AFL Weekly Review Round 17 2006

AFL Round 17

by Tim Murphy 

At the MCG:

Collingwood  5.4   11.9   13.14   16.17.113
Hawthorn     0.1    3.1    6.2     11.2.68

 “Another Friday night stinker!” volunteered commentator Commetti at half-time. The AFL and their partners Channel Nine haven’t organized the high-profile broadcast slot very well this year, one-sided blowouts or games between lower-ladder strugglers featuring often. The former here, the Magpoise disposing of the Hawks early before dropping down a gear in the second half. A few team changes for the Pies, Shane Wakelin (hamstring), Dale Thomas (shoulder) and the mercifully dropped Chad Morrison replaced by Williamstown’s own Jason Cloke, Leon Davis and Nick Maxwell, the last back from injury. Nathan Buckley played his 250th game for the Poise (270 overall) amid much hype he’s the “greatest Collingwood player ever”. How many flags has he won, again? The Horkers were strengthened with Joel Smith and Peter ‘Spida’ Everitt back from injury and John Barker was recalled, replacing luckless skipper Richie Vandenberg (‘flu), Mark Williams (bruised ribs) and Chance Bateman (elbow injury). Smith, who’s had his share of injuries, played his 200th game here. Spida still wants a 2-year contract; it’s club policy at Hawthorn for blokes over 30 to be offered one-year deals only. 

The vultures circled as callow Hork backman Zac Dawson, torn apart by Anthony Rocca back in round 5, lined up on the big Poi forward again. Collywood dominated the opening half. Big ugly Travis Cloke booted the opening goal after intercepting Hork man Jordan Lewis’s poor kick, Lewis having held a good grab to win the ball. Typical Horks. A burst of speed from Dane Swan allowed him to set up Heath Shaw’s long punt for a goal. Hawk Luke Hodge managed to miss a snap from 10m for their only score of the first term. Mostly the Hawks bombed high punts towards Barker and Rob Campbell, easy pickings for the Poise zoning-off defenders. Jason Cloke revelled - it was like the start of his career over again. Rocca led for a strong grab under pressure from Dawson and booted a sausage, the Maggies quickly 18 points ahead. Horforn managed to withstand the pressure for a while prior to a coupla late Pie goals. The Hawks were unlucky on the first as Hodge was penalised for ‘bawl’, then a 50m penalty added for a punch seen by no-one but the ump. Tarkyn Lockyer kicked the major. The Poise cleared the restart and Rocca’s smart handpass allowed Buckley to snap a very good left-foot goal. The Maggies led by 33 points at the first break and Hawforn had produced their seventh goal-less quarter of the season - most of ‘em at the MCG too, I’d wager. Pies Buckley, Tarrant and Johnson missed shots early in the second stanza as they continued to press, running strongly from defence. Suddenly the Horks got a goal, Barker milking a free-kick following a wrestle with James Clement. Generally though, the umps weren’t helping the Hawks. Another poor decision to penalize Lewis for what was a simple, tough contest led to a goal for Travis Cloke. The Hawks were improving though, with Trent Croad coming into the game across half-forward. Shane Crawford snapped a goal after he roved Sam Mitchell’s long kick, the Pie boy Shaw leaving Crawf to contest the mark. Hawk ruckman Campbell won the ball at the restart, his long kick cleared Simon Taylor and Crawford lurked behind to mark and convert. Two sausages in-a-row for the Hawks and they’d reduced the Pie lead to 25 points. Promising, but the Magpiss rammed through 5 goals in time-on. Chris Egan’s good run and long kick ended with two panicky Hawks spoiling one-another, Alan Didak gathered the crumb and snapped it through. Shaw’s long kick bounced through for a major as Hawk backmen swarmed over Rocca and ignored the ball, a soft free-kick to Josh Fraser at the restart ended with a comfortable goal for Tarrant. Rocca bagged another after tossing Dawson aside for a grab, Hawk Mitchell was caught at the next centre-bounce and Ben Johnson punted the Maggies forward. Rocca collected the loose ball and snapped it home once more, the Poise led by a healthy 56 points at half-time.

Hawthorn’s Croad didn’t return for the second half, he’d been whacked in the head by Ben Johnson in the second quarter and had ‘slowly-developing concussion’ according to Nine’s camera-loving doctor. Croad-rage was soon off to hospital. Smith punted the Horks into attack from the opening bounce of the third term, junior Grant Birchall roved the pack and booted a good goal. Normal service resumed. Tarrant missed poorly but a moment later he did well to keep the ball in play, Shane O’Bree centered for Buckley to mark and convert. A good bit of play by the Pies was wasted by Didak kicking on-the-full, but Clement’s cool defending, Fraser’s skilful work to win a loose ball and Travis Cloke’s strong contested mark demonstrated their dominance. Didak made amends a moment later, booting truly after Hawk Birchall’s turnover allowed Travis Cloke to find ‘Dids’ again. The Maggies led by 65 points and it was all a bit easy for them. They switched off a bit and the Hawks finished the quarter well. Battlin’ John Barker majored after a good mark and Campbell Brown booted a goal from a free-kick, pushed over as kicking. Sam Mitchell free-kicked the first goal of the final stanza, slung to the ground by Shaw. A ragged handpass from Poi Ryan Lonie at the restart coughed up possession and led to Lewis booting a sausage roll - four unanswered goals for Horforn and they’d slashed the margin to 42 points, their supporters mildly excited. Egan booted the Poise into attack from the next centre-bounce, Rocca wasn’t paid what appeared a juggling mark but Didak was on hand to snap it through. Most Hawks were getting a run up forward now as the game wound down. Jarryd Roughead kicked a goal thanks to a good pass from Brad Sewell. At the other end Lewis’s poor dropped mark and even weaker tackle allowed O’Bree to snap a major for the Poise. Lance Franklin’s athleticism was displayed as he booted a good running sausage and soon Franklin had another, well-created by Crawford. Rocca completed proceedings with a goal after the siren. The only down-side for the Poise was a broken ankle for Leon Davis, his season is over. Poor bloke.

Big night for the Cloke boys. Travis Cloke (12 marks, 22 disposals, 2 goals) was very good across half-forward while Jason Cloke (10 marks, 18 disposals), allowed to play the zoning-off, third-man-up game in defence, was also handy. Alan Didak (25 touches) set up plenty of goals and booted 3 himself, Nathan Buckley (19 touches, 7 marks, 2 goals) was also good forward. The defence was solid led by classy James Clement (10 marks, 20 kicks) and Heath Shaw (21 possies, 2 goals). Ben Johnson (22 possies) and Josh Fraser (18 touches) continued good recent form. Anthony Rocca  booted 4 goals, half as many as last time on Dawson. The Hawks had triers, Joel Smith (20 disposals) wasn’t disgraced on his milestone and Luke Hodge (26 touches) battled away, Shane Crawford (31 possies, 2 goals) and Campbell Brown (19 touches, 6 marks, a goal) were alright. Lance Franklin and John Barker kicked 2 goals each. Al Clarkson said "Our first half we were pretty poor at finding our targets. Collingwood scored seven goals in the first half from our turnovers. Take away those seven goals and its three goals each. It's very simplistic and the game doesn't unfold like that, but when you turn the footy over in that sort of manner then a handy side with powerful forwards are going to hurt you . . . At least we came out in the second half and played a little bit better and won both the third and the fourth quarters so that was encouraging, but unfortunately the game was shot at half-time." Naturally Mick Malthouse wasn’t happy with the second half. "We'll take the four points, and if someone had have said 40-odd points, I would've taken it everyday of the week,” he said. “It could've been bigger, but we didn't have the football as much as what we needed to, to put more pressure on them, and our kicking for goal was quite ordinary."         

At the MCG:

St. Kilda  5.5   14.6   23.6   27.12.174
Richmond   2.2    6.7    8.9    10.11.71

And the stinkers kept on comin’. The Tiges have been Sinkilda’s ‘biatches’ for several years now. The Stain’s poor recent form and a feeling Richmun were about to rebound from a couple of bad performances proved very misleading as the Saints thumped the Tiggers from pillar to post. Fraser ‘Bourbon Train’ Gehrig booted 10 goals to cap a dominant performance, which delivered a healthy chunk of percentage too. The Tiges, weakened by injury, lacked confidence, intensity and decent disposal skills. Pat Bowden and Greg Tivendale may as well have worn Sinkilda guernseys.  Sinkilda made one tactical change in selection, ruckman Michael Rix dropped for midfielder Andrew Thompson. The Tiges’ cause wasn’t helped by a host of late withdrawals, key defenders Darren Gaspar (knee), Andrew Kellaway (injured hamstring while surfing - jeez) and forward Andrew Krakouer (er, finger) joined Kel Moore (groin strain) on the sidelines. Joel Bowden returned from suspension, Mark Chaffey was called up for his first game of the season along with Greg Stafford and Ray Hall.

The ball spent the opening 5 minutes in the Stains’ attacking half. Running half-back Jason Gram enjoyed the first term (and the rest of the game too), he booted the opening goal by starting and completing a move involving Rob Harvey and Nick Riewoldt. The Tiges’ belated first thrust saw Tivendale run a long way without a bounce before his shot hit the post. Tiger Mark Chaffey was busy early, his smart kick found Jay Schulz alone for the Tiges’ first goal. Despite dominating possession the Saints struggled to kick goals for a while, Gram was their most effective attacker. In sequence Gram missed a shot, blasted a 50m goal following a slow build-up, then sliced another running shot on-the-full. Riewoldt missed awfully after marking right in front. The Tiges clung on until Shane Tuck’s good kick found Schulz again, he booted his and the Toigs’ second goal and they trailed by 3 points. The Saints won the ball away from the restart and Gram booted his third, long goal. Tige Richard Tambling came on to tag Gram. The Stainers got a move-on now, Andrew Thompson floated a kick for Gehrig to run onto, mark and boot his first. Soon G-Train had his second, a free-kick against grappling opponent Hall. Stafford missed woefully for the Tiges late in the stanza and the Saints went to the first break 21 points ahead. Goals rained through in the second term. The Tiges scored one straight from the opening bounce, Nathan Brown passing for leading Matty Richardson to mark and kick his first major for a few weeks. Only 15 points ahead, the Saints. They cleared the next centre-bounce and Riewoldt snapped a goal, then Brendon Goddard kicked a very easy one under no pressure. Harvey and Riewoldt combined to create a comfortable goal-square mark for Gehrig, he converted and the Saints jumped 33 points ahead. Tivendale broke the run with a goal following some very good roving, but the Saints were doing it in third gear. A sharp Stinkilda move from a kick-in saw Sam Fisher run afield under no pressure and pass to Riewoldt, on to leading Gehrig for his fourth goal. The Tiges suffered a further blow as Brown damaged a hamstring, his day ended. Tigger Tambling booted a goal after marking Richo’s wobbly punt, the Tiges were still clinging on 25 points behind. Gehrig added two goals to the tally in rapid succession, one an off-ball free-kick against battling Ray Hall, the other a mark of Gram’s pass. Tiger Richo benefited from the umps’ vigilance in punishing off-ball holding, Saints 30 points ahead. Saint man Goddard was flattened by Stafford with a decent shirt-front, the game was held up for a while as Goddard was stretchered off. But he wasn’t hurt badly and returned later. The Saints bagged three late goals, a pair of mysterious 50m penalties allowed Brett Voss to kick the first. Busy Leigh Montagna cleared the restart and Gehrig out-marked Joel Bowden to boot another, a poor turnover by Tigger David Rodan led Montagna to punt a major of his own. After Richo missed a late shot the Saints led by 47 points at half-time, G-Train with 7 goals already.

Sinkilda ruckman Cain Ackland kicked a goal straight from the opening bounce of the third term, a soft free-kick and 50m penalty the causes. Richmun ruckman Troy Simmonds won just about every hit-out on the day but the Saints took the ball away almost every time. As Ackland and his sidekick Jason Blake are largely useless as tap-ruckmen, the Saints bank on that happening. Nick Dal Santo free-kicked a goal after being ploughed into the ground by Patrick Bowden and the Saints were 59 points ahead. Richardson’s third goal, a good lead to Brett Deledio’s pass, affected a dead cat bounce before the margin expanded rapidly. Great length-of-the-ground running by Stephen Milne set up Gehrig’s eighth goal, Gram roosted another long sausage and soon Riewoldt’s pass set up Gehrig’s ninth. Goddard returned to cheers from Stainer fans, prior to Milne taking a good mark in traffic and playing-on to snap it through. Pat Bowden’s appalling turnover allowed Montagna to kick a goal and a second later Montagna had another, snapping truly from a throw-in. The Stainers 87 points ahead before Tige skipper Kane Johnson marked and converted. Once again Johnson had been good, winning his battle with Dal Santo. The Saints had won everywhere else, though. Ex-Tiger Aaron Fiora restored the 87-point lead before the final change. Mercifully, the Saints missed a few shots in the last korter. The Saint players must’ve wagered on Gehrig winning the Coleman medal as they looked for him at every opportunity, but G-Train ignored the plan by passing off for Harvey to kick the first goal of the ultimate Mario. But a minute later Gehrig marked Milne’s lobbed kick and booted no. 10, they led by 99 points. Gehrig’s first miss of the day brought up the triple-digit margin. Majors alternated to the end, Richardson and Tivendale goaled for the Toigs, Goddard and Riewoldt majored for the Stains. Frustrated Tige ruckman Simmonds biffed Riewoldt, which might cost him a game or two.

Plenty of good players for the Stains, headed by Fraser Gehrig with 10.1 from 12 marks and 15 kicks (2 handballs). Jason Gram (29 disposals, 4 goals) helped build the early momentum and Leigh Montagna (34 touches, 3 goals) cashed in after half-time. Nick Riewoldt (11 marks, 14 kicks, 2 goals) was happy to play the traditional CHF and set up others to kick goals - G-Train particularly - while Luke Ball (28 possies, 10 tackles), Stephen Powell (24 disposals), Robert Harvey (23 handlings, a goal) and Brendon Goddard (22 touches, 2 goals) all saw plenty of it. Sam Fisher (25 touches, 8 marks) ran downfield to get a kick. Brett Voss was alright too. Only two Tigers really worth mentioning, Kane Johnson (15 disposals, a goal) did his job again on Dal Santo and Andrew Raines (22 disposals) played well. Matty Richardson (9 marks, 13 touches, 4 goals) did alright when the Tiges could get the ball to him. Brett Deledio (24 possies) was best of a beaten midfield. Jay Schulz and Greg Tivendale kicked 2 goals each. Plough sighed though the press conference. "I could tell after about five minutes the game was heading that way . . . It was disappointing to lose Gaspar and Kellaway late in the week but they (the rest of the team) should still be going in with the right attitude and the right psychological approach. It's in those circumstances that mental strength arises and they have just got to handle those situations better." Grant Thomas said "I think the consistency of the four-quarter effort where we continued to attack and probably the most pleasing thing from a coaching perspective, we all agreed, was the fact that we stuck to our plans and worked together as a team. We stuck to our structures and we didn't collapse those sorts of things when the game was no longer in the balance which I think we've been guilty of in the past. You get a bit greedy and a bit selfish which teams can do, but we were really pleased with our selflessness and our team effort."      

At Subiaco:

West Coast  6.3   10.4   19.6   26.9.165
Adelaide    1.0    4.6    8.6   12.11.83

A scrappy, nervous start by both sides preceded a Weegel goal-explosion. The Weegs’ talented midfielders, Daniel Kerr, Chris Judd, Ben Cousins and the under-rated Michael Braun, worked very hard. The Weegs appeared to have adopted a Paganesque Kangaroos game-plan from the 1990s, keeping the ball in the corridor, playing on at every opportunity and running furiously. No Carey, of course. Only Quinten Lynch. Cousins snapped the first goal after ruckman Mark Seaby tapped the ball behind him from a throw-in, a planned move. Lynch roved his own contest and handballed for Braun to boot a goal. Judd slotted a ripper from the boundary-line and the Weegs led by 19 points. On they went, Cousins booted the ball forward and Seaby seized a strong pack-mark, he converted. Seaby’s going well since the Eagles lost their Cox. Makes disgraced Gardiner even less necessary. The normally watertight, possession-heavy Camry defence was cracking under pressure, a poor handpass from Scott Stevens was fumbled by Johncock and Ashley Sampi pounced to snap a major. The Weegs led by 32 points now, 5.2 to nuthin’. Mark Ricciuto booted the visitor’s opening score, a goal from a free-kick after being shoved in the back by Dan Chick. But the Weegs got another before the first break, Brent Staker booting truly following a strong grab. The Coasters cleared the opening bounce of the second term and Lynch was clouted high as he contested the mark, Lynch free-kicked a goal and the Weegs led by 39 points. The Weegs’ initial momentum began to ease, the Camrys slowed the game down too. Brett Burton missed his first shot but the Weegs messed up the kick-in and Tyson Edwards booted a major, from a free-kick. A superb effort from Kerr at the restart, to win the ball, run forward and follow up with another kick, led to Ash Hansen snapping a good left-foot sausage. The Ghosters led by 38 points. The Camrys replied thanks to another poor Eagle kick-in, Simon Goodwin with the intercept and major. The Eegs replied with an amazing goal from Steven Armstrong, he fell to the ground as a pack collapsed but managed to get boot to ball while lying down, it trickled through ahead of diving Nathan Bassett for a great, Darren Jarman-like major. Burton missed again for the Camrys before Lynch booted his third goal for the Weegs, playing in front to mark Braun’s flat punt. The Weevils led by 41 points now. The only thing not working for them were the kick-ins, after Camry Matthew Bode missed a shot another poor effort allowed another Camry goal, a long shot from Scott Thompson. But it was West Ghost at half-time, by 34 points.

A brief, heavy rain shower greeted the players as they returned to the field. Ricciuto snapped a terrific early goal and feeling was a close finish was coming. But it wasn’t. Kerr, playing superbly, smothered a handpass, Lynch collected the ball and Judd booted a goal. Kerr’s good handpass to Jaymie Graham led to the next major, Hansen played in front to mark Graham’s kick and boot the sausage. The Eegs led by 41 points again. Chick was playing tight on Ricciuto and gave away another free-kick, ‘Roo’s’ punt led to Trent Hentschel snapping a major - his first kick. The Eegs kept going, Drew Banfield found space and kicked long, Staker managed a high snap and when it came down Sampi scrambled a poacher’s goal. More battling from a throw-in ended with Cousins’s left-foot snap for a major and the Eegs led by 47 points, the biggest margin of the day. A close finish didn’t seem likely now. Ken McGregor booted a major for the Camrys with a strong grab on-the-lead and good kick from 50m. Eeg Rowan Jones missed poorly following a juggled mark but a moment later Jones’s kick was marked with-the-flight by Kerr, a great, gutsy grab. He majored, Weegs by 48 points and they spurted. Busy Rowan Jones roved a pack and handballed for Judd to slam it through from point-blank, straight from the restart Armstrong booted a goal and to complete the stanza Hansen converted a free-kick, restrained illegally by Stevens. The Weegs led by a hefty 11 goals at the final change. Plenty of goals in the final term as the sting went out. The Eagles kicked three of the first four, including two for Lynch. Burton made a belated impact, booting his first goal from a good lead and later striking the post with a fairly easy shot. The Weegles got the kick-in right, finally, Braun and Kerr combined to find junior Mitch Morton on the flank, he kicked a good goal. The Coasters led by 77 points at this stage. The Camrys cleared the restart and Brent Reilly dobbed a major, at the restart Bode was caught in possession and the Wiggle free-kick led to Sam Butler joining the long list of Weegle goal-scorers. Burton kicked his weekly, miraculous Daicos dribbly-goal from the boundary-line but it was irrelevant at this stage. Tough work from Kerr and Braun’s 41st disposal allowed Tyson Stenglein to slot a goal and Armstrong’s running major completed proceedings. Very happy sandgropers.    

Great performance by the Weevils’ midfield, led by excellent Daniel Kerr (34 disposals, 2 goals) while Michael Braun racked up a career-best 41 disposals with a goal too. Ben Cousins (38 possessions, 2 goals) and Chris Judd (21 disposals, 3 goals) rounded out the fantastic four. Ruckman Mark Seaby (25 hit-outs, a goal) is doing well given a chance and tagger Sam Butler (29 touches, a goal) had the better of Goodwin. Dan Chick (12 possies) also won plaudits for his game on Ricciuto. Quinten Lynch (18 touches, 3 marks, 4 goals) continues to do his job, Ash Hansen (7 marks, 15 handlings, 3 goals) also played well in attack. Steven Armstrong booted 3 goals, Ashley Sampi and Brent Staker kicked 2 goals each. With Goodwin quiet and McLeod missing, the Camrys’ better players were Scott Thompson (30 disposals, a goal) and Tyson Edwards (23 touches, a goal) in midfield, Scott Stevens (16 possessions) did alright in defence and Brett Burton (8 marks, 15 touches, 3 goals) was the most reliable forward, even if he did miss a few shots and kick his goals when the game was over. Mark Ricciuto kicked 2 goals. Neil Craig had to comment on a thrashing. "The size of the margin certainly was extremely disappointing for us," he said. "We obviously knew we had a real game on our hands but we were just comprehensively beaten in just about every facet really. We've been in games like that before where the opposition have sort of kicked a couple of early goals, but, you know, we hope we can keep coming but in the end, the whole day, (West Coast) were just relentless in the way they played." Jolly John Worsfold said "We went out confident with our group that we could play some good football today and take it up to Adelaide. To say that you'd think you could win like that - no you don't expect that, but that's always possible and any game can end up that way. I thought the way the defence worked and ran the ball that was great. Our midfield worked very well together both off our wings and through the middle and the forward line worked extremely hard and put on great pressure. It was certainly part of the package."

At Docklands:

Essendon   5.4   10.6   17.7    25.10.160
Brisbane   6.3   10.8   15.11   18.15.123

Huzzah! The Bombers experienced victory for the first time since round 1, running away from the Lyin’s following three close quarters. James Hird led the way, with 27 touches and 4 goals. Only a month left in Jim’s career. Maybe. The Bommers also climbed off the bottom of the ladder courtesy a marginally better percentage than Carlton, who lost the next day - blowing the no. 1 draft pick. They’re messing with Sheeds’ plan. The loss ended the Lyin’s tenuous claims to finals action, on top of which Jamie Charman suffered a serious injury. Hird was one of several timely ‘ins’ for the Bombouts, Dustin Fletcher and Adam McPhee also returned and former Magpoi Richard Cole was selected for his Essington debut. Out were Henry Slattery (thigh strain) and Paddy Ryder, Chris Heffernan and Andrew Lee all dropped. The Lisbon Brians had Jed Adcock come in as a late replacement for Troy Selwood (hamstring). The Akermanis story continued with Leigh Matthews likening the situation to a ‘trial separation’, but no-one’s buying that. Several clubs expressed interest in recruiting Akermanis, Essadun seeming the keenest. 

This was an entertaining game with goals, and mistakes, aplenty. A battle of the spearheads early, Lyin’ Dan Bradshaw kicked two early goals as did Jim Hird, who’d lined up at full-forward. A Josh Drummond goal gave the Brians a 6-point lead before good work from Bommaz Jobe Watson and Scott Lucas led to Kepler Bradley holding a with-the-flight grab in the goal-square, he converted to level the scores. The Brians replied as a strong Justin Sherman tackle and Voss’s great handpass allowed Ben Fixter to pop it through. Hird inserted himself at the restart and won a free-kick. He punted forward and Ricky Dyson’s smart tap-on set up McPhee for a running goal. Hird also created the next six-pointer with his mark on the 50m line and pass towards Bradley, the lanky Don was clobbered head-on by Rob Copeland and free-kicked a major. Essadun led by 7 points but the Lyin’s scored the next two goals, McPhee’s poor effort in over-running the ball led to a major for Matthew Moody, Simon Black snapped a goal seconds before the siren and the Lyin’s led by 5 points at the first change. The goal-for-goal pattern continued for the next two quarters. Good roving from Rhan Hooper allowed him to snap the first goal of quartier du and Brisbun led by 12 points. Essadun replied with two goals from Scott Lucas, both from marks on-the-lead, after which the Dons led by a point. A poor miss from Lyin’ Jamie Charman leveled the scores. Bomma Camporeale turned-over on the kick-in and Black passed to Hooper in the pocket, he played-on and whipped it through. Big Don Kepler Bradley, playing well, bombed a 55m shot home through an empty goal-square - poor defending from the Lyin’s. Hooper sped onto a loose ball to soccer a good major, his third goal of the quarter giving the banana-benders a 6-point lead. A bit later Fixter’s fumble coughed up possession to Bommer Jason Johnson, his kick spilled from the pack and big David Hille snapped a major. A minute later Lucas snapped an amazing left-foot banana-goal, Lucas sc**wed the ball at right-angles from directly in front of the sticks when a right-foot shot seemed far easier, if not obvious. A goal nonetheless and Essadun led by 5 points. The Brians worked the ball clear of the restart with a chain of handballs and Cheynee Stiller booted a goal, the Lyin’s led by a point and 2 points at the long break. Heavy collision between team-mates Bradshaw and Black right on the siren, but they were okay.

Still close in the third Mario Lanza. Essadun bagged two of the first three goals, Bradshaw got the Lyin’s one. Brisbun had shifted Mal Michael forward, just to provide an alternative target to Bradshaw. A long Sherman shot bounced through and the Lyin’s led by 3 points. Bradshaw postered before Hille goaled for the Dons with our favourite, the inexplicable rucking free. Brisbun scored a goal while I went for a Tosca, of course the Dons sausaged in sequence with a long roost from Dyson. Michael led for a strong grab and dished a handpass for Drummond to boot a long goal, the Lyin’s led by 4 points. Hooper booted a behind and the Dons rebounded quickly from the kick-in, Mark McVeigh held a good grab and booted a goal, Esserdin by a point. The Dons managed to score consecutive goals now, Hird converted a free-kick after marginal high contact - can’t touch Hirdy - and a minute later Hird’s pass created another mark and goal for McVeigh. The Bummers led by 14 points, the largest difference so far. A relayed free-kick led to Bradshaw snapping a goal and the Dons decided to flood and retain possession ‘til the final change - something Sheeds swore they’d never do. Amazing. Essadun led by 8 points going into the final quarter and they steadily crept away from the Lyin’s, something the Dons have also been unable to do for a few seasons. Or as recently as last week. Exciting Bomma goal early, McPhee flew for a great grab on the wing and on the way down handballed to Jason Johnson, he ran ahead and kicked for Jim Hird to take an easy mark as opponent Tim Notting slipped over. Hirdy played-on, rammed it through and the Dons led by 13 points. A bit later Jay Nash speared a pass over leading Lucas’s head, but Brent Stanton ran onto the ball and popped it through. A minute later Lyin’ Charman battled ferociously in the centre to win the ball, but he ended up having Hille fall on him and dislocate his shoulder. Hille showed sportsmanship and humanity in realizing the problem immediately, comforting Charman and signaling for the trainers. But off went Charman and the Lyin’s were up against it. Lisbon’s Luke Power mopped up in defence but his handpass was slapped down by Hille, the loose ball bobbled about until Lucas conjured a crowd-lifting over-the-head snap for full points. Essadun led by 24 points now, they could sense triumph. The Dons missed a coupla shots as Mal Michael returned to full-back for Brisbun. Hird passed for Hille to mark in the goal-square and boot the Dons 31 points ahead. The Lyin’s finally managed a goal as Bomma Dean Solomon biffed Black, the resulting downfield free-kick gave Bradshaw another major. Brisbun nominally a chance as they trailed by 25 points, but quickly Lucas scrambled a goal from a throw-in, Dyson played a good one-two with Angus Monfries and booted a long sausage, Lucas majored again when the Lyin’s should’ve had a fee-kick. But the Bombers were home now, 43 points ahead. Bradshaw and Michael Rischitelli kicked consolation majors for the Lyin’s before Lucas kicked the final goal, his career-best seventh in a single game.      

James Hird (27 disposals, 7 marks, 4 goals) is kinda handy. So is Scott Lucas (23 touches, 9 marks, 7 goals). Kepler Bradley (11 touches, 6 marks, 4 goals), switching between the forward-line and the ruck, played arguably his best game for the Dons. Jason Johnson (26 possies, a goal) and Scott Camporeale (24 touches) continued their decent form of late, big David Hille (22 touches, 6 marks, 3 goals) was an important influence late in the game. Ricky Dyson and Mark McVeigh kicked 2 goals each. The Lyin’s had very good efforts from Simon Black (24 possies, 11 tackles, a goal) and Daniel Bradshaw (12 possies, 5 marks, 6 goals). Luke Power (23 disposals) was busy and Jamie Charman (18 disposals, 23 hit-outs) battled hard until injured - it’s all up to bwig Kweating for the remainder of ’06 now. Rhan Hooper (9 touches, 4 goals) may quickly cover the absence of Akermanis, Jason Roe (16 kicks) played well again and Mick Voss (20 disposals) put himself about. Josh Drummond kicked 2 goals, something he pointed out to McVeigh. Leigh Matthews blamed the leaky backline. "It was more their scoring that was killing us (in the final term) to be honest, and we were able to generate scoring opportunities, but very rarely are you going to kick (almost) 130 points and lose - but they just scored so easily. (We) ran it well out of our defence and ran really hard, but they were really good in the forward contest, so it was more about defensive mechanisms than not being able to generate scoring opportunities."  Kev Sheedy, back in charge, expressed relief. "Probably for the players and the fans, it's terrific for them. The players have worked pretty hard and very rarely we'd have just two-and-a-half wins for the season (so there’ll be no more, then?). I think the fans have been extremely supportive and been really tremendous by not going over the top with the eight or nine close losses we've had. So, from that point I'm really pleased for them. I think we've been pretty unlucky. We probably should have won more. I think we've been building up for quite a while. To kick 25 goals was pretty exciting. I think we used the ball better for the first time in a while."

At Football Park:

Port Adelaide  3.0   4.3    5.7      7.8.50
Sydney         5.3   7.11   9.14   10.17.77

Typically grinding win for the Swans over a depleted Port. Daniel Motlop’s post-siren miss against Stinkilda last week was heavily discussed. It not only cost Port the game but any finals chance as well. Port thought so, sending Warren Tredrea for surgery on his bung knee and Motlop was committed to another shoulder operation, their seasons are over. Thus things were made a little easier for the Swans, they won to maintain pursuit of a top-four spot. Port regained Dom Cassisi and called up junior Matt Thomas to replace Motlop and the dropped Alipate Carlile. Siddey debuted another player, West Adelaide’s Tim Schmidt replacing Nic Fosdike, troubled for some time with a calf injury.

Cold, misty night in Adelaide. Siddey jumped to an early lead. Port’s Darryl Wakelin handballed to nobody in the centre of the ground, Swan Amon Buchanan gathered the ball and kicked into an entirely vacant Siddey forward-line. Jarrad McVeigh won the race to soccer a goal. A Michael Wilson error led to Barry Hall marking 30m out, he gave off a handpass for ruckman Darren Jolly to boot a goal - Jolly’s first of the season and Siddey led by 12 points. Stu Dew snapped Port’s first after rumbling through a throw-in, but a bit later Hall booted the Bloods’ third, marking Buchanan’s long punt to the goal-square. Pooerman Josh Mahoney passed for Toby Thurstans to mark and boot a goal, shortly Swan backman Tadhg Kennelly and young Nick Malceski combined to find Hall on-the-lead again, Hall booted another major (nice kick from Malceski). Siddey led by 14 points. Port’s highly-rated junior Adam Thomson won a free at the restart and a 50m penalty to hand him an easy sausage. Again the Bloods replied in the final minute of the korter, Ryan O’Keefe’s long kick was marked by Adam Goodes next to the point-post, he passed inboard for Buchanan to mark and convert. Swans by 15 points at the first break. Port managed an early goal in the second term, Danyle Pearce used his speed to break up some congested play and found leading Damon White, he goaled. A bit later Port lost Steven Salopek with shoulder trouble. Not much happened for a long time apart from lots of typical, pack-bound play favoured by the Swans, the Bloods also kicked lots of points - 7 in-a-row, in fact. Port got as close as 8 points behind but O’Keefe manufactured two goals in the last 3 minutes of the half, both extracting the ball from scrambling goalmouth packs and snapping it through. They gave Siddey a 26-point lead at the long break.

The third term followed a similar, slogging pattern. Steady rain didn’t help. The Swans steadily expanded their advantage as Port once again struggled in attack, the midfield men were trying but the Swans’ hard tackling restricted the run of Burgoyne, Pearce and co. Hall booted his third goal from another mark, too good for Wakelin, and Jolly bagged his second goal after a reeling in a one-handed grab. Siddey led by 37 points, a long way in the conditions. The Powermen cleared the centre-bounce after Jolly’s goal, thanks to a wayward handpass from Swan junior Simon Phillips. Pearce ran clear and kicked towards Thurstans, he was manhandled by Roberts-Thomson and awarded a free. Thurstans converted and the Swarns’ lead was back to 31 points, where it was at three-quarter time. Mahoney booted an early goal in the final stanza, also from a free, reducing the Siddey lead to 25 points. The Flowers pressed for a while without luck, eventually the Swans sealed it, if it needed sealing. Mick O’Loughlin sprinted across a vacant forward-line to collect a loose ball, he fired a handpass back to Adam Schneider who booted a sausage.    

Solid if unexciting effort from the Bloods, Adam Goodes (24 disposals, 8 marks) ran about to good effect and Amon Buchanan (28 disposals, 13 marks, a goal) was very busy in the midfield. Brett Kirk (27 handlings, 8 marks) and Paul Bevan (23 touches, 14 marks) did some tough work in the middle too while Jude Bolton (15 possies) quelled Shaun Burgoyne. Ryan O’Keefe (24 touches, 7 marks, 2 goals) and Barry Hall (9 marks, 11 kicks, 3.3) did the job in attack and ruckman Darren Jolly (24 hit-outs, 10 disposals, 2 goals) played his best game of the season, probably. Mick O’Loughlin kicked 0.4. The Power had Danyle Pearce (22 disposals) as their most potent midfielder and Kane Cornes (25 touches) battled hard. Brett Ebert (18 touches, 8 marks, 0.2) worked away from a half-forward flank but didn’t kick too well, young backman Brad Symes (17 touches) wasn’t bad. Chad Cornes (17 disposals) and small forward Josh Mahoney (15 touches, a goal) were alright. Toby Thurstans and Damon White kicked 2 goals each, but this was the fourth game in a row Port have failed to kick 10 goals. Mark Williams said. "We won the tackles and the hard-ball gets, and they (Port players) were terrific to do that against Sydney. They're a hard side. And we also won the clearances and the inside 50s weren't too much different (39 to Sydney's 42) . . . What they (Port supporters) have to come and look at is the emergence of a new group and new players, and get some confidence and thrills out of seeing them just getting out of their eggs, if you like, and breaking free of their egg shells and moving their bum a bit and getting their head out. We know it takes time to be able to walk and run and actually flap your wings, but that's where they are . . . how’s that for an analogy?" He went on to claim he was distracted by Foxtel’s lovely Tiffany Cherry, and who can blame him? Paul Roos said "No doubt we are harder around the footy, which we need to be, and our ball use was generally pretty good tonight. We seem to be getting into our forwards nice and quick, and obviously our forwards are in pretty good form at the moment. Can we improve? Yeah, we can improve, definitely, and that's a good thing because we are winning."

At Manuka Oval:

North Melbourne  6.1   9.3   11.9   13.12.90
Geelong          2.2   3.6    5.7    8.12.60

The Ruse produced a win for their last-ever game in Canberra. As part of the current deal, anyway. A bittersweet moment for 1500 members the Kangas signed up in the nation’s capital, of whom CEO Geoff Walsh promised ‘looking after’. Are they gonna fly ‘em up to the Gold Coast next year? The bigger story was another soft and uncommitted effort from the Cats, which almost certainly brought an end to their finals aspirations as Freo went on to beat Carlton in Melbourne. Geelong were flag favourites after round 2, have had no injury problems of note but really lack hunger, inspiration, leadership, professionalism, call it what you will. Basic guts. The Cats were hampered by injury here, Gary Ablett and Cameron Ling went down in the first quarter which didn’t help their cause. But their overall season has been the most disappointing of any AFL club. The Roos’ season went belly-up some time ago and coach Dean Laidley is examining individuals with an eye to the future. Troy Makepeace and Leigh Brown were dropped for Callum Urch and Sav Rocca, Sav played his 97th game for the Kangas and he’d like to bring up 100 before the end of what’ll be his final year. The Cats had Cam Mooney return from suspension and called up veteran Peter Riccardi, out went Jarad Rooke (shoulder) and Henry Playfair (dropped). Umpire Darren Goldspink officiated in his 350th game. Cats Ablett and Paul Chapman were happy to see ‘Goldie’ no doubt, the Geelong men alleged he swore at them during the Cats’ game against Port two weeks ago.

North’s ‘Dear John’ game, as Dermie called it, attracted 9500 spectators, perhaps vindicating their decision to decamp to Queensland. Perhaps the locals had made a decision to move on already. Channel Nine showed ‘highlights’ of the Kangers’ time at Manuka, amounting to two clips; Winston Abraham’s big grab and Makepeace’s winning goal to complete a superb comeback win, both against Port. They probably won’t miss it. Laidley’s experimentation extended to the on-field structure, captain Adam Simpson and Shannon Grant started on the interchange bench while half-forward Corey Jones lined up in defence. Norf and Brady Rawlings started well, Rawlings kicked the opening goal after Andrew Swallow’s good tackle on James Kelly forced the ball loose. A minute later Rawlings kicked another, from a good running mark cutting across the pack. Norf were running well and, as Brereton pointed out, the Katz weren’t running at all. Swallow marked 50m out and Cat Darren Milburn encroached over the mark, a 50m penalty and easy goal for junior Roo Swallow. Nathan Thompson’s second effort, a smooth pick-up and handpass, saw big Hamish McIntosh snap truly and the Ruse led by 24 points. A minute later Ablett was hammered by Jess Sinclair’s solid bump, Ablett departed with clear shoulder damage. The same piece of play led to the Cats’ first goal, Cameron Mooney roving pack spillage and dribbly-snapping it through. At the restart Cameron Ling clashed heads with Roo ruckman David Hale, semi-conscious Ling was assisted from the field and he stayed off. Norf went four goals ahead again as full-back Shannon Watt ran off Brad Ottens to boot one. Mooney bagged a second goal for the Cats, shoving opponent Drew Petrie aside for a mark. Norf replied, superb running and link-up play from Brent Harvey ended with a great goal for himself. Mooney was reported for clattering into Daniel Pratt to end a poor start for the Cats. Their effort had improved towards the end of the first term and continued into the second, but the tricky Manuka breezes made goal-shooting difficult for both sides. Mooney hooked a shot on-the-full and the Kangas missed a couple before running Roo Corey Jones played a one-two with Watt and kicked for Callum Urch to mark and boot truly. Norf led by 29 points and Jones was getting a lot of uncontested ball. Cat man Kelly cleared the restart after that major, Ottens read the kick for a chest mark and goal. He’d looked good so far. Matthew Stokes missed an absolute sitter as did Thompson at the other end. But soon Thompson, who’s kicked a quarter of North’s goals this season, opened his account after accepting Sav Rocca’s pass. North led by 32 points. Ottens replied with a strong lead, mark and goal for the Cats but the Ruse got another before half-time, late-arriving Jimmy Bartel crashed into marking Shannon Grant, conceding a 50m penalty and easy goal. Kangas by 33 points at the long break.

Norf’s tactics had become clear, with the Cats two players down the Ruse used the interchange bench regularly to wear out the men from Sleepy Hollow. Geelong started the third term well, Chapman’s long shot bounced through for a goal. Two behinds for the Ruse, including a poor Rocca miss, preceded another goal for Ottens, a good kick from the pocket after marking Joel Corey’s pass. The Cats trailed by 23 points and were having a crack. The Roos responded, Thompson booted an easy goal after a well-timed lead, a bit later Petrie ventured forward and kicked long, Grant nudged Kelly under the ball for mark and close-range major. The Kangas led by 35 points. Mooney shifted into the ruck for Geelong as a consequence of another limp performance from Steven King. Cat Stokes was unlucky to hit the post with a good shot as the Kangas went into keepings-off mode. Late in the term Ottens led well for another grab, 50m out. As the siren rang he chipped a pass to Andrew Mackie. The ump (not Goldspink) didn’t allow it. That kinda day. The Ruse led by 38 points at the final change. North continued to offer Geelong no chance in the final stanza, a point-blank stab-through for Ottens the only goal in the first fifteen minutes. Noice work from Josh Hunt and Corey Enright to set him up. With 7 minutes to go Hunt lurked to the goal-square to mark Corey’s pass and boot a major, the Cats had a sniff as they cut the margin to 24 points. The Ruse replied smartly, good play from Rawlings got the ball to Simpson, to Grant and on to Thompson for a mark and goal. Andrew Mackie closed the gap to 24 again with a good goal from 50m, kept low to avoid the wind. Corey won a free-kick at the restart, he dished off to Bartel who found Chapman with a well-weighted kick. Chapman’s shot hit the post and Cat fans cursed the very gods. And Canberra. The day ended terrifically for Roo fans, Sav Rocca marked 75m out and unleashed a massive torpedo punt. “Look at that, LA Raiders,” shouted Dwayne Russell, demonstrating he knows as much about the NFL as the AFL. Thompson marked Rocca’s bomb on the point-line, played on and hooked it through to complete a good win.

Corey Jones collected a hefty 36 disposals with 14 marks coming off half-back, not one of ‘em contested. He didn’t seem to have an opponent. Other running men Jess Sinclair (28 disposals, 12 marks) and Brent ‘Boomer’ Harvey (27 touches, a goal) were very good, Brady Rawlings (21 handlings, 2 goals) played well too. Nathan Thompson (8 marks, 14 disposals, 4.4) worked very hard from full-forward again and at the other end Drew Petrie (10 marks, 27 disposals) did well against Mooney. Andrew Swallow (25 possessions, a goal) showed talent and Michael Firrito (17 disposals) did good. Shannon Grant kicked 2 goals. The Cats’ best  was probably full-forward Brad Ottens (7 marks, 9 disposals, 3 goals). Josh Hunt (22 disposals, a goal) and Corey Enright (22 touches, 10 marks, a goal) were okay coming from defence and David Wojcinski (19 touches) was the only Cat capable of running, it seemed. Jimmy Bartel (25 disposals) and Paul Chapman (20 touches, 0.3) plugged away. Cam Mooney kicked 2 goals. Mark ‘Bummer’ Thompson is refusing to concede the finals are gone, of course. "No, no, (the season is) definitely not (over). I think you are going to need pretty close to 13 wins to get in. It certainly doesn't end it. We have eight (wins) and there are five games to go." It’d be a brave man who’d bet on the Cats winning their last five, against Brisbane (away), St. Kilda, Sydney (home), Melbourne and Hawthorn. They could lose all five. “It's pretty hard to win a game when you've got two players off the ground in the first 15 minutes,” continued Bombout. “But apart from that, we started badly, we had a pretty poor attitude from the start and it just looked like the Kangaroos, even though they had not as much to play for as us, it certainly looked like they did." Dean Laidley said "It was a pretty big focus to say goodbye to Canberra, it's been a great time here and we are moving on as a footy club, but for the people even to come out today and support us the way they did was very good (eh?). To the boys' credit we did things a fair amount differently today and they took it on board and we came away with a great win."

At Docklands:

Carlton    1.2   5.6     7.10   13.11.89
Fremantle  3.6   8.10   14.13   15.17.107

Fightin’ Freo secured their finals spot with an unimpressive but perfunctory win over the Bluesers, while Geelong were self-destructing in Canberra. Mirroring Bombout Thompson, fightin’ Freo’s coach Chris Connolly is refusing to admit success as yet but the Dockulaters are now two games clear of the Cats and hopeless Tigers, and four of their last five games are at Sooby. Admittedly, they do face the Camrys, Saints and Wiggles as yet. Carlton battled away honestly without ever looking winners, some of their young kids looked good again and Anthony Koutoufides appeared interested. Kouta reckons he’s a “fifty-fifty” chance to play on next year, he’s in the final year of the mammoth contract he signed back in 2000. One change in selection here for Carlton, Josh Kennedy replaced by Simon Wiggins. Fightin’ Freo had Des Headland and Josh Carr both suspended from last week’s ruckus with the Demons, they were replaced by Paul Medhurst and Troy Cook.

The Bluesers started well, full o’runnin’ but they blazed away at the sticks and wasted the ball. Eventually Freo man David Mundy’s smart, quick rebound play got the ball to Heath Black on the wing, he kicked for unopposed Ryan Crowley to mark and boot the first goal. Freo then scored a series of behinds as the scoreboard crept along to 1.4 to 0.4, before Luke Webster kicked Freo’s second goal.  The Bluies finally got on the board as Jarrad Waite managed a good intercept and kicked for Kade Simpson to mark easily, Simpson produced an awful Kernahan-like punt which wobbled through. Freo led by 6 points. Good work from Ryan Murphy and Webster’s handpass allowed Matty Pavlich to dob a late, easy goal and Freo led by 14 points at the first break. The second quarter featured some very ordinary football. Carlton bombed away to an out-numbered Fevola and it took Simon Wiggins to boot an early goal for them, snaffling Luke McPharlin’s wayward kick-in. Lance Whitnall missed a shot but was given another go, plus a 50m penalty, after Steven Dodd ran over the mark. Freo stayed ahead with goals from busy Peter Bell and Troy Cook. Fevola was given to long leads to escape Freo’s flooding and he sank two long goals, one thumped from 60m, to keep his hand in. Freo kicked the last two goals of the quarter, from Farmer and Matthew Carr, then Luke McPharlin rode Wiggins for a fantastic hanging screamer. McPharlin is much happier at full-back. Freo did some more fightin’ just before half-time, it’s how they show their new intensity and commitment.   

The Shockers put their stamp on the game early in the third term with a three-goal burst, two coming from Ryan Murphy who’d been switched to full-forward. Murphy went on to kick four goals for the quarter, one coming after poor ol’ Setanta O’hAilpin over-ran the ball, allowing Murphy to soccer it through. The Irish lad has a long way to go. Trailing by 50 points, Carlton rallied late in the term. Jarrad Waite majored from a nice grab and Koutoufides weaved through the centre and booted a terrific running goal. Although Kouta pushed Carr squarely in the back to collect the ball in the first place. Ump must’ve missed that. The Blooze went on to do some exciting things for a few minutes, Brad Fisher reached over Bell for a great grab and Simpson did some running. They didn’t kick any goals, though. The Bluies surged home in the last quarter with six goals to one, Freo already on the plane, mentally. Medhurst, playing for his career possibly, wasted two good opportunities. Bell tried a grubber kick for goal which wobbled out-of-bounds and farmer, who’d been a good ‘assist’ man, missed a coupla shots. Fevola caught fire for the Bluesers, booting three goals including another monster kick from the boundary-line and Freo backman Roger Hayden coughed up a 50m penalty to hand Andrew Walker a major. But it was too late, Freo hung on.

Fightin’ Freo skipper Peter Bell (23 disposals, a goal) had a good game and the other main feature was the defending and rebound work of David Mundy (12 touches), a very good player, Michael Johnson (9 marks, 21 disposals) and Matthew Carr (19 touches, a goal). Ryan Murphy (4 marks, 8 kicks, 5 goals) did the job in attack as Pavlich had a quiet day. Wingman Heath Black (20 disposals) played well and Luke McPharlin (11 touches) was good at full-back, helped by flooding, until Fevola began to lead long. Jeff Farmer (13 touches) and Matthew Pavlich kicked 2 goals each. Form Blue wingman Kade Simpson (28 disposals, a goal) was very good again and Heath Scotland (31 touches) and running half-back Andrew Walker (27 touches, 8 marks, a goal) were about. Brendan Fevola finished with 5 goals from 6 marks and 8 kicks and is on target to become the first Carlton player to win the leeg goal-kicking in 40-odd years. Anthony Koutoufides (23 disposals, 2 goals) did a bit and half-forward Brad Fisher (9 marks, 14 disposals) took some good grabs. "We did keep going and we were very bold and assertive in the last quarter. We got the ball into the centre corridor," Pagan said. "We just can't put it together for 100 playing minutes, a lot of the young kids are trying as hard as they possible can but we just make a few inexperienced or crucial errors at the wrong stage and we are under the pump." Chris Connolly said "It's kind of mixed feelings, but it's more positive than negative. There's no doubt we dropped our guard in the last 15 minutes and to Carlton's credit they came back strongly." He went on to point out they’d won without Headland, Josh Carr, Hasleby and Antoni Grover. Or too much fightin’.

At the MCG:

Melbourne   5.2   9.5   13.9   18.11.119
Footscray   6.3   6.7    7.12   9.14.68

Melbun produced a solid effort to beat the battling Bulldogs, although the victory was soured by hamstring injuries to Byron Pickett and Aaron Davey. Not a good time for those sorts of things to happen. A good performance nevertheless, considering the Dees were coming back from Perth, having lost, and were facing the speedy, unpredictable Bulldogs. The Pups did give early cheek but found scoring goals difficult after quarter-time. The Demuns manned-up, became more physical and worked steadily clear. In selection the Dees regained Brock McLean and called up Matthew Bate and first-gamer Nathan Jones, a strongly-built kid from Mt. Eliza on the Mornington Peninsula. They replaced Lynden Dunn (cork thigh), Daniel Bell and Paul Wheatley. The Bulldogs were unchanged from their one-point loss to the Cats last week. Two significant milestones here, Demon Adem Yze played his 250th game, I didn’t realize he’d been around that long. Yze has played the last 218 without missing a game. Bulldog legend Chris Grant played his 329th game, tying Doug Hawkins for the club record.

Goals tumbled through in the first quarter. Dee skipper David Neitz booted the opening goal, a 55m blast after marking on a long lead. The Bulldogs did very well off half-back where Grant played a spare man, running Ryan Griffen and handball man Daniel Cross linked up nicely on rebounds. Cross and Dale Morris combined to find leading Brad Johnson for the Dogs’ first major. Johnson was opposed by Cameron Bruce. A long Simon Godfrey shot bounced through for the Dees, one more goal each followed including a fantastic bent-back snap from Yze, a ripper. Aaron Davey’s slick pick-up and burst of speed led to him slotting a terrific major, the Deez led by 12 points. The Dogs replied but a turnover and some handballs saw Brock McLean bagging a goal, the Demuns led by 14 points at that stage. Bully Rohan Smith’s nice dummy and long roost score full points, precipitating two more Bulldog goals in rapid succession. Farren Ray got a good one and the Bullies led by 7 points at the first break. Pickett injured his hamstring early in the second term, falling awkwardly after a running banana-kick to put Davey into space. Neitz kicked his second goal to narrow the Bullie lead to a point. The Demuns had new tactics, Grant was manned-up by Ben Holland to stop his forays forward, overall the Dees played a lot tighter and forced the Dogs to kick long into their forward-line - with the shortest forwards in the leeg, it’s something the Pups can’t afford. Melbun moved steadily clear as McLean converted from another mark and Holland plucked a throw-in to dribbly-snap a great, if lucky, goal as the ball eluded Doggy players. Russ Robertson was generally well-held by Dale Morris but he did manage a great hanging screamer late in the second stanza, he goaled and the Dees led by 16 points at the long break, the Bullies having managed just 4 behinds for the term.

More of the same in the third stanza as the Dogs, enjoying plenty of possession, found it impossible to score. Bruce was on top of Johnson (not literally) and Matthew Whelan and Nathan Carroll stopped Matty Robbins and Travis Baird respectively, Daniel Ward ran the ball out well. Neitz kicked the first goal of the third term and Davey also sausaged to extend the Demun lead to 27 points. Grant shifted forward for the Dogs and he got on the end of an Adam Cooney pass to finally boot a major for the Dogs, cutting their deficit to 21 points. But the Dees kicked the last two goals of the third Mario, including Yze’s terrific left-foot shot from the boundary-line again, and led by 33 points at the final change. The Dee lead was 40 points early in the final stanza and the Dogs were staring down the barrel. They managed two goals in quick succession to close the deficit to 28 points and appeared to have a slight chance. But Yze soon booted his fourth goal from a juggling mark, Clint Bartram bagged a roving goal and the margin was 7 goals again. Davey’s hamstring injury occurred this time, in the act of chasing the ball. Melbun romped away though, Matthew Bate booted a long goal and a minute later passed for Yze, who converted after the final siren. ‘The Ooze’ was chaired off, capping a great day for him.

The day’s twin heroes for Melbun were Adem Yze with 26 disposals and 5 goals, and Cameron Bruce (22 disposals, 8 marks) who saw Johnson to the bench with just one goal. In the midfield Brock McLean (29 touches, 2 goals) and James McDonald (33 touches) were very good, Simon Godfrey (14 handlings, a goal) limited West’s influence. New boy Nathan Jones, one of those 18-year-olds who appears 28, managed 17 touches on debut. Down back Matthew Whelan (32 touches, 10 marks) was good on Robbins and Daniel Ward (32 disposals, 9 marks) did some rebound running. David Neitz kicked 3 goals and Aaron Davey and Russ Robertson bagged 2 goals each. Better Bulldogs included prolific Daniel Cross (32 disposals, 2 goals) and runnin’ Ryan Griffen (21 possessions), Dale Morris (12 touches) was good on Robbo. Jordan McMahon (19 possies) ran the ball out well. Matthew Boyd (23 disposals) and Adam Cooney (22 touches) worked hard. The Dogs are just wobbling a bit and coach Rocket Eade has been a bit circumspect about their prospects in recent weeks. The injuries aren’t helping. "We just didn't use the ball well. After quarter-time, which I was reasonably pleased with the first half after a slow 10 minutes . . . then for whatever reason, I don't know, but our skills dropped away and our decision-making was poor," Eade said. Neale Daniher reckoned "To rebound after a loss is really important and we knew it would be a good contest against the Doggies. We were able to keep them to three goals in (the last) three quarters and our workrate was first class. I was thrilled with the pressure we were able to put on the Dogs through the midfield. We carried too many passengers the previous week but this week it was a very even contribution from the team." 

Ladder after Round Seventeen.

                 Pts.    %    Next Week
Adelaide         56    155.6    Collingwood (Football Park, Sat. night)
West Coast       52    115.2    St. Kilda (Docklands, Fri. night)
Melbourne        48    116.2    Carlton (Docklands, Saturday)    
St. Kilda        44    122.5    West Coast (Docklands, Fri. night)    
Collingwood      44    118.1    Adelaide (Football Park, Sat. night)    
Sydney           40    120.5    Essendon (SCG, Sat. night)
Footscray        40    109.2    Richmond (MCG, Saturday)    
Fremantle        40     95.1    Hawthorn (Subiaco, Sunday)
----------------------------
Geelong          32    101.3    Brisbane (Gabba, Sunday)
Richmond         32     79.8    Footscray (MCG, Saturday)
Brisbane         28     92.4    Geelong (Gabba, Sunday)
Port Adelaide    24     89.8    North Melbourne (Docklands, Sunday)
North Melbourne  24     84.0    Port Adelaide (Docklands, Sunday)
Hawthorn         20     78.2    Fremantle (Subiaco, Sunday)
Essendon         10     80.8    Sydney (SCG, Sat. night)     
Carlton          10     76.2    Melbourne (Docklands, Saturday)    

Cheers, Tim.