AFL Review Round 10 2007

AFL Round 10

by Tim Murphy

At the MCG:

Collingwood  3.5   7.7   12.12   15.13.103
Fremantle    5.3   8.6   10.11   13.16.94

It’s not often you can accuse the Pies of being smart, but they played smarter footy than the Dockulaters to grind out the win here. Freo’s excellent rovers work very hard to win the ball, then witness their team-mates being too cute, too indecisive or too ordinary with the ball. The Poise got by with less possession but tough defending and better usage. Characteristic of Malthouse-coached teams, suggested Den Commetti. The Pie side here was unchanged from the team which won in Brisbane. Bucks tottered a few laps at training with his walking-stick last week. The Shockulaters had Josh Carr back from suspension and Luke Webster was recalled, they replaced Clayton Collard and Adam Campbell. Michael Johnson and Dean Solomon were cleared of charges arising from last week.

Added interest came from Pie Paul Medhurst and Dokka Chris Tarrant lining up against their former sides. Medhurst received some handshakes from his ex-team-mates before the bounce. Tazza didn’t. Freo made a rapid start, a free-kick to Josh Carr at the opening bounce was passed to Des Headland, he passed for leading Matty Pavlich to mark and convert. Pavlich had Nick Maxwell as an opponent and Simon Prestigiacomo was on Tarrant. The Pie defenders swapped around later. Anyway, Pavlich missed a set shot before regular backman David Mundy bagged a goal, set up by a good handpass from Headland. The Dokkers led by 13 points. The Poise opened their account through a pair of free-kicks, Trav Cloke got one for being slightly touched on the back, from his kick Anthony Rocca was held down by Luke McPharlin and Rocca GOALED, he couldn’t miss from 10m out. Mundy booted another for the Dockers, rewarding Connolly’s tactic of playing him forward. Tarrant was spoiled by Presti but recovered and handballed for Mundy to snap it through. Still Freo by 13. Tarrant missed his first shot at goal to much rejoicing from Poi fans, and thereafter Tarrant ran out to the wings to get the ball, leaving the scoring responsibility to Pavlich. Cloke produced a typically timid shot before a smart kick from Rocca found marauding Maxwell alone 50m out, he played-on and punted a good goal. The Dockers replied, Ryan Crowley flew from the side for a great two-grab mark, there was doubt about it so he played on and snapped it home. Pavlich missed for the second time following a very good grab, his inaccuracy to become an issue. Pie forward ‘Neon’ Leon Davis nudged the Poise closer again, he roved Rocca’s contest and dribbly-snapped a major. Freo led by 6 points only, despite rovers Hasleby and Josh Carr enjoying a mountain of touches. With only a few seconds remaining in the stanza Pavlich worried Poi backman Rhyce Shaw out of it - not the first time that’s happened - and Josh Carr stabbed a goal from point-blank. Freo by 10 points at the first change. The Maggies lost Heath Shaw early in the second term, he was crunched head-on by Pavlich as both converged on Tarrant’s high punt. Shaw sustained a badly corked thigh and his night was over. Pavlich ended up kicking a goal in the same passage, set up by Solomon, and the Dokkers led by 16 points. The Pies tightened up midfield and began winning a bit more at contests, Scott Burns and Dane Swan excellent in that regard. Davis led wide and had a shot which dropped in the goal-square, Rocca marked too easily in front of McPharlin and popped it through from point-blank again. The Pies controlled the ball for a few minutes without gain. Medhurst underlined his modest ability with some poor, off-target passes and a set-shot poster. The Pies goaled eventually as McPharlin over-ran a loose ball, Rocca paddled the Sherrin into Davis’s path and he gathered and snapped it through. The Freo lead was back to 4 points, a minute later Brett Peake’s tough battle to win the ball set up a noice running goal for Crowley. But Crowley went the way of all Dokkers soon afterwards, reported for a poor head-high bump on stooping Prestigiacomo. Skilful kicks from Scott Pendlebury and Ben Johnson set up Swan for a running sausage and the Poise trailed by 5 points, Headland snapped a left-footed reply for Freo after Josh Carr won possession at a throw-in. The Pies forced the ball forward from the restart, Davis scooped the ball up superbly and snapped a terrific goal to narrow the gap to a goal again. Thomas missed poorly before the long break, Freo 5 points ahead.

Collywood started the third term with Cloke and Medhurst on the bench and Josh Fraser pushed forward. Fraser took a couple of grabs but managed a point and a pass over Al Didak’s head. In fact several behinds were scored in the first ten minutes of the stanza, a few from Pie Thomas. Lacks composure in front o’the sticks. Pavlich kicked a point, from the long Magpoi kick-in Thomas marked in the centre, he played-on and punted towards Cloke (back on) who won a free-kick, he goaled and the Poise led for the first time, by a point. A bit later Medhurst took a heavy hit to win a contested ball and get a handpass away for Didak to bag a goal. He’s good for something, Steak Knives. At the following centre-bounce Dokka ruckman Aaron Sandilands slipped over and the Pies went forward, Medhurst delivered another wobbly pass but Rocca dived to mark it and boot another major. The Pies led by 18 points and it appeared to be another of their hard-working, decisive second-half efforts. The Shockers raised an effort though, Solomon flattened Maxwell with a fearsome (and legal) bump, to his credit Maxwell jumped up immediately. Pie junior Tyson Goldsack ambled from defence like he was in the VFL, he was caught by Webster and some good work from Pavlich allowed McManus to boot a goal. A major for the Pies followed, some rapid handball under heavy Dokker pressure ending with Ben Johnson scoring with a very good kick. Back came Freo, Pie fans jeered as Tarrant’s centering kick sliced off-target but McManus gathered the crumb, handballs released Peter Bell for a running slot. The Magpiss had the last word, another great individual effort from Neon Leon as he climbed on Michael Johnson for a remarkable one-handed speccie, Davis goaled. Tarrant excited the crowd as he knocked down Shane O’Bree after the three-quarter-time siren and sparked some minor handbags. The Poise led by 13 points at the last change and the smart money was on ‘em. Freo moved McPharlin to the forward-line for the final korter, he did little but Freo did score the opening major, Sandilands grabbed a throw-in and whipped it through the big sticks. Soon Pavlich kicked his fifth behind of the night and failed to turn the screw, the Pies 6 points ahead. A bit later McManus kicked towards McPharlin alone in the centre but the big galoot slipped over, a turnover and Didak passed to Rocca on a long lead. Pebbles had his kickin’ boots on this night and he majored again, the Poise led by 12 points. Burns and Swan combined to win the ball at the restart, a few handpasses later and Swan was booting a sausage. Pies by 18, a healthy lead in context. Freo were winning enough of the ball though. Pavlich soon had another chance after marking Bell’s pass and the Freo CHF finally kicked straight. The Poise went 18 points ahead again after a classy effort from Swan to win possession led to Rocca marking Davis’s pass, Rocca goaled. McPharlin went back to him. Tarrant kicked another point for Freo, drawing much Bronx cheering from the Poi fans. The Dokkers plugged away but had little plan in attack, apart from bombing it to Pavlich. If only they had a mercurial small forward who could make something from nothing, like Neon Leon Davis. Eh? Oh. Pavlich did kick another goal, from a downfield free-kick as frustrated Didak knocked Hasleby over following disposal. With just over a minute to go Pavlich led to mark on the flank but missed for the seventh time, the final scoring act.

On-ballers Dane Swan (35 disposals, 2 goals) and Scott Burns (26 touches) were crucial in the Poi victory and Anthony Rocca (8 marks, 13 disposals, 5 goals - no points) had his boots on at last. Also in attack, Neon Leon Davis (11 kicks, 3 marks, 4 goals) gave the Pies an edge Farmerless Freo didn’t have Talented wingers Ben Johnson (19 possies, a goal) and Scott Pendlebury (21 handlings) were good again, rover Shane O’Bree (22 touches) wasn’t bad. Brodie Holland (21 handlings) did a bit. Paul Medhurst (13 disposals) is like a Dokker in wasting the ball. As mentioned, the Dockers had Paul Hasleby (34 possessions) and ruckman Aaron Sandilands (31 hit-outs, 11 disposals, a goal) win them a heap of ball, which they didn’t use with greatest efficiency. Matthew Pavlich (4.7 from 13 marks and 25 disposals) was a chief offender in this regard. Josh Carr (21 disposals, a goal) started very well and Peter Bell (27 touches, a goal) improved as the game progressed, Dean Solomon (11 touches) clattered a few and Des Headland (17 possies, a goal) did a bit. Chris Tarrant (12 marks, 27 touches, 0.2) got the ball a long way from goal, mostly. Ryan Crowley and David Mundy kicked 2 goals each. Connolly defended Pavlich costing them the game. "One of the great challenges on the road is to kick accurately and Matthew has probably been as good as anyone in the competition at doing it. He didn't kick the ball as well as he wanted to tonight, he was very, very disappointed but then we had other aspects of ball use which didn't help us and we thought we gave up a few soft goals, particularly a couple before halftime. Look, he (Pavlich) was really dominant and if you win by two goals he is the best player on the ground. They are just the things that are thrown at you in this game." Then he did blame Pav. “We certainly had our opportunities in the first quarter and probably didn't kick a high enough score to take advantage of the kind of control of the game we had," Connolly said. “We missed shots up one end and I think Anthony Rocca kicked five straight and sometimes it can be that simple . . . We have got to win eight out of 12 but our focus right now has to be Richmond. We don't look any further past that because you can't afford to." Mick Malthouse reckoned half his side was injured. “In the present four or five years that’s one of the best wins we’ve been associated with here. There’s been bigger wins, there’s been more at stake but that is as gutsy as I’ve seen for a long time. There were probably six blokes that under normal circumstances I wouldn’t have let play and the medical staff wouldn’t have let go back on the ground. To overcome that and fight back and produce the win we did to me is just another booster in the arm of confidence. It’s a demonstration that I think our side is very, very even and they work for each other. I was absolutely tickled pink.” He didn’t name names.

At the MCG:

Melbourne  2.3   10.5   12.10   13.11.89
Adelaide   3.1    4.5    5.8    10.12.72

At last. The Dees wobbled in the last quarter but wouldn’t cough up the 7-goal lead they maintained at three-quarter-time. Melbun’s first win for the season was deserved, they were clearly the better side for most of this game. With players returning from injury, the Fuchsias could worry some sides in the second half of the season. For Addleaid the loss continued their poor recent form against the weakest sides in the league. The general criticisms of the Camrys - key players too old, forward-line too ordinary - were recycled. Injuries during this game to Brent Reilly and Ian Perrie didn’t help. Coming in the Corolla side was stronger as skipper Mark Ricciuto returned for his first game since round 20 last year. ‘Roo’ was named captain of the Italian Team of the Century last week. Luke Jericho was very unlucky to be dropped in his stead. The Dees had Colin Sylvia, Matthew Bate and Paul Wheatley return to action, replacing Brad Miller (wrist injury) and dropped pair Ben Holland and Lynden Dunn.

The Dees were switched-on from the start, exerting some great tackling pressure on the Camry runners. Nathan Brown played in the forward-line as a tagger on Andrew McLeod and Simon Godfrey picked up former Dee Scott Thompson. Early on Wheatley delivered to David Neitz on-the-lead and the Dee skipper booted a goal. Mercurial Camry forward Scott Welsh held a with-the-flight mark 15m out, played-on but was tackled superbly by Daniel Bell in the goal-square, the ball spilled and the Dees cleared. Bell went on to have a very good game. After some tough play the Camrys scored an archetypal goal, three defenders flew to spoil Neitz, McLeod collected the ball, raced clear and kicked long for Ian Perrie to run back with-the-flight and hold a grab. Perrie majored. A bit later the Cows won the ball from a throw-in following some tough tackling from both sides, Jason Porplyzia snapped a sausage and the Camrys led by 6 points. Good end-to-end play for the next few minutes, without much scorin’. The Dees leveled the scores after Nathan Jones held a strong mark in front of big pack, with a bit of shepherding. Jones converted. The Camrys took a quarter-time lead after Porplyzia free-kicked a goal, ploughed into the sandy surface by Clint Bizzell. Ricciuto started the second term at full-forward for the Camrys and postered with an early shot, a free-kick against Nathan ‘The Cougar’ Carroll. The Dees proceeded to produce their best quarter of the season. Brad Green and Cameron Bruce were terrific in it. Jeff White kicked to find Bruce on-the-lead, Bate shepherded for Bruce to play-on and drill a low kick for a major. Melbun led by 2 points. Bate had a free-kick out on the flank and centered the ball to Bruce, he directed a pass to leading Russ Robertson but Jones chipped in to mark and boot a goal. Ricciuto kicked another point for Adelaide and a lairy snap from Neitz hit the post. Green held a superb with-the-flight grab and handballed for Wheatley to kick long, Bruce marked alone just 15m out and handballed for Aaron Davey to slam it through. The Dees led by 14 points and their supporters found voice. One wit had dubbed this game the Demons’ ‘line in the snow’. Good play from Bruce got the ball to Ricky Petterd, he exchanged handpasses with Bate and snapped another Dee major. Cressida defender Jason Torney was caught in possession by Colin Sylvia, Bate gathered the spilled ball and snapped truly. Robertson goaled from a dubious free-kick, allegedly pushed by Scott Stevens. Melbun led by 31 points at this stage. Neitz marked on a long lead and centered with a pass to Wheatley, the long-kickin’ Dee thumped it home from 50m and the Dees led by 37 points, they’d kicked 7 unanswered goals. The unlikely Torney broke the run for the Coronas, steering an excellent running kick through from the flank after Tyson Edwards won the ball at a throw-in. But the Dees had the final word, Green spearing a pass for leading Neitz to swallow and punt for six points. The Deez departed to sustained applause, leading by 36 points at half-time.

The Camrys failed to make inroads in the third quarter, the first half of which featured some terrible shots at goal. Addleaid’s cause wasn’t helped by the non-appearance of Reilly, more ankle trouble. Bruce missed poorly but Camry Robert Shirley topped that with a disgraceful effort, running into an open goal under no pressure he shanked it for a behind from 15m. A bit later Welsh soared over the pack for a big grab, but postered. In marking Welsh’d clattered team-mate Perrie, damaging the bloke’s shoulder and Perrie was done for the day. Ten minutes in the Dees scored a goal, Brock McLean did well to win the pill and kick long, Brown spilled a mark but Robertson was on-hand to soccer it through. From the restart Edwards lobbed a kick forward for the Cows, Ricciuto marked and thundered a 60m goal. The Demuns still led by 36 points. Green held another gutsy with-the-flight mark and Robertson won a free-kick under the incredibly soft hand-on-the-back rule, but Robbo postered from 10m. Divine intervention. Davey used a burst of speed and no little skill to find James McDonald out wide, he passed for leading Bate to mark and boot a very good goal from the flank. Dees by 43 points. Welsh missed again, hooking a tight-angle shot on-the-full, and the Dees ran the clock down to three-quarter time. They led by 42 as the last term commenced, of course Melbun were jittery and focussed too much on retaining possession rather than moving the ball. The Cows had a crack, led by Simon Goodwin. Scott Stevens moved to the forward-line and he booted the term’s first goal, snapping truly after Goodwin roved a throw-in to send the ball forward. A bit later Bizzell was caught in possession, Torney passed the free-kick to leading Michael Doughty and he majored. Dee Petterd’s turnover released McLeod but his long shot just missed. Davey twisted a knee and departed (briefly) as the pressure built. A very nervy, circular handballing move from the Dees coughed up the ball, Camry ruckman Jon Griffin passed for leading Welsh to mark and punt truly, game on now as the Cows trailed by 24 points. Petterd’s long kick for a behind represented the Deez first score for the quarter, sixteen minutes in. A bit later Bizzell collected the ball on the point-line but instead of rushing it through he kinda stood there, paralysed. Stevens tackled, won a ‘bawl’ decision and free-kicked a goal. Melbun led by 19 points and Daniher was shown kicking a few holes in the wall of the coach’s box. Green turned over, presenting Martin Mattner a shot 20m out but he missed woefully. Finally some relief for the Demuns as Green ran clear and passed for leading Neitz to mark out wide, the skipper scored full points with a terrific kick from 55m. The Camrys advanced from the subsequent centre-bounce, Ricciuto roved the pack to snap a goal and reduce the margin to 18 points again. But a rushed Camry point was the only other score of the game, the Demuns were triumphant at last.

Brad Green (37 disposals, 18 marks) always wins plenty of touches, due to his great endurance, but his sheer numbers, ‘sacrificial acts’, tackling and pinpoint kicking were superb here. He and the excellent Cameron Bruce (29 disposals, 10 marks, a goal) led the Dees to victory. Daniel Bell (20 disposals on Scott Welsh) played almost the best game of his career in defence and Nathan Carroll (19 touches, 11 marks) was also very good down there, long-kicking Paul Wheatley (22 touches, 10 marks, a goal) and rugged rover Nathan Jones (15 touches, 2 goals) were good. David Neitz (5 marks, 13 disposals, 3 goals) stood up when required. Matthew Bate (16 possies, 7 marks, 2 goals) played well on a forward flank and Aaron Davey (20 handlings, a goal) worked hard, Simon Godfrey put Thompson out of business. Russ Robertson kicked 2 goals. Simon Goodwin (32 possessions) was easily the Camrys’ best and Tyson Edwards (31 handlings) wasn’t bad, Graham Johncock (19 disposals) and Michael Doughty (23 handlings, a goal) were alright. Jason Porplyzia (17 touches, 5 marks, 2 goals) was their most dangerous-looking forward until Scott Stevens (18 touches, 6 marks, 2 goals) went up there in the last quarter. Jason Torney (15 possies, a goal) was alright, Mark Ricciuto (13 disposals, 3 marks, 2 goals) will be better for the run. “I thought we were under pressure all the time. We couldn’t get any real clean, quick ball movement and that’s more of a reflection of the way Melbourne played I think, but we need to be better than that,” said Camry coach Craig. “I don’t want to be specific about it, but it was just a recognition again that in a high performance sport there are some basic things that need to be put into place. If one side, whoever it may be, doesn’t put that into place then you’ll get a second quarter like we did. Now if both sides put it into place you get a real close contest and other things are able to unfold as in ball movement and some team structures and some talent and those sorts of things. So it was just to re-affirm, if you like, what’s so important at the top level of high performance sport.” Big smile on Neale Daniher’s face. "We want to get our best team out there and play some really good competitive footy," he said. “We are a long, long, long way from the eight, but we are looking forward to the second half of the year . . . a few of the teams that may have thought, 'We've got Melbourne', they'll be thinking again, I reckon . . . We could have won four of the last five and then you’d be saying we are one of the form teams of the competition. But, we haven’t and that’s really disappointing. I’m very happy for our supporters that came along today and it really adds to the build up for Collingwood on Monday. All they will want to see is progress and improvement in the second half of the year after a very tough first half of the season. At least this win gives everyone some heart.”

At Subiaco:

West Coast       5.4   8.8   10.9   18.13.121
North Melbourne  3.1   3.7    7.9    7.13.56

Ah, Dean Laidley. “Bring it on,” he said last week, referring to this upcoming fixture. The Eegs brought it on and gave the Kangers an absolute stuffing. Chris Judd played. He contested and was cleared of eye-gouging Hork Campbell Brown last week, after being offered a one-match suspension by the match review panel. Pretty lucky, Brown’s equivocal evidence went a long way to gaining the decision, so some things about the tribunal haven’t changed. The Coasters welcomed Daniel Chick back into the side but lost forward Ashley Hansen for up to 8 weeks they reckon, due to his finger injury from last week. A big loss, Hansen’s their best forward. Junior Mitchell Brown was recalled at the expense of Steven Armstrong. The Ruse recalled defender Shannon Watt to replace big man David Hale.

The Ruse scored a goal direct from the opening bounce, Brent Harvey hit a pack hard and handballed for running sandgroper Andrew Swallow to slot it through. But the Weegs proceeded to dominate the first half and first quarter in particular. Despite Judd being tagged closely by Brady Rawlings, Weegs Michael Braun and Matthew Priddis had the ball on a string. Ben Who? Wiggle spearhead Quinten Lynch bagged a couple of goals early and Judd only had two kicks in the first quarter, but the second was a goal. Shannon Grant and Lindsay Thomas booted goals for Norf but Weeg ruckman Dean ‘Big’ Cox bagged one as the Weegs led by 15 points at the first break. Cox and Roo ruck Hamish McIntosh had a good duel. The Weegs scored three quick goals in the second term, dunno who kicked the first. Priddis roved a throw-in and passed for Rowan Jones to mark and punt the next Weevil sausage, a bit later the Weegs advanced rapidly from a kick-in and Mitch Morton gathered the ball, had a bounce and drilled a low goal to give the Weegs a 31-point lead. Mark Seaby and Lynch missed shots during a good spell for the Weegs. Norf responded with their own, late volley of behinds, from Harvey and a brace from Swallow. The locals led by 31 points at the half-time.

North’s best part of the game was the third term, they zoned-off effectively in defence and Shannon Grant managed to impose himself. Grant’s lead and mark to Leigh Brown’s pass set up the first goal, an onward pass to former Wiggle Aaron Edwards. The Kangers defended well for a few minutes before some lazy play between Big Cox and Judd turned over possession, Adam Simpson drove the Ruse forward. Corey Jones couldn’t hold a goal-square grab but roved himself to snap it through. The Weegs led by 18 points. Halfway through the stanza the Weegs scored a goal, Roo junior Scott McMahon clangered the ball to Shannon Hurn, he passed to leading Brent Staker. Staker’s long kick was fisted clear by Gibson but roving Wiggle Morton gathered and snapped it through. Replays showed Weeg Hunter with both hands in Gibson’s back in the marking contest - no whistle. The Kangers stuck on, a tight period was broken by a Roo rebound, Daniel Pratt passed for leading Grant to mark and thump it home from 50m. Weegs by 18 again but at the restart Cox tapped to Judd, he passed to leading Lynch, mark and goal. It’s a simple game. Norf hit back with a very late goal, Grant led to Lindsay Thomas’s pass and was shoved over by Hurn, Granty free-kicked the major after the siren. The Ruse were thereabouts, 18 points behind at the final change. But they were blown away in the final Mario Lanza, Judd finally breaking free of Rawlings. The Ruse gave some early cheek but didn’t score goals, Matt Campbell missed and from the kick-in Priddis passed to leading Mitch Brown, he dished off for Judd to spear a goal. Shinboners Simpson and Petrie booted long points before Wiggle Mark LeCras accepted Rowan Jones’s pass, LeCras goaled. The Weegs by 28 points. A Roo kick-in went out-of-bounds, Chick gathered the throw-in and punted truly. A bit later Chick caught Glenn Archer in possession, Chick’s subsequent free-kick was marked strongly by Seaby for a major. Priddis won the ball at the restart and sent the ball to Matt Rosa, he thumped it home. Then Lynch and Rosa combined to get the ball to leading LeCras, he booted another sausage. Six goals in about ten minutes and the Weevils had leaped 53 points ahead. There was a lull, thankfully for the Roos, before an Archer mistake allowed Weeg junior Brown to kick a goal, Cox rounded out the scoring with a free-kicked major. Emphatic.

The Weegs’ fantastic midfield depth was demonstrated by the performances of Matthew Priddis (39 disposals, 10 tackles, a goal) and Michael Braun (33 disposals), 26 disposals between them in the first quarter. Dean ‘Big’ Cox (27 touches, 10 marks, 27 hit-outs, 2 goals) was very good and Daniel Chick (17 disposals, a goal) enjoyed butting heads with Archer and anyone else. Adam Selwood (34 touches, 12 marks) limited the effectiveness of in-form Brent Harvey. Rowan Jones (16 possies, a goal) and Brett Jones (26 handlings) were quite good and Quinten Lynch (6 marks, 15 disposals, 3.4) stamped his authority early. Mitch Morton, Chris Judd (20 possies) and Mark LeCras kicked 2 goals each. Norf’s best was probably young rover Andrew Swallow (15 disposals, a goal), with Brady Rawlings (20 handlings) doing a very good job on Judd. Shannon Grant (12 touches, 4 marks, 3 goals) was their only forward threat, Adam Simpson (24 possies) and Jess Sinclair (23 handlings) plugged away. Hamish McIntosh (23 disposals, 19 hit-outs) was good in the first half. Dean Laidley wasn’t impressed. “Starving is most probably a bit of an understatement,” Laidley said of his sides’ lack of possession in the first term. “But we still had the scoreboard ticking over, so we were playing reasonably efficient football but you can’t allow that to happen. You need your midfield to get the ball and our midfield didn’t. We spoke about it at half time, sort of halving the margin and having a crack in the last quarter. I think we got to 18 points (at the final break) and I think we had the first three shots at goal and missed. Our set shot goal kicking today was pretty ordinary to say the least. We had been confident with the way we were playing, we thought it was always going to be hard but you know if we had a little bit of luck we would have been in the ballpark. Look, we had probably four, maybe five players who had never set foot at Subiaco or even Western Australia so for them they had their eyes opened a bit in this hostile environment so they’re going to be much better for the experience.” John Worsfold said "Sometimes people forget that we do have some pretty talented players outside the big two or three that often get named. We would hate to think that we rely on Chris Judd to be best-on-ground every week for us to win. We certainly know that he doesn't play bad games, and he keeps his work-rate up, and if someone's doing such a good job in slowing him down a bit, it generally means that there's one player form the opposition not doing much, and it open up opportunities for other players we've got."

At the SCG:

Sydney    3.2   7.4   8.4   11.7.73
Essendon  5.1   7.2   7.7   11.8.74

Feral Sydney scum! I don’t think people realise just how tough and hard Paddington is. Swan supporters are often criticized for not having the passion of yer Mexican, sandgroper or croweater fan, they mightn’t have grown up immersed in the culture but your average Swan fan knows rubbishy umpiring when they see it. Bloods supporters greeted this one-point reverse with a sustained and vociferous chorus of booing, so much that Bomma captain Matty Lloyd abandoned his speech in accepting the Marn Grook Cup. A terrible late decision by the boundary-ump, of all maggots, which led to the Bummers’ final goal brought their frustration with the maggots to boiling point and not even a few late, fighting Sinney goals could quell its release. “They were frustrated, very, very frustrated. I’ve never heard a crowd react like that, even in Melbourne. Why they were frustrated, well I don’t know, you’d have to go around and ask each supporter, individually, what they were frustrated about,” deadpanned Paul Roos afterwards. Maybe the Swan supporters are learning to hate the Bombers, an easy emotion to acquire. All of that is unfair on the Dons, who recorded their third consecutive win with a tough, tenacious and, it must be said, well-coached performance. Six wins from ten is better than I and many other boofheads expected, and I still reckon they won’t make the eight. But we’ll see. The Swan side was strengthened from last week with Tadhg Kennelly and Nick Davis returning, replacing injured Jared Crouch (hamstring) and dropped Heath Grundy. The Dons made some tactical changes, in came Mark Bolton to play on Adam Goodes and Jason Laycock to add ruck strength while Andrew Welsh returned and Jay Nash was called up. Outgoing were Damien Peverill (soreness) and dropped trio Scott Camporeale, Richie Cole and Ricky Dyson.

The Bommers virtually won the game in the first quarter-hour, in which they kicked five goals to one. A series of defensive moves (Bolton on Goodes, Welsh on Kennelly, Mark McVeigh on Nick Malceski) paid attacking dividend and Jim Hird and Jobe Watson won plenty of touches. First goal came as Dustin Fletcher received Hird’s handpass and kicked long, Mark McVeigh roved the pack and handballed for Welsh to snap it through. A bit later the Dons had an attacking throw-in, Welsh dived to win possession and fire a handpass for Mark Johnson to snap a sausage. The Swans had a couple of forward sorties where they found Barry Hall double-teamed by Fletcher and Mal Michael, and Bommer Paddy Ryder out-playing Mick O’Loughlin. Alwyn Davey’s speed on a defensive rebound ended with a pass to leading Matthew Lloyd, he thumped it home from 55m. From a ball-up Mark Johnson ran clear and passed to leading Mark McVeigh, he majored. Four goals in five minutes and the Dons led by 24 points, the stunned locals were very quiet. Ryder leaped to touch-through the Bloods’ first shot, before some good finessing from Amon Buchanan allowed him to handball to Nic Fosdike, who slotted their first sausage. The Dons replied soon, their McVeigh launched a high kick in and Goodes nudged Mark Bolton out of it, Bolton went down as if shot and earned a free-kick. He goaled, Dons by 23 points. Thereafter the game settled into the dominant pattern, lots of packed defence and tough tackling. The Bommer forwards exerted admirable pressure, stalling the Swans’ fast rebound run. The Swans managed some late goals, Craig Bolton ran downfield and kicked wide to the unlikely Sean Dempster, he played-on and thumped a lovely goal from 50m. From a throw-in Spida Everitt handballed to Nick Davis, who snapped a ripper from a tight angle. Essadun by 11 points at the first break. The Dons moved ahead with two early majors in the second, from the opening bounce Davey raced clear and delivered a poor kick, but battling from Lloyd and Scott Lucas kept the ball alive and Watson soccered a goal. Buchanan didn’t reward his own great play with a sliced on-the-full, before Jason Johnson kicked to find Mark Bolton all alone, he handballed to Lloydy for an easy slot. The Dons led by 22 points. Hird limped off with groin trouble, apparently, and Don Jason Winderlich missed a sitter. He doesn’t kick very well. The Swans ground back again, after some scrambling Malceski delivered a good pass for Davis to mark and boot a major. A bit later Swan Paul Bevan punted a goal from a dubious free-kick, over-the shoulder against McPhee but Bevan was holding McPhee’s arm too. Like the crowd, Hall was simmering nicely. He marked 15m out but was penalised (correctly) for shoving Michael away. A minute later Bazza was done again for ‘bawl’, incorrectly as he’d just got a kick in. A 50m penalty was tacked on for complaining. Siddey bagged two goals in the final two minutes to grab the lead, Mark McVeigh was penalized for a throw and ruckman Hille kicked the ball away afterwards, adding on a 50m penalty. Adam Schneider kicked a long major. Brett ‘Capitan’ Kirk won the ball at the following centre-bounce and handballed to Goodes, he passed for leading O’Loughlin to mark and convert. The Swans led by 2 points at the long break.

A tough third term played out, with plenty of niggle and rugged tackling. Essadun enjoyed greater possession and territory, but didn’t capitalize. Hird returned after a pain-killing jab, apparently. Lloyd produced two poor set-shot misses from directly in front and McPhee kicked a point, too. Goodes began to follow Hird about, to try and get rid of Bolton. Goodes knocked Hird down off-the-ball a few times, leading to some handbags. Hird went off for a rest or instructions, possibly. McPhee turned over with an errant handpass, Hall gathered and passed to Goodes all alone in the pocket, he played-on and slammed it high into the stands. The Bloods led by 4 points. Malceski’s long shot was on target but Ryder marked on the goal-line. Hall marked in the goal-square, played on and popped it through but was punished under the ‘Richo rule’, he’d put a hand on Michael’s back. Free and 50m penalty to Mal, plenty of booing from the crowd. As the siren sounded Lucas had a set-shot, it dropped short but Everitt punched the ball through for a behind. Despite occurring after the siren, that counts. Spida cost his side a draw, at least. The Swans led by 3 points at the last change. Essadun scored an early goal in the final term, Swan Ablett’s pass missed the target and from the rebound Lloyd led, marked and converted. A long Lucas shot postered before Bomma Henry Slattery battled through a couple of tackles and handballed to Brent Stanton, he was tackled over-the-shoulder by Swan Jarrad McVeigh and Stanton free-kicked a goal. The Dons led by 10 points. Swan Ryan O’Keefe missed after marking, then Mark Bolton bagged another Essington goal, roving Lloyd’s contest he bounced a snap through from 35m out. The Bombouts were 16 points up at that stage. Davis snapped a goal for the Swans. Then came a controversial moment, Bommer McPhee gathered the loose Sherrin on the forward-flank and clearly took the ball out-of-bounds when kicking towards leading Lucas. The boundary maggot was right there, too. Lucas couldn’t mark under pressure but roving Mark McVeigh gathered to stab a superb goal from a very tough angle, and the Dons led by 14 points. Plenty of booin’ after that. Time-on was close as the Bloods made an effort, Hall escaped his minders at last and marked on-the-lead, he converted. Goodes won the ball from a throw-in and handballed to Jude Bolton, he found unattended Craig Bolton with a smart kick and C. Bolton majored. The Swans were only 2 points behind. They pressed desperately as time ticked away, Buchanan managed a snap which bounced into the post to narrow the margin to a point. The final margin.

Lanky Dustin Fletcher was very good for the Dons, helping to stop Hall and also managing 30 disposals and 12 marks in rebounding the ball. Mark McVeigh (21 touches, 5 marks, 2 goals) was very good up forward and Mark Johnson (16 touches, a goal) played well, Mal Michael (13 disposals) held Don nemesis Hall to one goal, with assistance. Paddy Ryder (13 touches, 7 marks) kept in-form O’Loughlin quiet. James Hird (22 touches, 7 marks) worked busily enough and his form is such, there’s questions about him playing on next year. Brent Stanton (18 possies, a goal) played well and Mark Bolton (7 touches, 2 goals) was decent value. Stats show the Dons win very rarely with Bolton in the side. Matty Lloyd (5 marks, 14 disposals) kicked 3 goals. Sinney’s best were the hard-running left-footed twins Adam Schneider (22 disposals, a goal) and Amon Buchanan (30 touches), pack-burrower Brett Kirk (32 disposals) was pretty good too. Former Bomma Ted Richards (21 touches, 8 marks) and Craig Bolton (16 possies, 8 marks, a goal), the latter on Scott Lucas, played very well in defence and Tadhg Kennelly (18 disposals) won his usual quota of touches, even if Welsh troubled him. Midfielder Jude Bolton (20 possessions) played well. Nick Davis (13 touches, 3 goals) was their only effective forward. Roosy ranted, seeing his team’s loss as heralding the decline of Australian football in general. “Where the laws of the game are heading with the game is that it will probably resemble the international rules or Gaelic football and we’re just going to have to get used to it,” Roos said. “It’s not going to be something everyone will enjoy or like but that’s the reality of what we’re faced (with). It’s just going to be a changing landscape in football. We’re seeing it at the start of this year and we’ll see it. Who knows what other changes to the rules that they’ll make? . . . We’re not allowed to talk about decisions or umpires. Let’s just get used to it because that’s what we’re faced with. It’ll happen this week, it’ll happen next week, it’ll happen the week after . . . it’s probably a case of it we don’t like it, we’ll just have to go and do something else. There probably will be some people that will get turned off the game. That’s where it’s going.” Nothing about the game itself then? Alright. Kev Sheedy could reflect on a job well done, by him as much as anyone. “They (Bombers) were a very, very determined team out there. They’ve been frustrated, annoyed with one or two losses this year and they know that they’re going to have to pull something extra out. It was a terrific effort to come up (here) and win . . . Our backline held (up) well, Mal Michael did a marvellous job, Fletcher, young Paddy Ryder . . . We shouldn’t have let them get back in the game, really to be quite honest. We were well over two goals in front, (but) it was a great effort by the Swans to come back and (they) nearly pinched the game. That would have been really disappointing for us.” What about the angry locals, Sheeds? “Well, that just happens. Look, 10 or 15 years ago you wouldn’t have heard a thing, so they’re really getting into AFL footy now. They’ve got emotion, they’ve got passion, they’ve got feeling . . . when the crowd is getting annoyed and frustrated then you know they’re really starting to hang on AFL footy and that’s good.”

At Docklands:

Richmond   2.4   4.7    8.9    10.13.73
Brisbane   1.5   5.8   10.10   10.13.73

A draw was most unsatisfactory for both sides but, to recycle the cliché, the appropriate result in a very ordinary game. The Tiges tried very hard but weren’t very good, the Lyin’s were marginally better but choked in the end. They still rely too much on Jonathan Brown, although Brisbane has good forwards unavailable through injury. So there you have it. In selection the Tigers recalled Jay Schulz, Matt White and Dean Polo, they dropped Andrew Krakouer, Jack Riewoldt and Danny Meyer. Krakouer has to work harder. Brisbun made a host of changes following their third consecutive loss last Saturday. Two were forced with Luke Power (thigh strain) and small forward Ashley McGrath (knee) unavailable, Wayde Mills, Ben Fixter, Jason Roe and Beau McDonald were dropped. Returning were Chris Johnson, Jared Brennan, Colm Begley, Scott Harding and speedy small forward Rhan Hooper, whose career appeared over after he ‘disappeared’ for a few weeks during the pre-season. It was Hooper’s first game this season and the first ever for the Lyin’s other ‘in’, Chris Schmidt, a lanky midfielder from West Adelaide.

Both sides lined up with extra men in defence and midfield, which made scoring very difficult. Every midfield possession was red-hot amongst a swarming pack of men and there were turnovers aplenty. Not a great game then, especially in the first half. The Tiges scored first, roving Kayne Pettifer lobbed a high kick in and Matthew Richardson marked comfortably against out-of-position opponent Daniel Merrett. Richo converted, he won a wave of public sympathy following the hands-in-the-back disgrace last week. Young Brisbun spearhead Mitchell Clark showed great speed and good hands when leading, but had quite dreadful kicking for goal. The first Lyin’ goal came when Tiger White was run down by Chris Johnson, but Johnson re-injured his foot in the tackle and was finished for the night. Unlucky. From the free-kick though, Brown led into the pocket for a mark and decent goal from a tricky angle. The Lisbon Brians led by 2 points. Tige ruckman Adam Pattison missed poorly and Lyin’ Clark produced an absolute shocker, his second so far. Clark soon marked again on-the-lead but dished off to Josh Drummond. He kicked a point. The Tiges decided on patience and a series of chipped passes from White, to Dan Jackson, to Kent Kingsley and finally Jay Schulz resulted in a goal for Schulz, Tiges by 4 points. The quarter petered out with lots of midfield turnover and behinds for Lyin’ Begley and Tiges Pattison and Brett Deledio. The latter was being tagged by Justin Sherman. More of the same in the second quarter, Clark started in the ruck with regular Lyin’ ruckman Jamie Charman at full-forward. More slow Tige build-up led to Jackson marking on the flank, he booted a good goal and the Tiggers led by 11 points. The Lyin’s had a break when backman Jed Adcock was tackled high on the wing, the Tiges didn’t return the ball quickly enough so an 80-metre 50m penalty was added to the free and Adcock majored. The Brians kicked more points before Shane Tuck punted Richmun forward, Richardson was awarded a free-kick but advantage was allowed for Kingsley to stab it through from point-blank. The only way he’ll get one. Brown marked in the goal-square but he’d placed a stray hand on opponent Joel Bowden’s back. Free-kick to the Tiger. Hah! The Lyin’s seized the advantage with three late goals, Brown led for a strong (legal) mark and passed to Tim Notting, somehow alone in the flooded Lyin’ forward-line. Notting goaled to have Brisbane 3 points behind. Rhan Hooper sped clear on a rebound and passed to Begley, he converted. At the following centre-bounce Deledio was penalized for ‘bawl’, the ball went wide and Notting centered a good kick for Joel Patfull to mark, he goaled. Tigger Richardson postered with a late free-kick and Brisbun led by 7 points at half-time.

The game opened up a bit in the third stanza. Lyin’ Scott Harding dropped an uncontested mark 40m out in the first minute, but soon Harding’s good pass set up a mark and goal for leading Brown. Brisbun led by 13 points. The Tiges were struggling forward of the centre, in a typical effort Kane Johnson’s free-kick pass went over Richardson’s head but roving Shane Edwards bagged a goal, the first of his career. Getting forward quickly was the key, Lyin’ Sherman punted an immediate if wobbly kick forward and Tige backman Polak slipped over, allowing Patfull to mark, play-on and pop it through. Hooper’s speed helped Brisbun win the ball at the restart, they dominated ruck-clearances all night. Brown led wide to mark Hooper’s kick, handball back to Hooper and he passed again to Clark, who slotted a good kick between the big posts from a tough angle. The Brians led by 19 points, a handy break. The Tiges responded as Pettifer led for a good mark and spotted Richard Tambling alone in the goal-square, easy major for Tambling. There followed another speedy rebound for Lyin’ Hooper, he passed to leading Patfull for a good grab and his third goal. The Lyin’s appeared in control, leading by 18 points but the Tiges fought back late. Richardson snapped an impressive over-the-shoulder goal following some desperate goal-mouth battle, a minute later Richardson led wide for a grab and lobbed a kick into the goal-square where Deledio won a free-kick for manhandling from Sherman. Deledio majored and the Lyin’s led by 6 points. Patfull surprised by missing an easy set shot. In the literal, final seconds of the stanza Brisbun veteran Nigel Lappin snapped an incredible goal from the impossible angle, set up by Brown’s handpass. Possibly decisive that, as the Lyin’s led by 13 points at the final change. Deledio kicked a point early in the final Mario but the Brians controlled possession for a lengthy spell. They couldn’t capitalize though as Michael Rischitelli, then Brown, then Hooper each kicked behinds. About halfway through the stanza the Tiges constructed another slow passing move, Kingsley to Greg Tivendale and on to leading Tambling, who sausaged. The Lyin’s led by 8 points. A Kingsley set-shot dropped short and was rushed for a behind. Brown marked 40m out on a modest angle and produced an awful duck-hook of a kick which didn’t make the distance. Another rushed point to the Tiges before a late thrust, Richardson marked Tivendale’s pass 55m out and kicked across-field for Pettifer to mark. Pettifer majored to level the scores, 1:43 on the clock. It proved to be the final scoring act. The Tiges advanced with 20 seconds remaining but Kane Johnson committed the game’s 200th turnover, his speculative kick towards Pettifer swallowed by Drummond. The siren sounded as Notting ran down the wing.

There were few stand-out performers on either side. Tiger captain Kane Johnson (22 disposals, 11 marks) was quite good and rover Nathan Foley (26 possessions) busy as usual, Daniel Jackson (15 touches, a goal) produced a decent stopping effort on Simon Black. Joel Bowden (25 handlings, 8 marks) was generally effective on Brown and ol’ Matty Richardson (7 marks, 12 kicks, 2 goals) battled hard in attack. Jake King (20 touches, 10 marks) and Matt White (15 disposals, 8 marks) did some defensive rebounding and Richard Tambling (10 touches, 2 goals) provided some late inspiration up forward. Lyin’ wingmen Tim Notting (27 disposals, 13 marks) and Nigel Lappin (28 touches, 2 goals) were busy and their rebounding backmen Josh Drummond (30 possessions, 13 marks) and Jed Adcock (18 touches, a goal) had plenty to do. Joel Patfull (8 marks, 11 kicks, 3 goals) was probably Brisbun’s most effective forward, Jonathan Brown (9 marks, 17 disposals, 2 goals) won a bit of the ball but was wasteful as he has been. Rhan Hooper’s speed (9 touches) was useful. Brisbun were generally perceived to be the ‘loser’. "When you're in front with five minutes to go and lose, you do feel a little bit more aggrieved that you drew it," Lethal Leigh said. "We were actually in front and they kicked the last score to draw it. (Our performance) wasn't good. I'm not really looking at their turnovers, I'm looking at ours though. The ability to actually think with the ball in your hands is what this game is all about, and we as a whole group didn't do that quite well enough . . . I guess they chose to load up their defence, so that makes it easier for them to bounce it out and we decided to leave Josh Drummond back a little bit to make it a bit easier, so that might have been one of the reasons there tended to be the rebounding. We're having trouble running games out strongly. Whether it's mature bodies or mature footballers, the last 10 or 15 minutes of games have been our worst recently." Tiger coach ‘Plough’ Wallace wants to get rid of draws. “I’ve never been a great one for draws, I think everyone feels lousy about them. I don't know what the solution is, whether you want to play five minutes each way or something like that and get a result. I think that would be better.” On the game he said "We came here to win and we didn't get the win so as far as we are concerned we are disappointed with that. It was one of the worst games I have ever seen at half-time. We were really disappointed with the way the game was played in the first half. We had blokes just standing there minding grass and they were meant to be on wings. That wasn’t the way we wanted to play. We had enough footy in the last quarter certainly to kick more than two goals. But we turned the ball over, and didn’t make the most of our opportunities,”

At Football Park:

Port Adelaide  5.5    8.6    9.12   10.15.75
Hawthorn       2.2   10.3   13.5     17.7.109

Another notch in the belt for the vastly improved Horks. Another reality check for Port. This was a richly-enjoyed win by Horforn players and supporters, the Hawks have been on the receiving end of some absolute shellackings from the Flowers in recent years. Their previous two encounters had seen Port win by 97 and 116 points respectively, or something. Port’s build-up was not ideal, overshadowed by the death of coach Mark Williams’s mother. The Williamses are football royalty in South Australia and patriarch Fos passed on two years ago. But back to the main story, the great form of the Horks and the continuing slump of Port. Horforn manufactured some fast, direct and terrific rebound footy in this game, Port had plenty of the ball but kicked appallingly for goal. It’d be good for them if their captain could actually do something. Port made three changes in selection, Daniel Motlop (broken collarbone), Nathan Krakouer (shin soreness) and Matt Thomas (suspended) were replaced by Brad Symes and two debutants, half-forward Robert Gray from TAC Cup team Oakleigh Chargers and tall forward Justin Westhoff from Central Districts. The Hawks were weakened by the loss of Trent Croad (foot) and Rick Ladson (back), in came Ben Dixon and Xavier Ellis.

Port were fired-up after their home humiliation at the hands of Geelong last weekend. Port skipper Warren Tredrea led for an early grab, his shot postered. During the kick-in there was some off-ball tangling between Hork Luke Hodge and his minder Dom Cassisi, Tredrea was given a free and passed it to leading first-gamer Justin Westhoff. He marked and goaled. At a ball-up Port ruckman Brendon Lade was ploughed into the ground by Jordan Lewis, Lade free-kicked a goal and the Powder led by 13 points. Light drizzle began to fall at the league’s wettest venue. Excepting Darwin. The Hawks got on the board when Michael Osborne kicked smartly for Tim Boyle to mark over Power full-back Darryl Wakelin. Boyle majored. Port nudged ahead again, Shaun Burgoyne kicked long and Damon White had a free-kick, over-the-shoulder against Stephen Gilham. White kicked straight, a rare event. The Hawks lost Ben Dixon at this stage, more hamstring trouble. Hawker Xavier Ellis was penalized for a throw, more niggling between Hodge and Tredrea, this time, added a 50m penalty and Steven Salopek booted a goal. A bit later a heavy, wince-inducing collision between Salopek and Hork Joel Smith in a marking contest saw the ball spill and Shaun Burgoyne snapped a goal. Port led by 27 points as Salopek was stretchered off, his nose smeared all over his face. The struggling Horks managed a goal, Shane Crawford and Chance Bateman combined to send them forward and after some pack-battling Hodge loosed a handpass for Boyle to snap a goal. Lance ‘Buddy’ Franklin, Tredrea and Boyle missed shots prior to korter-time, Port leading by 20 points. The Orcs’ running game clicked into gear in the second term, the rain gone now. The Hawks were impressively direct, dominating the ‘corridor’. Port scored an early goal, great play from first-gamer Robert Gray to beat two opponents got the ball to White in space, he delivered to leading Westhoff for a mark and goal. Port led by 27 points again. The Hawks replied with a goal for Ben McGlynn, I think, I was having ablutions. Good Orc pressure forced a Port turnover in their backline, some Orc handpasses set up Osborne for a snapped major. A bit later Port’s Michael Pettigrew had a free-kick in the last line of defence but he kicked to a contest, Lewis spoiled and roving Franklin snapped a sausage. Then a slick Hork rebound was completed by Smith’s skilful pass to leading Hodge, he marked and majored. Four straight Horforn goals had reduced their deficit to 2 points. Port arrested the run-on as White led intelligently to mark Kane Cornes’s pass, White goaled. But Crawford raced clear of the restart and passed to leading Franklin, he sausaged. Like many sides Port were confounded by the Hawks’ permanently flooded defence, they reverted to slow chip-about to the frustration of their supporters. It sort-of paid a dividend when David Rodan sold a dummy and shrugged another tackle, his kick was marked by Brett Ebert who punted truly. Port led by 9 points. Hork Lewis won a free at the restart and passed to leading Brent Guerra, a regular backman who’d slipped forward. Guerra majored. At the subsequent centre-bounce Shaun Burgoyne won the ball but was ‘stripped’ in Jarryd Roughead’s tackle, Hodge collected the ball and passed to S. Burgoyne’s opponent, Brad Sewell. He marked and goaled to give Horforn the lead. On went the Orcs, another fast rebound move and ruckman Simon Taylor found McGlynn in hectares of space, McGlynn played-on and thumped it home from 50m. Horforn by 9 points at half-time.

Scoring was significantly less free in the early third term. Hork Franklin missed poorly with the first shot of the stanza, a bit later Port’s Pearce sold consecutive dummies but postered with his left-foot shot. The Powder had shifted Chad Cornes forward, he roved a throw-in to snap a goal and reduce the Hork lead to 2 points. Franklin missed another long chance before Horforn made a decisive break. In his back half now, Chad Cornes’s poor handpass placed ex-Hawk Nathan Lonie under pressure, he paddled the ball weakly to Hawk Boyle who was coat-hangered by Port’s Toby Thurstans. Boyle free-kicked a major, from a very tough angle. A bit later an advantage decision allowed the Hawks another rapid rebound through the middle, Crawford found Lewis all alone for a mark and goal. Hork rover Sam Mitchell was slung to the ground after kicking the ball, his subsequent free was placed for McGlynn to clutch a with-the-flight grab and boot another sausage. The Horkers had moved 20 points clear. Port rounded out the quarter with behinds from White, Gray and Greg Bentley. Why can’t professionals kick straight? It’s a bigger problem than global warming. Tredrea hadn’t touched the ball since the first quarter, by the way. Salopek returned for the start of the final term, his head swathed in bandages. Salopek initiated the term’s first attack, Tredrea clutched a strong mark ahead of Gilham but kicked a behind. Then Ebert dropped an uncontested mark within range. The Hawks raced the ball downfield and Crawford passed for leading Franklin to mark, he goaled. Horks by 22 points, following four consecutive Port misses. Taylor punted Horforn forward from the restart, Hodge roved the pack and stabbed another major. Hodge twanged his left hamstring in the process as his side went 28 points clear. Rodan kicked another behind for the Power, the worst thing you can do against the Hawks as they sped afield from the kick-in, cool work from Smith delivered the ball to Young, he speared a pass for leading Boyle to grab and boot another sausage. The Orcs led by 34 points and that was it. Horforn reverted to some possession football and Port obliged with some fiddling about. With two-and-a-half minutes remaining Port’s debutant Westhoff kicked his third goal, a solid mark on-the-lead and 50m penalty against Mitchell’s late shove. The Orcs responded, Mitchell was allowed to throw the ball over his head to Roughead, he passed to Franklin and on to Boyle for the Hawk man’s fifth major. Very good win for the Hawks, once again.

The Hawks’ rampant midfield was the key again, untagged Shane Crawford (18 disposals) was very good and Sam Mitchell (35 disposals) was a leather-magnet as usual. Luke Hodge (19 touches, 2 goals) added some edge to the forward-line and Tim Boyle (5 marks, 8 kicks, 5 goals) continues to play very well. Ben McGlynn (16 kicks, 3 goals) and Jordan Lewis (19 touches, a goal) were also busy midfield and ruckmen Simon Taylor (18 disposals, 16 hit-outs) and Robert Campbell nullified Lade. Brent Guerra (23 touches, a goal) saw plenty of the ball from a back-pocket. Lance ‘Buddy’ Franklin bagged 3 goals. Port’s best was probably Chad Cornes (28 disposals, 14 marks, a goal), with Danyle Pearce (20 touches) one of the few Port middlemen matching the Hawks for running power. Half-back Jacob Surjan (22 possies) was quite good, Kane Cornes (26 disposals, 11 marks) and Shaun Burgoyne (21 handlings, a goal) were good, Burgoyne shrugging off Sewell. First-gamer Justin Westhoff booted 3 goals from 3 marks and 8 disposals, but was reported late in the game for a clumsy hit on head-down Young. Damon White kicked 2 goals. Port’s assistant coach Dean Bailey stood in for Williams. "We started really well in the first quarter but when you do kick 2.9 (in the second half), you really give the opposition a chance to get back into the game," Bailey said. "Our scoreboard pressure wasn't there today and you saw the result. Their (Hawks’) skills were pretty good today and we let ourselves down . . . I thought our first half was really good. We played some pretty hard, positive footy but in the next three quarters we couldn't get enough scoreboard pressure on them . . . We're getting first possession but that gap between first possession and our clearances is a bit too far. It's probably been a hangover for us for the last couple of weeks. We need to turn that around next week.” Clarkson enjoyed the victory over his ‘old’ side. “It’s pretty special. It was an enormous effort by our players to withstand a red-hot Port Adelaide who had a lot to play for today. We’ve been demoralised here the last couple of times we’ve played. Port Adelaide has just made us look second rate. We lost two important players for our side in Croad and Ladson before the game even started, and then we lost Dixon in the first minute. It wasn’t looking good for us early, but to the credit of the guys they worked their way back into the contest. Our second quarter was excellent and got us back into the game, and we really fought it out to the end. We were really pleased to withstand all that pressure and still come away with a win.”

At the MCG:

Carlton    7.2   10.5   18.8    21.12.138
Footscray  7.4   12.8   14.13   19.14.128

The Bluies made it an (almost) perfect weekend for the bottom three with their first win since round 3, their high-scoring, crash-through-or-crash style finally prevailing against the Bulldogs. Great stuff for the Bluebaggers but the Bulldog loss was the bigger story, coming after a very poor performance against the Swans last weekend. Coach Rodney Eade wasn’t happy, with the result or the style of play. ‘One-day cricket’, he called it. In selection the Bluesers recalled Simon Wiggins and Jordan Bannister from lengthy absences, they replaced dropped pair Adam Hartlett and Josh Kennedy. The Bulldogs regained Ryan Griffen and Jordan McMahon, Cameron Faulkner and regular Farren Ray were dropped.

Goals rained through at both ends in the opening term. The Bluies got the first couple, the second scored by Lance Whitnall, receiving Jarrad Waite’s pass. After that, there was never more than a goal between ‘em until quarter-time. Bully hero Brad Johnson was very good, giving Andrew Walker the run-about. Waite was the Blooze main target, with ‘decoy’ Brendan Fevola running out to the wings. As is his now-usual style, Doggy full-back Brian Harris let him go, operating solely inside the defensive 50. Unfortunately Waite’s first two shots went on-the-full, before he got on target in the second term. Eade gave his defenders a lengthy lecture at quarter-time and the game was a bit tighter in the second stanza. The Dogs made a bit of a break late in the korter, a slick handpassing move ended with Shaun Higgins’s running sausage, then Johnson converted after a gutsy mark, running back into a pack. The Bullpups led by 15 points at the long rest. Early in the third stanza they moved to a 22-point lead. Adam Cooney took a grab on the wing and took off on a two-bounce run, aided by young Bloo Bryce Gibbs backing off to cover his man. Cooney slipped ‘round a tackle and slotted a lovely major to give the Pups the four-goal lead. Then the Blooze took over. Andrew Carrazzo dominated in the centre and Jordan Bannister, Johnson’s third opponent, was remarkably effective. Matty Lappin ‘literally’ caught fire in attack, booting four goals for the stanza including three in five minutes. Brad Fisher was also very good in this period. A blast of eight goals to one had the ‘baggers 19 points ahead at the final change. Waite dobbed one early in the final Mario and the Bluesers led by 25 points. Surely thy wouldn’t run out of steam again, as they do every week. But it seemed history would repeat as the Pups booted three quick goals to close the gap to 7 points. But Pagan had shown some smarts by leaving Anthony Koutoufides on the bench for most of the first half, he helped steady the ship in the final term. Bannister crept forward for a reliving Bloo major but the Dawgs kept pressing, when big ruckman Pete Street found himself with the ball in space and booted a ‘running’ goal the Bullies were only 2 points down and coming. Fevola missed a long shot before Bluie rover Marc Murphy found himself competing for the ball in attack. Murphy was tackled without the ball by Dylan Addison, then grabbed ‘round the neck by Addison, then mashed into the ground by Addison. Finally the whistle went  and Murphy free-kicked a goal to put the Blooze 9 points ahead. Walker ran down Jason Akermanis with a great tackle in the game’s final significant act. There’d been a total of twenty-five individual goal-scores in the game, believed to be a record.

Very good performances from two Blues with vastly different backgrounds, Jarrad Waite (25 disposals, 7 marks, 3 goals) has always been regarded as a very good player in the making while Andrew Carrazzo (37 disposals, 10 tackles) has come through two rookie lists, at Geelong then Carlton. Matty Lappin (13 touches, 5 marks, 5 goals) turned the game Carlton’s way and Jordan Bannister (23 possessions, a goal) was terrific off half-back in quelling Brad Johnson. Brad Fisher (10 marks, 19 handlings, 3 goals) played well in attack and rover Marc Murphy (19 touches, 2 goals) was good, Bret Thornton (17 possies, 10 marks) was okay at full-back as Setanta O’hAilpin shared ruck duties with Ackland again. Adam Cooney (24 disposals, 2 goals) was probably the Bullies’ best player with half-back Dale Morris shutting Whitnall down. Half-forwards Daniel Giansiracusa (20 touches, 2 goals) and Brad Johnson (20 possies, 8 marks, 3 goals) were handy, Johnson in the first half, while rovers Scott West (31 touches) and Daniel Cross (26 handlings) had a fair bit of it. Opinion was divided on the performance of full-back Brian Harris (15 disposals, 9 marks), most of the press thought he’d been very good as Fevola made little impact, but Eade wasn’t so happy. ‘Rocket’ reckoned “His (Harris’s) final quarter made up for the first three.” Nathan Eagleton and Shaun Higgins kicked 2 goals each. Eade threatened to wield the axe. “If we’d have gotten out of jail it still would’ve been disappointing . . . just for the way we went about it,” he said. “All credit to Carlton, they played exceptionally well . . . There’s some (Bulldog players) there that have been inconsistent for a couple of years. You tend to [believe] in them and show some confidence in them, but part of that contract is that they’ve got to be able to . . . deliver or we’ve got to maybe go back and re-assess. Some players, we don’t know if they’re going to turn up, we don’t know which player we’re going to get. Some of them have got good talent. What it shows over a period of time is that maybe they can’t produce consistently and maybe they’ve got to move on or go back [to the VFL]. Where we want to head to is still a work in progress. We’ve got some good kids. Andrejs Everitt is not far away and Tom Williams is not far away, so we certainly need to make some changes.” Denis Pagan was asked why his risky style worked this week. “Who knows?” he started, un-encouragingly. “We’ve done a lot of different things,” he continued. “Maybe going and doing some paintball. Maybe our sporting psychologist having a chat to the guys on the theme of not being scared of losing, not being scared of winning. Maybe it was a bit of old time rock ‘n’ roll at training. Our group just got sick of losing. Kouta had 10 possessions in the last quarter and kept the pressure up in the midfield. We got smashed at the stoppages, but our pressure and intensity made our opponents not kick the ball as well as they normally do.”

At Docklands:

St. Kilda  4.1    7.6    9.8    9.11.65
Geelong    7.2   10.5   15.8   19.11.125

Time to jump on the Cat bandwagon. It’s a notoriously unreliable vehicle but it’s going as well as ever at the minute. The Catters were warm favourites coming in against the depleted Saints and won impressively again, the Saints tried hard and gave some cheek but rely on too few at the moment. The Saints had a few back here, Jason Gram, full-back Max Hudghton, Leigh Montagna and Raphael Clarke for his first game of the year. But Robert Harvey (hamstring) and Matthew Clarke (soreness) joined the casualties and Brett Voss and Andrew McQualter were dropped. The Saints announced they’d be leaving their Moorabbin base last week, frustrated by unproductive negotiations with the local council to redevelop the dilapidated Linton Street ground. The Pussies had a near-full list to choose from, captain Tom Harley and nuggetty Paul Chapman returned at the expense of Josh Hunt and Joel Selwood.

The Saints were competitive throughout an entertaining first half and probably should’ve been closer, if not in front, at half-time. The Cats are rolling, though, you give ‘em the ball at your peril. They played some great rebounding footy from defence, the Saints’ forwards exerted pathetically weak defensive pressure. The first shock came when Stainer defender James Gwilt emerged with a shaved head. At least it’ll stop that patronizing and basically racist ‘fuzzy wuzzy angel’ nickname. Two quick goals for the Cats to start, a series of chipped passes to beat the flood ended with Matty Scarlett finding Cameron Ling 40m out, Ling majored. He was tagging key Stainer Nick Dal Santo. The Cats had a quick rebound a minute later and Saint backman Jason Gram was very harshly done for ‘bawl’ in his own goal-mouth, Joel Corey free-kicked the major. The Saints replied with a brace of their own, from the following centre-bounce their Nick Riewoldt marked and kicked quickly, the bouncing ball eluded Scarlett and Fraser ‘G-Train’ Gehrig had a simple tap-through. It was Big Frase’s 500th career major, a decent achievement. A minute later Corey’s inboard handpass was intercepted by Leigh Montagna, he thumped a running goal to level the scores. Ling bagged another goal for the Katz, receiving a handpass. In the aftermath Sainter hard-man Steven Baker flattened Gary Ablett, setting up the chance of a double-goal but the Cats muffed it. A smart kick from Riewoldt set up Jason Blake to hold a good grab over Corey, Blake converted to level the scores again. Gehrig marked 10m out but was penalised for slightly touching Scarlett’s back, under our favourite new rule. ‘Hands-in-the-back chooklotto’, people in  Melbourne are calling it. The Cats booted three goals in rapid succession to make a break, the in-form David Wojcinski capped off a typical long, speedy run with a great long sausage and, er someone else got one, from a quick rebound Steve Johnson centered the ball and Max Rooke marked and converted. The Cwats led by 19 points. The Sainters responded, the busy Gram kicked noicely for Riewoldt to mark over opponent Matthew Egan and ‘Rooey’ slotted from the flank. It’s the easy shots he has trouble with. The Pussies restored the 19-point lead late in the term, the very fast Travis Varcoe streamed outta defence and passed to Steve Johnson, his quick but ugly kick was marked by a diving Brad Ottens who majored. The Satins’ best period was the early second quarter, led by Riewoldt. He kicked a major early in the term and set up one for Stephen Milne. They were grinding closer through effort. A Sainter switch-of-play went awry and Jimmy Bartel snapped a major for the Cats, they led by 14 points. Nathan Ablett sent a set-shot on-the-full before Cat Darren Milburn was caught in possession by Saint ruckman Justin Koschitzke, playing well. Koschitzke’s long free-kick spilled from the pack and Luke Ball was on-hand to bag a rover’s goal. Sinkilda don’t get enough of them. The Sainters trailed by 8 points, they won the pill at the restart and Ball’s pass towards Gehrig saw the Saint man awarded a free against Scarlett, but G-Train postered. When Riewoldt missed appallingly from 10m, right in front, the Saints were 5 points down. To their frustration, the Cats scored two goals in the final minute of the half. From the kick-in of Riewoldt’s shocker the Cats attacked, a handpass from under-pressure Saint Max Hudghton was collected by Ottens and he snapped truly. The Cats won the ball at the restart and Cameron Mooney was held by Gwilt, a free-kick and Mooney converted. Harsh on the Saints as Geelong led by 17 points at half-time.

One-way traffic after that. Steve Johnson missed an early third term shot before Saint Montagna found himself outnumbered, he turned over and Steve Johnson’s handpass sent Gary Ablett in for a running goal. Dal Santo had gone to a forward-pocket to break Ling’s tag, he won a free against Ling at a throw-in and handballed for Gram to thump a long major. The Cats led by 19 points. Then good play from Mooney and Paul Chapman’s well-placed kick enabled Mathew Stokes to mark close-in and convert, from another rebound Nathan Ablett marked strongly, dished off to Bartel and he found Steve Johnson alone in the pocket, Johnson goaled. Cats by 31. Saint Aaron Fiora soared for a spectacular grab and passed towards Koschitzke, he couldn’t mark but hooked a clever kick to Blake. Commentator Clinton Grybas told us that, statistically, Blake is the most accurate shot for goal in the AFL. He missed. Young Stinkilda man David Armitage was given a severe wedgie before Gram passed for leading Gehrig to mark and convert, the Saints trailed by 24 points. Blake missed again before Mooney provided a highlight, hovering with a spectacular ride on Gwilt to take a big grab, landing on his feet and playing-on to slot it through. A Sinkilda clanger delivered the ball to Chapman, he passed to Stokes, a handball for Nathan Ablett to snap truly. Johnson postered prior to the final break, the Catters leading by 36 points. And they cleared right away from the exhausted, underdone Saints in the end. We saw the Tao of Riewoldt early in the last as he held a very good mark, then postered. Koschitzke too missed a shot before Ling slipped forward for a celebratory goal. The Sainters turned-over on a kick-in and James Kelly set up a goal for Varcoe, Kelly also had an hand in the next score as Mooney marked strongly against Gwilt and majored again. As time ticked down Milburn’s terrific handpass set up a running slot for Wojcinski. Cats cruise to 10-goal win.

The Cats lorded it over Sinkilda’s under-done and under-strength midfield. Jimmy Bartel was terrific again and Cameron Ling put the crucial Dal Santo out of business, Gary Ablett soon burned off Baker and Joel Corey was good. David Wojcinski continued his fine form and Paul Chapman worked into it as the game progressed. Steve Johnson and Cameron Mooney were the pick of the forwards, Darren Milburn wasn’t bad. Brad Ottens kicked 2 goals. The Saints had a few stand-outs, notably Nick Riewoldt and hard-running half-back Jason Gram. Rover Luke Ball worked hard against the odds and Sam Fisher had the better of Nathan Ablett, Justin Koschitzke showed pleasing improvement in the ruck. Leigh Montagna started well but faded. Fraser Gehrig kicked 2 goals. The Saints appear unlikely finalists at this stage."We had an open heart-to-heart with the player group afterwards and put a lot of things on the table, so we're not going to give up," coach Ross Lyon said. "It's about our supporters. We've got full responsibility. We want to come and put on a show and compete. [The margin] was 17 points at half-time and it's ended up being 60 points, which is not what we're about and not what I want to stand for, the club wants to stand for or the players want to stand for. We need to turn around, and we need to turn around quick. What are we four (wins), six (losses)? It's not about finals at the minute. It's about restoring some respect. If you can compete to half time and could've been in front, possibly, you can't make excuses for the second half . . . I'm accountable and the players are accountable, so I'm not hiding from that." ‘Bomber’ Thompson pushed the lid down firmly. “I look at today's game and I know we've won five in a row, but I still see a lot of things we need to improve," he said. “That's not (saying) that we're not enjoying what's going on. We know that we're playing some decent footy, but we know we've also got some improvements to do. What keeps us going is that we've been in this situation before, and we've collapsed and crashed. As quick as you can go up, you can go down, and we don't want that. That's why we've just got to focus on week-to-week outcomes, even quarter-by-quarter, to be honest, because we know our history. We know what football is like. It's not just Geelong, it's a lot of teams. It's just the game; there's a lot of pressure on teams that win and there's a lot of pressure on teams that lose."

Ladder after Round Ten

                Pts.    %       Next Week

West Coast       32    129.5    Essendon (Docklands, Fri. night)
Geelong          28    155.0    Adelaide (Football Park, Sunday)
Collingwood      28    115.3    Melbourne (MCG, Monday)
Hawthorn         28    108.0    Sydney (MCG, Saturday)
Adelaide         24    108.5    Geelong (Football Park, Sunday)
Essendon         24    107.3    West Coast (Docklands, Fri. night)
Port Adelaide    24    100.6    Carlton (Docklands, Sat. night)
North Melbourne  24     98.8    St. Kilda (Docklands, Sunday)

---------------------------

Sydney           20    113.8    Hawthorn (MCG, Saturday)
Footscray        20     95.4    Brisbane (Gabba, Sat. night)
Brisbane         18     95.0    Footscray (Gabba, Sat. night)
Fremantle        16     97.0    Richmond (Subiaco, Sunday)
St. Kilda        16     86.3    North Melbourne (Docklands, Sunday)
Carlton          12     82.0    Port Adelaide (Docklands, Sat. night)
Melbourne         4     73.9    Collingwood (MCG, Monday)
Richmond          2     71.6    Fremantle (Subiaco, Sunday)

Cheers, Tim.