The Gwilt Free- Our Sliding Doors Moment

[dcstkfc]

The Gwilt free in the Geelong game definitely turned the season, if not the entire footy landscape on it's head.

If Geelong had won, it would have been a long way back for us mentally to make the Grand Final.

But we won, and today we are preparing for another Grand Final, whilst Geelong are in turmoil contemplating a future without Ablett and Thompson.

[saintnick12]

The Gwilt free in the Geelong game definitely turned the season, if not the entire footy landscape on it's head.

If Geelong had won, it would have been a long way back for us mentally to make the Grand Final.

But we won, and today we are preparing for another Grand Final, whilst Geelong are in turmoil contemplating a future without Ablett and Thompson.

I was thinking the same thing today.
Had that free not been paid, Geelong would most likely have made the GF.
Whether they would have won it (against us or Collingwood who would have likely played each other in the other prelim we'll never know).
I wonder if the wheels would be falling off quite so quickly then.
Certainly was a sliding doors moment.....for both teams.

[saintsRrising]

Why not the Zac rushed behind being given as a goal instead?

Until then the Cats were struggling to kick goals, and after it the Cats got several.

[kosifantutti23]

Milne's pick up and pass to Schneider in the last quarter gave us victory.

The Gwilt free was just an umpire doing his job.

OUR destiny is in OUR hands.

[InkerSaint]

Aha... great minds think alike.

I actually had a paragraph about the Gwilt free that I edited out at the last minute from the Saints 2010 article I put up last week. I figured I'd wait and see how much significance it ended up having.

With the cash bonanza both grand finalists are set to reap it's probably quite significant after all... $2M to the winners and $1.5M to the runners up.

Not that we wouldn't necessarily have made the GF, but would we have drawn it?

Getting back to the free - I think of it as the photo negative of the Scarlett toe poke. The last final of last year, and the first final of this. Both involved a kick. Both swung a match result. One is Geelong's key defender, the other is their key forward. Symmetry.

[InkerSaint]

Milne's pick up and pass to Schneider in the last quarter gave us victory.

The Gwilt free was just an umpire doing his job.

OUR destiny is in OUR hands.

Will they pay hands-in-the-back every week?

There was some clamour about Milne outmarking O'Brien on Saturday. Even Gieschen came out and said there was no force so nothing in it, but still a 50-50 call.

The umpire could so easily have stuck the whistle in his pocket in the QF. Less than two minutes to go, it wouldn't be the worst infringement to be overlooked in such circumstances.

[rodgerfox]

Milne's pick up and pass to Schneider in the last quarter gave us victory.

The Gwilt free was just an umpire doing his job.

OUR destiny is in OUR hands.

With all due respect - what a load of shiit.

[DWOODROW]

Milne's pick up and pass to Schneider in the last quarter gave us victory.

The Gwilt free was just an umpire doing his job.

OUR destiny is in OUR hands.

With all due respect - what a load of shiit.

At least your character is wearing a helmet. Not sure if he has a mouthgaurd or not. You might need one after that comment.

[supersaints]

I think you are selling us short, we've had the pussies measure for two years now.

They jusy got lucky in the GF last year.... Not us geeting lucky with a free kick.

Honestly think its our destiny this year.. no matter what.

[kosifantutti23]

Milne's pick up and pass to Schneider in the last quarter gave us victory.

The Gwilt free was just an umpire doing his job.

OUR destiny is in OUR hands.

With all due respect - what a load of shiit.

Thanks for your contribution. Are you the guy that said we couldn't beat Geelong?

[Dr Spaceman]

I think you are selling us short, we've had the pussies measure for two years now.

They jusy got lucky in the GF last year.... Not us geeting lucky with a free kick.

Honestly think its our destiny this year.. no matter what.

I didn't pen the OP but nonetheless I'll defend dcstkfc as I think you've taken it the wrong way.

We all know it WAS a free kick however there was enough fuss made about it by Geelong and the media to know it could have been let go. And if it had been let go then it's highly likely Geelong would have won and everything would have been different.

It's got nothing to do with our superiority over the Cats or our destiny.

The "Sliding Doors" angle makes an interesting thread IMO. Certainly more interesting than some of the other stuff that gets posted.

[Young Georgie]

Would Looney be getting around Gwilt-free tonight - you just cost us the game .. you just cost us gazza .. you just cost us our invincibility ..

[dcstkfc]

I think you are selling us short, we've had the pussies measure for two years now.

They jusy got lucky in the GF last year.... Not us geeting lucky with a free kick.

Honestly think its our destiny this year.. no matter what.

I didn't pen the OP but nonetheless I'll defend dcstkfc as I think you've taken it the wrong way.

We all know it WAS a free kick however there was enough fuss made about it by Geelong and the media to know it could have been let go. And if it had been let go then it's highly likely Geelong would have won and everything would have been different.

It's got nothing to do with our superiority over the Cats or our destiny.

The "Sliding Doors" angle makes an interesting thread IMO. Certainly more interesting than some of the other stuff that gets posted.

You've got it in one.

As we saw last year, it's got nothing to do with deserve.

Massive moment in the context of the season, it swung our way and we have to make sure we make it count.

[jonesy]

Milne's pick up and pass to Schneider in the last quarter gave us victory.

The Gwilt free was just an umpire doing his job.

OUR destiny is in OUR hands.

With all due respect - what a load of shiit.

Still hurting about that loss that made you look like a fool? When BJ took that mark saturday you must of really been sh!tting yourself there for a sec....trying to find a negative with a premiership would of been hard,then again I wouldn't put it past you

[SainterK]

I don't buy the whole one 'moment' defining a game or season, I'm sure you could sit down with a pen and paper and jot down heaps of things that were inititally missed that pass unnoticed in a game.

Just like the toe poke, much has been made of it, but in reality there were heaps of other moments that happened that day....

I had a Hawks supporter tell me the interchange infringement against us that caused a draw defined their season, so I asked, and what about their first 6 rounds?

There are heaps of moments, IMO.

[Dr Spaceman]

I don't buy the whole one 'moment' defining a game or season, I'm sure you could sit down with a pen and paper and jot down heaps of things that were inititally missed that pass unnoticed in a game.

Just like the toe poke, much has been made of it, but in reality there were heaps of other moments that happened that day....

I had a Hawks supporter tell me the interchange infringement against us that caused a draw defined their season, so I asked, and what about their first 6 rounds?

There are heaps of moments, IMO.

SainterK, and once again it's not my OP, but dcstkfc is not saying this is a defining moment.

They are simply posing a "what if?"

[SainterK]

I don't buy the whole one 'moment' defining a game or season, I'm sure you could sit down with a pen and paper and jot down heaps of things that were inititally missed that pass unnoticed in a game.

Just like the toe poke, much has been made of it, but in reality there were heaps of other moments that happened that day....

I had a Hawks supporter tell me the interchange infringement against us that caused a draw defined their season, so I asked, and what about their first 6 rounds?

There are heaps of moments, IMO.

SainterK, and once again it's not my OP, but dcstkfc is not saying this is a defining moment.

They are simply posing a "what if?"

Ah OK...

Well what if, in the remaining 60 seconds of that game....Lenny won the clearance and kicked it inside our 50?

Better?

[kosifantutti23]

SainterK, and once again it's not my OP, but dcstkfc is not saying this is a defining moment.

They are simply posing a "what if?"

That's easy. If the free had not been paid. The ball goes back to the centre. Gardi puts it into the path of Lenny who kicks long to the goal square where it is marked by Zac. Zac kicks the goal on the siren. Gave over.

Filled with confidence by his qualifying final heroics, Zac drifts forward in the last minute of the Grand Final with the scores tied. Montagna gets a kick forward and Zac takes the mark with 30 seconds to go. He kicks the goal and the Saints win their second flag.

[Dr Spaceman]

I don't buy the whole one 'moment' defining a game or season, I'm sure you could sit down with a pen and paper and jot down heaps of things that were inititally missed that pass unnoticed in a game.

Just like the toe poke, much has been made of it, but in reality there were heaps of other moments that happened that day....

I had a Hawks supporter tell me the interchange infringement against us that caused a draw defined their season, so I asked, and what about their first 6 rounds?

There are heaps of moments, IMO.

SainterK, and once again it's not my OP, but dcstkfc is not saying this is a defining moment.

They are simply posing a "what if?"

Ah OK...

Well what if, in the remaining 60 seconds of that game....Lenny won the clearance and kicked it inside our 50?

Better?

Well if that was the case we'd probably be Premiers and we'd all be too busy watching the replay (for the 423rd time) to be posting on this site

[SainterK]

I don't buy the whole one 'moment' defining a game or season, I'm sure you could sit down with a pen and paper and jot down heaps of things that were inititally missed that pass unnoticed in a game.

Just like the toe poke, much has been made of it, but in reality there were heaps of other moments that happened that day....

I had a Hawks supporter tell me the interchange infringement against us that caused a draw defined their season, so I asked, and what about their first 6 rounds?

There are heaps of moments, IMO.

SainterK, and once again it's not my OP, but dcstkfc is not saying this is a defining moment.

They are simply posing a "what if?"

Ah OK...

Well what if, in the remaining 60 seconds of that game....Lenny won the clearance and kicked it inside our 50?

Better?

Well if that was the case we'd probably be Premiers and we'd all be too busy watching the replay (for the 423rd time) to be posting on this site

[dcstkfc]

Well if that was the case we'd probably be Premiers and we'd all be too busy watching the replay (for the 423rd time) to be posting on this site

Should be a quiet one next week then

[bigcarl]

Milne's pick up and pass to Schneider in the last quarter gave us victory.

The Gwilt free was just an umpire doing his job.

OUR destiny is in OUR hands.

Exactly. We deserved our victory. The Cats had a dream run during the closing stages of that game and were lucky to get as close as they did.

[stevie]

I was thinking about this last night at work, funnily enough. Wondering what might have been if Mooney applied a legal tackle.

I still think we could've rolled the Pies in the prelim though it would've been tough. Still can't work out how the Cats played so poorly in their prelim. There must be serious inhouse issues in that club...

But you could debate these 'moments' for ever.

If the ball had've bounced over Scarlett's foot...

If Plugger had taken that easy mark in the last qtr of the 91 EF...

If Tuddenham had've taken a few bounces in 66...

[Con Gorozidis]

I agree. The Gwilt free was THE sliding doors moment. Ok the free was there but so what? in the finals they tend to pay less frees and ive seen lots of similar ones not paid.

HTF did we get in that situation anyway after really beating up on Geelong? I have to say it was bad coaching. RL is clearly a super coach. But sheesh. Sometimes he has too much faith in tempo footy. These days if u try tempo footy (circa swans 2005) the other teams just run over you.