Is Ryan Griffen AFL's biggest Villian? - DaVe’s Soapbox | Thebigtip

I was going to take a swipe at the umps after the worst round of umpiring I have seen in a while. However, I’m willing to mark last week down as an overreaction by the umpiring fraternity to the Steven Baker incident, and give them this week to rectify that.

I thought the biggest villain of the week was Ryan Griffen. With 1 second to go, the Bulldogs went long into attack. Ryan Griffen was one on one with Xavier Ellis, a skinny guy who is not used to being exposed at full back against quality opponents. The siren went. Instead of trying to shepherd the ball, Griffen gave up the contest once he heard the siren. Ellis did not. He went back and ensured he took the mark, which ultimately handed the Hawks a 3 point victory in the best match of the year by far.

Now, I’m not saying by shepherding the Bulldogs would’ve won. The umpire may have paid a free kick, the ball may have bounced on its point, not rolled on or even missed. Or Ellis may have still been able to mark or spoil the ball.

The point is that you should never concede. The ball is allowed to run on after the siren. Even if it is a 1% chance, a player should go for it. It’s a game of inches, and as Al Pacino would say, you have to fight for every inch.

It was a bad look for a club which is struggling to win tight games. I honestly can’t excuse it. I love Ryan Griffen as a player, but Luke Hodge would not have done that. And that is what is holding Griffen back from becoming elite. His intensity and heart is not A grade.

I would have no hesitation in dropping him this week. That seems an extreme call, but it was an extremely disappointing bit of play from Griffen, who is obviously lacking the competitive edge right now.

The Dogs now sit 2 games out of the top 4, and effectively 3 games off Collingwood. I have no doubt they are still a premiership threat, but they will now rely on teams like Collingwood and Freo to drop a few along the way.