Brook Kilpatrick reporting for AFANA from Australia
Geelong booked their passage into a Grand Final face-off with reigning Premiers Collingwood after a comfortable 48 point win over the West Coast Eagles at the MCG on Saturday. First year coach Chris Scott has proved many critics wrong by taking the Cats back to the Grand Final, in the wake of losing the game’s best player in Gary Ablett Jr to the Gold Coast Suns.
A sellout crowd of over 40,000 fans packed Patersons Stadium to see the West Coast Eagles take on a determined Geelong Cats. This was a chance for the Eagles to prove that they were real contenders for the Finals even without the in-form Quinten Lynch, who had been suspended for rough contact the week before. Geelong have not lost two games in a row for so long that people have arguments about when that was. The script was supposed to read that the Eagles would put up a valiant fight but go down in the end by five or six goals – but it didn’t go according to the script by a long way.
Jamie Kloeden reporting for AFANA from Adelaide, South Australia
With half the season completed, Geelong remain unbeaten on top of the Ladder but only after a strong challenge from the Hawks. The Round 12 match was hyped as one of the biggest clashes of the year so far and a free flowing, high scoring start to the game certainly had people looking forward to a tight contest.
Geelong's 2007 Rising Star winner Joel Selwood has added another award to his bulging trophy cabinet with his first best and fairest award. Selwood polled a whopping 667 votes, 20 votes ahead of 2009 winner Gary Ablett.
James Podsiadly, (GEEL), bumping or making forceful contact from front-on against Carton's Bryce Gibbs: assessed as negligent conduct (one point), medium impact (two points) and high contact (two points), equaling five activation points and a two game suspension.
With the pool of available talent being stretched at draft time due to the introduction of the Gold Coast and Western Sydney teams, the AFL has eliminated the age restriction for rookie-listed players. At present, only one player over the age of 23 is allowed to be rookie-drafted.
For pictures of all the action go to:
http://www.afana.com/drupal5/category/image_galleries/2010_photo_essays/round_12_essendon_v_geelong/14-933
With both teams coming off interstate travel, the ever hopeful thought Essendon had the slightest chance of winning. However the script went according to form.
by Lisa Albergo reporting for AFANA from Chicago
Charges Laid:
Lenny Hayes (STK), striking Richmond's Jeromey Webberley: assessed as negligent conduct (one point), low impact (one point), and high contact (two points), equalling four activation points, a Level One offense, 80 demerits and a reprimand. He has
Essendon already had one player from Papua New Guinea on an international scholarship, 17-year old David Meli, who is playing the juniors' TAC competition. Now it is three with the club offering two more international scholarships to Victor Lame and Max Lavai, both 15 years old. The pair spent a week in Melbourne in early May, touring the city, meeting Essendon's senior players and visiting the club's facilities.
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