At Docklands:
Footscray 4.5 6.9 7.11 12.13.85
St. Kilda 3.3 8.4 10.10 12.13.85
If the Stainers don't make the finals, they'll look back on this and the Collywood game as ones which were fumbled and dropped like a Brendon Gale marking attempt. This flooding-dominated game wasn't quite as bad as the Magpie one perhaps, as the Bulldogs controlled the ball for long periods and had a result coming, maybe. But when the Stainers led by 23 points, seven minutes into the final stanza, they should've won. Brisbun were the big winners as now their healthy percentage will mean something. Both the sides involved here should treat the draw as a loss. In selection here the Bulldogs, with their season on the line, regained Scott West, Chris Grant and Daniel Cross from injury, replacing axed trio Jarrod Harbrow, Josh Hill and Cameron Wight. During the week Bulldog ruckman Luke Darcy announced he'd be retiring at the season's end, Darcy said he'd lost the desire to play after returning from two years out with knee reconstructions. He's also lost the ability to jump. Darcy (achievements) and proved an articulate media performer during his enforced sojourn, which is where he'll probably go. The Saints, with their season on the line, had Justin Koschitzke return from suspension but lost Luke Ball (more groin trouble), Clinton Jones was called up and Michael Rix dropped. Steven Baker played his 150th game.
The first quarter wasn't bad, but Footyscray signaled their intentions by flooding heavily, with Grant and Robert Murphy stationed behind the ball to help out Brian Harris (on Gehrig) and Dale Morris (Riewoldt). Doggy Jason Akermanis booted the opening goal, he was spoiled while leading but gathered the ball, wheeled about and thumped it through. Classical Aker. The Saints replied with a very good passage, initiated by Lenny Hayes and Sam Gilbert and ended by Jason Gram's running major. The Saints had a free kick at the restart, Gilbert punted smartly and Riewoldt held a strong grab in front of Morris, 'Rooey' goaled. Soon Sinkilda advanced from a kick-in and Matt 'Goose' Maguire's wobbly kick was marked by Baker, he chipped ahead for Xavier Clarke to mark and convert and the Satins'd jumped to a 10-point lead. The flood at either end made attacking more difficult for the small Doggies and they chipped the ball slowly and side-to-side. Umpiring helped reverse the momentum, as Koschitzke set himself for a defensive mark oncoming Brad Johnson pulled Kosi's arm down, collected the ball and popped it through. The umps thought that was okay. A minute later Wayde Skipper marked in the centre and was pushed over by Matthew Clarke, a 50m penalty and Skipper sausaged. The Dogs led by 3 points. Adam Cooney postered and Maguire sliced an awful shot on-the-full before Akermanis picked up a 50m penalty, manhandled by Jason Blake after a grab. Akermanis kicked into space ahead of Danny Giansiracusa, who gathered and snapped wide but was shoved in the back while doing so, another free and Giansiracusa majored. Johnson and Riewoldt missed for their respective sides prior to the first break, the Bullies 8 points ahead. The Saints started the second term well. Riewoldt held a good mark in the pocket and stabbed a pass backwards to Gram, he kicked a goal. Stephen Milne, frustrated by the flood, went down to take a kick-in for his first touch and chipped it directly to Brad Johnson, but Johnno missed. The Saints attacked and Koschitzke was held, twice, by Grant. The umps picked up the second one and Koschitzke free-kicked a major. Sinkilda led by 3 points. Then game was pretty congested and scrappy, but slowly the Pups began to control the ball. The frustrated Sainters began to give away frees. Grant slipped forward for the Dogs and got on the end of a laboriously slow passing move to mark and boot a 50m goal, the Dogs led again. Stainer spearhead Gehrig, yet to bother the statistician, was benched as the Saints re-organized. Soon the Sainters majored as Grant turned over and Aaron Fiora kicked long, Riewoldt leaped over Morris, couldn't hold the mark but recovered to dob a goal anyway. A minute later Bulldog Matthew Boyd was penalized for diving over Saint man Shane Birss to get the ball, Boyd's displeasure with the decision cost a 50m penalty and Birss found Blake all alone for a grab and goal. Stinkilda led by 8 points. With a minute remaining in the half Doggy man Shaun Higgins recovered a Stainer kick-in and his tumbling kick was marked by Giansiracusa over Gram, 'Guido' converted. But with ten seconds to go Fiora roved a ball-up and fired a handpass to Leigh Montagna, he raced clear and sausaged. The Saints led by 7 points at the long break.
The Stainers started the third korter well, but Blake and Xavier Clarke kicked points. Clarke's miss was poor. Then Nick Dal Santo roved Riewoldt's contest and lobbed a pass for Milne to mark in the pocket, Milney played-on and whipped it through. Stinkilda led by 15 points. After that, the Dogs worked hard to win the ball but spent many minutes kicking it side-to-side across their half-forward line or back to their defenders. There were incidents rather than highlights. Gehrig's first touch, a mark on-the-lead, didn't result in a disposal as off-ball wrangling gave the Pups a free-kick. Cooney sliced a set-shot on-the-full. Finally Bulldog Cross found space inside attacking 50 and Sam Power delivered, the crowd alerted Cross to Giansiracusa lurking alone in the pocket and Cross's pass found him, Guido majored. Milne tried to repeat his earlier effort but postered. The Sainters had the big forwards though, Koschitzke out-bullocked Luke Darcy to hold a mark and boot truly, Sinkilda led by 16 points. Grant had a shot himself, on the siren, the goal-ump reckoned it hit the post but was over-ruled by the fieldy, who said the pack knocked it down - no score. But then again, Grant probably didn't mark it in the first place. Into the final stanza and Xavier Clarke set up an early Sainter goal, roving Riewoldt and lobbing a kick for Fiora to mark, Fiora majored and Sinkilda led by 23 points. The Dogs replied quickly, Murphy managed a defensive spoil and carried on down the ground, he passed to leading Giansiracusa who in turn kicked to Cooney. The lad Cooney goaled. The Saints scored again, Bulldog Johnson badly telegraphed a handpass, Gram intercepted and kicked for Riewoldt to mark and kick truly. The Stains led by 23 points again and the Bulldogs, now needing four unanswered goals to win the game, abandoned the flood. Presently a good move, by far their fastest of the night, was completed by Higgins passing to leading Giansiracusa, the reliable Guido converted. Johnson limped off with hamstring trouble and an Akermanis shot was rushed through for a point. Another attack seemed to have broken down but retreating West got a handpass to Boyd, he thumped a major from 50m and the Sainter lead was down to 10 points. A minute later Boyd stripped the ball from his buddy Birss and it went to leading Akermanis, Aker kicked for Andrejs Everitt to mark close-in and the young Spida punted truly. Saints by 4 points. Baker's milestone night ended prematurely as he backed into a pack, got clobbered and struggled off. Koschitzke missed a set shot and the Dogs advanced from the kick-in, Akermanis led to mark on the flank again. His shot drifted wide and short but Skipper leaped for a big pack-grab, Skipper speared it through and the Bullies led by a point. There was about 1:30 left. Understandably, the Dogs flooded again but Grant kicking on-the-full gave up possession, Gram thumped a long torpedo from which Riewoldt held a terrific with-the-flight mark. Riewoldt's shot dropped short and was punched through for a behind, leveling the scores. That was with 5 seconds to go, the siren sounded soon.
Nick Riewoldt (20 disposals, 13 marks, 3 goals) is in great form at the minute. Wingmen Sam Gilbert (23 touches, 9 marks) and Aaron Fiora (16 handlings, a goal) were prominent as were running backmen Jason Gram (17 touches, 2 goals) and Sam Fisher (18 touches, 5 marks). Xavier Clarke (13 disposals, 7 marks, a goal) did a bit from a forward-flank. Robert Harvey (16 possies) was best of a subdued, well-tagged midfield. Justin Koschitzke kicked 2 goals. For the Dogs, Matthew Boyd (27 touches, 11 marks, a goal) is in great touch and Scott West's return (33 disposals) was welcome, especially by Adam Cooney (22 possies, 10 marks, a goal). Robert Murphy (22 kicks, 10 marks) was very handy in defence. Daniel Giansiracusa's form (12 touches, 5 marks, 4 goals) improved and Chris Grant (18 handlings, 10 marks, a goal) was handy at both ends, Brian Harris (15 possies, 10 marks) deserves kudos for keeping Gehrig goal-less. Wayde Skipper kicked 2 useful goals.
At the MCG:
Carlton 4.4 7.6 11.10 14.12.96
Collingwood 4.0 8.7 10.10 18.12.120
Stand-in Bloo coach Brett Ratten faced questions about tanking again from the meedya, as the competitive Bluies conceded the final four goals of this game to go down by that margin. Whatta loada rubbish from the meedya. Of course the Bluesers don't want to win another game. The occasion was marked by the retirement of Bloo hero Anthony Koutoufides, Kouta injured his hip against the Saints last week, sufficiently badly to end his season which was going to be his last anyway. Few, if indeed any players I've seen 'live' could dominate a game the way Kouta could when firing. Last week folks reminisced about the 1999 finals series, probably Kouta's peak, particularly the prelim final against the Dons which he won by himself (with help from Dean Wallis). Kouta could play in any position but was best as a pack-clearing ruck-rover, many folks recalling his waltzing away from the contest, ball seized in one mitt as he looked for options. Kouta had little luck with injury throughout his 278-game career, the knee he did in the 2001 final against the Tiges (which went a long way to deciding the outcome of that game) ended Kouta's best years. His form did run a bit hot-and-cold too, as shown the year he was fave for the Brownlow (99 again, I think), collected few votes in the first half of the season but then scored four or five BOGs straight towards the end. Didn't win, but. Koutoufides did a lap of honour before this game. It was tight most of the way, Blue midfielders Andrew Carrazzo (36 disposals) and Heath Scotland (33 touches) were very good, the Poise perhaps feeling the absences of injured pair Pendlebury and O'Bree and Paul Licuria, dropped for form reasons. Brendan Fevola was on best behavior and form with 6 goals (6.3) from 10 marks, 12 kicks and Brad Fisher (15 disposals, 8 marks, 2 goals) was handy too. The Pies' own forwards, Anthony Rocca (6 marks, 7 kicks, 5 goals), Travis Cloke (6 marks, 14 disposals, 4 goals) and Leon Davis (17 kicks, 6 marks, 2 goals), were good too. Scores were level in the last quarter when Fevola trotted to the bench for a few minutes, for no apparent reason, prompting jokes about tanking. The laughter proved hollow as Dale Thomas and Rocca bagged two goals during the time, prompting the Poise late, winning surge. Scott Burns (22 touches, a goal), Dane Swan (24 possies) and returning defender James 'Arnaut' Clement (23 handlings, 5 marks) were also good for the Poise, Thomas and Tarkyn Lockyer kicked 2 goals each for Collywood. Backman Bret Thornton, on Didak, was also handy for the Bluies and Jarrad Waite kicked 2 goals. "To come that close again is just another whack around the head for our young group," said Ratten. "That was the youngest team we've fielded at Carlton for 37 years. So to perform that way, I was very proud of them again but, as I said to them after the game, we can't accept losing." Except when it means two extra draft picks in the top 20? "I can understand why the talk happens, but I can't understand why people think players don't go out to win," said Ratts. "From an administration and board level, you might be secretly hoping . . . you have honourable losses, but you can't tell players not to win a game of football." No, just pick the youngest team for 37 years. Mick Malthouse said "We had to compromise. We had to pluck players from all over the place to see whether we could actually get something going. There was a lot to like, there was a lot not to like . . . Carlton are going to be a pretty good side." Of course, Mick weighed in on the 'tanking' question. "I've never been in favour of it (the priority pick system), I reckon it just rewards mediocrity. If your recruiting panel is not good enough . . . they can be sacked, just like players and coaches." Easy to say when you have the most money to spend on recruiting.
At Kardinia Park:
Geelong 5.3 9.6 13.10 21.13.139
Richmond 2.1 5.2 7.3 11.3.75
The bookies got it pretty right. Cats $1.02, the Tiges $11. Cats short odds to kick the sweep and win by 10+ goals. All winners. Once again the Tigers were sort-of competitive for two-and-a-bit quarters and fell away after that, but at least avoided the 25-goal hiding they copped from the Cats in round six, which began this lengthy Cat winning-streak. Then again, given the damp, windy conditions, this is modest consolation for the Toigs. The highlight for your Cat fans would've been not only one, but two goals from gangling junior ruckman Mark Blake, the first a handball-receive from Cam Mooney for a goal-square tap-through, the second an almost athletic snap which bounced through thanks to Mooney's shepherding. Huzzah! Returning ruckman Steven King (Ottens a withdrawal) took a ride and speccie over an out-of-position goal-umpire too, that was a bit of fun. Elsewhere Gary Ablett (28 touches, a goal) and Jimmy Bartel (32 touches) were excellent on-the-ball and Matty Scarlett (23 possies) did plenty of rebounding, Steve Johnson was the key man in attack with 5 goals from 19 disposals and 10 marks. Joel Corey (33 touches, a goal) and following Darren Milburn (32 handlings, 9 marks, a goal) were pretty good too. Matty Stokes (3 goals) is securing the small forward spot ahead of Byrnes and David Wojcinski (21 touches, 2 goals) played well, 'miskicking' a running goal from 60m. Mooney, James Kelly and Blake got 2 goals each. Better Tiges included pack-clearing machine Nathan Foley (35 disposals), who drew Ling as a tagger after half-time and Matty Richardson (10 marks, 16 kicks) did well to boot 4 goals against Scarlett. Second-gamer Daniel Connors (25 touches) played well, he's a decent size too, and Will Thursfield (17 touches, 5 marks) and Luke McGuane (17 possies, 7 marks) did well against Mooney and Nathan Ablett, respectively. Shane Tuck (27 disposals, a goal) and Andrew Raines (24 touches) were alright, Brett Deledio (16 possies, a goal) returned from his hand injury and Nathan Brown kicked 3 goals including two late ones to make the margin slightly less embarrassing. Greg Tivendale bagged 2 goals. Wallace called on his senior players to do more. "What I'm looking for more than anything else is for our senior players to take control of the footy club and to really set the tone and standards. I come away from the game and most of my positives are with my younger players . . . we really just need a lift out of some of our senior boys . . . last year our best players were our senior players, we just haven't had the same high standards from them this year and we need them to really stand up." Mark 'Bomber' Thompson said "It's hard to rate today's performance because we're playing a team that's won one game of footy, so we're not getting carried away with that. The test that players set themselves was to come out and play a team they were expected to beat, in windy conditions and we knew the game was going to be scrappy. So from that aspect, it was good." Slightly tougher run for the Cats now.
At the Gabba:
Brisbane 3.5 5.10 7.14 10.15.75
North Melbourne 0.1 2.6 4.7 5.10.40
The draw between the Dogs and the Saints allowed the Lyin's to climb into the eight with this tackle-driven win over the in-form Ruse. Jonathan Brown (14 marks, 19 disposals, 6.6) led the way with ruckman Jamie Charman (25 hit-outs) and new forward Wayde Mills (6 marks, 7 disposals, 2 goals) both effective. Mills can't kick but he can take a mark. Must be from Adelaide. New heroes Jared Brennan (23 touches, 8 marks, a goal) and Jed Adcock (30 disposals) played well again. Roo runners Brent Harvey (35 disposals) and Daniel Wells (21 touches, a goal) tried to lift them, but the Kangers had nothing happening up forward. Or maybe they're no good, as everyone suspects. Brady Rawlings (25 touches on Simon Black) and Kasey Green (26 possies) weren't bad. They had five goal-kickers. Laidley wrote it off as one of those games. "I just thought what we've been good at for most of the year we weren't, and the Lions played particularly well. They've had 85 Champion Data tackles which is the most I've ever seen in a game.
They were very impressive. Their attack on the footy was extraordinary . . . their contested footy . . . they played very well." Lethal reckoned "We had 27 scoring shots to 15 so we had a good night at the footy, but a different night to what we've become used to in the last month. I thought tackling pressure was just magnificent - our ability to keep tackling and tackling made it hard for Kangaroos to score. No team can play well enough offensively to be able not to tackle extremely well too. It's a building block for any good team performance and in the last five weeks our tackling pressure has been exceptional."
At Football Park:
Adelaide 0.3 3.10 5.15 9.19.73
Port Adelaide 3.1 6.2 9.3 10.5.65
The Camrys kept their challenge alive by climbing outta the grave to overhaul the Powder in Showdown XXIII. Port made the classic mistake, trying to save a game instead of win it. Or maybe they just ran out of puff again, as they have done too regularly this season. The game was close and tight, a by-product of the greasy conditions, multiple tags and usual Showdown tension. Port were without ruckman Dean Brogan, injured in the warm-up, and the Cows missed Nathan Bock. The Camrys' comparatively erratic shooting was a factor for three quarters, and scattergun new forward Nick Gill wasn't (entirely) to blame. Gill did kick one of the Camrys' crucial final-term goals, as did Jason Torney, Tyson Edwards and Simon Goodwin. Goodwin (39 touches, a goal) was probably BOG, Torney (20 disposals, 9 marks, 2 goals) and Edwards (25 possies, a goal) were very good too as was forward Brett Burton (23 handlings, 9 marks, 2 goals). Nathan Van Berlo tagged Chad Cornes closely and Ben Hudson (19 hit-outs, 16 disposals) appreciated Brogan's absence. Michael Doughty (14 possies) worked hard down back. The Powre's better men included Brett Ebert (12 touches, 4 marks, 4 goals) and David Rodan (24 disposals), speedy Danyle Pearce (22 possies, 8 marks) and their ruckman Brendon Lade (26 hit-outs, 17 disposals, 9 marks). Junior spearhead Justin Westhoff (3 marks, 5 kicks, 3 goals) was useful too. Mark Williams said "I think we got the sort of game we expected. It was a very competitive game. To be in front at three-quarter time was a good position to be in, but we got absolutely smashed at the stoppages in the last quarter. We probably left Ladey hanging out to dry too long during the game." Ah, the Brogan excuse. Neil Craig said. "The performance tonight doesn't mean that we've turned the corner, but what it does is demonstrate to our supporters that the capacity to produce it [hard, contested footy] is still there. We've still got a lot of people out of our side, but it doesn't matter who plays, that's the expectation."
Okay, runnin outta time so it'll be scores only hereon. And more info next week, I hope.
At Manuka Oval:
Melbourne 0.2 3.4 5.5 9.10.64
Sydney 5.1 10.5 14.9 17.10.112
Goals: Syd: Jolly 2, J. Bolton 2, Buchanan 2, Schneider 2, O'Keefe 2, Hall, O'Loughlin, Malceski, Davis, Goodes, Ablett, Grundy.
Melb: Holland 3, Davey 2, Neitz, Miller, Newton, Jamar.
Best: Syd: Buchanan, Goodes, C. Bolton, Schneider, Everitt, Bevan.
Melb: Carroll, Holland, Jones, Brown.
At the MCG:
Hawthorn 4.4 7.9 11.11 17.17.119
Essendon 0.6 3.8 7.12 7.14.56
Goals: Haw: Franklin 4, Roughead 3, Dixon 2, Ladson 2, Crawford 2, Boyle, Gilham, Bateman, Vandenberg.
Ess: Lloyd 2, Monfries, Peverill, Slattery, Lucas, Fletcher.
Best: Haw: Lewis, Mitchell, Ladson, Brown, Hodge, Birchall, Bateman, Young.
Ess: Fletcher, Stanton, Ryder, Watson, Lovett, Laycock.
At Subiaco:
West Coast 2.4 6.7 11.8 14.13.97
Fremantle 5.3 9.4 13.7 19.10.124
Goals: Frem: J. Carr 3, Farmer 3, Pavlich 2, Bell 2, Grover, Murphy, M. Carr, Peake, Tarrant, Crowley, Hasleby, Black, Gilmore.
WC: LeCras 4, Wirrpanda 2, Staker 2, Lynch, Hansen, Seaby, R. Jones, Hunter, Selwood.
Best: Frem: J. Carr, McPharlin, Tarrant, Grover, Solomon.
WC: Cox, Wirrpanda, LeCras, Selwood, Glass.
Ladder after Round Eighteen
Pts. % Next Week
Geelong 60 160.4 Adelaide (Kardinia Park, Sunday)
North Melbourne 48 105.2 West Coast (Docklands, Sunday)
Hawthorn 44 114.4 Brisbane (MCG, Saturday)
Port Adelaide 44 112.6 Carlton (Football Park, Saturday)
West Coast 44 110.7 North Melbourne (Docklands, Sunday)
Collingwood 44 106.1 Richmond (MCG, Fri. night)
Sydney 40 119.2 St. Kilda (Stadium Australia, Sat. night)
Brisbane 38 113.1 Hawthorn (MCG, Saturday)
---------------------------
St. Kilda 38 94.8 Sydney (Stadium Australia, Sat. night)
Footscray 38 93.0 Melbourne (Docklands, Sat. night)
Adelaide 36 108.8 Geelong (Kardinia Park, Sunday)
Essendon 36 93.6 Fremantle (Subiaco, Sunday)
Fremantle 32 99.8 Essendon (Subiaco, Sunday)
Carlton 16 74.8 Port Adelaide (Football Park, Saturday)
Melbourne 12 73.4 Footscray (Docklands, Sat. night)
Richmond 6 72.5 Collingwood (MCG, Fri. night)
Cheers, Tim.
Article last changed on Wednesday, August 08, 2007 - 5:50 PM EDT
