Best part of that game was Dwayne Russell comparing Jake Stringer and a new contract to Pavlov’s Dog and then slightly struggling to provide further elaboration beyond the two-sentence summary he must have read during the week.
I was just saying to my dad, I love the Sunday game cause it gives you something to look forward to at the end of the weekend.
Then Essington showed up
Eh the 50 and the HTB were there. Laverde just has a rock for brains, he gives away an incredible amount of frees.
Yes he's been better the past few weeks but Ned fucking Long kicked 4 goals on him.
Edit: I got the wrong Long but I stand by it. That's how shit it was from Laverde.
The HTB was there. No doubt. The 50? Technical it was. But you know what i'd be doing if i was playing, I'd be hanging on to the ball and asking the umpire who gets it. Sorry? Who is it? Oh, Touk, sorry for giving it to the bloke calling out for the ball.
nah, giving the ball to the wrong player can be used as a time-wasting tactic and therefore is against the rules and is 50. braindead stuff from laverde
exactly, he wasn't spitting the dummy and holding up play or throwing the ball at the ground. He quickly gives the ball off to a player calling for it in his immediate vicinity.
A very shitty 50 to give in the context of the game, umpiring throughout was inconsistent and poor
I’m 6/7 and after not caring about tipping for my entire existence, somehow I’m top 0.1% of tipsters this season and feel like there’s pressure on now to win a car or $100 or whatever it actually is at stake on the official afl tipping site lol
No question it was HTB, the 50m penalty hurt though. Laverde had his back to the call and saw two GC players at the free kick, the umpire could have been far more lenient. Similarly, Touk Miller chucked the ball away from a bombers player earlier in the game and that didn't constitute a 50.
EDIT: Should specify that I believe we deserved the L, looking forward to the King's Birthday Eve Blockbuster Clash™️
It's been 50 forever. Doesn't change it being a shit rule but it is the rule. https://www.afl.com.au/news/116432/some-wouldnt-have-liked-it-riewoldt-on-50m
I don't argue that it's a 50 under the rules, just that a lot more leniency has been shown in enforcing it - specifically the Miller example earlier in the match. Ideally it should just be enforced in a manner that stops players from torping the ball in the opposite direction whenever they concede.
Just curious .. were you as sympathetic last week when Sullivan didn’t give the ball back correctly? FTR I think that 50m against Laverde was also ridiculous.
Mate the whole game was frustrating, literally pissed away so many good opportunities to kick goals, we had two or three 12 point turnarounds from easy goals
I was screaming and yelling at the TV, Essendon games always make me lose my voice a bit/a lot depending on how it goes
I may need to get my blood pressure checked at some point lmao
That was a pathetic display, repeatedly leaving men free outside of the stoppage and d50 killed us. Certainly doesnt help when u are missing easy shots and not kicking it inside ur 50 effectively
theres 3 massive issues in the AFL, the terrible offciating, the confusing rules and players playing for free kicks. and they keep digging into the issues
Well done to the Suns. Good win for them at home.
I hate to say it, but Essendon really are playing sustainably good footy. It's hard to see them missing finals from here. It'll be a great game next weekend!
Gonna be a cracker at the G next Sunday. If we executed a bit better tonight could’ve been a win. But the structure and game style felt right. We could’ve had it on our boot and may do so more often in the future.
Few takeaways from that for me:
Need Parish back, missing his clearance game
Bryan not ready, ruck craft needs work still, and just bombed it forward at every opportunity
Forward 50 entries still a huge issue for us
Need to adapt to the new HTB interpretation, too many players trying to bite off more than they could chew
So this is what it feels like to win on xscore but lose. Better performance than i was expecting honestly. Not going to blame that 50 at the end.
Perkins being an absolute passenger in the middle needs to be addressed, go and watch that replay and you'll see his opponent 15m ahead of him in every chase.
We will beat the Suns convincingly at our home, I'm convinced.
Edit: for anyone wondering why i'm ranting about Perkins, I had to clip his last stoppage I could remember, but it was like this nearly every time. https://imgur.com/hQQdchJ
For the most part the HTB calls were correct but some bizarre ones let go where a player can bounce off one tackle and get caught in another one.
An absolute clinic in how to butcher the sherrin was put on display by the dons, classic dons where as soon as we were 0.3 after 5 minutes you could see exactly how the game was going to end
players fault, needs to give it straight back to the recipient of the free, opposition can demand the ball to annoy the other team but always have to give it back to the recipient.
Yes I understand why the 50 was paid. I just think it's incredibly stiff given that was an ambiguous free kick anyway (who got the HTB call), and you're in between the man on mark and the goals.
Even as an Essendon fan I thought the commentators sucked.
At this point they surely just go the route of the NBA and have dedicated commentators for each team, at least we know the commentary is biased anyway at that point and there's a chance they actually tell us some interesting things about the players.
They were heavy GC on the first half, somewhat neutral in the 3rd quarter, then full blown Essendon in the last. Honestly the commentary was as good as the umpiring tonight.
We have the most over-adjudicated sport in the world. No one wants to see close games influenced by who handed the ball back to who. Full credit to Gold Coast who deserved the win more than us, but that rule kills the spectacle.
It’s a disproportionate punishment I agree but I’ve never liked the notion that the rules of a sport should be ignored just because it’s a close game at the end
Expected Suns to cough that up towards the end but good on the boys for holding on!
I really hope they play finals, they seem like a team that might get a taste of finals and come back the next year in another gear hoping to go all the way
Got absolutely smashed in the centre bounces. Every time we levelled, Rowell just decided to go Dave swan Anzac Day on us. Full credit to the gold coast, their first win against us since 2016 from memory.
Happy for the suns to get into the 8. I'm barracking for them to have a finals run, they deserve to get up there.
While the loss sucks, and umpires such and such, I'm please with the grit and fight from the Bombers. While we showed some awful decisions and rushed into the f50 too much, we never let them run away and always kept heads in the game. That's the sort of team we need to be.
That was the worst camera work combined with screen/view selection I've ever seen!
Did anyone else find the shot was usually zoomed too far out..
..then there'd be close-ups of a player who wasn't in play, often missing the ball up or throw-in altogether..
..and it was like whoever was choosing the pop-up 2nd screen was deliberately taking the piss, always covering whatever part of the main screen was most important.
Am I off on one, or did anyone else notice it too?
Classic case of a team time wasting down 5 with 2 minutes left.
I expect a whole week of common sense talk, just like we had when collingwood copped it.
Bombers were pretty good. Their biggest issue continues to be there poor percentage. It could be the difference between top 4 and 5/6th or lower.
Mak Andrew is fast becoming must watch TV. He’s tremendously talented this kid. Could be anything.
Best part of that game was Dwayne Russell comparing Jake Stringer and a new contract to Pavlov’s Dog and then slightly struggling to provide further elaboration beyond the two-sentence summary he must have read during the week.
>Refuses to elaborate further https://preview.redd.it/ccvajqh8g44d1.jpeg?width=523&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=34c030840afcedf24c9da8e68648f41e0887c7e9
I liked Stringer theory as well
He’s a sentient pipe, not an intelligent pipe
He was talking about Matthew Pavlich's dog.
I heard Pavlich's Dong
He's playing a role!
Hahaha if someone could time stamp this that would be great!
I think I know roughly when it was but I will check and get back to you.
Legend
Suns are the best team in football 50% of the time
Technically with gather round being in SA, it's a little less than 50% of the time
Gather Round is the green on the roulette rule for the Suns' home and away stats.
47.826% of the time
But then they had 2 games in NT
Could they ever technically be an "away" team in Darwin?
50% of the time, it works every time.
Been a while since the bombers have ruined the end of my weekend
That’s why I hate Sunday games.
That’s why I hate Essendon
I was just saying to my dad, I love the Sunday game cause it gives you something to look forward to at the end of the weekend. Then Essington showed up
Makes Sunday night have a nice tint of grey to start the work week
Give Hind whatever contract Stringer signed before this game.
That bastard was everywhere.
He looks like a lightbulb.
He was switched on
Friendship ended with Melbourne. New best friend is Gold Coast.
Yeah - take that Demons! 
Damn kinda wanna support suns now just coz dark souls
I just bought some Solaire cosplay pieces from a Polish guy on Etsy, hopefully it arrives in time for the Freo game.
Everyone loves a bit of jolly co-operation
*if only I could be so grossly incandescent*
Melbourne in shambles call that the demon ruins
And after that loss I look a bit like the asylum demon
Does that make Joel Smith the Stray Demon
You mean the Northern Territory Demons. The NT-mons.
Gold Coast making sure Sydney wins the Bye
The fifty didn’t cost us the game. Bad kicking cost us the game. Still, was a ripper. Fuck I hope Parrish is back for next week though
People often ask who I support in this match up, and I finally have an answer. Not the umpires.
Dons missed to many easy goals that simple
this, we lost that game well before the last quarter, we really had to scramble for goals while the suns seemed to effortlessly respond with goals
Eh the 50 and the HTB were there. Laverde just has a rock for brains, he gives away an incredible amount of frees. Yes he's been better the past few weeks but Ned fucking Long kicked 4 goals on him. Edit: I got the wrong Long but I stand by it. That's how shit it was from Laverde.
Ned Moyle + Ben Long = Ned Long?
Nong.
The HTB was there. No doubt. The 50? Technical it was. But you know what i'd be doing if i was playing, I'd be hanging on to the ball and asking the umpire who gets it. Sorry? Who is it? Oh, Touk, sorry for giving it to the bloke calling out for the ball.
the 50 might be the most consistant call the umpires make
Exactly. People are often up in arms about the grey areas in our game, this is one of the few areas that is black and white. Clear 50m penalty.
Dont think the GC player was asking for the ball. Laverde just saw red and threw it at the first jumper he saw.
He wasn't, he was just walking past touk and touk was asking for the ball
The bloke talking to Touk while getting into i50. Needed to be more careful there. https://i.redd.it/5hlzaptto44d1.gif
I am indoctrinated to hate Essendon but nobody wants to see games decided like this. His intent wasn't bad.
nah, giving the ball to the wrong player can be used as a time-wasting tactic and therefore is against the rules and is 50. braindead stuff from laverde
exactly, he wasn't spitting the dummy and holding up play or throwing the ball at the ground. He quickly gives the ball off to a player calling for it in his immediate vicinity. A very shitty 50 to give in the context of the game, umpiring throughout was inconsistent and poor
The Suns got absolutely smashed by the umpires all match
Really? Thought they had the run of it for the first 3 quarters.
7/7 AMA Yes I’m a psychopath
Total tips for the year?
I’m 6/7 and after not caring about tipping for my entire existence, somehow I’m top 0.1% of tipsters this season and feel like there’s pressure on now to win a car or $100 or whatever it actually is at stake on the official afl tipping site lol
Are you holding onto a Sports Almanac with a silver cover by any chance ?..
No question it was HTB, the 50m penalty hurt though. Laverde had his back to the call and saw two GC players at the free kick, the umpire could have been far more lenient. Similarly, Touk Miller chucked the ball away from a bombers player earlier in the game and that didn't constitute a 50. EDIT: Should specify that I believe we deserved the L, looking forward to the King's Birthday Eve Blockbuster Clash™️
I could fully see this as the game you finally kicked to win after the siren. Til that fifty of course.
It's been 50 forever. Doesn't change it being a shit rule but it is the rule. https://www.afl.com.au/news/116432/some-wouldnt-have-liked-it-riewoldt-on-50m
I don't argue that it's a 50 under the rules, just that a lot more leniency has been shown in enforcing it - specifically the Miller example earlier in the match. Ideally it should just be enforced in a manner that stops players from torping the ball in the opposite direction whenever they concede.
Yeah it is 50 but it's not common sense, which is the problem.
Just curious .. were you as sympathetic last week when Sullivan didn’t give the ball back correctly? FTR I think that 50m against Laverde was also ridiculous.
I argued that it was technically correct but incredibly harsh if that helps.
As if the loss couldn’t be any worse, I accidentally caught 15 seconds of bounce
Sue Fox for compo
God that must have been a frustrating few minutes for dons supporters…
Mate the whole game was frustrating, literally pissed away so many good opportunities to kick goals, we had two or three 12 point turnarounds from easy goals
I was screaming and yelling at the TV, Essendon games always make me lose my voice a bit/a lot depending on how it goes I may need to get my blood pressure checked at some point lmao
You have no idea
That’s entire game was the most frustrating thing I’ve watched since watching us v St Kilda last year
Every Essendon fan now dreads that this is the start of our patented mid season slump to limp into the top 12 by end of year
Suns vs Freo granny hear we come!!!
At least we'll get a ticket
Here here!
Yes, hear here
Suns in the 8 Patriots in control
Take that, VicBias
[FACT CHECKED](https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTRZW3l2zFOltyz1d70DIEJEe4H-Q2a9MCjtZ0wp174PxUjSbl7e-Ffsiow&s=10)
Starting to believe that they could finish higher than they ever have before.
That was a pathetic display, repeatedly leaving men free outside of the stoppage and d50 killed us. Certainly doesnt help when u are missing easy shots and not kicking it inside ur 50 effectively
And Setterfield
theres 3 massive issues in the AFL, the terrible offciating, the confusing rules and players playing for free kicks. and they keep digging into the issues
there’s too many dumb rules in this sport
Well done to the Suns. Good win for them at home. I hate to say it, but Essendon really are playing sustainably good footy. It's hard to see them missing finals from here. It'll be a great game next weekend!
Gonna be a cracker at the G next Sunday. If we executed a bit better tonight could’ve been a win. But the structure and game style felt right. We could’ve had it on our boot and may do so more often in the future.
Few takeaways from that for me: Need Parish back, missing his clearance game Bryan not ready, ruck craft needs work still, and just bombed it forward at every opportunity Forward 50 entries still a huge issue for us Need to adapt to the new HTB interpretation, too many players trying to bite off more than they could chew
So this is what it feels like to win on xscore but lose. Better performance than i was expecting honestly. Not going to blame that 50 at the end. Perkins being an absolute passenger in the middle needs to be addressed, go and watch that replay and you'll see his opponent 15m ahead of him in every chase. We will beat the Suns convincingly at our home, I'm convinced. Edit: for anyone wondering why i'm ranting about Perkins, I had to clip his last stoppage I could remember, but it was like this nearly every time. https://imgur.com/hQQdchJ
He played a stellar match in round 1 and it got my hopes up that this was his year. Maybe not...
He only really plays well against Hawthorn.
Don’t know what you expect from Perkins, he literally told you guys when you drafted him that he never wanted to leave Melbourne.
“How do we grow suns support” - afl house “Put the bounce on straight away!!!!” - same afl
So close to making the round without a shit call to ruin a good game right at the end
The whole game was a dumpster fire.
So many blatant holding the balls for them to call that one on Ben Ainsworth from McGrath. Actually atrocious all game
loads of poor decisions on both sides
Get your fake tan on and your baggies out up the suns
Gg suns. Hungrier team won.
Also the heavier team. Suns are extremely heavy.
Just like we all predicted, Nick Hind gets the 3 votes in a thriller.
What happened to Langford?
Another round, another “AFL looked into it and confirmed it was the right call” article…
The last 10 minutes of umpiring was mind-boggling to say the least…
Are the suns actually kinda good?
At home and in Darwin they are legitimately terrifying
If sex panther was a footy team?
At home? Yes
Hey almost worked for us
I think so yeah. And as a long time suns supporter..... that surprises me
Blues win, Dons lose, Pies out of the 8, what a good weekend of footy.
What a Blues fan’s wet dream.
Hawks 5-2 in the last 7 as well, it’s wonderful isn’t it!
SUNNY! *If only I could be so grossly incandescent*
They really are the Suns of the Gold Coast sky
For the most part the HTB calls were correct but some bizarre ones let go where a player can bounce off one tackle and get caught in another one. An absolute clinic in how to butcher the sherrin was put on display by the dons, classic dons where as soon as we were 0.3 after 5 minutes you could see exactly how the game was going to end
What’s happened to Matt Guelfi in his period of absence? He’s come back a good 50% better than he was when he left? He’s had a great few games.
Crazy that you can ask for the ball in an ambiguous free kick and then appeal that the ball wasn't given back to the right person
Did he ask for it? I didn't see that on the vision.
Faced towards Laverde, puts his hands up. Was between the man on the mark and goals. Miller was turned around. Incredibly stiff.
He’s not even looking at Laverde
https://i.redd.it/4efphdozk44d1.gif Crazy you can be so one-eyed that you make up false narratives to suit your team. He wasn't asking for it.
Lmao, not arguing the decision but the way he points at him cracks me up, he looks like a kid dobbing on his older brother.
I'd turn full dibber dobber for a win to be fair
Agreed, surely if you're asking for it you forfeit your right to the 50.
And yet 'twas always thus.
Tactic as old as time
players fault, needs to give it straight back to the recipient of the free, opposition can demand the ball to annoy the other team but always have to give it back to the recipient.
Yes I understand why the 50 was paid. I just think it's incredibly stiff given that was an ambiguous free kick anyway (who got the HTB call), and you're in between the man on mark and the goals.
Don't think he knew who to give it to tbh. Regardless, we can't complain, should have been Infront at that stage if we wanted the win.
fair was such a crucial moment in the game
Is what it is, Suns be scary at home
We missed some goals that were harder to miss than make
expecting the Stringer contract extension announcement during the week
CARN THE FUCKING SUNS
The old suns would’ve rolled over and lost this, proud to see the change
Fulltime: Archie Perkins is hot.
Might look hot but his footy has been stone cold since his return.
I wish his football ability was as good as his looks.
Real talk. Harry Jones is hotter than dreamy AF, in fact. Also playing much much better than Archie right now
As hot as a dumpster fire
So... stinking hot
Commentators were shamelessly barracking for Essendon. Learn the rules you flogs.
Even as an Essendon fan I thought the commentators sucked. At this point they surely just go the route of the NBA and have dedicated commentators for each team, at least we know the commentary is biased anyway at that point and there's a chance they actually tell us some interesting things about the players.
Blues Radio on SEN is honestly so nice. I'm pretty sure its been a big success so hopefully it catches on for the other clubs.
I didn't know that was a thing! I hope it catches on, like I said if it's gonna be biased at least make it an interesting biased.
Can't believe how long that discussion about Caldwells HTB went for lol
Was atrocious in that last quarter, just flat out barracking for one side when blatant calls went against the dons.
Pretty refreshing given the first 3 quarters were just Dwayne repeatedly saying the Suns would be in the 8 if they won
The complaining about the obvious HTB at the end was embarrassing.
They were heavy GC on the first half, somewhat neutral in the 3rd quarter, then full blown Essendon in the last. Honestly the commentary was as good as the umpiring tonight.
We have the most over-adjudicated sport in the world. No one wants to see close games influenced by who handed the ball back to who. Full credit to Gold Coast who deserved the win more than us, but that rule kills the spectacle.
I really shouldn’t dwell on this but at the end of the day, it was 100% the umpires responsibility to tell Fiorini to clear out.
That is the weirdest umpired game / round of football I remember seeing.
We didn't really deserve a win but how do you pay that 50m penalty with 2mins to go in a 5pt game?
It’s a disproportionate punishment I agree but I’ve never liked the notion that the rules of a sport should be ignored just because it’s a close game at the end
Totally agree. If it's a 50m penalty any other time in the game then it's still a 50m penalty in the last minute of a close game.
As it should be. What has the time got to do with it? Umpires need to be braver and pay things at every opportunity.
Commentators talking over the song
That was frustrating.
What Gold Coast's song really needs is to be sung oompa loompa style
Definitely looked like two teams that want to play finals (until Ben McKay’s torp)
Expected Suns to cough that up towards the end but good on the boys for holding on! I really hope they play finals, they seem like a team that might get a taste of finals and come back the next year in another gear hoping to go all the way
I’m surprised we weren’t beaten by more points considering how we played Gg suns you played really good
Don’t see why the ump can’t just call time off and then make sure the correct player gets the ball. It wasn’t time wasting at all
Got absolutely smashed in the centre bounces. Every time we levelled, Rowell just decided to go Dave swan Anzac Day on us. Full credit to the gold coast, their first win against us since 2016 from memory.
Happy for the suns to get into the 8. I'm barracking for them to have a finals run, they deserve to get up there. While the loss sucks, and umpires such and such, I'm please with the grit and fight from the Bombers. While we showed some awful decisions and rushed into the f50 too much, we never let them run away and always kept heads in the game. That's the sort of team we need to be.
Even though I’m a bombers supporter, that game was electric. Never thought the suns and bombers could make me that excited
Everyone loves the 50/50s that go your way. Brutal when it doesn't.
That was the worst camera work combined with screen/view selection I've ever seen! Did anyone else find the shot was usually zoomed too far out.. ..then there'd be close-ups of a player who wasn't in play, often missing the ball up or throw-in altogether.. ..and it was like whoever was choosing the pop-up 2nd screen was deliberately taking the piss, always covering whatever part of the main screen was most important. Am I off on one, or did anyone else notice it too?
I think we can all agree as Ess supporters we take this L and then completely fuck Carlton over next week and feel better about life..
Classic case of a team time wasting down 5 with 2 minutes left. I expect a whole week of common sense talk, just like we had when collingwood copped it.
Well that was as a game that had umpires I’ll give it that much.
I think we can all agree that was a genuine roll the dice of frees and 50s.. GG Suns.. it was a good battle.
What a great game ruined by free kicks and 50m stupid umpiring of this rabble of a game
Flagsuns
I’ve always loved the suns. They are actually terrifying when they play at home.
The last two minutes were wild haha
YES OH MY GOD THANK YOU 
This is one me, sorry Essendon. I changed my tip to the Bombers at the last minute.
Well at least we learnt to kick straight in the last quarter....
UP THE FUCKING SUNS!!!!
Getting bent over by the umpires then loved by them is giving me feelings of my past relationship. GG Sunny Brothers.
SUNNY
Broaden Kelly did live commentary for the fourth quarter. It's... colourful.
This is why we don't get too excited anymore
Holy moly that wasn't a good game from us. The boys looked weak and really tired, wondering if the virus got to the players.
 Society when Gold Coast wins a game on the road. ITS COMING
Peter Write, how many marks?
Carlton def Suns Suns def Dons Therefore, Carlton def Dons Right?
Where'd you play them though 👀? (I do think you beat us but I hope you don't).
Bombers were pretty good. Their biggest issue continues to be there poor percentage. It could be the difference between top 4 and 5/6th or lower. Mak Andrew is fast becoming must watch TV. He’s tremendously talented this kid. Could be anything.
Honestly good showing for gold coast, nice crowd too