‘It was like the blunder that rang across Australia’

Eddie McGuire’s on-air comments about Cynthia Banham's coin toss at the SCG on Friday night were "nasty" and "thoughtless" and the AFL overconsulted in trying to decide how to act on them.

That's the verdict from Caroline Wilson on this week's episode of the Real Footy podcast, who argues that the comments were poor and unprofessional even if McGuire didn't see exactly who was tossing the coin.

Also this week, while a new game plan may well take time to implement, the Bombers are not playing with effort and concentration. Listless performances on the field are causing the most concern.

Wilson, Michael Gleeson, Jake Niall and Bob Murphy argue coach John Worsfold has to be backed in by the club's board this season – but the way he interacts with his players could be something that does have to change.

On Friday night, the Bombers will come up against Melbourne, who are also struggling to live up to pre-season expectations and whose plans to fill the void left by Jesse Hogan haven't exactly played out as hoped. But the Dees are able to fall back on pre-season injuries as a reason for a slow start. So which team needs the win more?

Meanwhile, the Bulldogs "swarm" is back, the team looks cohesive, and while it's too early to call, there are great signs that we could see the Dogs return to their form of 2016.

We also talk rules and umpiring decisions, the grand final rematch and the Pies' "frightening" player, and Eddie McGuire's on-air comments about Cynthia Banham's coin toss on Friday night.

All this plus whispers about Sam Weideman's contract, a salute to the Saints and the Lions for their 2-0 starts to the season and we wrap the AFLW grand final and the incredible Erin Phillips.

Find The Age Real Footy Podcast on iTunes, Google Podcasts, Omny and RSS.

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