Dockers versus Port Adelaide
Janet Linn and Scott Lockhart, reporting for AFANA, Western Australia
When the first ball was bounced at Subiaco Oval on Saturday, a collective sigh of relief was heard amongst Western Australian football fans. During the previous two weeks, supporters had been bombarded by a constant stream of media stories about West Coast Eagle star Ben Cousin’s drug use and his subsequent indefinite suspension from the club. With the Eagles out of town to play the Sydney Swans (a replay of the never-to-be-forgotten 2006 AFL Grand Final) and Ben Cousins on a plane to Los Angeles to enter a drug rehabilitation program, at last the city could redirect its energies towards helping the Fremantle Dockers celebrate the opening of what could be their best season to date in AFL football.
Fremantle dominate first quarter
Before the game, Freo coach Chris Connelly declared that clearances from the center square would be pivotal and this was played out in the first quarter. After the Power won the toss and kicked towards the city end, Freo ruckman Aaron Sandilands began to dominate the center bounce downs and had multiple touches all over the ground. Shaun Burgoyne gave away a 50 meter penalty after a late tackle and Fremantle scored their first goal through Josh Carr. Minutes later, former captain David Bell was manhandled after kicking the ball and a second 50 meter penalty gave Matthew Pavlich his first, and Freo’s second, major.
At the eight minute mark of the first quarter, Daniel Motlop (Port) was taken high by Ryan Crowley in the forward line. He took full advantage of the opportunity and kicked Port Adelaide’s first goal. At the 11 minute mark, after an excellent attack by Fremantle through Sandilands in the center of the ground, Chris Tarrant scored his first goal for the Dockers and his 300th career goal.Adelaide
Freo’s sixth major followed when Sandilands was awarded a free kick and Port gave away a 50 meter penalty to bring him within easy scoring distance. Another free kick to Ryan Crowley saw him give off a quick handball off to Paul Duffield at half-forward. Duffield made no mistake with a penetrating kick to score the Dockers’ seventh goal. When a Port player applied a shoulder high tackle to Roger Hayden, the Dockers scored their eighth goal taking them to a commanding 27 point lead at quarter time.Adelaide Crowley
Port mount a challenge in the second quarter
Port had a chance to make up some ground early in the second quarter when Duffield was caught holding the ball in the Port forward line. Ebert lined up but missed to score the first point of the second quarter. The ball moved quickly to Pavlich at the Fremantle end of the ground but after taking a good mark at half forward, he was off line as well. At the four minute mark, a kick across the Port Adelaide goal by Fremantle center half back Antoni Grover was intercepted brilliantly by Brendon Lade who put the fourth goal through the middle for the Power. Daniel Motlop, a star contributor for Port in the first quarter, limped from the ground with a suspected ankle injury.
A superb kick from Dean Solomon to Matthew Pavlich in the goal square resulted in his second goal for the game and a steadying one to put Fremantle 23 points in front.
PortAdelaide
Fremantle: Josh Carr, Aaron Sandilands, Matthew Pavlich, Dean Solomon, Des Headland
Power Surge in the third quarter
The match resumed after half time with Port Adelaide’s odds of winning the contest floating out to as high as nine dollars. The first five minutes of the quarter did little to change this opinion with Fremantle kicking two quick goals to increase their lead out beyond five goals. Fremantle Captain Mathew Pavlich continued to provide a central focus for his team up forward, continually out-classing and overpowering the Port Adelaide defense.
Port Adelaide’s domination of the stoppages through ruckman Dean Brogan gave them run that had eluded them through the first half, denying Fremantle of any forward momentum.
An upset in the making
PortAdelaide
This returned the momentum to Port Adelaide, with small forward David Rodan’s goal at the 11 minute mark extending their lead back out to 13-points, and proving his selection as the last man in the AFL draft to be worthwhile. Another goal from Rodan four minutes later effectively sealed the match for the Power.
PortAdelaide
Janet Linn and Scott Lockhart, reporting for AFANA, Western Australia
When the first ball was bounced at Subiaco Oval on Saturday, a collective sigh of relief was heard amongst Western Australian football fans. During the previous two weeks, supporters had been bombarded by a constant stream of media stories about West Coast Eagle star Ben Cousin’s drug use and his subsequent indefinite suspension from the club. With the Eagles out of town to play the Sydney Swans (a replay of the never-to-be-forgotten 2006 AFL Grand Final) and Ben Cousins on a plane to Los Angeles to enter a drug rehabilitation program, at last the city could redirect its energies towards helping the Fremantle Dockers celebrate the opening of what could be their best season to date in AFL football.
The last time Fremantle (the Dockers) played Port Adelaide (the Power) was in the final qualifying round of the 2006 season. On that occasion, Freo handed Port a 79 point thrashing, with Matthew Pavlich and Jeff Farmer leading the way up forward. This Saturday, Pavlich led the team on to Subiaco Oval for the first time as captain in front of a home crowd of more than 37,000, most of them decked out in the Dockers’ signature purple. It was also Pavlich’s 123rd consecutive game, the highest in Fremantle’s history.
With the mercurial Jeff Farmer sidelined for six weeks (after being suspended during the pre-season NAB Cup) the debut of former Collingwood player, the controversial Chris Tarrant, and ex-Bomber Dean Solomon (both named to play in the Fremantle forward line) became a big pre-game discussion point for die-hard Freo fans. For Port Adelaide, the absence of full-forward Warren Tredrea through injury was also a talking point. Which forward line would have the advantage?
Fremantle dominate first quarter
Before the game, Freo coach Chris Connelly declared that clearances from the center square would be pivotal and this was played out in the first quarter. After the Power won the toss and kicked towards the city end, Freo ruckman Aaron Sandilands began to dominate the center bounce downs and had multiple touches all over the ground. Shaun Burgoyne gave away a 50 meter penalty after a late tackle and Fremantle scored their first goal through Josh Carr. Minutes later, former captain David Bell was manhandled after kicking the ball and a second 50 meter penalty gave Matthew Pavlich his first, and Freo’s second, major.
At the eight minute mark of the first quarter, Daniel Motlop (Port) was taken high by Ryan Crowley in the forward line. He took full advantage of the opportunity and kicked Port Adelaide’s first goal. At the 11 minute mark, after an excellent attack by Fremantle through Sandilands in the center of the ground, Chris Tarrant scored his first goal for the Dockers and his 300th career goal.
Port
By this stage of the first quarter there was a lot of conversation amongst fans about the number of free kicks being awarded in front of goal. This intensified when Solomon played skilfully to force an error from a Port Adelaide back man and got a free kick outside the 50 meter line. A long kick by Solomon resulted in his second goal and Fremantle’s lead began to widen.
Freo’s sixth major followed when Sandilands was awarded a free kick and Port gave away a 50 meter penalty to bring him within easy scoring distance. Another free kick to Ryan Crowley saw him give off a quick handball off to Paul Duffield at half-forward. Duffield made no mistake with a penetrating kick to score the Dockers’ seventh goal. When a Port player applied a shoulder high tackle to Roger Hayden, the Dockers scored their eighth goal taking them to a commanding 27 point lead at quarter time.
The first quarter story was definitely the free kick count in front of goal with eight out of the eleven goals resulting from free kicks in the forward fifty. Port
Port mount a challenge in the second quarter
Port had a chance to make up some ground early in the second quarter when Duffield was caught holding the ball in the Port forward line. Ebert lined up but missed to score the first point of the second quarter. The ball moved quickly to Pavlich at the Fremantle end of the ground but after taking a good mark at half forward, he was off line as well. At the four minute mark, a kick across the Port Adelaide goal by Fremantle center half back Antoni Grover was intercepted brilliantly by Brendon Lade who put the fourth goal through the middle for the Power. Daniel Motlop, a star contributor for Port in the first quarter, limped from the ground with a suspected ankle injury.
Port’s fortunes began to improve when David Rodan caught a Freo player holding the ball and moved the ball quickly to Cornes. A short kick to Danyle Pearce (the 2006 NAB Rising Star award winner) saw him score a goal out of nowhere to take Port Adelaide within 16 points of Fremantle.
A superb kick from Dean Solomon to Matthew Pavlich in the goal square resulted in his second goal for the game and a steadying one to put Fremantle 23 points in front.
Port Adelaide were earning more of the ball this quarter but their forward line was not offering options until young player Jacob Surjan lifted the team with a long goal from the 50 meter line.
Again the game see-sawed when Pavlich took an outstanding mark for Fremantle at center half forward and went on to kick the Dockers’ tenth goal. The quarter finished with Fremantle in the lead by 22 points but Port Adelaide had outscored them by 5 points overall.
Port
Fremantle: Josh Carr, Aaron Sandilands, Matthew Pavlich, Dean Solomon, Des Headland
Power Surge in the third quarter
The match resumed after half time with Port Adelaide’s odds of winning the contest floating out to as high as nine dollars. The first five minutes of the quarter did little to change this opinion with Fremantle kicking two quick goals to increase their lead out beyond five goals. Fremantle Captain Mathew Pavlich continued to provide a central focus for his team up forward, continually out-classing and overpowering the Port Adelaide defense.
At the eight minute mark of the quarter Fremantle appeared to be full of run and the all important momentum, leading by 34 points.
However, a stunning boundary line goal from Port veteran Brendan Lade began a remarkable change of fortunes that would ultimately change the game.
Port Adelaide’s domination of the stoppages through ruckman Dean Brogan gave them run that had eluded them through the first half, denying Fremantle of any forward momentum.
This forced Fremantle coach Chris Connolly to change his tactics by placing Mathew Pavlich into the centre of the ground, away from his dominant forward line position.
In the following 22 minutes of football Port Adelaide outscored Fremantle ten goals to two, including seven consecutive in a period that saw a 49-point turnaround in favor of the Power.
Port Adelaide half-forward Damon White put his stamp on the game after only four possessions in the first half with an impressive three goal haul in the space of ten minutes to give the Power the momentum throughout the quarter.
Port Adelaide’s score of 10.1 for the quarter is their third best in club history, and turned a deficit of 34-points into a 16-point lead at the final change to set up and exciting climax to the match in the final quarter.
An upset in the making
Port
Fremantle’s resurgence was stopped dead when Captain Mathew Pavlich was reported for striking Port’s Darryl Wakelin, in an incident that is certain to draw the attention of the match review panel during the week and perhaps rule Pavlich out of Fremantle’s next match against Essendon and Brownlow medal contention.
This returned the momentum to Port Adelaide, with small forward David Rodan’s goal at the 11 minute mark extending their lead back out to 13-points, and proving his selection as the last man in the AFL draft to be worthwhile. Another goal from Rodan four minutes later effectively sealed the match for the Power.
In a frantic final 15 minutes of football, Fremantle’s game continued to be error ridden, costing them numerous opportunities at drawing back Port’s lead. A goal for Brett Ebert at the 19 minute mark stretched the Power’s lead out to 24-points, but was drawn back to 18-points after a goal from Chris Tarrant who disappointed in his first match for his new club.
Port
The match continually highlighted the difficulties surrounding the interpretation of the leagues new rule changes, especially the controversial hands in the back rule which played a major part in the awarding of 32 free kicks throughout the first half.
The disappointing result for Fremantle also cast doubt on their high premiership aspirations, after being touted as the team most likely to claim the title by a majority of club captains prior to the season. However, after a disastrous start to their campaign, Fremantle will be under pressure to return to their good pre-season form.
Final Score: Q1 Q2 Q3 Final
Fremantle 8.1 10.4 14.5 16.9 (105)
Port
Goals:
Fremantle: Pavlich: 5. Duffield, Solomon, Tarrant: 2. Hasselby,
Port
Best: Fremantle: Pavlich, McManus, Carr, Headland.
Port
Umpires: Rosebury, Sully, Chamberlain.
Crowd: 37,425 at Subiaco Oval,
Article last changed on Wednesday, April 04, 2007 - 8:11 PM EDT
