by Tim Murphy
At Subiaco:
Fremantle 6.6 8.6 10.9 15.11.101
St. Kilda 1.4 2.11 5.16 6.19.55
Freo stayed in touch by winning but weren’t convincing against a bedraggled Sinkilda side. Despite dominating stoppages through their following team, the Dockulaters fiddled about with the ball far too much in the middle quarters. The Saints allegedly had 24 fit players to choose from last weekend and not many more here, the latest insult a hamstring strain for Robert Harvey ten minutes into this one. Had they kicked straight, the Dokkers may have been in trouble. The modern disease, this inaccurate kicking for goal. The Dokkers made five changes to the side defeated in Geelong, Paul Hasleby and Troy Cook returned along with runnin’ Brett Peake, lanky defender Scot Thornton was in for his first game of the season and small forward Clayton Collard was given an AFL debut, he’s from South Fremantle. They replaced axed quartet Paul Duffield, James Walker, Luke Webster and Robert Warnock, while Josh Carr was suspended 2 games for biffing Steve Johnson last week. That made it 6 Shockers suspended this season for a total of 14 games, the worst record in the leeg by some distance. Ridiculously, coach Connolly blamed ‘diving’ by opposition players. Freo collected at least one and possibly two more reports here, and diving had nothing to do with it. The Saints made four changes, last weeks’ late withdrawals Jason Gram and Xavier Clarke didn’t have “flu” but a back-related hamstring and calf-strain respectively. The leeg fined the Satins for lying. Leigh Montagna broke his jaw late in the snore-fest against Horforn, but on the plus-side Lenny Hayes and Steven Baker returned from injury and suspension respectively, ruckman Matty Clarke was back too and Andrew McQualter recalled. Barry Brooks, Brad Howard and Justin Sweeney were dropped. Jason Blake played his 100th game.
A downbeat start, three behinds each including poor misses from Freo’s Chris Tarrant and Sainter Fraser ‘G-Train’ Gehrig. Freo managed the first goal when Sinkilda full-back James Gwilt was tackled by Tarrant, Dokka midget Peter Bell collected the spilled ball and passed for Cook to mark and convert. That precipitated a brief, possibly decisive scoring burst by the Dokkers. Dean Solomon roved a pack and handballed for Des Headland to punt a long goal. Moments earlier Solomon had clattered a stooping Sam Fisher in the head, the sort of collision reported routinely these days and which cost Dan Kerr two games last week. Solly wasn’t reported then but will be, surely. Freo lighthouse Aaron Sandilands tapped a throw-in perfectly for Bell to snap truly on his left boot, the Dorkers led by 18 points. A bit of a lull as the Saints battled hard but as usual interstate, their forward-line didn’t function. Then Paul Hasleby tumbled a kick forward from a ball-up, Matthew Pavlich marked strongly in front of S. Fisher and booted a 55m goal. Freo won the following centre-clearance and Heath Black kicked noicely for Michael Johnson to mark over Baker, Johnson majored. The Sainters trailed by 30 points and now saw Harvey limp off with a torn hamstring. He wasn’t happy. Tarrant booted a goal from a free-kick under the insipid hand-on-the-back rule. Dokker McManus’s kick bounced off the back of a team-mate’s scone. “Like Dick Cheney, he’s hit his mate in the head from ten metres,” quipped Commetti. With 30 seconds remaining in the quarter Gehrig free-kicked a major, his arm clearly held by Antoni Grover. Freo by 32 points at the first break. The Saints certainly tried very hard in the second term, tackling strongly and manning up tightly. They simply couldn’t kick straight. Gehrig missed again before Nick Riewoldt centered the ball for Justin Koschitzke to hold a good grab and kick a major. A Brett Voss snap hit the post. Freo were trapped in their own half for a while before Tarrant marked 20m out, on a bit of an angle and hooked awfully on-the-full. Freo’s Matthew Carr held a gutsy, back-pedalling mark at CHF and handballed for Bell to slot a running goal, sending the Shockers 29 points ahead. Freo were terrible at kick-ins, and they had a lot of ‘em ‘cause the Sainters kept kicking behinds. Aaron Fiora postered following tough grab when up-ended, landing dangerously on his head. Tarrant managed to kick on-the-full again from 20m before a Sainter ‘switch’ in defence went awry, Freo’s McManus passed for Pavlich to mark and convert. The Dokkers led by 32 points. Riewoldt missed with a late free-kick for having his back lightly brushed by Steven Dodd’s hand.
Like that show with Georgie Parker as a nun, the early third was all Saints. The Stinkilda pressure forced the slow, uncertain Dokkers into a series of turnovers, but of course the Vics couldn’t capitalize. Koschitzke was first to kick a point, from a free for being coat-hangered by Michael Johnson. The Freo man was reported for it. Two more Freo turnovers on kick-ins, two more poor Sainter misses including an absolute shocker from Lenny Hayes. Finally, Riewoldt free-kicked a goal for on-the-shoulder from Dodd. A minute later Stephen Milne completed a good move by kicking smartly across-field for Sam Gilbert to mark in space, Gilbert played-on and thumped a good kick for a sausage roll. The Saints were coming, 16 points down. Freo steadied as Cook collected a loose ball and hooked a pass for Solomon to mark and convert. The Saints answered as Gehrig led long, held a one-handed mark and passed to Riewoldt. His long kick spilled from Michael Rix’s contest and roving Nick Dal Santo snaggled a goal. Riewoldt marked but postered, and Johnson replaced Dodd as his opponent. Freo replied as Fiora threw the ball away when tackled by first-gamer Clayton Collard. You could say Fiora was ‘Collard’, ahahaha. Collard free-kicked a major, giving the Dockulaters a 22-point lead. A bit later Tarrant appeared to soccer a goal, the ball struck Collard on or behind the goal-line but the umps ruled it a touched behind for some reason. The Dokkers led by 23 points at the final change and sealed the result with a burst of goals early in the final Mario. Tarrant led up for a good mark and passed quickly to leading Pavlich, Pav majored. The Dokkers cleared the restart, following a bit of goal-mouth scramble Tarrant bagged a goal. At a throw-in deep in Sinkilda’s defence their Hayes was caught in possession by Bell, a harsh ‘bawl’ decision ensued and Bell free-kicked a six-pointer. Tarrant was involved in the next major, leading up the flank for a mark and handballing for Black to boot a very good running goal from 45m, out wide. The Dokkers led by 47 points and the outcome was sealed. Sinkilda’s Rix free-kicked a major before Tarrant kicked another, roving Pavlich’s contest. With nearly ten minutes remaining in the game, Freo started running the clock down to booing from their supporters. McPharlin took 9 marks in the last quarter, dropping back to receive backwards-kicks. It was effective though, one behind each in the remainder.
Freo were powered along by their on-ball grouping, Paul Hasleby (33 disposals) was terrific in the first half especially, Peter Bell (32 touches, 3 goals) very good and Aaron Sandilands (15 touches) dominated hit-outs, as always, but there was some effect this time. Key defenders Luke McPharlin (29 disposals, 20 marks on Gehrig) and Michael Johnson (18 possies, 7 marks, a goal on Riewoldt) were both good, although Johnson’ll worry about the report. Lazy and avoidable coat-hanger, it was. Heath Black (28 possies, a goal) and Des Headland (19 touches, a goal) did a bit, up forward Chris Tarrant (7 marks, 11 kicks, 3 goals) worked well and Matty Pavlich (8 marks, 14 kicks, 3 goals) clicked a bit with him. Silky Nick Dal Santo (23 touches, a goal) was probably the Saints’ best, Lenny Hayes (21 disposals, 0.2) worked reasonably hard. Nick Riewoldt (23 disposals, 10 marks) did alright but worked a long way up the ground, dropped a few marks and as usual couldn’t kick straight (1.4). Sam Gilbert (16 possies, 7 marks, a goal) has improved a lot this season and Justin Koschitzke (13 handlings, 5 marks, a goal) wasn’t bad. They had six goal-kickers, Gehrig kicked 1.4 as well. Ross Lyon summed the game up. "I'll sum the game up,” he said. “First quarter got smacked, not the intensity we want, still a little bit inaccurate. Our effort in the second and third created a lot of opportunities and I think we are 3.15 or 3.16 at halftime, you are not going to win many games of footy, let alone at Subiaco. Interstate, you have got to take your chances, and we could not put any scoreboard pressure. It was a lot of effort to get back in, and then I thought their intensity and their run early in the last . . . they kicked four goals in eight minutes, and that was the game." He rued the injury to Harvs. Connolly said "We've had to dig ourselves out of a hole and we are still digging," He was asked about the upcoming ‘blockbuster’ against the Poise next Friday night. "To get that type of recognition and opportunity is a big step forward for us. These are the games Fremantle never used to get years ago. The Chris Tarrant angle always adds that spice - but I will leave that to you."
At York Park:
Hawthorn 5.3 5.6 12.7 15.9.99
West Coast 2.2 5.6 6.9 8.16.64
Judd the eye-gouger! An incident in which Juddy, trapped under a pack, poked his finger(s) into Campbell Brown’s eye overshadowed the Hawks’ apparent arrival. Juddy copped a week, prompting a furious Brownlow market reshuffle. The Eegs are appealing the decision. You can qualify this result, based upon the venue, the absent Weegs etc. But this big victory over the reigning premiers was Horforn’s fifth straight win and if they can maintain the form throughout a tricky upcoming month, surely they’ll be playing finals this year. All they need is a proper president. Career idiot Jeff Kennett couldn’t help himself, weighing into the meedya storm following the Hawk/Sinkilda bore-a-thon by branding the win by his own team “appalling”. Kennett was interviewed during half-time here and clutched at the old excuse of being quoted out-of-context. In selection here the Hawks made one late change, Danny Jacobs replacing Ben Dixon (knee soreness). The Weegs made two changes, Steven Armstrong and Mark LeCras recalled to replace suspended Daniel Kerr and injured Daniel Chick (knee).
The Hawks had a 5-2 record at their home-from-home in Launceston and would’ve arrived confident, with a stiff breeze present. Confident too in their set and functional game-plan. The Orcs commenced with the aid of the slightly diagonal breeze, Jarryd Roughead missed from the ‘wrong’ pocket early on. Folks had anticipated the match-up between Wiggle champion Chris Judd and Hork super-stopper Brad Sewell, the Horforn man took the early points when he tackled Judd and won a ‘bawl’ decision. A very rare event. The Hawks kicked clear with a 3-goal burst, Eeg Adam Selwood kicked on-the-full and Hawk Campbell Brown passed the resulting free-kick to Jordan Lewis. He threaded a great shot home from the correct, wind-favoured pocket. Hork Ben McGlynn had a free-kick at the restart, from it Chance Bateman lobbed an excellent handpass for Sam Mitchell to boot a running goal. A bit later Sewell kicked long and Tim Boyle held a good grab against Brett Jones, Boyle converted and the Orcs led by 19 points. The Weegs hadn’t scored at this stage. They began to work some running, handballing moves into the wind. In fact the Eegs did a lot of handball all day, too much probably. Eventually Quinten Lynch free-kicked a goal, held by Trent Croad. A bit later Tasmanian Hawk Grant Birchall handballed directly to Eeg Rowan Jones, he handpassed for Mark LeCras to slot a major. Back to 7 points the diff but the Hawks bagged two late goals with the wind, regular defender Danny Jacobs held a strong grab on the 50m line and thumped it home, then leading Boyle held an equally impressive mark from Lewis’s pass and booted another. Horks by 19 points at the first break. The Weegs made in-roads with the breeze in the second term. Following a few points, Judd’s long kick bounced out-of-bounds, from the throw-in Matt Rosa battled hard to force the ball clear and Rowan Jones snapped a good sausage. Eeg Tyson Stenglein and Orc Luke Hodge both postered. The Weegs were disadvantaged when forward Ash Hansen dislocated a finger, he was off the ground for much of the remainder. Ruckman Mark Seaby free-kicked a goal from a ball-up, one of them plucked decisions. Yes, plucked. A bit later Seaby led long to mark on the flank and was shoved over by trailing opponent Simon Taylor, adding a 50m penalty. Mal Blight went mad (“If you deliberately push a bloke in the back, you should be playing in the reserves!!”) as Seaby kicked another, reducing the Hawk lead to a point. Adam Hunter kicked a point on the siren to level the scores.
The Weevs were facing the breeze again in the third term but their on-ballers led by Judd, Matthew Priddis and Chad Fletcher put in a big effort. Unfortunately their forwards couldn’t capitalize amongst the packed Hork backline. The Judd ‘incident’ occurred during this period, trapped underneath Hawks Brown and Sewell, Juddy flailed a hand into Brown’s eye. Brown later expressed the wish Judd not be suspended, Judd couldn’t see what he was doing but it was deliberate enough to deserve a penalty. Eight minutes in the Horks scored a major, McGlynn roved a throw-in and handballed for Luke Hodge to slot a goal on his (wrong) right foot. Hodge’d gone forward. It was against the run, the Weevils constructed a very good move and Dean ‘Big’ Cox kicked to find Shannon Hurn in plenty of space, Hurn played-on and drilled it through to level the scores again. A long Michael Braun miss put the Weegs in front for the first time, but they hadn’t scored enough during the spell and the Hawks hit back during the game’s decisive period. Mitchell drove an unusually long kick forward, good battling from Bateman and Boyle led to Hodge stabbing a goal. A bit later Jacobs kicked smartly for defender Stephen Gilham to mark on the 50m line, he passed to fellow backman Joel Smith who marked and booted truly. The Hawks cleared the restart, Jacobs wobbled a kick forward and Michael Osborne reeled in a one-handed mark, he booted a long, wind-assisted major. Horforn led by 17 points, as Blighty pointed out Judd and Cox were on the bench, resting. In time-on Wiggle Wirrpanda missed a shot, the Hork kick-in went long to McGlynn on the wing, he passed to Robert Campbell who handballed to Lance ‘Buddy’ Franklin, who ran clear and speared a long, low sausage. Soon Weeg Priddis was caught in possession, a turnover leading to Lewis getting the ball deep in the pocket, he tapped back for Hodge to boot his third goal of the quarter. The Orcs won another centre-clearance and local Birchall punted long to Lewis, leading into the pocket. Lewis dragged in a one-handed mark, played-on, slipped over, jumped up and curled a snap through for full points. No Weeg answer to that sort of run-on, the Horks led by 34 points at the final change. The Weegs pressed a bit early in the final term but again came up with just a coupla points to show. From a kick-in the Horks advanced with a good move, caught at the back Boyle spoiled Brett Jones and roving Shane Crawford bagged a goal. Horforn home, leading by 39 points. The Weegs did win the next centre-clearance, Armstrong kicked long and LeCras fought well to win the ball and bag himself a goal with a textbook over-the-shoulder snap. But a bit later Boyle led wide to mark and thread a superb kick through from the boundary-line, using the wind very well. The Weegs shifted full-back Darren Glass forward, he took some good grabs in the final quarter-hour and had a hand in creating a goal for LeCras, another snap o’the shoulder. But the Hawks switched to possession football in the final ten minutes, their impressive performance capped off by a late goal for Rick Ladson. They’re a happy team at Horforn.
The Orc’s running brigade overwhelmed the Eegs, led by leather-magnet Jordan Lewis (26 disposals, 11 marks, 2 goals) and wingman Clint Young (23 touches, 11 marks). Short but tough rover Ben McGlynn (21 handlings, 10 marks) was very good and Brad Sewell (22 disposals) had a great battle with Judd, probably took the points. Luke Hodge (23 touches) bagged 3 important goals in the third term and backmen Brent Guerra (27 possies, 9 marks) and Grant Birchall (25 handlings, 12 marks) did plenty of rebounding. Stephen Gilham (24 disposals, 15 marks) had the better of a clearly injury-hampered Hansen. Up front Tim Boyle (7 marks, 12 touches, 3 goals) did the job again. For the Eegs Chad Fletcher (36 disposals) was their busiest midfielder, supported by Michael Braun (27 handlings with 21 handpasses) and Rowan Jones (29 touches with 24 handballs, a goal) was handy as usual. Adam Selwood (19 possies) tagged Crawford out of it, Darren Glass was good down back and showed potential as a forward in the end. Chris Judd (26 disposals) was still effective and wasn’t bad. Mark LeCras bagged 3 goals and Mark Seaby kicked 2 goals. But without Kerr, Embley and dare you say Cousins, the midfield was overpowered. Worsfold commented on the Weegs having 70 more disposals than Horforn. "To get that much of the footy and only kick eight goals is not acceptable," he said. "We're just disappointed for all the figures that we look at - our possessions, our inside-50s, all the things we're looking for - should say we won the game, but we didn't. That's the test for us now to work out why that's the case, why we didn't play as well as we should when we're winning the ball." Too much handball. Al Clarkson said "It was a real arm wrestle in the first part of the third quarter. We had that feeling in the coaches box, that in the first seven or eight minutes West Coast had the better run of the game, but Hodge split the game open and we started applying some scoreboard pressure . . . We really rate ourselves and that's been the biggest development with our group thus far this season, that every game they go into, the players are a genuine chance of winning the game of footy." The tests keep coming, away to Port on the rebound next weekend.
At Docklands:
Carlton 5.2 5.4 11.11 12.14.86
Adelaide 2.5 8.10 12.12 15.15.105
I was going to give Bloo coach Denis Pagan a serve for his failing plan of all-out attack. Going into this weekend Carlton had kicked more goals this season than either of the top two sides, but also the worst defensive record in the comp and languished in 14th with 2 wins. But the Bluies are knocking on the door of more wins I suppose and maybe, one day, the exhaustive style Pagan demands will be consistently enacted by this crop of Blues. The midfield gets worn out. Nick Stevens’s season-ending injury hasn’t helped. At the start of the season the Blooze reckoned they’d win 7-10 games, what’ll happen if they don’t win 5 of the remaining 13? They were in with a big chance here, for much of it, but were beaten in the end by the Camrys’ coolness and Addleaid’s savior last week, Scott Welsh. The Cows probably anticipated some percentage-building in this period, with games against the Toigers, Bluesers and Demuns next week. They’re winning but not convincingly, injuries still a problem. The Camrys had running men Graham ‘Stiffy’ Johncock, Brent Reilly and Jason Porplyzia return from injury here, but lost Brett Burton (knee) and junior Richard Douglas (hamstring), while Bernie Vince was dropped. The Bluies lost Eddie Betts, who may be out for a while with a badly torn hamstring. Jordan Russell and Ross Young were axed, in came Josh Kennedy, Joe Anderson and first-gamer Adam Hartlett, a tall forward from West Adelaide. Hartlett was drafted in 2004 but a string of leg injuries have hampered his progress.
The Bluies began very well, bagging three quick goals. Brendan Fevola booted the first, benefiting from a rubbish free-kick against Ben Rutten. Jarrad Waite, who’d started in attack, gathered a loose ball and handballed for Heath Scotland to dob one, then Waite himself booted a major and the Bloozers led by 18 points. The Cows stemmed the tide for a few minutes. Young Adam Hartlett will remember his first touch, dropping back into his goal-square to initiate a clearance, he dropped Whitnall’s handpass cold, fumbled when he tried to pick the ball up and had the Camry pack descend. Bloo Adam Bentick fell on Camry Robert Shirley, he free-kicked a major. The Bluies responded with the next two goals, the second of those coming from Johncock’s clanger to Brad Fisher, and the Blooze took a 4-goal lead, before a Camry goal. The visitors had lost ruckman Jonathan Griffin, who’d rolled an ankle. His day was over, some late behinds to the Cows had Carton ahead by 15 points at the first break. The Camrys re-organised on-ball for the second term, it says here, sans details. Jason Porplyzia kick-started the Coronas with two quick goals, the first on-the-run, the second from a very good pack-mark. Nathan Bock added one and the Cows led by 3 points. Tighter midfield pressure was slowing the Bluies’ midfield movement, they dithered instead of sticking to the simple kick-it-long plan. The Camrys bagged two more majors, the second a soft free-kick against Kade Simpson for shepherding too far from the ball. Brent Reilly sausaged. Late in the stanza Luke Jericho, a reborn player going well, ran to the 50m line and banged it home, the Cressidas led by 24 points at half-time with a six-goal-to-none korter.
During the break Pagan re-emphasized his KISS plan and the Bluies improved. Anthony Koutoufides put in an effort. Fevola was struggling with his cork thigh from last week, so Waite replaced him at full-forward. Fev wandered about half-forward. The Bluies scored three quick goals again, Waite bagged one and his handpass allowed Fevola to snap truly, another and the margin was down to a goal. Majors were swapped in an entertaining period, Jericho kicked another for Addleaid before Koutoufides slotted one, lurking for a cheeky dish-off from Simpson. Simon Goodwin, playing well, speared a pass to leading Ian Perrie for a mark and goal. A bit later Simpson ran off half-back and punted long, Waite flew for a big grab and bagged his third goal of the quarter. Some vintage Kouta closed the term, he initiated a rebound from half-back, ran afield to rove Fevola’s contest and hook a ripper from 40m. The Cows led by 7 points at the last change. Early in the final term Andrew Walker sped forward, he should’ve had a shot for goal but suffered indecision, a poor kick tumbled in but Fisher marked and converted. Crowns by a point. A poor miss from Waite leveled the scores. A bit later Waite couldn’t hold a tough grab 30m out, the Camrys rebounded and Scott Thompson kicked for Scott Welsh to mark and convert. A minute later Michael Doughty passed for leading Welsh to mark and kick another goal, the Camrys had skipped to a 12-point lead. Not much scoring for a while as the Bluies ran out of steam, again. Approaching time-on Goodwin punted long for Welsh to hold a good grab over young Hartlett, another goal for the Camry lurker and the Cows led by 19 points. Late in the term Bloo Luke Blackwell free-kicked a point, after being tripped, or kicked, by Martin Mattner. Mattner was cited and reprimanded, very lucky.
Simon Goodwin (28 disposals) was very good as usual but with Edwards and McLeod average, other Camrys stood up. Robert Shirley (23 touches, a goal) played very well and hard-tackling Martin Mattner (25 handlings) played well in defence, ruckman Ben Hudson produced a fine solo effort. Scott Thompson (26 possies, 6 marks), Brent Reilly (20 touches, 2 goals) and junior Chris Knights (25 disposals) performed well in the midfield. Scott Welsh (7 marks, 9 kicks, 4 goals) is a master at producing late. Luke Jericho (16 possies, 9 marks, 3 goals) and Jason Porplyzia (10 touches, 3 goals) were important. Better Blues were Andrew Carrazzo, who had 16 disposals and blanketed Tyson Edwards, Anthony Koutoufides (22 possessions, 2 goals) with some belated form and the talented Jarrad Waite (7 marks, 17 disposals, 4 goals). Pagan wished he had two Waites, to play at both ends. Kade Simpson (19 possies) was good and Matthew Lappin (17 touches) useful, Marc Murphy (17 disposals) was terrific early but faded a bit after half-time. Andrew Walker (22 handlings) stuck to his task against Goodwin and Setanta O’hAilpin was alright in defence. Brad Fisher and Brendan Fevola kicked 2 goals each.
Denis Pagan said “Some of the errors we made in the second quarter with our decision making going forward . . . you just can’t afford to have those 15-minute lapses. We are probably our own worst enemies. I don’t want to be disrespectful to Adelaide but I reckon we beat ourselves today. The simple fact is we don’t use the ball well consistently. We looked as exciting as we possible can in the third quarter. A lot of the things that we planned for came off. But we made errors and poor decisions when it mattered most and maybe that’s why the side continues to lose by three goals every week. Neil Craig spun the battling wins against lowly opponents as ‘good for the kids’. “It was a great experience for a lot of our younger players to play in that sort of game with momentum swinging, it was a tough game of footy. You can talk about it, but in the end at some stage you’ve got to be tested to see whether you can actually execute that composure. I think that’s why the game last week against Richmond and also this week has been a great experience, not so much for . . . our more senior players because they’ve been through it all and they’ve experienced all that, but for Porplyzia, Reilly, Knights and Jericho and that type of player, to experience that is worth it’s weight in gold. The more we can [get] that and experience it and do it better each time, the better.”
At the MCG:
Richmond 2.3 6.6 10.9 12.12.84
Essendon 3.4 5.9 7.14 12.20.92
The annual ‘Dreamtime at the ‘G’ game became a nightmare for the Tigers as they absolutely blew it, choking on a 3-goal lead in five minutes as the Bommers rattled home for victory. Credit to the Dons I suppose, they did dominate clearances and had enough shots at goal to win, they just needed to create ‘em at the end. There was a lot of controversy over Tige Richardson being penalized for a hand-on-the-back in the final minutes, costing a goal and, potentially, the game. An idiotic decision but under this fantastically stupid rule, the ump was correct. If there’s any good to come from it, the incident may hasten the end of this idiotic rule. It’s such a technical, blink-of-the-eye thing that consistency in its application is impossible, leading to widespread frustration and anger. Yes, Matthew Richardson played in this one, with 13 stitches in a cut above his black eye and hairline fractures in the eye-socket and nose. Richo was determined to play, we were told. Probably because he bagged 9 against the Dons last time out. Tiges Dean Polo (shoulder) and Jay Schulz (dropped) did miss out, incoming Tiges were former Geelong full-forward Kent Kingsley, making his Richmun debut and teenage forward Jack Riewoldt making his AFL debut. Cousin of Nick, he’s from Clarence in Tasmania. The Bommers were unchanged after their big win over Brisbane last week.
The game celebrates the contribution of Aborigines to football and it was interesting to see the concept was picked up across the AFL for this round and had also leaked into the NRL, who’d conjured an ‘indigenous round’. All good, really. The game was a battle between the Tiges’ running power and Essadun’s superior size, strength and experience. The Dons had a big advantage in the ruck, where David Hille thrashed Tige Adam Pattison. Both sides missed a couple early before the Dons bagged three rapid goals. Hille simply plucked the ball from a throw-in and snapped it through for the first of the game. Hille won the ball at the restart, Jobe Watson ran clear and passed to leading Matty Lloyd, he marked and converted. A bit later Damien Peverill punted the Dons forward, Lloyd lurked for a very good mark over opponent Will Thursfield and Lloydy banana-ed it through from a tight angle. The Dons led by 17 points. The Tiges opened their account as Richard Tambling held a good grab of Danny Meyer’s kick and converted. The Tiges switched CHB Graham Polak into the ruck and stemmed the Don attack for a few minutes. Bommer Angus Monfries postered before Tige forward Kayne Pettifer won a lucky free-kick and chipped a pass for Andrew Krakouer to mark and boot truly. Krakouer has a very good record against the Dons. Essadun’s Mark McVeigh hit the post following a big grab and Tige fans saw Pattison drop an uncontested mark 40m out. Ouch. Behinds from Monfries and Richardson completed the quarter, the Dons leading by 7 points. Kev Sheedy helped the Tiges out in the second quarter, shifting his backman Paddy Ryder into the ruck and Hille to full-forward for some reason. The Tiges had Polak play loose in defence. Bummer Scott Lucas bagged an early goal, drifting back to mark Lloyd’s long kick, playing-on and hooking it through. Lloyd missed a shot, preceding a spell of end-to-end footy with neither side able to score a goal. Eventually Lucas kicked another, after marking Adam McPhee’s smart, hooked pass. Essadun led by 19 points and the commentators made patronizing noises about the Tiges “trying hard” and “hanging in there.” Their Nathan Foley won the ball at the restart, Brett Deledio marked strongly and punted a long goal. Lucas missed a shot and the Tiges attacked swiftly from the kick-in, Kane Johnson centered the ball, junior Shane Edwards roved for a handpass and Krakouer baulked classily before snapping it through. Pattison punted the Tiges forward from the following centre-bounce, Richardson won a free-kick under the weak hand-on-the-back rule and booted a major. Richo admitted later that was a worse decision than the one at the end. “I can’t believe the Tiges are only 2 points down,” quoth Michael Voss. Lucas kicked another point and again the Toigs raced downfield from the kick-in, Greg Tivendale kicked long, the ball spilled and roving Daniel Jackson threaded a miraculous kick for a goal from the impossible angle. The Dons had James Hird compete in the ruck at the next centre-bounce. The siren just beat Lucas soccering a goal. Richmun led by 3 points at half-time.
The Tiggers began to move clear in the third, due to the tremendous rebound running of Deledio off half-back, and unopposed Polak. A clanger from Bomma Mark Johnson went straight to Chris Newman, he handballed to Deledio and on to leading Richardson for a mark and goal. At the restart Don speedster Alwyn Davey intercepted Shane Tuck’s handpass, raced clear and blasted a very good goal. Notice how Davey never gets the ball from a team-mate? It’s always an interception or pouncing on a loose ball. From another rebound the Tiges worked a series of chipped passes, Jackson marked 55m out, played-on and booted a long major. Soon Deledio sped forward again and passed to leading Richardson for a mark and sausage. A Mal Michael turnover allowed Tivendale to find Jackson dropping back into space, Jackson marked and bagged his third goal and the Tiges led by 22 points. The Dons were in trouble, relieved a bit by Hille’s enormous running punt for a goal. Michael was moved to the forward-line and Dustin Fletcher took on Richardson, Jim Hird went onto the ball. The Bommers raised an effort but conjured a string of behinds, including two set-shot misses from Bachar Houli. Late in the term Tambling received a head-high bump from Lucas and staggered off, the Tigers led by 13 points at the last change. Richmun won the ball from the opening bounce of the final korter, Tivendale passed to Richardson. Richo’s mongrelled kick was marked on the point-line by Pattison, he banana-ed a goal and the Tiges led by 19 points. A bit later the Dons worked the ball about until Lucas switched flanks with a good kick, Fletcher marked in space and thumped a long major. Tiges by 13. Not much happened for a few minutes, save Davey going down heavily from a seemingly innocuous bump from Joel Bowden. Davey was carried directly off the ground, meaning he couldn’t come back on. But he ended up jogging to the bench. Winded, probably. With 7 minutes remaining Tige Newman ran down Jason Winderlich superbly, from the turnover Richardson marked and booted a goal. The Tiges led by 18 points. Hird did very well to win the ball at the subsequent centre-bounce, Lucas gathered and handpassed! for running Ricky Dyson to slot a goal. A coupla minutes later some good Don pressure in their forward-line, completed by Hird’s tackle on Meyer, created a turnover and McVeigh passed for unattended Lucas to boot an easy major. Watson won the ball at the restart and handballed to running Richie Cole, his kick was marked strongly by McPhee who roosted it through from 55m. Scores were level with about 2 minutes remaining. The Toigs went forward and Richardson held position to mark behind Michael, play-on and slot it through. But no, Richo’d put his hand on Michael’s back, a free-kick to the Don and also a 50m penalty for Richo playing-on after the whistle. I hate this rule. Afterwards, Richo described it as his “worst moment in football.” The ball went down the other end, a throw-in and Jason Johnson snapped a point to put the Dons in front. The Tiges failed to clear the kick-in and Houli kicked another point. Again the Tiges couldn’t clear the kick-in, Lloyd marked 50m out and the siren sounded. Lloydy booted a goal after it.
James Hird (21 disposals, 7 marks) won the special award, an attractive, decorated glass boomerang, for best afield. He was terrific at the end but overall probably wasn’t BOG. That honour belonged to either Scott Lucas (25 disposals, 16 marks, 3.4) or maybe Adam McPhee (24 touches, 10 marks, a goal), I’d go for Tige Brett Deledio. But anyway. David Hille (12 touches, hit-outs, 2 goals) dominated the ruck, Jobe Watson (21 disposals) was good again and Brent Stanton (26 possies) played well. Dustin Fletcher (16 touches, 6 marks, a goal) is still a pretty useful type. Matthew Lloyd (8 marks, 9 disposals) kicked 3 goals, he doesn’t seem fit but still manages to contribute. The Tiges’ best was speedy and classy Brett Deledio (25 disposals, 9 marks, a goal) with Matty Richardson (11 marks, 13 kicks, 4 goals) winning plenty of admirers. Graham Polak (11 marks, 25 disposals) was very effective as the extra defender - coulda picked up Lucas - and Chris Newman (21 touches, 12 marks) was handy, wingman Greg Tivendale (22 disposals, 11 marks) played well. Daniel Jackson (6 marks, 8 kicks, 3 goals) made the most of his touches, Andrew Krakouer kicked 2 goals. It’s sooo frustrating for the Tigers. "In every game of football the umpires will make some really good decisive decisions and some really poor decisions," coach Wallace said. "Unfortunately as a coach we're not allowed to talk on either. I think that no one could have a go at the players' endeavour. We fought it out to the bitter end. Purely and simply what cost us this game of football was our inability to stay calm when the game was on the line. If you’re two goals up with three minutes to go, you’ve got to win the footy and retain possession, and we didn’t do that." Sheeds focused on the comeback. "Some of the aspects I wasn't happy with and some things we did fairly well, but it was our (second) night game this year and I didn't think we read the ball well at all and we didn't use the ball well at all. . . . But the one thing was that we never gave up . . . in the last five minutes we really got the ball out of the centre square and it wasn't a dissimilar game to when Carlton beat us, to be perfectly honest. We've lost a number of those games over the last year and a bit and I'd say even this year we could be sitting there probably sixth. But we're not, so we've got to keep learning from that, and maybe tonight we did.”
At the Gabba:
Brisbane 4.4 7.6 11.7 13.9.87
Collingwood 5.2 8.7 12.10 18.12.120
Before this game the Maggies hadn’t won at the Gabba since 1994, a run stretching over 12 games and a different club - Brisbane were called the Bears back then. A great hoodoo-breaker against the early-Nineties rival then, but this Brisbun side is not in good form. They stuck on for a long while, led by a huge effort from Simon Black playing his 200th game. But the Poise won out, kicking more goals than points this time and withstanding the Rocca scattergun. In picking the Brians rang the changes following the weak effort against Essadun, Marcus Allan, Colm Begley, Jared Brennan and Scott Harding were dropped, replaced by Justin Sherman, Ben Fixter, Wayde Mills and full-forward Mitchell Clark, returning from a lengthy spell with osteitis pubis. The Pies regained Paul ‘Streak Knives’ Medhurst and called up ruckman Guy Richards to replace injured Chris Bryan (toe) and the dropped Brad Dick. Brodie Holland was making appearance 150.
Brisbun started okay, young Mitch Clark began at full-forward and proved useful all night. From an early grab he launched an awful kick, but Ashley McGrath roved the spilled ball and banana-snapped a great goal. A bit later Luke Power roved Jonathan Brown’s contest and bagged a goal, the Brians led by 11 points. Brown was playing as a genuine CHF, opposed by Simon Prestigiacomo. The Poise had started Richards in the ruck, but he was quickly replaced by Josh Fraser at this point and Dane Swan also shifted onto the ball for Collywood. Fraser booted a goal from a soft free-kick, Scott Burns and Steak Knives Medhurst snapped good roving majors to send the Poise ahead. McGrath got another for Brusbun, Burns kicked his second for the quarter from a set-shot. Clark was busy but wayward for the Lyin’s as the Pies led by 4 points at the first break. Early in quartier du Lyin’ veteran Nigel Lappin spilled a mark, Poi Scott Pendlebury pounced and booted a goal. A minute later ‘Neon’ Leon Davis out-maneuvered the bigger Daniel Merrett for a good mark and goal, the Pise led by 16 points. Anthony Rocca produced typical shocca. The Lyin’s fought back as Black drove himself relentlessly. Mitchell Clark took some good contested grabs against opponent Nick Maxwell and finally got on-target, kicking a coupla goals. The Maggies led by 7 points at the long break.
Tight battle continued into the third stanza. Clark kicked 2 more goals in the korter and Malthouse swapped Maxwell and Prestigiacomo, risky as Presti was doing well on Brown. Eventually the greatly improved Harry O’Brien picked up Clark. Davis snapped a good goal at the other end and Rocca finally did something useful late in the term, hammering Lyin’ back pocket Jed Adcock and concussing the bloke. Adcock had been on Alan Didak and doing a decent job. Swan kicked a goal late in the stanza and the Maggies led by 8 points at the last change. Early in the final term Brown marked 30m out but wobbled his shot into the post, the Poise rebounded from the kick-in and Didak bagged a goal. Davis added one and the Pies were 20 points ahead. The Lyin’s hit back through a superb effort from Brown, he charged headlong about 30m to take an amazing with-the-flight mark, although as commentator Jason Dunstall pointed out, Brown tends to do that a lot. Brown majored, his first for the night, and the deficit was 14 points. The Brians couldn’t capitalise, Luke Power couldn’t emulate Brown and he spilled a with-the-flight marking attempt. Poi Ben Johnson collected the ball, ran clear and passed to Travis Cloke. He kicked the ball to Didak, goal. Two more goals, the second from Tarkyn Lockyer’s good grab, sealed the result.
The runnin’ Pie midfield led the way again, Ben Johnson (24 disposals, a goal) was good and Tarkyn Lockyer (32 possies, 19 marks, a goal) is going very nicely indeed. Brownlow hope? Scott Pendlebury (20 touches, 2 goals) is a foine young player and signed a new 3-year deal with the Poise last week. Scott Burns (22 touches, 2 goals) is also going well, Simon Prestigiacomo (3 touches) quelled Brown and Shane O’Bree (21 disposals) was handy and kicked a miraculous goal at some point. Travis Cloke (9 marks, 13 kicks, 2 goals - from 2 shots) performed at CHF. Leon Davis kicked 3 goals, Josh Fraser and Alan Didak bagged 2 goals each. Rocca kicked 0.4 and one on-the-full.
Lyin’ leader Simon Black (37 disposals, a goal) was terrific and Mitch Clark (7 marks, 9 kicks, 5 goals) may be the answer to the Brown Alternative. Luke Power (21 touches, 2 goals) and ruckman Jamie Charman (18 touches) were good, Tim Notting (25 handlings) and Cheynee Stiller (22 possies) worked away midfield. Jonathan Brown (16 disposals, 7 marks, 2.3) was alright but not dominating. Ash McGrath kicked 2 goals but tweaked a hamstring late in the game. Leigh Matthews blamed a lack of forward-line pressure. "We were okay in the clearances but the rebound out of our forward line is costing us quite badly," Matthews said. "We were better this week than last but when the ball goes into your forward line, if you kick a goal it goes back to the middle and if it rebounds out the other team is likely to score at the other end. That's the ebb and flow of footy. On that basis we aren't getting enough scoring or locking the ball into that part of the ground well enough. That's a deficiency for us at present.” Magnanimous Mick said “I think the bonus of this win is that we know Brisbane is very capable of winning games of football here. They’re a young redeveloped side so to come up here and go away from them and put pressure on the scoreboard late in the game just gives our blokes a shot of confidence. After last week (loss to the Western Bulldogs) we faded away and didn’t stick with our structure for as long as we’d like, today, outside of some patchy work, we stuck to the structure and the boys are happy and the win is a bonus on top of the fact they played disciplined footy. Just when you thought they’d get on top, we’d answer quickly, but it was one of those games where goals came quickly and then none would come at all. We had 11 goal kickers and they had six, that doesn’t mean we were better but we spread it pretty well.”
At Manuka Oval:
Footscray 3.3 4.4 6.7 8.9.57
Sydney 5.4 10.6 12.8 15.10.100
Easy win for the Swans, too easy. The Dogs were very disappointing, lethargic and never led in this one-horse race. Spida and the Sinney on-ballers dominated the Doggies and the Swans exerted enough pressure to ensure the Dogs disposed of the ball infrequently and badly. More impressively for the Swans, this was a weakened side with Tadhg Kennelly (illness) and Nick Davis (leg injury) withdrawing, they were replaced by Heath Grundy and ‘Aker specialist’ Jared Crouch. The Bulldogs were also understrength, with Ryan Griffen (hamstring) and Jordan McMahon (thigh strain) missing, junior Jarrod Harbrow was dropped. In came Matthew Robbins, Sam Power and small forward Cameron Faulkner. Last week Bulldog Brett Montgomery retired due to a bulging disc in his neck, Montgomery played 204 games and had two stints with the Bulldogs, sandwiching playing for Port Adelaide from 2000-2005 where he was a member of their 2004 premiership side, won a best-and-fairest and All-Australian selection.
The Dawgs’ annual transferred home game against the Swans was in Canberra for some reason, a sunny if nippy afternoon and big crowd greeted the sides. The Swans did very well on-the-ball where Spida Everitt and Darren Jolly dominated big Pete Street, Cameron Wight and Luke Darcy. Brett Kirk shadowed Scott West and Ben Mathews tagged Daniel Cross. A typically tough, determined effort forced the Swans forward early, Doggy backman Ryan Hargrave collected the loose ball but was tackled by Bazza Hall, Swan man Amon Buchanan gathered and snapped it through. The Bullies constructed a decent move, Mitch Hahn’s long kick was marked by doubling-back Brad Johnson and he popped it through. Adam Goodes started on Johnson but the Bulldog champion was soon picked up by Craig Bolton. Another tackle brought the Bloods’ second goal, a pass sailed over Hall’s head, Doggy Dale Morris gathered but was tackled by Buchanan and Adam Schneider dobbed a major. Crouch won a free-kick against Akermanis at a throw-in and set up a shot for Luke Ablett, but he missed. Goodes postered before Jolly punished the Dogs with consecutive goals, the first came from a weak throw-in which Jolly caught low-down and snapped through. The field-ump should’ve called it back. A minute later Ryan O’Keefe held a good grab out wide and kicked long, the ball spilled and Hargrave fell on it, followed by some Swans - a very harsh ‘bawl’ decision and Jolly free-kicked a goal. Good work from O’Keefe soon created another chance, Goodes centered with a left-foot kick for unopposed Everitt to mark and convert. The Swans were all over it, leading by 25 points. The Dogs retaliated with two late sausages, Akermanis won the ball in big, scrambling pack and handballed for Johnson to score with a very good left-foot snap. A bit later Johnson marked a Swan kick-in, he punted to the top o’the ‘square where Matty Robbins won a free-kick for being held by Crouch. Robbins converted, the Swans led by 13 points at the first break. Following a few tight minutes the Bullies managed the first goal of the second stanza, Farren Ray with a strong pack-mark 30m out. The Dogs trailed by 7 points, but a pack-mark from a winger is an unusual way for them to score a goal, and they didn’t get many more. A classical Siddey build-up, steady short-passes, ended with Brett Kirk stabbing it to leading Michael O’Loughlin, he majored. A smart kick from Everitt, playing very well, found Schneider in space, he played-on with a bounce and slotted it through. A bit later Crouch spoiled Akermanis, the ball went to Hall whose mongrelled kick was gathered by Goodes, he handballed for O’Loughlin to jab a goal from point-blank. The Swans led by 25 points again. From a rare Bulldog attack, Robbins soccered the ball from 30m for a point. A short pass inside his defensive 50 from Bully backman Dylan Addison was intercepted by Nic Fosdike, he set up an easy goal for Jolly. The Swans led by 31 points and pressed ahead, more slow, steady short-passes created Nick Malceski’s long set-shot major. Another Addison clanger set up a shot for O’Loughlin, but he missed after the siren. Bloods by a hefty 38 points at the long break.
The Dogs increased their level of effort in a tough third-quarter, but couldn’t get their running game going amongst the big, heavily-populated packs and strong tackling pressure of the Swans. Forward thrusts were rare. The Swans scored an early goal, another ‘bawl’ decision against a man trapped under a pack, Adam Cooney in this case. He wasn’t happy and rightly so, Schneider kicked the goal. A few tough minutes followed, Bulldog Morris departed with a leg problem but returned later. Following a series of ball-ups in their forward-line, Hahn forced a handpass away and Robbins snapped a goal for the Dogs, reducing the margin to 37 points. During a reasonable spell, Robbins postered and a long bomb from Nathan Eagleton scored a behind. The Swans responded, Fosdike collected a loose ball and passed for leading Hall to mark and convert. Hall was well-matched by Brian Harris, but Bazza worked hard up the ground for his kicks. A rare touch for Daniel Giansiracusa led to a Puppy goal, Guido’s long kick was spilled by Dempster and roving Hahn bagged the six-pointer. Poor old Crouch, playing game 199, twanged his hamstring again and departed prior to the final change, at which the Swans led by 37 points. The Pups’d barely dented the half-time deficit. Early in the final term a slick Doggy rebound move, about their first for the afternoon, saw Eagleton pass to Akermanis, he booted a big goal from 50m. The Bullies were nominally a chance, trailing by 31 points. But from the restart Goodes exchanged handpasses with Mathews and kicked to leading O’Loughlin, ‘Molly’ marked and converted. That was just about it. A few minutes later Jarrad McVeigh bagged a goal, sending the Bloods 45 points ahead. The Pups did some belated attacking, after a coupla behinds Robbins kicked another major. But O’Loughlin sealed a good day for the Swans with his fourth goal, from a mark on-the-lead again, to Grundy’s pass.
On the ‘Dreamtime’ weekend the Swans’ two Aboriginal stars Adam Goodes (26 disposals, 10 marks) and Micky O’Loughlin (12 marks, 16 kicks, 4 goals) were very good. Peter ‘Spida’ Everitt (17 disposals, a goal) and Darren Jolly (11 touches, 3 goals) exposed the weakness of the Pups’ ruck division and may well force a recall for Minson. Brett Kirk (17 disposals) beat Scott West (15 touches) and Adam Schneider (24 possessions, 3 goals) played very well. Runners Nic Fosdike (24 touches, 9 marks) and Nick Malceski (23 possies, a goal) were pretty good. After the game Bulldog coach Eade identified full-back Brian Harris (14 disposals, 5 marks) as his side’s only winner, he did very well on Hall. Brad Johnson (9 marks, 18 possessions, 2 goals) tried hard from limited opportunity, Mitch Hahn (9 touches, a goal) bullocked away in a game suited to his style and Nathan Eagleton (20 disposals) worked into it with time. Matty Robbins kicked 3 goals. Daniel Cross (18 possessions) was alright. But the Dogs’ prime movers, Cooney, Giansiracusa, Gilbee, Ray, Rising Star nominee Higgins and the closely-tagged West, were rarely sighted. ‘Rocket’ tried to remain positive. "Things are going better than that. Two weeks ago Sydney set themselves, they were playing poorly and they are back in form. Form is a fickle thing, it can change week to week, full credit to Sydney but we just didn't work hard enough. That is not a true reflection of the way we go about it. I think the good sides have that consistency of effort, that is something that we need. There was just a 25-minute period in the second quarter where we got smashed. It was just through hard work, they outran us. Whenever they won it in tight they spread pretty well and we didn't. Their pressure was very good and ours wasn't up to standard." Paul Roos was happy, given the missing players and the (assumed) quality of the opposition. "We were hoping with the momentum, and the guys coming off last week with confidence, that the Tadhg and Davo factor wouldn’t be as big. It certainly proved that it wasn't. It was good to be able to win without those guys . . . I thought from the start we really looked switched on. We kicked some early goals and put some pressure on them and continued for the whole game. Last week obviously played pretty well, but I think today the intensity of the game was a little bit higher than even last week, and for longer. To keep a team as high-scoring as the Bulldogs to eight goals was a really good effort. Certainly those guys who were a little bit out of form have really played good footy in the last couple of weeks."
At the MCG:
Melbourne 2.4 4.8 4.10 11.12.78
North Melbourne 3.5 7.7 8.14 10.19.79
Losing is habit-forming, as the Dees and Tiges are discovering. Once again the Dees snatched defeat from the jaws of victory, Roo rover Andrew Swallow booting a long goal with just over a minute remaining to nudge the Ruse past the hapless Melbun for their sixth consecutive victory/ninth consecutive loss respectively. Perhaps the Dees (and Tiges) need that chorus of people from the ‘Quit’ campaign to break the habit. “No Demons no, no Demons no, noooooooo Demons!” Norf’s victory was hardly inspiring and provided evidence for people who suspect that, underneath the Shinboner spirit and all, they’re a bit ordinary. But it didn’t stop Laidley giving a ‘bring it on’ call to the Eagles next week. No Judd or Kerr will help. The Demons made the regular five changes in selection, mostly forced though with more injuries, to Ryan Ferguson (broken thumb), Colin Sylvia (hamstring tightness), Matthew Whelan (foot), Adem Yze (groin) and Matthew Bate (hamstring). On the plus side tough rover Brock McLean returned from the foot he broke in round one, Clint Bizzell, Ben Holland and Chris Johnson were recalled and James Frawley given an AFL debut. He’s a tall defender from North Ballarat and nephew of Danny Frawley. The Kangers had Glenn Archer return, replacing Shannon Watt.
The Dees had a crack early, Russ Robertson was very excited by an early mark and goal and Daniher milked the symbolic moment by introducing McLean. Norf scored the next two goals to take a 4-point lead, Corey Jones completing a string handpasses for the second. Then there were some more goals I guess, and the Ruse led by 7 points at the first break. The second term was dominated by Roo forward Shannon Grant, who booted all 4 of the Kangers’ goals for the quarter against battling Brad Green. Robertson kicked a late goal for the Dees but they were 17 points down at half-time. Daniel Ward was switched onto Grant for the third term, successfully. The Ruse pretty much dominated possession. Unfortunately for the Gold Coast Northerners, they couldn’t convert with 1.7 for the term. Grant kicked the only goal scored in the quarter, playing on from a mark 50m out. Melbun chipped the ball short and sideways and turned it over too much. Daniher cut a desperate figure in the three-quarter-time huddle with his side 28 points down, urging his men to cast caution to the wind and attack. He had someone able to that, Cameron Bruce who’d been rested for the latter part of the third. Bruce led an improbable but stirring Demun comeback. No evidence of it early despite Bruce’s industry, seven minutes in the Ruse bagged a major and they led by 35 points. Shortly afterwards Deemun Green converted a free-kick for high contact. Travis Johnstone drilled a pass for the previously dormant skipper David Neitz to mark and boot a major. A bit later Neitz bagged another and the deficit was down to 17 points. Robertson marked in the pocket and curled it through. Junior Ricky Petterd shanked a shot, but Bruce marked in the pocket and converted. The Ruse were only 5 points ahead now, the Deez with five unanswered goals. Nervous Roo Jones missed woefully, his kick just scraping through for a behind. The Dees advanced from the kick-in and their Nathan Jones passed to Neitz on-the-lead again, the captain punted his third goal of the korter and scores were level, Dee fans out of their patrician minds with excitement. The Kangas won the ball away from the restart, Brady Rawlings kicked a point. Melbun attacked again, the Ruse forced the ball clear but Nathan Jones collected and, off two steps, lobbed it through from 50m. Melbern in front by 5 points. At last! But no. A behind each, the second of those to North was scored with 1:30 remaining. The Demon kick-in, from Johnstone, was poorly directed and trickled out-of-bounds 55m away. The throw-in spilled to Roo Andrew Swallow, he ran clear, punted long and Carroll’s outstretched hand touched the ball over the line. The Roos led by a point. Melbun couldn’t manage a score in the remaining minute. Foiled again.
Roo rover Brent Harvey (24 disposals) is in form equal to the best of his career. Shannon Grant (16 touches, 4 marks, 5 goals) did most to cause the Roo win and Andrew Swallow (21 disposals, THE goal) is improving every week. Swallow was a fairly low draft-choice because of queries over his kicking. Defender Josh Gibson (15 touches) played well and experienced Roo midfielders Brady Rawlings (17 possies) and Adam Simpson (27 disposals, 8 tackles) were good, along with Daniel Harris (18 disposals). Corey Jones kicked 2 goals. Cameron Bruce (35 disposals, 10 marks, 2 goals) was great for the Dees, defenders Nathan Carroll (15 touches, 8 marks) and Clint Bizzell (21 handlings, 7 marks) were good, Bizzell much better than against the Cats a few weeks back. Nathan Brown (28 possies, 8 marks) and rugged James ‘Junior’ McDonald (29 touches, 10 tackles) worked hard and Nathan Jones (23 disposals, a goal) is also an improver. David Neitz booted 4 goals and Russ Robertson kicked 3. Neale Daniher displayed his emotions. “Footy s**ks sometimes. I was shattered when it was 20 seconds to go and we’d had an opportunity to win another one. But we’ve just got to absorb this disappointment. We’re feeling for our supporters, we’re all in this together and we’ve just got to absorb it all and hopefully they come along next week against the Crows. You should be able to keep possession on a point kick-in, [but] they were out on their feet, we lost our organisation, gave them a stop play and all of a sudden you’re behind again . . . Time is the major thing. You just absorb the disappointment for 24 hours and try and find some positives from the game, a little hook there for you to hang onto and go again. We’ve got a lot of work to do on a lot of areas, but you do get some encouragement even through the disappointment of it all, you do get encouragement that they’re still fighting and I’m optimistic that things will start to turn our way.” Laidley invoked karma. "I sat here this time last year and we were 2-7. We lost a game in pretty similar circumstances as today against Melbourne last year. We were 15 or 20 points up against West Coast in Canberra and they overran us. We were about the same amount up against Sydney and we lost that one - this all happened in the first nine rounds last year. But we like to think we've addressed that physically with our pre-season as well as from a mental point of view. But having said all that, a lot of it comes down to luck and today we got the luck and we'll take that . . . If we had have kicked 6.1 (in the third quarter), you don't have to worry about the last quarter, it's all over. The other team can kick 10 goals to nothing in the last quarter and you'll still probably win the game. But let’s not get it wrong; both teams were out on their feet so I was pleased with what we did, but in the end there was still a bit of luck.
At Football Park:
Port Adelaide 1.3 2.4 4.10 8.12.60
Geelong 5.4 13.9 14.15 16.20.116
“We’re not as good as people think we are,” said Port coach Mark Williams last week. His men took his word as they were absolutely hammered by the newly-focussed Cats. The Catters could’ve ‘done a Richmond’ on the Powder, but Port found some effort for the second half and the Pussies messed about a bit, resulting in a fairly dull pair of quarters. Still, the upshot was the Cats bounding into second and Port slumping to seventh in the congested top half of the ladder, Port will probably start underdogs when they host Horforn next weekend. The Cats gave ‘em an absolute hiding in contested ball wins here, just as the Swans did last week, despite Choco’s claims to the contrary. The Port side here was without Dean Brogan (ankle), stats show Port have poor record without him. Josh Mahoney and were dropped, in came replacement ruckman Fabian Deluca, Jacob Surjan and Nathan Krakouer. One change for the Cwats, returning Andrew Mackie replacing injured David Johnson (calf strain).
The Cats arrived with the poorest record of any visitor to Foopall Park (both Camrys and Power included). They set out to improve it, Shaun Burgoyne was ‘sat down’ at the opening bounce and in an early Port thrust Daniel Motlop was crunched by Josh Hunt, possibly breaking Motlop’s collarbone. Motlop’s night was over, anyway. The Cats scored when Port’s Michael Pettigrew hacked the ball clear of defence, straight to Hunt. A pass to Jarad Rooke saw the Cat man boot a goal, although Rooke wants to be known as ‘Max’ now. Changed his name by deed poll, apparently. Port replied as Dom Cassisi marked, played-on around Gary Ablett and booted a noice goal. Cassisi was happy, as he was tagging Gablett. The Cats won the ball at the restart, Cameron Ling’s tumbling kick eluded several players and Travis Varcoe gathered to stab it through. Ling was on Peter Burgoyne and he thrashed the Port rover. Port forward Brett Ebert missed a shot, then from a ball-up Gary Ablett ran clear and passed to bro’ Nathan Ablett, he chipped inboard for David Wojcinski to mark and convert. The Cats exerted tremendous pressure in their forward-line, trapping the ball in there, and around packs. Cam Mooney marked 60m out and kicked for Nathan Ablett to mark strongly against Pettigrew, Nablett majored. Light but persistent rain started to fall, as Gablett, Mathew Stokes and Steve Johnson kicked behinds. Port’s Damon White missed a shot before an Ebert turnover saw Wojcinski pass towards Rooke, he was dragged down by Surjan and free-kicked a goal. The Cats led by 25 points at the first break. Stokes free-kicked a major early in the second, held by Matt Thomas. A minute later Matthew Egan drove the Cats forward, Ling did very well to win the ball, elude tacklers and snap truly. Alarm bells clanging for Port as they trailed by 37 points. Port players fell over a lot. They won the ball at the restart, Geelong defender Matty Scarlett spilled a mark, Ebert kicked long and Warren Tredrea grabbed strongly and thumped it through, he enjoyed it. Williams reckons Tredrea won’t come good ‘til after the mid-season break. Jahlong’s Brad Ottens had a free at the following centre-bounce, the ball went wide to Steve Johnson, he lobbed a pass for Mooney to mark and convert. A bit later Steve Johnson roved a throw-in and snapped it through, Mackie and Jimmy Bartel missed long shots as the Cats led by 45 points. Port attacks were rare enough that Brendon Lade launched a torpedo from 65m, it dropped amongst four Cats and Darren Milburn marked. Kane Tenace was involved three times in a move which ended with Gary Ablett slotting a goal, a Cat centre-clearance followed and Gablett missed a shot. But a minute later Steve Johnson bagged another, marking over Thomas. The Cats forced the ball forward from the restart, Bartel gathered and roosted a goal. Bartel repeated the dose, almost identical from the next centre-clearance and Geelong led by 71 points at the long break.
Pathetic Port could either surrender abjectly or slog to a respectable but meaningless second half win. They managed the latter. Didn’t see a lot of the third but did see the three goals scored, Peter Burgoyne was shifted to a forward-pocket to break Ling’s tag and he roved a pack to snap an early goal. Little else happened until time-on, save a lotta behinds. Port were trying harder around packs and had stacked their back-line, the Cats shifted down a gear. With three minutes to go in the stanza Mooney bagged a goal for the Cats, they led by 73 points. Port backpedalled from the restart and rushed a point for Geelong, but moved swiftly downfield from the kick-in and Shaun Burgoyne dobbed decent running goal. Behinds to Ebert and Cassisi slashed the Cat lead to 65 points at the final change. Early in the final term Ling orchestrated a very good move, completed with a superbly-weighted kick for Rooke to mark and boot his third goal. Port replied as David Rodan marked 55m out and received a 50m penalty when Bartel ran through the mark. Ebert free-kicked a major from a ball-up and huzzah!, Port had consecutive majors and were exactly 10 goals behind. The Cats scored a coupla behinds. Port’s White marked on the wing, before the ball arrived White had both hands squarely in Milburn’s back. No whistle. “Hi to Richo if you’re watching,” quipped commentator Grybas. Krakouer free-kicked a goal after being crunched head-on by Rooke, a bit later Steven Salopek’s smart kick found Rodan in space, he kicked another. Four consecutive majors for the Powder and they were 50 points down. Wojcinski snapped a good goal to end the scoring.
Impressive all over from the Cats, with Brownlow contender Jimmy Bartel (26 disposals, 2 goals) the standout. Joel Corey (29 touches) did the job against Shaun Burgoyne while Gary Ablett (25 touches, 1.3) was terrific again, Cameron Ling (14 touches, a goal) was superb against Pete Burgoyne (12 possies, a goal). Brad Ottens (14 possies, ) nullfied Lade in the ruck, moreso ‘round the ground. The run of David Wojcinski (19 disposals, 2 goals) and Kane Tenace (27 possessions) was often evident and Darren Milburn (19 handlings, 6 marks) won plenty of it as the ‘loose’ man, nominally opposed to Chad Cornes. Corey Enright (21 handlings), recruited from the Port Magpoise, was pretty good too. Max Rooke (15 touches, 7 marks) bagged 3 goals, Cam Mooney was on-and-off the ground after jarring a knee, he kicked 2 goals. Port’s better performers included Chad Cornes (25 disposals, 12 marks) and Kane Cornes (36 possessions), David Rodan (24 disposals, 2 goals) was alright in his favoured wet, greasy conditions and Jacob Surjan (24 possies) and Steven Salopek (23 touches) tried a bit after half-time. But they were well-beaten. Williams didn’t try to spin the result. "They smashed us, there's no doubt about it. That was as bad as we've played in a long time. They belted us off the ball, stopped us at stoppages, easily scored from them. We were really disappointed, spent a long time at halftime discussing it and it was good to arrest some of the damage, but we don't take too much from that. It was one of the poorer games, and we've got a huge challenge next week with Hawthorn on fire as well." Mark Thompson was contrapuntally delighted. "It's huge. We've come over here many times and walked away empty and sad, so to win was a fantastic result. The first half was probably the best we've played all year. It was just awesome. We were very proud of the guys, they were just so ruthless and disciplined. As a coach, they were playing their roles exactly as we wanted them to. The players deserve all the credit. After the Kangaroos game they realised their attitude wasn't right, so they wanted to be a better team on a week-to-week basis."
Ladder after Round Nine
Pts. % Next Week
West Coast 28 122.0 North Melbourne (Subiaco, Saturday)
Geelong 24 151.5 St. Kilda (Docklands, Sunday)
Adelaide 24 112.2 Melbourne (MCG, Saturday)
Hawthorn 24 112.2 Port Adelaide (Football Park, Sunday)
Collingwood 24 107.8 Fremantle (MCG, Fri. night)
North Melbourne 24 106.3 West Coast (Subiaco, Saturday)
Port Adelaide 24 105.0 Hawthorn (Football Park, Sunday)
Sydney 20 115.4 Essendon (SCG, Sat. night)
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Essendon 20 107.8 Sydney (SCG, Sat. night)
Footscray 20 95.8 Carlton (MCG, Sunday)
Fremantle 16 97.7 Collingwood (MCG, Fri. night)
Brisbane 16 94.5 Richmond (Docklands, Sat. night)
St. Kilda 16 92.0 Geelong (Docklands, Sunday)
Carlton 8 79.0 Footscray (MCG, Sunday)
Melbourne 0 70.2 Adelaide (MCG, Saturday)
Richmond 0 69.6 Brisbane (Docklands, Sat. night)
Cheers, Tim.
Article last changed on Wednesday, May 30, 2007 - 7:50 PM EDT
