AFL Round 11
by Tim Murphy
At Docklands:
Essendon 1.0 6.2 12.4 15.5.95
West Coast 5.5 10.8 13.9 14.10.94
Remarkable, consecutive one-point win for the Dons, who seem to be winning from sheer determination. If you’d said beforehand that Hille, Peverill, pensioner Hird and Winderlich would overcome Big Cox, Judd, Kerr and Priddis, plus a 5-goal half-time deficit, few would have believed you. But that’s pretty much what happened. This was the Eegs’ third straight loss away from home and pointed to a perennial weakness, a fairly ordinary forward-line. Especially without Ash Hansen. In selection the Bommers recalled older, stronger midfielders Scott Camporeale and Damien Peverill in place of juniors Bachar Houli and Jay Nash. The Weegs had Daniel Kerr return from suspension, in place of Beau Waters. Umpire Haydn Kennedy officiated in his 400th game, a fair effort.
The Weegs thoroughly dominated the first term, as is often the case they didn’t put it completely on the scoreboard. Ruckman Dean ‘Big’ Cox was terrific and his rovers Matt Priddis and Chris Judd had the pill on a string. Judd barreled into some early tackles but as usual escaped penalty. Jim Hird rivaled him for untouchable status in this game, though. The Weevils bagged early majors, for the first Shannon Hurn ran onto Bomma Stanton’s hurried kick from defence, wheeled about and thumped it through. Cox and Kerr maneuvered a ball-up into the goal-square where young Mitch Brown stabbed a major. Rowan Jones won a free-kick under hands-in-the-back chooklotto, his mongrelled punt dropped for Adam Hunter to grab and convert. Big spearhead Quinten Lynch missed a shot before Cox tapped a throw-in for Priddis to snap through with his left boot, the Weegs led by 25 points. Essadun hadn’t scored and had entered the attacking 50 once. Their second entry brought a goal, Scott Lucas a little lucky to earn a free after dropping Hird’s pass. On went the Weegs though, Chick, Wirrpanda, LeCras and Rosa all missed shots before LeCras kicked long and fourth-in-line Brent Staker held a grab, he majored. The first korter ended with key Don forwards Lloyd and Lucas flooding to the back-pocket as the Eegs led by 29 points. The Bombouts managed the opening goal of the second term, Camporeale sharked Cox’s tap at a ball-up and wobbled a quick snap through. But the Wiggles continued to control it, Bommer Fletcher’s long kick-in was marked by Eeg Tyson Stenglein, leading to a good, long goal for Matt Rosa. Soon Staker had another sausage, converting from point-blank after good play from Priddis and Rowan Jones to create the chance. The Eegs were cruising with a 36-point lead and the Dons’ night darkened as Stanton limped off with ankle trouble. But Essadun began to fight back as ruckman David Hille, firstly, lifted his game and Peverill and Hird tried very hard on-the-ball. The Dons began to move the ball quickly through midfield whereas previously they’d run into a wall of Wiggles. They scored the next three goals, Camporeale the first as he was ploughed in Stenglein’s tackle and free-kicked truly. A turnover from Brown allowed Hird to find Matty Lloyd with a pass, the Bommer skipper thumped it home from 50m. A quick Don rebound ended with ruckman Jason Laycock seizing a strong pack-grab, he booted accurately from the flank and the deficit was cut to 17 points. Goals were traded for a bit, at a ball-up in defence Don man Jason Johnson fumbled, crucially, and Eegle Lynch snaggled a major. Jobe Watson punted the Dons into attack from the restart and speedy roving from Alwyn Davey saw him bag a sausage. The Weevils had the final, deserved say though, busy Brett Jones and Brown sent the ball towards LeCras, Don McPhee leaped farcically early allowing LeCras to mark and convert. Mitch Morton lobbed a free-kick into the goal-square where Mark Seaby was allowed to mark far too easily, he popped it through and the Weegs led by 30 points at the long break.
Essadun, with the aforementioned players plugging away, ground steadily closer in the third term. A good, early build-up seemed wrecked by McPhee’s terrible kick, but its awkward bounce was fumbled by Hunter and spilled for Lloyd to snap through. A great burst of speed from rebounding Jason Winderlich ended with a pass to leading Lucas, he marked and converted. Winderlich was important in the second half. Another rapid Don rebounding move ended with Lucas kicking long from 60m, Lloyd out-marked opponent Darren Glass and booted another. The Dons trailed by 12 points and won the following centre-clearance, Davey marked but missed poorly. The Weegs were having trouble against the Dons’ stacked backline but were assisted when McVeigh mistimed his jump in a contest, LeCras punted the Weegs forward and as Bommer Michael slipped over, Lynch strolled in for an easy tap-through. A bit later the Eegs won possession from a back-pocket throw-in and went end-to-end, a great bit of crumbing from Staker saw him snap a goal and the Weegs led by 23 points. Then the Dons won possession at a ball-up and Mark Johnson passed for Laycock to mark well, he converted. Tight for a while before Essadin edged closer again, a loose ball was fought over prior to Lucas shrugging a tackle and snapping accurately. A crisp handballing sequence released Angus Monfries for a running slot and Don supporters were in full voice as they trailed by 4 points. Late relief for the Coasters as Morton free-kicked a goal, Mark Bolton sat on his head. Brown’s poster gave the Weevs an 11-point advantage at the final change. Hird drove the Dons on in the final term. There was a bit of keepings-off from both sides in the first minutes, before Lloyd’s strong tackle on Glass forced the ball loose, Jason Johnson gathered and found Winderlich alone for a mark and goal. A good rebound move, the key to Essington’s win, saw Henry Slattery mark 55m out, he dished off a handpass for Lucas to punt a long sausage roll. The Bommers ahead by a point, the first time they’d led. Lucas soon extended it to 7 points, Glass led him to the ball by 10m but of course a wicked bounce eluded the Wiggle and allowed Lucas to gather, run in and drill it through. Eegs in trouble but they responded, Judd had shifted to a forward-pocket to give the attack some edge and he won a free-kick, retarded by McVeigh while leading. Juddster majored, Dons by a point. That was the final goal of the game, barely 10 minutes into the quarter. Rowan Jones missed a set-shot to level the scores in a slow, tight contest, both sides tiring and wary of turning-over. Kerr raced away from a ball-up but elected to pass to leading Lynch instead of having a shot himself, Lynch was spoiled by Michael. McVeigh had a tight-angle shot from 35m but it went across the face of goal and Cox marked. With 1:50 remaining Bomber Hille marked 45m out and kicked a point, the Dons led by it. From the kick-in the Weegs advanced slowly, with a coupla throw-ins on the way. They worked laboriously to get the ball to long-kicking Hurn, his eventual shot was punched outta bounds by Fletcher with 2 seconds to go. Deliberate! No, it wasn’t. Dons by a point again.
Terrific efforts in the Don midfield from ol’ James Hird (32 disposals, 8 marks), Damien Peverill (30 touches, 10 marks) against Judd and ruckman David Hille (20 disposals, 7 marks, 16 hit-outs) was an important kick-starter. Jason Winderlich (22 possies, 12 marks, a goal) was very good after half-time, his running important following the loss of Stanton. Up forward Scott Lucas was kinda useful with 5 goals from 4 marks and 10 kicks and in defence Dustin Fletcher (27 disposals, 12 marks) did plenty of rebounding again, topped off by his match-saving spoil. Deliberate! Henry Slattery (13 possies) tagged Kerr closely. Matthew Lloyd bagged 3 goals, there were 2 goals each for Scott Camporeale and Jason Laycock. For the Wiggles wingman Matthew Rosa (32 disposals, 12 marks, a goal) was prolific, Matthew Priddis (29 touches, a goal) and Chris Judd (26 possies, a goal) started brilliantly but were worn down by the Dons in time. Ruckman Dean ‘Big’ Cox (15 handlings, 28 hit-outs) played in a similar pattern. Tyson Stenglein (29 touches) saw a lot of the ball and rebounding defender Brett Jones (27 disposals, 11 marks) was very good. Brent Staker (14 touches, 5 marks) was lively and booted 3 goals, Quinten Lynch kicked 2 goals. John Worsfold put it into perspective. "We still believe we are good enough to beat any opposition, anywhere, anytime," he said. "But, that's when we are playing our absolute best and we are certainly not doing that. (But I’m) pretty happy to be sitting where we are. Filthy that we've lost three games but I think you're being a bit over the top if you think we are going to get through and win 11 from 11. We certainly know what work we've got to do and how much better we can get . . . and that's the challenge. We lost tonight because of poor decision-making and skill errors that were nowhere near good enough, we had a lot of players who were well below what we expected.” Suddenly, Sheeds is looking at a finals campaign. "I always think that's the sort of footy people like to see. It's a fierce contest and a lot of one-on-one," he said. "Probably John Worsfold and I don't mind a scrap. We've lost games . . . by not kicking the goals that we should have early. I think we got one or two goals there that saved a little bit of confidence. But we lost Stanton, who's a very good player, and we were down to three on the bench, so it's a great win in the circumstances . . . We just needed to maintain a momentum of owning the ball and not coughing it up. We've hurt ourselves so often by not doing that. That's what cost us the Carlton game. Last year we lost a lot of games around that two or three goal scoreline so this is really heartening win for this group of boys."
At the MCG:
Hawthorn 4.3 5.5 7.9 9.12.66
Sydney 1.3 5.3 9.6 11.9.75
The Swans capped a busy week with a typically tight, pack-bound, smothering win over the ‘glamour’ Hawks. The Awks started well with some fast rebound run and goals for Buddy Franklin, whereupon the Swans shut the game down, played it their way and ultimately triumphed. A handy fillip for coach Paul Roos, whose whingeing outburst about the state of football last weekend saw the Swans labeled whingers in general. The win came at a price though with more knee trouble for Tadhg Kennelly and ruckman Darren Jolly, plus Luke Ablett (back-related hamstring) was a late withdrawal. Ablett was replaced by Tim Schmidt. The Hawks welcomed Trent Croad and Rick Ladson back, at the expense of Ben Dixon (hamstring) and Xavier Ellis (dropped).
Horforn burst from the blocks, with Franklin the fastest away. He slotted the opening goal from the boundary-line, a superb kick on-the-run after he and opponent Craig Bolton over-ran the pill initially. The Swans lost Kennelly early, aggravating the right knee which was dislocated a few weeks ago. A minute later Franklin converted from a more conventional mark on-the-lead, against Nick Malceski this time. The Bloods were on the board after Hawk Grant Birchall gave the ball away with a poor handpass, Swan Brett Kirk handballed for Sean Dempster to punt a long sausage. Sinney ruckman ‘Spida’ Everitt was facing up to his old team for the first time and received a hefty bump from Shane Crawford at one point, Spida went down heavily and a bit comically given their size difference. Franklin booted another major, a mark of Sam Mitchell’s pass and the Orcs rounded out the quarter with a free-kicked goal from Rick Ladson, to lead by 18 points at the first change. The Swans began to impose themselves after quarter-time, sweating on the Hawks to force errors. Everitt and Kirk became the dominant on-ballers while no Hawk forward (apart from Franklin) could get involved. At the other end Barry Hall was having his own troubles with Trent Croad, but the Swans had an unlikely scorer in defender Leapin’ Leo Barry. Barry kicked two goals early in the second term, both with the aid of 50m penalties. The first came from consecutive fifties, Barry mowed Tim Boyle down with a crunching tackle and had a 50 when Boyle tripped him getting up, then another for off-ball holding of Hall. Barry’s second major came from a soft but technically correct 50 as Barry marked 80m out and was held, briefly, by late-arriving Ben McGlynn. An awful clanger from Orc ruckman Simon Taylor to his opposite number Everitt led to Nick Davis marking and converting, a minute later Davis charged out to grab Dempster’s tumbling kick and boot another, the Swans were 5 points ahead. But the Orcs grabbed the lead back late, Mitchell switched play with a good kick to find Chance Bateman, he marked 55m out, played-on around Barry and dobbed it.
Everitt and Kirk were particularly good in the third tem as the Bloods stayed ahead. A Hawk turnover allowed Tim Schmidt to kick a goal, after several tight minutes Adam Schneider converted a free-kick for holding against Croad and the Swans led by 12 points. Franklin’s fourth goal, from a mark plucked over Ben Mathews, kept the Hawks close. The Hawks won the following centre-clearance, Jarryd Roughead marked but his accurate shot was touched on-the-line by Everitt. The Swans had lost ruckman Jolly, a pinched nerve in his knee, apparently. There was a flurry of goals late in the term, Everitt kicked smartly for Ted Richards who couldn’t mark over Brown, but collected the spilled ball, ran on and speared it through. A minute later Franklin collected Osborne’s handpass, loped clear and speared another major - the Horks were 3 points down, still there. From the restart Swan man Adam Goodes slipped his minder Brad Sewell and passed for leading Michael O’Loughlin to mark, he goaled after the siren and the Bloods led by 9 points at the final change. Sinney effectively sealed it with the first two goals of the final stanza, a Horforn kick-in was poached by Davis who booted his third goal, then Amon Buchanan converted a free-kick and the Bloods were a hefty 23 points ahead. The Hawks kept pressing, into time-on their ruckman Robert Campbell bagged a goal and with 1:30 remaining on the clock Franklin steered his sixth goal, from a mark on the flank. Back to 9 points the diff and from the restart Clint Young had a free-kick, but missed. Sinney hung on.
Brett Kirk (25 disposals, 9 tackles) gave a Luke Hodge a bit of a hard-ball lesson and Spida Everitt (15 touches, 8 marks, 23 hit-outs) played his best game to date for the Bloods. Wingman Nic Fosdike (29 possessions) enjoys the ‘G and in attack Nick Davis (4 marks, 9 disposals, 3 goals) made a crucial difference. Running man Nic Malceski (24 touches, 15 marks) played well and Adam Goodes (22 handlings) performed decently against Sewell, Jude Bolton (14 possies) was okay. Leo Barry (18 disposals, 11 marks) kicked 2 handy goals and kept in-form Boyle very quiet. Best for the Hawks was Lance ‘Buddy’ Franklin with his 6 goals from 6 marks and 17 disposals. Likes the ‘G. Brad Sewell (26 touches), on Goodes and Shane Crawford (22 handlings) were good, Campbell Brown played very well in defence against O’Loughlin and Sam Mitchell (24 handlings) and Luke Hodge (17 touches, 12 tackles) were busy enough. Al Clarkson called the loss a ‘reality check’. "It was a fantastic rehearsal for our guys today. We've got a long way to go as a football club, but the more games we can play like that against quality opposition like the Sydney Swans, the better placed we're going to be to play finals footy at some point in the future. It was a fantastic experience for our club. They're a quality outfit, they have been for a number of years, and we're slowly starting to peg back good sides in the competition, like the Sydney Swans, and we're not quite there yet. It was a good reality check for our boys today. We looked at the game and thought, "This is going to be an intense, finals-pressure type of game", and we just didn't quite measure up. We'll learn from it. We've got a young group with enormous belief and we'll get better from that performance." Paul Roos didn’t claim civilisation was ending this week. “It was a great win," Roos said. "The intensity really lifted and to win from the position we were in was a terrific effort. It was a very good win because we were three (players) down and not only did we only have one fit on the bench but we had to comeback from a deficit. We weren't hanging onto a lead so we had to work very, very hard to get back into the game and that meant adjustments to our forward line and the bench rotations as well. Our guys know that to win consistently in this competition we have to give everything we've got every single week. They are very honest and they do usually give 100 per cent every week and when we've got our intensity up our ball use tends to get better."
At the Gabba:
Brisbane 2.3 2.6 7.8 10.12.72
Footscray 6.8 7.12 13.15 13.17.95
Handy win for the Doggies over the rapidly sinking Lyin’s, who aren’t daring to win. Perhaps Matthews’s documented worries over their weakness against the opposition’s rebound has led to the extraordinary care over attack, the Lyin’s indulging in too much static chip-about and hopefully precise kicks forward, not enough run and attack. It proved fatal against the speedy Doggies, themselves not immune to bouts of keepings-off - they did plenty of this in time-on of each quarter, resulting in full-back Brian Harris taking a hefty 24 marks. But there was a downside for the Pups with apparent, serious knee injuries here to Daniel Cross and Ryan Griffen. In pickin’ the Lyin’s recalled Marcus Allan and ruckman Beau McDonald to replace injured Chris Johnson (plantar tendon, foot) and the axed Scott Harding. The Bullies got tough as intimated by Eade, Jordan McMahon and Matty Robbins were dropped along with the more fringey Sam Power and Cameron Wight. Incoming were forward Robert Murphy, wingman Farren Ray and juniors Jarrod Harbrow and Tom Williams.
Of course Aker was back to face the Lyin’s, a few Lyin fans in the crowd still fans of his. Not too many on the Brisbun team. Robert Copeland picked up Akermanis and gave him some light jostling before the start, nothing serious. The Lisbon Brians began well, Tim Notting and Jared Brennan bagged two quick goals and they led by 12 points. But then the Bullys’ run clicked in, led by halfbacks Griffen and Lindsay Gilbee. Gilbee speared a pass for Brad Johnson to mark and boot their opening goal. Four consecutive Puppy behinds followed, most of ‘em rushed, before Adam Cooney tided a goal-mouth scramble with a soccered major. Akermanis, who’d already been flattened by Jamie Charman, now silenced the crowd a bit with consecutive goals. The first was a good set-shot from the pocket, set up by Johnson’s pass. Within a minute Aker led out again to mark Daniel Giansiracusa’s wobbly pass and bag another. Two more goals for Johnson, one from a free and the other completing a snappy handpassing move, had the Bullies a healthy 29 points ahead at the first break. The second term was tight and tedious with a lot of possession football. The Lyin’s struggled to score with Harris doing a good job on Jonathan Brown. Brad Johnson bagged his fourth goal during the stanza but it became a nightmare for the Pups as first Cross departed, he knee pushed sideways by falling Charman. Looked like a medial ligament, which requires 6-8 weeks off. Then Robert Murphy’s comeback ended as he rolled an ankle. Nathan Eagleton was off after clashing heads with Farren Ray and finally Griffen hurt his knee, his leg caught in a tackle from Jed Adcock. ‘Only’ a dislocated kneecap, they’re hoping. Aker was put down again, by Joel Patfull, but wasn’t hurt. The Doggies led by 36 points at the long break but clearly had a few worries.
Remarkably, Eagleton returned and booted a couple of goals early in the third, Shaun Higgins and Matthew Boyd got on the scoresheet too as the Dogs cruised to a 55-point lead. Midway through the korter Brown broke the Lyin’s long goal-drought with a conversion from a mark, but a minute later Bully Mitch Hahn dobbed an excellent running goal from the boundary-line. But the emboldened Lyin’s made a bit of a challenge, Notting roved a pack to snap a goal and Charman punted them forward from the following centre-bounce, Brennan stabbed a major from point-blank. Notting and Nigel Lappin converted from marks and the Lyin’s trailed by 37 points, before Akermanis’s handpass set up a late running goal from Doggy Farren Ray, sporting a black eye from his clash with Eagleton. Late in the term Bulldog backmen Harris and Hargrave kicked the ball back-and forth to each other four of five times as the Lyin’s didn’t man up. That Ray goal was pretty much the sealer as the Bullpups led by 43 points at the last change. The Brians did score the only three goals of the final Mario, including a comedy effort from Marcus Allan after he and three other blokes slipped over, and a sublime stab from the impossible angle from Brennan although replays suggested the ball might’ve gone out-of-bounds as Brennan juggled skilfully to keep it alive. Did Aker do his traditional handstand to celebrate victory? You bet he did. Right in the centre-circle, accompanied by booin’.
The cutting edge of Brad Johnson (12 marks, 16 kicks, 4 goals) set the Doggies rolling, graceful half-back Lindsay Gilbee (28 disposals, 11 marks) and veteran rover Scott West (27 touches) were very good. Hard-running flankers Adam Cooney (24 possies, a goal) and Nathan Eagleton (22 handlings, 2 goals) were useful and down back Brian Harris (28 possies and yes, 24 marks) kept the struggling Brown pretty quiet. Jason Akermanis’s stats were 14 disposals, 4 marks and 2 goals. As ‘The Age’ put it, serviceable. Encouraging effort from young Tom Williams (18 disposals, 13 marks) too. Lyin’ ruckman Jamie Charman (21 disposals, 18 hit-outs) drove them along and Tim Notting (23 touches, 6 marks, 3 goals) was their most effective running player. Back-pocket Jed Adcock (20 handlings) played well again and Nigel Lappin (28 handlings, a goal) was handy, Jared Brennan (14 possies, 4 marks, 3 goals) proved some use in attack. Jonathan Brown (17 disposals, 6 marks) kicked 2 goals. Matthews sold the uninspiring message of ‘keep plugging away’. "We've had a month where there hasn't been a lot of joy for us. But we've just got to keep persevering and improving the fundamental things, the contested marking, the ground level possessions, takes under pressure without fumbling and the spreading (of the play). We just didn't run to space. It's partly a will and partly a confidence thing that you are prepared to run to space and give my teammate something to kick to. I don't think we've got fantastic running power in our team unfortunately, and we are going to have to keep working on that for a while to come I suspect . . . They (Bulldogs) lost a couple of players (to injury) and it's amazing in modern footy how that can affect a team's ability to run a game out. But we certainly looked better as the game went on. The team stuck at it, which was a positive. And under that disappointment, that's what you have to do, keep persevering.” Rocket Eade said "The last two games we've lost, people have criticised us for our hard ball gets but we've actually won them against pretty good opposition. Last week, Carlton were number one in clearances and we won that but we forgot about the other part of our game. I think tonight we were able to maintain our hardness at the ball but we were able to get our run going as well. The competition is very even. We say it all the time, but it's getting more even every year. The draft and salary cap are really working and if you don't bring that consistency of effort you're really a chance of losing against any team." Rocket went on to praise Harris, Akermanis and Luke Darcy, whose poor form saw him cop some criticism in the meedya last week.
At Docklands:
Carlton 8.3 11.5 20.5 22.9.141
Port Adelaide 4.3 5.8 9.12 14.18.102
The Blues’ frenetic style paid dividend again, over the rapidly sinking Flowers. Even better, they’ve won the last two without a major contribution from the seemingly injured Brendan Fevola or absent Nick Stevens. When they’re winning, this is a pretty exciting Bloo side. Port have slumped dramatically after leading the ladder a month ago. Four straight losses and a 6-5 record is probably a better reflection of this side under reconstruction. Skipper Warren Tredrea’s continuing weak form is coming under increasing scrutiny, the man clearly isn’t fit and team-mates are not kicking the ball to him. Bit of a problem for Choco. One change for the Bluie side which beat the Bulldogs last week, Jordan Russell replacing injured Joe Anderson (hamstring). Ruckmen Setanta O’hAilpin and Cain Ackland had a blue at training during the week, the second time Ackland’s been involved in a fight with a team-mate I think - he did something similar at Sinkilda. The Powder were strengthened by Dean Brogan and Michael Wilson returning, Nathan Krakouer was called up too. Nathan Lonie was an interesting axing along with juniors Fabian Deluca and Greg Bentley.
There was an early highlight for the Power, Shaun Burgoyne collected the ball at a throw-in, spun through a couple of tackles and slotted a very classy sausage. But it was nearly all Blooze after that, the hugely improved Andrew Carrazzo and Andrew Walker driving their long, direct attack. Jarrad Waite was very good across half-forward again, his handpass set up a snapped major for Ryan Houlihan, then Waite bagged one himself. Fevola’s skilful gather on the half-volley and rapid handpass sent Marc Murphy in for a major, Houlihan snapped another after collecting a loosed pill. A typically rugged attack on the ball from Simon Wiggins set up a major for ruckman O’hAilpin. Waite booted the Bluies’ sixth straight goal, swooping on Chad Cornes’s telegraphed switch of play. Chadley was Mr. Angry here. The Power bagged a few late goals, a good one for David Rodan after roving a throw-in. But they were over-run in defence and the Bluesers led by 24 points at the first break. A bit of a fight broke out at the first break, Port’s ruckman Brogan very angry. The Blooze didn’t score so heavily in the second term as Port flooded back a bit, but the Pooey’s slow ball movement didn’t help the croweaters score any more easily. Waite passed for leading Fevola to mark and boot a 50m sausage roll, then Brad Fisher roved his own contest to snap one. Angry Chad Cornes booted a running goal and he was pretty happy about it, but late in the stanza Bloo man Walker roved a pack and hooked it through, Bluesers by 33 points late at the halfway point. The ‘baggers have had trouble with second-half fadeouts, and Port’s recent losses have seen them play better after the long break. But there was none of that here as Carton rammed through nine straight goals in the third stanza. Port had one fewer scoring shot but found ‘emselves 11 goals behind at the final change. The TV highlights didn’t show us many majors from the third Mario, but there was one Waite scored ‘accidentally’ as he soccered the ball through by tripping over it, later Houlihan completed a good running, handballing move with a nicely slotted six-pointer. Port did outscore the Bluies in the last quarter, when it was too late. There were roving goals for Rodan and second-gamer Robert Gray, and Justin Westhoff bagged one after roving himself. But Bluie fans were happy enough with a running goal for bogman O’hAilpin.
Carlton were very well served by running man Andrew Walker (26 touches, a goal) and prolific centreman Andrew Carrazzo (28 disposals, 8 marks, a goal), who’s really stepped up in Stevens’s absence. Since being restored to the forward-line Jarrad Waite (13 disposals, 6 marks, 4 goals) has been excellent and key defender Bret Thornton (17 touches, 8 marks) did well. Wingmen Ryan Houlihan (26 touches, 9 marks, 3 goals) and Kade Simpson (17 handlings, a goal) were pretty busy and Simon Wiggins (23 touches, 10 marks) bullocked about. Plenty of blokes kicked goals, Brad Fisher booted 3 and Lance Whitnall bagged a couple, as did Brendan Fevola, Jordan Bannister and the useful Setanta O’hAilpin. Port had good performances from regular ball-collector Kane Cornes (30 disposals, 10 marks) and Steven Salopek (27 handlings, 11 grabs) with his busted nose. Shaun Burgoyne (20 touches, a goal) did some classy things and speedy small men David Rodan (17 handlings, 2 goals) and Danyle Pearce (28 disposals, 8 marks) did a bit. Teenage spearhead Justin Westhoff bagged 4 goals from 8 marks and 12 possessions, defender Brad Symes (23 possies, 7 touches) was alright. Robert Gray kicked 2 goals. Mark Williams was not happy, locking the players up for 40 minutes afterwards. “Right now we have too many passengers, too many players who did not pull their weight and that is not good enough. We have to work hard on the training track and we can bring in players, but they have to be in good form otherwise it does not make any sense.” Denis Pagan made it all seem a natural occurrence. “It was a good result for our club again and we’re really pleased about it. Everyone at Carlton’s put so much work in over the past three or four years and we’re still a long, long way off it but we can really see some positive signs now and we’ll just continue to take the game on and attack it the way we have. We tried to develop a few of our young blokes (earlier in the season), and we probably went a bit over the top with it. We were probably too top heavy. We’ve certainly got a smaller running side now and it’s paying dividends.”
At Football Park:
Adelaide 3.4 5.5 8.6 9.8.62
Geelong 2.2 4.11 7.13 9.15.69
The Cats showed they could win ugly too, ‘gritty kitties’ as the Herald-Sun would have it as they ground it out against the purveyors of ultra-defensive football, the Camrys. Another win at Foopall Park, their second in three weeks after three in fifteen years, showed the Pussies’ progress. This was the Cows’ fourth consecutive underwhelming effort and the past month has not been good for the croweater teams. Afterwards Craigy conceded the Corollas may have try and be more attacking. Injuries didn’t help although Craig wouldn’t use the excuse. The Cow side here was without Ian Perrie (shoulder) and Brent Reilly (ankle), Ken McGregor was called up following a long absence and Luke Jericho was recalled. No change for the Catters.
Following a tight start, the Camrys broke through with the opening goal at the ten-minute mark. Robert Shirley centered the ball for Nathan Van Berlo to hold a good grab over Corey Enright, Van Berlo converted. A classy build-up ended with Scott Stevens’s strong grab on-the-lead, Stevens majored and the Camrys led by 14 points, 2.2 to nothin’ The Cats hadn’t looked like scoring but did manage a goal late, Andrew Mackie found Cameron Mooney on-the-lead and Mooney booted a major. The Cows responded quickly as Tyson Edwards jabbed a short pass for the busy Scott Thompson to mark and major, but Cat Gary Ablett Jnr. steamed clear of the restart and passed to leading Mooney again for another goal. Gablett and Mooney kept the Catters in it, in the first half. The Camrys led by 8 points at the first break, but’d lost Simon Goodwin (knee strain), probably their most important player. The Cats pressed a bit for a few behinds in the second stanza, but the Cressidas made the early break. Handballs from Andrew McLeod to Edwards to Van Berlo ended with a goal for VB, a quick kick bouncing through. Nathan Bock converted from a big pack-mark and the Camrys led by 16 points. Again the Cats fought back, Gary Ablett roved a throw-in, sped clear and handballed for Mathew Stokes to dob a goal. A later major for Cameron Ling had the scores level at the long break.
Still tight into the third term. James Kelly did some useful things for the Pussies, he stabbed a close-range goal and later his long kick was marked all alone by Brad Ottens, he converted. But the Cows came back with a pair of majors from McGregor. The Cats appeared to be running outta steam. Max Rooke clattered into Ricciuto as the Camry man crouched over the ball, Ricciuto departed with mild concussion and blurred vision and Rooke was reported. Rooke has been offered one week since, he’ll probably accept it. Graham ‘Stiffy’ Johncock roved a throw-in and snapped a goal to put the Camrys ahead again. The Cats managed a late major, Paul Chapman kicked long and Mooney was shoved front-on by Ben Rutten, Mooney free-kicked a goal and the Cats led by a point at the final change. McGregor booted another major early in the final term and the Camrys led again. But the Catters responded quickly, a slick string of handballs before Ling poked it through from close-range. There followed ten minutes of tough, hard-tackling footy. The Coronas were weakened further as Stevens departed with concussion. The final act came when Camry Jason Porplyzia’s weak kick from defence was swallowed by Steve Johnson, he punted it back for a goal to give the Cats an 8-point lead. They hung on.
The speedy, hard-to-tackle Gary Ablett (21 disposals, 4 marks) was great for the Cats, with Darren Milburn (22 touches, 6 marks), Matty Scarlett (15 possies on Scott Welsh) and Tom Harley (15 handlings, 8 marks) holding up in a frequently besieged defence. After half-time Gablett received midfield help from Andrew Mackie (26 touches, 7 marks), Jimmy Bartel (28 disposals) and Corey Enright (26 possies), Cameron Ling (22 handlings, 2 goals) was alright too. Cameron Mooney (11 disposals, 7 marks, 3 goals) was their forward-line. The Camrys were given a great game by Scott Thompson (33 disposals, 12 marks, a goal), he received spasmodic support from Nathan Van Berlo (24 touches, 12 marks, 2 goals), Tyson Edwards (24 possies) and Robert Shirley (25 disposals). Ken McGregor (6 marks, 13 disposals, 3 goals) was good value in attack and Nathan Bassett (25 handlings, 13 marks) did some rebounding. Andrew McLeod, tagged by Rooke, had a bit of the ball (26 touches) but not much influence. Neil Craig confessed to the need for more run and risk. “(The injuries) made it difficult but did not cost us the game. Our execution, when we were clear with time and space, you have to take advantage of that. Clearly we don’t do that often enough at the moment. Execution is not up to AFL winning standard at the moment. We need to work on that and that’s my responsibility. I have to make sure standards on the training track are high enough and if not, I have to adjust that . . . (attacking football) is another area we have to add to our game. Defensively we are still very good, but we need to add more attack. We have to have the confidence to take more risks. We have to be more courageous.” Mark ‘Bomber’ Thompson was very pleased. “I am rather pleased, not only by the victory but by the way we toughed it out and hung in there. It was really encouraging that we stood up for the whole time of the game . . . We have had some pretty easy victories where we have got off to big starts and it doesn’t really test your game style, your persistence. To come back and play a game like this where I think sixteen points was the biggest margin all day, the pressure was on from start to finish. I think that is what we really needed and I think it is great to play this sort of footy.”
At Docklands:
St. Kilda 1.3 4.5 5.7 8.10.58
North Melbourne 4.2 7.8 8.11 11.14.80
Another ground-out win for the Roos but the Saints’ continuing decline was the bigger story here. For the fourth week running Stinkilda failed to kick more than ten goals, and some heat came for new coach Ross Lyon as his side slumped to fourteenth. The Saints have scored 814 points so far, the lowest in the league. Forwards Fraser Gehrig, Nick Riewoldt and Stephen Milne are underperforming badly, not helped by the Saints’ painfully slow and low-skill delivery. No-one else can kick majors. All this comes amongst off-field pantomime, president Rod ‘Mattress’ Butterss and sacked coach Grant Thomas using the radio to attack each other in public. Mattress accused Thomas of “undermining the club” by allegedly contacting players and taking a heavy interest in Riewoldt’s contract negotiations. Thomas responded in part by saying “Rod . . . doesn’t seem like the sort of guy who could defend himself physically.” What? The Kangers have few worries. Their side here had Shannon Watt, David Hale and Ed Lower called up to replace dropped pair Scott McMahon and and defender Josh Gibson, who slipped over in his bathroom and cracked his head severely enough to go into a coma for a few hours. They’re saying Gibson won’t play again this season. The Stainers had a few blokes return, Andrew Thompson and Brett Voss while junior Brad Howard was recalled. They replaced injured Leigh Fisher (hamstring) and axed pair David Armitage and Shane Birss.
The Saints have the guns up forward but deliver the ammunition slowly and infrequently. The Ruse are the opposite really, no scary forward but they give their collection of flanker-types and rovers plenty of chances. Brent ‘Boomer’ Harvey and Corey Jones were prominent early as the Saints bumbled about and were hurt on the rebound. Harvey’s smart kick set up the opening goal, a back-pedalling mark for Adam Simpson. A bit later Watt passed for Jones to hold a good mark, he thumped it home from 55m. The Saints were on the board after Nick Riewoldt free-kicked a major, held in a contest by his opponent Michael Firrito. But the Ruse and more specifically, Jones held sway. Harvey roved a pack and handballed to Leigh Brown, a handpass onto Jones for a goal. And Corey Jones soon had a third major, leading to Jess Sinclair’s pass for a mark and conversion. The Kangers led by 17 points at the first break and extended it to 23 early in the second, stalwart Glenn Archer completing a chain of handpasses with a running slot. But the Ruse proceeded to miss a few shots and the Stains crept back against the run of play, Sam Gilbert sold a dummy to boot a noice goal and a bit later some class from Nick Dal Santo set up a running goal for back-pocket Jay Attard. Fraser Gehrig managed a goal from a rare touch against Drew Petrie. But late in the term Jones’s pass set up a mark and goal for big David Hale and the Kangers led by 21 points at the long break.
A tight and fairly dull third term followed as the Northerners tackled hard, breaking down the slow Sinkilda moves. Gehrig managed an early major, a goal-square tap-through completing good upfield work. A bit later Roo rover Andrew Swallow gathered a throw-in and wobbled a kick home for full points. Other than a handful of points, that was it for third stanza action, the Shinboners leading by 22 points at the last change. The final korter continued in the same tedious vein for nearly fifteen minutes, before the Stainers mounted a belated challenge. Sam Fisher ran from defence and found long-leading Gehrig, he kicked quickly for Jason Gram to mark and convert. A minute later Justin Koschitzke majored from a mark on-the-lead and the Saints were only 8 points down, their supporters found some voice at last with something to cheer. Tight for a bit as the Saints lifted a gear. But the Roos had a reprieve when Dal Santo’s long, risky kick-in from a Kanga behind was marked by Rue Ed Lower, no Saint stood the mark so Lower played-on and punted a long goal. A coupla minutes later Kanger ruckman Hamish McIntosh plucked a strong pack-mark and converted and the Ruse led by 21 points. James Gwilt bagged a goal for the Saints just prior to time-on, but in the dying minutes Roo Harvey sped forward and handballed to Jones, he sold a coupla dummies and slotted to ice the victory.
As stated before Kanga rover Brent Harvey (26 disposals) is having a very good season. He was assisted on-ball by Daniel Harris (18 touches) and Brady Rawlings (22 possies). Corey Jones (7 marks, 16 disposals, 4 goals) proved more than handy in attack, but the Ruse defence was just as important with Michael Firrito (16 disposals, 6 marks) and Drew Petrie (9 touches) doing very well on Riewoldt and Gehrig respectively, Glenn Archer (17 kicks, 9 marks, a goal) and Daniel Pratt (24 handlings, 9 marks) provided great support. Jess Sinclair (21 touches, a goal) wasn’t bad either. The Saints tried hard but can’t put it together and have too many passengers like yer Fioras, Vosses and Clarkes. Nick Dal Santo (29 disposals) and Leigh Montagna (33 touches, 9 marks) tried hard midfield while backmen Sam Fisher (29 possies, 7 marks) and Max Hudghton (10 touches) played well. Lenny Hayes (28 possies) wasn’t bad. Fraser Gehrig kicked 2 goals, but now may miss a few games as he has a broken bone in his hand. After the game, Melbourne talkback radio was flooded with irate Sainter supporters berating the style of play. "I thought our ability to defend early was poor, and I thought our ability to use the ball and use it slick through the corridor to the advantage of our key forwards was poor," said Lyon. "At times . . . we moved it with purpose and to the advantage of our talls, and we looked dangerous. Other than that, I thought we overused and our ball use was poor at times. Goal conversion, 16 per cent. That's been a common theme throughout the year. That's it, in a nutshell." Hmm. Dean Laidley loves Shinboner allusions. “We stuck to our task today and probably didn’t get seduced into playing that type of (possession) football. I thought the pressure up the field was very good, we played an uncompromising style of football today and that’s what we’ve spoken about for a long period of time now. I thought we did it over four quarters and again the boys got reward for effort so I’m very pleased.” Laidley couldn’t help but comment on all the tipsters and punters who’d made the Saints favourites beforehand. “We’ve played four games in the pre-season and now we’ve played 11 home-and-away games and there’s obviously still people out there that think our actions aren’t speaking louder than our words, going by the tipsters and the bookies during the week that’s quite evident. But we know where we’re at and we need to keep making sure our actions speak louder than words.”
At Subiaco:
Fremantle 1.3 4.8 10.10 18.15.123
Richmond 4.5 6.9 10.9 15.12.102
Thanks a lot Grant Thomas. The mouthy, sacked Sinkilda coach, now a meedya commentator, not only called his ex-boss Buttress a softy but also had a crack at Freo star Matthew Pavlich last week, suggesting Pav was more interested in personal than team performance. The result, Pav came out and killed the Tiges. Otherwise, this looked like two teams stuck in a rut. The Dockers keep clingin’ on to a dream of finals without threatening to advance much. The Tiges played well for two-and-a-bit quarters before being out-muscled, out-played and overrun. Still no wins, and victories for the Bluesers and Dees left the Tiges rooted. Um, to the bottom of the ladder. So many decisions. Deledio’s brother or the fourth Selwood? The Freo side here was missing Ryan Crowley, the seventh Docker to be suspended this season, one game for his clattering of head-down Presti last week. Also missing from last week were axed pair Troy Cook and Luke Webster, in came James Walker, ruckman Robert Warnock and tallish debutant Garrick Ibbotson from Bullcreek-Leeming via East Fremantle. Something you don’t get to type every day. The Toigs regained wingman Chris Hyde and called up forward Cleve Hughes to replace late withdrawal Greg Tivendale (family matter) and the dropped Jay Schulz.
The Tiges started very well, Nathan Foley won the opening centre-clearance, he passed towards Richard Tambling who flapped at it pathetically one-handed. But Freo man Hayden’d put his hand on Tambling’s back, a free-kick under the chooklotto rule and Tambling booted a long goal. The Tiges dominated for the next several minutes but could only come up with four behinds as Tambling, Matty Richardson and Kayne Pettifer all missed set-shots. With Freo’s first attack they scored a goal, Des Headland from a mark. But the Tiges were going well, ex-Dokka Graham Polak marked everything across half-back and Brett Deledio gave the run into attack, Foley continue to win contested footy. Pettifer finally got on-target and then Deledio kicked a goal, set up by a gutsy effort from Shane Tuck. Late in the term Shocker hard-man Dean Solomon decided to ‘target’ Tige half-back Chris Newman, eventually punching him in the stomach. Free-kick to the Tiger man and a 50m penalty when Solly went on with it. What did they get him for, again? Newman launched a wobbly torpedo from 70m which bounced home through an empty ‘square and the Tiges led by 20 points at the first change. Chris Hyde slotted the first goal of the second term home from the pocket and the Tiggers led by 26 points. Freo woke up a bit, Pavlich going well. His handballs set up a couple of goals, including one for Brett Peake and another for Headland, but Tambling bagged the last goal of the half and the Tiges led by 13 points at the long break. The Toigers kicked the first two goals of the third term, from Pettifer and Shane Edwards to again go 26 points ahead. Peter Bell, Pavlich and Headland dragged Freo back into it. Bell, assisted by Josh Carr, started to win around packs. Pavlich began marking everything across half-forward as Polak faded. Headland also injected himself, booting three goals for the term. The first came from a dubious free-kick, the second a strong grab after which Headland played-on for some bizarre reason, worsening the angle. Still kick it though. Des’s third, from a mark on-the-lead, leveled the scores and Freo led by a point at the final change. The Tiges still in it then, but only on the scoreboard as there’d been one of them momentum shifts. Tigger Cameron Howat booted the first goal of the final term but the Dokkers kicked the next five. Heath Black slotted on-the-run, Pavlich thundered one home from 55m after marking and young Ibbotson bagged a sausage. When Pavlich stabbed one home from the goalsquare, marking Solomon’s long kick, the Dokkers led by 23 points. The Tiges gave some cheek, Tambling booted a long major, answered by Freo backman Antoni Grover, and when Matty Richardson goaled after a good mark the Toigs were hovering, 15 points behind. A Peake major sealed it.
Inspired Matty Pavlich (15 marks, 22 disposals, 3 goals) led the Dokkers to victory, with crucial midfield support from Peter Bell (38 disposals) and Josh Carr (25 touches, 8 marks). Des Headland bagged 5 goals from 8 marks and 14 disposals to help ‘em along, rebounding backman Michael Johnson (26 touches) and rugged half-forward Shaun McManus (20 handlings) played well. Chris Tarrant and Brett Peake kicked 2 goals each. The Tigers had a very good game from the running Brett Deledio (25 disposals, a goal) again and rover Nathan Foley (29 possies) was excellent, supported by Shane Tuck (25 handlings). Kayne Pettifer (11 marks, 16 kicks, 3 goals) played well in attack while down back Graham Polak (24 possessions, 15 marks) played well, first half especially, with Jake King (20 handlings, 9 marks) proving a useful rebounder again. Richard Tambling (15 disposals) bagged 3 goals, a subdued Richo and Shane Edwards kicked 2 goals each. ‘Plough’ Wallace reckons a win is around the corner. “We had kids with one or two pre-seasons under their belt flailing on the biggest ground in the competition against a side with experienced bodies who were able to rotate three or four players at a time. It caught up with us in the end. It’s hard to go home and tell your supporters that the signs are encouraging when they go and look at the ladder and see where we are . . . A few times when opposition people have come to our training sessions they were surprised with how buoyant and up our guys have been. With our young players, they just want to play and love getting out there. They would love to be winning, but they still are involved in the game . . . It is difficult with the senior group. They are the ones that believe we can have some success here while we are still around the place and we have to work with those a bit more to make sure they don’t get dejected about it, because a few of them have been there before.” You don’t say. Can’t find a quote from Chris Connolly, other than indirect ones praising Headland and looking forward to the game against the Bulldogs in Darwin next week as ‘pivotal’. He’s not wrong.
At the MCG:
Melbourne 6.6 8.9 9.14 13.16.94
Collingwood 2.3 6.5 9.11 11.15.81
Two in-a-row for the Dees as they held off a Poi side depleted of defenders, at least that was their excuse. No Queen’s Birthday Massacre but a rugged, entertaining game featuring 7 goals from Dee forward Russ ‘Nobbo’ Robertson. The Poise decision to play first-gamer Danny Stanley on Nobbo for much of the game caused confusion in the tiny minds of the Pie supporters. Ah well. In selection here the Deemuns made one change from the side victorious over the Cows, Ben Holland in for Nathan Brown. Brown made an inspirational speech beforehand, apparently. The Poise made three changes, Shane Wakelin and ruckman Chris Bryan returned from injury and as mentioned they had a debutant, backman Danny Stanley from Ocean Grove. Outgoing Maggies were Simon Prestigiacomo (foot injury), Rhyce Shaw (groin strain) and axed Guy Richards.
The Pies were without regular backmen Presti, Rice Shaw and the still-crocked James Clement. Harry O’Brien initially took Robbo, with Wakelin on David Neitz. Dane Swan picked up Cameron Bruce and . But the Dees started very well with Brock McLean and James ‘Junior’ McDonald very good in the middle, Robertson and Matthew Bate, the latter playing across half-forward, were also handy. Bate had the first scoring shot, a point after marking McLean’s kick, then McDonald booted the opening major. Ben Johnson bagged one for the Maggies, set up by some rugged play from Brodie Holland. But the Dees booted the next five goals in eight minutes, a match-deciding burst. The first was probably most crucial as Robertson marked on the goal-line and, in attempting to spoil, O’Brien dislocated his shoulder. Harry’s day was over and the Poise were down another backman, as mentioned debutant Stanley went onto Robbo. Why not Nick Maxwell? Anyway. Travis Johnstone and Colin Sylvia were busy for Melbun and Robertson immediately kicked two more goals, Johnstone and Bate added one each as the Dees rocketed to a 31-point lead. Their Paul Johnson missed a shot before the Poise Johnson punted a late major to reduce the deficit to 27 points at the first break. The Dees continued to attack into the second term, Bruce produced two awful kicks (one a shot, the other an attempted pass) to waste some advantage. The Pies benched Anthony Rocca, hopeless against close-checking Holland, while the Dees lost Johnstone with hamstring trouble. Poi fans were fuming when Shane O’Bree was pinged for ‘deliberate’ as his 30m kick trickled over the line, Dee Paul Wheatley’s long free-kick spilled and Simon Godfrey booted a rare, running goal which he enjoyed. Dees by 34 points. The Pies had a free at the restart, Travis Cloke led up to mark it and then kick wide to leading Paul ‘Steak Knives’ Medhurst, he converted from the flank. Cloke booted the next goal, a great second effort after he failed to hold an attempted screamer, tackling Dee Daniel Bell who was harshly done for ‘bawl’. Cloke free-kicked truly. The Pies were doing better now, with Scott Burns and Holland lifting on-the-ball and Tarkyn Lockyer working into it. Cloke was also going well, he marked 15m out dead in front but produced a woeful kick which scraped through for a behind, the Poise trailed by 21 points. Melbun steadied after another unfair but funny ‘deliberate’ penalty on Maxwell, who jabbed the ball out from the middle of a pack, 30m from the line. Robertson led out to mark the free-kick and punt his fourth goal. The Poise kept comin’ through, in the interests of fairness Demun Daniel Ward was done for ‘deliberate’ and Swan played-on from the free-kick, his punt was marked superbly in the goal-square by Josh Fraser as he grappled with Nathan ‘The Cougar’ Carroll. Fraser converted. A great Burns tackle set up the next major, Wakelin kicked long and Lockyer roved the pack to snap it through. The Pies were 16 points down at the long break.
The Maggies drew closer in the early third, Burns had a run and kicked long, pack spillage and Cloke was on hand to snap it home. The Dees led by 10 points and faced one of them second-half Poi surges, it seemed. But the Poise struggled to convert their momentum into points. Neon Leon Davis missed with a snap and Fraser had a certain tap-through goal smothered brilliantly by Wheatley. The Dees lost skipper David Neitz with knee trouble, and Robertson postered with a free-kick. Eventually Melbun nudged ahead, Sylvia capped a good run with a centering kick, Bate marked, played-on and drilled it through. Melbun by 15 points. Pies Davis and Alan Didak missed with set-shots, sandwiching a Robbo point. Stanley was moved away after that, and replaced by the not-much-more-experienced Alan Toovey. The Poise drew closer again as Tyson Goldsack finessed a bit and passed to leading Cloke, he punted a 55m goal and the Poise trailed by 10 points. A bit later Davis’s good tackle forced a ball-up, Davis himself roved the contest and finally kicked accurately for goal, the Maggies were 4 points down then and 3 points behind at the final change. All set up then, but after Fraser missed an early shot the Dees scored two quick goals to start the final stanza. The first was hugely controversial as Robertson clearly used his hands in Toovey’s back to hold out the Pieman before marking Sylvia’s kick. Pie fans howled in outrage as Robbo punted a goal. When will this ridiculous rule go? McLean punted the Dees forward from the restart after robbing Dale Thomas of the ball, Robertson clutched an acceptable grab in front of Toovey and bagged another major. Dees by 14 points. Pie Bryan missed a long shot and there was a longish, tight spell. It was broken by a Melbun goal, McLean kicked for wide-leading Neitz to mark, he chipped a pass for leading Aaron Davey to grab strongly and convert. Dees by 19 points. The Pies benched Fraser (tired) and Heath Shaw (limping) but had a break when Demun McLean failed to reach a ball as it bounced out, in frustration McLean picked up the Sherrin and hurled it into a chair. That’s a no-no and the Poise had a free-kick, and a 50m penalty when McLean complained in disbelief. Ben Johnson booted a goal. In time-on Davis free-kicked another Poi sausage, held back by Ward, and the Poise were still a chance as they trailed by 7 points. But they couldn’t get closer and in the dying seconds Robertson led out to mark Neitz’s pass and bag his seventh goal after the final siren.
Pretty good game for Russ Robertson with 7 goals from 9 marks and 16 disposals. Up the field Brock McLean (26 disposals) was terrific on-the-ball, assisted by James McDonald (24 touches, a goal) early and Nathan Jones (19 possies) later. Matthew Bate (10 marks, 18 possessions, 2 goals) was important across half-forward, long-kickin’ Paul Wheatley (25 touches) and Cameron Bruce (22 touches, 0.4) were alright. Ben Holland slaughtered Rocca and Daniel Ward (18 touches) was okay in defence too. For the Poise Scott Burns (22 disposals) got them going again and Brodie Holland (25 handlings) was pretty good too. Heath Shaw (24 disposals) did a good job on Brad Green and Ben Johnson (25 touches, 8 marks, 3 goals) was handy, Travis Cloke (7 marks, 11 kicks, 3 goals) was their best forward. Tarkyn Lockyer (24 disposals, 9 marks, a goal) and Dane Swan (23 touches, 8 marks) weren’t bad. Leon Davis bagged 2 goals. As usual Mick hedged around the injury question. "We're not after pity because you lose a player. We made too many fundamental errors. We can't give sides a six-goal start and then miss goals that should be kicked or stop strategies of the opposition where they clearly were able to generate the football from, and we knew that's where they did it from. Let's not let the boys off the hook. We have a very young side, we understand that, and that gives you enthusiasm. If there is a bonus to it, they never gave in. That's about it.” But is it, Mick? "We then put pressure on ourselves by losing a backline player, which under the circumstances, makes it very difficult to replace when you've already got players replacing backline players, “ he continued. "Prestigiacomo, Clement, Shaw and then to lose Harry . . . we had to re-jig the side, which meant you were then robbing other areas of the game.” Ah, okay. Neale Daniher said "I've got a lot of respect for Collingwood and where they are at and they've been very good Collingwood, in chasing teams down and at three-quarter time it was very much in the balance and they did well to keep at us and keep at us. The script was, possibly from Collingwood supporters’ point of view, was that they'd overrun us, but I was really happy with the character of our group and we were able to weather the storm and really take the last quarter. We're a very competitive team when we get our best players out there and I thought we played some sensational football early, six goals six . . . I thought we played our best footy early when the game was there at its hottest.” The Dee players have come out in strong support of Daniher, after understandable questions over his future following the dismal nine-loss run.
Ladder after Round Eleven
Pts. % Next Week
Geelong 32 151.7 Brisbane (Kardinia Park, Sunday)
West Coast 32 125.9 Bye
Hawthorn 28 112.9 Carlton (Docklands, Fri. night)
Collingwood 28 108.0 Bye
Essendon 28 106.8 Port Adelaide (Football Park, Sunday)
North Melbourne 28 101.0 Adelaide (Carrara, Sat. night)
Sydney 24 113.8 Bye
Adelaide 24 107.0 North Melbourne (Carrara, Sat. night)
---------------------------
Footscray 24 97.7 Fremantle (Marrara Oval, Sat. night)
Port Adelaide 24 96.7 Essendon (Football Park, Sunday)
Fremantle 20 99.3 Footscray (Marrara Oval, Sat. night)
Brisbane 18 93.1 Geelong (Kardinia Park, Sunday)
Carlton 16 86.2 Hawthorn (Docklands, Fri. night)
St. Kilda 16 85.1 Bye
Melbourne 8 73.9 Bye
Richmond 2 72.7 Bye
Cheers, Tim.
Article last changed on Thursday, June 14, 2007 - 6:10 PM EDT
