A watershed week as now every side has played all the others. If your predicted top three at this stage was Geelong, Horforn and the Kangaruse, you’re either one of them idiot-savants or possess a time machine.
At Docklands:
St. Kilda 2.3 6.8 9.13 11.16.82
Adelaide 5.2 6.5 9.8 12.8.80
The Sainters kept their season on life-support with this hard-earned win over the Camrys. The Stainers dominated possession for most of the game but a combination of poor shooting and some tenacious Camry defending kept the scores close. A Corolla win would’ve been robbery, though. Several Saints with indifferent form coming in, like Ball, Hayes, Maguire, Koschitzke and Birss, played pleasingly well. In winning the Stains erased much of the sour taste left by their pathetic final quarter of last week. Coach Ross Lyon reckoned their recent form had been good apart from that quarter. Probably. As Camry coach Neil Craig pointed out last week, his mob’s form is inconsistent. (Out of eight?). The Stinkilda side here recalled Andrew Thompson and Shane Birss, dropping Raphael Clarke and the struggling Brett Voss. The Cressidas replaced injured Jason Porplyzia (hamstring) with Michael Doughty>
The Sainters made a lively start in a good game, ruckman Justin Koschitzke especially busy. His mark and long kick set up the first goal, roving Xavier Clarke handballed to Nick Riewoldt, another to Stephen Milne and he snapped it through. But the Camrys controlled most of the first term with some fast rebound football. And some handily located frees. Ken McGregor led for a grab at half-forward and switched flanks, Tyson Edwards marked and handballed for running Andrew McLeod to punt a sausage. “Who says they aren’t mates,” said McAvaney, referring to long-running frostiness between Edwards and McLeod, or their wives or something. Another Camry rebound and Scott Welsh centered the ball towards Nathan Bock, his arm was held by Matt ‘Goose’ Maguire and Bock free-kicked a goal. Within a minute Bock had another free against the grappling Goose, but missed. The Camrys suffered the first of two injury hits at this stage, Mark Ricciuto hurt his ankle in a marking contest and limped off, for a while. But they continued to go well, Saint Sam Fisher’s slip allowed Welsh to gather and centre a pass for leading Brett ‘Birdman’ Burton to mark and convert. Some tough footy for a few minutes before the Cows won the ball from a throw-in, a few handballs and Chris Knights kicked for drifting McGregor to mark and boot a goal. The Camrys led by 17 points after that. The Saints finally cracked the Camry defence with a bit of skill/ar5e, Shane Birss roved Riewoldt’s contest and bounced an amazing snap through from the boundary-line. The Cows went forward from the restart but Edwards missed a sitter. Late in the term Bock lobbed a kick long and the Camrys had another free within range, Sainter Sam Gilbert caught throwing the ball while tackled. Welsh converted and the Camrys led by 17 points at the first change. The pattern continued into the early second, Simon Goodwin capped some handballs with a long punt, the ball spilled from a pack and Welsh handballed for Bock to stab it through. The Cows led by 23 points now. Sinkilda fought back through their on-ballers, Lenny Hayes and Luke Ball lifting to support regular winners Dal Santo and Harvey. The Stains also managed to slow the pace of the game, to their advantage. Fraser ‘G-Train’ Gehrig struck the post with a shot before Milne out-marked opponent Johncock, a good effort, and booted a major. A good running move ended with Aaron Fiora’s pass to wide-leading Gehrig, G-Train slotted with a good kick. Ricciuto jogged back on, gingerly. Ball’s strong tackle on Doughty caused a turnover, Harvey and the very busy Riewoldt set up leading Gehrig for another mark and goal, the Camry lead was down to 4 points. The Saints cleared the restart and Leigh Montagna had a shot, it dropped short and was forced through. A minute later Maguire drifted forward for a grab but his accurate shot was touched by man-on-the-mark Stevens. Two more Stainer behinds followed and Corolla Burton postered. The Saints grabbed the lead, Riewoldt spilled a mark and his opponent Kris Massie carried the ball out-of-bounds - deliberately according to umpire McLaren. Riewoldt hooked the ensuing free-kick for a goal, Saints by 3 points at half-time.
A rugged and reasonably intense third term followed, the Camrys in more personnel trouble as full back Ben Rutten didn’t return for the second half. He’d injured a calf muscle and McGregor switched to defence, on Gehrig. Sinkilda scored first, a typically slow, steady passing move with Harvey chipping to Hayes, then to leading Riewoldt who converted. Ball missed appallingly with a simple running shot, before the Camrys broke a lengthening goal-drought. Young ruckman Ivan Maric marked on the wing and was dragged down by late-arriving Maguire, a 50m penalty and Maric punted truly from 30m. There was another poor miss for the Saints, from Birss, amongst a series of behinds from both sides. Then the Cressidas drew level, Massie drifted forward to mark in space and pass inboard to leading Welsh, mark and goal for the Welshster. The Satins appeared ready to stamp their control though, Riewoldt collected yet another mark and lobbed a pass to wide-leading Gehrig, Bourbon-Train steered it through again. A minute later Camry Welsh dropped a mark and the Stainers rebounded quickly, Birss exchanged handpasses with Jason Gram and punted it home on-the-run. The Saints led by 12 points, the least they deserved on balance of play. The Cows hung tough. Brent Reilly juggled the ball on the boundary, kept it in and passed for leading Ricciuto to mark and convert, dodgy ankle and all. Late in the term Koschitzke held a saving mark in defence and was hammered in the process by Ricciuto, pas de cadeaux as they say in the Tour de France. The Saints led by 5 points at the final change and the opening minutes of the last quarter were tight as both sides played men back. Eventually a slow, chippy advance brought the Saints a goal, Fiora stabbed a low pass wide of leading Gehrig but McGregor grabbed G-Train’s arm anyway, Gehrig free-kicked a sausage roll and the Saints led by 11. A few minutes later the Camrys answered, Johncock drove a long kick in and many Saints leaped to punch clear, Ricciuto roved superbly and bounced a left-foot snap through. Back came the Saints after Maguire held a mark in defence and dished off to the excellent Sam Fisher, from his run and long kick Koschitzke held a very good grab and booted truly. The Stains led by 12 points after Gehrig postered, again the Coronas fought back as time-on approached. Ricciuto kicked long towards Burton, Sam Fisher effected a great spoil but roving Leigh Fisher was well-tackled by Bock, the ball spilled free and Burton soccered it through. Ricciuto set up the next goal, passing for leading Welsh to mark and squeeze it home for six points and scores were level once more. The Saints cleared the restart, Gehrig marked out wide on the flank and his long shot was punched through for a behind. The Saints played some possession footy to run the clock down. The Camrys’ last chance probably came with 1:30 to go, unopposed Maguire elected to punch to ball out instead of marking it, as deliberate as you like but no free was forthcoming. Seconds before the final siren Gehrig’s snap from a very tight angle bounced into the post, the Saints had a win.
Nick Riewoldt (18 marks, 20 kicks, 2 goals) had the ball on a string at CHF, running Massie ragged. There were, as mentioned, pleasing midfield efforts from Saints Lenny Hayes (32 disposals, 11 tackles) and Luke Ball (23 possies), with ol’ Robert Harvey (33 touches, 8 marks) as good as usual. Leigh Montagna (32 possies) wasn’t bad either, continuing his fine season (‘cept for last week when Lockyer tagged him out of it). Sam Fisher (30 disposals, 15 marks) was terrific in defence and Jason Gram (17 handlings) played well, there were good efforts from big men Justin Koschitzke (18 disposals, 8 marks, 21 hit-outs, a goal) and Fraser Gehrig (8 marks, 11 kicks, 4 goals). Shane Birss and Stephen Milne kicked 2 goals each. Better Camrys included the usual suspects, Simon Goodwin (26 disposals) was handy in the middle and Andrew McLeod (27 handlings, a goal) cruised off half-back, Scott Thompson (24 disposals) and Tyson Edwards (19 possies) weren’t bad. Robert Shirley (16 possessions) tagged Dal Santo reasonably well, flankers Chris Knights (20 touches) and Brent Reilly (19 touches) played decently. Scott Welsh bagged 3 goals, Brett Burton, a hampered Mark Ricciuto and Nathan Bock kicked 2 goals each. Close but no cigar. You could predict Craig’s appraisal. “To sum it up, we were just inconsistent in terms of our performance. We still wear that tag. I thought we played really well in the first quarter, a poor second quarter and it was a bit of arm wrestle in the second half. But if you got back to last week’s game (against Hawthorn) as our benchmark goal we’d be looking at, we were a fair way off that . . . I thought our final effort tonight was commendable, we just lacked a bit of poise in the end. We had our chances, and St Kilda could argue the same thing, but it needs to be recognised they had seven more scoring shots. The reality is they have been fairly more dominant than we have on the scoreboard.” He lamented the injury to Rutten. Ross Lyon said “I think, under pressure, we went longer (with the ball). Last week, we went shorter and turned it over a bit, so that was nice. I thought we tackled really well . . . We all know (these are) important games but if I walk in and say to the group, look our season’s on the line, I’m not sure that achieves anything. Every game’s really important when you lose four in a row earlier in the year and you’re under pressure. But as a player group you can’t focus on season-defining games because you tighten up . . . all we’re really focusing on - and I know it’s a cliché - is what we need to do to play well as a team . . . I thought we really worked our way back into the game against the hardest running team in the competition. To improve our running against a quality running side on a fast surface was a positive sign for us.”
At the MCG:
Geelong 4.3 7.5 9.10 11.14.80
Collingwood 2.4 6.5 7.8 9.10.64
Geelong’s tenth straight win was a hard-earned one against the relentless Poise. Achieved in front of a massive 85,000 crowd, it had that precious ‘finals atmosphere’ and the victory virtually secured top spot for the Pussies. The Cats shaded the Maggies in the runnin’ and tacklin’ stakes, the Poise will again point to their absentees. They lost no admirers, or that should be grudging acknowledgers. One change in selection for the Cats, Josh Hunt recalled at the expense of Kane Tenace. Cameron Ling played his 150th. The Maggies regained Anthony Rocca following suspension and recalled ruckman Chris Bryan, replacing dropped juniors Ben Reid and Shannon ‘Medium-Sized’ Cox.
A sunny winter’s day for the big game. The Cats lined up with captain Tom Harley on mercurial young Poi Dale Thomas and reborn tagger Ling on Pie ball-magnet Dane Swan. For the Poise, Harry O’Brien opposed Cam Mooney. Couple of early goals for Collywood, Cat man Corey Enright’s clearing kick was picked off by Ben Johnson, he stabbed the ball wide for Travis Cloke to repeat his running flank-goal of last week. Confidence. A bit later Pie ruckman Josh Fraser, prominent early, lobbed a kick forward and Paul ‘Steak Knives’ Medhurst out-bustled Enright for a good grab, Medhurst majored. Not the best start for Enright as the Maggies led by 12 points. Pie Scott Pendlebury missed a fairly easy shot before the Cats got going. Mooney’s first shot hit the post, then some tough play from Paul Chapman and Jimmy Bartel’s smart kick set up Ling for a mark and goal. Pie Bryan kicked a point prior to the Cats drawing level, Mooney roved Ling’s contest, fumbled and bumbled a bit but had time to gather and manage an accurate, over-the-shoulder left-foot snap. The low winter sun was a problem at the Punt Rd end to which the Cats were kicking, Poi backmen couldn’t pick up Andrew Mackie’s long kick and roving Mathew Stokes bagged a major. Enright was playing well now and he booted the next goal, intercepting Tyson Goldsack’s kick from defence and playing-on to drill it through. The Pussies led by 11 points and were rolling, a good move was wasted a bit when Tom Hawkins missed a shot. Pies Davis and O’Bree scrambled points before quarter-time, Cats by 11. Pie Swan just missed with a set shot early in the second, Thomas was benched after being smothered by Harley. The Cats went further ahead as Steve Johnson lurked behind Goldsack to mark Wojcinski’s kick, Johnson played-on and produced a poor kick but it went through anyway. Cats by 16 points and they controlled the game for the next few minutes, but the Poise defended tenaciously. Then they managed some scoring. Cloke’s lucky free-kick sent the Magpoise forward, the ball was fought over before Steve Johnson’s wayward handpass allowed Tarkyn Lockyer to dribbly-snap a goal. A minute later Alan The Murderer’s Friend Didak led wide for a mark, he played on and drove a long kick which drifted wide. But Scott Burns, standing on the point-line, was needlessly clattered by Hunt and Burns hooked his free through for a goal. The Cats began to lairize a bit, typified by the supposedly reformed Steve Johnson who spilled a lazy one-handed marking attempt. A number of too-cute passes resulted in turnovers, too. Pies Burns, Iles and Cloke worked a series of handpasses in close before Cloke found some space to bomb a 50m goal, the Cats’ lead was down to a point. Cat fans held their breath as ruckman Mark Blake marked 35m out, sure enough he produced an awful kick which didn’t make the distance. Some luck helped the Catters steady, Travis Varcoe fired a lightening handpass to put Wojcinski into space, Wojcinski ran into trouble and got a hurried snap away which bounced over Stokes and Pie Marty Clarke and trickled through for a goal. A minute later Stokes led to mark on the flank, his smart kick allowed Joel Selwood to mark with-the-flight and thread a goal through from the pocket. The Cats were back 12 points ahead. The Pies responded late as Thomas, back on, produced a good run and kick for Didak to mark by the point-post. Didak kicked across-goal for Nick Maxwell to gather and banana-snap it through. Cats by a goal at the long break.
Rocca, who’d managed one kick in the first half, started the third stanza on the bench but rejoined the fray after a few minutes. The Cats scored a major from the opening bounce, Bartel punted ‘em forward, Chapman gathered and his snap bounced through. A fairly rugged period followed with plenty of tackling. The Pussies shaded it but Mooney missed a coupla shots, one an awful slice from 25m, right in front. After a time the Pies nudged closer again, Chapman was caught in possession by Maxwell’s strong tackle and Maxwell’s centering free-kick was juggled and marked one-handed by Rocca as he held off Matty Scarlett. Rocca converted and the Pies were 8 points down. Their Leon Davis produced some terrific roving but his tight-angle shot hit the post, at the other end Mooney also postered following a good grab. The Cats produced a great team goal, forcing and scrambling it forward until their Johnson handballed over the top for Ling to blast it through from the goal-square. The Cats led by 15 points, again the Pies attacked a bit but Maxwell and Cloke kicked on-the-full. Maxwell’s set-shot was pretty easy. Cloke’s hurried snap from a ball-up just missed and both teams played some cagey possession football prior to three-korter-time, the Cats 14 points ahead. Early in the final term Pieman Cloke produced a stupendous goal, he marked Paul Licuria’s pass at the junction of the 50m and boundary-lines, went back and thumped it home as easy as you like. The Cat lead was back to 8 points again but their back line held up all day, Cloke was the only Pie who looked dangerous. The Cats scored a few behinds, two were set-shot misses from Chapman including one after a great hovering ride and mark on O’Brien. It was on the point-line though and Chapman couldn’t handle the angle. A Jahlong major came in time, Steve Johnson free-kicking one after being man-handled head-on by O’Brien. Cats by 16 points. The Pies stuck on, Rocca marked in the centre to ironic cheers and his third kick was a long one for leading Cloke to mark, the lad Cloke booted his fourth goal and the margin was down to 9 points. The Cat sealer came just prior to time-on, Joel Corey kicked long towards Hawkins, he couldn’t mark but battled on admirably to get a kick away to Bartel, who marked and slotted it home. The Cats ran the clock down in a brief time-on period.
Matty Scarlett (20 kicks, 4 marks) led a watertight Cat defence, bathing an out-of-sorts Rocca and doing a bit of rebounding too. Tom Harley (17 disposals, 6 marks) and Andrew Mackie (22 handlings, 8 marks) did good jobs on Thomas and Didak respectively. Cats won the midfield battle, where Gary Ablett Jnr. (32 disposals) and Paul Chapman (23 handlings, a goal) were very good and Cameron Ling (19 touches, 2 goals) kept tight on Swan, who worked into it later. Joel Corey (34 disposals, 8 marks) was also very good and Steve Johnson (20 touches, 8 marks, 2 goals) was ‘elusive’, it is, up forward. Cam Mooney (8 marks, 12 kicks) finished with 1.4. The Pies had a few winners, Travis Cloke (10 marks, 20 disposals, 4 goals) very good in attack and Tarkyn Lockyer (28 touches, 11 marks, a goal) gave ‘em some defensive rebound, Paul Licuria (27 handlings, 10 marks) and Scott Burns (22 possies, a goal) plugged away in the middle although Burns spends a lot of time on the bench. Josh Fraser (17 touches, 9 marks) won in the ruck and wingman Scott Pendlebury (20 disposals, 8 marks) was okay, Shane Wakelin (18 possies, 9 marks) could say he beat Mooney. As Pie-loving ABC man Barrie Cassidy put it, “Put Buckley in a forward-pocket, Prestigiacomo on Mooney and Clement on Steve Johnson, is that worth 16 points?” Malthouse didn’t buy it. "We didn't deserve to win today. Well done to Geelong, they are a very good football side for a start, but I half suspect that is close to our worst game for the year. We had some players who were respectable, who were in the category where you could say they were okay. We had too many players in the category today that were ineffective, and not only ineffective, but [their] decision making, tackling and ball-carrying was probably at the lowest [standard] we've had." Malthouse said Rocca was "thrashed" by Scarlett and called the crumbing of small forwards "second-rate". “Our strategies and our game plan today were in place, but we failed to measure up," he continued. "We were terrible. We gave the ball back to them. We kept on giving the ball back to a side that you just don't want to give the ball back to.” Bomber Thompson wasn’t overly rapt, either. "I don't think we played anywhere near the best football we can play, and the players would be first to admit that. Our kicking efficiency today wasn't good. Cam Mooney's goal-kicking, like 'Chappy' (Chapman) missing very, very easy goals . . . we didn't play as well as we could have." What about the ‘finals atmosphere’, Bomber? "It's got to be of some benefit. It's a great experience. We didn't build it up too much before the game and we didn't want to put too much pressure on the boys. We started nervously. That's happened a few times this year in big games and that's something we have to overcome, but it's great to see we're able to bounce back.”
At Football Park:
Port Adelaide 5.9 10.13 17.16 22.21.153
West Coast 1.1 3.4 6.6 9.8.62
Alarm bells clanging for the Weagles now. Contenders don’t lose like this. Wiggle apologists would point to their lengthy injury list and the fact there appears to be very little between the top half-dozen teams this year. There’s time to turn it around. Port’s very good performance should be praised, the win and healthy percentage boost lifting them to fifth. When Port’s classy on-ballers are on top, the side looks very good. Unlike the Weegs they have few injury worries, and have uncovered some decent youngsters. Port made one change to the side which lost to the Bulldogs, Danyle Pearce back just one week after having his appendix removed. Josh Mahoney made way. The Weegs were very depleted, Chad Fletcher and David Wirrpanda were both out with groin injuries and Daniel Kerr was suspended for elbowing Lyin’ Hamill last week, Jaymie Graham (strained calf) was unavailable too. The Wiggles had just 26 to choose from apparently, incoming were Steven Armstrong, Mitch Morton and first-gamers Eric MacKenzie, a tall defender from Claremont, and forward Ben McKinley of Vic Amateur club Old Ivanhoe.
All Port from the start, with Chad Cornes and Dominic Cassisi dominating the middle, while Kane Cornes thrashed a clearly proppy Chris Judd. Wiggle Mark Seaby plucked a grab to boot the opening goal but then it was one-way traffic. Port skipper Warren Tredrea roved his own contest to bag their first, from 50m. David Rodan and Cassisi combined to set up a mark and goal for Justin Westhoff. The skinny junior spearhead soon had another and Chad Cornes also bagged one, marking Kane Cornes’s floating kick. Only Port’s inaccuracy prevented a more embarrassing first term for the Weegs, the Powder leading by 32 points at the first break. The second term was a little more even, but a Weeg defensive turnover allowed Brett Ebert to bag a early goal, Westhoff marked on a lead and was clattered by a frustrated Weevil. A 50m penalty and goal. The Weegs had some relief with a couple of goals from big man Quinten Lynch, who’s been in awful form recently. But the term ended with a brace for Port’s Daniel Motlop, one set up by a long run and series of baulks from Rodan, who toyed with the back-pedalling Glass ahead of him. Port led by 51 points at half-time.
The Wiggles had a bit of a crack in the early third term. Ineffective Judd was switched to the forward-line, fuelling rumours he’s carrying osteitis pubis. Matthew Priddis did well on-the-ball. Lynch kicked an early goal, answered by Port’s Tredrea. The Eegs got the next two in rapid succession, Brett Jones free-kicked one after catching Michael Pettigrew in possession. The Weegs won the restart and Judd marked strongly in front of Michael Wilson, Juddy’s weak, groin-injury-hampered shot was hooked short but Lynch marked at the back of the pack and converted. Priddis won the following centre-clearance and Mark LeCras had a roving snap which missed. The Weegs were a not-really-close 38 points behind. Port re-established their dominance in emphatic fashion, with a superb running goal from Danyle Pearce. Jacob Surjan had a bit of a run first before handballing to Pearce, who sold a dummy to evade immediate trouble, took off with a bounce, dummied past two more hapless Weegs, raced inside 50 with another bounce and slotted it through. Great goal. Shortly afterwards a strong second effort from Tredrea allowed Adam Thomson to snap a major. Cassisi won the following centre-clearance, Greg Bentley collected the ball on the flank and stabbed a pass for leading Tredrea to mark and convert. At the following centre-bounce Shaun Burgoyne got a terrific handpass off to Chad Cornes, his long kick bounced through for a major with shepherding from Motlop. Westhoff showed no respect, riding Darren Glass for a big grab, playing on and blasting it through. Ebert marked on a long lead, kicked long and Brendon Lade buffeted young MacKenzie aside for a goal-square mark and goal. Port led by 76 points at the final change. The final stanza began slowly before Port, who’ve made a habit of last-quarter fadeouts, cranked it up again. Chad Cornes conjured a terrific banana-snap from a throw-in and after the Powder forced the ball forward from the restart, Chad Cornes was hit high by Glass and free-kicked another. Port led by 94 points then and a coupla behinds made it 96. The Wiggles reeled it back with consecutive goals from Cox, LeCras and Armstrong. But Port finished it off with a major from Thomson, then Tredrea passed for leading Rodan to hold a strong grab and boot the final goal.
Port’s Dom Cassisi (30 disposals) is a vastly improved player, he and Chad Cornes (31 touches, 8 marks, 4 goals) were excellent on the ball. They were assisted by Peter Burgoyne (26 touches), Kane Cornes (35 possessions) tagging Judd out of it and David Rodan (20 disposals, a goal), who had a great game. Nice one, Plough. Danyle Pearce (21 possies, 7 marks, a great goal) showed his speed and skill. They’ll all be queuing up for appendectomies. Justin Westhoff (6 marks, 13 kicks, 4 goals) won a Rising Star nomination and Warren Tredrea (6 marks, 14 disposals, 3 goals) continued to improve, Travis Boak (21 possessions) got a bit of it again. Daniel Motlop (8 marks, 11 kicks) bagged 4 goals, Adam Thomson kicked 2 goals. Andrew Embley (29 disposals) and Matthew Priddis (22 handlings) were the Weegs’ best, Quinten Lynch (4 marks, 10 disposals, 3 goals) showed some form at last and there were reasonable efforts from Adam Selwood (17 possies), Rowan Jones (25 touches) and wingman Matt Rosa (20 handlings, 7 marks). John Worsfold kept the faith, it says here. “I’ve got full faith in our player group that they understand what happened today, and that they’ll do the work to turn that around and make sure it doesn’t happen again. We’ll put the work in - don’t worry about that . . . Slowly over the next number of weeks we’ll get some other players back and available, which will obviously strengthen our side. I’d be comfortable to go in next week with the same line up as today and [know they’d] give a lot better showing. Because I’ve got a lot of faith that they will learn from that. They’re not bad kids, I can’t question the effort they’ve put into this club. Over the last two or three years they’ve been outstanding.” He was asked about Judd’s fitness. “No doubt he’s got a sore groin. But our medical staff have given us the all-clear for him to play. At this stage he’s fine to play next week.” So’s Ben Cousins, allegedly. Port can look towards the finals now. “To have played four quarters at home in front of a terrific crowd on a Saturday afternoon was just brilliant for us. It was great for us to pick up some percentage. Obviously it is a very tight race to the finals and we’re pleased to still be in a position to have an opportunity to play in them. There are a lot of games to go and as I've said before it’s a 50-50 bet and any team can beat anyone,” said Williams. Not counting the bottom three, two of whom are Port’s next two opponents.
At Docklands:
Essendon 4.5 5.10 9.12 14.14.98
Footscray 4.4 9.8 12.9 20.11.131
Strange game, this ‘8-pointer’, played at a moderate pace with low intensity for lengthy periods. Poor field-kicking and a bucket of clangers were also features. It was certainly a step down from the earlier Geelong-Collywood game. But the win was precious for the Bullies, keeping them in the eight for now while the Bommers slipped out, the Dons have a tricky run ahead too. The Don side here was weakened significantly, with absentees including injured James Hird (torn calf) and Alwyn Davey (broken arm), suspended Dustin Fletcher and Mark McVeigh (one game each) and axed Courtney Johns. Incoming were skipper Matthew Lloyd following suspension, Nathan Lovett-Murray returned from a lengthy spell with injury, Brent Stanton was back too and Scott Camporeale and Angus Monfries were recalled. Campo played his 250th game, 230-odd of those coming with the Blues. The Bulldogs were also below full strength with veterans Scott West (groin strain) and Chris Grant (knee) missing from last week, although West was very close to playing, apparently. Nathan Eagleton returned from suspension and Dylan Addison was called up.
Every season Bomma coach Kev Sheedy breaks a record, this one was a biggy as Sheeds participated in a VFL/AFL match as a player or coach for the 879th time, the most ever as he overhauled Magpoi legend Jock McHale. But Sheeds’ future made more news during the week, an Essadun director broke ranks by insisting Sheeds be signed to new contract immediately, while the man himself wondered if his age will prompt the Dons to look for a younger man. The Bulldogs were determined to reverse their recent pattern of slow starts. The opening five minutes were scrappy with several of the aforementioned turnovers. Typical was the opening goal, Dog Adam Cooney mongrelled a kick forward, Jason Akermanis toe-poked it smartly to Eagleton who ran clear and slotted it through. Aker saw plenty of it in the first ten minutes. Soon Don Adam McPhee was caught by Mitch Hahn’s tough tackle, Hahn passed to Danny Giansiracusa who jabbed a 7m pass to Lindsay Gilbee. Mark allowed to general disbelief and Gilbee majored from 50m. Akermanis free-kicked a goal after Don Slattery dropped his knees into the prostrate Bully, Bulldog Luke Darcy cleared the restart with a free-kick and went wide to Brad Johnson. He centered the ball to Akermanis and then ran down to the goal-square to mark Aker’s kick. Amazing effort from Johnno, his goal had the Pups 26 points ahead. Johnson soon dived to hold a low mark but missed as the Dogs were all over a very uncertain-looking Bommer unit. But the Dons managed to slow the Dogs and somehow boot a string of goals in time-on, they hadn’t looked like scoring at all. A running, handballing move ended with Camporeale’s long kick, Adam Ramanauskas roved the goal-square pack and blasted it through. The Bommaz cleared the restart and Andrew Welsh punted a centering kick, Scott Lucas worked opponent Dale Morris under the ball for a good mark and major. A minute later the outnumbered Don forwards won a battle for the ball amongst some weak Doggy pressure, Lloyd snapped a right-footed goal. In the dying seconds Dog full-back Brian Harris’s clearing kick was intercepted by Jay Nash, he kicked truly and the Dons led by a point at the first break. Bulldog coach ‘Rocket’ Eade certainly gave Harris a rocket, amongst some others. The Bullies duly worked clear again in the second term, Brad Johnson read Farren Ray’s long kick to mark close-in and pop it through, restoring the Dogs’ lead. Bommers Slattery, Lovett-Murray and Mal Michael had all had a go at stopping Johnson, to limited effect. Usually the suspended McVeigh would play on him. A long kick from Gilbee found Eagleton on a forward flank, The Bald Man punted long again for Johnson to mark behind Slattery and bag another. An idiomatic fast, running, handballing move from the Bulldogs ended with Cooney’s running sausage and the Dogs led by 16 points. The game entered one of those slow, turnover-dominated periods and the Dons kicked a series of behinds. Stanton and Hille committed the worst of those misses, the Dogs had a few points too. With 2 minutes remaining in the half Lloyd had a free-kick and stabbed a pass to leading Stanton, he marked, played-on and slotted. The Bullies responded sharply, Andrejs Everitt’s slick pick-up and kick saw Matty Robbins mark in the goal-square, he popped it through. Within a minute Rob Murphy roved Eagleton’s contest and lobbed a very good handpass for Everitt to collect and punt home for his career-first major. The Dogs led by 22 points at the long break.
The third term ebbed-and-flowed a bit but the Dons couldn’t get close enough on the scoreboard. Early on Ramanauskas roved a ball-up and chipped a pass for Angus Monfries to mark and convert. Cooney cleared the restart for the Bullies, the ball went to Akermanis and from his kick Eagleton held a strong grab in front of the taller McPhee and booted a goal. A bit later Bomma Jason Johnson clangered a centering kick directly to Cooney, he converted. Cooney, playing very well as the Dogs’ primary rover in the absence of West and Cross, punted the Dogs forward from the next centre-bounce. Akermanis controlled the ball and was ridden down by Lovett but missed with the free, the Bullies led by 29 points. The Dons clung on, a series of chipped short passes ended with Lovett-Murray marking 60m out, he thumped a long kick for full points. The Dogs replied, good work from Eagleton and Hahn setting up a noice running, left-foot goal for Jarrod Harbrow. The Dons crept back before the final change, as they went forward Bulldog defender Ryan Hargrave flew far too early and all over Mal Michael, big Mal free-kicked a goal. Lloyd missed poorly following a good grab and Camporeale limped off with a leg injury, a knee tendon which could end his season and, possibly, career. Rotten luck. Campo wants to play on, apparently. Jobe Watson released Lovett into space, he sped away and kicked for Lucas to mark behind Morris. Lucas majored and the Dons trailed by 16 points, down to 15 by the final rest. Early in the final Mario Ricky Dyson punted the Dons into attack, Lucas was allowed to shove Morris meatily under the ball, mark and slam it through from the goal-square, the Bombouts trailed by 9 points. As close as they’d get. Cooney cleared the restart with a free, Akermanis wobbled a low kick forward but diving Brad Johnson marked, and converted. Confusion reigned as Bulldog Ray wasn’t awarded a mark 20m out, but a minute later passes from Akermanis to Hahn to Ray saw the last-named boot a long sausage. The Dogs clear by 21 points. Goals began to tumble through now, Lovett set one up for Nash before Bulldog Murphy passed for Shaun Higgins to mark in the pocket and steer it through from a tight angle. Nash reciprocated for Lovett, kicking into a Pagan’s Paddock-type situation so Lovett could race ahead and soccer it through. A dubious free to Darcy cleared the next centre-bounce, Cooney handballed for Murphy to boot a running goal. A minute later a rapid Bully rebound ended with a lead, mark and goal for Johnson, the Dogs led by 26 points. Watson kicked the Dons into attack from the restart, Lloyd gathered the ball smartly on the half-volley and handballed for Lucas to slot it home. But the Pups rolled over ‘em as Cooney, Hahn and Murphy kicked majors in rapid succession, sending the Bulldogs 38 points ahead before a late major for Monfries.
Great game from Adam Cooney (31 disposals, 7 tackles, 3 goals) on-the-ball, following a quiet first quarter. Jason Akermanis (24 touches, a goal) improved again and Nathan Eagleton (24 touches, 8 marks, 2 goals) was very good, as was half-forward Daniel ‘Guido’ Giansiracusa (23 possies, 9 marks). Brad Johnson (9 marks, 17 disposals) bagged his usual 5 goals and defenders Dale Morris and Brian Harris (8 marks, 18 possies) did well on Lucas and Lloyd respectively, despite Lucas’s 4 goals. Mitch Hahn (23 disposals, a goal) bullocked effectively in packs and Andrejs Everitt (14 touches, 5 marks, a goal) again showed composure for the big time. Robert Murphy kicked 2 goals. On-ballers Jobe Watson (27 disposals, 8 tackles) and Jason Johnson (19 touches) worked hard for the Bommers and defender Mark Johnson (17 handlings) played well. Jay Nash (21 touches, 2 goals) has improved markedly this season and wasn’t bad here, Scott Lucas (5 marks, 15 disposals, 4 goals) made the most of limited opportunities. Some Bommers will clearly be better for the run, like Brent Stanton (24 touches, 9 marks, a goal), Adam Ramanauskas (16 handlings, a goal) and Angus Monfries (21 possies, 2 goals). Damien Peverill (29 disposals) gets a lot of touches inside his defensive 50. Both coaches were unhappy with the sloppy kicking display. “Our ball skills really let us down early,” Sheedy said. “If you keep kicking it to the opposition you’ll get very, very tired because you are using that much energy chasing your opponent. We should be playing better than that. We should be using the ball better. Had we maybe used the ball a bit better, and maybe kicked a bit straighter, there may have been a kick or two in it even though we didn’t play great . . . As far as I’m concerned it’s a grand final (against the Magpiss at the ‘G next Saturday) for us already. We’ll just roll the dice right here in this next match.” Eade reckoned “I think we’ve still got a lot of improvement left, but I think both teams brought their own set of knives in that second quarter; we just butchered the ball equally as much. So we can use the ball a lot better, we can execute a lot better. We certainly executed well for a fair part of the game, but there were basic errors that we made. But generally I think we’re on the way up, I think we’re improving, I think each performance, apart from the Kangaroos’ game, has got better each week, but we’ve still got a fair way to go.” He praised Cooney, whose daughter was in hospital.
At the Gabba:
Melbourne 1.0 3.4 5.8 12.10.82
Brisbane 6.5 7.12 14.14 18.18.126
The rejuvenated Lyin’s pummelled a depleted Demon outfit. Despite their excellent victory over the Blues last week, the Dees have ruled a line through this season. Senior players like Neitz, Yze and Green have been sent for surgery and recuperation and juniors given a chance. That won’t worry Brisbun, who have Carlton at the Gabba next week and would consider themselves an outside finals chance. The Demon side here replaced Ricky Petterd with young forward Colin Garland. You’ll remember Petterd suffered a collapsed lung last week, turns out a cyst in his lungs burst. Surgery corrected the problem and Petterd will return next season. The Lyin’s recalled Ash McGrath to replace injured Colm Begley (shoulder). Ruckman Jamie Charman played his 100th game.
The Lyin’s retained their new forward set-up with Jared Brennan and Robert Copeland flanking Jonathan Brown. It’s all designed to relieve the pressure on Brown and worked well here. The Dees started Brad Miller on Brown, which also helped the Lyin’ man. In the opening minute Charman centered a pass for diving Brown to clutch and boot the first goal. There followed a scrappy few minutes - this wasn’t the greatest of games - before Charman again collected the ball in the centre and squared a kick for Tim Notting to gather and blast through from 55m. Charman departed briefly with a corky but the Lisbon Brians pressed on, Wayde Mills handballed to running Cheynee Stiller, he drilled a pass for leading Brown to mark and convert. And a minute later Brown had another goal from a lead-and-mark, that was it for Miller and regular Dee full-back Nathan ‘The Cougar’ Carroll took over on Brown. Brown’s stats at this stage were 5 marks, 10 disposals and 3 goals. A minute later there was a ball-up in the middle and Melbun’s Aaron Davey went mad, punching his tagger Troy Selwood in the stomach and assaulting a few other Lyin’s as well. Davey was reported amid suggestions he’d been ‘squirrel-gripped’ by Selwood. Since then Davey’s accepted a two-game suspension. The Lyin’s waltzed on, a defensive rebound saw Notting pass to leading Brown again and he booted no. 4, sending the Lyin’s to a 35-point lead - Melbun hadn’t scored at this point. The Brians went forward from the restart, their Jed Adcock gathered the ball and handpassed for Luke Power to snap truly; 41-0. With one minute remaining in the quarter there was a ball-up in the Dees’ forward-line, Melbun’s Brock McLean roved and handballed for their Nathan Brown to snap a goal. Huzzah! In the second quarter Dee defenders swarmed around Jonathan Brown and Melbun competed more vigorously for the ball in general. Very little happened, apart from plenty of turnovers and the Lyin’s kicking a few behinds. Melbun’s thrusts were directed towards Russ Robertson, who was having trouble with Joel Patfull. In time-on Lyin’ man Adcock was flattened by Michael Newton after kicking, a downfield free to Brennan resulted and he majored. The Lyin’s led by 43 points, but the Dees bagged a coupla late goals. From the restart the Dees’ Chris Johnson drove them forward, Davey roved Robbo’s contest and dribbled it through. A minute later Nathan Brown punted long and Robertson held a good mark against Patfull, Robbo slotted from a tight angle. The Lyin’s by 31 points at half-time.
The third term was similarly forgettable as a spectacle, but at least featured more goals. Didn’t see a lot of it, but the Brians managed the first two goals including one straight from a centre-bounce with Simon Black spearing a pass to leading Jon Brown again, he converted. Jeff White and Davey countered with goals for the Dees and they were back to 5 goals down. But Jonathan Brown initiated a momentum shift, he won a loose ball at CHB and passed to Notting in the centre, Notting kicked for Copeland to mark and convert. Charman had a free-kick at the subsequent centre-bounce and kicked long, junior ruckman Matthew Leuenberger clutched a decent pack-mark and bagged a career-first sausage. Three more Lyin’ majors followed and the locals had kicked out to a 10-goal lead by the final term. Brisbun out the cue in the rack for much of the final stanza and the Dees reduced the deficit, Davey pounced on a poor kick-in to boot an early major. Brisbun responded as Michael Rischitelli intercepted Carroll’s handpass and set up Adcock for a goal, but the Dees bagged six of the next seven to draw a closer, including a great long bomb from Nathan Jones, Davey got another as did White. But the Lyin’s had the final say, a Daniel Ward clanger set up a major for Rischitelli and with under a minute remaining Copeland delivered for leading Jonathan Brown to mark and boot his sixth. Brians by 44 points.
Jonathan Brown’s final stats were 13 marks, 20 disposals and 6.2. He likes the new set-up. Much of the Lyin’s dominance came from the midfield efforts of Nigel Lappin (25 disposals), Luke Power (27 touches, a goal) and Simon Black (20 possessions), there were also some handy rebound efforts from Josh Drummond (26 possies, a goal) and Cheynee Stiller (21 handlings). In attack Robert Copeland (6 marks, 12 disposals, 3 goals) and Jared Brennan (16 handlings, 4 marks, 2 goals) complemented Brown again and in defence Joel Patfull (14 touches) did a good job on Robertson. Ruckman Jamie Charman (21 hit-outs, 12 disposals) was good, amid rumours he wants to leave. The boy Matthew Leuenberger looks good. Aaron Davey (14 disposals, 4 goals) was probably the Dees’ best in the end but will miss the next two games. Half-back Nathan Brown (29 disposals, a goal) tried hard as per usual along with rover Brock McLean (31 possessions, a goal) and ruckman Jeff White (19 disposals, 9 marks, 2 goals). Colin Sylvia (14 touches, a goal) and Matthew Bate (21 possies) weren’t bad, Paul Wheatley (25 possies, 8 marks) continued his good form. The Dees advertised their coaching position in the papers last week, an unusual move. “Several areas need improving, it’s never ever just one thing,” Dee caretaker Mark Riley said. “We need a big target - we’ve got one, he’s our skipper. We probably need Brad Miller to keep growing. We need James Frawley (six games) to mature rapidly as an AFL player, but that just doesn’t happen, you’ve got to put games into them. James is the type of boy that is six foot three, can play tall, can play small and has pace. We have to keep improving our contested ball, it’s as simple as that. We’ve got to keep improving winning contested ball all over the oval, not just around the centre bounce, but all over the oval.” He went on to say they want to try Miller as a permanent defender. Not the greatest of starts. Leigh Matthews was asked about the finals, inevitably. “If we win enough games. We’ve had a few good weeks against very good opposition (Melbourne?). But we know the mathematical equation pretty much means winning every week. It’s far enough into the distance that it’s not really an issue. Our issue is about trying to improve and being a better team than we were 12 months ago. I’m certainly confident with the team we’ve got playing at the moment that whatever it can do now, it will be better in a year’s time . . . It was pleasing the way we jumped into the first quarter. The margin was big enough at quarter-time that no matter how well Melbourne played, it was going to be difficult for them to catch up.”
At the SCG:
Sydney 3.3 11.7 17.9 25.12.162
Carlton 5.3 7.4 12.9 15.10.100
Swans climbed into the eight by fairly belting the Bluies in a high-scoring goal-fest typical of yer average Carlton game these days. Even the defensively-minded Swans can kick a cricket score against ‘em. The Bluies were quite good in patches but went completely missing in others, the tackling and defensive pressure midfield was terrible in those parts of the game. Pagan’s plan is clear, but it’s whether his team, or any team again, will be able to enact it. The Siddey side here was unchanged from that which slogged to victory against Freo in the wet last week. Carlton recalled an allegedly chastened Brendan Fevola, who assured the club he wants to remain, along with Jordan Bannister. Jordan Russell and last weeks’ debutant Shaun Grigg made way.
Sunny in Siddey this week and the Bluies made a bright start, attacking the ball manically while the Bloods seemed half-sleep. Bloo Ryan Houlihan booted the opening goal and a minute later Bannister tidied a goal-mouth scramble to snap one through. Fevola was busy early and took a coupla marks, but missed both shots. Soon Fev was on-target though, after leading to grab Marc Murphy’s pass. Fevola had reverted to the solo-target role early, with Jarrad Waite playing in defence on Barry Hall. Houlihan tumbled a kick forward, resting ruckman Setanta O’hAilpin ripped the ball from Ted Richards and squeezed a tight-angle snap through, the Bluies led by 26 points at this stage. Very quiet ‘round the SCG, they missed Bloo junior Adam Hartlett departing with a hamstring injury. The Swans awoke, Hall roved Ryan O’Keefe’s contest to snap their opener and a minute later Mick O’Loughlin converted from a mark. Ruckman Spida Everitt won the following centre-clearance, lumbered forward to receive Luke Ablett’s handpass and boot an rare running goal. Small Blueser forward Eddie Betts marked close-in and majored late in the stanza to have the Bluies 12 points up at the first break. Complete reversal in the second term as any semblance of Bloo pressure melted away. Of the Swans’ eight second-term goals, several were scored by players taking with-the-flight marks of centering passes. Brett Kirk did that, brushing through a weak spoiling attempt and even Nick Davis did it, with no opposition at all. Davis ended up with three goals for the quarter, Nic Fosdike snapped a beauty and Adam Goodes converted after a very good back-pedalling mark. The Bluies managed a coupla goals but the Swans were well in-control at half-time, leading by 27 points. Carlton had another crack in the third with an extreme Pagan’s Paddock. No players at all were in the Bluies’ attacking half, with Fevola either playing on a wing or the bench. The extra midfield numbers gave the Bluies a chance to win the ball and the hard running of players like Kade Simpson and Heath Scotland brought some goals. Scoring alternated a bit but when Scotland capped a two-bounce run into the paddock with a drilled sausage the Blooze were 15 points down, a bit later Matty Lappin used his light frame expertly to win the ball against Ablett and snap truly from close range. Lappin’s second goal of the term had the Blues were 14 points behind. But the Swans raised an effort and bagged two handy goals, Adam Schneider roved Hall’s contest to snap one and a moment later Kirk sprinted down to the goal-square to rove to Hall again and hook a sausage. Fevola postered on the three-quarter-time siren and the Bloods led by 30 points at the final change. The margin blew right out in the final stanza as the Bloozers turned it up. Hall and Jarrad McVeigh cashed in a it for the Bloods while Brad Fisher gave the Bluies a bit of joy at the other end.
Spida Everitt (30 hit-outs, 14 disposals, 9 marks, 4 goals) dominated against the Bluies’ makeshift pairing of O’hAilpin and Kouta, with Darren Jolly (22 hit-outs, 10 kicks, 7 marks, a goal) in handy support. Nick Malceski (28 disposals, 2 goals) provided plenty of drive from half-back and Jude Bolton (27 possies) and Brett ‘Captain’ Kirk (26 handlings, 2 goals) won the contested ball. Wingman Nic Fosdike (22 touches, a goal) is a very good and under-rated player, Adam Schneider (26 disposals, 3 goals) played well. It was a good day to be a Swan forward, led by Barry Hall (6 marks, 15 possies, 4 goals) and Nick Davis (18 touches, 3 goals) although Waite did pretty well on Hall considering. Leo Barry was okay on Fevola. Jarrad McVeigh and Michael O’Loughlin kicked 2 goals each. Running midfielders Kade Simpson (20 touches, a goal) and Heath Scotland (21 disposals, a goal) were probably the Blues’ best, with Brad Fisher (17 disposals, 8 marks, 3 goals) the most reliable forward. Andrew Carrazzo (18 touches) won a bit of the ball but goes far-and-wide to get it, Camporeale-style. As mentioned Jarrad Waite (19 possessions) was okay on Hall and Matthew Lappin (7 kicks, 3 goals) fired a bit. Marc Murphy (18 possies) isn’t a bad player. Brendan Fevola kicked 2.4 from 6 marks and 10 kicks. Young Bryce Gibbs hurt his ankle early and had minimal impact. "I thought our first quarter was pretty good and after half time again we rallied for a while but it has been the same all year - our young guys just cannot compete for the periods required," Denis Pagan said. "That is not a criticism (no?), that is a part of their development and growth . . . (Fevola) started very well and I think he tried very hard but we know Brendan is a better player than that. But I can't be critical of what he did from the time he said he wanted to play with Carlton. He tried his hardest on the training track and I think he tried his hardest today . . . The problem is we are leaking like a sieve. That is the way we play. I think [in the] long term we are going to be better off for taking the game on and attacking it," he said. Maybe. Paul Roos looked ahead. “Every game's big now. You can't afford to drop behind. Next week's game [against West Coast] is big and the one after is big, too. I think we've got seven finals coming up. It's going to be a huge couple of months of footy . . . Carlton showed that they can put together 10-20 minutes of good footy this season. The main thing we wanted to do was weather those storms, so it pretty much went according to plan. Our guys weren't communicating well in the first quarter and the ball was zinging around. Once our guys understood who they were playing on, we seemed to move the ball a lot better.”
At the MCG:
Hawthorn 4.2 9.7 14.10 19.15.129
Richmond 5.1 8.4 10.6 11.10.76
The Hawks steadied with a straightforward win over the battlin’ Tiges. These two clubs are often compared, both were losing prelim finalists in 2001, both slipped down the ladder subsequently, then changed coaches at the end of 2004. The Hawks were seen to be behind the Tiges two years ago but now Horforn’s Clarkson and football manager Chris Pelchen are seen as recruiting and rebuilding geniuses. In contrast, the Tiges have gone backwards this year. If you know what Plough’s plan is or would like to suggest one, send a postcard. In the short term it’s to have lots o’ high draft picks at the end of this season, last week Wallace angrily denied the Tiges were ‘tanking’ towards that aim. They’re that bad naturally. In pickin’ here the Hawks made two changes to the side thrashed by Addleaid, Ben Dixon was recalled and Tasmanian forward Mitch Thorp given an AFL debut, they replaced injured Danny Jacobs (knee) and dropped Josh Thurgood. The Tigers lost Brett Deledio with a broken hand courtesy Shannon Grant’s boot last week, Matt White and Jack Riewoldt were dropped. Chris Hyde returned, Jay Schulz and Brent Hartigan were given chances.
The Tigers’ speedy running game, similar to that Wallace constructed with the Bulldogs, brought them some early joy. Nathan Brown roved a contest and passed to unattended Matthew Richardson to boot the opening goal, a minute later Brown passed wide to Adam Pattison, he handballed inside for running Jake King to spear it through. The Tiges led by 12 points. A few quiet minutes before the Hawks got on the board, Jarryd Roughead seized an emphatic grab of Joel Smith’s long kick to boot their first. The speedy young Tiges ploughed on, Nathan Foley passed to Shane Edwards on a wide lead, Edwards executed an extravagant dummy, played-on and threaded it through from the boundary. A few minutes later the Tiges raced afield from a kick-in, Schulz led to mark Cam Howat’s pass and boot another. The Tiggers led by 18 points. The Orcs began to get moving, a good rebound move ended with a free-kick to Lance ‘Buddy’ Franklin, advantage was allowed for Luke Hodge to boot a goal. Tough work and a handpass from Franklin led to a running goal for Ben McGlynn and the Tige lead was back to a goal. A bit later Richo roved his own contest and handballed for Kayne Pettifer to bag a major, but the Hawks drew close again as Chance Bateman’s smart effort ended with a pass to leading Roughead, he converted again. Tiges by 5 points at the first break. The Hawks lifted the intensity and zoned off a bit to stop the Tiges’ running game in the second. The Tiggers are reasonable with the ball but shocking at manning-up without it. Running one way, it’s called. Horforn bagged some early goals, some strong tackling won the ball and Bateman passed to leading Dixon, he passed on for Roughead to mark and goal again. At the restart Sam Mitchell, very good on the day, launched a handpass, Shane Crawford ran onto it and booted a classy major. Another Hawk centre-clearance followed and ruckman Simon Taylor kicked long, Dixon roved the pack and his dribbly-snap trickled over the line. The Tiges clung on for a minute or two before Hawk Robert Campbell lobbed a kick forward, Roughead clutched a big goal-square mark and popped it through. Five unanswered Hork goals, spanning the break, and they led by 19 points. Tige Will Thursfield switched from Franklin to Roughead, replacing Joel Bowden who was doing as per usual, picking up a bucket of cheap touches but not stopping his opponent. A few behinds each before the Tiges clawed back, skipper Kane Johnson lobbed a kick forward and Nathan Brown roved the pack to snap a major. A minute later Johnson kicked wide to Schulz’s lead, Schulz couldn’t mark but gathered the ball and produced a miraculous snap for full points. Then a Tige kick-in went end-to-end, busy Johnson’s kick cleared the pack and Brown pounced to bag another. The Orcs’ lead was down to 2 points. They nudged ahead prior to the long break, McGlynn tumbled a kick from a ball-up and Jordan Lewis marked, Tiger Brown gave the ump a blast for some reason to concede a 50m penalty and make Lewis’s shot unmissible. Hawks by 9 points at half-time.
The Hawks were the better side and the longer the game progressed, the further ahead they went. Early in the third Tiger Foley turned over with a loose handpass, Bateman passed for Hawk debutant Mitchell Thorp to mark, he played-on confidently and hooked it through. It wasn’t his first kick. Franklin and Roughead missed shots and Thorp postered as the Hawks pressed their superiority over the Tiges’ undermanned backline, although the weak midfield pressure was as much to blame. The Tigers managed a goal, they won a contested ball and Brown chipped a pass for Shane Tuck to mark and convert. Horforn led by 10 points. A bit later Roughead kicked a great goal, he went to ground while failing to hold a mark in a pack but grabbed the pill, leaped up and rammed it through. Crawford marked in defence and had a 50m penalty as Hartigan ran through the mark, Crawf kicked long and Franklin bustled Thursfield aside for a grab and his first goal. Richmun stuck on again as Tuck punted them forward from the restart, Richardson gathered the bouncing ball and handballed for Johnson to boot a noice one. The Orcs’ lead was 16 points. The Poo’n’Wees moved ahead, McGlynn collected a throw-in far and ran clear far too easily, he slotted, a minute later Mitchell kicked towards Franklin who shoved off Thursfield to mark and boot another major. The Hawks led by 27 points at the last change. Early in the final stanza their Campbell Brown found himself in much space, he had a coupla bounces and thumped a long goal to his great delight - he’d guarded Nathan Brown all afternoon. Richo postered before young Hawk Thorp marked on a lead and chipped a pass for Rick Ladson to mark and boot one, the Orcs led by 40 points. Pettifer pulled one back for the Tiges, found by a good kick from Graham Polak. Tige captain Johnson missed appallingly and the Hawks whipped downfield from the kick-in, big Robbie Campbell plucked a goal-square grab and booted a sausage. Richmun’s Brown produced two poor misses before Franklin dominated the closing minutes, he free-kicked a goal, kicked woefully following a pack-mark and then out-marked the hapless Thursfield to boot the final six-pointer of the match.
Rover Sam Mitchell (31 disposals, 8 marks) was excellent for the Hawks and his spells on the ball coincided with their scoring bursts. Shane Crawford (30 touches, a goal), Chance Bateman (22 handlings, 12 marks) and Joel Smith (26 possies, 9 marks) were chief protagonists in a midfield which delivered the ball quickly and accurately for the Hawk forwards to dine out. And they did, Jarryd Roughead (5 marks, 13 disposals) kicked 5 goals and Lance ‘Buddy’ Franklin (9 marks, 19 possessions) bagged 4.4, he missed a few. Mitch Thorp looks a handy type and they’ve Boyle and Williams to fit back in. Ruckman Simon Taylor (15 hit-outs, 9 possies) was handy too and Trent Croad won plaudits for his game on Richardson. Ben McGlynn (21 possies) kicked 2 goals. Best Tiger was probably captain Kane Johnson (28 disposals, a goal), Shane Tuck (30 touches, 13 marks, a goal) wasn’t bad either. Graham Polak (12 marks, 21 disposals) plucked some decent grabs as the loose defender but too often the Hawks could pinpoint delivery to avoid him. Greg Tivendale (25 disposals) and Chris Newman (26 touches, 9 marks) were alright, Nathan Brown (19 touches, 9 marks, 2 goals) worked hard in attack. Nathan Foley (27 possessions) did alright stats-wise against tagger Sewell, but wasted the ball often. Kayne Pettifer and Jay Schulz kicked 2 goals each. Wallace was critical and upbeat at the same time. "Every time we turned it over, they hurt us when it goes back the other way, and that was disappointing," he said. "Even with as bad as it was getting towards the end, I think twice we had senior players who missed goal opportunities up one end, only to watch the ball go directly down to the other end and go sailing through the goals. Two-goal turnarounds . . . they hurt you in football. Probably the turnover rate was the most frustrating aspect. We'll make changes (to the side). Our VFL side has won well today, so there are guys that will have to step out of the side and give others an opportunity. The one thing I said to the blokes at the end is, there's still a long way to go in the season. We want to be known as competitive, every time you go out there, and the hard work levels . . . and as I said, for an hour, I wouldn't question that for the first hour of the game . . . I wouldn't question it at all. Certainly in the second half of the game, it wasn't where we want to be." Al Clarkson is officially keeping the lid on. "Our next challenge is St Kilda next week. As boring and mundane as that is, that's the harsh reality of it. If you get ahead of yourself and think you're going OK, you've got a 10-goal loss just waiting around the corner for you. As exciting as it is to be in second position on the ladder, that falls away pretty quickly if you lose a couple of games on the trot and you're back in amongst the mix again. Our players have genuinely improved over the journey and they've got some genuine belief in one another, but it's still a long, hard road. We've had a significant strategy, as you probably all know. Two or three years ago we (set out to) rectify the spine of our club. We're just starting to see the benefit of that now, with Roughead and Franklin and Thorp and these sorts of guys coming through our system . . . we've got enormous flexibility through the spine of the ground."
At Subiaco:
Fremantle 4.4 6.6 9.9 11.12.78
North Melbourne 5.0 7.5 10.6 12.10.82
The cup of grass for the Shockers, going down to the honest Ruse. With 90 seconds remaining Freo’s Scot Thornton had a shot from 40m out to save their season, but missed. Rumours swirled around the Dokkers like journos ‘round an open bar last week. Shocker coach Connolly and his skipper Matty Pavlich aren’t talking, apparently, and Pavlich is definitely returning to his home town of Adelaide at the end of the season. Pav issued an ultimatum to the Dockers’ board, either Connolly goes or he does. It’ll be Connolly to the Demons and Daniher to Freo. After this loss chairman Hart suggested Connolly could be sacked in two weeks, if the Dokkas happen to lose those games against the Camrys and Weevils. Freo have plenty of talented players but haven’t played with consistent intensity or commitment for most of this season and it was the same here as their footballing opposites the determined Roos ground to victory. The Shockers are to this year as Geelong to 2006. The Freo side here wasn’t helped by the loss of Jeff Farmer (groin strain), he was replaced by Ryan Murphy. Their only change despite the abject effort against the Swans last week. North swapped forward-flankers again, Lindsay Thomas returning at the expense of Matt Campbell.
It was a wretched home loss to the Kangers two years ago which caused the last great Freo crisis. This game set up similarly with North playing tightly man-on-man and producing a ‘forward flood’ to lock the ball in and pressure the Freo rebound. Roo backman Daniel Pratt started in attack, he and Glenn Archer both spent time forward. Freo’s Chris ‘Trouserless’ Tarrant produced an awful opening shot before Norf’s tactics brought the opening goal, tough tackling in the forward-line winning the ball and Corey Jones snapped it through. Freo replied as Aaron Sandilands plucked the ball at a throw-in and handballed to Steven Dodd, he handballed on for Des Headland to slot it through. Archer and Dean Solomon were directly opposed and set about bashing each other. Good Roo forward pressure brought another major, Headland hacked the ball clear straight to Daniel Harris, the ball went in again and Jones snapped another, roving goal. The Dokkers replied again as Solomon baulked around Archer and passed to leading Tarrant, Tazza booted a scarcely-believable goal from the boundary-line. The Dockers managed a defensive rebound and after some battle in their forward half Pavlich threw the ball clear, Roo Watt over-ran it and Ryan Murphy poached a goal. Back came the Ruse as leading David Hale marked Rawlings’s pass and booted truly. Freo led by a point. Their McManus missed awfully but Sandilands marked the kick-in and dished off for Dodd to boot a running sausage. The Shockers led by 9 points but Norf reclaimed the lead with two late goals from Brent ‘Boomer’ Harvey. For the first Harvey sprinted through the centre and blasted it home from 50m, the next was a close-range snap as he roved Shannon Grant’s long kick, second before the siren. Norf by 2 points at the first break. The tempo was slow in the early second term, before Freo made a bit of a break. James Walker drove a long kick in and Peter Bell snapped a roving goal, the Dockers won the following centre-clearance and Headland passed for leading Pavlich to mark and convert. Freo led by 10 points. Hale missed a shot for the Ruse as they fought back. More front-end scrap saw Archer handpass to ruckman Hamish McIntosh, he squeezed a shot through from a very tight angle. Freo defenders rushed a coupla behinds before the Ruse Harris kicked a goal, courtesy a free-kick and a 50m penalty against umpire-abusing Solomon. Norf led by 5 points, both sides missed a few chances prior to the long break. The Ruse lost Scott McMahon with a nasty cork thigh, just on the siren Docker Murphy spilled a mark 40m out. Still the Ruse by 5 points.
The silence was deafening as the Kangers moved ahead in the first half of the third Mario. In the early minutes Roo Ed Lower ripped the ball out of a pack scrum-half style and snapped a terrific goal to give Norf an 11-point lead. But in the build-up the Ruse Daniel Wells hurt his knee, his day was over. Commentators tutted as Ryan Murphy ignored the ball to knock Jones over, and the Ruse cleared. Murphy was reported for that. North had another goal when captain Adam Simpson finessed out of trouble and lobbed a kick for Hale to mark, Hale thumped it home from 50m. A minute later Dodd handballed straight to Lower for some reason, the Roo kicked long and Archer launched himself for a typically spectacular grab in the goal-square, Arch popped it through. The Shinboners led by 23 points. Backman Antoni Grover had the Dockers’ first shot for ages, it hooked on-the-full. But a minute later Heath Black centered a kick towards Pavlich, Bell roved for a snapped major. Bell and Paul Hasleby combined to clear the following centre-bounce and the ball went towards Pavlich again, over his head but this time Tarrant crumbed and snapped a tight-angle major. Another Freo centre-clearance followed and Hasleby stabbed a low kick for Pavlich to mark this time, in front of Firrito, and boot a goal. The crowd were awake now as Freo trailed by 5 points. There were plenty of Roo supporters in the crowd though, probably from all them sandgropers the Kangers had in the Seventies and Eighties; Cable, Glendinning, the Krakouers, er, Steve McCann. Freo missed a coupla chances to draw closer and the Kangers led by 3 points at the final change. The final term was a tense, tight battle. Norf seized the early advantage when Dokka Grover jabbed a short, risky kick-in towards McManus, Archer spoiled and Scott McMahon, who’d returned, pounced for a goal to put the Ruse 9 points ahead. Tough for a while before Shocker Michael Johnson found space to run through the middle and pass for leading Headland to mark and convert, reducing the gap to 3 points again. A few minutes later Dodd managed to find Ryan Crowley all alone 35m out, Crowley sausaged to put the Dockulaters in front by a point. Freo led by 2 points well into time-on when McMahon drove the Kangers forward again, Archer battled with Grover and couldn’t hold a goal-square mark but late-arriving McManus was deemed to have grabbed prostrate Archer’s head. Arch free-kicked a goal to have the Ruse 4 points up. Under 2 minutes to go when Pavlich led to mark 55m out, he lined-up but lobbed a smart pass to unopposed Thornton, 15m closer to goal. He missed and the Kangers hung on, Petrie taking an important grab in defence. The siren cued jubilant air and wall-punching in the Kanger coaching box.
The Ruse victory was again powered by the great form of Brent Harvey (25 disposals, 2 goals) and Shannon Grant (24 touches, 8 marks), the latter playing more as a midfielder than a forward recently. Adam Simpson (33 possessions, 9 marks) was also very good on-the-ball and in defence Michael Firrito (11 possies) did a very good job on Pavlich. Glenn Archer (16 possies, 5 marks, 2 goals) was entertaining both in playing and trying to kill Solomon, big men Hamish McIntosh (14 touches, 17 hit-outs, a goal) and David Hale (7 marks, 14 disposals, 2 goals), the latter at CHF, were useful. Rover Daniel Harris (24 touches, a goal) wasn’t bad either. Corey Jones kicked 2 first-quarter goals. Better Dockers included skipper Peter Bell (20 disposals, 2 goals), trying his best to inspire the lads, running backman Michael Johnson (23 touches) and ruckman Aaron Sandilands (22 hit-outs, 14 handballs - no kicks). With Pavlich quelled, Chris Tarrant (6 marks, 16 disposals, 2 goals) and Des Headland (21 possies, 2 goals) proved better forward options and there was a big effort from Josh Carr (26 disposals) after half time. Pavlich kicked 2 goals. Connolly stared into the abyss. "I think this game reflected the season, our efforts under pressure, opposition gained momentum through poor execution, we don't hit the scoreboard enough. I thought the efforts were there but the execution was not, and in the end the buck stops with me and there's no question about that. But there is plenty of football left in the season and I think the spotlight falls on everyone at the club in terms of integrity as an individual and how committed you are performing for your members, who you work for. They've been fantastic supporters of our club, we're the third biggest in terms of membership and we've let them down." Dean Laidley provided the starkest of contrasts. He’s holding off contract negotiations with the Ruse and some have mentioned Laidley, a native sandgroper, as a candidate to replace Connolly. "We've worked on being very good in these scenarios, in hostile environments, and I thought that we grew as a group today. (With McMahon and Wells off) we had to keep shuffling and shuffling so it was hard in the box, but even harder on the park for the boys. And I just thought their mental capacity was fantastic. They (the Dockers) wanted to put someone behind the footy all day, but we thought, 'We aren't going to have a bar of it and we're going to make it a real contest and see if we can get the ball inside our forward 50m'. Our forward pressure and stopping Fremantle from bringing the ball out of their forward 50 (eh?) was super."
Ladder after Round Fifteen
Pts. % Next Week
Geelong 48 152.1 Footscray (Docklands, Fri. night)
Hawthorn 40 116.7 St. Kilda (Docklands, Sat. night)
North Melbourne 40 101.4 Melbourne (Docklands, Sunday)
West Coast 36 107.4 Sydney (Subiaco, Sat. night)
Port Adelaide 36 105.2 Richmond (MCG, Sunday)
Collingwood 36 104.8 Essendon (MCG, Saturday)
Footscray 36 101.8 Geelong (Docklands, Fri. night)
Sydney 32 114.5 West Coast (Subiaco, Sat. night)
---------------------------
Adelaide 32 113.9 Fremantle (Football Park, Saturday)
Essendon 32 97.3 Collingwood (MCG, Saturday)
St. Kilda 28 91.6 Hawthorn (Docklands, Sat. night)
Brisbane 26 96.0 Carlton (Gabba, Sunday)
Fremantle 24 100.8 Adelaide (Football Park, Saturday)
Carlton 16 77.5 Brisbane (Gabba, Sunday)
Melbourne 12 79.3 North Melbourne (Docklands, Sunday)
Richmond 6 76.8 Port Adelaide (MCG, Sunday)
Cheers, Tim.
Article last changed on Thursday, July 19, 2007 - 2:26 PM EDT
