Shaun Grigg

History Made At MCG

rickb — Sat, 02 Apr 2011 07:24:07 -0500

Rick Browner reporting from the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG), Victoria

Saint Kilda was the firm favorite with the bookmakers on a warm and clear night at the Melbourne Cricket Ground for the first game of Round 2 of the AFL season. Rain was forecast for late in a game that was billed as a clash of the forwards with the Riewoldt cousins (Nick and Jack) facing off. This game marked the first time that Richmond and St Kilda have played a Friday night game on the MCG. Richmond has had the better record over the years but since 2003 St Kilda has won thirteen consecutive matches.

Stephen Milne got the Saints off to a great start when he kicked the first goal with only 90 seconds on the clock. Richmond players were slow to tackle and early misses by both teams were costly. Brendon Goddard took a strong mark and played on to kick the Saints’ second goal. Milne kicked their third soon after and it looked all over for the Tigers, even at this early stage. It wasn’t until the 17 minute mark that Trent Cotchin got his team on the board and disaster struck when the Tigers lost their full forward in Jack Riewoldt to concussion. Riewoldt argued heatedly with the team doctors that he was fit, however they substituted him soon after. It was a move that actually helped the Tigers in the long run as they were forced to find other avenues to goal. Both teams traded goals as the quarter ran out with the Saints up by 14 points.

Dustin Martin fired up the Tigers with a snap across his body to goal from 30 yards out but the Saints were more focused on the ball and began to run away with the game again, kicking the next two goals. A couple of free kicks that were converted to goals had the Tigers back within touch. More importantly however they got fiercer and tougher in their tackling. Led by small hard man Jake King, with support from his bigger team mate Shaun Grigg, the Tigers hit the front. St Kilda became more and more pedestrian in their attacking moves and found themselves seven points in arrears when the half time siren rang. Richmond kicked seven goals to three during the second quarter.

Lenny Hayes, the Saints’ vice-captain, was carried off in the third quarter with a ruptured anterior cruciate ligament ending his season. With him went the concentration of his team as Hayes is a leader and a fighter and his presence was sorely missed. To the Saints’ credit they fought strongly against some hard forward pressure from the Tigers. Ben McEvoy brought St Kilda back within three points of the Tigers to set the scene for a close and exciting final quarter.

Rain started to fall as the umpire bounced the ball and it was on for young and old with the game on the line. Richmond could sense an upset and there was a sense of disbelief from Grand Finalists St Kilda that such a young, inexperienced team was taking the game right up to them. Nick Riewoldt was the beneficiary of a controversial free kick when Luke McGuane was judged to have handballed deliberately through the point posts to avoid being caught holding the ball. Riewoldt kicked truly to tie the game, much to the horror of the Richmond fans. Milne kicked the next one to give the Saints a six point lead with only minutes left to play.

All was not lost for the Tigers when Grigg kicked the ball a country mile to goal and bring the scores back to even. There was still a lot of run left in St Kilda’s legs and Jason Blake brought the house down when he sprinted 30 yards to outrun the Tiger’s Jake Batchelor and kick the Saints ahead by a goal. In a bizarre incident, Jake King for the Tigers was running off for an interchange rotation when the ball nearly landed on the back of his head. He was alerted by the crowd’s screams and turned around in time to take a mark. His kick forward and resulting goal by Daniel Jackson had the Tigers up with with two minutes left to play. St Kilda kept the ball in its forward line until the siren rang but could kick only two points to draw the match.

It has been 100 years since there have been two drawn games in the first two rounds. Both teams were shellshocked by the draw, the Saints having wasted game-winning shots from Milne and Blake in the dying minutes and the Tigers having once again been in a winning position only to see themselves without the four points.

In a final twist to the game, the field umpire admitted after the game that he had erred when awarding a free kick against Luke McGuane in front of goal. The AFL Rules allow for a player to handball through the goal posts when under pressure. That is small comfort for Richmond who take two points from the game instead of the four they deserved.

Scoreboard
Richmond: 2.4 9.5  10.9 14.11 (95)
St Kilda: 4.6 7.10 9.12 13.17 (95)

Best
Richmond: B Deledio, S Grigg, T Cotchin, D Jackson, C Newman
St Kilda: J Gram, D Armitage, S Milne, N Dal Santo, S Fisher

Carlton Departures

Lisa Albergo — Sun, 03 Oct 2010 11:01:57 -0500

by Lisa Albergo reporting for AFANA from Chicago

Carlton forward Simon Wiggins has decided to retire after failing to play any senior games in 2010. Wiggins, who played alongside Coach Brett Ratten, debuted in 2001 and has played 116 games for the Blues. Wiggins thanked his family, teammates and the coaching staff for their support and said it had been an enjoyable journey. Ratten described Wiggins as a loyal and selfless team player as well as a popular club man.

Both Shaun Grigg and Sam Jacobs have asked to be traded. Grigg has nominated Richmond as his preferred club while Jacobs wants to return home to South Australia. Grigg debuted in 2007 and played 43 games. He managed just eight matches this year due to injury. Jacobs debuted last year after being promoted from the rookie list and has played 17 games.

Also moving on from his position as an assistant is Brett Montgomery who has rejoined the Western Bulldogs. Montgomery played 78 games for the Bulldogs 1997-2000 and 2006-2007. In between, he played 126 games with Port Adelaide 2000-2005 and was a member of Port's Premiership win in 2004. He has been an assistant at Carlton for the past three years and was a candidate for the Port Adelaide coaching job which went to Matthew Primus. Bulldog manager James Fantasia said the club was excited to have Montgomery back in the fold. He still had strong ties to many of the current players and his knowledge and game approach would be beneficial.

Montgomery said he is looking forward to the new challenge. He had always wanted to return to the Bulldogs and described the players as exciting and talented and on "... on the verge of something special."

Source: heraldsun.com.au, afl.com.au

Dockers Sing The Blues

rickb — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 06:50:57 -0500

Rick Browner reporting for AFANA from Subiaco Oval

Big name cuts to both teams for disciplinary breaches and poor form saw the Fremantle Dockers and the Carlton Blues face off with new look sides and plenty of youth on display. Carlton wore a new away strip, a yellow jumper signed by Lance Armstrong, each one to be sold at auction post-match as a fundraiser for cancer research. Both teams had looked brittle in previous matches and Carlton in particular were out to show the football public that they were serious contenders for the Finals. The umpire was keen to get the ball bounced at the start of the game with players already involved in shoving and niggling that could have resulted in an all-in brawl had it gone on any longer.

Fremantle started the game with fierce determination directed both at the football and at the man and within two minutes Matt de Boer had scored the opening goal. Big Aaron Sandilands followed up with a 50 meter kick to set his team alight. It took ten minutes for the Blues to score a point and by that stage Carlton players had only touched the ball a handful of times. Jeff Garlett scored a steadying first goal for the Blues but it was like waving a red flag at a bull. The Dockers' Luke McPharlin goaled next and, in a bizarre set of circumstances, Carlton seemed to come unhinged. With the McPharlin kick barely through the goalposts, an illegal head high hit on a Fremantle player saw the umpire award a free kick and a second shot on goal. Nic Suban kicked Fremantle's second major in a minute, a twelve point play caused by some undisciplined stupidity from Carlton. When Garrick Ibbotson chased down Ryan Houlihan, laying an inspired tackle and saving a certain goal, the Dockers' tails were up with the firm belief that the game was theirs for the taking. At the end of the first quarter, the Dockers had scored six goals to two and led by 28 points.

Home crowd favorite and veteran Des Headland scored first in the second quarter after some excellent center clearance work. His mark and conversion from the 10 meter square had Fremantle out to a game high 34 point lead and the alarm bells started ringing for Carlton. The next few minutes saw some tight, hard fought contests that resulted in Carlton kicking the next three goals. Chris Judd stamped his authority on the game with masterful dashes through the center and deadly accurate delivery. It seemed the Blues might turn the game around. In a disturbing action bordering on poor sportsmanship, the Carlton runner ran on to the ground as the Dockers were moving the ball out of the backline. Also dressed in yellow he could have been mistaken for an extra Blues' player on the field and fans wondered if he had been sent out to act as a decoy. Carlton had kicked the last five of the six goals scored at this stage and were on fire. Hayden Ballantyne delighted spectators with a gutsy smother of the ball in the Dockers' forward line followed by a soccer off the ground through the middle of the goals. Although the Dockers' quarter time lead had diminished they were ahead by eleven points at the halftime break.

With the third quarter underway, Stephen Hill opened the scoring for the Dockers with a classy "banana" kick and when McPharlin kicked two goals in a row, things were looking up for the home side. Carlton missed some easy chances but were relentless in their attack. A couple of goals from Setanta O'hAilpin and Shaun Grigg had the visitors still in the game as the quarter drew to a close. Scott Thornton conjured up a goal out of nothing to give the home side an eighteen point lead at three-quarter time.

Brendan Fevola stepped up to the plate to start the final term and marked and goaled from directly in front to lift the Blues. The Dockers had run out of legs and were consistently second to the ball in contests. Judd and Bryce Gibbs cut the opposition to ribbons with dashing run through the middle of the ground. When Gibbs goaled he put the Blues in front for the first time in the game and from that moment on they were unstoppable. A consolation goal to Byron Schammer late in the game gave some respectability to the final scoreline but in the end the Dockers were outgunned with the Blues recording a fifteen point victory.

Carlton's victory could have been a massacre had they kicked straight. Their final tally of nineteen behinds should give their kicking coaches some ideas for training this week. Next Saturday's game at the MCG against traditional rivals Richmond promises to be a ripper given the Tigers' newfound determination under caretaker coach Jade Rawlings. If the Blues win they will consolidate their position in the top eight. Fremantle travel away to take on the in-form Adelaide and look likely to suffer another loss in an unspectacular season that began with so much promise three and a half months ago.

Scoreboard
Fremantle 6.2 9.7 13.8 15.10 (100)
Carlton   1.4 7.8 9.14 16.19 (115)

Best players
Fremantle L.McPharlin, N. Suban, A. Sandilands, H. Ballantyne, G Broughton
Carlton   B. Gibbs, C. Judd, J. Russell, A. Carrazzo, S O'hAilpin