This’ll be the last extensive review for a little bit as I’m off on my regular overseas conference / holiday-type thingy for 3 weeks. Back for the last two rounds and the finals.
At Docklands:
Footscray 2.5 4.7 6.12 9.17.71
West Coast 4.4 11.9 15.11 24.14.158
Another Friday night at Docklands, another thrashing for the Doggies. This was a Bulldog side very depleted by injury but you suspect even the full-strength Pups would’ve had trouble here. The full-strength Weegs applied fierce chasing and tackling pressure and worried the Pups into yet more mistakes and turnovers. If there’s any comfort for Footyscray, it’s they’ve played the clear flag favourites the last two weeks. The flip-side of that is they’re nowhere near them at the moment. In selection here the Dogs lost Lindsay Gilbee (strained calf), Mitch Hahn (shoulder) and Scott West (groin), they joined Griffen, Cross, Grant and others on the sidelines. Matty Robbins was dropped again along with Peter Street. Replacements were Dale Morris, Sam Power, forgotten big man Wayde Skipper and first-gamers Stephen Tiller from Marblerange in SA and Claremont’s Josh Hill. One change for the Eegs, debutant defender Will Schofield from Geelong College replacing the axed Matt Rosa.
The first term was the Bullies’ best, but right from the start the powerful Wiggle on-ball trio of Kerr, Cousins and Judd was dominant. The Dogs had the first goal, Jarrod Harbrow roved a ball-up and lobbed a smart kick for Daniel ‘Guido’ Giansiracusa to hold a with-the-flight mark, he converted. The Eegs replied after some scramble at half-forward, Adam Selwood’s handpass allowed Shannon Hurn to snap it through. The Eegs cleared the restart with some slick handball, Andrew Embley passed for leading Ashley Hansen to mark and boot truly. Cousins was involved in that build-up and, in contrast to last week, his every touch was booed loudly by the Dog supporters. At first anyway, they grew tired of it as the trashing unfolded and were drowned out by cheering Weeg supporters. Bulldog Power turned over with a poor handpass under pressure and Judd passed for Embley to mark and major, the Weevils led by 12 points. Bully Matthew Boyd won the following centre-clearance and passed for leading Jason Akermanis to mark and boot one. Aker and Brad Johnson missed shots before the Weegs swept downfield on a rebound, Daniel Kerr had a coupla bounces and kicked for Brent Staker to mark and boot a goal. There were a few behinds prior to the siren, the Weegs leading by 11 points. They moved steadily clear in the second stanza. Kerr, Cousins et al. were very good at standing up and dishing off handballs in tackles, or simply breaking free. Pressure on the Dogs forced a turnover from which Quinten Lynch snapped a scarcely-believable goal, Kerr missed a shot but Lynch intercepted Bully Jordan McMahon’s kick-in and booted another sausage. The Wiggles led by 26 points and the slow-moving Dogs were having real trouble getting the ball beyond the centre. McMahon committed another awful clanger, it went unpunished. Eventually a laborious Doggy build-up saw Luke Darcy mark 50m out, he stood around for a while before dishing off a handpass for Nathan Eagleton to drill a long, low goal. The Weegs responded presently as good pressure forced the Dogs to cough it up again, Cousins kicked to Staker alone in the goal-square and he popped it through. From the following centre-bounce Rowan Jones handballed for Chris Judd to speed clear and drill a major, then Mark LeCras booted one while I was having a wee. Quickly, the Wiggles had jumped to a 37-point lead. The Dogs won a centre-clearance and as their Stephen Tiller led out, his guernsey was tugged by Chick. Tiller free-kicked a goal. A momentary respite, Bulldawg Brian Harris’s kick from defence was picked off by LeCras and he lobbed a kick for Staker to mark over Harris, Staker converted. Akermanis missed a set shot before Rowan Jones’s mongrelled kick wobbled into the arms of Judd, he kicked for Matthew Priddis to hold a with-the-flight grab and bag another six-pointer. Weevils by a healthy 44 points at orange-time.
As they did last week after half-time, the Bulldogs attempted to slow the game and retain possession with a fair bit of backwards and side-to-side passing. The strategy’s aimed at limiting the damage rather than winning. Tiller kicked an early goal, leading to mark Andrejs Everitt’s pass. Encouraging. Embley missed a couple of times, one a lairy tight-angle attempt which missed by a mile. After a while Judd was twice involved in setting up a mark for leading Lynch, the big Weevil galoot thumped it home from 55m. Eegs by 45. The Bullies now controlled the ball for a while but went nowhere with it, an apparently ill Adam Cooney played-on after marking on an acute angle and lost possession, backmen Morris and Hargrave kicked points. After a while the Weegs managed an attack and Priddis kicked for Adam Hunter to mark and convert, a few minutes later Bulldog Farren Ray snapped a goal from a throw-in. The Dogs were hanging on but the Weevils scored two late sausage-rolls, a very good ball-sharing maneuver ended with Michael ‘F..king’ Braun passing to leading Staker, he majored. Weegs Dean ‘Big’ Cox and Selwood combined to clear the restart and Mark Seaby held a grab low-down, he goaled. The Eegs led by 53 points at the final change. I’d been waiting for Bruce McAvaney to tell us he was impressed by Big Cox, but he didn’t. Perhaps he isn’t. The Weegs really put the hammer down in the first half of the final Mario, snaggling 6 goals in the first 10-odd minutes. Didn’t see the first but then Hansen converted after taking a mark and receiving a 50m penalty, dumped afterwards by Morris. Bullie junior Josh Hill’s panicky kick went directly to Staker, he handballed for running Judd to boot a goal. LeCras led up, marked and kicked long to the goal-square, Kerr roved the pack and snapped it through from a tight angle. Judd’s spoil allowed Selwood to snap one from close-in, although Judd appeared to aggravate his groin / hernia problem in the process and was soon benched for the remainder. Bulldog Robert Murphy postered before Lynch kicked another goal at the other end, from a soft free-kick and the Wiggles led by 88 points. Kerr joined Judd on the bench for a few minutes and the massacre abated. Besieged Doggy full-back Harris went up forward and marked on-the-lead, he missed the subsequent shot. At the opposite end Lynch spilled a mark on-the-lead but gathered the ball, brushed off some weak Bullie tackling attempts and booted another, his sixth. LeCras ran away from the restart and sent his long punt home, giving the Weegs a 100-point lead. The Dogs managed to find a coupla late goals as the Weegs benched Cousins, too. Hargrave got a lucky bounce, ran clear and thumped it through from 50m, a minute later Akermanis’s smart kick found Boyd, he passed for leading Cameron Wight to mark and convert. Small beer as the Dawgs went down by 87 points, significantly denting their already poor percentage.
Wiggle Daniel Kerr (34 disposals, a goal) was terrific, with Ben Cousins (29 touches, a goal) and Chris Judd (20 handlings, 2 goals) both very good in support. Up forward Brent Staker (9 marks, 10 kicks, 4 goals) and Quinten Lynch (6 marks, 22 disposals, 5 goals) cashed in and there were also handy efforts from Michael ‘F..king’ Braun (28 possies) and Tyson Stenglein (18 disposals). Dean ‘Big’ Cox (23 hit-outs, 18 touches) was a winner in the ruck and Darren Glass kept Brad Johnson goal-less for the first time this season. Mark LeCras bagged 3 goals, Ash Hansen and Andrew Embley kicked 2 each. Difficult to identify a Bulldog winner, on-baller Matthew Boyd (32 possessions) fought hard against the odds and Wayde Skipper (17 touches, 12 hit-outs, a goal) gave them some early drive in the ruck. The papers seem keen on Brad Johnson (26 touches, 8 marks), who moved to the midfield when he couldn’t get a kick against Glass. Farren Ray (23 disposals, a goal) was alright and Andrejs Everitt (17 handlings) did some noice things again. Ryan Hargrave (25 touches, 11 marks) probably beat Hansen. Debutant Stephen Tiller was their only multiple goal-scorer with 2. Eade seized an obvious if poor excuse. “If you take back to the Eagles against Port (Adelaide) they had all players out and lost by 91 points. I think it was always going to happen tonight. I mean, realistically, with the difference in talent on the park. They had their strongest team in. I thought it was a lot better effort than last week. Except for the first 20 minutes of the last quarter, other than that, our effort most of the night was pretty good. As a coach you can’t be critical if the effort is there. If we had played at our best tonight and they didn’t play extremely well, they still would have beaten us. That was the chasm in the talent.” The Bullies have a tough draw ahead and Rocket played down the finals. “Our thoughts are still with making the eight but at the end of the day, if we limp and we’ve still got injuries, we’re not going to win it. What we are doing is building towards winning a premiership at some stage. We’ve been developing. We’re not going back to players who have been in and out of the side, we’re playing kids. So, hopefully the supporters can see we’ve still got an eye on this year but we’re still developing for next year and the year after instead of putting all of our eggs in the one basket.” John Worsfold said, ominously “Our best football is well ahead of us . . . It’s rare that you have everyone available. It’s nice to be able to win as well as we did knowing that the Western Bulldogs were undermanned because of the injuries they had during the week. We hadn’t strung any good consistent performances together. To follow up last week’s game with tonight’s effort was great.”
At Docklands:
Carlton 6.1 7.3 9.7 15.11.101
St. Kilda 5.4 10.7 14.12 16.15.111
The sacked-coach effect couldn’t quite do it for the Blues - not that they wanted to win anyway, from a drafting viewpoint. In fact the outcome here was ideal , a fair better effort from the Blues with much greater intensity than recent weeks, and a respectable loss. The Stainers were probably pondering a needed percentage-boost at three-quarter-time, but would’ve been happy to come away with the win in the end. Key forwards Riewoldt and Gehrig were very good. Interim Bloo coach Brett Ratten’s first selection saw him lose injured Josh Kennedy (hamstring) and Andrew Walker (shoulder) while Adam Bentick was dropped; Eddie Betts, Jason Saddington and Ryan Jackson were called up. Brendan Fevola, who last Monday was alleged to have a torn thigh which’d keep him out for a month, was suddenly fit to play once Pagan was sacked. What was that about tanking, again? Blue man Matty Lappin played his 250th game, he’s been a very good player for the Bluies. Saint ruckman Justin Koschitzke was suspended a game for whacking Hawk Campbell last week, he was replaced by veteran Matthew Clarke. Fraser ‘G-Train’ Gehrig also played his 250th game, a terrific achievement by a fairly eccentric guy.
Ratten was introduced very early to the Fevola conundrum. A very talented player with a microscopic brain. The Bluies scored the first goal, Andrew Carrazzo had a free at the opening bounce and then there was another, Brad Fisher for in-the-back against Jason Gram. The Blues’ Fisher converted. A bit later Fisher’s hard tackle on Saint Baker forced the ball loose and Fevola snapped a good major, the Blues led by 12 points. The Satins got going, Nick Dal Santo finessed extravagantly before booting a long goal, then Gehrig won a free against Bret Thornton for holding. G-Train played-on as per usual and, less usually, jabbed it through with his right foot. Back came the Blues with two more goals, a good kick from Ryan Jackson found Fevola’s lead, Fev thumped it home from 55m. A minute later Fevola booted an extraordinary goal, he mowed down Saint Sam Fisher with a great tackle in the centre, leaped up with the ball and launched a long kick into the vacant Bloo forward-line. The Sherrin took a handy leg-break bounce and rolled through for the major. “Does MRI stand for made-up report of injury?” quipped commentator Lane, in reference to Fev’s alleged torn thigh. Three goals already for Fevola as the Blooze led by 10 points. A minute later Fevola might’ve had a free when spoiled, the ball rebounded and Stainer Aaron Fiora found Gehrig on-the-lead, he converted. Fevola whinged extensively to the umpire and soon became embroiled in some handbags with opponent Max Hudghton - which brought a Sinkilda free in the centre, to Lenny Hayes. Riewoldt plucked a mark over Saddington and booted a goal. Cheers, Fev. A bit later Hayes drilled a low kick for Riewoldt to mark strongly in front of two Blue backmen, Riewoldt goaled again and the Stains led by 8 points. The Bluies hit back with a coupla late goals, Lappin controlled the ball and gave it to Jackson, from his long kick Setanta O’hAilpin clutched a goal-square grab and popped it through. Ruckman Ackland had a free at the restart and a 50m penalty due to off-ball tussle between Blue captain Kade Simpson and Xavier Clarke. Ackland majored and Carton led by 3 points at the first break. The Saints tightened up in midfield in the second stanza. They wrested the lead back with three early goals, Fevola marked on a wing but his centering kick caused a turnover, Riewoldt passed for Gehrig to mark and convert. Saint man Leigh Fisher cleared the following centre-bounce, as the ball came in Stephen Milne was held by Ryan Houlihan and Milne free-kicked a sausage. A bit later the Saints advanced from a kick-in and Riewoldt held a terrific two-grab mark on the flank, he punted truly and the Stainers led by 14 points. The Bluies pulled one back, Saddington’s long shot dropped short but O’hAilpin hacked a soccer-kick for a major. Riewoldt missed a simple shot but a minute later a very good pass from, er, some Sainter found Shane Birss, he kicked accurately and the Saints led by 14 points again. Not much happened for a while, the Bluies struggling to get their running game going against strong Saint pressure. Eventually Gehrig kicked another goal, leading to Harvey’s pass, playing-on, wheeling onto his left boot and thumping it home. Blue stat-gatherer Heath Scotland committed three terrible disposal errors in the space of five minutes, none of which was under any pressure at all. Never been much of a fan. Gram missed from point-blank just before half-time, the Saints leading by 22 points.
The Bluies had a bit more of a go in the early third term, moving the ball more quickly and directly. Young afro-haired Bloo Paul Bower bagged a goal, then Lappin roved a big goal-square pack and snapped it through, the Sainter lead was down to 10 points. Sinkilda cleared the restart after that, Bloo backman Saddington elected to punch when he could’ve marked and Baker pounced on the loose ball to snap it through. A minute later Gehrig poked a sausage from the goal-square and the Saints led by 22 again. The Bluesers were going okay though, their Brad Fisher postered following a good grab and Fevola missed a set-shot too. The Stains also scored a couple behinds in this period, before a coupla goals stretched their lead. Gram ran and kicked long, Riewoldt spilled a mark under pressure but roved his own contest and snapped it through. A minute later Xavier Clarke’s pass went over Riewoldt’s head, but Milne read it, gathered and stabbed a sausage. The Saints appeared to have weathered the best the Bluebaggers could offer as they led by 35 points at the final change. But they hadn’t, to their credit the Bluies roused themselves for the final korter. The useful Brad Fisher seized a very good pack-mark of Russell’s long kick and booted a goal. Fevola missed another long set shot - he never passes, by the way - but as Dal Santo prepared to kick-in Blue Jordan Bannister went down at CHF, he was awarded a free and booted a goal. Dal Santo missed poorly for Sinkilda before they messed up another kick-in routine, Fevola intercepted Jason Blake’s handpass and Fevs’ pretty awful, goal-hungry snap took another kind bounce through the big posts. The Saints were only 16 points ahead now. The Stainers raised their intensity and some strong tackling in their forward-line locked the ball in, Xavier Clarke hooked a kick for Blake to hold an easy mark and boot a steadier. The Bluies responded quickly, a Luke Ball turnover allowed Lappin to find Brad Fisher with a good kick, Fisher goaled and the Blues were 17 points behind. Tough and scoreless for a bit as the Saints realized they were in a scrap for the vital points. Then the Blues drew closer as Sam Fisher’s switching kick was intercepted by Fevola, Fev thumped a long major and the Saint lead was 11 points. Well into time-on before some tough work won the ball for Stinkilda, Dal Santo kicked long and Gehrig out-bustled and out-marked Thornton. G-Train booted another and the Saints led by 17 points. Eddie Betts won the following centre-clearance for the Blues, he passed for leading Saddington to mark and boot a goal. The Blues also won the next centre-clearance and junior Bryce Gibbs had a free within range, but he missed. The Blues’ last chance as they went down by 11.
The Saints’ big forwards proved the difference, Nick Riewoldt (11 marks, 23 disposals, 4 goals) continued his excellent recent form and Fraser Gehrig (7 marks, 12 touches, 6 goals) was very good on his milestone, to the extent that Lyon called for him to play on next year. In the midfield Lenny Hayes (29 possessions) and Nick Dal Santo (26 touches, a goal) were handy and rebounding backman Sam Fisher (32 disposals and a hefty 17 marks) was useful again. Steven Baker (27 touches, a goal) was busy and Sam Gilbert (19 handlings) handy on a wing. Stephen Milne bagged 2 goals. The Bluies had their own danger men in attack with Brad Fisher (9 marks, 15 disposals, 3 goals) and madman Brendan Fevola (5 marks, 15 touches, 5 goals). Marc Murphy (14 touches) did well against in-form Montagna and Andrew Carrazzo (38 disposals, 8 marks) picked up a bucket of touches again. Eddie Betts (24 possessions) played well as a midfielder and Ryan Jackson (23 touches, 12 marks) showed a bit on a wing. Kade Simpson (26 possies) and Matty Lappin (25 possies, 12 marks, a goal) weren’t bad either. Setanta O’hAilpin kicked 2 goals. Brett Ratten said "To be honest, I'm not happy we didn't get the four points, but I asked the players for effort and they gave me even more than that, so from my point of view I was ecstatic with their effort. To be down so much and come back and lose by 10 points - [I'm] not happy with the result - but happy with that effort and that's what is required at the Carlton footy club. We're not going to take any less than that and the players know that if they don't put in, they won't play, it's as simple as that. We've got to make sure we know where our list is and where we're heading, so that's my responsibility to make sure we do that and find out who can play and who can't." He went on to give Fevola a big wrap. Ross Lyon was smiling a bit. "Clearly our last six weeks have been a lot better, but on some of our key indicators . . . we were beaten in a couple of key areas that we've been priding ourselves on [today]. So it's a really good reminder of how quickly your form can go and how quickly you can get hurt on the scoreboard when those basics aren't executed. I thought parts of the game we controlled and scored really well but we didn't defend very well in the first or last quarter. There was some lack of execution in basics, spoiling and some ill-discipline with 50m penalties or free kicks off the ball really came back to bite the group on the backside and made it a real struggle. Full credit to Carlton. We knew they were going to be emotional, we knew they were going to be hard at it."
At Subiaco:
Fremantle 1.3 4.5 8.9 10.12.72
Geelong 6.4 8.11 12.18 20.20.140
The Cats roll along merrily, putting paid to Freo and the sacked coach-effect in this thumping in WA. Mind you, the Cats belted the Dockers in this fixture last year too, and Geelong were rubbish then. That loss preceded the Shockers’ charge into the finals, but seems long ago now. Since this game the Dokkers have sent ruckman Aaron Sandilands for surgery on a hernia, his season’s over. Still, nothing to play for now. In selection here the Dockers recalled Sandilands, presuming this was their final chance, and showed faith in Jeff Farmer by picking him despite his latest booze-related mischief. Farmer’s admitted he has a drink problem which he’s combating. They replaced injured Steven Dodd and axed big man Robert Warnock. The Cats had Matthew Scarlett and Nathan Ablett return from injury, at the expense of Paul Chapman (knee soreness) and the dumped Tom Hawkins.
The Cats tend to start quickly and this week was no exception. A healthy breeze aided them. The first goal came as Dokka Chris Tarrant lobbed a high, aimless kick, the Cats won possession and Tarrant’s opponent, Darren Milburn, cantered into an open goal to jab it through. Matty Pavlich replied with a goal for Freo before Cat spearhead Cam Mooney kicked two goals in a minute, the first following a turnover by Dokker Michael Johnson, the second a mark behind poorly-positioned opponent Antoni Grover. The Catter midfield was going very well at this stage with Gary Ablett Jnr. and Jimmy Bartel flying, Cameron Ling was applying the clamp to Peter Bell this week. Katz Mathew Stokes, James Kelly and Steve Johnson all majored prior to the first break, the Catters leading by 31 points. The Dorkers had the wind at their backs in the second term and made some inroads, thanks mainly to Jahlong’s wayward 2.7 for the stanza. Pavlich and Des Headland bagged some early goals for the locals, but the Cats were managing plenty of attacking as the rebound run of David Wojcinski was prominent. Bumbling in the forward 50 by the Dockers aided the Cyats. Mooney and Shannon Byrnes replied for the Cats, Byrnes gifted a goal after Grover clangered a kick-in straight to him. But a late Roger Hayden goal had the Shockers 30 points don at the long break. They were given a rev at half-time by Mark Harvey and had a bit more of a go in the third. Paul Hasleby gave them some possession ‘round packs and through the middle, Headland and a shifted-forward David Mundy added some bite in attack. Tarrant and Mundy majored to bring the Shockers within 19 points. Kelly kicked a steadier for the Cats, before Pavlich bagged another for Freo and they were 20 points down. But Ling booted one for the Cats and Stokes added another two. A late Headland major saw the Catters 33 points up at the final change and, with Sandilands gone by now, the Freo men rolled over in the final stanza. The Cats queued up to kick goals in the last quarter, the first coming from Steve Johnson’s brilliant pass to Stokes. Defender Josh Hunt got one and after Steve Johnson and Nathan Ablett had added to the tally, skipper and defensive stalwart Tom Harley slipped forward for one. Big win for the men from Sleepy Hollow.
Geelong’s midfield overpowered Freo, led by Gary Ablett (31 disposals, a goal) and Cameron Ling (23 touches, a goal) on Bell (13 possessions only). Ling’s efforts have sparked a debate as to whether a tagger can win All-Australian selection. Steve Johnson (26 touches, 14 marks, 2 goals) was very good on his forward-flank and James Kelly (22 handlings, 2 goals) played well, Mathew Stokes bagged a career-best 5 goals from his 17 possessions. Cameron Mooney (7 marks, 14 disposals, 2 goals) was good too. Back-flanker Darren Milburn (20 touches, 7 marks, a goal) was excellent as was runnin’ David Wojcinski (15 touches, a goal). Brad Ottens (21 hit-outs, 15 possies, 8 marks) won in the ruck. The Dockulaters’ best was probably leaping backman Luke McPharlin (24 disposals, 13 marks) with Josh Carr (22 touches) battling Bartel on-the-ball and wingman Matthew Carr (18 possessions) going alright. Matty Pavlich (8 marks, 14 kicks, 4 goals) was a winning forward with some assistance from Des Headland (18 touches, 2 goals). ‘Reports’ suggest Pavlich is about to sign a new contract with Fremantle, despite what everyone in Adelaide thinks. Roger Hayden (18 touches, a goal) was a useful rebound man and Paul Hasleby (17 disposals) was alright. Can’t find a game-related quote from Mark Harvey. Cat coach Bomber Thompson reckoned “I think we can improve and we’re desperate to get young Chappy (Chapman) back and Rooke into the team, so that will improve our side. The more we play together the more we sort of get on this momentum run, I think we are capable of playing better footy.” Bomber was asked if they’d peaked too early. “We played well last week against the Bulldogs; we played reasonable footy today against good opposition. For four weeks before that it wasn’t great football. We won games but we weren’t playing our best footy, so we don’t have a fear about that at all . . . This is the hardest road trip, this and Brisbane. We certainly haven’t won too often over here. It’s fantastic to come over and play a team who was ready to play, and there’s no doubt they never gave up all day. To win by 68 points was probably a bit flattering in the end. Deep in the third quarter there wasn’t a great margin in it and I think there was a little bit of unrest in our coaches box, and if Fremantle had got one more goal there might have been a different result. And that’s the way footy happens these days.”
At the MCG:
Collingwood 1.3 3.7 5.12 7.14.56
Brisbane 7.6 11.13 15.16 22.17.149
A few years ago the Pies couldn’t win in June. Now it’s when they peak. Pie fans would treat this as an aberration and timely reminder of the effort required to succeed. It was another tremendous effort from the Lyin’s who are right in the contest for the finals now. The mercurial Jared Brennan, who seems to save his best for the Magpoise, bagged 7 goals to cap their effort. The Maggies’ usual relentless chasing and hard tackling pressure was entirely absent as the Lisbon Brians continually sliced through the middle of the ground like the proverbial hot knife through butter. The Pies came in with an unchanged side from last week, the Lyin’s regained Simon Black and called up Colm Begley to replace Scott Harding, junior Will Hamill was dropped.
Lyin’ ruckman Jamie Charman bagged the opening goal. The Pies’ highlight came early, Travis Cloke dribbly-snapping a great goal from the impossible angle. A bit later Jed Adcock drove a long kick for leading Brennan to mark and convert, Lyin’s by 7 points. The Pies did apply a bit of pressure in the early minutes but wasted scoring chances, the worst when Nick Maxwell marked in the goal-square and for some reason dished off a handpass to Rocca, who was tackled immediately and the ball spilled through for a point. A minute later Poi Ben Johnson was at the bottom of a stacks-on pile and penalized for ‘bawl’, Lyin’ Simon Black free-kicked a goal amid copious booing. Black had the ball on a string for most of it, Charman dominated the ruck and runners like Nigel Lappin, Adcock and Tim Notting cruised down the ground while Pies stood watching. Such a rapid move brought Brennan his second goal, leading to mark Lappin’s pass. The Lyin’s cleared the restart and Ash McGrath’s handpass was gathered by Adcock, he buried a long shot for a goal. Brisbun were already 25 points ahead. The Poise night deteriorated as Scott Pendlebury limped off with a foot injury. The Maggies had an all-tall forward-line with Maxwell and Josh Fraser joining Rocca and Cloke, but they had few opportunities. Pie Lonie missed a shot and the Lyin’s raced afield from the kick-in, Colm Begley kicked long and Brennan clutched a big pack-mark. He booted a third. Simon Prestigiacomo replaced Harry O’Brien as Brennan’s opponent. Pie ruckman Guy Richards tapped a throw-in to Black, he kicked to unopposed Jonathan Brown for a mark and goal. The Lyin’s led by 38 points then and 39 at the first break. The Poise raised some hope with the first two goals of the second stanza, as the Brians missed a few. Shane O’Bree soccered a loose ball forward and Rocca dived to mark it, ‘Pebbles’ converted. Lyin’s Brennan, Hooper, Stiller and Brown all kicked behinds before Poi Alan Didak centered a pass for O’Bree to mark on the 50m line, he dished off a handpass for Heath Shaw to boot a goal. The Brisbun lead was cut to 30 points, but their Luke Power won the ball at the restart, Black gathered his kick, dodged Pies and passed for Brennan to mark and boot another. Tyson Goldsack became Brennan’s third opponent. Brown postered but a minute later Lappin passed to him again, Brown majored this time. Brown set up the next goal, he marked wide out and kicked into a ‘Pagan’s Paddock’, Brennan held a terrific with-the-flight mark against Goldsack. Duly Brennan kicked another goal and within a minute had another shot from a mark-on-the-lead, he missed. The Pies swapped the deck-chairs and O’Brien picked up Brennan again. Black roved a ball-up and stabbed a short pass to Charman, he booted a goal and Brisbun led by 53 points. A Brown miss made it 54 at half-time.
And on it went. Pie Maxwell booted the first goal of the third. A minute later Rhan Hooper passed towards Robert Copeland, the Brisbun man was spoiled but on-running Hooper swept up the loose ball, raced clear and slotted an excellent goal. A Lyin’ chance went begging as Brown and Brennan left a marking chance for each other, probably the low point for yer Pies. No matter, a minute later Black roved a contest again and handballed for Brennan to slot it through from a tough angle. Lappin missed a shot before Hooper featured three times in a move ending with Lappin handballing to running Roe, he drilled it through. Pie Tarkyn Lockyer, who’d been tagged out of it, sliced a kick on-the-full and Notting punted the Lyin’s forward again. Robert Copeland gathered and handballed for Adcock to snap truly. A 71-point lead for the Lyin’s now. The Pies managed some attacking, Burns and Thomas kicked points. An Adcock pass went over Brown’s head, but he doubled back and got a handball away which Hooper gathered and poked through from point-blank. Brisbun led by 75 points then but the Maggies got a late goal, Cloke marked and centered the ball, Maxwell clutched a decent grab and converted. O’Bree cleared the opening bounce of the last korter and lobbed a kick forward, Maxwell reeled in a one-handed mark and booted another. The Pies managed another centre-clearance, Leon Davis held a grab to ironical cheering and passed wide to Shaw, he speared a kick for leading Maxwell to mark and convert again. Three in-a-row for Maxwell as the Pies appeared to be saving some vital percentage, trailing by 57 points now. But a minute later Lyin’s Power and Charman combined noicely for Adcock to boot a running sausage. The game slowed right down after that and appeared to meandering to the finish, but the Brians launched a late barrage. Brennan kicked it off with a typically lairy juggled, one-handed mark and classily steered kick for full points. Adcock booted another major, a long set-shot and Brown snaggled one following an idiomatic pack-crashing, with-the-flight mark. “He’s a model example for young players everywhere,” burbled Robert Walls. Young players who are double the size and strength of their opponents. Rischitelli booted a very good running six-pointer, then Brown scooped Notting’s kick and handballed for Hooper to slot it through. Copeland missed after the final siren to complete the massacre, one enjoyed by non-Pie supporters everywhere.
Big game from the inconsistent Jared Brennan (10 marks, 15 kicks, 7 goals), who’s been very good as a forward in recent weeks. Simon Black (30 disposals, a goal) was an unstoppable pack-clearing machine and Jed Adcock (27 touches, 4 goals) confirmed his improvement, Jamie Charman (19 hit-outs, 15 disposals, 2 goals) and speedy Rhan Hooper (23 touches, 3 goals) were both very good too. For once Jonathan Brown (12 marks, 22 disposals, 3 goals) could take a back seat in attack. Nigel Lappin (24 touches), Tim Notting (24 disposals, 9 marks) and Cheynee Stiller (26 possies, 11 marks) all played well while Daniel Merrett and Jason Roe did good jobs on Rocca and Cloke respectively, assisted by the lack of supply to the Poi men. Colm Begley, I think it was, did a very good job on Lockyer. Better Pies included Heath Shaw (27 disposals, 13 marks, a goal), forward Nick Maxwell (6 marks, 14 possessions) who finished up with 4 goals and Dane Swan (26 touches, 8 marks), who shrugged off Troy Selwood’s tag. Shane O’Bree (28 disposals) did a bit in the second half, Marty Clarke (19 touches) and Dale Thomas (17 handlings) were alright. Pie talkback callers were scathing of Rocca (2 marks, 8 disposals, a goal). Malthouse should’ve wagered on the Lyin’s. Perhaps he did. "Maybe I read it a bit better than most,” he said, “but I said to a couple of the coaches in the coaches' box when I arrived up there before the bounce down, they said, "How do you reckon they are, they looked alright", and I said, "I'm telling you, no they're not". You can read it. I don't know what it is, and they wouldn't know what it is, not that they go out there and say, 'We're going to have a bad day today', but perhaps it was one that was coming. Perhaps you can only hold up for so long. The boys have been outstanding for so long, in holding up and cutting the losses and making sure players take over . . . and now they have to do it again because Pendlebury is one of those players who has been very good, and he'll be out probably at least until round 22 . . . We were embarrassed. It was a shocking performance, quite frankly." Lethal Leigh took the opposite view. “It was a very powerful performance. The West Coast thing was a little bit different because the form had been a fair bit down. We came into this game thinking that we had a probably a bit better chance than what the odds were. No-one ever expects you’re going to have a mammoth win, but I always thought we had a chance . . . Moving (Adcock) into the midfield . . . he’s a really good quality player. That has just given us another good quality midfielder around Lappin, Power, Black, Rischitell. He’s been exceptional the last few weeks.” Finals, Leigh? “Every week we go out to play you could actually blow your finals chances because we know we’ve just about got to win every game. You want to be playing finals after round 22, that goes without saying, but again, if we win enough games we’ll play finals. If we win the next five we’ll get 13 and a half wins, and I’m sure we’ll play finals. But that’s a big task. The most exciting thing is that this group of players have proved that they’ve got a high level of football in them.”
At the SCG:
Sydney 4.3 9.5 16.7 21.12.138
Richmond 3.2 6.7 9.5 10.12.72
Men against Boys, really. Confident, successful Men against self-doubting Boys being played out of position in some cases. Sydney recorded a handy percentage-booster and probably face another next week against the Dees in Canberra, assisting their push to the finals. The Tiges are slouching along, hoping desperately the Blooze will ‘slip up’ and win another game to give them draft pick no. 1. At least the Toigs did play competitively for two-and-a-half quarters before being overrun. This was a stronger Siddey side than last week, with ‘rested’ Barry Hall and Tadhg Kennelly returning along with Amon Buchanan and new man Luke Brennan, who was a first-round draft pick for the Hawks a few years ago but whom they off-loaded following a string of knee problems. Outgoing Swans were Luke Ablett (knee soreness), backman Leo Barry (hamstring) and axed pair Sean Dempster and Luke Vogels. Very harsh on Dempster. The Tiges made their usual series of unforced changes, Cleve Hughes, Andrew Krakouer, Richard Tambling, Kel Moore and debutant Daniel Connors, from Echuca, called up in place of Greg Tivendale, Chris Hyde, Jay Schulz, Daniel Jackson and Cameron Howat.
A bitterly cold night in Siddey. I’m always struck by the conversation of the local supporters, which is rarely related to the football (unless it’s “what are the rules, again?”). Last time the people next to me on the train to Stadium Australia were discussing Thomas Hardy novels. On Satdy night it was where to find King Island Cheddar. Anyway. Ominous start as Swan ruckman Spida Everitt bagged two early goals, stretching high to juggle and mark Tige defender Graham Polak’s clearing kick, then diving low to mark a pass. A minute later Hall snapped his first, but the Tiges got moving with ruckman Troy ‘Snake’ Simmonds and rover Nathan Foley going alright in contests. Moore converted after being whacked high in a pack and Nathan Brown arrogantly bounced one through after marking a pass. Some Swan bloke answered but the Tiges cleared the restart and Shane Edwards used his speed to burst clear and slot a good major. The Bloods led by 7 points at the first break. The Swans again put the hammer down early in the second stanza, Hall making mincemeat of opponent Luke McGuane. Hall marked on a wide lead and as McGuane pondered the mark, Hall played on Gehrig-style to open the angle and slot it through. A bit later Hall truly embarrassed his man by spinning and breaking out of two weak McGuane tackles, and another by Raines I think, before snapping it through. It was like watching the under-16s when one growth-spurting kid simply barrels through the juniors half his size. Speaking of which, Raines followed Adam Goodes around all night like Goodesey’s devoted, albino little brother. Nick Davis marked and converted and Adam Schneider snapped one as the Swans galloped to a 28-point lead, but the Tiges fought back. Jack Riewoldt’s 55m set-shot bounced through thanks to shepherding from Simmonds and Brown majored from a mark on-the-lead, reducing the Toig deficit to 16 points at the long break. Goals were swapped in the early second term. Polak had a go on Hall but proved less adept than McGuane, who could at least reach contests with the Bloods’ spearhead, if not compete in them. Nick Davis and Ryan O’Keefe kicked sausages from marks. The Tiges had Hughes convert from a free-kick and Krakouer roved a pack to snap one, Kayne Pettifer slotted a great kick home from a tight angle. Matty Richardson was being soundly thrashed by Craig Bolton. Halfway through the stanza my Swans-supporting mate commented “Bloody hell, we’re only 17 points in front!” He needn’t have worried. The Swans had the edge in midfield possession and a clear dominance in attack. Tim Schmidt, ruckman Darren Jolly and Schneider kicked goals. When plodding Swan defender Paul Bevan scuttled down the ground and booted a running goal, the game was over. Percentage was duly added in the final term, Hall kicked his sixth and, annoyingly, Davis bagged a couple more. O’Keefe kicked a goal following a very good mark. Jude Bolton bagged a running goal as a nearby Tiger supporter paid out on Tambling.
Barry Hall’s highlight-laden performance (10 marks, 18 disposals, 6 goals) attracted attention and Adam Goodes (20 disposals, 10 marks) was very effective around the ground. Both men had callow, undersized opponents, it must be said. Brett ‘Captain’ Kirk (20 disposals) nullified Foley and Jude Bolton (18 touches, a goal) was good on-the-ball, as was ruckman Darren Jolly (16 hit-outs, 16 disposals, 9 marks, a goal). Craig Bolton gave Richo a hiding and Jarrad McVeigh (18 possies) continued his good recent form, this time against Joel Bowden. Adam Schneider (19 touches, 3 goals) and (grits teeth) Nick Davis (9 marks, 15 handlings, 4 goals) were both very good. Ryan O’Keefe and Peter ‘Spida’ Everitt kicked 2 goals each. The Tiges’ best was backman Chris Newman (24 disposals) who actually ran hard, used the ball well and probably beat his opponent, O’Keefe I think. Nathan Brown (16 touches, 5 marks, 3 goals) was a forward threat and Shane Edwards (15 possies, a goal) has speed and ability. Troy Simmonds (15 hit-outs, 14 disposals) did okay in the ruck, for a half at least. Kayne Pettifer (16 touches, a goal) was okay on a forward-flank and Will Thursfield did well on O’Loughlin. Cleve Hughes booted 2 goals. Standby for Plough spin. “You have to accept what the scoreboard says,” Wallace said. “I thought we played 70 minutes of pretty sort of admirable footy. You come away (and) it’s an 11-goal loss. Where do you sit there? Do you take more out of the last 50 minutes, or do you take more out of the 70 minutes that you did right? We’ve got some very young boys running around in the side. It was the stronger bodies coming into play, (and) the last 50 minutes was disappointing. We had 12 guys (who had played) under 50 games. We had nine guys who had never played on the SCG prior. I know our supporters lose faith in where we’re going and what we’re trying to do. But when you throw that many young boys in there, it’s just going to take time. We had one or two choices. We throw in guys who are 26 and 27 but not really taking us anywhere, or we give these young guys a chance.” Roos appreciated his stronger line-up. "Yeah, absolutely, getting guys back into the team - getting Amon Buchanan, Kennelly and Hall. All three of them looked a lot sharper and a lot more like we know they can play. Obviously Hally with six, Tadhg's rebounding and Amon looked really sharp. It is good to have a really good win, but it is good to get players back in the side and playing really good footy . . . It is important, we need out best players playing well to give us our best chance." Should beat the Dees next week, before tougher assignments against the Saints (at home), Lyin’s and Pies (both away) and Hawks (SCG).
At York Park:
Hawthorn 1.2 3.6 4.11 10.11.71
North Melbourne 2.5 8.7 11.10 16.12.108
The Hawks are wobbling, this their third loss in four games as they slipped out of the top four. Injuries didn’t help here as key men Sam Mitchell (corked calf) and Lance Franklin (‘flu) withdrew beforehand, plus the Orcs produced a truly appalling goal-shooting display - the lack of marks inside their attacking 50 was a factor. Thus the experts could again qualify an impressive Kanger effort. Corey Jones booted 7 goals to lead their latest win. In addition to Mitchell and Franklin, the Orcs also replaced Xavier Ellis (hip) and Matthew Little (dropped) with captain Richie Vandenberg, returning from a lengthy absence, Thomas Murphy, young forward Beau Dowler for his first game of the year and Travis Tuck for his first ever - son of Hawk legend Michael and brother of Tiger Shane. One change for the Ruse, forward Aaron Edwards returning at the expense of Ed Lower. Daniel Wells was named but didn’t play, Norf stopper Brady Rawlings played his 150th.
Last year, this fixture produced a total of eleven goals and the Ruse didn’t kick one after quarter-time in a truly awful game. It was pretty windy back then, but the players ran out here to a still, sunny and perfect Tasmanian day. The opening minutes were not encouraging, though. A rushed Roo point, a miss from their Drew Petrie and a poor turnover by the same player represented the total of goal-mouth action in the first ten minutes. The ball was dragged between the half-back lines as both sides turned over regularly inside their attacking 50m, the Hawks especially. They’d started Trent Croad at full-forward and Croad-rage created the first goal, he bullocked through a pack and fired off a handpass which Luke Hodge gathered and poked through. A minute later Roo Corey Jones free-kicked his first goal, tackled ‘round the neck by Rick Ladson. Jones and Dan Harris kicked points before Jones failed to hold a one-handed marking attempt, but recovered the ball, weaved through traffic and snapped a major. The Kangers led by 10 points. But the main features were turnovers or dropped marks by both sides inside their forward-lines. When the Hawks did mark it, they missed as did Dowler and Jarryd Roughead, who sliced an awful kick on-the-full. The Orcs did that a lot. Norf by 9 points at the first break, the second Mario was an improvement. The Horks scored an early goal, Ladson roved a throw-in and bombed a high kick goal-wards, it spilled from the pack and Ben McGlynn snapped left-footedly. Back came the Roos, Jones twice involved in a scrappy passage before he kicked for Ed Sansbury to mark and convert. Kasey Green drove the Ruse forward, Jones roved the pack and his snap along-the-ground somehow squeezed through three players and scored full points. The Kangers led by 16 points. Hawk ruckman Simon Taylor marked on a forward-flank, played-on, changed his mind and was caught red-hot. Handily for Horforn McGlynn was nearby, he gathered the loosed ball and punted an absolute rainmaker to the goal-square, Croad roved his pack and handballed for Ben Dixon to snap a goal. Pretty it wasn’t as the Horks trailed by 10. Hodge missed poorly before Hawk Jordan Lewis went beserk. Penalised for holding-the-ball, Lewis gave the ump a blast and conceded a 50m penalty, then another as he flattened pot-stirring Harris. Lewis was reported and Corey Jones benefitted from all of that by popping through his fourth goal. May’ve been a turning-point. Hawk Clinton Young sliced a shot on-the-full, then a ragged high tackle allowed Kanga Jesse Smith to find leading Djaran Whyman, the Roo man goaled with a good kick. Roughead produced yet another woeful shot on goal, at the other end two fierce tackles by Roo Harris forced the ball free and Whyman snapped another major. The Ruse led by 26 points. Dowler and Croad committed more Hawk misses before Edwards punted the Roos into attack again, ruckman Hamish McIntosh juggled a mark and converted a more difficult shot than either of the two previous Hawks’d had. Norf by 31 points at half-time.
Action in the third term was limited, more behinds early before Roo man Petrie bagged a goal, he failed to hold a goal-square grab but as he fell to earth, got boot to ball and scrambled it through. Hawk defender Campbell Brown moved forward and saw his snap drift wide. A bit later Shane Crawford fumbled a Hawk kick-in, Roo Matt Campbell handballed and Brent ‘Boomer’ Harvey bagged a goal. The Kangas cruised to a 41-point lead. McGlynn postered and the Hawks yawned to 3.10. The most interesting sight in the next ten minutes was a young Roo supporter with blue-and-white face-paint and a huge colour co-ordinated lollypop. With ninety seconds remaining in the quarter Hawk Young collected an errant Roo kick-in and booted a long goal. Huzzah! But Jones replied rapidly for Norf, collecting Jesse Smith’s handpass to sink a long kick and the Shinboners led by 41 points again at the last change. Early in the final quarter Hodge sliced a shot on-the-full, the seventh such effort by the Hawks. But goals began to accumulate now. Hork Guerra’s mongrel kick hit Glenn Archer on the back and rebounded to Roughead, he handballed for a Croad tap-through. Kanga Aaron Edwards then provided the game’s highlight with a big Jezza-esque ride and screamer over Hawk Stephen Gilham, right in the goal-square. Edwards converted. Harvey caught Grant Birchall with a strong tackle and handballed to Leigh Brown, on to Jones for another major and the Kangers led by 48. Young punted the Hawks forward, Roughead dropped a mark but roving Dowler snapped a major. Back came the Ruse as the Hawks went backwards with a series of handballs, Murphy tried to switch flanks but his kick went straight to Petrie, he goaled. The Hawks conjured another ugly goal, Vandenberg kicked the ball about 1000 miles in the air and the pack completely missed it, Croad gathered on the bounce and stabbed it through. Then the Ruse, Jones roving David Hale’s contest. Lewis cleared the restart and kicked long, Roughead gathered the ball and handballed for Dowler to slot it home. Lewis also cleared the next centre-bounce and this time Roughead roved the pack-spillage for a goal himself, the Hawks saving percentage as they trailed by 36 points now. Majors to Sansbury, nice running effort, and Vandenberg (good grab) completed the goal-scoring.
Not a great game but the persistent Ruse won out, headed by lurking forward Corey Jones (19 disposals, 6 marks, 7 goals) and the reliable on-ball team of Hamish McIntosh (26 disposals, a goal), Brent Harvey (30 touches, 9 marks, a goal) and Daniel Harris (27 handlings, 8 marks). Full-back Michael Firrito (12 possies) and solid Glenn Archer (6 marks, 14 kicks) repelled most of the Hawks’ haphazard attack and there were some handy efforts from Ed Sanbury (13 touches, 2 goals) and Drew Petrie (7 marks, 14 disposals, 2 goals), the latter having stints at both ends of the ground. Jesse Smith (22 possies) wasn’t bad, Djaran Whyman bagged 2 goals. The Hawks had plenty of the ball, but did very little with it. Apart from give it away. Luke Hodge (33 disposals, a goal) and Chance Bateman (27 possies) were prominent and Shane Crawford (27 touches) was alright until jarring a knee. Clinton Young (24 disposals, a goal) managed some long kicks forward and Jordan Lewis (34 touches) was about, as was Brad Sewell (28 disposals). But it was a lot of industry for little reward. Trent Croad and Beau Dowler bagged a coupla late goals each. Clarkson affected acceptance. “We just didn’t play well enough today,” Clarkson said. “We just didn’t execute the skills of the game as well as we’d like. I don’t really care too much about whether it was our worst [game this year] or not, we didn’t play well enough to win the game of footy. We had our opportunities to do a lot better than we did. We just move on as quickly as we can, we don’t lose faith in the way that we go about it and the belief that we’ve got. We’ve won 10 games of footy this year, we’ve played some good football and we’ll bounce back next week. [There was] very, very poor execution and conversion of the opportunities that we had. We had plenty and we didn’t make the most of ours and the Kangaroos did, to their credit.” Dean Laidley blamed the Hawks for the scrappy game and came up with a variant on one-week-at-a-time. “When you play the Hawks, the way they play, it sometimes gets a bit frustrating but I thought the players were able to carry out the instructions probably for three and a half quarters. The last 15 minutes I thought they kicked a few goals where I was probably not that pleased. [But] I thought our work off the ball, our pressure and our tackling, was pretty good . . . We’ve got five very important games to go and we’ll continue to get as many wins as we possibly can. Once we get there that’s when we can look and say, ‘We’re out of the finals, we’re in the top eight or we’re in the top four’. We can’t do anything about making the top four now. Our actions on the ground and our ability to win games will get us there and that’s the most important thing.”
At Docklands:
Essendon 6.2 10.4 14.6 18.9.117
Adelaide 5.3 10.4 12.7 16.9.105
As you may have heard, this season will be Kevin Sheedy’s last as coach of the Bombers, announced officially last Tuesday by the club. An extraordinary 27 years in charge. I could fill this report-thingy with observations, some of which will wait until Sheeds’ final game, probably round 22 but who knows? This event may be enough to lift the Dons into the finals. Apparently the Bommer hierarchy decided many months ago not to offer Sheeds a new contract, but made this premature announcement due to the Dees, Shockers and (particularly) Bluesers leaping into the coaching market in recent weeks. The man himself was keen on a new 2-year deal, they reckon, but accepted the decision with good grace. Since the announcement, many have speculated what Sheeds’ll do next, specifically whether he’ll want to keep coaching. The meedya would seem the easiest and most lucrative option. Explaining the decision, a Don committeeman said they wanted the (next) coach for a 3-5 year period - “I’ll be club president by then,” quipped Sheeds. Not altogether jokingly. Jobs as a coach-mentor, football director or AFL commissioner have been suggested. A few folks are anxious to link him with the struggling, low-profile Demons or (as they have done for most of them 27 years) the Tigers. We’ll see. Those Bomma fans unhappy with the decision were loudest and Don president Ray Horsburgh copped some flak, but as a few columnists suggested a ‘silent majority’ of Don fans may be quietly relieved Sheedy’s going. On the field, the last two years have been the worst in Sheeds’ stint and any improvement this year is due mostly to the return of veteran champions James Hird, Matty Lloyd and Dustin Fletcher from injury, rather than any recent recruiting success. Whatever the case, Sheedy certainly deserves the best send-off possible from all Essadun fans and his imminent departure may draw ever greater effort from his players, who’ve been pretty good in that aspect this season. Here they rallied to beat a depleted but determined Camry side, whose own challenge is fading steadily. In selection here the Bombers recalled Jason Winderlich and Kepler Bradley and gave an AFL debut to their no. 2 draft selection last year, Scott Gumbleton. He’s a tall lad from WA and son of the Kangaroos’ premiership-winning back-pocket Frank. They replaced Fletcher (knee), Tom Hislop (ankle) and the dropped Andrew Lovett. Adderlayed had two mature-age debutants, 23-year-old midfielder Bryce Campbell from Norwood and 25-year-old key forward Nick Gill of North Adelaide, at the expense of dropped pair Richard Douglas and Robert Shirley. Gill had been on Melbun’s list for a year or two and then the Roos’ rookie list, without managing a senior game.
The game was close most of the afternoon with the balance shifting all the way. The early play was scrappy, typified by the opening goal which was scrambled through from close range by Bomma Damien Peverill, after he extracted the ball from a pack. The Cows responded as Nathan Van Berlo’s very good kick found Jason Torney in space, he played on and drilled it through. The ‘word’ on new Camry Nick Gill was that he’s a good mark but a terrible kick, which he demonstrated to be true early with a big pack-grab and awful miss from 15m, dead in front. Essadun worked the ball nicely from a throw-in and Adam McPhee passed for leading Matthew Lloyd to mark and convert. Gill missed again, with a free-kick, before Camry Ken McGregor majored from a very soft free under our beloved hands-on-the-back rule. As it was against Mal Michael, I had little sympathy. The Corollas led by a point but the Bommers spurted clear, led by they skipper. Andrew Welsh passed for leading Lloyd to mark and convert again, then Lloyd kicked another, a free after catching Scott Thompson in possession. Soon some classy play from Nathan Lovett-Murray set up Lloyd for his third straight goal. Jobe Watson mongrel-punted the Dons into attack from the restart, the ball bounced past the pack and Adam Ramanauskas soccered a major. The Dons had sped to a 23-point lead. The Cressidas hit back in time-on, Graham Johncock kicked for junior ruckman Ivan Maric to out-mark Mark Johnson, Maric goaled. In the final minute Torney hacked a wobbly kick forward, caught behind Brett Burton punched the ball clear and Scott Welsh soccered a major. Camry Simon Goodwin won the following centre-clearance, as the ball came in Burton and his opponent Henry Slattery wrestled, the ball spilled and Burton shinned it through. The Dons by 5 points only at the first break. The Coronas continued to go alright into the second term, Bomma Lloyd had troubled opponent Scott Stevens in the first term so now Lloydy was effectively double-teamed as Ian Perrie dropped back into ‘the hole’. Essadun scored the first goal, Mark Johnson’s shot bouncing through to complete a handpassing move. The Dons were unusually keen to move the ball quickly in this game. The Cows replied as Andrew McLeod’s long kick was lost in the sun by the waiting pack and McGregor gathered the spilled ball to snap it through. McLeod enjoyed a good spell and his smart pass set up Burton for a long goal, a minute later passes from McGregor and Thompson created another mark and goal for Burton and the Cows led by 7 points. Another Lloyd goal, leading to mark Mark McVeigh’s pass, closed the gap again. Goodwin won the ball at the restart and his kick was marked by low-down by Burton, who was subsequently (and accidentally) kicked in the head by new team-mate Bryce Campbell. Groggy Burton’s awful shot didn’t carry 20m and was marked in the goal-square by Slattery. A good passing move involving Jay Nash and Jason Winderlich finished with a goal for Essadun’s Andrew Welsh, then McVeigh converted after a big pack-grab (with a bit of shepherding from ruckman Jason Laycock). The Dons led by 11 points but the Camrys crept close again after Tyson Edwards scored a rather easy goal from a throw-in. Lovett-Murray missed very poorly to make the Dons’ lead a goal exactly, late in the half Addleaid’s Gill conjured a good pass for Scott Welsh to mark and boot truly. Scores level at the long break.
The Bombouts had an early goal in the third. Camry backman Martin Mattner tried to barrel through a series of tackles, as he often does, but couldn’t get past Lovett-Murray who free-kicked an easy major. A bit later Corollas McGregor, Goodwin and Van Berlo exchanged handballs before McGregor found space to boot a long sausage, scores were level again. A few tight minutes before Addleaid went ahead, they advanced smoothly from a kick-in and as the ball went forward McGregor was held off-the-ball by Bradley, Kenny McG free-kicked another major. Camrys by 6 points. Momentum swung the Dons’ way late, McVeigh bagged a goal to reduce Addleaid’s lead to a point, then in time-on Brent Stanton roved a ball-up and handpassed for Jobe Watson to snap a sausage. Or as commentator David Schwarz called him, Jobe-Wan Kenobi. Soon Angus Monfries punted the Dons forward again, Camry ruckman Ben Hudson tried to punch the ball through for a behind but it took a fickle reverse-bounce and McVeigh gathered, he passed for Welsh to mark and convert. The Dons led by 11 points and ran the clock down to the final change. The opening half of the final quarter was tense with both sides defending desperately and missing shots, including another shocker from Gill and poor effort from Bommer McPhee. The Dons had ruckman David Hille, who’d been good, on the bench, something Sheedy admitted later was “a mistake.” Nearly quarter of an hour had elapsed before Camry Van Berlo, playing well, delivered a good pass for Scott Welsh to mark and boot a good goal, reducing the Dons’ lead to 7 points. Lovett-Murray missed a shot before some rugged play ended with McLeod handballing to Goodwin, he banged a long major and scores were level again. The Dons worked the ball forward from the restart and some good handballs from Monfries and Scott Lucas got the Sherrin to Winderlich, he used a burst of speed to create room for a very good, curling snap for full points. A bit later Lloyd was shoved in the back by Stevens, both men and ‘hole man’ Perrie fell over and the ump allowed advantage for Ricky Dyson to race clear and boot a long goal. Then Stanton finessed and centered the ball towards Hille, now on, he couldn’t mark but Mark Johnson roved and snapped a sausage roll. Essadun led by 18 points on the cusp of time-on. The Camrys were beginning to look tired, but plugged on. Their Scott Welsh collected a loose ball and passed for Burton to mark and convert, but Hille punted the Dons into attack from the following centre-bounce, Stanton held a good mark and kicked to the goal-square, Mark Johnson roved his own contest and bagged another. The Dons led by 18 again. Gill finally kicked a major for the Cows, a free-kick inside the goal-square which he nearly missed. Afterwards he, Peverill and Burton engaged in some handbags which saw Peverill dumped. That gave Essadun a free at the restart and they ran the clock down to victory.
Jobe Watson (30 disposals, a goal) and David Hille (27 hit-outs, 11 disposals) did very well on-the-ball for the Dons as they dominated pack-clearances. Brent Stanton (29 touches, 7 marks) is fully recovered from his ankle problems, apparently. Matthew Lloyd (8 marks, 17 disposals, 5 goals) was very good before being double-teamed and Mark Johnson (22 touches, 3 goals) played well at both ends, he was a pretty handy forward at the end there. Damien Peverill (35 possessions, 7 marks, a goal) got forward a bit more, perhaps ‘cause he tagged McLeod. Mark McVeigh (21 handlings, 2 goals) and Nathan Lovett-Murray (16 disposals, a goal) did some good things. Andrew Welsh kicked 2 goals. The Camrys had a good game from Tyson Edwards (30 touches, a goal) and at CHB, Nathan Bock (24 disposals, 12 marks) beat Scott Lucas. Simon Goodwin (30 disposals, a goal) and Scott Thompson (30 possessions) were their reliable selves and up forward Ken McGregor (5 marks, 12 possies, 4 goals) and Brett Burton (9 marks, 14 disposals, 4 goals) were handy, even if Burton isn’t fully fit. Nathan Van Berlo (19 possessions) and Chris Knights (28 touches) weren’t bad and Scott Welsh lurked about for 3 goals in his usual style. Nick Gill kicked 1.3 from 7 marks and 13 touches. The Camrys have a tough run home with the Showdown next week, then away to the Cats, the Dogs and Lyin’s at home before finishing off with the Pies in Melbourne. Craigy’s keen to get to the finals. “Our guys have still very much got their minds on the job about making the top eight,” he said. “There’s five games to play and we’ll treat it as it should be treated. Twelve, maybe thirteen games will get you into the finals and obviously the importance of next week’s game [against Port Adelaide] continues again. It’s a big game for us in Adelaide and a big game for the state. Unless you want to bank on twelve getting you in, we’ll be banking on winning the five [games remaining].” On the game he said “Not only the clearances (were poor) but the scoring potential from that. The pressure builds as the game goes on and we were never able to close that stoppage gap and take the heat away from us. We’ll leave injuries out of it, we don’t want to go down that path. Some of our skill level over the last five weeks hasn’t been up to the standard we would expect of ourselves . . . We need to make sure our attitude stays correct and I thought it was today. I’m not questioning the endeavour of our guys one little bit and we need to keep that for the rest of the year.” Sheeds said "It's been a hell of a long week. You're sick of actually talking about things and you just want to get out there and coach. And you don't like looking at yourself in the paper. All those sorts of things. It's even worse when they put [photos of you] in the paper [from] 1981 when you actually had a reasonable body to look at. At the moment, I feel like Humpty Dumpty. But, I think that I can still coach, so that's not too bad. I'll coach really well [in the next five weeks] or I'll try to. I'll keep the boys' opportunity alive as a coach. You've got a month-and-a-half, six matches, to get this right. We've got some big games coming up. Obviously Hawthorn next week and that will be a great game; you wouldn't want to miss it. It's a pretty exciting five weeks we've got after this match." All part of the long goodbye.
At Football Park:
Port Adelaide 8.3 11.6 19.10 25.13.163
Melbourne 2.3 6.6 7.7 11.8.74
Port continued on their merry way as the form side of the leeg, crushing the hapless Demons at Foopall Park. In so doing the Powder jumped into the top four, third on the ladder now. And their run home isn’t bad, they’d be favourites for next week’s Showdown, then have the Bluies also at Foopall Park before facing the Orcs in Tassie (where Port have a good record), the tricky Cats at Kardinia before the Dockers also at Foodee Park. Easy. The Dees did little recently apart from be linked with Sheedy as a potential new coach. Excellent skiing this year, apparently. Two changes to the Port side which thumped the Tigers, Nathan Krakouer and Adam Thomson replacing Robert Gray (calf strain) and late withdrawal Warren Tredrea (knee soreness). Champion rover Peter Burgoyne played his 200th game. Melbun were strengthened as Cameron Bruce, Daniel Bell, Ben Holland and Ryan Ferguson were recalled. Regulars this season in Nathan ‘The Cougar’ Carroll and Paul Johnson were dropped, along with Clint Bizzell and Chris Johnson.
A bit like last week, Port’s Brett Ebert had marked and converted from a bit of an angle within 20 seconds of the opening bounce. Davids Rodan and Motlop followed in rapid succession as Port romped clear early. Brad Green snapped one for the Dees. Melbun actually had a bit of a go, following the ‘new’ pattern set by Sheedy they didn’t flood or double-team but took on their men one-on-one. Either the only way to properly educate the kids or an invitation to a thrashing, depending upon your viewpoint. Port’s Chadster Cornes started in the forward-line, prolly because Tredrea was out, and he bagged consecutive goals. Defender Troy Chaplin slipped forward for one and running Shaun Burgoyne bagged the final goal of the stanza as the Flowers led by 36 points at the first break. The Dees improved markedly in the second term and actually won it, although the press attributed the feat to Port fiddling about with the ball too much. Chad Cornes, now in the midfield, booted an early major but then errors started to creep in as the Dees slowed down Port’s run. Russ Robertson bagged a couple of goals to give the Dees some heart and Michael Newton kicked one from a rebound, after Port’s Brogan missed poorly. Chad Cornes scored another, a banana-goal (or checkside as they’re called in SA) to steady the Power ship, they were 30 points up at the long break. But the Power really came out and flogged the Dees in the third Mario with eight goals to one. Justin Westhoff, Rodan, Ebert and Motlop booted majors and the rampant Chadley Cornes got two more, taking his tally to six. The Dees didn’t have many favours from the umps in this period, although Port’s full-back Toby Thurstans was reported for biffing James McDonald. He’s since received a ‘reprimand’. How weak is that? Late in the term Power ruckman Lade tapped a ball-up for Shaun Burgoyne to boot a goal and the locals led by 75 points at the final change. They pressed ahead in the final stanza, booting six more goals before the Dees bagged a few in junk time, Matthew Bate cashed in with a couple. Newton was reported for biffing Peter Burgoyne, I think he got off too.
Chad Cornes (22 disposals, 11 marks, 6 goals) is zeroing in on the Brownlow and reborn half-back Peter Burgoyne (36 disposals, 8 marks) flourished on his milestone. Ruck-rovers Michael Wilson (24 touches) and Dominic Cassisi (30 handlings, 7 marks) were very good and Kane Cornes (29 possies, a goal) gave Brock McLean a hiding. Like the Chadmeister, Brett Ebert (9 marks, 17 kicks) bagged the lazy 6 goals too. The running power of Shaun Burgoyne (17 disposals, 4 goals) and David Rodan (10 touches, 3 goals) was handy, rucking pair Brendon Lade (22 hit-outs, 17 disposals, a goal) and Dean Brogan (20 handlings, 13 marks, 18 hit-outs) were winners. Daniel Motlop kicked 2 goals. Melbun had good games from Brad Green (28 disposals, 2 goals) and battlin’ half-back Nathan Brown (27 touches, 8 marks), James ‘Junior’ McDonald (26 touches) was okay. Paul Wheatley (20 disposals) was quite good at full-back and Cameron Bruce’s return (21 handlings, a goal) was welcome. Nathan Jones (25 touches) earned a Rising Star nomination and a gutsy with-the-flight grab by Ferguson was nominated for mark of the round. Robertson, Bate and Newton kicked 2 goals each. Mark Riley gave a prolonged sigh. “We’ve just got to keep soldiering forward. No one is going to come and draw the curtain on the season early. We’ve got five very tough games to go. That’s five opportunities to get out of the doldrums and start playing a better brand of footy and start having a look at, maybe, some more guys. I didn’t think our blokes turned their toes up - I was pretty pleased with the effort . . . not the execution, but the effort. Our short-term goal, coming away from here, is to definitely work on some skill.” Port’s Williams said “The last couple of weeks playing sides down the bottom of the ladder it’s always concerning as to how well prepared everyone is. We can go through the same processes but do we get the best results. Full credit to the players, I thought they prepared wonderfully well. Credit to the other coaches, they kept the players on the ball. The fitness men and medical staff made good selections as well. So it’s a great result for us to finish off the game as well as we did and to get a bit of percentage, which is obviously going to be important and still maintain our chance to make the finals. It was almost like an 'all played well' situation. It’s a nice thing to say and I know it’s a bit soft, but that’s how it was and the players will respect that as a job well done. We’ve still got a win or two to go to make finals, but obviously we’re well placed at the moment.”
Ladder after Round Seventeen
Pts. % Next Week
Geelong 56 158.0 Richmond (Kardinia Park, Saturday)
North Melbourne 48 107.9 Brisbane (Gabba, Sat. night)
Port Adelaide 44 113.7 Adelaide (Football Park, Sat. night)
West Coast 44 113.6 Fremantle (Subiaco, Sunday)
Hawthorn 40 110.5 Essendon (MCG, Sunday)
Collingwood 40 99.9 Carlton (MCG, Saturday)
Sydney 36 116.5 Melbourne (Manuka Oval, Sunday)
Essendon 36 96.7 Hawthorn (MCG, Sunday)
---------------------------
St. Kilda 36 94.5 Footscray (Docklands, Fri. night)
Footscray 36 92.7 St. Kilda (Docklands, Fri. night)
Brisbane 34 110.9 North Melbourne (Gabba, Sat. night)
Adelaide 32 108.6 Port Adelaide (Football Park, Sat. night)
Fremantle 28 98.2 West Coast (Subiaco, Sunday)
Carlton 16 74.6 Collingwood (MCG, Saturday)
Melbourne 12 77.1 Sydney (Manuka Oval, Sunday)
Richmond 6 74.4 Geelong (Kardinia Park, Saturday)
Cheers, Tim.
Article last changed on Friday, August 03, 2007 - 5:23 PM EDT
