The Umps were correct. The Freo players were outside the 10m protection zone and they took off as soon as the countdown clock hit zero (30 in that clip). They had excellent game awareness. Dopey Balta was still in his own dreamworld and only started to move another 3 seconds later. That's why Frederick got there to smother the ball.
In that clip it takes Balta a whole 25 seconds just to reach his starting point before he turns around to face the goal. What was he thinking? Most likely he wasn't thinking at all and that's the problem. The countdown clock was right in front of him up on the scoreboard. The only reason he could not have seen it is if had forgotten his contact lenses (?).
Our lack of simple game awareness this year is doing my head in. This is basic schoolboy stuff. You don't need to play at AFL level to know you only have 30 seconds to take your shot. It's something you learn when you're a little kid. It's just another example of the unprofessionalism that has killed our season. Good sides do the fundamentals well and consistently. They always have their head in the game. Sadly, we don't!
