I think the AFL needs to carefully consider the umpires for the Derby on Sunday. There are a few warning signs that the game could be a powder keg.
i. Though it’s an important game for both teams, it’s not overstating things to say that given the difference in expectations West Coast’s season is on the line.
ii. West Coast is coming off a humiliating loss, where their coach (and the media) called them weak.
iii. Freo’s last loss came when Carlton roughed us up a little.
iv. The Freo players must be sick of losing to West Coast and must think they are a good chance of winning.
v. You can see the Freo players still hold a grudge against Gaff.
My prediction: West Coast comes out way too aggressively, Freo starts to react, the umpires panic and start pinging touchy free kicks (disproportionately against Freo, for some reason), there is a an incident/scuffle where Gaff is in the vicinity, and things get real.
They need to get someone like Rosebury or Stevic over here for the game. If someone like Margetts or Dalgleish are running the show things could get ugly.
