Free Kick Bulldogs | 2016 AFL Grand Final

The Bulldogs had an incredible finals run in 2016, but did the umpires play a part?
Early in 2016 the phrase "Free Kick Hawthorn" became popular as the hawks seemed to be able to receive free kicks in games they weren't even playing in. As the season developed, the real leader in umpire favouritism revealed themselves; the Western Bulldogs comfortably lead the league in free kick differential per game. While their manic pressure and quick hands no doubt translated well to September footy, is it possible that the umpires played a part in this fairytale ending to the 2016 AFL Season?
Free Kick Bulldogs looks at some of the more contentious calls made (or not made) in the second half of the 2016 AFL Grand Final. You could argue (and i'm sure people will) that some of these decisions were correct, but even the AFL admitted that many were not.
This takes nothing away from the incredible season (and particularly finals series) the Bulldogs were able to put together. Although I was supporting the Dogs in this Grand Final, I couldn't help feel sympathy for the Sydney Swans players and their fans.
Music: bensound.com

[@freekickhawthorn5318]

No I am not a triggered Sydney Fan, I was actually supporting the Dogs in the 2016 GF. Here is the original video for Free Kick Hawthorn: kzbin.info/www/bejne/mpC6cpicdrasedk

[@heppou4658]

It's actually free kick buddy he did more then hodge but he didn't get a week

[@itswillabotic592]

Do free kick Geelong

[@trevorlucas780]

Freekick Hawthorn good on you mate and I get this is a joke

[@trevorlucas780]

Freekick Hawthorn what team do u go for

[@freekickhawthorn5318]

Crows

[@jacobmcnamara9691]

freekick bulldogs ---------------------------- enter title text here

[@freekickhawthorn5318]

Rookie error! Could have sworn i typed something in there...

[@jacobmcnamara9691]

haha all good. v good vid

[@jamestiehuis6239]

Freekick Hawthorn you are a dumbass

[@aiddo0585]

Jacob McNamara the Imovie editing 😂

[@mylunawalker]

Okay 1:43 That FREE KICK COUNT THOUGH

[@AMW1able]

I actually don't mind Stringer's mark attempt not being pinged. It wasn't super obvious that he didn't make contact, you can't expect the umpire is going to see whose hand made contact when they're that close. We see it the other way in marking contests all the time where the umpire can't tell if another set of hands touched the ball before being marked and so the umpire gives the player the benefit of the doubt and awards the mark, and personally I feel that's how it should be adjudicated. If you're not sure that a rule has been broken, or that a ball has been touched in a marking contest, call play on/a mark. Better to miss a free kick than pay an incorrect one. Other than that, the rest should be textbook, especially the pushes in the back, though the one that annoys me the most is when a player is already on the ground, and a player dives on top of said player to make sure they can't get the ball out. To me, that shouldn't be a free kick. Not many options for the tackler in that situation. Same applies to a perfectly legal tackle but the tackler "falls" into their opponent's back while taking them to ground. The AFL wants to stamp out sling tackles, and that's fair enough, but you're penalising players for something that isn't really their fault in an otherwise perfectly legal tackle, then what's the incentive to tackle?

[@Whoknowsuknow]

You missed about 8 throws

[@kovaci0000007]

my thoughts exactly. i was there that day and it was even more obvious at the ground, the dogs fans around us were cringing at some of the non-calls

[@nickhoggan9988]

I reckon Sydney only threw it 7 times. Which I guess is about 8. So fair call.

[@fatlad69_94]

I’m the Stringer speckie, he did make contact with the ball on his left hand.

[@CautiousKieran]

Sounds like you work for the AFL.

[@fatlad69_94]

CautiousKieran yeah I do I’m the CEO

[@elliotlivingston9693]

No he didn’t, the Sydney player in front makes contact and pushes the ball away from stringers hand, making it look like he touched the ball when he clearly didn’t

[@jonathanalbanese5665]

FatLad69 _ Sounds like you've got your hand on it (left or right).

[@pumpkinboy3419]

@@CautiousKieran what do u mean what game r u watching right here clearly made contact should of gone to Specsavers

[@shreyasdev7957]

bahahahahha the one where the two Bulldogs clashed together QUACKED me up.

[@chriseddelbuttel9332]

An umpiring review is rarely made public, but as someone who had a job writing reports on umpires the only 2 decisions on this clip I thought were right were Stringers' mark attempt and one of Biggs'. Rampe's hold and Hanneberrys' were terrible decisions.

[@2222badger2222]

actually if you watch it carefully stringer was pushed in the back while jumping , however it was the inconsistency that favoured the Bulldogs

[@PetraKann]

Swans and the Hawks were slammed in the end. Did you bother to look at the scoreboard? It wasnt a 1 point game my friend. The Bulldogs were unbeatable in that 2016 finals series - the best month of finals footy I have seen any team play (and I have lived through 8 Carlton premierships)

[@PetraKann]

@Soussy Are you suggesting that the AFL and the Umpiring profession have being biased AGAINST the Sydney Swans? Have you been watching the AFL since the 1990s?

[@PetraKann]

@Soussy The AFL gave the Swans an extra 1 million in their salary cap justifying it on the cost of living in Sydney. That lasted for quite a few seasons. The Swans management didnt spread the 1 million dollars across the playing group so that players can afford coffee in Sydney which was 30 cents more expensive than say Melbourne. They used the 1 million to snatch yet another marque player to the club (or perhaps 2 very good players). Everybody in Football knew it was a scam in order to giver the Swans a leg up. Now that there is a second Team in NSW, this scam was not sustainable.

[@mikeg6606]

If you don't think the umps handed them this game you weren't there. 0 free kicks in the 2nd and 3rd quarters to the Swans - rarely if ever happened before in AFL history, and particularly not to good team often first to the ball. #Bravedogs benefited from unprecedented free kick discrepencies throughout the finals that year.

[@supercoachswan5577]

I’m a Collingwood fan and I was going for the dogs but that Rampe won was pretty obvious free kick

[@bishgroundwork3089]

everyone was going for the dogs for the fairytale including the umpires.

[@heathman1312]

Mate u don't know the below the knee rule it's when the guy is standing and gets tripped not when both players go to ground

[@jeremylovel5418]

It s not free kick bulldogs it's just not free kick Sydney

[@allanwhite3264]

yes totally agree, the old umpires double edged sword.

[@harrymiller5754]

It’s free kick nobody! This free kick ballshit is a waste of everyone’s time for god sake.

[@joshoconnor7874]

As a Sydney fan who was at the game it’s so frustrating because at half time we were well and truly in the game and then all of that second half shit happened

[@bigdubby3550]

ive watched this atleast 20 times and most of my mates just said "the swans choked so bad" smh.

[@nickhoggan9988]

Your mates are right.

[@Aviationonpoint899]

@@nickhoggan9988did you even watch the video?

[@nickhoggan9988]

@@Aviationonpoint899 I did. It's a right old laugh. When I'm feeling a bit down I just come in here and watch this video and read the comments and the amount of nuffies in here and it just cheers me up no end.

[@dejeynes]

The shocking part to me is that Sydney laid 101 tackles and didn't receive a single holding the ball free kick. Terribly umpired game

[@manuellopez1956]

Well spotted. My eyesight's not too flash - what's the umpires' excuse? I'm no Swan barracker, but they were seriously robbed. Hanneberry was effectively taken out after an illegal tackle that damaged his knee - no report, not even a free! While I admired how the Bulldogs played in 2016, this final is tainted IMHO.

[@MR_BIANCONERO]

Freekick Hawthorn, but then its free kick bulldogs. Beware grand final winner

[@bishgroundwork3089]

hawthorn never got a free kick count like this. especially in a grand final. worst ever.

[@chrispearson8159]

1:37 for all those fans that dont think this game was rigged

[@harrymiller5754]

Chris Pearson it’s not rigged

[@yourmother1040]

Chris Pearson explain why it’s rigged

[@Natc2325]

8 subscribers with no Content look at the free kick count, and it just happens to show up while Papley had his legs swept out from under him

[@aiddo0585]

Kinda sad how people think just because a team has more free kicks apparently it’s because umpires were favouring them. Everyone can talk trash about other teams but they know they do it too.

[@sonnypodger2076]

Correct go dogs

[@brendanchan8375]

The rampe macrae marking contest was dog. Macrae had full hold of rampe and even pulled him to ground while rampe was trying to grab the ball

[@jsjjsdhhehehshs6447]

Does this guy even know the rules of the game he is saying people are tripping other people when their just going for the ball

[@nickhoggan9988]

I think the existence of this video is pretty clear proof he has absolutely no fucking idea what the rules of the game are. Some absolute bullshit contained within.

[@mongoose40d29]

You're very selective, and everyone can see that you're just wrong about Stringer's contact there. Looks like Biggs actually dropped it onto your man's foot there by the way, not sure exactly how the rules work there. Obviously the final one on McClean was the Swans boy losing it cause he'd well, lost, they gave a couple of dumb ones away in those last few minutes like that. But yeah, dogs definitely got lucky with the umpires more, sure, but there were mistakes which went the Swans' way and half their players barely turned up (according to Longmire himself, one was even delisted) and they over-relied on an injured Franklin. The 3-4 frees that the Swans should (and they should) have got wouldn't have won the match on its own, not to mention the questionable free on Matthew Boyd that handed the Swans a goal and the umps missing a really blatant high on Picken INSIDE the goal square. Its really just the hold on Rampey and the slide on Hanners, its a shame they missed those but it seems pretty implausible that they would have turned the result. Its a bit like trying to say Richmond only won because of frees, and they REALLY do get away with some crazy crap as well as a suspiciously easy draw (last six matches at the G in a row this year), without considering how many mistakes they force onto the other team etc. If anyone has a right to complain, and this pains me to concede, its probably Magpie fans after Rioli's body-block last year, because that call really, truly could have changed the entire result on its own. Oh and by the way, this was the third of four times that the Dogs beat the Swans in a row. Some teams just do disproportionately well against certain others, see the Swans vs the Eagles for example.

[@coadycamcoad7352]

Totally agree. My view on finals games is that the 50/50 stuff should be called play on as the whistle should be put away during those desperate feats. It would have been so wrong to pull out a free kick against Biggs in the middle of that passage of play. If you listen to the abc broadcast, they were (with exception to the ex swans Irishman) more than happy with the play-maker getting the rub of the green. When Tadhg started sooking about the count they put him in his place.

[@braydiewright7043]

3:05 clear contact with the ball

[@samdrew7847]

Braydie Wright finally someone realised

[@danieljarmann87]

It came off 35 hand not stringers and even then the rule he was saying is wrong. The rule is if you go up and have an unrealistic effect on the contest it was a free kick, he was never going to get to it and never touched the ball, it screams free kick.

[@billytrott2789]

Bro all these are fair calls and all the "contact below the knees" stuff is just going for the ball and the umpire cant always be in the right spot to see a free kick.

[@itself2081]

why are they umpires then? they are trained to adjust to these circumstances. umpires are paid a lot to make calls 100% accurate

[@muyang3176]

they can get 1 or 2 wrong calls a game but not 15 or something.

[@sonnypodger2076]

On ya bill

[@nickhoggan9988]

@@muyang3176 Good thing they didn't make 15 or something incorrect calls then.

[@henrydennis4385]

I love the thumbnails

[@asherparkin8927]

It is much harder to see these as a ref not getting a birds eye veiw

[@charli.herriot]

exactly. and it's not like the umpires are watching it in multiple times in slow motion like we are. they have to watch so much as well they could have just as easily picked some of these up and missed something else

[@CameronHicksss]

How did I you find these pics but still a history win

[@shannen1499]

Most people in western sydney support both teams because back in the day it was just swans but now that the Giants are here everyone in NSW hates those dogs

[@davidc9176]

When you make a video like this, make sure you include free kicks payed in favour of Sydney as well, so that we can have an objective look at the standard of umpiring.

[@DanstarProject]

Exactly

[@MrSuicidal69]

That might be difficult as they only got a few in four quarters of a tightly fought contest. Salt only poured into the wound days later when Gil and the gang actually admit the umpiring was sub par. Have a soft spot for the Dogs but this was just some VFL fantasy. I don't believe the umpiring was any better in the Finals game the Dogs played against the Giants a week earlier.

[@MadMax-ji8tq]

@@MrSuicidal69 very true Darren. The dogs were spoon fed that premiership. They haven't played finals since, gee's umps help'em out

[@snoo2496]

David learn to count. 20 is more than 8

[@bishgroundwork3089]

all 8 of them

[@osilko2362]

The one where he takes a speky he made contact with the ball xD it ricocheted of Sydney player on to jake stringers hands lol

[@yourmother1040]

PandaBoy Legacy like that’s never happened before

[@shux422]

2012 Grand Final free kick count : Hawthorn 21 Sydney 10. Never gets mentioned and yet sooky la la Swannies fans are still melting over 2016 to this day. I wonder why one is considered a sign of corruption and the other isn't worth worrying about? Couldn't be the respective scorelines could it?

[@kovaci0000007]

Why would swans be carrying on about a grand final they won? you're not very bright are you. I was there in 2012 and how Stevic umpired that game was disgusting, infact that would have been one of they very few games Swans have won with Stevic umpiring. It is borderline corruput how much certain umpires hate certain teams

[@shux422]

@@kovaci0000007 cheers, thanks for validating my point. So you confirm a) the sooking only occurs when you lose, b) you most certainly can still win even when (in my best Essendon voice) "the umps slaughtered us" The Dogs won by 22 points running away. Only the most one-eyed, below average intelligence, stubborn, and stupid football follower would say the Swans were the better team that day. Outside Josh Kennedy & Heath Grundy the Swans didn't have a winner on the ground. It shows a distinct lack of grace to have carried on the way the Swannies have.

[@kovaci0000007]

@@shux422 you're a bit slow hey. Why the fk would you worry about umpiring when you win a gf? Infact it's even more impressive when you win and beat the umpires too. Stop embarrassing yourself kid 😂 go read the articles to do with the 2016 gf, commentators, players, coaches all thought it was corrupt, only the most brain dead moronic fans can't see it that way

[@stephenbingham5935]

It did get mentioned clown. As an example of " neutral umpiring" by such neutral talking heads as Brereton and Dunstall.

[@sydneyrule]

No it's because this shithouse team that I can't fucking stand can fuck off with their drought and their flag they beat us at the scg it was such a bullshit #fuckthedoggies and their coach fuck em all can't stand any of their players

[@Jordan51203]

I'm guessing you're doing free kick Richmond this year

[@KRW1612]

Richmond had 21 players on the ground throughout the game. They dropped the ball when tackled, they held opposition arms when competing, they pushed in the back when chasing, they kicked blindly toward the boundary line and out, they took the ball out of the ruck and incorrectly disposed of it, they pulled opposition jumpers, they ran too far and did not dispose of it legally, looked at a defender and stiff armed him as he was clearly going for and had eyes on the ball yet WERE NEVER FUCKING PENALISED! ...and sufferingly in some of those situations the cheatpires paid free kicks to Richmond.

[@Jordan51203]

KRW1612 you are an absolute legend.

[@Brad_hj2tuff]

Jordan 51203 both of you didnt seem to see all the unfair calls against richmond? Your in denial if you think 5 more free kicks caused a 8 goal flogging

[@Jordan51203]

Brad Bater I hate to admit it but I'm lost. Are you for or against Richmond? Cause we were just being sarcastic.

[@KRW1612]

@@Brad_hj2tuff The only Grand Final in history where a free kick is given in the first second of the game. Cotchin grabs Sloane's arm and Sloane grabs a bit of jumper. BOOM instant free kick to Cotchin. What a joke. Jenkins mauled over shoulder and neck going for a mark 'no free kick', Eddie Betts running into an open goal being pulled back by the arm without having taken possession of the ball and commentator Brian Taylor repeating 4 times that Eddie's being held. Blatant push in the back to Jacobs that led to a pathetic deliberate out of bounds as a Richmond player stood and waited for it to go out. Caddy turning around and blocking Hartigan's marking attempt only for the cheatpire to give a free to Caddy for unrealistic attempt although Hartigan did not jump or leap over the blocking Caddy.

[@alexanderjones9440]

Wood getting the free for high is ridiculous. Play on

[@ethandavies8989]

The first one the Sydney bloke didn’t even try to get the ball

[@whitturne]

Ok so you say below the knees, both the Wood one and the Morris one was above the knee. You even zoom in on the Morris one and it is marginally above. The McClean one should have been paid. Look closely, Stringer did make contact with the ball so the attempt was realistic. A few of the in the backs you mentioned the Bulldogs player didn't drive them into the ground which is often what triggers the free. They supported themselves with their arms to not land on top of the Sydney players back. All of these you can understand why the umpire made the decision they did. Sydney no doubt got the worst of the umpiring but it wasn't close to affecting the outcome of the game.

[@MrSuicidal69]

Keep dreaming Glen. If I remember rightly the frees to the Dogs had ballooned out to about 18-3 at one stage in the third quarter and they gave a few late in the game to Sydney to try and pad it out a bit. Atrociously umpired game that had the AFL's fingerprints all over it in favour of the local team. Have no hate for the Dogs but when the AFL actually admit the umpiring was sub par days after the game you know this granny was on the nose. I don't recall the umpiring in the Dogs Final against the Giants being any better.

[@nickhoggan9988]

@@MrSuicidal69 Soooooo, you'd just prefer the umpires to make up free kicks to Sydney to make an arbitrary pair of numbers even up? Feels about right...

[@MrSuicidal69]

@@nickhoggan9988 I can just imagine the Melbourne media and football community going into meltdown if Sydney had done into the final quarter with a 18-3 free count.

[@nickhoggan9988]

@@MrSuicidal69 We'll never know because Sydney don't play that game style. They're over 600 Free Kicks IN THE NEGATIVE over the past 20 years because of the styles of game played by Roos and Longmire. But lets not use that little nugget of fact, coupled with the other fact that the Bulldogs have consistently been amongst the sides who concede the least Free Kicks since 2015 (Beveridge's employment). Please note, they do not get given the most, but CONCEDE the least. So really we shouldn't even be the LEAST surprised by this free kick differential at all. But lets not let facts get in the way of a good whinge, shall we?

[@damonclark3163]

That first one is a classic situation that umps stuff up. Constantly that is called high when it is both ducking and sliding in.

[@richmondtigersfan1330]

Can you do a vid on all the umpires who slipped up at any time? Coming from a tigers fan

[@wvvw4036]

Coby Bourke I'd see why you'd want that, the Tigers copping the brunt of the umpires' wrath and all.

[@Frankcis_memes]

@@wvvw4036 that’s a funny joke

[@cjb2266]

You cannot count the Biggs tackle around the neck when Mills clearly ducked, since you counted the Toby McLean one the other way for dropping one shoulder (aka The Joel Selwood Cheat Technique).

[@educational-101]

Its a stretch many of those. Toby Maclean is good at drawing high contact, but the tackling was still very piss poor.

[@cjb2266]

#1 was not a slide at all - bending down to grab the ball should NEVER be punished. Look at where the Sydney player's hands are - no duty of care for a kick in the head shown at all.

[@micaheld.768]

That hanger with stringer he made contact

[@nashcook5774]

Whoever has a successful year people automatically think it's cause of the umps. Brisbane get stupid frees from time to time but no one says anything about It

[@sk8foryellow168]

true, but the hawks defiantly got frees by the umps, not saying they wouldnt have won the grand finals tho

[@lukeparon6213]

Prestige NC Rhys mattheson

[@noz6331]

Its just beastmode tho

[@dans9782]

True

[@missuniverse9618]

tall poppy syndrome

[@maccajf1]

Full disclosure from a Swans supporter. For me the one that had the most impact is the first one in this video. 50secs to go before half time, Swans 8pts up with the momentum, terrible decision (umpire guessed from the wrong angle), 50 against Smith for assuming we had the free, Bulldogs go down and get a goal when we should have been in attack with a chance to increase the lead. Moments and momentum do matter. The injuries to Buddy early and Hannebury late also didn't help but having had 2005 and 2012 can only say about time and congrats to the Bullys

[@matlamotte8651]

2:27 they were both going for the ball u no nothing about afl

[@tedmackie7725]

Mat Lamotte you have got to be kidding me

[@nickhoggan9988]

@@tedmackie7725 No, he'd dead serious. And have a look at where the contact on Hannebery is. ABOVE the knee. The only reason Hannebery is hurt form this is because he has his foot past the ball and it is planted. This could just as easily have happened with a hip and shoulder.

[@LeafWasp]

Let's keep quiet about it all and sweep it under the carpet! Watched it and felt it was fairly obvious to most neutral supporters with an IQ above 12 that the AFL wanted to give the dogs one.

[@roastbeef6239]

Finally someone with a brain!

[@luke1847]

Smokey mango someone with a brain? Huh, it doesn’t fucking matter if bulldogs have been too shit to have not won a premiership in 500 fucking years you can’t favour a team, otherwise there is no point of being competitive they might as well just give the win to bulldogs before they started. They actually have to earn it fairly

[@Natc2325]

1milsubswithnovids they should have to earn it fairly, but the dogs didn’t

[@tobythedevil1874]

Most of these are pushes in the side

[@nickhoggan9988]

In the side, OR don't land in the back, which is the way the rule is adjudicated when tackling from behind. But let's not let actual facts get in the way of this guys FaCtS....

[@chromium5988]

Biased much? At least half of those looked like the correct call. I notice that you didn't show any of the bad/non-calls that went against the Bulldogs, of which there were several. 2 of the so-called slides were just a player bending down to pick up the ball. What should they do, not put their head over the ball and just stand there or kick it off the ground?

[@MitchyPlayzz]

several? look at the free kick count mate

[@chromium5988]

@@MitchyPlayzz Ah, so the free kick count is supposed to even? Gotcha

[@MitchyPlayzz]

@@chromium5988 the free kick count is alrady even. 20 is even and 8 is even, besides the so 'non-calls' against the dogs when they already had 5 kjhvillion free kicks already

[@matlamotte8651]

2:03 thats easily hold in the ball he had heaps of time to get rid of it

[@Natc2325]

Mat Lamotte but the point is he legally disposed of it so it can’t be holding the ball, and it wasn’t even called holding the ball til after he got rid of it

[@bobthellama6988]

how?? he broke the tackle, and disposed of it legally. It's only HTB if you don't dispose of the ball legally or fail to break the tackle

[@nickhoggan9988]

@@bobthellama6988 Because in that situation the breaking of the first tackle is his "prior opportunity". The moment you break the first tackle you must get rid of it before being tackled the second time. The fact he held it for a full second before disposing of it means he's "holding the ball".

[@itsedje22]

2:00 mate he broke through 1 tackle without hand balling then went through the other he had it for too long

[@liftjoy920]

He gets the hand ball off u can Clearly see that

[@nickhoggan9988]

@@liftjoy920 Getting the handball off cleanly is not the issue. The issue is he breaks the first tackle, has opportunity to get rid of the ball and doesn't before the second tackle is laid.

[@CautiousKieran]

A few of them are there, but a lot are a stretch. Did you consider reading the rules on holding the ball, or high contact before making this? Mclean might drop his knees to get low like Selwood does but its not a ducking motion. The below the knees ones are egregious but I reckons its better for the game that a lot of them are let go, given its two players tryna get low to compete for the ball. the umps certainly had a 'spirit of the game' interpretation rather than being whistle happy which I think makes for a better granny.

[@jakemedved5680]

Do you go for the Hawks because I do

[@mattkoch2969]

can you do a richmond video like that

[@josephgeordielogan4399]

For Jake stringers specks attemp he touched the ball look at it closely

[@bayleeeldridge2378]

i know right

[@matlamotte8651]

The last one he did not duck it was just a sloppy tackle

[@heathbeveridge9449]

Mate there was a couple frees missed that should of been paided but a lot of them u said weren’t frees like the wood one isn’t free u have got that one wrong and a lot r 50/50

[@flynneastwood6091]

the holding the ball was called because he tried to get through 2 people and he held it to long

[@restiflyer2471]

But on the stringer specky attempt he did make contact with the ball look carefully you can see his fingers go back

[@samuelh1277]

You have to remember the umpires have different angles to the play

[@mentosssa]

Watched the Jake Stringer Attempt to mark, still can't really tell if his finger moved after touching the ball... 😐

[@bayleeeldridge2378]

You need to take into account the angle on which the umpires see things not just the camera view

[@simona3067]

Umpires should adjudicate on the basis of what they see, not guesses about what they can't see.

[@chrismavrokostidis927]

I go for Hawthorn free Kick hawks for days

[@har234908234]

1. Maclean had time to pick up the ball stop and brace for impact... Jack was playing Italian football looking for a penalty. 2. Tackle starts high, and gets him high. What do you think the umpire looks for! 3. Player is already falling forward after fumbling... umpire looks for the 'falling to the side' positioning of the tackler. 4. Looks like a free from this angle. A little bit soft (1/4) 5. Jack creates the 'in the back' - turns and stops... tackler releases and puts arms out preventing himself from landing in the back. 6. Maybe a trip but the contact starts at the waist. 7. I would say holding the ball. You can see the umpire in the shot. (2/7) 8. Definitely a tunnel. Morris would probably call that a professional free kick. (3/8) GF rules? 9. High fend off x2... how could anyone miss that. 10. High contact, but play on. (4/10) 11. Definitely a free (5/11)... but expecting a captain of a footy club in a grand final not to go for that is kinda insane! 12. Like to see a little earlier as hard to know if the umpire isn't giving the benefit of the doubt for not hearing play on called in the air. (6/12) 13. Got a touch. 14. Where's the quack quack! 15. Play on in 2023. Not sure in 2016... GF whistle. 16. When he puts his hand on it, he's okay to be dragged away... I'd say holding the man should've been called before. (7/16) 17. Not netball. 18. Paid every week until 2022. I would say that Dogs got the rub of the green, but you've only shown the decisions that went their way.

[@flynneastwood6091]

you obviously dont know the rules of afl theres something called head over the ball earns the free

[@benmckelvie]

0:02 an editing mistake, just wanted to point it out

[@nickhoggan9988]

The whole thing is an editing mistake.

[@GBergroth]

Free kicks are supposed to be fair not even.

[@tobythedevil1874]

How can you be consistently wrong

[@marko5894]

Corruption. If the umpires were just having a bad day then they would have also made some bad decisions in the Swans favour. From memory Scott Jeffrey was the umpire that made the majority of the terrible decisions. I wouldn't be surprised if we heard in 50 years about some sort of shenanigans going on with the AFL being involved. Lets not forget that the AFL banned the Swans from trading players in or out just 12 months earlier despite doing nothing wrong.

[@tobythedevil1874]

@@marko5894 all of the decisions were correct

[@Natc2325]

Mr. Tobias if all the decisions were correct then why would this video have been made? And it’s the only game of footy we’re the AFL have admitted that there was poor umpiring

[@tobythedevil1874]

@@Natc2325 because he's an opinionated peice of shit?

[@tobythedevil1874]

@@Natc2325 it's also not the only game lmao. Tons have happened this year

[@yakob4L]

Why dose it say free kick bulldogs and then title text here you know you can edit that

[@restiflyer2471]

And on that last McLean tackle he didn't even duck

[@tomgoldsmith8717]

We won the premiership so all the comments saying we didn’t deserve shut up

[@itswillabotic592]

Yay new one

[@supercoachswan5577]

All u Bulldogs supporters the Bulldogs vs west coast in the elimanation final the free kick count was 17 Bulldogs to eagles 13 semi final Bulldogs 19 Hawks 14 pf 23 Bulldogs gws 13 and then gf Bulldogs 20 swans 8

[@DanstarProject]

And? It's called discipline and playing to the rules

[@danieljarmann87]

DanstarProject The afl obviously wanted them to win, they also introduced the one week before finals rule just as bulldogs had the injuries, it got them back 7 crucial players and won them the match in Perth, it’s a shame really.

[@Natc2325]

DanstarProject it’s called and extreme free kick deficit that handed the dogs a flag

[@nickhoggan9988]

Do you see a common theme here? Those numbers of Free Kicks granted TO the Bulldogs are about average. What is below average is the number of Free Kicks CONCEDED by them. Which is the discipline and game style taught by Beveridge. It's no coincidence that our FK differential is this way since the moment he joined the club. But nah, the AFL wants the 3rd lowest profile Victorian team to win so they can line their pockets with all those extra $$$ they bring in, so #freekickbulldogs

[@nickhoggan9988]

@@danieljarmann87 The break before finals was introduced because of Ross Lyon and his shithousery of resting his entire side the week before finals the year before, but just keep making shit up.

[@elladorth]

Sydney kicked 6 goals in the second quarter, 4 in the space of around 8 minutes playing time, then they kicked 4 goals for the rest of the game for a total of 10., and you want to blame the umpiring. If they were good enough they would have won... Sydney were so out of gas in the last quarter they could barely raise a gallop, I've seen Clive Palmer move quicker through the corridors of parliament house then they were travelling in the last 10 minutes.

[@eldoran46]

Sydney would have kept the same pace if they weren’t taken out of the game by the umpires… use your brain

[@tonyhempseed7340]

You need to actually learn the rules. Just for a few....How are the Sydney ones, including the lurching forward, are definite pushes in the back yeet the same tackle on Boyd is dropping the ball? There is no rule saying if you don't make contact with the ball (which if you watch closely he gets a fingertip on anyway) it's a free kick - the rule is making an unrealistic attempt, which this wasn't. The second McLean one is a free kick every day of the year, Rampe disposed of the ball properly but the free kick was for holding the ball not incorrect disposal, doing a 360 in a tackle and then getting tackled a second time usually leads to this - unfortunately you don't get a whole quarter to get rid of it. Could go on all night but a very one sided and blinkered view

[@sock1643]

2:21 was 2 players going hard at the footy. That one was stupid. And there were heaps more that you pointed out that were stupid as well. Maybe Hannebery should have gone harder at the footy and he wouldn't have got hurt.

[@sock1643]

Sorry Hannebery shouldn't have put his legs first and maybe he wouldn't have got hurt *

[@samr9198]

Thats the dumbest whinge for a free. If you whinge about the Hannebery one you shouldn’t talk football.

[@FunTableJoe]

I'm personally a port fan, and I was going for Bulldogs in the gf, but then I saw this and I think the swans were robbed

[@DavidJohnson-cd6pe]

The jack one at the beginning and the Paley one at 1.45 are very much the same so were is the difference

[@cjb2266]

Same goes for Papley's "effort" - he went wide of the actual contest and just stuck an arm out whereas the Bulldogs player had both hands on the ball by then. Reward those who get to the ball first with their hands.

[@madhikwooden7614]

It's because bulldog players got to the ball first and there gonna pay the free kick to the team who goes in for the ball head first and they were first to the ball

[@allanwhite3264]

Don't talk crap pal,everybody can see what happened.

[@wombat2628]

I don't think that's true at all. This is the Afl, every single player goes hard and head first for the ball, just because you support the dogs doesn't make them any harder

[@kod5660]

You can see on the video Swans keeping their feet bulldogs diving on the ball they are clear free kicks it is BS what bulldogs got a way with and this is only a small amount throughout the whole game throwing the ball dropping the ball.. The amount of BS decisions that the Bulldogs got against GWS and Sydney were crazy..

[@allanwhite3264]

Bullshit excuse Madhik, you obviously don't know the rules you fool.

[@samward1317]

Is that what happened the 4 times the dogs pushed sydney players in the back?

[@pumpkinboy3419]

0:16 trying to get the ball and trying not to hurt himself I think jack added a bit of mayonnaise to the trip

[@evicavukasinovic9419]

You’re just sad because you’re a Sydney supporter that’s not what happened

[@dougieboxell6505]

Woulda done better if you left the slow-mos out, might have had partly a legitimate point. Most of those "below the knees" instances were contact above the knees. Almost every bulldogs free kick from a high tackle you showed here was indeed a high tackle. You can dip your legs, that's fine, that's not ducking (at least it wasn't back in 2016). Stringer's specky attempt - yes, he touched the ball. Slow-mo really crucified your patently false contention in this instance. A few errors by the umps, especially Rampe's one, sure, but for the most part - dogs were just better. And just to cap off a full retard display, pointing at the free-kick count thinking it's indicative of poor umpiring. Correlation =/= causation.

[@kennec15]

the umpires don't get to slow the play down to make a call unlike in the video an umpire can only make a call based on what he saw, it's not like he gets to review footage before making a call. Basically these umpires have to make these calls on the spot.

[@ligoanthropos6474]

You guys are just triggered that bulldogs are better than Sydney swans, and that bulldogs won the grand final. It’s also getting to the contest first and head over the ball. Apparently you didn’t learn this or you guys have memory loss. It’s the first thing you learn.

[@tobythedevil1874]

The haneberry incident is not a free kick

[@airborne_seal]

half of these are either soft or just missed because the umps are human. stringers' mark was barely touched, also he would have got it if the syndey guy didnt touch it, and the around-the-neck tackle was perfectly legal, the arms stayed below the neck, but because the dogs defender went over the top it looks illegal. the incident where jack (i think) was hurt was a perfectly fair challenge, both players were low to the contest, unfortunate that he walked away with an injury but he didnt take out the legs and its just like a bump: if one player falls, injured, its still a fair bump if there was no head contact. to address my earlier points, this is a grand final, so umps are gonna let some free kicks go. a fair few, such as all the push in the back calls, among others, were just soft free kicks which would likely get paid in a normal match, but people dont want to see stop-start football in a grand final. thats pretty much a universal unwritten rule across all sports when it comes to grand finals: some frees are let go. also, the umpires cant see every single free, so while this was sloppy, its understandable, such as the missed illegal disposals. boyd's charge thru appeared to be barely touched by boyd, so was let go due to poor ump positioning. only way to eradicate those calls is to have 6 umps in the game, but we dont want it to be perfect, thats part of the appeal of the sport. i have to add, the illegal disposal on the kick attempt was, from the umps perspective, slapped out, as were some of the tackles. NOTE: I am neither a dogs fan or a swans fan, im just saying it as it is. show me the sydney frees and i guarantee some of them are shit as well.

[@MitchyPlayzz]

and those missed calls were coincidentally going Bulldog's way?

[@nickhoggan9988]

@@MitchyPlayzz Have a look in the second quarter for Josh Kennedy's goal, and notice Luke Parker absolutely molesting Easton Wood in the marking contest, then tell me "everything went the Bulldogs way". Have a look at the free given to George Hewett in the 4th for his goal from a called throw on Matthew Boyd that wasn't actually a throw, then tell me "everything went the Bulldogs way".

[@jordanbeecroft675]

Mate what about Richmond we never get any frees,u should make a vid about that lol all the free We should get, also I completely agree with this video u can tell who the humps were going for and anyone who calls u jealous are 5 year olds who just started supporting west bulldogs and are probs changing there team already also Richmond had like 3 games this year where we got more frees then the other team some how in the grand final thenumps were actually nice to us keep up the good work and good job bulldogs u won a grand final with the umps 👍🏿

[@nickhoggan9988]

Good lord you're a neanderthal.

[@thefreakkinman1698]

At 2:00 he took to long to get rid of it

[@Natc2325]

The Freakkin Man but it wasn’t called a free kick until he had already disposed of it, not even until McVeigh disposed of it, meaning the free kick was given for incorrect disposal when he clearly got the handball out

[@manman7404]

broken_nat_hardy yeah, it’s not like he completely dont argued/put his arm into dalhaus’s face or anything

[@nickhoggan9988]

@@Natc2325 Just because the call is late doesn't mean it's for incorrect disposal. It was for holding the ball because his prior opportunity to dispose of it was between breaking the first tackle and being caught in the second one.

[@VIGGERSJ]

Living in the past. Whats done is done

[@eagleswings9080]

Don't mind me, just here to mine some salt.

[@boomhost2535]

3:06 Some specky fails don't need a free kick.

[@nickhoggan9988]

Exactly right. He's still perfectly entitled to make that attempt. If the player in front touches the ball stopping him from taking the mark, but he would have marked it or at least been a realistic chance of marking it without that happening, it's not an "unrealistic attempt", is it?

[@alexleung7127]

2022 and we are still talking about free kick Western bulldogs. Obviously the AFL are trying help out Western bulldogs.

[@marcusjay7166]

iM A bulldogs supporter and i have to say there were some free kicks that shouldnt of been paid but then theres some that should of

[@rodney6045]

I was cheering for the doggies on the day but the umps were just disgraceful. It's no surprise though as the doggies are the all-time free kick champions ... afltables.com/afl/stats/frees.html

[@bobthellama6988]

holy shit! and the dogs have been around for 40 years less than the original teams, Melbourne, Essendon, St Kilda, Geelong, South Melbourne, Fitzroy, Collingwood, Carlton

[@nickhoggan9988]

@@bobthellama6988 Except that table runs from 1965 - Current, so that has no bearing on anything. And even then, I still don't know what point it's trying to prove.

[@bobthellama6988]

@@nickhoggan9988 yeah good pickup. what does it prove... dogs just get a bit lucky i guess

[@nickhoggan9988]

@@bobthellama6988 What it does show is that the Dogs aren't the receivers of the most free kicks (though they are high-ish up), but they do concede the least. Most would argue that's discipline, more than luck. They've never been blessed with a team full of stars (bar little patches), so to give the ball away unnecessarily would hurt them more than most.

[@slkran9903]

Who ever did this must be a St Kılda supporter.

[@samdrew7847]

All Sydney supporters imagine if u still had your massive premiership drought still and u had more free kicks than the opposition team and won the prem u would cry and have the same excuses as us I'm sure the Bulldogs are so sorry that they were hungry for the ball and wanted to bring a premiership back to the fans who have been supporting them for their whole lives

[@papleylivesrentfreeinurhead]

we had a 72 year drought buddy. the longest ever and we won it 12 - 13 wce way

[@heathman1312]

Com on mate the umpires aren't Robots

[@woolworthsvsiga1048]

Just because your team can't win grand finals

[@AnthonyyVN]

Woolworths vs IGA He did Free Kick Richmond too

[@tobypedersen1092]

Lachie hunter did make contact with the ball on the speckie

[@CazzKing]

Toby Pedersen he didn’t and it was jake stringer Jesus Christ get your shit together maye

[@nickhoggan9988]

It's Jake Stringer. The only way Hunter could ever get that high is with illegal substances.

[@bunglegamingmusic1784]

Will you change your channel name to free kick bulldogs

[@WOGTASTIC1]

W E S T E R N B U L L D O G S

[@blackbear2690]

And NO I'm not a Dogs fan I was happy for them but don't follow them...the thing that fucks me off with all footy games is when a team loses and the free kick count is a big difference people cry out, since when did the free count have to be even? u pay what's there, the Suns won a match this year (2019) and they had 14 less free kicks but u don't hear about that cause they fucking won it's only in a loss. If a team is playing shit and gets done holding the ball all the time or gets pushes in the back do u want the umpires to look up at the screen and say to each other, shit guys the Pies have 10 more frees we better even it up this quarter guys...fucking stupid if u think frees have to be even at the end of the game...

[@MitchyPlayzz]

it's not about the big difference in the free kick count but why there was a big difference

[@nickhoggan9988]

​@@MitchyPlayzz Because 4/5ths of the "free kicks" in this video aren't free kicks. Simple as that. And if you want to go the other way, look at Josh Kennedys second goal in the second quarter and see Luke Parker absolutely molest Easton Wood in the marking contest for a missed free that ACTUALLY resulted DIRECTLY in a Sydney goal. Or how about the "throw" from Matthew Boyd that wasn't a throw at all, that resulted DIRECTLY in George Hewett's goal? IF anything you can make a case that Sydney were "gifted" two of their goals directly from incorrect calls.