So far this season, I've watched depressing home defeats to the likes of Carlton and endured throughly unhappy interstate trips to see away losses at the MCG and Gold Coast.
And yet, for the first time since the Hawthorn prelim final last year, I was moved to anger during yesterday's game over a team performance and undeserved loss.
Whether or not it was their intention, or just rotten incompetence, the umpires couldn't have done a better job at wrestling the game away from Freo, and handing it on a plate to the Weagles. I'm sure the stats will tell a different story - damned lies, statistics and all that - while the AFL's umpiring department will probably declare their 100% happiness with the 'professionalism' of the umpires. But I know what I watched, and it was a game umpired at two distinct standards, a harsh, pedantic approach towards Freo and a soft, discretionary approach towards Wet Toast.
I don't know how many Dockerlanders will agree with this assessment, but what I saw was two evenly matched teams play out an uneven result.
