AFL Weekly Review Grand Final 2006

by Tim Murphy

West Ghost Weegirls, they’re flying high. It was their turn to triumph in the series of quite amazing, close-fought battles with their rivals the Swans. These games have been great, really and the Coasters deserved to win, even if the Swans let themselves down with their performance. Perth will be swept clean of lager and snortable substances this week.

GF week started well enough for Siddey as Adam Goodes won his second Brownlow Medal with 26 votes, following his triple-tie with Buckley and Ricciuto in 2003. Luckless Bulldog Scott West was runner-up for the second time, he scored 23 votes. Goodes and West were tied going into round 22, Goodes winning BOG honours against Carlton despite spending lengthy periods on the bench while West’s 36 disposals didn’t get him a vote in the Bullies’ 22-point win over Essadun. West’s finished in the top-four five times now and may go down as the unluckiest vote-getter in history. Statistically, he’s behind only Leigh Matthews in that regard. Goodes gave a gracious speech, acknowledging West. Weegles Daniel Kerr (22) and Chris Judd (21) were next in the tally, Kerr ineligible due to his punch-in-the-orchestras on Hawk Sam Mitchell. Surprises included another favourite, Camry Simon Goodwin, collecting just 8 votes, while Brisbane’s Jonathan Brown collected 13 votes in 10 games before a hip injury ended his season. Port pair Brendon Lade and Shaun Burgoyne scored 15 votes each while Port’s Rising Star Award winner Danyle Pearce got 13 votes. Jason Akermanis, present as a former winner, spent a long time at the Footscray table selling himself. The Dogs fired a warning shot after Akermanis bagged Leigh Matthews and Brisbun yet again on the Grand Final ‘Footy Show’, both West and club president David Smorgon calling such outbursts ‘unacceptable’.

A bit of other news, Sinkilda have a short-list of assistant coaches John Longmire (Sydney), Guy McKenna (Collingwood), Chris Bond (Footscray) and Mark Harvey (Fremantle) for their coaching job but they’re open to other candidates and aren’t in a hurry, apparently. There’s talk Garry Lyon is interested. The Camrys suddenly ran outta senior ruckmen, Rhett Biglands requires a reco on the knee he injured in the prelim final that’ll keep him out of next season, while Matthew ‘Doc’ Clarke retired after 248 games for Brisbane and the Camrys, winning Brisbun’s B&F in 1997. Great tap-man, Clarkey. James ‘Junior’ McDonald won the B&F award at the Deemuns.

At the MCG:

Sydney      1.4   4.6    8.11   12.12 (84)
West Coast  4.2   8.7   10.10   12.13 (85)

They shall not be moved. Despite running outta petrol midway through the third quarter and having a couple of injuries, the Weegles clung on grimly and bravely for their third flag. Predictably, it was yet another tense, exciting battle between these two superb modern rivals. Uncanny, this being the sixth consecutive contest between the teams decided by less than a goal. The Swans fumbled ‘n’ bumbled badly in the first half, dropped marks, didn’t kick straight and Barry Hall put in a shocker (or was beaten by Darren Glass, depending on your viewpoint). Those factors probably accounted for the whole two-point turnaround from the qualifying final. Brave as the Weegs were, it’s hard to avoid the feeling the Swans blew it. Praise due to the Wiggles though, they finished on top o’ the ladder and played better on the day. Coach John Worsfold copped the criticism following that earlier final and changed tactics, dropping extra men back to combat the Swans’ forwards. ‘Woosha’ captained the Weegs’ first two premiership sides and has now coached the other. They can’t do much without him. Just one selection change amongst both sides, the Eegs dropping Jaymie Graham to include David Wirrpanda. Daniel Kerr played despite a foot problem. Swan ruckman Darren Jolly turned up on the morning of the game after witnessing the birth of his first child on Friday night. Happily, the umpires included Darren Goldspink.

Channel Ten’s studio telecast came from what appeared to be a dubious nightclub, with lurid purple backdrops and UV lighting to stop Quartermain, Walls and co. mainlining clichés. Or maybe it was a tribute to the Weegs’ recreational activities. The day itself was a superbly sunny, still spring day with the rarely-used ‘G looking a picture. Proceedings started in the Swans’ preferred style, lots of ball-ups and the game being played at a reasonably slow tempo. Then the Weevils started to control proceedings, producing lotsa runnin’ handball again. A rushed point to Siddey was the only score in the first 7 minutes. Then the Weegs booted three quick goals. Daniel Chick collected the ball at a throw-in and tumbled it forward, Ash Hansen was in front of Lewis Roberts-Thomson to hold a chest-mark and boot the opener. The Weegs won the restart and the ball pinged about in their forward-line. Swan Roberts-Thomson handballed out-the-back to Amon Buchanan but Buchanan fumbled badly and Wiggle skipper Chris Judd nipped through to soccer a goal. Blood ruckman Darren Jolly played like a man who hadn’t slept, fumbling, missing the target with a handpass and conceding free-kicks to opponent Dean ‘Big’ Cox. From one such, Weegle Michael Braun drove the ball in, it cleared leading Quinten Lynch but Adam Hunter, who’d moved forward already, gathered and handballed for Ben Cousins to boot a running sausage. The Eegs led by 17 points. Barry Hall hooked a free-kick wide from 25m, right in front. The Bloods got on the board when good work from Ben Mathews released Ryan O’Keefe, he went for a bit of a run and passed for leading Michael O’Loughlin to mark and convert. The Weeg defenders lined up with Hunter and Chick swapping between O’Loughlin and the forward-line, Glass covered Hall with Wirrpanda ‘filling the hole’ in front of Hall. Afterwards, Wirrpanda commented he “played with my Medicare card in my sock.” Swan Jude Bolton missed two straightforward set-shots before Weeg Chad Fletcher was allowed advantage to find Hansen, he goaled again and the Weegs led by 16 points.

The Swans had trouble, Hall dropped an uncontested mark early in the second term and Adam Goodes hadn’t been sighted. Hansen had embarrassed Roberts-Thomson sufficiently for LRT to be benched and replaced by Ted Richards. Chick drove the Eegs forward again and was clattered after the fact, advantage was allowed for Andrew Embley to slot a running major. Great interchange between Cox and Embley set up a shot for Hunter but he missed, a snap from Embley just curled wide as the Wiggles dominated but, as usual, didn’t put it on the scoreboard. Siddey clawed a goal back, Adam Schneider did well to win the pill and centre it, Nic Fosdike marked and passed for leading Mathews to grab and convert. An unusual scorer for the Bloods, underlining their problems. On marched the Weegs, Cousins released Daniel Kerr for a run and he kicked long for Lynch to mark over Leo Barry, Lynch majored. A bit later Lynch goaled again from an almost-identical sequence, Fletcher with the delivery this time. The Wiggles led by a healthy 28 points. Siddey kept in touch as Nick Davis clutched a good mark on the flank, played-on and kicked for O’Loughlin to outmaneuver Chick for a good grab. Molly majored. Barry Hall was doing the things he usually does when he struggles, trying to whack blokes or bust a dozen tackles when he did get the ball. Sinney backman Tadhg Kennelly was very harshly done for ‘bawl’ when he slipped over, but he was under a lot of pressure anyway and Cousins free-kicked a goal. Weegs by 29 points. The Swans bagged a late goal, Jarrad McVeigh punted forward from a throw-in and Davis marked, he slotted with a noice kick. Lynch marked 55m out and discarded his single, left-handed glove, an indicator he’s going to have a shot which brings cheers from Weeg and Michael Jackson fans. Lynch’s shot was rushed through and the Weegles led by 25 points at half-time.

Carlton spearhead and Coleman Medallist Brendan Fevola won the Grand Final sprint thanks to a generous handicapper. Goodes began the third korter on-the-ball and started to perform. Weeg Braun was heavily involved in the early third stanza action, negatively at first as he was caught in possession by Schneider and O’Keefe wobbled a punt into the Swans’ attack. Hall collected it and handballed for O’Loughlin to hold off Hunter and snap a goal. Braun atoned a minute later, his smart handpass enabling Embley to run clear and thump it home from 50m. Weegs still 25 points ahead. Braun roved a throw-in and centered for Hansen to mark, but he missed. The Swans attacked from the kick-in, Goodes marked it and passed to Nick Malceski, from his punt Davis held a good grab against Wirrpanda and popped it through. The Weegs answered again, a superb gather in traffic and burst of speed from Kerr got the ball to Lynch, he discarded the glove (huzzah!) and hammered it through from 55m. Quite a good kick. Weegs by 25 points once more. The Eegs scored a coupla more points but very soon they tired noticeably. You pay a price for all that runnin’ handpassing. Judd also hurt his shoulder at this stage but refused to leave the ground. The game opened up, to the Swans’ benefit. Roberts-Thomson had returned as a forward and he stabbed a major while being tackled, completing good lead-up work from Malceski, Hall and Goodes. Despite the shift in momentum Siddey had some trouble scoring, Brett ‘Captain’ Kirk’s snap hit the post and Hall missed again, with a very soft free-kick. Big Lynch sliced a shot on-the-full in this period. Another Weevil damaged a shoulder, Beau Waters clattered by team-mate Cox at a throw-in. Richards, who was playing well, kicked a behind but he marked the Weeg kick-in and stabbed a pass to Davis, the prodigal Swan punted a long goal. The Wiggle lead was down to 11 points at the final change.

McVeigh won the ball at the opening bounce of the final Mario, his kick was marked (at last) by hard-leading Hall, he dished a handpass for running Goodes to blast through. Siddey fans excited as their mob trailed by 5 points. Now we had the expected close battle. The Weevils, running on empty, committed many men to defence but their on-ballers were still wining possession, even if they couldn’t run as much. The Weegs scored a rushed point, then no score for a while. Kerr snapped on-the-full under pressure and Hansen missed poorly following a good, juggled grab. Hunter sliced a set-shot on-the-full. The Swans moved closer as O’Keefe kicked forward, the ball spilled from a pack and at last a Swan found space, Schneider snapped a good right-footer for full points. A one-point lead for the Weegs. The Weegs defended desperately until Kerr embarked on an ambitious, desperate run from defence, he was tackled but Tyson Stenglein gathered the ball and mongrelled it forward. The ball eluded several players and Steven Armstrong ran onto it to bounce a clever shot for a goal. Weegs by 7. Goodes won the ball at the restart and kicked wide for O’Keefe, he shrugged off Rowan Jones, wheeled around and launched a shot from 45m. It went over and through O’Loughlin, Chick, Hall and Glass for a goal. Back to a point the diff. Umpire Goldspink was so tense he fell on his coccyx and lay down for a rest. A superb effort from Chick gave the Weegs breathing space again as he smothered O’Keefe’s kick from defence, collected the ball, handpassed and shepherded for Hunter to run clear and boot a major. Weegs by 7 again. The Swans were doing the bulk of the attacking as the Weegs held ‘em out, a great mark from Waters featuring. Eventually Richards held a good grab 50m out and punted the ball long, the Sherrin was fought over furiously before Buchanan’s handpass found Malceski in space, he curled a good snap for a sausage. A point separated ‘em again with, er, a few minutes left. Ten won’t tell us. Chick chased desperately to push Richards off a kick, the Swan man literally collapsing from exhaustion. In the fading moments Goodes took a big grab and drove the Swans forward again, but Embley ran with-the-flight for a saving mark. The final siren sounded at a throw-in. Judd accepted the cup from retired Weegle hero Glen Jakovich, but pointedly called up the ‘real’ captain, Cousins, hold the cup up with him.

Weegle wingman Andrew Embley won the Norm Smith Medal for best afield, Embley’s trademark endurance seeing him collect 26 disposals, moving forward to bag 2 goals as well as taking a coupla key marks in defence. Many observers thought ruckman Dean ‘Big’ Cox (34 hit-outs, 20 possessions) was equally deserving of the award, he beat Jolly handsomely and was an extra running midfielder. The other Wiggle on-ballers were winners too, Daniel Kerr (20 disposals) did some great things and Chris Judd (28 touches, a goal) won plaudits from his coach, Ben Cousins (18 handlings, 2 goals) was useful despite a decent tagging effort from Ben Mathews. In the backline Darren Glass did very well on Hall, with help from Wirrpanda and Hunter. Half-back Beau Waters (26 possies, 10 marks) won plenty of the ball and Daniel Chick (10 touches) will go down in Weevil history for his commitment and one-percenters. Adam Selwood (26 handlings, 10 grabs) was handy too and Quinten Lynch (6 marks, 9 kicks, 3 goals) was much better than Gardiner last year, the man for whom he was dropped. Ashley Hansen kicked 2 goals in the first quarter. Best of the Swans were Brett Kirk (27 disposals), another tough, Paul Kelly-esque effort and Adam Goodes (22 possies, a goal) got ‘em going after half-time. Tahdg Kennelly (21 touches) was important in the first-half, about the only Swan with any run. Ted Richards (17 possies, 6 marks) was terrific across half-back and moving forward later, probably the best game of his career to date. Adam Schneider (14 touches, a goal) and Ryan O’Keefe (15 touches, a goal) weren’t too bad and in attack Nick Davis (11 touches, 6 marks, 3 goals) and Mick O’Loughlin (10 disposals, 3 marks, 3 goals) did a bit. But the Swans were beaten in the ruck, midfield and, for part of the game, both key defensive positions. Hall did nothing, yet they only lost by a point.

Paul Roos was very magnanimous in defeat - almost too much. "To come back and give ourselves a chance to win the game was a tremendous effort. They played better in the first half and we played better in the second half, but I couldn’t be more proud or pleased with their efforts," Roos said. "It’s disappointing because you want to win the game, but you can't do anything about it now. It would have been nice to go 2-0 (in grand finals) but you can’t be too greedy . . . If we were to be beaten by anyone in the 2006 premiership I honestly would have hoped it would have been the West Coast Eagles because I admire their coach, I admire their footy club, I admired the way they accepted defeat graciously last year, I admired the battles that we had with them and, while it's bitterly, bitterly disappointing to lose, we can take some consolation that it was a great team that beat us and it was only by one point." John Worsfold, always very level-tempered even in victory, said "My feeling is one of satisfaction, because of the work you put in and for whatever reasons you like, we are the premiership team of 2006. We put the work in and had faith in what we did even though we were questioned on a lot of issues. I have no doubt we put the work in to win a premiership. It's also satisfying because champion players like Ben (Cousins) and Chris (Judd) now become premiership players . . . The responsibility in taking on a job coaching the West Coast Eagles, for me, was to give the players the opportunity to achieve the best they could. I really felt most of them started to do that in my first couple of years coaching, and then it was about me saying they are good enough to win the premiership, and giving them the opportunity to do that. The satisfaction I have is the medal Chris wears around his neck this year, compared to the one last year.” What about the close results with the Swans, Woohsa? “The game was on (at three-quarter-time), and we knew it was going to be. It was the two best teams in the competition slugging it out, out there and we knew it was going to be tough. But it was never going to be a repeat of last year, even if we lost. It was a different game, different year, different players out there. Everything was different. It wasn't going to be a repeat of last year unless Leo Barry took a screamer to save the game. They needed a screamer to win the game this time." Aha!

So that’s it for another year, thanks to David Layton and the folks at Footy Tipping Software once again, thanks to you all for reading this stuff and your e-mails. Next year is up in the air a bit as we in the undeveloped states are waiting to see what happens with TV coverage, but Richo willing we’ll be back in some form. So until next season, farewell!

Cheers, Tim.