Some Titus gold
Sydney (86) v Essendon (85)
In a week the AFL started talking up AFLX as a ‘high octane’ and ‘exciting’ version of the sport, this game proved they are building a solution to a problem that doesn’t exist.
In fact, ‘building a solution to a problem that doesn’t exist’ could be the AFL’s slogan.
This was a truly breathtaking game, and it snuck up on us. In the fourth quarter, it seemed the Bombers had wrest control of the game from the Swans, who appeared to have stuffed things up royally.
Essendon though were determined to prove that snatching defeat from the jaws of victory was not something reserved for Richmond.
In a display of slapstick comedy not seen since the silent movie era, the Bombers proceeded to let Sydney score the last 20 points of the game in the final eight minutes.
In a scene unlikely to make his epic movie, Brendon Goddard managed to make a couple of huge mistakes in the last minute. They were so bad Goddard didn’t even try to blame them on a teammate.
When Gary Rohan took a mark in the goal square on the siren, Bombers fans looked on in horror. How had they managed to stuff this up? How indeed.
I’ve watched the last few minutes a few times, and like a magician’s trick, I still can’t figure out how it was done.
After the game, there was controversy when the Swans didn’t allow Brian Taylor roam around their rooms. BT lost it on air as a result.
What struck me as strange, was that BT seemed surprised a group of people didn't want to spend time with him. I would have thought that was an iron-clad law of the universe.
The most surprising thing to me is it took until Round 14 for a team to put an end to the footballing equivalent of the drunk uncle annoying everyone at Christmas.