers like that, it was a bloody miracle Adelaide wasn’t down by triple figures, rather than just three points, in the final two minutes.
Yet, there they were. Eight goals to forward Josh Jenkins made up for a single major between Taylor Walker and Eddie Betts, while Sam Jacobs’ effort in the ruck was typically brilliant.
All with a free-kick count more one-sided than a schoolboy’s detention story.
Originally published as Something not right about the 28-11 free kick count in favour of Bulldogs, writes Scott Walsh
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