AFL Round 3
by Tim Murphy
At the MCG:
Collingwood 2.3 4.6 11.10 17.13.115
Richmond 5.5 7.10 11.10 13.12.90
Very good win for a depleted Collywood side, three first-gamers played a hand as the Poise lifted their intensity after half-time. The pattern was depressingly familiar for Tigger fans, in with a chance but giving in hopelessly, pathetically. Who’s the fitness coach, Milo Kerrigan? The Big Pussies were rubbish, unless it’s Plough’s agenda to finish last and get more draft picks. The Pies broke the banner here without backline general James Clement, injured and vomiting in the warm-up and wingman Ben Johnson (calf) along with axed junior Daniel Nicholls. The three WA-born first-gamers were solidly-built flanker-type Alan Toovey from Claremont, tallish South Fremantle defender Shannon Cox and lithe, skilful forward Brad Dick from East Fremantle. They joined the rest of the dicks playing for Collingwood. One change for the Tiggers, ruckman Troy ‘Snake’ Simmonds returning at the expense of unfit Patrick Bowden. The entire side could be dropped on that basis.
Key period of a tedious first half was a four-goal burst from the Tigers midway through the first quarter. Pie man Scott Pendlebury snapped the opening goal, roving Medhurst’s contest. But the Tigers worked hard - for a while - winning the contested ball and out of the centre, running hard. Matthew Richardson missed a couple of shots before Kayne Pettifer dived to scoop Richard Tambling’s kick and punt a long goal. The Tiges won the ball away from the restart and Pettifer passed for Jay Schulz to grab and convert. Great work from Andrew Raines at a throw-in set up another major for Schulz, Chris Hyde with the pass. A free-kick to Greg Tivendale had the Toigs clearing the next centre-bounce, leading Richardson was held by Pie plodder Simon Prestitooslow and gained a free-kick, finally punting it straight for six points. The Tiges led by 19 points at this stage and after some faff-about they scored another goal, Tivendale running onto Cam Howat’s wobbly punt and spearing it through. The Poise managed a major at last, clearing the next centre-bounce and Dale Thomas’s kick was grabbed by Alan Toovey, the debutant kicked a goal. His second kick. The term petered out as Tige Andy Krakouer muffed a golden chance by knee-ing it through and Richo sliced a shot on-the-full. The Magpiss appeared in more injury trouble as Medhurst limped off and Shane Wakelin jogged about stiffly, he’d been exposed by Schulz. Following a miss each the Pies scored the first goal of the second term, Anthony Rocca punted long from the flank, the ball spilled free and Brad Dick soccered it through - pretty happy with his career-first major. Another woeful miss from Richo preceded a goal for Krakouer, collecting the neatly-bouncing ball from Tambling’s kick. Richmun led by 22 points. Poi ‘Neon’ Leon Davis bagged his weekly miracle-goal, a banana-snap from the boundary-line after Tige Darren Gaspar spilled a mark. Richardson responded for the Tiges, marking Tambling’s pass after tough work from Chris Newman to create the chance. The Tiges led by 21 points as some fairly ragged, rubbishy football from both sides completed the half. Tigers Schulz and Nathan Foley saw snaps hit the post, the Pies had Rocca and Josh Fraser off the ground as they kept their powder dry.
The Maggies lifted their intensity in a big way after half-time. Fraser stepped up in the ruck, Tarkyn Lockyer, Shane O’Bree and Paul Licuria did better on-the-ball, Dane Swan and Dale Thomas gave run where none had been. And they put a lot of tackling pressure on the weak-willed Tiges. Rocca had a field-day as the gap closed quickly. Dick booted his second goal after clutching a good grab of O’Bree’s high, wobbly kick. Good work from O’Bree again set up Rocca for an emphatic mark on-the-lead and goal driven through from 50m. Thomas burst clear of the restart but his shot faded wide, a moment later Swan punted a running sausage after Tigger captain Kane Johnson fumbled poorly. Richmun’s lead had been rapidly cut to 2 points. They clung on for a bit. Richardson’s tap-on saw Krakouer gather the ball and drill a low kick through for full points. The Poise answered as Heath Shaw’s run from defence and well-placed kick ended with Davis marking and kicking truly. Then the Toigs as a smart tap-on from Graham Polak allowed Johnson to redeem himself, snapping a goal from close range. Toovey’s second goal narrowed the difference to 2 points again, a mark, smart baulk and left-footed ‘pass’ from Rocca (a miskick really) setting up the first-gamer. The Tiges nudged ahead again as a fast rebound from Brett Deledio created a running bomb for Tivendale. Delaying the inevitable. Medhurst had returned and he punted a major to reduce the gap to a point, good lead-up work coming from Dick and Rocca. A Travis Cloke miss leveled the scores before fierce Poi tackling forced a turnover and Pendlebury slotted a running sausage roll, a roar coming from the Poi nuffies in the 70,000-strong crowd as the Magpiss went ahead by 6 points. The Tigers managed to level the scores again before the final change, a good effort from Shane Tuck finding Schulz marking on-the-lead and punting a goal. Rocca sprayed a tight-angle shot on-the-full after the siren. All to play for then, but the Pies put the Tiggers away quickly once the final stanza commenced. Rocca, thrashing Joel Bowden, speared a low pass for Medhurst to accept and boot an early major. Scott Burns hit the post with a shot but Bowden’s kick-in went on-the-full, the free-kick leading to a major for Rocca himself. Good work from Fraser got the pill to Licuria, his high kick was marked far too easily by Rocca for another and the Poise had jumped to an 18-point lead. Belatedly, Polak replaced Bowden as Rocca’s man. The Tiges broke the run, Schulz leading up to mark at CHF and pass to Richardson who punted truly. The Poise led by 14 points but a great tap from Guy Richards at the restart set Burns clear, he planted the Sherrin neatly on leading Medhurst’s chest and Collywood led by 20 again. Tigger Krakouer snapped a great goal from a throw-in a bit later but Krakouer also blew the Tiges’ last chance probably, with a hopeless, panicky attempt at a running torpedo-punt from about 45m. A bit later Schulz took a great mark but opened a nasty gash on his head in the process, he trudged off and the kick went to Richo. He missed. Piemen Toovey and Medhurst booted late goals from free-kicks conceded by the frustrated, bedraggled and despairing Tiges.
The running efforts of Tarkyn Lockyer (32 disposals) and Dane Swan (35 touches, 11 marks, a goal) lifted the Poise back into it, but there’s no doubt big ‘Anfernee’ Rocca (9 marks, 13 kicks, 3 goals) made a fairly large difference in attack. Shane O’Bree (26 touches) was important in the vital third quarter and Dale Thomas (25 handlings, 7 marks) played well again. Paul Medhurst bagged 3 goals in the final quarter and 4 overall to make a handy contribution, Heath Shaw (18 touches) and Josh Fraser (18 disposals, 17 hit-outs) were okay. Alan Toovey (12 touches, 4 marks) bagged 3 goals in his first game and there were 2 goals each for Leon Davis, Brad Dick and Scott Pendlebury. The Tiges’ best were probably Brett Deledio (23 disposals) and Richard Tambling (19 touches, 9 marks), the latter was terrific in the first half but Tambling had the Richmond disease of vanishing after half-time. Chris Newman (17 touches) played very well across half-back and little rover Nathan Foley (26 disposals) ploughed away again. Greg Tivendale (21 touches, 2 goals) was alright. Matty Richardson sprayed a random 3.4 and one on-the-full from his 8 marks and 11 kicks, Jay Schulz and Andrew Krakouer kicked 3 goals each. I though Gaspar was retained ahead of Andy Kellaway to play on the opposition ‘big forwards’, but he chased Medhurst about ineffectually while Joel Bowden was carved up by Rocca - what the heck, Plough? "We believe that we had a side out there that was well and truly capable of winning the game," Wallace said. "It was a mental challenge to a few of our guys and they weren't able to stand up to it. So that was particularly disappointing. When we play to our structures and our game plans, we are competitive against most sides. I think most teams, if you play to your structures and styles you can have success in a very even competition. As soon as you step away from them, you're not going to beat anyone." Mick Malthouse was pretty happy as he ran through the circumstances. “I'm pleased as punch, I'll give you the tip, it was a terrific win, I won't be hiding that fact," Malthouse said. "Given who we had in the side and the late change, we had our club captain (Buckley) sitting in the box with me, the designated captain (Clement) was sitting in the grandstand, Ben Johnson is a vice-captain, he's sitting in the grandstand. It's thrown onto Josh (Fraser to act as captain), who hadn't played well in the first two games I didn't think and there were three new players, so they're special occasions, very special."
At the MCG:
Carlton 2.1 8.7 15.11 18.17.125
Essendon 7.9 12.13 13.16 17.20.122
Amazing game. At quarter-time I wouldn’t have backed the Bluies with your money, but they produced a remarkable Fevola-powered second half to record a great win, apparently a record comeback for the ‘baggers (from 48 points down - eclipsing the 1970 GF). Sheedy was criticized afterwards for not closing the game down when the gap opened up, but flooding is not his thing, he reckons. At least it should stop all the ridiculous hype about the Bommers. Recruiting a coupla speedy teenagers doesn’t turn a side around, especially when the side doesn’t rely on running power anyway. Steady short-passing and creating space has been the Dons’ stock plan for a while now, running handball from the Bombouts is as rare as a humble Don supporter. Once the Bluesers started winning the contested ball and Fev caught fire, they were set. In selection the Bluies retained the same team for the third straight week, the Dons brought in Ricky Dyson to replace Andrew Welsh (hamstring).
The Bombers were completely dominant by quarter-time. At least four of them nine first-stanza behinds should’ve been goals, perhaps they lost it there. Bloo spearhead Fevola produced a woeful hook with his first shot and counterpart Matty Lloyd kicked two early behinds, one a miss from 2m out although Lloydy was being tackled at the time. The Blooze messed up the kick-in from the second and Don Andrew Lovett snapped a goal. Fevola missed another shot before Bombout Damien Peverill roved a throw-in and centered the ball, finding Mark McVeigh in plenty of space to drive it through from 45m. The Bluies were competitive for a while, a great bit of roving from Eddie Betts allowed him to boot their first goal. Adam McPhee and James Hird combined to find Scott Lucas on-the-lead, Lucas’s great early-season form continued as he roosted it through from the boundary-line, Essadun led by 13 points. The Dons swept forward irresistibly but scored three consecutive behinds, Peverill’s point-blank miss the worst. The Blues stayed in touch courtesy a 50m penalty to Cameron Cloke, he stabbed the ball wide for Ryan Houlihan to punt it home from 50m. Dons by 10 points at this stage but they put the hammer down now. Lucas majored again with a mark over formless opponent Lance Whitnall, a minute later some ugly but desperate play following a throw-in ended with Jobe Watson toe-poking a goal while being tackled. Lucas took two strong grabs within the next minute but missed both shots as the Bommers continued to burn chances. A poor handpass by Cloke caused a turnover and Lloyd’s mongrelled kick from 40m bounced through for a goal. Some handbags occurred in the aftermath and Bomma Angus Monfries was brushed lightly in the face by Heath Scotland, a free-kick and ‘double-goal’ the result. Bloo fans were unhappy already with the umpiring, that incident didn’t improve their humour and minute later their Matty Lappin was ridden into the ground but received no decision. A late Lucas shot hit the post and as the first siren sounded Bloo fans were screaming at everything, their side 38 points down.
Essadun bagged the opening goal of the second term and they led by 44. Now Carlton rallied a bit, led by Lappin. His great goal-square smother denied Peverill a certain goal, a minute later Lappin’s end-to-end running allowed him to complete a move he started and boot a goal. Tight for a bit before a wayward Bomma kick-in resulted in a snapped major for Blueman Andrew Carrazzo. The Dons led by 29 points. Watson cleared the restart and Hird’s smart handpass set up Lucas for an answering major. Bloo Andrew Walker conjured a great, curling snap from the boundary-line in reply but the Dons spurted clear again now. Houlihan’s overly hopeful, long kick down-the-guts from defence was swallowed by McPhee, leading to an easy goal for Lovett. Typical Essadun play, chipped passes from Lloyd to Jason Winderlich to McVeigh, resulted in a nicely-steered major for McVeigh. Bloo Houlihan was penalized under the absurd new hand-on-the-back rule and Lovett free-kicked another major. As the commentators noted, it’s a stupid rule very inconsistently applied - at least the umps sort-of squared-up a minute later in penalizing Lloyd on Setanta O’hAilpin. A Don behind had ‘em leading by 48 points or exactly 8 goals. From the kick-in the Blooze went down the field, Simon Wiggins honoured Fevola’s lead and the Bloo spearhead kicked accurately at last. He got a taste for it, kicking another goal a minute later, set up by Marc Murphy’s solid tackle on big Mal Michael. Walker sped clear of the restart and stabbed a pass to Lappin, he completed a fine quarter with a goal and the Bluies had cut the deficit back to 30 points at the long break.
Blueser coach Denis Pagan made a few moves to start the second half, Houlihan onto the ball, Bret Thornton onto Lucas, Nick Stevens to a forward-flank and struggling Whitnall as a follower. But the key difference was the Blooze exerting more pressure on the Dons, breaking down their stately short-passing moves and speeding up the game. Lappin bagged the opening sausage of the third Mario, accepting Stevens’s bullet-pass. Scotland floated a high kick forward and Bluie Brad Fisher was allowed to mark the ball far too easily, as Dons stood about watching. Fisher converted. Houlihan gathered the ball at the restart, exchanged handballs with ruckman Cain Ackland and speared the ball to leading Fevola, he goaled and the Bluies were only 13 points behind. Six unanswered goals from them, since trailing by 48. Don icon Jim Hird inserted himself into the centre and won the ball at the restart, as his kick went forward Lloyd was manhandled by O’hAilpin and Lloydy free-kicked a goal. But the Bluies responded in kind, Murphy’s free-kick at the next centre-bounce delivered to Fevola, mark and major. The Bluesers were doing all the attacking but they butchered a few chances, eventually junior champion Bryce Gibbs won the ball at a throw-in and found Fisher all alone again, he converted. Confusion amongst Dons as to the identity of Fisher’s opponent as Carlton trailed by 6 points. It was fairly intense, Fevola and Mark Johnson collided heavily in a fierce marking contest. The Blues grabbed the lead after Fisher was clearly caught in possession, but the ump waved play-on and Murphy picked out Fevola’s lead again, Big Fev majored again. Blues by a point and yet another Fevola sausage extended it to 7, speeding out to mark Scotland’s lovely, centered kick. Four goals in the quarter for Fev as the Bluies led by 7 at the final change. Fevola provided an assist early in the final term, handballing for Adam Bentick to pass to Stevens, his goal sending Carlton 12 points ahead. The Blooze had scored 11 of the previous 12 goals at this point. Bommer Brent Stanton ran clear of the restart but his long shot missed, the rarely-seen Leroy Jetta also kicked a behind as the Dons plugged away. Finally a good rebound move ended with a running goal for Alwyn Davey and the Dons were still there, 6 points down. After Bluies Murphy and Stevens kicked points, Bomma spirits were lifted further by a fantastic screamer from McVeigh, a great ride on Thornton. Although if we’re applying the hand-on-the-back rule . . . but the maggots weren’t, so a classic speccie was paid and a goal scored. Carton by 2 points but Fevola came to the rescue again, leading to Carrazzo’s pass and booting truly. Great play from McVeigh again set up a goal for Lloyd and the Dons were 2 points down once more. But there was no stopping Fevola now, confidence is a wonderful thing. Fev twisted himself backwards to hold a terrific grab under pressure from ‘Dustbin’ Fletcher and boot his eighth, Bluies by 9 points. On it went, Hird and McVeigh combined to win the next centre-clearance and Lloyd lurked behind the pack to stab it through. Time was running out though, Murphy missed a shot for the Blooze, the Dons swept afield from the kick-in but, crucially, Lovett pushed his running shot wide. The final scoring act.
Hard to go past Brendan Fevola - 11 marks, 17 disposals, 8 goals - as BOG. Great support came from Marc Murphy (23 disposals), the unlikely Ryan Houlihan (24 touches, a goal) on the ball and Heath Scotland (26 touches, 9 marks). Matthew Lappin (11 handlings, 3 goals) was instrumental in reversing the tide and Andrew Carrazzo (23 touches, 7 marks, a goal) and Brad Fisher (9 marks, 17 touches, 2 goals) were important half-forwards, as was Nick Stevens (17 possies, a goal) after being tagged early. No real stand-out for the Dons, Mark McVeigh (13 touches, 3 goals) was good, Jason Winderlich (24 disposals) showed his improved form and physique again and Damien Peverill (25 possies) was everywhere early. The Dons still rely on James Hird (29 touches, 8 marks) to a worrying extent, especially as an on-baller. Skipper Matthew Lloyd (7 marks, 18 possies, 5 goals) worked hard and Scott Lucas (11 marks, 17 kicks, 3.5) was very good in the first half. Coulda kicked straighter, a perennial problem. Andrew Lovett (15 touches, 3 goals) was pretty good. Sheeds’ assessment was blunt. "It was a game that we should have won, and we didn't. Simple as that. We had the ball more than Carlton, we let them back into the game in the third quarter, maybe just five minutes before half-time, still five goals up at half-time, you have got to on with it after half-time. They really took control of the midfield and . . . probably helped Fevola to take the ball in an open forward line. I think Carlton stepped up a bit, but I also thought we dropped off. They probably stepped up more than we dropped off. But that's what footy's about, you have got to fight back there and then and we shouldn't have allowed that to happen." Pagan has no trouble getting emotional in such circumstances. “It's probably as satisfying and probably exciting (a win) that I've been involved in. I can't think of a home-and-away win like that for a long, long while I can tell you. And certainly by far and away the best of anything that I have experienced at Carlton. I have seen a few. And maybe I'm in the early stages of Alzheimers but at the moment I can't think of too many more. It's as exciting as you'd want to see and to be involved in that, you just feel so proud of your charges that run out. We've got a very young side, we've just come off a 78-point smashing last week, people were criticising our players. I just thought their character, mental strength really came to the fore (etc, etc.).
At Football Park:
Port Adelaide 0.6 3.10 7.11 8.15.63
Adelaide 3.3 8.3 10.7 13.9.87
Hadn’t seen the Camrys’ special ‘anti-running’ game plan which shut down the Bulldogs last week, but apparently this was exactly the same. It involves packed, flooded defence to deny the opposition forwards space and speedy rebound running, from Andrew McLeod mostly, to find their own forwards in plenty of space and one-on-one. It’s nothing new really, but expertly and ruthlessly applied. As Dennis Commetti noted recently, players and teams are programmed not to kick into a flooded attacking 50m zone, hence the automatic chip-about. The Corollas’ plan takes advantage of it. Port’s inaccuracy was a consequence, forced into taking shots from long-distance, under pressure. They didn’t take a mark inside attacking 50 until late in the second quarter. On the other hand, you could say Mark ‘Choco’ Williams was out-coached by Neil Craig, which would surprise nobody. Port welcomed captain Warren Tredrea in for his first game of the season, Darryl Wakelin was recalled along with junior Greg Bentley. They replaced injured Danyle Pearce (hamstring soreness), Adam Cockshell (ankle) and dropped Troy Chaplin. The Camrys were depleted by the loss of Graham ‘Stiffy’ Johncock (rolled ankle) and Robert Shirley (broken hand), rover Matthew Bode was a late withdrawal. On the plus-side Brett Burton returned along with Jason Porplyzia and Bernie Vince.
Only 37,000 people turned out, nowhere near a sell-out and the smallest crowd yet for a Showdown. The Camry plan was in effect early, after Port opened the scoring with a behind. The kick-in was transferred rapidly by running Scott Thompson and Brent Reilly, Ian Perrie marked in the goal-square (with shepherding from Nathan Bock), so close-in even Perrie couldn’t miss. Another fast rebound brought a second Camry goal. A terrific smother from Jason Torney caused a turnover, McLeod cruised past to collect and deliver to unopposed Scott Stevens. He majored and the Cows led by 19 points. Frustrated Flowers bombarded the goals late in the stanza, but Nathan Lonie was forced into two 55m bombs which missed, Shaun Burgoyne also missed a long punt and did poorly with a closer-range snap. Four consecutive behinds to end the term for Port, the Cows led by 15 points. And Port added two more to start the second term (another for Shaun Burgoyne - his fourth), crawling along to 0.8 - they hadn’t had a set shot at goal to this stage. It’s the only type of shot the Cressidas wanted. Ruckman Ben Hudson thumped ‘em forward and Scott Welsh took a terrific pack-mark, he converted. Belatedly, Shaun Burgoyne bagged the Pooey’s first goal, a great free-kick from 50m on the angle after a solid tackle on Thompson. But it was against the run, the Cows taying head while I tuned into the Sydney Cup, I think. Came back to see Brett ‘Birdman’ Burton scooping a ball on the half-volley and handballing for Stevens to boot a running goal, shortly afterwards Thompson ran away easily from a throw-in and passed to leading Burton, he majored. The Camrys led by 29 points. Port cleared the restart, Kane Cornes kicked long and back-pedalling Tredrea pulled in a very good one-handed mark - Port’s first in the forward 50. Tredrea goaled, reducing the Coronas’ lead to 23 points, the eventual half-time margin. But as Tredrea popped it through Power ruckman Dean Brogan limped off, he’d rolled an ankle at the preceding centre-bounce. His day was over.
The Camrys scored the first two goals of the third quarter and opened a healthy 36-point lead. Suspicion was their fast-rebounding game may cause tiredness. About halfway through the korter Port’s ruckman Brendon Lade plucked a goal-square grab and booted it through, signaling the start of Port’s best period. Big Lade became an effective running player, while Chad Cornes shifted into the centre and gave ‘em a lift. Camry Bock missed badly before a burst of, um, speed from Lade and his long kick picked out Jacob Surjan nicely, the Surjan converted and Port had scored consecutive goals, they were 25 points behind. The Flowers were having a crack now, Dom Cassisi used a free-kick to find Steven Salopek, who held a good grab under pressure and bagged a goal. A tough effort from Surjan to win the ball released Tom Logan for a run, his kick found Nathan Krakouer for a mark and major and Port were just 13 points down. The Cows won the ball at the restart, Porplyzia held a mark on a hard lead and chipped a pass to Vince. He missed and the Camrys led by 14 points at the final turnabout. Normal service resumed in the final term, though. Power fans were angry early as Tredrea wasn’t paid a mark, 30m out. Josh Mahoney snapped a behind. A bit later Camry man Stevens picked out Welsh on the lead, he converted with a good kick from the pocket and the Camrys led by 18 points. The Powermen were trying hard, but bombing the ball forward to a packed Camry backline or turning the ball over with poor decisions or misdirected passes. It wasn’t happening for them. Camry ruckman Hudson marked just such a bomb in the last line of defence, initiating a rebound move ending with a goal for Perrie. Addleaid led by 24 points, the ball spent the next 7 minutes in their backline as they soaked up Power pressure, all the Flowers had to show for it was a behind. The Camrys managed to get forward eventually and Welsh snapped a terrific goal from a throw-in, they were home now leading by 29 points. Inside the final minute Lade bagged a consolation major from a throw-in.
Running power drives the Camrys and Andrew McLeod (30 disposals) is the best exponent of it, mopping up everything across half-back. And Ayresey was sacked for moving him to half-back . . . Scott Thompson (23 touches) and Martin Mattner (23 possies, 9 marks) were very good transfer men and Nathan Bassett (23 disposals, 8 marks) gave Brett Ebert a hiding. Craigy was pleased with the efforts of younger men Richard Douglas (13 touches) off half-back and relentless young rover Chris Knights (24 handlings, 11 marks). Ben Rutten (14 possies, 7 marks) restricted Tredrea as usual and Ben Hudson rucked well. The forwards did their job again with Scott Welsh (5 marks, 11 disposals, 4 goals) the best, Ian Perrie kicked 3 goals and Scott Stevens 2 goals. On the Port side Chad Cornes (31 possessions, 8 marks) worked hard across half-back and, later, on-the-ball. Brother Kane Cornes (25 touches) was good while Shaun Burgoyne (21 touches, 1.4) also played well, cooda kicked straighter. Midfielders Dom Cassisi (22 touches) and Steven Salopek (19 touches, a goal) battled hard and ruckman Brendon Lade (16 touches, 7 marks, 24 hit-outs, 2 goals) was good. Port’s previously effective midget forwards copped a thrashing, though. Williams said he’d predicted the Camrys’ tactics. How come he was so poor at countering them, then? "When we went inside 50 they probably had nine players in there, which meant we were either kicking from a long way out or were under pressure to make decisions," Williams said. "We appreciate what they were trying to do but they did it better than our plans to counter-act that. They've done it before to us, they tried to do it in Round 21 last year and we dealt with it better, and we need to continually work on it. You need to be more productive than we were today, we probably dropped about five marks inside 50 that given the circumstances, you have to take those chances." Neil Craig said "Last week a lot of recognition went to and should have gone to our senior players, whereas today I think it swung towards the other way with how our young players went. I think we had eight players today with 50 games or less so for them to perform on an arena like the Showdown and win it is a great credit to them.
At Subiaco:
Fremantle 1.2 4.4 8.4 11.4.70
West Coast 4.1 6.6 9.11 14.17.101
Three outta three for the Evil Eagles, after a Grand Final rematch and a Derby. It’s ‘us against the world’ for them, as their Ross Glendinning Medallist Michael Braun said afterwards, “let’s have a fu..ing good year.” Freo are in trouble now, an 0-3 start was not what they envisioned. They had a good recent record in Derbies but this was an old-school Derby, the tough, strong-bodied Weegs tackling and crushing the life outta the Dokkers. Freo reverted to old-fashioned type too, they had plenty of the ball but zig-zagged about and couldn’t find a way to the goals, got frustrated and started fighting. Baiting of an unsavory kind contributed. In selection Freo lost key runner Brett Peake for quite a while with a fractured collarbone while Luke Webster and Paul Duffield were axed. In came Steven Dodd, returning from suspension, tough rover Troy Cook and big man Justin Longmuir. This was a stronger Wiggle side with ruckman Dean ‘Big’ Cox and forward Ashley Hansen returning, at the expense of Jaymie Graham and junior Mitch Brown.
Not a lot of scoring early. The Weegs managed an early goal through a sharp rebound move initiated by Chris Judd - his every touch booed heavily by the pro-Dokka crowd - and continued by Adam Hunter. Hunter’s kick was well-marked by Steven Armstrong, who had his head trodden on by late-arriving Dean Solomon. Cue some handbags and a 50m penalty for Armstrong, he kicked a goal. A few minutes later Matty Pavlich kicked the Dockulators’ first goal with strong lead-and-mark. At the restart Solomon shoved his opponent into the square, conceding a free-kick, then Josh Carr and Judd tangled, tacking on a 50m penalty. Weeg ruckman Mark Seaby kicked a goal and the Weegs led by 6 points. Freo did a lot of attacking for the next ten minutes but had only long misses from Pavlich and Justin Longmuir to show. Freo’s Andrew Browne departed with a damaged hamstring and Chris Tarrant nearly KO’d himself, landing heavily after a big speccie attempt. The Weegs absorbed the pressure with a flooded backline, then bagged two goals in the final minute of the term. Embley’s snap was smothered but the ball rebounded to Ash Hansen, he punted it home. The Weegs went forward again and Freo ruckman Aaron Sandilands dropped a mark, Dan Chick scooped the ball and lobbed a high kick, Daniel Kerr held a chest mark in the middle of a swarming pack - a bit unbelievable. Kerr goaled after the siren and the Weegs led by 17 points at the first break. The Shockers scored a point early in the second stanza and afterwards Josh Carr and Tyson Stenglein wrestled, Carr milked a free-kick and punted a goal. Eags led by 11 points, their Seaby and Brent Staker missed shots as Freo resorted to bombing the ball to heavily-outnumbered Pav. One of them bombs sailed over Pavlich’s head and was marked by opponent Darren Glass, he got the ball to Braun who ran afield and picked out David Wirrpanda for a mark. He converted, Weegs by 18. Freo gained some momentum as big Sandilands went to full-forward, he led to take juggling mark of Paul Hasleby’s pass and punt a needed sausage. A minute later Troy Cook kicked towards Sandilands again, he flailed at the ball but missed it completely, so did his two Wiggle opponents and Cook’s kick bounced through for a goal. The Shockers were 6 points down. Judd sped forward but his long shot missed. The Weevils managed another late goal, Rowan Jones’s high snap went across goal but Armstrong marked by the boundary-line and slotted it through skillfully. Eegs by 14 at half-time.
Wiggle Matt Rosa kicked a superb goal early in the third Mario, thanks to a ridiculous free-kick – Dokka Steven Dodd penalized for ‘deliberate’ as he gently shepherded the ball out. Freo fans were not happy about that, with justification. The Dokkers boxed on and Matthew Carr booted a major for them, holding a strong, juggling mark against Kerr. The Dokkers were 15 points down but continued to mess about with the ball, an inevitable turnover allowing the Weegs to rebound again, Quinten Lynch and Luke McPharlin wrestled and somehow and Lynch emerged with a free-kick - major. The Weevs won the ball from the subsequent centre-bounce, Rosa droved them forward and as the ball spilled from the pack Embley soccered it through. The Coasters led by 27 points and Freo were getting frustrated, conceding a free-kick at the restart allowing Judd to race clear again - but he missed again. Pavlich kept his side in touch with an excellent, tough pack-mark of James Walker’s kick and noicely steered goal. A minute later Freo were attacking again and their supporters looked forward to see Des Headland trying to kill Adam Selwood - a huge blue had erupted. It ended eventually and Headland was reported, but it’s since emerged Selwood had made reference to Headland’s six-year-old daughter, whose likeness is tattooed on Headland’s arm. Pavlich sliced a shot on-the-full and at the other end Armstrong missed poorly following great lead-up play from Braun. But Freo clawed back with two goals in the final 30 seconds - David Mundy booted a terrific running goal from the boundary-line, after he started the move and ran on to receive Matthew Carr’s handpass. Shaun McManus won the ball at the restart and kicked to Tarrant on the lead, Tarrant curled it through after the siren and Freo were a chance, trailing by 13 points. But the Eegs effectively sealed it with three of the first four goal of the final term, moving to a 30-point lead. Armstrong and Judd kicked a couple of them. Freo got some late consolation goals. Okay, I didn’t see the last bit. But did see Headland try to ‘go’ Selwood again after the game. He’s still pretty angry over what was said, apparently. So loveable, those Eagles.
As mentioned Michael Braun (27 disposals) won the Glendinning Medal for best afield and upheld the colourful history of the award with his swearing during the presentation. Daniel Kerr (24 touches, a goal) and Chris Judd (25 possessions, a goal) played well of course and Tyson Stenglein (25 handlings, 8 marks) had the better of his physical battle with Josh Carr. Judd is refusing to talk about a new contract until the year’s end, sparking all sorts of speculation in Melbourne. The Kangaroos have already offered him an astronomical deal, reportedly. Anyway, full-back Darren Glass also out-pointed Matthew Pavlich, Pav not helped by the slow service. Steven Armstrong (18 disposals, 3 goals) played the role of the goalsneak very well while Brent Staker (21 touches, 6 marks) is developing as a useful defender. Andrew Embley and Quinten Lynch kicked 2 goals each. The Shockers’ better players were defenders like David Mundy (22 disposals, a goal) and Luke McPharlin (6 marks, 10 possessions) on Lynch, or midfielders like hard-workin’ Paul Hasleby (24 handlings, a goal) and Peter Bell (17 touches). Half-forward Ryan Crowley (16 possies, a goal) and Antoni Grover (16 touches, 8 marks), the latter playing off half-back, also gave good service. Matty Pavlich and Josh Carr kicked 2 goals each. But Freo are certainly the team under the microscope now, along with the Bulldogs. Melbourne have the injury excuse, at least. Connolly made a number of points. "Obviously we are pushing the boundaries (lines) too much . . . Being reported, in a fashion putting yourself in front of the team, is not acceptable. If it's becoming a trend with us, it's a huge issue. But there's been quite a few reports where players have been unfortunate . . . We always knew it was going to be a tough start to the season." John Worsfold made veiled reference to the Dokkas’ physical approach. "I thought our players maintained their focus extremely well, under a lot of pressure.” Okay, it’s the best I could come up with.
At Docklands:
St. Kilda 6.3 7.7 12.10 17.14.116
Footscray 2.2 3.6 6.10 9.12.66
The Brisbane debacle was consigned to history as the Saints played much better back on the home ground. The Stains produced the same hard-tackling, disciplined performance as in round one and recorded a comfortable win against the Doggies, whose high-paced, high-skill game has fallen apart in the last fortnight. And the Pups appear to be height-challenged, their perennial problem but it seems to be particularly severe at the moment. ‘Rocket’ Eade needs to sort it quickly. At least they’ve got the toothless Tigers next week. The Sainters’ cause was assisted by the return of Nick Riewoldt from injury, also selected were ruckman Barry Brooks and first-gamer Clinton Jones, a strongly-built, fluoro-blonde flanker from South Fremantle and elevated from the rookie list. They replaced injured Max Hudghton (torn thigh) and ruckman Matty Clarke (hamstring), runner Shane Birss was dropped. The Dogs were without Jason Akermanis (hamstring) and Andrew McDougall and Matty Robbins were dropped after last week’s poor effort against the Camrys. In came full-back Brian Harris, ruckman Peter Street and backman Dylan Addison. Lindsay Gilbee played his 100th game.
Sinkilda’s early control was built on the ball-winning ability of veterans Andrew Thompson and Robert Harvey. Riewoldt was handy too. Fraser ‘G-Goose’ Gehrig bagged the opening goal, completing a string a handballs from Steven Baker, Thompson and Harvey. Gehrig didn’t kick a goal last week and won’t next week, ‘cause he’ll be suspended. That came later. When Brendon Goddard swept up a loose ball and snapped it through, the Saints led by 19 points. In addition to being vertically challenged in defence, the Bulldogs are too Brad Johnson-centric up forward. To be fair, Luke Darcy and Rob Murphy are feeling their way back from long-term injuries, but midfielders who normally kick goals aren’t, like Eagleton, Cooney and Giansiracusa. But I digress. Johnson booted the Dogs’ first goal but the Saints replied presently. Then Justin Koschitzke soared for a big grab but missed poorly. A minute later the Saints rebounded quickly again from a brokedown Bulldog attack, Leigh Montagna did the running and kicked for Riewoldt to take a clever with-the-flight mark and punt truly. Then it was Jason Blake driving it in and Riewoldt seizing a terrific grab and booting another sausage. Saints by 31 points. The Dogs’ usual pinpoint kicking isn’t working at the minute but a great pass from Shaun Higgins allowed Brad Johnson to take an uncontested mark in heavy traffic and bag a needed goal for the Dogs. Stainers by 25 points at the first break. The second korter was a lot tighter as the Bulldogs tempered their attacking instincts. Ten minutes crawled by before Koschitzke booted a goal, a free-kick against Cam Wight for an over-the-shoulder tackle. Johnson was working hard for the Dawgs, after a coupla misses his worst kick so far took a handy bounce through an empty goal-square for full points. The Stainers led by 25 points at half-time. Johnson had scored 22 of the Dogs’ 24 points to this stage.
The Saints continued to dominate into the third Mario. After a coupla early behinds Riewoldt turned provider, passing for leading veteran Harvey to take a sliding grab and kick a goal. Stephen Milne did well to centre the ball for leading Gehrig, he dished off for running Jason Gram to thunder it home from 55m. Milne also had a hand in the next goal, with a good pick-up of a half-volley and pass to Gehrig again. G-Brain played on quickly with a low, wobbly mongrel of a kick. Koschitzke claimed a mark in the goal-square, a two-grabber from behind Wight which was a woeful umpiring decision - Wight, in front, clearly had the first grab. I’m sure the umpire said “He (Koschitzke) said he marked it.” As Charlie Brown would say, good grief. Koschitzke stabbed it through and the Saints led by 44 points. Around this time Gehrig planted one his familiar stomach-punches on Harris, the type of whack which cost his a 2-game suspension two years ago. Shoiuld go again. The Bulldogs mounted a bit of a challenge now, Sam Power had a punt from distance which bounced through, shepherded by Johnson. Ruckman Will Minson used his considerable bulk to force the ball forward from the restart, Power collected the ball, finessed nicely and snapped another goal. The Saints’ lead was back to 30 points. At the next centre-bounce Dal Santo tumbled the ball forward, Milne marked and was bundled over afterwards by Dale Morris - a 50m penalty and goal resulted. Darcy reduced the gap to 5 goals again with a free-kicked major, shoved in the back by Blake. But late in the term Riewoldt scrambled it through from a goal-square ball-up and the Sainter lead was 36 points again at the final change. The Bullies twice got within 5 goals again in the final term but never appeared likely to win. Cooney busted a tackle and booted a good, all-too-rare goal to start the korter. The Saints replied as Xavier Clarke kicked forward, Riewoldt marked (but would’ve had a downfield free-kick anyway, Clarke pushed over) and converted. The Saints stayed 36 points ahead for some time before Bully Dylan Addison slipped forward to grab Darcy’s pass and boot a goal. The Dogs trailed by 30 points again, at the next centre-bounce ruckman Peter Street had his shorts pulled down in a tackle. “Big cracks showing up for the Dogs tonight,” quipped commentator Anthony Hudson. The Saints iced the game, if it needed icing, with four quick goals. Montagna found Milne alone for an easy tap-through, then a good kick from Baker found first-gamer Clint Jones for a mark and conversion. Poor play from Gilbee in defence caused a turnover and another easy goal for Milne, a major for Blake made it a 56-point lead for the Satins. A terrific snapped goal from Cooney completed the scoring.
Ancient Robert Harvey (24 disposals, 7 marks, a goal) got the Saints going early before younger Nick Dal Santo (21 touches) clicked in later. The running of Jason Gram (24 possies, a goal) and Leigh Montagna (20 handlings, a goal) is an important part of the fast-rebound strategy, while Steven Baker (26 possies) and Andrew Thompson (18 disposals) also did very well around packs. But it’s a huge bonus for the Saints to have Nick Riewoldt (7 marks, 9 kicks, 4 goals) return to the side. Brendon Goddard (26 touches, a goal) produced a much better effort than last week’s whiny, petulant performance and Jason Blake (13 handlings, a goal) slotted nicely into CHB. Stephen Milne worked much harder in the second half for 3 goals and Justin Koschitzke kicked 2 goals. Bulldog rovers Scott West (29 touches) and Daniel Cross (29 disposals) gathered plenty of possession as usual. Brad Johnson (7 marks, 14 disposals, 3.4) worked hard as the sole attacking threat and there was a bit of run supplied by Jordan McMahon (25 touches, 9 marks), Nathan Eagleton (21 possessions) and Adam Cooney (14 handlings, 2 goals). Brian Harris kept Gehrig to one goal. Sam Power kicked 2 goals. Eade was relatively upbeat. "There's no doubt, but we've come up against two pretty good sides," he said. "The good thing about this game (is) you get back on the bike pretty quickly. We'll have a review and address a few things but what happened in round one (compared) to the next two rounds, I don't think you'd see that coming." Ross Lyon prefers talking about wins. "We were keen to come away with the four points and it takes a bit pressure off," he said. "It's nice to be 2-1 but there's no respite, we start reviewing and preparing for next week, there's no easy ones . . . (Harvey’s) one of the game's great runners isn't he? You talk about Judds and Kerrs and Lappins and Bradleys, but he's up there with them. It's what he does, he chases, tackles and sets the tone. There were some really good signs for Lenny (Hayes) too, to miss 10 months it's very hard to come back and pick up where you left off and I thought the longer it went, the better he looked."
At the SCG:
Sydney 5.3 7.6 8.10 13.18.96
Brisbane 4.3 7.4 10.8 10.9.69
Much like last week, the Bloods took three quarters to shake off a feisty opponent but they did so with an edge in professionalism and a bit of risk. Brisbane looked good for a long while but their highly demanding game plan exhausts the midfield. The Siddey side here was unchanged from last week, Barry Hall lining up as though nothing happened to his knee. Michael O’Loughlin played his 250th game, the Grand Final last year saw Mick overtake Steven Wright to move to third place on most appearances for the Swans. He should overtake the record-holder, John Rantall (260), later this season depending upon fitness. Speaking of which, this was Mick’s 50th consecutive game. Darren Jolly played his 100th game overall. One change for the Lyin’s as talented midfielder Richard Hadley was selected for his first game since the 2004 Grand Final, following two knee reconstructions. He replaced Marcus Allan.
A warm day at the SCG, with a gaping hole behind one of the goals as the old Hill Stand and area has been demolished for redevelopment. This involved pulling down two of the light-towers, which the SCG Trust proceeded to do without realising the Swans are supposed to play a night game against the Dees in a fortnight. Maybe it’ll be switched to Stadium Oz. Oh, and it’s $5.10 for a beer at the SCG, cop that MCG! It is Toohey’s though, so it’s all relative. Anyway, the Brians began well with their game plan of a manic midfield running to outnumber the Swans at every contest. Big Jonathan Brown was very good at full-forward. Opponent Craig Bolton isn’t very big for a key defender anyway, but he looked like a little boy next to Brown. Brown led wide for a diving mark and slotted a superb kick for the opening goal. At the other end ‘Spida’ Everitt’s first touch was a ‘pass’ over Ryan O’Keefe’s head, but the ball fell handily for O’Loughlin to snap it through. Good start. The spearheads became involved now as Brown snapped a very high kick for a goal after shrugging off Bolton, although from our excellent vantage point the ball appeared to go over the post. Barry Hall led out to mark Amon Buchanan’s drilled pass and thump the ball home from 55m - no problems with the knee, then. Hall soon bagged another and Siddey led by a goal, but at the other end Lyin’ forward-pocket Ash McGrath intercepted a Bolton kick-in and threaded a good sausage. McGrath, feeding off Brown, sped away from his opponent to stab home another and Brisbun were in front. But in a ‘spearhead shootout’ Hall threw hefty opponent Daniel Merrett aside and led out for another grab, he majored again - the 500th goal of Big Boofy Barry’s career. Swan Adam Schneider poached a late goal to have the Swans ahead by 6 points at the first change. Swan Ben Mathews managed a rare mark in the forward 50m and a goal early in the second Mario but the Swans weren’t playing very well. Brown continued to trouble them in general and Bolton in particular. Two free-kicks to Brown against Bolton, for what appeared good spoils but we were 100m away, led to goals for Joel Patfull (good mark) and Colm Begley with an uncontested goal-square grab - the first goal of Irishman Begley’s career. Brown added a major himself from a mark and the Lisbon Brians led by 4 points, before the Swans bagged a late sausage - O’Loughlin I think.
If anything the Lyin’s appeared even better in the third stanza. Again the Swans scored an early goal but the Brisbun side dominated the remainder of the term, with some hard running and victories around packs, normally the Swans’ area of dominance. Simon Black and Tim Notting were going well. Former Swan Ben Fixter snapped a terrific goal from a throw-in and Scott Harding showed a great burst of speed to run down the wing and slam a lovely kick between the big posts. When McGrath bagged his third goal the Lyin’s led by 10 points, the same margin at the final change. There was some disquiet in the ranks of the Synney supporters. Brett ‘Captain’ Kirk gave his team-mates a big rev at the final huddle but there was a struggle for quite some time in the last quarter. ‘Spida’ Everitt, back in useless log mode, missed two easy shots, one from a disgraceful free-kick for in-the-back, an awful decision. O’Loughlin sliced it wide from a tough angle and young Heath Grundy attempted a wild pass when a shot himself seemed easier. Finally it took some bravado from backman ‘Leapin’ Leo Barry to break the game open, he marked, played on, broke a coupla tackles and walloped it home from 45m. The crowd sighed as though they’d passed a brick. The Swans were dominating possession now, the Lyin’s had run out of puff on the warm day. A great run from Jarrad McVeigh ended with a pass and goal for Hall, Tim Schmidt bagged a pair of good majors and fittingly O’Loughlin got the last one. He was chaired off.
Barry Hall (12 marks, 18 disposals, 4 goals) was kinda important, not just the goals but for leading up to the wing to get the ball when his mates couldn’t be bothered running. For a long while Adam Schneider (20 touches, a goal) and Amon Buchanan (17 touches) were the only Swan midfielders doing anything and Nic Fosdike (23 handlings) wasn’t bad. Ruckman Darren Jolly (33 hit-outs) played alright and, in his milestone, Michael O’Loughlin (5 marks, 12 touches, 3 goals) made a handy contribution. Tim Schmidt kicked 2 goals. For Brisbane forwards Ash McGrath (4 marks, 8 kicks, 3 goals) and Jonathan Brown (3 marks, 10 touches, 3 goals) were very good, for three quarters anyway, with steady supply coming from Simon Black (16 possies) and Tim Notting (16 disposals). Ben Fixter (13 handlings, a goal) was quite good as was Robert ‘The Mummy’ Copeland (16 possies). Richard Hadley’s return was encouraging as he shadowed a lethargic Adam Goodes. "I thought for three quarters we were really good against a side that is well proven at playing the high-pressure, intense footy," said Lyin’ coach Leigh Matthews. "I thought we more than matched them for three quarters but our energy levels dropped away and our last quarter was very poor. But it proved this group can play in that pressure, not so much skill, but the high pressure game, but you've got to be able to do it for four quarters." Paul Roos acknowledged it wasn’t the best. "It was good to get away in the end with the win, but we made hard work of it for three quarters. I think the positive thing is we're not playing great footy but we're 2-1. The last few years we haven't played great footy and been 0-2, 1-2, that sort of thing. To have 13 scoring shots to one in the last quarter against a young, fit team with plenty of confidence is a massive positive."
At the MCG:
Melbourne 2.1 4.4 5.9 8.9.57
Geelong 5.8 11.8 14.10 15.19.109
There’s no stopping the hype about the Cats now, especially around ‘Tomahawk’. Young Tom Hawkins is Tony ‘Plugger’ Lockett, John Coleman and Jonathan Brown all rolled into one, a superstar after two games. By the way, the Cats won easily again over the poor old Demons, who were deprived of their two most important forwards by knee injuries, David Neitz and Russ Robertson. Geelong have an amazingly soft draw over the coming month, Hawthorn next, then North and Richmond. Should allow the bandwagon to gain a full head of steam. Melbun are also missing tough midfielders in Brock McLean and Colin Sylvia. At least Daniher has an excuse. In selection the Dees lost defender Jared Rivers (tight hamstring) along with Neitz and Robertson, while Chris Johnson was dumped. Replacements were prodigal Adem Yze, Ben Holland, Ryan Ferguson and big man Paul Johnson. The Katz lost much-improved Nathan Ablett in the warm-up with hamstring tightness and dropped Charlie Gardiner, in came James Kelly and David Johnson.
It’s all about Tomahawk. He booted the opening goal after smothering lumbering Ben Holland’s kick, as Hawkins reached for the loose ball Holland fell on him, a free-kick and goal. The Catters had the second goal and it didn’t look good for the depleted Dees, but they stayed in touch with two good goals from ex-Cat Brent Moloney, a lovely boundary-line slot and a bomb from 55m which bounced through. Tough play from Nathan Jones created that second one. The inaccurate Cats moved clear with the final two majors of the stanza, a clanger from Demun ruckman Jeff White allowed the busy Brent Prismall to mark and convert, then Joel Selwood’s long shot was going through, team-mate Cameron Mooney decided to mark in the goal-square and make sure. Cats by 25 points at the first break. The second term was dominated by the Tomahawk. First-up he completed a great sequence of play, in-form speedster David Wojcinski completed a three-bounce run from defence with a pass to Prismall in the pocket, he chipped the ball across the ground for Hawkins to mark over Nathan Carroll, play-on and slam it through. There followed two marks on-the-lead and consecutive goals for Hawkins, he’d kicked 4 goals by midway through the second term and the Deez were double-teaming the 18-y-o second-gamer. Melbun’s only joy were two goals in the quarter from Brad Green, who’d been shifted to full-forward at the first change. Back-up ruckman Mark Jamar had started there and proved not very good. But when junior Cat Travis Varcoe slotted a running goal, released by Mark Blake’s handpass, the Cats led by a commanding 46 points at half-time.
Hawkins was wrapped in cotton wool for much of a fairly dull second half. The Catters scored some decent goals in the third term, Paul Chapman sank a long bomb and Prismall and Corey Enright did well to release Shannon Byrnes for a running spear. Prismall snapped a nice goal to have the Katz on the way to another massacre with a 62-point lead. But Melbun were putting many men in defence now, and retaining possession when they got the ball. Late in the term Travis Johnstone snapped a decent major for them. And the Dees went on to win the final korter, thanks in large part to the Cats’ wayward 1.9. Great work from Chapman created their only goal, for Jimmy Bartel. Brad Green added a couple more goals for the Deez and Simon Godfrey got one.
Must talk about Geelong’s winning midfield first, classy Jimmy Bartel (35 disposals, 10 marks, a goal) and Brent Prismall (23 touches, 3 goals) with possibly the best game of his young career, Gary Ablett Jnr. (30 handlings) was also very good. But the Tomahawk collected a Rising Star Award nomination for his 4 goals from 5 marks and 9 disposals. Paul Chapman (25 touches, 9 marks, a goal) and Corey Enright (24 possies, 10 marks) played well, Cam Ling (25 touches, a goal) was okay. Brad Ottens proved again he’s a better ruckman than forward. On the Demun side Brad Green (8 marks, 19 disposals, 4 goals) provided some cheer and Cameron Bruce (30 possessions) found plenty of the ball as always. Travis Johnstone (22 possies, a goal) plugged away in an outgunned midfield and Brent Moloney (14 possessions, 2 goals) and James McDonald (22 touches) weren’t bad. Nathan Carroll did a decent job on Mooney. For the third week running Aaron Davey went goal-less and did little besides, Adem Yze had a bit of the ball but not much effect. Daniher reached for the injury excuse. "That's probably where we're at, given who we've got available and the form of our blokes," Daniher said. "We probably can't afford to play an open attacking brand of footy at the moment, but we did, we tried that today. We came in to try to win and take the game to Geelong but at the end of the day that didn't work for us. They're a fully fit, in-form team and we're probably the opposite. I had to respond the way I did . . . they had 11 goals at half-time, it looked like they could have kicked 22, 23-plus." Only quote I can find from Mark ‘Bomber’ Thompson is about Tomahawk, of course. "We had to interchange him at some stage and I know that he was on top of his game, he'd just kicked his fourth, but it was planned that way."
At Docklands:
North Melbourne 2.4 5.4 7.6 10.10.70
Hawthorn 1.3 3.6 8.12 13.13.91
A dour, slogging game with many mistakes, the Orcs lifting in the second half to record a good win over the battling old Ruse (or battling young Ruse, more precisely). New Kanga president Graham Duff came out last week to state the Ruse would never move to the Gold Coast ‘permanently’ ahead of next week’s first game at Carrara. Criticism of coach Dean Laidley is still rumbling along. In selection Norf lost veteran Glenn Archer (foot) and dropped David Trotter along with juniors Matt Riggio and Lachlan Hansen. In came Josh Gibson, Kasey Green, Eddie Sansbury and Matt Campbell. Shannon Grant played his 200th, I think. The Hawks will be missing Tim Clarke for up to three months with a partially-torn achilles tendon and key big man Trent Croad was late withdrawal, they were replaced by Jarryd Roughead and Michael Osborne.
The first half was not good, lots of poor ball-use, fumbling and turnovers. The standard wasn’t aided by a damp, slippery Docklands surface - evening dew, apparently, this was one of them ‘twilight’ games commencing at 5 PM. The Ruse had extra men in defence but not much up forward, Daniel Wells found space to kick an early goal for them and the Hawks scored a good one when Mark Williams honoured Roughead’s wide lead, the Roughead slotted it through from the boundary-line. Goals kinda alternated in a scrappy second term, The Horks had an early free-kick gift major thanks to Roo defender Michael Firrito head-butting Lance ‘Buddy’ Franklin. I’d shake Firrito’s hand. North replied as Daniel Pratt’s long kick picked out Drew Petrie in the pocket, he converted. The Hawkers again as Michael Osborne snapped a terrific goal while being tackled, a great effort. The Kangers moved clear later in the term as Brent ‘Boomer’ Harvey dived to hold Shannon Grant’s pass and stab it home, a bit later Andrew Swallow roved to snaggle a great goal from a throw-in. Norf by 10 points at the long break.
The Hawks began to take control in the third thanks to rover and stand-in captain Sam Mitchell. Early on his smart kick set up Osborne for a mark and conversion to reduce the Roo lead to 4 points. The Hoks proceeded to miss plenty though and squander some midfield dominance, and when Roo spearhead Aaron Edwards threaded a superb shot home from the boundary-line, the Ruse grabbed a 7-point lead. Good build-up play from young Roo forwards Lindsay Thomas and Matt Campbell there. The Hawks finally ground ahead with three consecutive sausages, for the first busy Campbell Brown kicked to find Ben Dixon in space, he had plenty of time to line-up and drill it through. Shane Crawford passed for leading Williams to mark and convert. When Franklin collected Jordan Lewis’s handpass and bisected the big sticks the Hawks took a 12-point lead into the final stanza. They kicked clear in the early part of it, Williams converted again from a mark on-the-lead and then Ben McGlynn found Franklin leading wide, he kicked an excellent goal from a tricky spot. Osborne’s speed on a defensive rebound set up a running mark and goal for McGlynn and the Hawks led by 29 points, having scored the last six goals of the game. But the Ruse had one last effort. They try hard for Laidley, certainly. Petrie stabbed a poor pass over Grant’s head but young Campbell swept up the loose ball and snapped a terrific sausage. Wells won the ball at the restart, his long kick spilled from the pack but big David Hale snapped a goal. Hawk defender Brown, playing well, held a terrific pack-mark in the defensive goal-square but then kicked on-the-full, from the free-kick Roo skipper Adam Simpson lobbed to ball in for Hale to mark and convert. The Ruse were just 10 points behind with about 2 minutes remaining. Their default situation. The Hawks went forward from the restart and some fierce battling for a loose ball ended with Williams fisting it (er, the ball) away from the contest, pack-skirting receiver Franklin swept by to gather and slot a goal. A minute later Mitchell roved a throw-in to slot a deserved major and the Orcs were home.
Exemplary leader’s game from Sam Mitchell (33 disposals, a goal) with good support from juniors Ben McGlynn (21 touches, 9 marks, a goal) and the improving Grant Birchall (27 possies). Up forward the Hawks had an edge in class over the Ruse with Mark Williams (4 marks, 12 handlings, 4 goals) and Lance ‘Buddy’ Franklin (4 marks, 15 touches, 3 goals) - don’t like the way he plays but he has superb skills. Campbell Brown (21 touches, 5 marks) was very good in the backline, running midfielders Jordan Lewis (28 disposals, 8 marks) and Michael Osborne (19 touches, 2 goals) were quite good. The Kangers received good efforts from anyone named Daniel; on-ballers Daniel Wells (21 touches, a goal) and Daniel Harris (29 disposals, 15 tackles), tough defender Daniel Pratt (15 possessions). Brent Harvey (22 touches, 2 goals) continued his fine form and tagger Kasey Green did pretty well on Luke Hodge. Young rover Andrew Swallow (15 possies, a goal) was quite good. David Hale kicked 2 goals, probably too late. Laidley was asked why the Roos kept kicking long to full-forward where Nathan Thompson would be, if he wasn’t absent with a reconstructed knee. "That's probably been the fallout of the three games - we didn't take our opportunities, our kicking the ball inside our forward 50 wasn't that flash," said Laidley. "We just didn't take our opportunities, it was pretty disappointing. I'm not thinking 'I wish I had Nathan Thompson there' - I'm looking at what we can do with what we have on the ground. Unfortunately, we don't have Nathan Thompson and you know what? We still have 19 games to go and I wouldn't imagine we're going to have him in any one of those." Hawk coach Alastair Clarkson said "That was a hard day - for players, coaches and probably at different times spectators, too. It's good to get the points, we still scored 13 goals, but we didn't look like we were going to get anywhere near that at one point in the game. We just knew we had to run so hard to actually create some opportunities for ourselves and that's what we said to our guys at halftime - we're not to going to win this game if we just stay stagnant." Clarko then hopped into pompous Herald-Sun journalist Mark Robinson for suggesting the Hawks were ‘undisciplined’, which was amusing.
Ladder after Round Three
Pts. % Next Week
West Coast 12 120.2 Carlton (Subiaco, Sunday)
Geelong 8 143.3 Hawthorn (York Park, Sunday)
Brisbane 8 126.3 North Melbourne (Carrara, Sat. night)
Sydney 8 119.5 Adelaide (Football Park, Sat. night)
Adelaide 8 112.9 Sydney (Football Park, Sat. night)
St. Kilda 8 112.6 Essendon (Docklands, Saturday)
Essendon 8 112.2 St. Kilda (Docklands, Saturday)
Hawthorn 8 107.7 Geelong (York Park, Sunday)
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Collingwood 8 106.2 Port Adelaide (MCG, Saturday)
Port Adelaide 8 103.4 Collingwood (MCG, Saturday)
Carlton 8 84.8 West Coast (Subiaco, Sunday)
Footscray 4 78.7 Richmond (MCG, Fri. night)
North Melbourne 0 85.8 Brisbane (Carrara, Sat. night)
Fremantle 0 83.4 Melbourne (MCG, Sunday)
Richmond 0 81.8 Footscray (MCG, Fri. night)
Melbourne 0 67.0 Fremantle (MCG, Sunday)
Cheers, Tim.
Article last changed on Tuesday, April 17, 2007 - 2:25 PM EDT
