Grand Final

[pjennings]

I've been sitting here on Grand Final day and trying to get excited for the game this afternoon. For the first time I am struggling.

I put it down to a few things.

1) We are not involved - though that hasn't stopped me in previous years.

2) I expect Brisbane to win easily - this is probably the main reason. I see the result as a foregone conclusion and am not looking forward to the Brisbane-fapping media. I may be wrong and Perth may surprise.

3) There has been so much crap going on that I'm happy that the season is coming to an end.

4) I watched the 'Wide World of Sports' this morning. There was not a mention of the largest sport in the world. This on a day of a sellout grand final and a day when we get news that the Aus-Jap game WCQ is to be delayed by 30 minutes to cater for a reported 500,000,000 expected TV audience. I know that football is not the biggest sport in Australia but this is a show that brings you rolling cheese down a hill as a sport.

Is anyone else feeling deflated or is it just me.

 

[Atomic]

I'm with you on that. I'll still watch but only to root for the underdog (I am a Mariners supporter after all, so rooting for the underdog is 2nd nature). I also want to see Danny and Heff win some silverware, esp Danny. Fergie? Meh, I can take him or leave him tbh.

You should watch Offsiders on a SUnday morning, 10:30am ABC. They always seem give the right priority to any sport, depending on the story and the occassion. They did today's GF justice, being lead story and a live interview with Ange, and recorded footage of Fergie from a previous press conference.

 

[adz]

Yeah haven't really been fussed about this either. Fox had to put the highlights package of last year's grand final up again, I watched a bit but couldn't sit through it all. That, added to news stories saying Brisbane are afraid of failing - they didn't get the Premiership, bombed out of Asia, if they lose the Grand Final they come away from this season with nothing - makes me want Perth to get this.

Go Perth!

 

[ballantyne]

I've got this stream
http://www.hahasport.com/v-2/18/194/v-399586.html
but the quality is terrible.
Anyone got a better?

 

[ballantyne]

Heffernan! What a silly man.

 

[bloggo]

How much did Brisbane give the FFA?

 

[ballantyne]

Soft pen

 

[adz]

What a joke

 

[pjennings]

10/10 to the Brisbane diving team.

 

[Mini In Bay 6]

Fitting that the biggest bunch of cheats won the cheating championship.

 

[Mumbles]

What a disgusting display of bad sportsmanship.
To claim a penalty after an embarrassing air swing is unbelievable.

The game has zero credibility!

 

[ballantyne]

No-one can say that Brisbane won the GF fair and square. Heffernan had already blown it for Perth I think, but Berisha can't say the defender didn't touch him. Can you contradict the ref when he gives a penalty against you in your favour?
The whole thing's messy and ugly. It's bad for the game's image.

 

[Brighty]

Soft pen

Yet again, an incorrect decision that not only defined the result of this game, but the whole championship itself.

How many games in this finals series alone have come down to poor & incorrect officialdom???

 

[Mini In Bay 6]

How many games in this finals series alone have come down to poor & incorrect officialdom???

And yet FFA will do nothing because they won't bend around or break FIFA's rules. Which is a shame because crap like this is going to keep on happening until video technology for all pens and controversial goals is adopted which is very much in line with what the community expects. Until that happens we'll be giving ourselves blackeyes.

It's like the MRP, if it was anywhere in line with community standards Berisha wouldn't even get a game. But again FFA won't go around FIFA's rules, so we get situation where Berisha can play act he's injured (like he did against us) and get f'all penalty for it - the community voices it's disgust and Football gets another black eye.

 

[Bex]

This continues to be a major scourge on the game of football.

I'm filled with frustration that the governing bodies allow divers to get away with it week in week out. It empowers players to continue to play for the wrong ruling. And as a direct result, our showpiece game of the season is marred. It was a brilliant game up until that point.

Now I'm just feeling sick. What a horrible way for Perth to lose. And how can Brisbane hold their heads up as winners of the championship? I would be hanging it in shame if I were them.

Fix it FFA. Seriously. For the good of the game.

 

[Mumbles]

Symbolic of the end result Brisbane hold a toilet seat above their heads.

 

[Wombat]

Soft pen

SOFT..............holy f**k that was an abomination!!!!

 

[Wombat]

Another appalling ref decision or conspiracy time again???

Either way it sucks yet again and i'm starting to hate Brisbane.

Imagine what Perez must be thinking looking at that shit.

 

[adz]

I wouldn't go with conspiracy theory, that would suggest the refs know what they are doing and deliberately make dodgy calls in favour of certain teams.

I think the explanation is a lot simpler than that: incompetence.

The refs have no idea wtf they are doing.
The FFA has no idea what it's doing - only need to hear the boos when Ben Buckley etc were introduced after the game.

Not good!

 

[ballantyne]

You get similar situations at the World Cup. It's a blight on the game all over the world. The ref makes his best effort, which is immediately revealed to millions to be wrong. In this case it seals the result of the game and the entire comp. Nichols and reportedly Berisha have said it wasn't a penalty. Other sports have got video refereeing, and this game shows a clear need for it in football.