A very dark week

Last week was a sad one for our sport, but more importantly the Walsh family.

Nobody should have to go through that, let alone in a public spotlight. Lord only knows what was going through Cy's mind at the time but I suspect he'd been haunted for a while. Domestic violence has many faces and the ugliness of it was again placed on our national agenda. If you suspect anyone in your networks, immediate or distant, is going through a hard time then please direct them to somewhere like Lifeline. 

Like everyone else on the Internet I had an opinion about whether the round should have gone ahead and if you asked me at 7:49pm on Friday evening I'd have said it should have been cancelled. But what better tribute to somebody who dedicated his adult life to AFL than Scott Pendlebury and Cyril Rioli exhibiting it in its best and purest form in front on 75,000 people at the MCG? Not to mention the onfield tributes from the players at the end of every game. Sport brings communities of people together and few sports do it better than AFL.

Over the weekend it was amazing to see our game stripped back to its core with no banners, songs or match-day experience. Personally I can do without anything before the game, get rid of the banners and songs full time. Our game doesn't need fabricated excitement, Pendlebury and Rioli create that on their own.

No match report this week, it doesn't feel right. It was a weekend to move away from analysis, ladder predictors and analysing who should get a gig next game and who shouldn't. There will be plenty of weekends for that in the future.

Listen to Jack and take the opportunity to tell those close to you that you love them.

The votes

5: Trent Cotchin
4: Dustin Martin
3: Alex Rance
2: Shane Edwards
1: Bachar Houli

Unlucky: Miles, Jack, Grigg and Batchelor.

Leaderboards

The Benny:

22: Dustin Martin

20: Trent Cotchin

17: Jack Riewoldt

16: Shane Edwards
15: Anthony Miles and Bachar Houli

13: Alex Rance
11: Shaun Grigg and Brandon Ellis
8: Taylor Hunt, Nick Vlastuin and Dylan Grimes
5: Ivan Maric and Brett Deledio
3: Troy Chaplin, Kamdyn McIntosh, Chris Newman, Ben Griffiths and Jake Batchelor
2: Sam Lloyd
1: Steven Morris and Ty Vickery

Blair Hartley Appreciation Award:

15: Anthony Miles and Bachar Houli
11: Shaun Grigg
8: Taylor Hunt
5: Ivan Maric
3: Troy Chaplin

Anthony Banik Best First Year Player:

3: Kamdyn McIntosh

Joel Bowden's Golden Left Boot:

15: Bachar Houli

11: Shaun Grigg
3: Jake Batchelor and Troy Chaplin

Greg Tivendale Rookie List Medal:

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