Rolls mate we have only ourselves to blame. With success comes better fixtures, drawing against better opposition.
Umpiring is part and parcel of the game, no conspiracy there.
The Blues got the Number 1 pick because they played the system beautifully, thats what people dont understand.
We should be thankful we have 40k of members that continually sign up year after year after year.
Daniel, I agree with you to a degree.
YES, we have made some horrific blunders with our recruiting since 1999, and
YES, you can't expect the AFL to give us their prized TV games if we aren't even competitive.
But is that any reason to send us on the road 3 weeks running? Or to send us to sleepy hollow every single year?? Why can't we play the Cats at the G like other teams do? It doesn't necessarily have to be televised.
As for the Blues playing the system beautifully,well yes they did. They are very adept at cheating, as we all know. But why did the AFL decide to change the system just when we were about to finally benefit from it?
The first thought that crossed my mind when I heard what happened to the Storm was "why couldn't our officiating body slug a bunch of serial cheats like Carlton the same way?" Instead of slapping them on the wrist with a wet noodle. And if the AFL think Carlton aren't paying their "environmental ambassador" outside the salary cap, they're naive enough to be in kindergarten.
What infuriates me about the AFL is: if it's all just about $ and c, are they too stupid to realize that the Tigers could be a HUGE money-spinner for them, if they would just HELP us to be competitive again, instead of continually hindering us? After all, we are not Nth. Melb, who could only draw 2 men and a dog to Etihad this week, despite being on a winning streak.