At Docklands:
Collingwood 2.0 6.3 9.6 11.9.75
Adelaide 5.3 6.5 10.8 14.10.96
Credit to the Camrys, having to win their last three games to reach the finals, they did. The hopes of the Stainers and Lyin’s were ended in the process. The Camry midfield was too good for their creaky, criticized Poi counterparts, the croweaters were also determined this not be retiring legend Mark Ricciuto’s last game, apparently. Ricciuto’s 311th appearance equalled Ben Hart’s club record, it’ll go next week. The Camrys would be confident facing the Hawks in an elimination final, similarly the Poise have beaten the Swans twice this year, although the Maggies go in with moderate form. The Collywood side here was missing Alan Didak (hip) and Sean Rusling (hamstring) from last week, Josh Fraser was absent too. Replacements were Rhyce Shaw and young forward Ben Reid. The Corollas axed Michael Doughty and junior ruckman John Meesen to include Chris Knights and ruckman Jon Griffin.
The Pies struggled to score early, bombing it in and giving Camry Andrew McLeod a bucket of touches. Cow man Scott Thompson bagged the opening goal, set up by Robert ‘Don’t Call Me’ Shirley. There were a couple of Corolla misses while Poi Travis Cloke didn’t make the distance with a terrible kick and Anthony Rocca hooked a long shot on-the-full. Mark Ricciuto free-kicked a goal, off-ball holding against Harry O’Brien and the Cressidas led by 14 points. Scott Burns won the following centre-clearance for the Poise, leading to a running goal for Scott Pendlebury. The Cows responded, a vice-like tackle from Jason Porplyzia forced the ball loose and Nathan Van Berlo kicked for back-pedalling Brett ‘Birdman’ Burton to grab and convert. Wayward Corona forward Nick Gill produced a standard miss but Poi Shane Wakelin muffed the kick-in, Burton pounced and snapped truly on the left boot. The Camrys were going well, 21 points up. The Pies struggled to break an old-fashioned flood, until ruckman Chris Bryan found Pendlebury alone with a good kick, Pendlebury majored again. But the Camrys responded after an O’Brien mistake, Porplyzia took an easy mark as the pack collapsed and Porplyzia majored. Ricciuto missed a shot after the siren, he and CHB Nathan Bock started the second term on the bench. The Pies managed some early second stanza momentum but Lockyer, Clarke and Buckley all missed shots. A sausage came eventually, ‘Steak Knives’ Medhurst released Heath Shaw with a very good pass, the ball went to Dale Thomas and on to Rocca for a mark and goal. The Addleaid lead was cut to 12 points and the game was pretty tight for a bit. After a while the Camrys went 20 points ahead when Pie Tyson Goldsack’s rushed kick-in was swallowed by Scott Welsh, he punted it back for full points. Late in the half the Pies finally got something happening. Strong pressure caused errors by Camrys Johncock and Gill, Burns jabbed a pass for leading Ben Reid to mark and convert. Reid was adding to the Poi forward-line, a minute later his dribbly-kick forward was collected by Marty Clarke, the ball spilled free after his prolonged wrestle with Knights but Shane O’Bree arrived to soccer it through. Shortly Camry Torney was caught in possession and Burns’s free-kick bounced through for a goal, with shepherding from Rocca. The Poise had cut the margin to 2 points at the long break.
The late Maggie effort was erased quickly by the Cows in the early third stanza. Gill’s good second-effort got the ball to Ricciuto, the Roo handballed for Gill to run on and slot a goal. Bock lobbed a lazy, high kick forward but Burton charged out to seize a good grab and boot a major. Another poor Pie kick-in gifted the Cressidas a goal, Dane Swan’s miskick collected and stabbed through by Shirley. The Camrys were 20 points up again. Collywood were struggling in attack with Rocca and Cloke smothered by Rutten and Bock respectively, but the game entered a strange clanger-dominated phase now in a very congested midfield. Following a series of turnovers from both sides Pie Pendlebury passed for leading Thomas to clutch a strong grab, he goaled. Clarke’s wide pass found ‘Steak Knives’ Medhurst just on the boundary, Clarke ran on to get the pill back from Medhurst and launch a long kick for Buckley to mark near the point-post. Bucks hooked a left-foot shot for full points and the Poise were thereabouts, 7 points down. But a terrible Burns clanger, kicking directly to Shirley, turned it over and Shirley passed for leading Gill to hold a grab and boot an unbelievable 50m goal. More awful clangers and a few misses before Medhurst collected the ball from a throw-in, ran clear and jabbed a pass into the pocket for leading Rocca to hug. Rocca threaded it through after the siren and the Poise trailed by 8 points at the last change. Opening minutes of the final term were tight, before the Corollas ground clear. Van Berlo had a free against Rocca, he passed for leading Ricciuto to mark and convert. A goal-bound Rocca snap was just touched through by Rutten, then Camry Thompson kicked towards Ricciuto, who out-maneuvered Wakelin for a smart mark. Ricciuto majored again and the Cows were 19 points ahead. The Camrys went into possession-mode for a while. A rare touch for Cloke brought the Poise back, Cloke’s very high kick saw Rocca gallop out and hold a rather easy mark, Rocca majored. A bit later O’Bree kicked a goal, a free-kick against Johncock from which O’Bree played-on and slotted. The Poise were just 7 points down in time-on but their fans were driven insane by a ‘deliberate’ call against Wakelin now. Wakelin had just spoiled Gill and he soccered the ball out - his intention certainly, but as with so many rules these days, they pluck the decisions randomly. The Camrys played on quickly, resulting in a running goal for Brent Reilly. Much booin’ from the Poi fans. Shortly after the restart there was another ball-up, Reilly gathered the ball and handpassed for Simon Goodwin to boot a very good running sausage. The Camrys led by 19 points with three minutes to go, they were in the finals.
The Camrys’ running power got them there, Andrew McLeod (24 disposals) benefited from the Pies’ bombing tactics and in the middle Scott Thompson (31 touches, a goal) and Tyson Edwards (22 possies) were both very good. Robert Shirley (23 touches, a goal) did very well too and Mark Ricciuto (13 disposals, 6 marks, 3 goals) was pretty important in winning the game. Brett Burton (4 marks, 8 possies, 3 goals) and Nick Gill (14 disposals, 8 marks, 2 goals) were useful forwards and Nathan Bock (25 handlings) kept Cloke out of it. Classy Scott Pendlebury (22 disposals, 8 marks, 2 goals) and half-back Heath Shaw (28 touches, 16 marks) were the Maggies’ best, Scott Burns (18 touches, a goal) was good although committed a few clangers. James Clement (20 kicks, 13 marks) and Tyson Goldsack (21 handlings) played well down back, Dane Swan (28 touches, 14 marks) and Tarkyn Lockyer (24 possies, 10 marks) won a few midfield touches. Anthony Rocca (6 marks, 8 kicks, 3 goals) played in bursts but at least managed a few goals against his nemesis, Rutten. Shane O’Bree kicked 2 goals. Malthouse wasn’t happy with all the turnovers. “We aren’t going to win many games if we continue to misuse the football. We have to get better, collectively better. We handed them back a couple straight out from full-back which is unusual for us. We had shots on goal from the run that didn’t make the distance and I could count at least four or five goals that came from very ordinary turnovers and from players you don’t expect it from.” Finals prospects, Mick? “Four wins against quality opposition is always difficult . . . apart from Geelong, West Coast early in the year, and maybe the Kangaroos there are very few sides who have strung together four wins in a row and if those sequences were dissected, they weren’t all against quality teams. It’s not unachievable, someone will do it one day, but the week’s rest and the home finals do tend to wear other sides out,” he said. Neil Craig identified ‘momentum’. “To have to win an away game against Collingwood at Telstra Dome, realistically we’ve got some momentum so it’s important,” he said. “It’s a funny thing, momentum, and we’ve got some at the moment. All I know is that we are looking forward to playing finals footy. We set ourselves at the start of the year to do it. There were stages throughout the year where it looked like it wasn’t going to be a possibility, but our capacity to persist and demonstrate some resilience has been good for our playing group, a good experience for our playing group to go through. It’s also given our supporters a lot of hope as well.” They’d have more hope with a top-four finish.
At the MCG:
Richmond 2.2 8.5 12.12 13.14.92
St. Kilda 4.8 7.12 11.15 14.18.102
Adderlayed’s win the previous night had ended the Saints’ finals hopes and folks wondered about their attitude in this one. In the end it encompassed the Saints’ fortunes this season, halfway through the second term they appeared set for a ten-goal win but their run disappeared and they ended up just holding off the tanking Tiges. In an interview last week Saint man Nick Riewoldt agreed the Saints had struggled to adapt to new coach Ross Lyon’s more defensive game-plan. The Saints blew some games they should have won, notably the loss to Collywood in the wet and the draw with the Bullies. They were symptomatic, prior to this game the Saints had lost eight final-quarters in a row and there’s a clear deficiency in running power. The Stainers farewelled two great players here, Andrew Thompson was retiring after 221 games for Sinkilda, a tough and skilled ruck-rover who was club champion in 2000. As everyone noted, Thompson made a late start to his career, aged 24. Fraser ‘G-Train’ Gehrig (255 games) also hung ‘em up. The popular, eccentric spearhead started his career in 1995 as an athletic winger with the Eagles and was an All-Australian in 1998, but his form declined so rapidly in his final (fifth) year there, the Wiggle fans turned on him and he had to leave. Gehrig’s been a terrific player for Sinkilda, as his body got bigger and agility decreased, he became a key-position man, firstly a full-back, then a full-forward ending up with a Coleman Medal in 2004 and another All-Aussie guernsey that year. The commentators noted coyly that Gehrig didn’t like ‘media attention’. The Tigers have had an awful season which hasn’t resulted in the scrutiny and turmoil at the year’s other two big failures, Melbourne and Carlton, partly because Tiger coach Wallace and football manager Miller predicted failure at the start of the year. This ‘season we had to have’ argument is a dubious one. The Tiges blew a number of winning chances early in the season and this game was yet another example, although they didn’t want to win for the sake of draft picks, right? The bare bones of a reasonable side are there but improvement next year would be incremental at best, you’d think. The Tiggers had three retirees, Ray Hall is giving up due to a chronic hip problem, he played 99 games for the Tiges. Kent Kingsley will be remembered as an erratic but decent full-forward for Geelong where he was four times leading goal-kicker. Trent Knobel proved to be a remarkably poor acquisition for Richmun, the ruckman played three games last year and none this, due to injuries. In selection here the Tigers made one change to the side which beat Essadun, Chris Hyde replacing Jay Schulz. Luckless Jay Attard missed out for the Saints, requiring a knee reconstruction, while veterans Matthew Clarke and Brett Voss were dropped. Clarke’s announced his retirement again, I believe. Robert Harvey returned from injury, Clint Jones and James Gwilt were recalled. Harvey is “uncertain” about playing on but he probably will.
The Tigers are Sinkilda’s b1tches and this game would’ve been over at quarter-time had the Saints kicked straight. Xavier Clarke, Riewoldt and a rushed point occurred before Justin Koschitzke booted the Satin’s first goal, set up by a clever pass from Stephen Milne. The Tiges replied with a lucky free-kick plucked from a ball-up, to Brett Deledio. The umps were very keen to punish off-ball holding at stoppages, perhaps a pointer to the finals. The Tiges moved the ball with appalling slowness and Koschitzke picked off a telegraphed pass, the Sherrin went to Xavier Clarke on to leading Gehrig for a juggling grab and slotted goal. The Tiges bagged another against the flow, Joel Bowden embarked on a long, weaving run completed by a pass to Deledio, he majored again. Koschitzke was allowed an appallingly easy goal as he grabbed a ball-up and snapped it through, Saints by 8 points. They were bombarding the sticks, a couple more misses before a good kick from Matthew Ferguson allowed Koschitzke to mark over Luke McGuane, ‘Kosi’ booted another. Koschitzke took an identical grab a moment later but was pinged, wrongly, for hands-on-the-back. Thompson, Shane Birss and Riewoldt behinded as the Saints wasted their clear dominance, they led by 18 points at the first break. More of the same in the early second korter, a rushed point and misses from Riewoldt and Birss saw the Saints crawl along to 4.11. Both sides seemed to accept a healthy win for the Saints would be the result and the contest stuttered along at half-pace for a while, a terrible lack of pressure. Riewoldt finally got on-target, he couldn’t miss from 10m following a juggled grab of Leigh Montagna’s high kick. Saints by 26 points. The Tiges clung on as Shane Edwards intercepted Ferguson’s pass and kicked for leading Kayne Pettifer to mark and convert. A minute later two Tigger backmen collided, allowing Thompson to collect and kick for Gehrig to out-mark Will Thursfield. G-Train majored. A terrific roving goal from Edwards kept the Tiges in contention, but Stainer men Hayes and Harvey combined to win the ball from the restart, Riewoldt led, marked, goaled. Saints by 25 points and they were scoring goals at will, it seemed. But now a strange thing happened, the Tiges stopped playing keepings-off and began to run a bit and take some risks. The Saints didn’t run much. Tige Richard Tambling did well to find leading Pettifer, he majored. A Gwilt mistake caused a turnover and Deledio kicked for Shane Tuck to mark and boot a goal. Good work from Nathan Brown created a goal for Tambling and the Tiges were only 7 points down. Richmun tagger Daniel Jackson was reported for a vigorous tackle on Montagna, soft stuff. Pettifer led to mark Tambling’s pass and boot his third goal of the quarter, the Tiggers were only a point down at the long break. At the other end Gehrig was providing us with some classic stuff, engaging in a wrestle with opponent Kel Moore, then hovering menacingly in front of an abusive Richmond cheer squad with that mad-eyed stare of his. The umps had words with G-Nut at half-time.
Sainter icon Harvey started the third term on the bench, he’d injured a leg. The Sainters appeared to right their ship quickly, Koschitzke goaled early from another strong grab and soon Gehrig followed up, a free-kick for being whacked in the face by Thursfield. The Saints took a kick-in ‘coast to coast’ and Xavier Clarke found Milne unopposed just 20m out, Milney popped it through. Tiggers Tambling and Edwards missed shots prior to another Sinkilder major, Montagna with some terrific roving and a snap from a throw-in. The Saints had cleared out to a 24-point lead and again spectators settled back. But the Tiges wouldn’t go away. Sainter defender Sam Fisher messed up a clearing kick and the ball rebounded to Tige Matthew Richardson for an easy tap-through. About Richo’s first touch, that. Tige Graham Polak won a ball-up and handballed for Chris Newman to boot a long goal. Momentum was shifting again but now the Tiges began to kick points, misses came from Nathans Foley and Brown and a shocker from Deledio. Saint man Aaron Fiora dropped a mark, the Tigers rebounded and Jake King passed to Richardson, he handballed on for Brown to gather and dribble a sausage. The Tiges were only 3 points down and a minute later Richardson bustled Sam Fisher aside for a strong grab and goal to put the Big Cats in front, by 2 points. Richo shanked a later shot on-the-full, just for consistency, but the Tiges led by 3 points at the final change. Early in the final term Pettifer roved Richardson’s contest and snapped truly to put the Tiges 9 points up. Gehrig had a couple of chances for the Stainers but snapped on-the-full under pressure and behinded from another shot. The game slowed markedly, either tiredness or de-motivation. The Stainers couldn’t be bothered winning and maybe the Tiges didn’t want to, for draft reasons. The Tiges burned the ball going forward. Pettifer and Koschitzke missed shots for their respective sides. Newman turned over poorly for the Tiges, Gehrig gathered the ball in the pocket and lobbed a handpass to the ‘square, Riewoldt had two soccer-hacks at it before the ball rolled through off the outside of his boot. Tiges by 2 points. Montagna cleared the restart and speared a pass to leading Gehrig, he marked and converted and the Saints were back in front, by 4 points. Time-on arrived and the Tiges had a couple of chances, Brown missed a difficult shot and Toiga heads dropped when Polak spilled an uncontested mark, 40m out. Soon Tiger King was caught in possession and Milne passed the free to Gehrig, in a fitting finish G-Train booted a goal after the final siren. He gave his guernsey to a little girl in the Saint cheer-squad who holds up a sign for him every week.
Speedy Leigh Montagna (23 disposals, a goal) was probably the best afield, with fitful contributions from other Sainter midfielders. The Saints’ big men terrorized the Tiges as ever, with Fraser Gehrig (6 marks, 14 disposals, 5 goals) handy all day, Justin Koschitzke (13 touches, 4 marks, 4 goals) and Nick Riewoldt (18 kicks, 9 marks, 3 goals) were very good early. Nick Dal Santo (21 touches) started well but faded, Shane Birss (18 possies) did a good tagging job on Nathan Foley and Aaron Fiora (19 possies) was alright apart from the 0.5 he kicked. Better Tiges included Chris Newman (32 disposals, 11 marks, a goal) on Harvey and the busy forward Kayne Pettifer (22 touches, 10 marks, 4 goals). Joel Bowden (31 possies) was freed from a stopping job to do some rebounding and Nathan Brown (20 disposals, a goal) did some skilful things, in the backline Luke McGuane (20 disposals, 7 marks) did alright on Riewoldt after half-time and Jake King (22 touches) and Andrew Raines (20 handlings) did some running too. Matty Richardson and Brett Deledio kicked 2 goals each. Standby for the Plough spin. "Clearly, we're on an improving graph, there's no doubt about that," Wallace reckoned. "What do we need? I need to get my ruckman back, I need Troy Simmonds back fit and well so that we can structure up accordingly. We've needed the experience of what's been the second half of this year for some of these guys to grow and develop. Our backline's nice and hard and tough (eh?), they're not physically mature yet, but they'll get better every time they go out there. We were winning and losing games 18 months ago with players, and no offence to those players, but players who had been winning and losing games for the club for a long period of time. We're now winning and losing games with a fresh young group that should get better every time they go out there. To me whether you call it a transitional year or a year you needed to have, we had to get those young boys out there, we had to give them experience and show them that they're growing and developing from that experience." He then criticized the draft system from which the Tigers are about to benefit. Ross Lyon reflected on his first year. "We've got a real core here that we're aiming to build on and the window of opportunity for this group, if you add the right talent, is clearly open.” A reference to the Saints’ lack of depth there, especially in the midfield. "We felt the first half of the year, we let down what had gone on previously in the last three years, and we committed to turning it around,” Lyon continued. “We've won seven-and-a-half out of our last eleven, and we spoke about the desire to perpetuate what we'd built on the previous nine to ten weeks, and all those games were winnable. It was critical today that we had a go . . . There's no doubt I'd like more run and a little bit of special talent at the feet of Riewoldt and Koschitzke, beyond Stephen Milne. We've got a plan and we're going to get there.” Lyon urged Harvey to play on. The Saints’ failed season is more likely to have consequences for Saint president Rod ‘Buttress’ Butterss.
At Subiaco:
West Coast 5.1 12.2 19.4 21.6.132
Essendon 2.3 5.6 11.8 19.10.124
The Weegs needed a big win here to boost percentage and have a chance at securing second spot and a home final, and at three-quarter-time the requisite thumping of the ragged Bommers appeared on-the-cards. Departing Bomma icons Sheedy and Hird appealed for one last effort and boy did they get it from Scott Lucas, who kicked a remarkable 7 goals in the last quarter. The best individual one-quarter effort since 1969, they reckon. But the Eegs prevailed and denied Sheeds and Hirdy their dream send-off. I was still in high-school when the Dons appointed Sheedy in 1981 and remember his poor start (six straight losses) and threatened comeback to playing, in the days when we still had playing coaches. But the Bommers ended up just missing the finals that year and Sheeds was on his way. As the papers have noted, Sheedy made Essendon the club it is today, taking them all over Australia in the pre- and off-seasons to play, being keen on any promotional venture (Anzac Day, Dreamtime game etc.) which would build support for his club and the game, too. Thus the Bombers claim to be the best-supported club in Australia. The criticism has been whether four premierships are enough to justify a 27-year tenure, to which Sheedy’s stock answer has always been “they’re very difficult to win.” You’ve gotta strike when the window’s open, to mangle metaphors, and there were some lost years for the Dons post-1993 and blown chances in 1999 and possibly 2001. But four flags since 1980 is second only to Hawthorn over the same period. Never thought of Sheeds as an especially innovative coach tactically, he was pretty conservative in that regard, but the Dons’ recruiting and list-management was always the best. Until recently. Still, Sheedy’s record is amazing. Now he’s missed out on the Melbun job it seems unlikely he’ll coach again. James Hird (252 games) has achieved everything in football, a Brownlow, multiple All-Australian and club champion awards, two premierships including one as captain and best afield (in 2000). Like the best players, Hird always seemed to be several steps ahead of everyone else on the field and his ability to read the play and use the ball was fantastic. I read a comment once, the writer imagined Hird as playing football in a dinner suit with a glass of champagne in one hand. An appropriate image, he’s all class. The other thing Hird’ll be remembered for is a series of freakish injuries, the worst occurring here at Subiaco when Hird’s face was caved in by team-mate Mark McVeigh’s knee. But he more than survived. A meedya career beckons. The Eegs had a milestone here with Daniel Chick playing his 250th game, he may well retire when the Weegs’ finals run is done. In selection the Weegs rested Chris Judd again, Ashley Hansen was out with hamstring trouble and Adam Selwood (calf) missed too, someone called Jamie McNamara was dropped. Chick and Mark Nicoski returned along with Mitch Morton and big man Chad Jones. Sheeds made multiple changes to his final side, some of his favourites in Kepler Bradley, Chris Heffernan and Damien Peverill were recalled, Dustin Fletcher returned and Jay Neagle given an AFL debut, he’s son of Bomma man Merv Neagle. Outgoing Dons were injured Courtenay Dempsey (hamstring), Jay Nash (concussion) and Scott Camporeale (knee), Campo needs a reconstruction. Mark Johnson and junior Kyle Reimers were dropped.
Ben Cousins slotted a tremendous goal from the boundary to open the scoring as the Weegs galloped out. Chick, Dean ‘Big’ Cox and Brent Staker added goals in quick succession as the Weegs went to a 23-point lead. The Dons managed two quick sausages but Chad Jones set up a running goal for Rowan Jones to give the Weegs a 16-point lead at the first break. Bommers Scott Lucas and Mark McVeigh bagged the first two goals of quartier du to reduce the Weeg lead to 4 points, but the Eegs kicked away. Mitch Morton, Quinten Lynch, Chad Jones and Mark LeCras bagged majors in rapid succession as the Weegs kicked away to lead by 38 points at the long break. The Bombers improved a bit in a free-scoring third term, aided by the Eagles losing Matt Priddis with a corked thigh. The Eegs launched some long, aimless bombs early before the Dons got a goal, a good grab from Adam McPhee setting up leading Lloyd to mark and convert. The Eegs replied as a good move ended with Rowan Jones passing for leading Mark Seaby to grab and major. Seaby’s uncontracted, apparently. Hird banana-snapped a tight-angle goal after Lucas won the ball for him, Chick replied with a free-kicked sausage for off-ball holding. Red-hot on that, were the umps. The Dons goaled in sequence while I was in the kitchen, duly Tyson Stenglein kicked one for the Eegs after the Dons were penalized for deliberate, or someone played-on out-of-bounds or something. The alternating pattern was broken when Cousins booted a goal for the Weevils, created by Rowan Jones’s roving handpass. The Eegs led by 45 points. The Dons replied as Lloyd soared for terrific grab over Wirrpanda, then centered a pass to Winderlich for an easy mark and goal. But good work from Braun and LeCras created an answering major for Rowan Jones. Don ruckman Laycock won the following centre-clearance, Kepler Bradley held a good grab and booted truly. A minute later Seaby wasn’t paid a juggling mark in the goal-square but roving Morton snapped a major anyway, then Wirrpanda free-kicked another to give the Weegs a 51-point lead now. The Dons had a late break as Wiggle backman Beau Waters held a very good back-running mark, but then his cross-goal kick was intercepted by Brent Stanton, he slotted. Monfries missed woefully with a shot after the siren and the Weegs led by 44 points at the final change.
Sheeds and Hirdy appealed during the huddle and apparently Sheeds pointed out the self-preservation instincts of finals-bound players. Scott Lucas had spent a fair period of the game in defence but switched back to the forward-line late in the third and, crucially, Hird gave it one big last go on-the-ball. Early in the final term Henry Slattery passed for leading Lucas to mark and convert. A minute later Lloyd passed for wide-leading Lucas to mark on the boundary, Lucas goaled with a superb kick. The Weeg lead was back to 32 points but a minute later Don junior Scott Gumbleton was caught in possession and Wirrpanda free-kicked the Weegs back to a 38-point lead. The Lucas train gathered momentum. Hird and David Hille combined to send the ball forward and Lucas held a strong grab against Brett Jones, he kicked another. Then Lloyd, pushing up the field now, lobbed a hurried kick from a throw-in and Lucas was there to mark it again, he converted with another very good kick from the boundary. Good play from Monfries created another opportunity, two panicky Eegs spoiled each other and roving Lucas had a simple tap-through. Five consecutive goals for Lucas and the Dons were only 21 points behind now. McVeigh cleared the restart with a free, he passed to leading Hird who attempted a torpedo but it wobbled wide for a point. Hird reverted to provider, passing for Monfries to mark and kick truly. The Eegs led by 14 and the locals were more than a little jittery. Lucas resurfaced, McVeigh roved a throw-in and chipped a pass to Lucas who was inexplicably all alone, just 25m out. Lucas played-on and goaled again. Lovett and McPhee combined to win the ball away from the following centre-bounce, Lucas led out and dropped the mark - but Hunter’d chopped his arm, a free-kick to Lucas and he booted his seventh for the quarter, eighth for the game. The Eagles were only 3 points ahead now and presently Lucas gathered a spilled ball, shook off Glass and ran towards the open goal - he missed! Could’ve run a few more steps to steady. Time-on arrived and the Eagles went into keepings-off mode. With two minutes remaining Hunter tidied a scramble for the ball and punted the Eegs forward, Brent Staker ran onto the loose ball and soccered it through from point-blank. The Eegs won the game but gained no percentage. Tears flowed freely from all the Bommers during the traditional jacket-and-scarf-twirling finale. Chick was chaired off by the Weeg players.
Rowan Jones, whose Christian name should be ‘Under-rated’, was very good here with 30 disposals and 3 goals. Adam Hunter (30 touches, 8 marks) was good at both ends as per usual and in the middle Tyson Stenglein (23 touches, 10 tackles, a goal) and Ben Cousins (25 handlings, 2 goals) played well, as did Dean ‘Big’ Cox (27 hit-outs, 12 handlings, a goal). Mitch Morton (15 disposals) bagged 3 goals, there were 2 each for Seaby, LeCras, Chick, Staker and Wirrpanda. Scott Lucas is hard to pass up as BOG, with 8 goals in the end (8.3) from 8 marks and 19 disposals. He ended the season with 62 goals, one ahead of Lloyd. Andrew Lovett (27 disposals) shows signs of becoming a very good midfielder, James Hird (34 disposals, 8 marks, a goal) was crucial while Damien Peverill (26 touches) and Adam McPhee (19 touches, 6 marks) played well. Jason Winderlich (12 touches, 3 goals) was good too. Sheeds isn’t looking back. “I’ve seen a lot of astonishing performances over the years but that (of Lucas) was an excellent performance. He was marvellous. He got us back into the game, [along with] Hirdy in the centre square. We actually worked hard to change the state of that game . . . because basically sometimes a team can get run down late very, very quickly in this game . . . That (this was probably his final game as an AFL coach) doesn’t worry me at all. The situation in the end is clearly I’ll have four or five options to look at,” Sheeds said. “And one might be to have a year off and just relax and go and chase some knowledge and really find out what I want to do between 60 and 70 years of age. I’ve got to sit down and plan that part of my life - whether it’s at Fremantle (he’s been offered the football manager job there) or whether it’s at the AFL or just in business in general because I have a very fertile mind, as you all know, and it’s amazing what you can grow with a fertile mind.” Only one thing on John Worsfold’s mind. "Why can't we (win the flag)? People can take the negative point of view . . . I'm looking forward to playing Port first, but I know there's eight teams that can't, and we're one of eight that can. I think we're good enough, in a nutshell. We're as well prepared as we possibly could be. You've got no control over that (injuries), so we'll be as prepared, and as cherry-ripe as we could possibly be, going into a finals series. Have we got a choice? No choice, so we're just looking forward to it. Our boys know what's ahead, and we know we can do it, and we're looking forward to the challenge.” Given Port beat ‘em by 91 points last time, it is a challenge.
At the Gabba:
Brisbane 2.1 6.6 9.10 15.13.103
Geelong 5.2 9.4 15.10 22.13.145
The Cats bounced back from defeat last week to enter the finals on a positive note. It’s all ahead of them. Only one setback, a fractured foot for key defender Matthew Egan. Unfortunately he’ll probably miss the finals, but the Cats have Max Rooke ready to return. Following a slow start, Brisbun gave some cheek and Jonathan Brown’s 7 goals gave him a season total of 77, enough to win the Coleman Medal. Brown started the night 2 goals ahead of Freo’s Pavlich and 4 ahead of Hawk Lance ‘Buddy’ Franklin, Pav did well to get 4 in the Dockers’ reserves side but they weren’t enough. The Lyin’s had two retirees here, Chris Scott and Chris Johnson. Scott was a tough, hard-headed defender who played in two of the three Brisbun flags and 215 games for Brisbun overall, he was the AFL Rising Star in 1994 and Brisbane club champion in 1998. Dunno how Scott extracted a two-year contract from the Brians at the end of 2005, he’s played two games on it - the last two. Still, a great player for the club. Johnson was one of the ‘elite eight’ taken from Fitzroy in the 1997 merger, he arrived as an explosive small forward but was made into a rebounding back-pocket by Leigh Matthews. So he’s the last remaining Fitzroy player to go. Johnson (254 games) played in the three flags and was an All-Australian in 2002 and 2004. In selection here the Lyin’s called up Josh Drummond, Jason Roe and Wayde Mills to replace injured Joel Patfull (broken collarbone) and dropped pair Mitch Clark and Justin Sherman. Sherman’s had a disappointing year. The Catters were strengthened with midfielders Cameron Ling and Joel Selwood returning, at the expense of Henry Playfair and David Johnson.
Fast starts have been the Cats’ hallmark and they made one here, booting four goals in the first six minutes. Mathew Stokes bagged two of those and Cam Mooney snapped one, Nathan Ablett converted from a mark. But for many the highlight was Corey Enright having his shorts ripped off in tackle, revealing a pair of blue Speedos underneath. Enright played on in his togs for a minute or two, before new shorts arrived. Brisbun scored some late goals in the first from Jed Adcock and Jared Brennan to trail by 19 points at the first break. Egan had suffered his injury already and Mooney also started the second term on the bench, a hand problem. Egan’s erstwhile opponent Jonathan Brown bagged two goals early in the second as the Brians got within 5 points of the Cyats. “It’s not Jonathan Brown, it’s Jonathan Coleman!” exclaimed commentator Anthony Hudson. It was similarly wince-inducing at the time. The Cats scored a goal but a tough effort from Chris Johnson set up a reply for Rob Copeland, Brisbun were 4 points down. Mooney returned and the Cats steadied, tough work from Selwood led to goals for Steve Johnson and a ripper from Ling. The Cats got the last three of the term to lead by 16 points at the long break. The Cats expanded the margin in the third with six goals to three, Paul Chapman and Brad Ottens bagged the first two and they added one more each for the term, along with goals to Mooney and Stokes. A blowout threatened when the Cats kicked the first four goals of the final term to go 61 points ahead, but the Lyin’s pressed on. With his team-mates looking for him at every opportunity, Brown kicked four goals in the last term, one after a terrific grab against Scarlett and Milburn, another a scarcely believable left-foot shot from the boundary. Johnson and Scott did a lap of honour in front of the thoroughly entertained crowd.
The maturity of Joel Selwood (24 disposals) has him a very warm favourite for the Rising Star Award. Steve Johnson (16 touches, 7 marks, 3 goals) and Mathew Stokes (20 disposals, 3 goals) were dangerous small forwards for the Cats and Corey Enright (28 touches) was important (and bottomless) early. Brad Ottens (8 marks, 16 disposals, 4 goals) showed some decent, timely form as Mark Blake did most of the rucking. Gary Ablett (25 possies) played well. Cameron Mooney (15 touches, 5 marks) finished with 4 goals, Paul Chapman, Shannon Byrnes and Cameron Ling bagged 2 goals each. Jonathan Brown finished with 7.2 from 11 marks and 17 disposals. Handy season in which he avoided (severe) injury and suspension. He credits Pilates. Nigel Lappin (33 touches, 10 marks) and Troy Selwood (20 touches, 9 marks) played well and Jed Adcock (19 handlings, a goal) has been a big improver this season. Cheynee Stiller (24 disposals, 10 marks) and Colm Begley (21 touches) were handy midfield. ‘New’ forwards Robbie Copeland and Jared Brennan (14 touches, 7 marks) kicked 3 goals each. They’ll look forward to Dan Bradshaw returning next year. Of course Leigh Matthews was optimistic, after some bluntness. "The only way you can get fulfilled out of a footy season is to win a premiership. Any other finishing position and you are a loser - that's us. If you don't win the premiership, you'd like to finish top half - we haven't done that. You'd like to win half your games - we haven't done that either. The one thing we have done is played some really good footy, beating the Eagles in Perth, having the really big win against Collingwood at the MCG, the win against Hawthorn early, drawing with Sydney and getting really close to Port. We're nowhere near where we want to be and need to be, but I think we're closer than we were at the beginning of this campaign . . . We had 15 goals tonight and I think we had five goal-kickers. We need more people who can contribute to our scoring. We're unbelievably dependant on Jonathan (Brown)." Mark Thompson said "I loved the second half until the 19-minute mark (of the last quarter) when we were 60 points up and then we stopped. All of a sudden they started getting clearances . . . and there were some holes in our game. Our best tonight was fantastic and we'd love to reproduce more of that. We lost (last week) because we didn't play well enough, we didn't play the right roles for the team and there was some things we were exposed to and we didn't handle that well. Again, when the opposition kicked goals tonight the same things appeared. We have to get these things out of our game. We're going to play some very, very good sides (in the finals) and that's our challenge."
At Football Park:
Port Adelaide 4.7 8.7 11.9 17.15.117
Fremantle 1.2 4.7 10.11 12.13.85
Tanking was the big discussion topic of the weekend (after drugs) and Freo took it to a new level at the selection table. Antoni Grover, Steven Dodd, Brett Peake, Paul Hasleby and Dean Solomon were dropped from last week, officially for disciplinary reasons. The first three were caught mid-week drinking, the last two skipped a recovery training session. The league had suspended Josh Carr while Des Headland wasn’t considered, also for boozin’. Mark Harvey was addressing the lax discipline of the Connolly era, we were told. But with second place on the ladder and a home final depending on percentage, it was fun to speculate Freo were trying to sabotage the Weegs. As it eventuated, the Weegs coughed up second spot themselves an hour before this game started. And the second-string Dokkers played alright. Port and Mark Williams have done a great job to grab second place a year after finishing twelfth, they’ve some pretty good young players. Their finals journey should be interesting. One change here for Port, young full back Alipate Carlile replacing Darryl Wakelin (groin) who’s retiring at the season’s end. Freo replacements were Ryley Dunn, Robert Haddrill, Andrew Browne, Marcus Drum, Ryan Murphy and debutant Brock O’Brien from the Peel Thunder. One retiree for Freo, Troy Cook after games with the Swans and Freo. Moderately skilled but there were few tougher and more honest rovers than Cook. Peter Bell’s considering his future.
Things started as expected, the game played exclusively in Port’s attacking half. Young Powder spearhead Justin Westhoff converted from a sliding mark for the first goal, but then Port scored six straight behinds. A couple were rushed by Freo’s flooded backline. Freo’s first attack brought a goal, Matty Pavlich after marking Byron Schammer’s wobbly pass. Port were only 5 points ahead but moved clear late in the stanza, Brendon Lade thumped a 60m shot for full points and a roving Brett Ebert snapped truly. Lade lobbed a kick into the goal-square for Westhoff to seize a very good mark, the young stringbean majored again and the Flowers led by 23 points at the first break, the least they deserved. The Flowers marched on in the second stanza, a great Peter Burgoyne tap-on allowed Daniel Motlop to sink a long sausage and Dom Cassisi won the following centre-clearance, his handpass released Shaun Burgoyne for a running major. David Rodan bagged one and a Port defensive rebound ended with Tom Logan passing for leading Ebert to mark, he booted another. Seven unanswered goals for Port, they led by 46 points. Bell was being tagged out of it by Kane Cornes and no other Shocker could get the ball. Unless they went deep inside the back 50. So the Dokker defenders started to run a bit. Scot Thornton was very good, he and Michael Johnson ran afield to set up a goal for fellow defender David Mundy. Thornton was twice involved in setting up the next major, a running helicopter-punt from Ryan Crowley. Freo junior Andrew Foster missed a shot but their Browne recovered the kick-in and passed for Foster to mark again, he kicked truly this time. Pavlich missed following a terrific mark but the Dockulaters had cut the margin to 24 points at the long break.
Motlop booted the first goal of the third term but the Shockers kept comin’. Port had lost ruckman Dean Brogan with a leg problem, he departed for precautionary reasons, apparently. Jeff ‘Wiz’ Farmer dropped a mark but recovered, wheeled about and kicked truly. Good work from Daniel Gilmore, playing in the ruck, created a goal for Pavlich and Port’s lead was down to 18 points. The Flowers managed the next major, Shaun Burgoyne with an off-ball free for holding. There was a bit of that this weekend. Freo’s Roger Hayden cleared the ball from the restart and his kick was marked strongly by Luke McPharlin, he goaled. Gilmore had a free at the restart, he passed to Shaun McManus. For reasons unknown Chad Cornes, McManus’s opponent, gave the umpire some verbals and conceded a 50m penalty. McManus goaled. Frustration creeping in for Port as Mundy was clattered after marking by Lade, another 50m penalty and Mundy booted a sausage. Port were only 6 points ahead, the crowd was very quiet and the Power players began to panic a bit. Pavlich missed from very close and a rushed behind cut the gap to 4 points. Port’s Westhoff goaled from a rubbish free-kick, sending them 10 points ahead. But Freo won the following centre-clearance and Foster, I think, kicked a major. Port just 4 points up at three-quarter-time and Williams moved his huddle out to the wing, in front of the noisiest Power fans, and threw a windmill-arms, vein-popping screaming fit. It worked. Early in the last Shaun Burgoyne led to mark Salopek’s pass, Burgoyne’s trailing opponent Crowley ripped a hamstring. Burgoyne missed the shot but Crowley’s departure hurt Freo. Chad Cornes marked the kick-in and passed back to Shaun Burgoyne, he threaded it through from the boundary. A minute later Ebert’s pass found Shaun Burgoyne again, he goaled again. The brothers Cornes combined to win the ball from a throw-in, Motlop sold a dummy and dribbly-snapped a classy goal. Port supporters relaxed as their lads led by 24 points. The Dockulaters gave a final bit of cheek, two goals coming from Gilmore’s long kicks to a one-out Pavlich, Pav majored from a mark and a close-range snap respectively. Back to 11 points the diff but Rodan majored thanks to a soft 50m penalty against Farmer and Port kicked away. Freo’s Thornton and Drum made a mess of a kick-in, Drum’s cross-goal kick picked off by Westhoff for a goal. Cassisi converted a free kick against Farmer and Port were home.
Shaun Burgoyne (20 disposals - 9 in the last quarter - and 4 goals) and Brendon Lade (13 touches, 25 hit-outs, a goal) were the catalysts for victory and Kane Cornes (31 disposals) did a terrific job against Bell. Dom Cassisi (21 touches, a goal) and Peter Burgoyne (27 handlings) were also good midfield and Chad Cornes (27 possies, 6 marks) did well despite McManus’s attention. Justin Westhoff (9 marks, 8 kicks, 4 goals) impressed again and running backman Michael Pettigrew (13 handlings) was useful on Farmer. Daniel Motlop bagged 3 goals and there were 2 each for Brett Ebert and David Rodan. Scot Thornton (25 disposals) was terrific for Freo and Matthew Pavlich (8 marks, 16 disposals, 4.3) made the most of limited chances. His 4 goals gave him 72 for the season, second in the Coleman Medal behind Jonathan Brown. Daniel Gilmore (21 disposals) proved a combative ruckman and Byron Schammer (24 touches) won a bit of it, tall runner Michael Johnson (23 handlings, 8 marks) was handy too. Brock O’Brien (15 possessions) proved himself a tough goer. Shaun McManus and Andrew Foster kicked 2 goals each. Harvey talked like the senior coach, even though he’s yet to be appointed. Don’t have a direct quote but on TV he defended dumping the six players, saying the club had to set professional standards and maintain them. Since then Hasleby has been offered a reduced contract and been told to “test the market” if he doesn’t like it. Mark Williams said “I thought we started really, really well and the middle quarters weren’t too good. It is nice coming from twelfth last year to be getting a home final, finishing second on the ladder, that’s brilliant. But we certainly can’t deliver two quarters like we did today to expect that we’re going to go higher places, so we’ll certainly have to clean that up. (West Coast are) going to be very, very tough. You can imagine that Judd has been rested up and is ready to go and Kerr probably will pull the bandages off and jump out and play as well. So they’ll be a very different side to what we saw today.”
At the SCG:
Sydney 5.6 14.8 18.8 22.9.141
Hawthorn 1.2 3.3 9.5 10.9.69
The Hawks staggered into their first finals appearance since 2001 with a dreadful performance, their worst of the season in losing-margin terms. Siddey helped themselves to a big morale-boosting win. The Swannies will face the Poise in an elimination final next Satdy night, the Pies have beaten ‘em twice this season. The Hawks’ loss cost ‘em a top-four berth and now they also have an elimination final next week, against the Camrys who creamed them in their only meeting this season and have a very good record at Docklands. Tough. In selection the Swans rested Barry Hall again, lost Amon Buchanan to suspension and Luke Brennan with a hamstring problem. On the plus-side Leo Barry returned from injury and Lewis Roberts-Thomson played his first game of the season following prolonged fitness worries. Sean Dempster was recalled too. One change for the Hawks, Ben McGlynn returning at the expense of Xavier Ellis.
A very warm, sunny day in Siddey and I’d gone along hoping to see Lance ‘Buddy’ Franklin in action. As things turned out I arrived a minute or two after the start and missed the only meaningful thing Franklin did all day, boot a 55m goal in the first 30 seconds. One-way traffic after that. The Hawks weren’t switched on, there was no running and some appalling disposal and fumbling. Perceived pressure maybe, on a small ground where the Horks have a terrible record. Grant Birchall had an absolute shocker, committing two clangers and getting himself reported (for biffing Ryan O’Keefe) in the opening ten minutes (since cleared). Swan man Adam Goodes set up their first goal, lobbing a kick into the goal-square for Mick O’Loughlin to mark and poke through. Nick Davis snaggled one and O’Loughlin gave up a simple shot for Ben Mathews to snap it home. By the time O’Keefe completed a snappy handpassing move by hooking a sausage, the Bloods were 28 points up. Hork lowlights included Jordan Lewis dropping a mark when 30m in the clear - the ball spilled out-of-bounds - and Chance Bateman twanging a hamstring, he mightn’t be right for next week. The Swans really put the hammer down in the second stanza, O’Keefe bagged an early goal and ruckman Darren Jolly punted ‘em forward from the restart, Davis bullocked Gilham aside for a chest-mark and goal. The Swans led by 41 points now. The Hawks managed another major at this point, Shane Crawford kicked smartly for Tim Boyle to mark in the goal-square and punt truly. But it was against the run, an awful fumble by McGlynn coughed up possession and Adam Schneider ran afield for the Swans, he drew a man and handballed for Davis to snap it through. Davis kicked another goal for the Bloods, another strong grab, and there was a terrific one for Goodes, he collected Spida Everitt’s tap at a centre-bounce, sprinted clear with a few bounces of his own and walloped a kick through from 55m. Jared Crouch was set up for a goal by Nick Malceski’s pass. I think Jarryd Roughead free-kicked one for the Orcs but they had more trouble just before half-time, Hawk ruckman Simon Taylor crashed into a pack and KO’d team-mate Trent Croad, who didn’t return. He went to hospital, in fact. The Bloods led by an emphatic 71 points at half-time.
The Hawks made a bit more of an effort in the third quarter, or the Swans eased off. O’Loughlin snapped a goal in the first minute but the Horks did some scoring thereon. Luke Hodge suckered Everitt into giving away a free and a 50m penalty, Hodge goaled and Campbell Brown slipped forward for a mark and conversion. Rick Ladson scored with a long kick and Taylor had a free at the centre-bounce which bounced through for a goal, with shepherding from Roughead. Ben Dixon bagged a couple as the Orcs crept within 7 goals, the gap got ‘down’ to 39 points if memory serves. Siddey’s Luke Ablett was also stretchered off with what appeared a serious knee injury, although the Swans reckon it’s not too bad. Some pressure for the Bloods then, but they managed three late goals from O’Loughlin, Crouch and O’Keefe to establish a healthy 57-point buffer at the final change. Taylor started the final term in the Orc forward-line and Franklin had a run in defence, so he could get a kick. Buddy’d been starved of opportunity but his opponent, Craig Bolton, deserves some credit. Not much happened in the final term save a career-first goal for tall, lanky Swan Ed Barlow and a deserved one for Jarrad McVeigh. O’Loughlin lurked behind the point-line to poach the final major of the game.
Adam Goodes (27 touches, 9 marks, a goal) was terrific for the Bloods, with Ryan O’Keefe (21 disposals, 7 marks, 3 goals) and on-ball leader Brett ‘Captain’ Kirk (21 touches with 18 handballs, 10 tackles) also outstanding. As mentioned, Craig Bolton (17 possies) toweled up Franklin who had the most shots at goal of any player in the home-and-aways, and finished with 69 goals for the season, third best in the AFL. Leo Barry (18 possessions, 9 marks) was fine in his comeback, Nick Davis (14 touches, 4 marks, 4 goals) and Michael O’Loughlin (15 touches, 7 marks, 4 goals) were dangerous forwards. Spida Everitt (16 disposals and hit-outs) was pretty good against his old side, partner Darren Jolly (11 touches, 20 hit-outs) was handy too. Jared Crouch and Nick Malceski kiked 2 goals each. The Hawks had a few triers, Shane Crawford (23 disposals) and Richie Vandenberg (15 handlings) were alright and Simon Taylor (12 disposals, 6 marks, 2 goals) did a bit, Jordan Lewis (19 touches) and Sam Mitchell (18 handlings) found some of the ball. Mitchell seemed to be hampered by an early knock to the knee. Ben Dixon kicked 2 goals. “It’s a pretty rude awakening for us,” Clarkson said. “The Sydney Swans are a top-four outfit. And they’d be smarting a little bit that they are playing for a position just in the bottom half of the eight. I know we harp on it a little bit, but we continue to get enormous benefit out of playing in games like that. The game was at its hottest today, that’s what it’s going to be like in finals, and we just didn’t measure up. It tells us a little bit about where our side is right at in this point in time and where a team like Sydney (is), who are seasoned campaigners (with) experienced bodies, hard bodies. We didn’t handle that part of the game very well today . . . But at the minute, we’re getting what our list suggests. Sometimes our performance is really good and sometimes it’s not. The Adelaide Crows are no different, it’s all got to do with the age and experience of their list. It is genuinely 50-50 next week.” Hmm. Roosy reckoned “We probably haven't been above the level we've been at today in terms of contesting the footy, but across the board, every player has joined in today. Our forward line pressure was probably the best it's been all year but across the board it was as good as it's been. Our structure looks a helluva lot better when Leo [Barry] and Lewie [Lewis Roberts-Thomson] are back playing. And Crouchie's [Jared Crouch] is a really important player for us, too. They are three pretty important players to us . . . And if they compete as well as they did today, when Hally's back, then we'll have a much better forward line . . . We know it's going to be a tough finals. It's so even. Every team's had their ups and downs, except maybe Geelong. I don't think you can take anything for granted. We appreciate playing in the finals and being in the eight to give ourselves a chance next week. Every team in the eight probably knows that their best is capable of beating anyone else in the eight. And I'd put Collingwood in that category. So I think all eight teams will go in pretty confident going into the finals.”
At Docklands:
Footscray 6.5 6.5 11.5 14.9.93
North Melbourne 4.4 10.9 16.13 23.19.157
North accepted the gift offered by the Hawks and duly leaped into the top-four and a double-chance, by thumping the Bulldogs. Amazing season for the Ruse, looking at a ‘time-capsule’ I did with some other blokes before the season started, seven of us picked the Roos to finish last and the other two had ‘em fourteenth. Just about everyone else did similarly, I ‘spose. In contrast the Bulldogs, expected to make the eight, have been awful over the last third of the season. Six losses and a draw in their last seven games, with an average losing margin of nearly 9 goals. Dreadful stuff. After this game coach Eade and president Smorgon promised a far-reaching inquiry. There’s a feeling their running game has become too predictable and they need quality tall players, more than ever. The North side here included Jesse Smith and defender Josh Gibson, his first game since cracking his head on the bath at home. Regular full-back Michael Firrito was out with a leg injury, the Ruse expect him back next week, while Ed Lower was dropped. The Dogs made multiple changes, Jason Akermanis (hamstring) and Andrejs Everitt (groin) were left out, Farren Ray and Stephen Tiller missed out too. Chris Grant, Jarrod Harbrow, Jordan McMahon and Matty Robbins were recalled, Robbins for his final game as he’s retiring. The pocket spearhead started his career with the Cats in 1996 and played 146 games, every one last year but only 9 this season. Luke Darcy was also retiring, as he announced a few weeks ago. Darcy played 204 games for the Bullies and was their best-and-fairest in 2001 and an All-Australian the following year. Two years out with knee injuries (prior to this one) sapped his agility and enthusiasm. Darcy has a nascent media career happening. Bulldog icon Grant is yet to decide upon his future.
As they have done in a few of those miserable recent losses, the Bulldogs started okay. Most of that was due to Brad Johnson, who booted the first goal after a strong grab and three goals in the opening 20 minutes. Robbins bagged one too as the Dogs nipped to a 20-point lead. Roo man Kasey Green biffed the Bullies’ Tom Williams, earning himself a 2-game suspension. Untimely. Roo coach Laidley switched Daniel Pratt onto Johnson, replacing Shannon Watt and the Kangers got a few handy late goals, from Hamish McIntosh and Daniel Wells. Johnson kicked another for the Dogs in the first quarter for a total of four but momentum swung completely after quarter-time as the Ruse went on a run of ten unanswered goals. Brent ‘Boomer’ Harvey was to the fore but the Kanger midfield dominated, led by McIntosh, Wells and Adam Simpson. Harvey got two quick goals, one from a Daniel Harris handpass, the other from intercepting Adam Cooney’s handball. McIntosh booted another and Ed Sansbury got in on the act. The Pups didn’t score in the second quarter as Norf galloped to a 28-point lead at half-time and the margin expanded to 51 points in the third, before some belated Bulldog goals. Chris Grant kicked one, from a decent pack-mark and Cooney managed a sausage. Norf cruised to victory in the final term, the highlight Harvey riding McMahon for a big grab in the centre. At the end Darcy and Robbins were chaired off through an honour-guard of all players.
Brent Harvey (27 disposals, 3 goals) did his Brownlow aspirations no harm here and ruckman Hamish McIntosh (18 touches, 3 goals) was very good again. On TV last night Glenn Archer praised McIntosh, whom he thought “wasn’t going to make it” a couple of years ago. “He couldn’t out-run Alex Ischenko,” said Arch. Daniel Wells (22 disposals, 2 goals) used his speed to damaging effect, Jess Sinclair (24 possessions) and Adam Simpson (24 touches) saw a lot of it and Brady Rawlings (31 possies) did his usual job on Scott West. Eddie Sansbury finished with 5 goals from 16 touches and could be a finals ‘wildcard’, as they say. Daniel Pratt silenced Johnson after quarter-time and Shannon Grant (22 disposals, 3 goals) was handy, apart from missing a couple of sitters. Drew Petrie kicked 2 goals. Adam Cooney (29 disposals, 2 goals) battled away for the Bullies and Brad Johnson (21 disposals, 9 marks) finished with 5 goals, 4 in the first quarter as mentioned. Jordan McMahon (22 touches) and Matthew Boyd (28 handlings, a goal) plugged away and Jarrod Harbrow wasn’t bad, Robert Murphy (16 touches, 5 marks) did a bit. Matthew Robbins (10 touches, 3 marks) kicked 3 goals. In his last game Luke Darcy had 8 disposals, 11 hit-outs. Eade said "There's probably two or three main things (wrong), I would have thought. I don't think it's one actual issue. But I think what has (been) proven with the Kangaroos and Geelong and there are three or four teams that didn't make the eight last year that are in the eight, and there's not much difference between the teams. If you (have) all things go wrong, or whatever the situation is, whether it's like the Kangaroos last year that had a great pre-season, so they had an enormous base which has lifted them up. Geelong say that as well. Whether it's some other issues that we need to address, we'll keep that in-house. I think the best thing is, there's no need to panic, we've just got to assess where we're at. We've got to make some decisions, and that might be trading, that might be personnel, that might be staff, it might be game style. It might be a whole range of things, so we'll make some considered decisions on that as we go forward." Laidley said “We've worked very hard for it, and it is an opportunity. But that's all it is. We've given ourselves a platform . . . we've given them (the players) the physical platform. It's really up to them how far they want to take it. I’ve certainly asked the players and the whole staff to prepare like they’ve never prepared before, for all the staff to go to the nth degree so that the players can run out on Sunday afternoon being the best prepared that they’ve been this year. Where we are now, mentally and physically, we’re probably the best prepared that we’ve been since I’ve been at the football club.”
At the MCG:
Melbourne 7.3 12.6 16.11 21.13.139
Carlton 1.7 4.12 10.15 15.18.108
The Demons won the game no-one wanted to win. As mentioned last week, those not immediately associated with the Bluies openly canvassed losing and as is the case with these things the Blooze did their tanking at the selection table, fielding the youngest side in the history of the club and the fifth-youngest ever in the leeg, apparently. Household names like Michael Jamison, Shaun Grigg, Shaun Hampson and Mark ‘Not Curly’ Austin wore the old, dark, navy-blue piping on a white guernsey here. And the Bluies indeed went down in a low-pressure, high-scoring jog-about to secure draft picks 1, 3, 19 and 21 (I think that’s it). In winning the Dees lost their priority pick, but as injuries rather than inexperience was their excuse, I doubt many will be bothered. The Demons did appoint a new coach during the week, a bit of a surprise in Dean Bailey. Currently an assistant coach with Port, Bailey played 50-odd games for Essadun spread across seven years in the late 80s / early 90s, before doing some business work and resurfacing as an assistant to Kev Sheedy with the Bombers in 2000. Gave good interview, apparently. So this was the end for Mark Riley in his caretaker coaching role and there were three Demon players retiring. Running half-back Nathan Brown played 145 games for the Dees and will be remembered for giving his all, if not making the best decisions at times. Clint Bizzell started his career as a lairy, high-flying forward with Geelong but gave the Dees some good service as a key defender, but he’s struggled for the last two seasons. Bizzell played 163 games in total, 88 for Melbun. Byron Pickett (204 games) will probably be best remembered as the hardest hitter of the last couple of decades, his fierce head-directed bumps of borderline legality helped usher in new interpretations of the rules to protect players crouching over the ball. But Pickett was also a very good player, winning the Rising Star award in 1998, a flag in 1999 with the Ruse and the Norm Smith Medal in Port’s 2004 triumph. Played pretty well for the Dees too, although Pickett’s suspension for drinking earlier in the year probably signaled his waning commitment. The Dees called up Bizzell for a farewell game here (Brown and Pickett already in the side), James ‘Junior’ McDonald and Matthew Bate also returned to replace David Neitz (knee), Colin Sylvia (hip) and the dropped Simon Buckley. The aforementioned Mark Austin was making his AFL debut with the Blues, he’s from Jeparit in north-western Victoria via Glenelg in the ‘Snaffle’. Ryan Houlihan was also recalled, they replaced Brad Fisher (knee) and the axed Jason Saddington.
Carlton blew it early as Lance Whitnall missed two set shots from 40m, both from good marks on-the-lead. Melbun profited from their first attack, Lynden Dunn and Cam Bruce combining to create a 50m goal for Jeff White, the only Dee to play every game this season. Nathan Jones converted from a gutsy with-the-flight mark and the Dees led by 10 points. Dunn and Russ Robertson missed shots before Robertson advanced to mark McDonald’s wobbly kick and chip a pass to unattended Bruce in the goal-square, he jabbed it through. The Demuns won the following centre-clearance, Dunn punted high. Roving Paul Johnson fired an excellent handpass for Robbo to run into an open goal, Melbun by 23 points. Michael Newton majored from a strong grab over Bloo rookie Austin. Carlton added more points, a poster from Jarrad Waite and Marc Murphy’s long miss. Matthew Bate drove the Deez forward again, defender Ryan Ferguson roved Roberston’s contest to snap a rare major. The Deez cleared the restart through speedy youngster Jace Bode, Robertson marked in the goal-square and popped through another. Melbun by 40 points. The Bluies were ripped off when Josh Kennedy should’ve had a free right in front. Demon Newton added to his speccie collection with a ride and big grab on team-mate Bate, but his shot wobbled out-of-bounds. With 20 seconds remaining in the korter the Blooze no. 1 pick Bryce Gibbs roved a throw-in and snapped their first goal, slashing the Dee lead to 33 points. Bloo Ryan Houlihan won the ball at the restart and lobbed a kick forward, Whitnall leaped for a big two-grabber but, sticking to the script, he missed again. The game was over at quarter-time then, the Dees having kicked 7 goals to 1. Only two more shots, though. The second term was a bit more even, Bloo man Kade Simpson slotted the opening goal after good work from Ackland and Waite to set him up. Carrazzo and Kennedy added to their points collection before Ackland kicked for Houlihan to hold a good mark over Brown, Houlihan majored and the Bluies were only 18 points behind. An Adam Bentick point nudged the Bluies’ score along to 3.11 before Dunn roved a ball-up and handpassed for Bode to dob a steadying Dee goal. Whitnall plucked another strong grab for the Bluies and didn’t kick a point. On-the-full this time. Waite’s fumble led to a goal for Demun Newton and the Dees led by 29 points. Whitnall kicked yet another point - 0.4 he had, from five shots – and the Dees took the kick-in to the other end where Bruce slotted an excellent major from the boundary. Whitnall had another mark 40m out, he didn’t make the distance this time. Are you spotting a pattern here? Travis Johnstone had the ball on a string for the Dees, his handpass allowed Bate to slot one and Melbun led by 41 points. Whitnall collected a loose ball and poised for a shot, but instead handballed to Eddie Betts. Betts’s high, tumbling snap took a right-angle bounce through for a goal. Robertson replied presently for the Dees, converting from Bate’s pass. Late in the term Bloo backman Paul Bower ran backwards for a gutsy mark and collected late-arriving Newton’s knee right in the back. Newton was reported and there were some handbags.
The Bluesers had kicked 4.13 in the first half and managed 11.5 in the second. The facts speak for themselves as tabloid hack Andy Maher stated. The Bluies drew close in the early third term, Whitnall marked Houlihan’s pass, kicked quickly and his low punt dropped through for a goal. Huzzah! Kennedy converted from a free-kick against Ferguson and a minute later handballs from Heath Scotland and Jordan Russell allowed Houlihan a running goal. Three in-a-row for the Blues and they were 24 points behind. The Dees replied courtesy a classy running goal from Johnstone, but the Blues kept coming. Houlihan, one of the very few senior Blues out there, booted another goal and Andrew Walker delivered to leading Waite, who was shoved over by Paul Johnson. A 50m penalty and Waite majored, the Blooze were 19 points down. The Dees lifted, Nathan Brown crashed into Russell head-first to win the ball, played on and booted very good goal, which he celebrated vigorously. Robbo launched himself for a screamer over Scotland and kicked a goal, the sparse Dee crowd was enjoying this as their lads moved 32 points clear. Betts bagged a roving goal for Carlton but Bate answered for the Dees, courtesy a 50m penalty against Carrazzo running through the mark. Dees by 32 points at the final change and there were goals aplenty in a pressure-free final term. Betts roved Whitnall’s contest to snap an early one for the Bluesers, a 50m penalty to O’hAilpin and Houlihan’s pass allowed young ruckman Shaun Hampson to lead, mark and convert. The Dee lead was 20 points. A bit of a lull before Pickett collected the ball 60m out, tunnel vision took over in his final game and Pickett shook off a coupla tacklers and a team-mate before punting accurately from 35m. The Dees cleared the restart, Bode spilled a mark but recovered, sprinted clear and steered a goal. The pace dropped off, if possible. Robertson booted another, set up by Newton’s pass and Melbun led by 39 points. Carlton scored a goal direct from the restart, didn’t see who kicked it. Demon Brad Miller booted truly following a very good pack-mark, Betts replied following an equally good, bustling mark against Daniel Ward. Robertson majored after the final siren to close the home-and-away round.
Quality Demon Travis Johnstone had the ball 42 times (with a goal), he and Russ Robertson (10 marks, 14 kicks, 6 goals) enjoyed the evening. Robbo finished the Dees’ leading goal-kicker with 42. Nathan Jones (25 disposals, a goal) went hard early, probably needs to work on his skills though. Brock McLean (26 touches) and Matthew Bate (18 possies, 2 goals) were good, Nathan Brown (25 touches, a goal) played well and went in hard in his final game. Lynden Dunn (22 possessions) was good in a ‘run with’ role and Jace Bode (13 touches, 2 goals) has some speed. Cameron Bruce and Michael Newton kicked 2 goals each. Eddie Betts (26 disposals, 6 marks, 5 goals) was Carlton’s best and Heath Scotland (41 touches, 8 marks) collected a lot of the ball as always. Ryan Houlihan (19 touches, 2 goals) gave ‘em some spark and Bryce Gibbs (23 disposals, 10 marks, 2 goals) is clearly a good player, if too physically small at this stage. Kade Simpson (21 handlings, a goal) wasn’t bad and Adam Bentick (24 disposals) alright. Shaun Hampson showed some ability. Whitnall finished with 1.4 from 8 marks, 17 disposals. Brett Ratten looked ahead. “I expect more wins (next year) but I don’t know how many more wins . . . After the (last) six weeks I know where every player is and who’s on contract and know what the landscape is for us at the Carlton footy club. I wasn’t worrying about win, lose or draw. I wanted to get kids in so we could have a look at them because for 2008 we need to know where our list was. I wasn’t compromising in anything. I had a plan in place and I stuck to it. Today was the youngest Carton side ever to run out and we had a chance to create history by winning, but we didn’t . . . We know we’ve got a lot of hard work to do at Carlton to get back up the ladder. I did warn the players when they come back it’s going to be flat out. It’s not going to be turned overnight, no matter what draft picks you get. What we do see is we see Michael Jamison playing better, Paul Bower taking the next step, [Ryan] Jackson, Eddie Betts kicking five goals from the first time in his career, [Shaun] Hampson taking a great mark forward. What we’ve got at the club is talent and to get games into them was a big plus for us.” Departing Dee Mark Riley said "Sometimes I chuckle when I hear teams that have six [players out injured]. We've had up to 12 out in certain games and we've changed our team, four or five forced changes, I think a dozen or 13 times, which is nearly double that of any other team. We've got to obviously look at that. It can't just all be bad luck. I'm sure we will look at the reasons why. But at the end of the day the teams up the top of the ladder make the least changes and they use the least number of players. There was some pretty good talent out of that team [through injury] and some pretty good talent on the park, we're talking youth, young talent, it's going to be good for a while. So I think Dean Bailey can be generally excited about the position that he's won."
Ladder after Round Twenty Two
Pts. % Next Week
Geelong 72 152.8 North Melbourne (MCG, Sunday)
Port Adelaide 60 113.5 West Coast (Football Park, Fri. night)
West Coast 60 111.7 Port Adelaide (Football Park, Fri. night)
North Melbourne 56 109.3 Geelong (MCG, Sunday)
Hawthorn 52 113.1 Adelaide (Docklands, Saturday)
Collingwood 52 101.0 Sydney (MCG, Sat. night)
Sydney 50 119.6 Collingwood (MCG, Sat. night)
Adelaide 48 109.9 Hawthorn (Docklands, Saturday)
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St. Kilda 46 96.6
Brisbane 40 105.4
Fremantle 40 102.6
Essendon 40 91.2
Footscray 38 85.5
Melbourne 20 78.2
Carlton 16 74.4
Richmond 14 77.2
Cheers, Tim.
Article last changed on Wednesday, September 05, 2007 - 11:10 AM EDT
