AFL Round 12 Part 2
by Tim Murphy
Ah, the bye week. Good luck tipping next week.
At the MCG:
Richmond 6.3 12.8 14.12 18.16.124
Melbourne 2.2 2.4 8.6 11.9.75
Huzzah! The Tiges broke their duck at last, belting an insipid Melbun in the first half and then doing enough after the long break to stay comfortably ahead. With Nathan Brown back and (hopefully) soreness-free, the Toigs could scrape together a couple more wins in the remaining ten games. But keep the eye on the main prize: draft picks. The Demuns were as poor as in any game this season, making a joke of alleged finals aspirations. Still plenty of time to take advantage of that bumper ski season. They had more injury trouble coming in, losing David Neitz (broken finger) and Travis Johnstone (strained achilles tendon), Adem Yze and Byron Pickett were recalled. Pickett was returning from club suspension, for skipping a VFL game to go to the pub. Might as well have done that here. The Tiges had Brown back, as mentioned, Kent Kingsley was dropped and they withdrew Dean Polo and Shane Edwards. Greg Tivendale and Andrew Krakouer were recalled.
The Tiges came out firin’ against the very lethargic Deez. Matty Richardson, who gave a typically eccentric Richo performance, missed an early shot before rover Nathan Foley collected the pill from a ball-up and jabbed it to Tivendale, not 15 metres but Tivendale played-on and snapped it through. A bit later Tivendale speared a pass to Brett Deledio, the ball went on to leading Nathan Brown who chipped to unattended Kayne Pettifer in the goal-square. He blasted it through and the Tiggers led by 14 points. Brown was busy early, but the Tiges’ chief advantage was in the centre where Foley and Shane Tuck, the latter opposed to Brock McLean, were excellent. Dan Jackson tagged Cameron Bruce closely, too. Deemun Russ Robertson kicked their first goal from a hand-in-the-back free against opponent Will Thursfield. But the ball was down there rarely as extra Tige defender Graham Polak mopped up easily and often. The Dees had no target apart from out-numbered Robbo. The Tiggers advanced from a kick-in, Chris Newman’s long run and punt was marked at the back of a pack by Brown, he converted with a good kick from the flank. Dee Nathan Jones collected a throw-in, steamed clear and booted a good goal. Melbin’s last for the half. Pettifer had an off-ball free for holding, he stabbed a pass for unopposed Chris Hyde to mark and convert. Polak punted the Tiges forward from the restart, Hyde collected the ball, swivelled away from a confused Dee and thumped another. A bit later Foley gathered the ball in heavy traffic and lobbed a short kick for Deledio to mark, he goaled and the Tiges led by 25 points at the first break. The second term started slowly, Robertson missed after a classically Robbo speccie over Andrew Raines and Richo managed to hit the post with a drilled kick from 15m. Tige skipper Kane Johnson free-kicked a goal, held by opponent Green, and the Tiges led by 31 points. A bit later Foley burst through the middle and kicked long, back-pedalling Richardson was clattered by Ben Holland and Richo just squeezed through a free-kick from 10m out. Soon Richo had another, a soft free-kick against Holland again. The Tiges led by 44 points and Holland was sent to the Dees’ forward-line, Nathan ‘The Cougar’ Carroll became Richo’s man. Melbun were going badly enough but the Tiges bagged three goals in time-on to really bust it open, firstly Pettifer’s smart centering kick found Deledio all alone, he played-on and thumped it home. Richardson stretched over Carroll to mark Hyde’s long kick and passed it backwards to Pettifer, he goaled. Finally Andrew Krakouer collected the ball on a rebound and handballed to Tuck, he played on, sold a lovely dummy and punted truly. The Tiggers led by 64 points, that’s 11 goals, at half-time. Surely they couldn’t blow this.
The Dees, with ears burning no doubt, had a crack in the second half. Ruckman Jeff White and rovers McLean and Nathan Jones gave ‘em a big lift on-the-ball and they finally made Polak accountable, sending resting ruckman Paul Johnson forward alongside Holland and Robbo. The Deez had an early goal, Tige Jackson dithered in defence and was caught red-hot by Holland, ‘Wood Duck’ free-kicked a goal. Soon Holland had another free-kick but played on with a handpass, Paul Johnson fumbled, then kicked on-the-full. But a minute later Melbun’s Johnson led for a good grab, his wobbly kick towards goal spilled from the pack and roving Aaron Davey snapped it through. During this phase Richo was penalized two or three times for placing his hands in Carroll’s back in marking contests. You’d think he’d learn, especially after the Essadun game. But you can’t teach an old Tiger etc. Particularly if the Tiger isn’t very bright. After one such incident Richo expressed his displeasure and a 50m penalty was added to Carroll’s free-kick, ‘Cougar’ passed to Paul Wheatley and onto leading Paul Johnson for a mark and goal. Three in-a-row for the Demons and they trailed by 46 points. Tivendale won the ball from the restart, Richo was held by Carroll this time but hit the post with his free-kick. The Tiges did have relief though, Richardson marked 50m out and had a long shot, it dropped short but Brown marked on the point-line, played on and hooked a sausage. The Dees kept coming, following some scramble at a throw-in Holland stabbed a close-range major, a bit later Raines clangered a kick directly to Dee Clint Bizzell, he passed to Matthew Bate who played on and punted truly. The Dees were 40 points down. Tigger Foley collected the ball from a throw-in and passed for an easy goal to Tivendale, but McLean cleared the restart with a free for the Deez. From Bate’s long kick Holland was awarded a rubbish second-grab mark, about five pairs of hands had the first grab. ‘Saddlebags’ Holland booted his third goal of the quarter and Melbun were 40 points down again, 42 at the final break. They’d chipped the ball about in the final minutes of the third to run the clock down. Exactly the tactics when you’re 7 goals behind. Richmun scored the opening goal of the final stanza, Pettifer marked on a hard lead and chipped a pass for Richardson to mark. As Carroll pottered about establishing the mark, Richo played-on and booted a long goal. Tiges by 48 points, surely enough. It was, as goals were swapped thereon. Melbun’s Colin Sylvia rode Jake King for a big grab, his long kick was roved by McLean who slotted a running sausage. The Tiges replied as Tivendale speared a pass for leading Brown to mark and convert. Then Melbun, Davey poached Foley’s handpass and steered it home from the flank. Then Richmun, Wheatley was punished for ‘bawl’ and Pettifer free-kicked the major. Robertson missed a shot after marking and Richardson produced an awful kick-on-the-run, dribbling through for a point. The game slowed markedly now, Richo picked up a lot of cheap possession roaming about. Dee ruckman Johnson tumbled a kick from a throw-in and junior Ricky Petterd marked and goaled. In the dying minutes Richardson marked close-in and dished off a handpass for Tivendale to dribble it through from point-blank. The siren hailed a 49-point Tiger victory, well-deserved it was too.
The Tiges’ early dominance was established by hyperactive Nathan Foley (23 disposals) and Shane Tuck (25 possies, a goal), the latter very important in beating McLean head-to-head in the first half. Half-back Jake King (21 touches) was very good all night and wingmen Brett Deledio (23 handlings, 7 marks, 2 goals) and Greg Tivendale (22 possies, 11 marks, 3 goals) played very well. Graham Polak (11 marks, 28 disposals) did well in the loose, ‘Dustin Fletcher’ defending role. Matthew Richardson gave away 5 free-kicks for hands-on-the-back and missed 4 sitters but still finished with 3 goals from 16 marks and 21 kicks - 3.6, in fact . Kayne Pettifer (17 touches, 8 marks, 3 goals) was handy and Nathan Brown’s performance (11 kicks, 7 marks, 3 goals) was very encouraging. Important defensive efforts came from Daniel Jackson on Bruce, Kane Johnson on Green and Will Thursfield on Robbo. No Melbun player worth mentioning in the first half, apart from Nathan Jones (15 touches, a goal) maybe. Jeff White (19 disposals, 9 marks, 27 hit-outs) dominated the ruck and played okay, Aaron Davey (12 kicks, 2 goals) and Brock McLean (12 disposals, a goal) got into it in the second half as did Colin Sylvia (13 possies). Ben Holland (5 marks, 10 kicks, 3 goals) was a target up-forward in the second half. But the Dees are a worry. Daniher didn’t mince words. “They (Richmun) didn't get any pressure from the Melbourne Football Club in the first half. In the second half we played somewhere near, but nowhere near the standard we should be playing. It makes me very angry that Melbourne would come along on a Friday night and put that out for our supporters. I'm just very frustrated and angry with our playing group . . . It just shows that in this competition games are very hard to win. And from everyone who came tonight, I spoke to our senior leaders all the way through, and to put on that performance in the red and blue was a major, major embarrassment for our club and our team." Plough paid tribute to Brown and Richo. "I don't think one win gives you vindication but it's more relief," he said. "I've been really pleased with the guys. The spirit and camaraderie has been excellent the whole way along the line . . . To get a quality player (Brown) and someone the guys have been wanting to play football with for a while, I think they walk a little bit taller when he's out there. A couple of times throughout the game when a goal needed to be kicked, Nathan kicked the goal and that just lifts the spirit of the younger group. We probably had him out there a little bit longer than we had expected but from our point of view it was well over expectation . . . He (Richo)gave the absolute package that everyone would expect from a Matthew Richardson game. Only Matthew could hit the post three times in the one match; I don't think anyone else could do that. The day Matthew Richardson gives up, footy will have lost something and it will be a very sad and sorry day. He just gives everything that he can."
At Stadium Australia:
Sydney 1.1 2.1 3.4 8.9.57
Collingwood 3.5 6.11 8.13 10.16.76
Very good win for the Poise, repeating their victory in last year’s fixture. The AFL want a team based in western Sydney by 2015 . . . Collywood! Hard to line up the form here, as good as the Pies were, tackling ferociously and exerting tremendous pressure, Siddey were awful. Fumbling, slipping over repeatedly, dropping marks and committing a mountain of clangers and turnovers, Paul Roos called it their worst performance since he became coach. A Poi fan would argue his side’s pressure was the cause, and it was certainly a factor. But not the whole story. Siddey could’ve jumped to fourth if they’d won but now face a fairly important game away to the rampant Katz next weekend. The Maggies are ensconced in the top four. The Swan side here was without Tadhg Kennelly, more knee trouble, and late withdrawal Nick Davis (foot/ankle). Luke Ablett returned and Heath Grundy replaced Davis. The Pies continued without several regular defenders, making this an even better effort. Harry O’Brien (dislocated shoulder) joined Presti, Clement and Rhyce Shaw on the sidelines, Chris Bryan, Paul Medhurst and Alan Toovey were dropped following the Queen’s Birthday loss to Melbun. Paul Licuria returned from a long absence while Guy Richards and Shannon Cox were recalled and rookie-listed Irishman Martin Clarke given a debut. He was a star junior Gaelic footballer for Down and the Pies are very excited about him.
The Maggies were very good right from the start, on a cold, dewy night in Homebush. Ruckman Josh Fraser had a coupla early touches, he passed for leading Dale Thomas to mark and boot the opening goal in the first minute. Nice kick. Anthony Rocca, who was dreadful against the Dees, plucked a good grab and missed his first shot. But a minute later Scott Burns’s smart kick set Rocca for an easy-enough mark in front of Leo Barry, Rocca majored. A Didak miss and a pair of rushed behinds had the Pies 15 points ahead. The Pies had controlled the ball early, with a manic running and tackling effort to exert the heavy pressure characteristic of their best performances under Malthouse. Siddey barely crossed the centre in the opening ten minutes, leaving Collywood’s under-strength backline with little to do. Shane Wakelin was on Barry Hall and junior Tyson Goldsack on Mick O’Loughlin, Tarkyn Lockyer and Dane Swan dropped back to help. This Pie flood made it almost impossible for Siddey to score, together with the upfield Poi pressure, the Swans’ glacially slow ball-movement and Siddey’s ‘team rule’ to kick to an unopposed target in the forward-fifty, of which there were very few. Sinney’s first goal came from a bit of luck, Pie O’Bree kicked on-the-full while tackled and as Ablett collected the ball he was bumped by Brodie Holland, on his way to the bench. A 50m penalty tacked on and Ablett majored. But the Poise continued to dominate, eventually Burns drove them forward again and Scott Pendlebury out-bustled Craig Bolton to take a good grab, Pendlebury goaled. Swan forwards O’Keefe and Hall dropped uncontested marks prior to Poi Leon Davis holding a good one, he missed the shot after the korter-time siren at which the Poise led by 16 points. Two early Rocca goals broke the game open in the second term. From a ball-up Burns punted forward, Rocca ran in from the side to juggle a one-hander, play on and dribble it through. A minute later Swan O’Loughlin led but couldn’t hold Nick Malceski’s bullet-pass, the Pies rebounded swiftly, Alan Didak lobbed a kick and Rocca rode Barry for a big grab. ‘Pebbles’ goaled again. On they went, Malceski attempted a diving with-the-flight mark but didn’t hold it, Pie Thomas stayed upright, collected, ran in and slotted. The Maggies had skipped 35 points clear and the big 64,500 crowd was pretty quiet - there were plenty of excited Scragpie fans about though, estimated at between 10 and 12,000. Move ‘em to Sydney. The Swans managed a goal when Fosdike abandoned the rule and lobbed a kick to the goal-square, O’Keefe seized a very good pack-mark and popped it through. The Swans raised an effort and there was plenty of hard tacklin’ but no scoring chances. The Pies had plenty and could’ve ended it there - if it wasn’t over already. But Rocca missed after marking Davis’s soccer-kick, Travis Cloke did terrifically to spoil the following kick-in and tackle Bevan to win a free, but he missed from 20m. A minute later Cloke, the worst shot in the league, shanked a simple running shot. Collywood led by 34 points at the long break and the Swans’ paltry three scoring shots was some sort of record, apparently.
A very tight third followed as the Swans went in just as hard as the Poise, but took the ball nowhere. A typical Swan move would involve a laborious chip-about in the defensive half, trying to find some space against the Poise full-court press. They’d get the ball to the wing, stand about, then turn it over attempting a low-percentage pass into the Pie flood. An example when O’Keefe marked on the wing, played on and ran 30m across the ground, feigning several indecisive handballs and kicks. He’d neglected to bounce it and was pinged. A bit later some Pie handballs got the ball to Lockyer, he tumbled a kick in and Didak maneuvered in front to hold a chest-mark, play on and hook it through. The Maggies led by 40 points. More rugged play before the Swans managed a rare, fluky goal, Hall’s strong tackle on Wakelin forced the ball loose and Jarrad McVeigh’s low soccer-kick was hugged by diving O’Loughlin, he majored. The crowd awoke a bit, Jude Bolton won the following centre clearance and O’Loughlin roved but his snap curled wide, O’Keefe gathered but his shot missed too. Hall spilled two marking chances and a wobbly Adam Schneider snap hit the post. Rocca was reported at this stage, a heavy head-high bump on Sean Dempster as Rocca went to shepherd Cloke. Groggy Dempster departed. Late in the term Hall found himself outnumbered three-to-one in a marking contest, the Pies cleared and Didak kicked to Danny Stanley on the wing, his kick found Cloke in extraordinary space and the big galoot finally converted. Amon Buchanan missed a shot on the siren and the Poise led by 39 points at the final change. It was well-over really, but the low overall score perhaps gave the Bloods a chance. Hall grabbed his second mark of the night early in the last Mario, but his low, speared shot sliced wide. A minute later Hall collected the ball on the half-volley, tucked it under his arm and attempted to break a series of tackles, as he does when frustrated. Licuria chopped Bazza in the throat and Hall free-kicked a major from 50m. The Swans won the ball at the restart but again blew it, O’Keefe dropping a mark on-the-lead. Pie Heath Shaw departed with a calf problem, before a good kick from Synney’s Tim Schmidt found Spida Everitt drifting inside 50, Spida marked and converted. Consecutive goals for the Swans and they were 27 points down. O’Loughlin marked Goodes’s pass and the locals were excited, but ‘Molly’ had a hip problem and his kick from 50 dropped short and was rushed through. Some typical Pie play effectively sealed it, Burns dived to affect a terrific smother on Schmidt, the ball came to Rocca and he kicked for Thomas to mark and convert. Pies by 33. Siddey plugged on, O’Loughlin’s good spoil released Goodes, in space at last, for a two-bounce run and goal. But a minute later Swan Ted Richards made a poor decision to paddle a boundary-bound ball back into play, he promptly fell over and Thomas skipped away to bag his third goal. In the dying minutes O’Loughlin converted from a mark on-the-lead, Hall marked to ironical cheering (from Poi fans - most of the Swans had left) and Bumbling Barry goaled after the final siren. Nineteen points flatters Sydney.
Great team effort from the Pies, led by a superb Scott Burns (16 disposals) and Shane O’Bree (25 possies) on-the-ball. Wingman Scott Pendlebury (17 touches, 7 tackles, a goal) enhanced his reputation and the Maggies had a functioning forward-line with Anthony Rocca (9 marks, 13 kicks, 3.4) very good, assisted by Dale Thomas (11 disposals, 4 marks, 4 goals) and Travis Cloke (19 touches, 6 marks, 1.4). Won’t that Cloke boy learn to kick? At the back end Heath Shaw (16 touches, 6 marks on O’Keefe) and mopping-up Tarkyn Lockyer (18 disposals) were handy, middleman Paul Licuria (17 touches) made a welcome return. Martin Clarke’s debut (20 disposals, 5 marks) was fine. For the Swans Ryan O’Keefe (19 possies, 10 marks, a goal) tried very hard despite his mistakes and pack warrior Brett Kirk (24 disposals, 10 tackles) plugged away, Nic Fosdike (23 possessions, 7 marks) and Adam Goodes (23 touches, a goal) appeared to be the only Swans to find space. Leo Barry (17 disposals) was alright once shifted away from Rocca. Mick O’Loughlin kicked 2 goals. “It’s probably the worst game I’ve coached here (at Sydney),” Roos said. “But then you don’t want to be disrespectful to the opposition, you know I thought they were outstanding. They were very, very good, and we were very, very bad. At half-time, the only reason why we were still in the game was because they’d kicked 6.11. They should have been 12 goals up at half-time. Football can turn around, but you know if we play like that we’ll get beaten by 20 goals next week, you know at Kardinia Park against Geelong. As I said, Collingwood were outstanding tonight; we were just appalling. We’re a mile off being able to beat another AFL team. On tonight’s performance you’re miles off beating anyone.” He foreshadowed resting the formless Hall, suggested Bazza has an injury problem. Mick Malthouse said "(The win) was pretty good. There's no doubt about that. It's a shame in the end a few blokes - a lot of the younger players were tired - but when you work that hard for so long, you're going to show some tiredness. I was particularly pleased for all the groupings, the senior players were terrific in their application to leadership, the middle players showed enough resolve to absorb a bit of pressure, and I thought the younger players held up pretty well. We play some pretty handy sides in the next month and we don't get too far ahead of ourselves . . . and I'd love to get some of those blokes back just to take a bit of the pressure off the kids, but they're not going to come back. The last medical information I had, they won't come back in a hurry." All they need is Rocca to fire - and not get suspended.
At Subiaco:
West Coast 3.4 4.5 10.7 11.10.76
St. Kilda 3.3 10.6 12.7 15.9.99
Completing the trio of upsets, the Saints roused themselves for a fantastic four-goal win over the Wiggles in Perth. Apart from keeping their season alive, it was a great way to complete celebrations for Robert Harvey’s 350th game. The Saints had used the bye weekend to organize a huge testimonial dinner for ‘Banger’, the tenth man to play 350 in the VFL/AFL. It’s an amazing achievement for the durable champion, who’s won almost every individual honour in the game - but it’s the prospect of finals and a flag which drive him on. The Weagles are now in a mini-crisis with four losses in their last seven. Injuries are a factor, with Chris Judd a late withdrawal here, Chad Fletcher (groin strains both) was missing too. During the break the Weegs negotiated conditions for Ben Cousins’s return to footy, a new contract stipulating three drug-tests a week the alleged main point. Officially, Cousins resumes training with the Weegs this week. Unofficially, he’ll return in round 16, a home game against Sydney. In the meantime the Wiggle midfield is under-strength, Judd and Fletcher were replaced here by Beau Waters and Mark Nicoski, the latter playing his first game in a year following a broken ankle, then a dislocated shoulder in the pre-season. Big man Jaymie Graham came in too. The Stains aren’t exactly full strength either, here missing Fraser Gehrig (broken hand) while James Gwilt and junior Brad Howard were dropped. Of course Harvey was back from his hamstring injury, also returning were Xavier Clarke and Leigh Fisher.
The game didn’t start promisingly for the Sainters, in fact they were hopelessly ragged, disposing of the ball very poorly. Sam Fisher produced a wild handpass when tackled, Weeg Michael ‘F..king’ Braun collected the ball and dobbed the opening goal. Some Weeg misses produced some terrible kick-ins from the Saints, but the Weegs couldn’t capitalize fully, David Wirrpanda missing twice. From a ball-up Weeg ruckman Dean ‘Big’ Cox and Shannon Hurn worked the ball clear, Rowan Jones gathered and snapped it through. The Weevils led by 15 points. The Coasters weren’t immune to mistakes, following a Stainer behind Brett Jones’s wayward kick-in bounced out without being touched, quickly Sainter Nick Dal Santo passed the free-kick to Justin Koschitzke for a mark and goal. Koschitzke was playing full-forward in G-Train’s absence. The Sainter midfield did well, led by Harvey, Luke Ball, Leigh Montagna and some terrific tackling pressure. But they continued with the turnovers and misses from Brett Voss and Nick Riewoldt. Ball’s poor kick to a contest saw big Weevil Quinten Lynch effect a spoil, Brent Staker gathered and passed for Braun to mark and convert. The Weegs by 13 points but Sinkilda finally had reward for effort late in the term. Harvey and Riewoldt got the pill to Ball, his lobbed punt allowed ruckman Michael Rix to mark out wide and he majored with a good kick. With two seconds remaining Koschitzke dived to clutch Xavier Clarke’s pass, ‘Kosi’ converted after the siren to reduce the Weeg lead to a point at the first break. The Saints put together their best quarter for many weeks in the second term, producing the kind of play-on, risk-taking, fast attacking football their fans have been demanding. Koschitzke was terrific at full-forward. Early on a Braun turnover allowed Harvey to find Stephen Milne with a smart pass, Milne switched flanks for running Xavier Clarke to boot a goal. Some running handball sent the Sainters forward again, Koschitzke had a free against man-handling Adam Hunter and Kosi converted. Sinkilda had an 11-point lead. Weeg Lynch snapped a goal but it was against the flow, Sainter Montagna passed to leading Riewoldt, he punted long for Koschitzke to mark over Hunter and slot it through from close range. Hunter was too small for big Kosi and Jaymie Graham lumbered on to pick up the accident-prone Sainter. Graham’s first act was to lob a cross-field pass over Nicoski’s head, Riewoldt gathered and kicked for Steven Baker to run onto it and slot a sausage. Koschitzke plucked another big grab over team-mate Riewoldt, but missed. A moment later some hard work in packs allowed Baker another, long shot, it just cleared men on the goal-line for full points. The Sainters led by 23 points. Kosi and ‘Rooey’ kicked behinds before some great play from Montagna sent them into attack again, Milne was awarded a dubious free-kick against oncoming Dan Chick. The crowd booed heavily as Milne goaled, the free-kick count heavily in favour of the Saints. A free to Rix at a ball-up fuelled their rage, but Rix didn’t convert. Late in the piece battlin’ Weegle Graham was caught in possession by Riewoldt, Sam Gilbert scooped the loose ball and bagged a noice goal. The Sainters led by a very healthy 37 points at half-time.
Wiggle coach John Worsfold is seen as a laid-back guy but commentators speculated he may’ve thrown a wobbly during the break. The Weevils lifted for the third term, Big Cox and Daniel Kerr did very well. Shannon Hurn was thrown onto the ball and he was good too, big Graham went forward. Firstly the Saints extended their lead though, another running, handballing move ended with Dal Santo’s long kick, Koschitzke and his new opponent Darren Glass wrestled, the ball cleared ‘em and bounced through for a goal. Stainers by 43 points. But a bit later Kerr roved a throw-in and handballed for Hurn to bag a major. Soon Glass had a free-kick against Kosi and a 50m penalty for, er, some reason. Glass kicked towards Staker, who was awarded a free for Sam Fisher’s push. Staker thumped it home from 50. The Sainter lead was 32 points, but Montagna cleared the restart and kicked into Xavier Clarke’s path, X-Factor’s clever switching kick allowed Milne to gather and snap truly. The Weegs were starting to dominate stoppages, Cox tapped a throw-in for Mark LeCras to gather and snap through. A bit later Lynch, playing across half-forward, launched a long kick to a big pack, it spilled and roving Graham snapped a goal. Xavier Clarke over-ran a loose ball and Weeg Matt Rosa gathered, his kick spilled from a contest, roving Chick handballed to Cox for an easy sausage roll. Weeg fans excited as their side trailed by 20 points. Hurn missed a long shot and a minute later had a certain goal prevented by Jason Gram’s last-ditch tackle. About this stage Milne was reported for executing textbook coat-hanger on running Kerr. A free-kick yes, but I dunno about a report. Jason Blake was reported for biffing Chick too, I must’ve missed that. The Saints tried to run the clock down in the final minutes but Gram kicked the ball directly to Lynch, his bomb was marked in a big pack by Mark Seaby. The Weeg ruckman converted after the siren and the Saints led by 12 points at the last break. The Eags cleared the opening bounce of the final korter, Tyson Stenglein passed for leading Lynch to mark and convert. The Stainer lead was cut to 6 points and the Wiggle momentum appeared irresistible. The Saints resorted to about 12-15 men in defence and clung on desperately. There was a rushed behind each and Lynch missed a long shot as the scoring slowed. The Saints tackled ‘emselves to a standstill and managed to clear the big packs in their backline. Into time-on and Dal Santo escaped the crowded back half, had a coupla bounces, sold a dummy and booted a long goal. Classy stuff to give the Saints an 11-point lead. There were three-and-a-half minutes left when that happened, with two-and-a-bit to go Dal Santo was trapped by the boundary and lobbed a very high kick. It may’ve drifted on the full, but Weeg Adam Selwood attempted a mark, he dropped it, Lenny Hayes collected and handballed to Riewoldt in the square, he snapped it through. Saints home now, 17 points ahead. Just to rub it in Montagna blasted a late goal, thanks to Xavier Clarke’s big punch from a ball-up. Much love for Harvey upon the siren.
Big Saint Justin Koschitzke (10 marks, 16 disposals, 4 goals) produced the type of effort seen all-too-rarely by Stainer fans. In the midfield Leigh Montagna (31 disposals, a goal) and Nick Dal Santo (26 touches, 2 goals) were terrific, Robert Harvey (30 possies) made a healthy contribution of course. Xavier Clarke (7 kicks, a goal) was handy on a half-forward flank and brother Raphael Clarke (15 disposals) did some defensive rebounding, Luke Ball (20 touches, 7 tackles) and Lenny Hayes (28 disposals, 6 tackles) did some tough work in packs. Steven Baker and Stephen Milne bagged 2 goals each. Dean ‘Big’ Cox (22 disposals, 8 marks, 25 hit-outs, a goal) and wingman Michael ‘F..king’ Braun (22 handlings, 2 goals) were the Eegs’ most consistent players on the day, with on-ballers Shannon Hurn (17 touches, a goal) and Daniel Kerr (27 possessions) producing big second halves. Darren Glass (15 possies) battled against Riewoldt early and Koschitzke later on, Tyson Stenglein (19 touches) and Mark Seaby (10 touches, 14 hit-outs, a goal) weren’t bad. Quinten Lynch booted 2 goals. Worsfold wasn’t happy. "Disappointing. Outplayed, outworked. Very disappointing to offer that up," he said. "The last quarter was terrible, I think it was 11 times in (the forward 50) for one goal, which is unacceptable. You should kick your three or four goals from that many inside-50s . . . I think just the work ethic and from that, when the guys didn't have to work that hard, when they had the ball in their hands under no pressure, they made some unbelievably bad mistakes. If you're not working . . . a couple of times we got the ball and just stopped, weren't prepared to run hard and take it on. Disregard anything else. That our group would put that sort of work-rate out on the field was disappointing. I thought today, the biggest area of concern was the ease with which we handed some goals to St Kilda. A few players made some bad mistakes and I think that dented their confidence. But that's not a good sign, either, because we expect that regardless of what your last two minutes consisted of in a game of footy, you've got a good strong attitude going in to the next contest. We pride ourselves on that.” Ross Lyon wasn’t getting carried away. “We showed some character not to wilt,” he said. “Throughout the year, we have been in games up until midway through the third quarters and stopped a couple of times. We wanted to make sure we persisted for the full game, win or lose, and I was pleased that we did that. In round seven, we lost four of our best runners in Xavier Clarke, Gram, (Brendon) Goddard and Clint Jones. I’m not trying to make excuses, but it does have an impact. We’ve now got a couple back, with (Andrew) Thompson back from a knee, so we had a little more run, which I hope will continue to help us compete better . . . I don’t know how you measure momentum, but the win makes us 5-7, and really, that’s all that it means. We have a game against Richmond next week on a six-day break. The best thing to come out of it was that we found a bit better ball use and that the blokes feel better about themselves after what has been a tough time for us.”
Ladder after Round Twelve
Pts. % Next Week
Geelong 36 155.4 Sydney (Kardinia Park, Saturday)
Hawthorn 32 122.4 Collingwood (Docklands, Sunday)
West Coast 32 120.6 Adelaide (Football Park, Sunday)
Collingwood 32 107.4 Hawthorn (Docklands, Sunday)
Adelaide 28 111.7 West Coast (Football Park, Sunday)
Essendon 28 103.4 Melbourne (Docklands, Fri. night)
Footscray 28 100.1 North Melbourne (MCG, Sunday)
Port Adelaide 28 99.7 Brisbane (Gabba, Sat. night)
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North Melbourne 28 96.8 Footscray (MCG, Sunday)
Sydney 24 110.5 Geelong (Kardinia Park, Saturday)
Fremantle 20 97.2 Carlton (Subiaco, Saturday)
St. Kilda 20 88.5 Richmond (Docklands, Sat. night)
Brisbane 18 89.0 Port Adelaide (Gabba, Sat, night)
Carlton 16 81.3 Fremantle (Subiaco, Saturday)
Melbourne 8 75.3 Essendon (Docklands, Fri. night)
Richmond 6 77.8 St. Kilda (Docklands, Sat. night)
Cheers, Tim.
Article last changed on Monday, June 25, 2007 - 6:00 PM EDT
