AFL Weekly Review Round 16 2007

At Docklands:

Geelong    8.2   13.6   15.11   20.18.138
Footscray  3.1    4.4    6.8      9.9.63

The p*ssy juggernaut rolled on, crushing the Doggies for their eleventh straight win. Peaked too early, have Geelong. The Doggies are a bit fragile and like many mid-table battlers, found themselves worried out of it by the Cats’ fierce pressure. The Dogs’ disposal was very poor again, but unlike last week they didn’t get away with it. Footyscray picked up some more injuries too, to Gilbee, Hahn and West which they don’t need. The Geelong side here was weakened by the late withdrawal of in-form full-back Matthew Scarlett (‘flu) while Travis Varcoe was dropped, in came Shannon Byrnes and David Johnson, who’s let his hair grow back so he doesn’t look like Chapman any more. The Bulldogs had defender Dale Morris pull out with back spasms and dropped Dylan Addison, Scott West returned and Cameron Wight was called up.

Way back in round one the Bulldogs beat Geelong, with Brad Johnson kicking eight goals. No such repeat here. Cat captain Tom Harley lined up on Johnson and Cameron Ling decided to tag Adam Cooney, instead of usual opponent West who began in the Pups’ forward-line. But it was the Cat’s intense physical pressure which made the early play, some hard team work to win the ball saw Corey Enright execute a 360-degree spin and bag the opening goal, a minute later Gary Ablett kicked for Cameron Mooney to hold a strong mark in front of Bulldog full-back Brian Harris, Mooney steered a good kick for a goal from a tricky angle. The Cats defended stoutly against some Bulldog thrusts, with plenty of them ‘sacrificial acts’ beloved of coaches. Cat Paul Chapman drove a long kick in and Mooney marked as Bulldog Wight mis-judged the flight. Mooney goaled again, and then again as Harris slipped over and Mooney marked James Kelly’s pass. Three goals for Mooney and no score for the Dogs as the Cats led by 25 points. The Bullies got going, Brad Johnson held a back-pedalling mark of Farren Ray’s kick to open their scoring. Dog Matty Boyd had a free at the restart and sent the ball wide to Luke Darcy, he kicked long and Johnson out-bustled Harley to mark and boot their second. The Cat lead was back to 13 points. But the Cats won the following centre-clearance and Joel Corey, very busy early, chipped a pass for drifting Chapman to mark and convert. The Dogs replied as rebounding Ryan Hargrave had a long pot-shot which bounced through, the gap back to 13 points. A bit later the Dogs’ Cam Wight clashed heads with Joel Selwood and came off second-best. While Wight lay prone the umps made a questionable decision to proceed, from a ball-up Ling slotted a very good goal and Geelong led by 19 points. They put the hammer down in time-on, from a quick rebound move Steve Johnson drove a low kick to the goal-square and Corey arrived for a spectacular sliding, volleyed goal in best soccer style. Chapman won the ball from the restart and set up Kelly for a shot, he missed. But with 10 seconds remaining a poor Giansiracusa handpass was picked off by Cat Jimmy Bartel, he handballed for Ablett to boot truly. Cats by 31 points at quarter-time. On went the Catters in the second term, Mooney majored from a free-kick for holding against Harris. Tom Hawkins missed a snap from very close. As the Dogs attacked their Jordan McMahon kicked directly to Cat backman Egan, the ball rebounded swiftly in a great passage and Bartel passed for unopposed Andrew Mackie to mark, play-on and slot it through. The Cats led by 45 points. They had a setback as David Wojcinski departed with knee or ankle trouble, but it caused no immediate problem. Bulldog Eagleton’s confusion saw him caught in possession and turnover, leading to a running goal for the very good Cat junior, Selwood. David Johnson marked on the wing and, as he went back, Ablett was held by Shaun Higgins off-the-ball, conceding a 50m penalty and allowing Johnson a goal. Soon David Johnson had another, coat-hangered by Wight as he marked in defence, one 50m penalty and then another 50 for Higgins holding Ablett again. The Cats led by 62 points, the game was over already. The Bullies’ night got worse as Lindsay Gilbee limped off with a calf strain. The Dogs did manage a belated goal, though. A complex, panicky move under the Cats’ relentless pressure ended with Cooney chipping a pass to Hargrave, he marked and converted and Geelong’s lead was ‘reduced’ to 56 points. In the final minutes of the half the Cats began to lairize a bit, they were afforded the chance by Footscray’s continual turnovers. Cats by 56 at half-time.

The second half was comparatively dull. The Dogs belied their instincts and slowed the game down, concentrating on more precise delivery of the ball. It didn’t translate into any scoring, though. Harris began the quarter at full-forward but didn’t stay there long. Cooney had been completely blanketed by limpet Ling and early in the third gave Ling a tummy-tap punch, for which Cooney was reported. ‘Twas very soft. The Dogs scored a coupla points, then the Cats had a couple. Halfway through the term a Bulldog kick-in went long to Jordan McMahon, he passed to Andrejs Everitt who took off on a long, two-bounce run and booted a very good goal. Jahlong responded quickly, in typical style Steve Johnson juggled a one-handed mark and booted truly. They led by 56 once more. The Pussies began to press but scored a few behinds, before the Dogs turned over weakly again in midfield and Egan kicked for Corey to hold a good mark in traffic and pop it through. The Dogs managed a reply as Cat Milburn was penalized for a throw and Ablett played-on through the whistle, a free-kick and 50m penalty allowing Eagleton to boot a sausage. The Cats led by 57 points at the last change. The final quarter saw a bit more action, of a negative sort for the Dogs early as Mitch Hahn hurt his shoulder diving for a low mark, later on West strained his groin again. They had some scoring joy as Giansiracusa passed for leading Brad Johnson to mark and convert, a bit later Jarrod Harbrow chipped a free-kick for leading Rob Murphy to mark and boot a long sausage. The Dogs trailed by 47 points. Cat Mackie out-marked Boyd on a Doggy kick-in and returned it for a goal, a Bulldog reply as Everitt gathered Higgins’s centering kick and banged it through from 50m. Meandering to a finish but the Cats launched a late scoring blitz. Chapman collected Selwood’s handpass and barreled through some weak pressure to dob one, a minute later Ray’s fumble allowed Steve Johnson to gather and handpass for Selwood to bag a major. Consecutive Cat centre-clearances brought consecutive goals for Mathew Stokes to cap a 75-point thumping.

The Cats swamped ‘em in midfield again where Gary Ablett Jnr (35 disposals, 10 marks, a goal) is being discussed as a Brownlow contender, along with Jimmy Bartel (38 touches). Joel Corey (30 handlings, 2 goals) was very good early, Joel Selwood (23 possessions, 2 goals) was excellent again, Cameron Ling (15 possies, a goal) kept Cooney out of it and half-back Corey Enright (27 disposals, a goal) was very good too, almost BOG himself. Winners everywhere you looked. Cameron Mooney (9 marks, 12 disposals, 4.1) had his kicking boots on this week, he was rested for a fair bit of the middle quarters as Thompson gave Hawkins a run. Paul Chapman (26 touches, 12 marks, 2 goals), Andrew Mackie (29 possies, 13 marks, 2 goals), Darren Milburn (28 disposals, 7 marks), they were all good too. David Johnson and Matty Stokes booted 2 goals each. For the Dogs, ruck-rover Matthew Boyd (27 disposals) was very good and Brad Johnson (8 marks, 18 possies, 3 goals) a bit of a threat, he didn’t get the supply and worked up into the midfield. Andrejs Everitt (17 disposals, 5 marks, 2 goals) was very impressive again, fast, skilful and composed. Scott West (29 touches, 10 marks) managed a few touches before tweaking his groin again. Nathan Eagleton (23 possessions, a goal) was alright and backman Tom Williams (18 disposals, 11 marks) wasn’t their worst. Ryan Hargrave kicked 2 goals. Not a good night for the Dogs. Rocket Eade lauded the opposition. “They (Geelong) played extremely well and they are the real deal. You’d think that out of their best 22 there was not a real weakness. They’ve got a very strong defence, a very good midfield and they are kicking goals . . . In this game you get what you deserve. Our kicking and our decision making were very poor and a lot of those errors weren’t under pressure. It was just inexplicable. I think we invented new mistakes.” He found some praise for Everitt. Bomber Thompson said he asked the players to ‘refocus’ after the big Collywood game last week. “It reminded me of the game against Richmond, the way we started and I’m not sure where it came from. We did talk about playing the best quarter of footy after the Collingwood game. We said, 'Let's concentrate on the first quarter' and they certainly did that. It was very impressive . . . (The players) really trust each other. They’re playing as a team and to their potential . . . I loved how committed we were to winning the ball and how much pressure we were putting on the Western Bulldogs.” Peaked too early.

At the MCG:

Collingwood  5.4   11.8   15.11   18.14.122
Essendon     1.2    5.5   13.8     14.9.93

Collywood stayed on course, defeating the Bommers in a tough, entertaining game in front of 65,000 at the ‘G. The Pies’ next four games are against Brisbun (in Melbourne) and the bottom three and they should finish second, at least. The Dons tried hard but weren’t good enough. A Bomber fan e-mailed last week to point out that it was Bomber ex-president Graham McMahon, not a current director, who was calling for Sheedy to be re-signed. The Bomber bloke expressed exasperation with the meedya’s continual focus on Sheedy’s future and naturally they bombarded Kev with more questions on the topic after this. Despite Sheedy calling this the Dons’ ‘Grand Final’, losses by those around the Dons on the ladder kept the eight open. Perhaps the bigger observation should be on the Pies, they are looking pretty good. The boy Travis Cloke is really coming on. The Collywood side here welcomed Simon Prestigiacomo back and recalled Guy Richards and Ryan Lonie, out went Paul Medhurst, Sam Iles and Chris Bryan. The Dons had Dustin Fletcher and Mark McVeigh return from suspension, replacing Scott Camporeale (torn knee tendon) and the dropped Jason Johnson - harsh.

The Poise dominated the first half. They won on-the-ball and their big forwards proved a real handful for the Bommers. There were a few shots missed early, including a terrible set-shot spray from Bomma captain Matthew Lloyd. The Dons had the first goal when Poi backman Harry O’Brien was crucified with a ‘bawl’ decision, Scott Lucas free-kicked the major. The Poise replied as Alan ‘Murderer’s Pal’ Didak held the ball in the forward-line, forcing a ball-up from which ‘Neon’ Leon Davis dribbly-snapped a goal. Tarkyn Lockyer cleared the restart for the Maggies and Anthony Rocca held a strong grab at CHF, he thumped it home. A minute later Didak kicked long and Travis Cloke had a free for Fletcher’s hand on his back, Cloke booted truly. He’s been very accurate lately. Must’ve put in a lot of work. Pie ruckman Josh Fraser crunched speedy Don Andrew Lovett with a textbook hip-and-shoulder, sending Lovett to the bench. Pie backman Tyson Goldsack kicked long and Cloke held a very good pack-mark, he kicked another sausage and the Poise led by 18 points. Several commentators have pointed out Dustin Fletcher is pretty weak in marking contests for a bloke who’s six-foot-six. Mal Michael replaced Fletcher as Cloke’s opponent, but immediately Mal was out-marked by Cloke again. The lad Cloke missed, though. The Dons managed to defend for a while but mounted no attacking pressure of their own, before Michael turned over in the backline with a poor handpass and Pie O’Bree kicked to find Lockyer all alone 10m out, he popped it through. The Pies led by 26 points at korter-time. The Dons gave some cheek in the early second term, with Jason Laycock moved into the ruck. Nathan Lovett-Murray drove a long kick in and after some scrap over the loose ball, Laycock handballed for Damien Peverill to snap a major. A bit later Goldsack was penalized for a throw and Lucas took advantage to play-on and pass to leading Lloyd, he marked and goaled. Bommers Ricky Dyson and Angus Monfries combined to win the next centre-clearance, Lucas roved the contest and bagged another and the Dons were 9 points down. The Pies responded quickly, Marty Clarke did well to win the ball and Lockyer kicked for Scott Pendlebury to mark in the pocket and slot it through. A minute later Pendlebury had another goal, a strong grab of Heath Shaw’s long kick. Rocca booted one, out-bustling Fletcher for a mark. Ben Johnson won a free at the restart, Bomma Watson drifted in front of Rocca and Fletcher but he spilled the mark and Didak collected the ball for an easy slot. Four quick ones and the Poise led by 34 points again. Shaw and Bomma Andrew Welsh had a fairly aggressive blue, Lucas was benched as the Dons struggled in attack. They resorted to a bit of possession football to break the Pie momentum, I assume. It didn’t work as some strong Pie tackling on Lovett, then Fletcher forced a turnover and Lonie handballed for Davis to dob a running goal. Lucas returned but the Poise went on. After Bommer Hille postered the Pie kick-in went long to Guy Richards, a few handballs later Paul Licuria was booting a sausage and the Maggies led by 44 points. The Dons hung tough for a while and stemmed the tide, Dale Thomas’s miss helped. Late in the term Lloyd ran by for a handball-receive and passed to Lucas, he marked and converted with a good kick right on the siren. The Scragpies led by 39 points at orange-time.

The Dons had a big go with an eight-goal third term, led by a superb effort from Mark McVeigh on a forward-flank. McVeigh led and marked for the stanza’s first goal. A minute later Lloyd led to Watson’s pass and missed poorly, but McVeigh pounced on a telegraphed Pie kick-in and snapped another. Soon Monfries was converting from a mark on-the-lead and the Dons had cut the margin to 21 points. The Pies responded, Clarke tumbled a kick forward from a throw-in, Cloke marked and centered the ball for unattended Davis to mark, play-on and slot through. A bit later McVeigh had another mark, 20m out dead in front but he missed woefully. No immediate worry, Pie Lonie fumbled and Don Paddy Ryder collected the ball, his quick kick was marked in the goal-square by Lucas and he stabbed it through. Pies 20 points ahead, they responded with a goal I didn’t see, went to get a beer I think. Hille won the ball at the restart for the Dons and Dyson kicked long, Lloyd maneuvered in front of Shane Wakelin for a mark and easy goal. A minute later Lloydy bagged another, nudging Wakelin under the ball to mark Peverill’s lobbed punt. The Dons were only 15 points behind. The Poies steadied with a terrific pack-mark from Cloke again, just 15m out and he jabbed it through. Three goals were scored in the hectic final minute, Fletcher marked in defence and was lightly slung by Rocca, a technical 50m penalty resulted. Fletch kicked long, McVeigh soared and spilled but roving Lovett bagged a goal. The Dons won the following clearance and the ball went to McVeigh, he wrestled out of a tackle and handballed to Ryder, his kick to the goal-square spilled from Mark Johnson’s hands and poacher Lovett booted another. Dons 9 points down, but Pie O’Bree won the next centre-clearance and kicked hurriedly, Dale Thomas roved the contest and booted very good, long major. The Maggies were 15 points up at the final change but the Dons were a chance. In contrast to the third-quarter goal-fest, the final Mario was tough, tight and goal-less for the first ten minutes. Very entertaining though, the Dons giving plenty of physical attention as they do when under pressure. The scoreboard moved again following a great individual effort from Ricky Dyson, collecting a loose ball, using his speed to ‘break the lines’ and kicking a very good, long goal. They don’t do enough of that, the Bombers. The margin was down to 10 points but the Pies kicked clear now. Rocca held a two-grab mark against Fletcher and Lovett-Murray and dobbed a major. Bommer Lucas switched to defence to help out. Pie Fraser led, marked and postered, Pie Shaw spoiled the Don kick-in and Fraser collected the ball to snap a goal - the ol’ 7-point play. Soon Davis bagged a terrific goal, he gathered a loose ball, broke a tackle and, running away from goal, steered a lovely banana-kick for full-points. The Poise led by 29 points and you couldn’t see the Dons coming back. They won the following centre-clearance, Hille kicked long and Lloyd marked on the point-line, but his attempted hook-through careened on-the-full. The steam went out after that.

The Maggies’ big forwards made a big difference here, Anthony Rocca (6 marks, 8 kicks, 4 goals) bobbed up at just the right time and Travis Cloke (11 marks, 13 kicks, 3 goals) was terrific in the first half. Small forward Leon Davis (14 kicks, 3 marks, 4 goals) proved pretty useful too. In the midfield Tarkyn Lockyer (29 disposals, 14 marks, a goal) continued his fine form and Shane O’Bree (26 disposals) was pretty good at pack-clearances, ruckman Josh Fraser (21 touches, 8 marks, a goal) worked hard. Scott Pendlebury (20 handlings, 2 goals) was useful and Shane Wakelin did a pretty good job on Lloyd. Mark McVeigh (21 disposals, 4 marks, 2 goals) led the Dons’ third-quarter charge and Jobe Watson (22 possessions) was pretty good again, as was CHF Scott Lucas (17 disposals, 4 goals, just the 2 marks). There were pleasing signs from Ricky Dyson (15 touches, a goal) and Damien Peverill (32 disposals, a goal) worked to get his usual possessions, Andrew Lovett (7 touches, 2 goals) came back well after being crunched early. Brent Stanton (20 disposals) played alright and David Hille (18 touches, 21 hit-outs) wasn’t bad. Matty Lloyd (16 disposals, 7 marks) bagged 3 goals. Sheeds saw finals slipping away, but that was before other results went their way. "We just play each match and try and win it. Where you end up, you end up . . . that's a very competitive year if you can win 12 and you don't make it and that's the best we are this year. We've got a crucial game against Adelaide and we know obviously that each match you don't win from here on in is going to obviously make it awkward for us to make the finals. But we're probably a side that we can't afford to not have somewhere near our better side in . . . It's a frustrating game when you come out and you do play so very well and kick eight goals in the third quarter. But I reckon Collingwood has really done well with its team and they actually made it probably a little bit stronger this week after the Geelong game.” He swatted away media speculation about his future (“These other blokes have given up, but I’m not. I’ll still be here in round 22.”). Mick Malthouse was relieved. "We could have easily folded up. Essendon was terrific today. I thought we had their measure by half-time. It was interesting how in the second quarter they kicked the first two or three goals, and then we got back, and that can break your heart. You always respect Essendon regardless. I just thought that once we'd broken back, that would make it very difficult for them to get their momentum. They got it in the first five seconds (of the third quarter), so that's how good I am. They're a side that were eight and seven, and fighting for a place in the eight. We know how tight it is. This doesn't get us out of the wilderness (eh?), but it puts a bit of distance between us and Essendon and other sides that may lose over the weekend." And some of them did.

At Football Park:

Adelaide   3.7    6.8   12.8   15.11.101
Fremantle  5.0   10.2   16.2    20.6.126

Like sands through the hourglass, so a team wins the week after a coach departs. Freo man Chris Connolly resigned early last week, saying “it was the right thing to do. It will take away the dark storm clouds that are hanging over the club and allow everyone to get on with the business and focus on what is important.” The meedya fingered Connolly’s failings, basically saying he was too soft on the players. Connolly’s style was to ‘encourage’ rather than give under-performing players a blast, or drop them, with the result being poor on-field discipline and the perception of ‘untouchable’ senior players running the team. But back in 2002, Connolly took over a side which’d won two games the previous season and was deep in debt, and took them to (their first) two finals series, seeing membership double and bottom line turn around in the same period. To give Hart his due, he did mention those things. Assistant Mark Harvey is the new, interim coach, a bit reluctantly as Harvs didn’t want to be seen as a back-stabber. Too late now. The Camry slump was a story from this too, the top four slipping out of reach and a battle for the eight on now. The Camrys arrived here with players missing again, captain and talisman Mark Ricciuto (rolled ankle) and full-back Ben Rutten (knee strain) replaced by returning forward Ian Perrie and Martin Mattner. Harvey made plenty of changes for Freo, some enforced as Aaron Sandilands (groin strain) and Ryan Murphy (suspended) were unavailable while Byron Schammer and James Walker were dropped. Matthew Carr returned from injury as did Marcus Drum for his first game this season, Robert Warnock and Paul Duffield were called up. Oh, and Jeff Farmer got into more booze-related trouble last week, a car being damaged outside a night club. Plus ca change, eh?

Freo leaders Matthew Pavlich and Peter Bell were very good in this game, perhaps driven by guilt. Maybe Pav was advertising his wares in his home town. Pavlich booted the opening goal following a strong grab in front of Ken McGregor, while the Camrys set their pattern as Chris Knights kicked a point, one of their seven in the first stanza. The Dokkers bagged five goals straight. Eventually Andrew McLeod slotted from the boundary. The lead changed four times in the first term but the Camrys seemed set to kick clear in the early second, Brett Burton fired in attack as he bagged two goals with big grabs and set up another for Scott Thompson, the Cows went to a 13-point lead. But Freo hit back with next four majors. Heath Black was going very well for them, he bagged one of those goals as did Pavlich, his second. The accurate Dockers led by 18 points at half-time.

Saw the second half. Starting the third, the Priuses moved Scott Stevens forward and Nathan Bock back onto Pavlich, McGregor switched onto Chris Tarrant. The locals pressed a bit. Scott Welsh bagged a goal and a bit later some good tackling pressure set up a snapped major for Stevens. A slick rebound move ended with Stevens’s pass to leading Burton, he majored. Freo men Solomon and Josh Carr collided in the build-up and Solly hurt his neck, or something. Moments later Burton kicked another, accepting Scott Goodwin’s pass. Four quick goals for the locals and scores were level. The Dokkers responded, Scot Thornton drove a long kick and Marcus Drum held a strong pack-grab, he goaled. A minute later Pavlich galloped along a flank, seemingly going nowhere, but he kicked superbly for the only other Shocker in the forward-line, Thornton, to run onto, mark and blast through in one motion. Freo led by 12 points again, their flood-back-and-hit-‘em-on-the-break strategy was working. The Camrys came again, Ian Perrie led up for a grab and dished off a handpass for running McLeod to punt a long goal. Perrie booted a major himself after diving to mark Brent Reilly’s spearing pass, scores were level again. Back came the Shockers as McManus centered a kick for leading Paul Hasleby to hold a strong grab. Hadn’t seen Hasleby take an overhead mark this season, before then. Hasleby goaled. Good work from Tarrant and David Mundy set up Pavlich to pluck a grab over Mattner, Pav threaded it through from a tight angle. A tough effort from Michael Johnson won the ball for the Dockulaters, Heath Black kicked long and Pavlich nudged Bock under the ball for another mark and major. Phenomenally straight kicking, from mostly close-range shots, as the Freo men led by 18 points again at the final turnabout. The record was blemished when McManus missed a set shot early in the last, but a moment later there was a terrible miss from Burton after he’d soared above Johnson for a terrific grab. No ride, all jump. Pricked the Corolla balloon, did that. The Cows did have a goal a bit later, Jason Torney swapped handballs with Edwards and his long, wobbly kick went through. Freo’s lead was back to 13 points and they lost Steven Dodd with a broken collarbone. But the power of the dumped coach law drove them on; Josh Carr found himself in plenty of space, kicked to Hasleby in similar space and he slotted. Roger Hayden wasted very good lead-up work with a behind but a minute later Camry Reilly was pinged for a throw, Hasleby stabbed the free-kick to Drum and he hammered it through from 50m. Freo led by 26 points and the Camry fans started to leave “Where are they going, there’s still ten minutes to go,” said Tony Shaw. Sure enough the Cows won the ball from the centre-bounce following the Drum goal, Edwards kicked for Johncock to hold a diving mark and boot a sausage. Pavlich missed a shot before young Camry Richard Douglas mowed down Hayden with a great tackle, Hayden threw the ball away and Douglas free-kicked a goal. Addle-aid hovered 15 points behind but at the restart their Thompson was caught in possession, Bell handpassed to Headland and he passed for leading Drum to mark and convert again. A bit later Pavlich marked strongly 15m out and dished off for Bell to blast it through from point-blank, a 27-point lead to Fremandle and Bell celebrated ‘cause it was over now. Burton book-ended his earlier miss with another prior to the final siren.

Matty Pavlich (14 marks, 16 disposals, 5 goals) showed the locals what they’ll be getting next year and Peter Bell (30 disposals, 2 goals) was very good too in what was his 300th game in all competitions, incidentally, granting the rover AFL life-membership. There are rumours Bell will retire at the season’s end. Heath Black (29 touches, a goal) played well and Marcus Drum (6 marks, 11 possies, 4 goals) was a very useful forward, other senior men in Josh Carr (22 possessions) and Paul Hasleby (22 touches, 11 marks, 3 goals) lifted too. Matthew Carr (26 handlings, a goal) and backman Michael Johnson (16 touches, a goal) also played well. The Camrys had good performances from leapin’ forward Brett ‘Birdman’ Burton (6 marks, 8 kicks, 4 goals) and Simon Goodwin (28 disposals) in the midfield, along with other usual suspects Tyson Edwards (29 touches, 6 marks) and Scott Thompson (22 handlings, a goal). Half-back Michael Doughty (15 handlings, a goal) did well on Headland and Nathan Van Berlo (20 disposals) was pretty good too. Ruckman Ben Hudson (33 hit-outs, 16 handballs) plugged away. Andrew McLeod (21 possies) kicked 2 goals. But the Camrys couldn’t stop Freo’s rebound run and they couldn’t stop Pavlich. “I thought our defensive pressure [let us down], not only in our back half but pretty much all over the ground,” Craig  said. “Whilst we saw some good attacks inside 50m, our defence was about the worst it’s been for a long period of time. That’s really disappointing for us because it’s normally one of our strengths, but we got really exposed in that area . . . We were exposed really badly; it looked poor and it is poor. Matthew (Pavlich) was a continual problem for us today. We all know what a great player Matthew is and he put a lot of those skills on show today. You can keep pulling guys from other areas. We moved Scott Stevens forward for a period of time and I thought that was pretty reasonable. With Rutten and Bassett not available, and perhaps not available for some time, that’s what we’ve got.” How did Mark Harvey enjoy winning? “Was there a camera on me in the box? Oh, there was . . . you are going to see some emotion in the last quarter . . . the anxiousness of trying to win in your first game as coach came out. Hopefully, I can be better behaved in the box than perhaps I was in the last quarter . . . Look, just the way the group approached the week, what happened and how they went about their football was just sensational. It's a matter of sustaining that, and not making it a one-off. To win away from home is always tough. Adelaide obviously had a few key players out and lost two key players before the game, so we are not getting carried away with one win. It's a matter of us consistently being able to achieve those results. We have a tough month ahead of us, big sides to play, no bigger than Geelong (next week). I look forward to coaching against my ex-teammate."

At Subiaco:

West Coast  2.6   6.9   13.14   16.16.112
Sydney      2.3   6.9    9.9    15.10.100

Blowout. The (almost) full-strength Weegs were too good for an under-strength Siddey, although the Swans gave it a decent crack. Ben Cousins’s return was the big story, but in football terms the restoration of Wiggle forwards Ashley Hansen and Brent Staker made the bigger impact as they bagged 7 goals between ‘em. Cousins did pretty well, too. Daniel Kerr and Tyson Stenglein also returned for the Weegs, you can probably name those making way; Chad Jones, Steven Armstrong, Mitch Morton and last week’s debutants Eric MacKenzie and Ben McKinley. Morton had an ankle injury, officially. The Swans named an unchanged side but it wasn’t much of a surprise when Barry Hall withdrew, as the Swans had hinted for the previous fortnight. The big Subi ground too much for his groin problem, apparently. Tadhg Kennelly’s ongoing knee problems saw him pull out too, the experienced pair replaced by Heath Grundy and Luke Vogels.

Channel Ten were covering this one and treated Cousins’s return from a purely football perspective, the welcome comeback of a champion overcoming his personal demons. Tim Lane made a strange comparison with John Greening, a Collywood player of the 1970s who returned 2 years after being king-hit behind play and suffering brain damage. He meant in context of public interest, probably. Next morning the ABC expressed the opposite view, the AFL-sanctioned return of an unapologetic drug abuser left an uncomfortable feeling, they reckoned. Journos bitter about not having ‘the story’. Cousins started on the bench as the Weegs began well, missing a couple of shots. Siddey’s first attack brought a goal, Spida Everitt tapped-on for Ryan O’Keefe to gather, his wobbly snap took a handy off-break bounce for the six points. The Swans led by 4 points but the Wiggle midfield was dominant, their Staker missed a shot on-the-run and a minute later Hansen missed after marking. While Hansen lined up, Cousins came on to a standing ovation from the Wiggle supporters. Quinten Lynch missed a shot as the Weegs crawled along to 0.5. A goal came finally as Chris Judd, moving more freely this week, sped clear of pursuers and handballed to Rowan Jones, his low kick bounced through. The Swans replied as Weeg Waters fired a wild handpass while tackled, Ben Mathews gathered and snapped truly. Siddey led by 3 points and cleared the restart, Luke Vogels led for a mark but he missed. There followed some of the tough, pack-bound footy we’ve come to expect from these contests. Weeg Daniel Chick moved forward, he had a snap which postered but with 10 seconds remaining in the term Chick swept up a loose ball and snapped truly, his side led by 3 points at the first break. The familiar pattern continued into the second term. Early on Wiggle Kerr hooked a low kick forward and Staker dived to hold a fantastic one-handed slips catch of a mark, he popped it through. Eegs by 9 points but the Swans managed some pressure now as Brett ‘Captain’ Kirk and Jude Bolton began to impose themselves. Mick O’Loughlin managed a good spoil on Brett Jones and got a handball away to O’Keefe, he dobbed a goal. At the restart Swan Nick Malceski weaved classily through traffic and passed to leading O’Loughlin, Mick converted. A bit later Mathews found O’Keefe on a hard lead, O’Keefe proceeded to boot a long sausage and Siddey led by 8 points. Nick Davis and Tim Schmidt kicked points during a good spell for the Bloods, although it wasn’t all good as Leo Barry limped off with hamstring trouble. The Weegs hit back as Hansen capped a long two-bounce run with a very good goal. Davis postered before some hard Weegle pressure forced a Swan turnover in defence, Kerr fired a long handpass for an easy goal to Dean ‘Big’ Cox. The Weegs led again, by a point, but Swan Luke Ablett had a free at the subsequent centre-bounce and passed for leading O’Keefe to mark, he bagged another goal. Coupla points for Siddey before the Weegs attacked, Michael ‘F..king’ Braun centered a kick which spilled from a pack but Staker roved, busted a couple of tackles and snapped a great goal. Swans by a point then, Hansen missed a sitter to level the scores at half-time. Cousins’d managed a very impressive 20 disposals at this stage, while protecting his hamstring with conservative running and short-distance kicking. He can play.

The Bloods commenced the third stanza with injured Barry at full-forward and Heath Grundy at full-back. The Swans had an early major as a typical move of steady, chipped short passes ended with Adam Goodes lobbing a high kick, somehow Mathews was allowed a chest-mark in the middle of a pack and he converted. The Eegs answered as Hansen was dragged down without the ball, he free-kicked a goal. Level again. The Eegs scored a behind, Cousins read the kick-in and spoiled Craig Bolton, Judd swept up the loose ball and bagged a goal. The Swans replied, Nic Fosdike passed for leading Leapin’ Leo Barry to mark and boot a goal from 50m - hammy can’t have been that bad. The Eegs led by a point but their healthy edge in possession began to tell. Staker and Mark LeCras missed shots before Lynch marked and kicked quickly, Adam Hunter marked at the back of the pack and stabbed a major. Then an excellent Wiggle move ended with Matthew Priddis passing to leading Staker, he majored and the Eegs led by 16 points. LeCras missed another before Kerr kicked towards two big men, Cox out-marked Swan Darren Jolly and majored. Barry returned to defence as the Weegs led by 23 points. “My running sheet says the Swans’ll come back now,” quipped commentator Michael Voss. Not immediately, Hansen tumbled a kick forward and Cox stole ahead of Jolly to gather, wheel about and dribbly-snap a left-footed goal. The Weegs won the following centre-clearance, Judd kicked forward and Lynch thought he’d marked it. Judd’s kick’d been touched, Lynch snapped it through anyway. The Coasters led by 35 points, massive in context of games between these two. The Swans managed a late goal, Everitt tapping a throw-in smartly for Adam Schneider to gather and snap through. Weegs by a healthy 29 points at the final change. A big win appeared on the cards as they scored the first two majors of the ultimate Mario, Lynch tapped a ball-up to Adam Selwood, he handpassed for Judd to snap truly. A minute later under-pressure Swan Jarrad McVeigh tried to rush a point for the Eegs, but Hansen read his intention and soccered a goal. The Coasters led by 41. The Swans plugged away. Jolly had proved an ordinary defender, he shifted forward and managed a mark and goal. A minute later O’Loughlin goaled from a soft free-kick against Braun and the gap was back to 29. Hansen trapped a ball on the half-volley, wheeled and snapped a noice major to send the Weegs 35 points ahead again, but the Swans replied quickly through, er, someone. I was trying to watch the soccer too. Everitt’s rucking was telling, he tapped a throw-in for Davis to snap a goal and a bit later Kirk roved a throw-in, he handballed to Davis and another to McVeigh saw another Blood goal. The Weegs were only 18 points ahead now as Goodes shifted to full-forward. The Weevils closed it down a bit. LeCras and O’Loughlin kicked points. Fosdike roved a ball-up and kicked long, Schneider roved Goodes’s contest and snapped truly to reduce the margin to 12 points. The final margin.

The meedya anointed Ben Cousins (38 disposals) best afield and he was certainly pretty good. Cousins made pointed refusals to front the press conference or speak to any meedya afterwards, despite the pleading of the Weegs’ meedya manager. As mentioned, Brent Staker (5 marks, 12 disposals, 3 goals) and Ashley Hansen (5 marks, 16 possies, 4 goals) were pretty important and Daniel Kerr (31 touches) played very well, as did Dean ‘Big’ Cox (27 hit-outs, 14 disposals, 3 goals). Utility-man Daniel Chick (21 possies, a goal) enjoys these games and Chris Judd (21 touches, 2 goals) was better than last week, he had a few helpers. Siddey’s leaders stood up, Ryan O’Keefe (5 marks, 13 disposals, 4 goals) was very good in attack and Brett ‘Capitan’ Kirk (27 touches, 10 tackles) attacked the ball fiercely, the classy Nick Malceski (24 disposals) was good. Jude Bolton (15 touches) worked hard on-the-ball and Michael O’Loughlin (4 marks, 13 touches, 2 goals) played well, he didn’t get to gloat over the Weevils’ cheer-squad this time. Pity. Sean Dempster (22 disposals, 11 marks) played the loose man in defence and won plenty of it, but it wasn’t the most even of contributions for the Bloods. Adams Schneider (2 goals) and Goodes, Luke Ablett and Nick Davis could’ve done a lot more. Ben Mathews bagged 2 goals. Roos lunged for the injury excuse. "With Tadhg and Hally out, and with Leo Barry unable to contribute it wasn't going to be easy for us. It was a bit higher scoring than our usual games with them, but it went according to the script in terms of one team getting out to a break, then the other coming back. It just came down to their quality players stepping it up in the third quarter. We had an inexperienced defence with Leo and Tadhg not down there. We had (Heath) Grundy, (Sean) Dempster, (Paul) Bevan and Teddy Richards, which is a different mix, and that contributed to our inability to moving the ball and making some poor decisions. At times during the rivalry, as there is in any game, you will have ebbs and flows. They picked it up in the third quarter, and we were able to bring it back in the last quarter. We knew that with them bringing five really good players back into their team that it was a significant lift in their talent base compared to last week." Worsfold was bombarded with Cousins-related questions. "We selected him knowing he was fit to play, and that was pretty much it. We picked him to play, and play a role for the team. I'm proud of our footy club, for the way they've helped him, and certainly proud of the effort he's put in to get himself right. He certainly ran hard all night . . . I'm really looking forward to next week (Bulldogs at Docklands), because that's a huge challenge for us against a team that'll rate themselves a big chance to take us on with run. We want to take on every challenge that comes. I enjoyed tonight's game because it was Sydney, and looked forward to it, and I'm looking forward to the Bulldogs next week and every game after that. I'm pretty excited about the remainder of the year." No wonder.

At Docklands:

St. Kilda  3.2   8.4   12.7    14.11.95
Hawthorn   2.3   5.8    8.10   11.12.78

As Bono and Slayer sang, The Saints Are Coming. Or was it Jello Biafra and the Chantoozies? Anyway, the Sainters moved into position to challenge for the finals with this solid win over a ragged Horforn. The win at Subiaco in Harvs’s 350th has proved a great spark for the Saints. This game emphasized the Hawks’ youth and lack of experience. They’ll get better. The Saints are approaching full strength, defender Max Hudghton returned here at the expense of Andrew Thompson. Hudghton was playing his 200th game and Saint co-captain Luke Ball his 100th. The Orcs had last week’s debutant Mitch Thorp withdraw with a cork thigh, he was replaced by another Hawk first-gamer in Matthew Little, a half-forward from Rupertswood and James Hird’s cousin. People are identical to their cousins. Or perhaps that’s just Indian doctors.

The build-up featured much discussion of the coma-inducing clash between these two earlier in the season. Both sides gave a meaningless pledge to make this game more entertaining. Hawk debutant Little had the game’s second kick, leading to mark Sam Mitchell’s pass. He kicked a point. The Saints had an early goal as leading Fraser ‘G-Train’ Gehrig was manhandled by opponent Trent Croad, the Bourbon-Train free-kicked a goal. That was the only goal in the first quarter-hour but this game was different to the previous side-to-side kicking drill, both sides were trying to attack and it was pretty tight and tough. The first bout of unopposed backline chip-about, by Horforn, was greeted with vociferous booing from the (home, Stinkilda) supporters, who’d been urged to do so by local radio. The Hawks opened their (goal) scoring with Lance ‘Buddy’ Franklin leading to mark at the junction of 50m and boundary-lines and booting a superb goal from that location. The Saints replied quickly as a series of chipped passes moved the ball to Leigh Montagna, he punted a great goal from 55m and the Stains led by 5 points. Tight for a few more minutes and thoughts turned towards another low-scoring slog. There were two late goals though, Stephen Gilham drove a long kick forward for the Hawks, Franklin roved the contest and handballed for Ben Dixon to stab it through from point-blank. Soon Stainer Luke Ball lobbed a kick for newly-contracted Nick Riewoldt to mark, he centered a smart kick for Lenny Hayes to grab and convert. Saints by 5 points at the first break. From the opening bounce of the second term Hawk Mitchell fired a long handpass, Brad Sewell collected and thumped a long kick for a goal. The Saints replied presently as Hudghton ventured forward and wobbled a long kick in, Riewoldt’s roving snap dropped short but Ball was handy on the goal-line to stab a major. A minute later Xavier Clarke had a tight-angle shot, it went across the goal and Gilham marked by the point-post. But Gilham’s mis-hit kick was intercepted by Stephen Milne, Milney punted a goal and the Saints led by 11 points. The Saints exerted heavy pressure for a while, Ball leading a winning midfield. But they gained little reward, apart from some entertaining fighting between Gehrig and Croad. Justin Koschitzke arrived late to a marking contest and smacked Hawk Robert Campbell in the head, could be an enforced holiday for Kosi. The Hawks forced a goal from their latest tactic; when an opponent marks on a defensive flank, the Hawk on-the-mark lines up at a 90-degree angle, on the inner-side of the man rather than actually on the mark, to prevent an easy flank-switching kick. Saint Hudghton marked in a back pocket and was momentarily baulked as Jarryd Roughead stood in said spot. Hudghton proceeded but had telegraphed his intention, Dixon intercepted and kicked a goal. The Hawks had a decent spell, Franklin missed a shot before a good move presented Gilham a chance, marking 40m out. But Franklin knocked Hudghton down off-the-ball and reversed possession, leading to a superb boundary-line running goal from Riewoldt. The Hawks cleared the restart, Roughead won a free-kick 20m out but missed very poorly. The Saints advanced from the kick-in and Aaron Fiora’s smart centering kick allowed Koschitzke to mark and convert, Sinkilda led by 16 points. The Hawks’ disposal was pretty ordinary against some strong Saint pressure, Hok Ben McGlynn’s centering kick was picked off by Milne and he bagged another, Stains by 22. Horforn managed a coupla rushed points, late in the term Brent Guerra suckered the umps to win a free, Clint Young drove a long kick and Simon Taylor plucked a big grab over ‘Goose’ Maguire. Taylor goaled, the Saints led by 14 points at half-time.

The Saints scored the first goal of the third, a slick move completed by Ball’s excellent shot from the flank. Over-excited Koschitzke clobbered Jordan Lewis. A bit later Luke Hodge’s tough roving and a good handpass from Roughead allowed Franklin to snap a major. A tired Jason Gram flopped down on the ball and was penalized for, er, ‘bawl’, McGlynn free-kicked a gol and the Horks were 8 points down. Dal Santo cleared the restart for the Stains, Riewoldt marked but missed poorly. A minute later Sainter Leigh Fisher kicked smartly for Jason Blake to mark on the 50m line, he dished off for running Dal Santo to punt a goal. Shane Birss drilled a low kick, maybe a mis-kick, and Riewoldt marked in front of opponent Campbell Brown. Riewoldt converted this time and the Saints led by 21 points. The Hawks were doing a lot of defending but good play from Hodge and Sewell set up a running goal for Xavier Ellis. Sure enough the Stainers replied, Ball with a softish free-kick at a ball-up to boot his third major. The Saints led by 21 points at the final change. The Hawks pressed a bit in the early final term but struggled to get running play going amongst tough Sinkilda pressure and their own errors. Ten minutes in no goals had been scored, until Hodge slipped over trying to baulk around Riewoldt. The big Saint pinned Hodge wrestling-style and won a free for ‘bawl’, Riewoldt goaled. The Docklands surface isn’t commented upon often these days, but the recently re-laid corridor strip is very slippery. Sainter Birss departed after being hit in the head, there are fears he’s aggravated an old eye injury. Hawk Franklin missed following a good grab, his fifth behind of the night. Then Ball roved a ball-up and handballed to Fiora, he spun through Ellis’s weak tackle and snapped a very good left-footed goal. Sinkilda led by 34 points after that and it was over. Apart from another late cameo from Franklin, who booted the final three goals of the game, two from marks on-the-lead and the other a free-kick. Belated service from an un-pressured midfield.

Luke Ball’s performance (31 disposals, 11 marks, 3 goals) was his best for a long time. He and Lenny Hayes (30 touches, a goal), Nick Dal Santo (31 possessions, a goal) and Leigh Montagna (29 touches, 12 marks, a goal) were a winning midfield, Dal Santo’s effort all the better for shrugging off Sewell. Nick Riewoldt (9 marks, 15 kicks, 3 goals) played well again and roving big-man Jason Blake (16 disposals) was surprisingly good on Shane Crawford. Leigh Fisher (14 touches) did well on Sam Mitchell. Stephen Milne poached 2 goals. Luke Hodge (29 disposals, 7 marks) was best of the Hawks’ battling midfield with some support from Brad Sewell (19 touches, a goal). Clint Young (23 possies) won a few touches and rebounding half-backs Joel Smith (22 touches, 9 marks) and Grant Birchall (25 handlings, 11 marks) were alright, but they struggled across there. When they did go forward, Lance Franklin (8 marks, 17 disposals, 5.5) looked dangerous. Trent Croad (11 marks, 16 disposals) did well to hold Gehrig to one goal and stand up to his cartoon aggression. Ben Dixon kicked 2 goals. Al Clarkson delivered a back-handed compliment to the opposition. "St Kilda should be in positions to be winning premierships. That's the quality of their list. Their top 20 players are as good as any top 20 players in the competition. We need to ensure over the next few weeks, and next year, that the quality of our list becomes as strong, if not stronger, than the St Kilda list and those of the other sides that we consider to be in the top bracket . . . We played some okay footy tonight. It was a tough contest and we missed some crucial opportunities and St Kilda capitalised on theirs. Are we disappointed we lost? Yes. Are we shattered about it? No. They are a very, very good side St Kilda and have been for five years.” Sainter coach Ross Lyon avoided the f-word. "It was always going to be a difficult game. You don't fluke being second on the ladder, they've been in good form and it was a real challenge for our group, so it was pleasing to get away with the four points. The way we're going about it is we're not really looking at the ladder and our win-loss. Clearly we needed to improve as a team from where we were and we set ourselves some areas to work on over the break and, win or lose, we want to continue to try and deliver on them. We feel we're doing that and that's obviously created the potential for us to win some games. You can talk the process, method, focus, KPIs, whatever, but we've got a couple of things we're focusing on and it's standing the team in really good stead under pressure."

At the Gabba:

Brisbane  6.2   9.5   17.8   25.13.163
Carlton   2.4   4.6    6.7    6.10.46

Carlton really are rubbish, they were an absolute disgrace in this game and it led to Denis Pagan’s immediate demise. Pagan was sacked Monday afternoon in the aftermath of this pathetic effort from his Bluesers. Not before time, really. Many people thought the Blues would improve this year but they appear to have gone backwards, with relatively few injury problems despite Pagan’s pointing up of Nick Stevens’s absence. Pagan was a bit smug when he joined the Bluies at the end of 2002, suggesting he’d out-grown the financially battling Kangaroos and deserved a crack at coaching a “big Melbourne club”. He got a nasty surprise when it was discovered John Elliott had left the Blooze broke and facing a series of punitive draft sanctions for breaking the salary cap. Nobbled before he’d started, but too much is made of that perhaps. The Bluies already required serious rebuilding before all that stuff came out. As a club the Bluies have been rubbish all over, Pagan served under four different presidents, with the previous one (Graeme Smorgon) making a botched attempt to sack Pagan last year. Pagan was gracious. "It's been my privilege to coach the Carlton Football Club, one of the great sporting clubs of the country. I gave it my best shot and tried as hard as I possibly could. We confronted a lot of issues and unfortunately it hasn't worked out the way you would have liked it to work out. We're in the winning and losing business and even though there have been plenty of mini-achievements, we haven't been able to achieve the things that are the most important - winning on a regular basis." Assistant coach and recently retired Blue champion Brett Ratten will take over temporarily. Before Pagan was knifed, I was going to say folks are recognizing the Bluesers’ status under the new ‘fairer’ draft rules. If the Blues don’t win another game, they’ll end up with draft picks 1, 4, 20 and 21. Win another and it’ll be picks 3 and 19. But now the well-known ‘sacked coach effect’ should bring about that pesky fifth win, eh? With a draw under their belt, the percentage was meaningless for the Lyin’s but the points and confidence boost came in handy. Facing the Pies at the MCG next Saturday will be a much stiffer test than this training run. Big Lyin’ forward Jonathan Brown booted a (Brisbane) club record 10 goals, good luck to him. The Brians made one change to their side here, Scott Harding replacing injured Simon Black (hyper-extended knee). The Bluies recalled Jordan Russell, Luke Blackwell and Cain Ackland to replace Adam Hartlett (hamstring) and the axed Eddie Betts and Ross Young.

Pagan’s lad Brendan Fevola booted the opening goal, juggling a two-grabber and popping it through. Brisbane rammed through the next four goals, the last of the sequence seeing Scott Harding stroll away from a centre-bounce and spear it through. The Blues had Setanta O’hAilpin on Lyin’ Jonathan Brown, but no double-teaming despite Matty Lappin and tired-looking Anthony Koutoufides jogging about back there. Fevola kicked another to reduce the deficit to 10 points, but a Lyin’ brace had ‘em 22 points ahead at the first break. The second term was played at a slow pace as Brisbun fiddled about with the ball, after three quick goals. Robert Copeland led for a good mark and major and a bit later Copeland set one up for Brown. The Blues gave signs of life late in the quarter, Brown’s ambitious handpass was pinched by Andrew Carrazzo and he lobbed a pass for Kade Simpson to mark and convert. Lyin’ Harding missed, twice, with two weak kicks and Simpson postered before good work from big Josh Kennedy and Brad Fisher set up a goal-square grab for Fevola. Fev’s major made it 29 points the difference at half-time.

Commentators had described the game as ‘strange’. They were watching a Brisbane training-run. As with many struggling teams, the Blue players were quite happy to run hard and make an effort if it meant getting a kick, i.e. for individual gain. Running to man-up or tackle an opponent, team-oriented things, didn’t happen. Brown dribbly-snapped a poster to start the third term but a minute later Brown seized a pack-mark and played-on quickly to thump a long goal. Jed Adcock booted a long major on a defensive rebound and Brisbun led by 42 points. Commentator David Parkin’s Blue blood was simmering, he paid out on the poor delivery of Andrew Walker. Adcock booted another long sausage and Rhan Hooper bagged an opportunistic goal, after Luke Power had spilled the ball when tackled. All that happened in about 5 minutes, the Lyin’s leading by 54 points. Carlton stemmed the bleeding for a bit before the Brians surged again, Jared Brennan roved a pack and chipped a pass for Hooper to mark and convert, then Brown bagged another after accepting Nigel Lappin’s pass. The Blues had played extra men in defence but now switched to man-on-man, allegedly. They scored a couple of goals, a lucky bounce allowed Fisher to collect the ball and pass to Marc Murphy, he scored full points. We were reminded Murphy knocked back a father-son contract from Brisbun. Bloo Adam Bentick cleared the restart and Ryan Houlihan held a good grab, he majored and the gap was down to 55 points. The Lyin’s answered, Hooper sped after a loose ball, paddled until it sat up and snapped it home. Lyin’ Tim Notting won the ball at the restart and kicked long to Brown’s lead, his major made it a 66-point lead and 67 at the final change. Jarrad Waite replaced O’hAilpin as Brown’s man, mostly to involve Waite and rest the Irishman. Two quick Brisbane goals opened the final term, didn’t see the first but Copeland’s smart tap-on allowed Hooper to bag the next. Fevola missed with a free-kick from right in front, then a weak throw-in dropped into the arms of surprised Bloo rover Blackwell. He was tackled immediately and penalized very harshly under strict application of the rule, Brennan free-kicked a goal. Parkin exploded in rage again. Commentators are often criticized but Parkin, ‘Dwaynepipe’ Russell and retired Lyin’ Alastair Lynch earned their money here. Brown’s pursuit of the club goal-kicking record gave ‘em something to get excited about, Brown bagged another now after grabbing Will Hamill’s low, hooked snap. Young Bloo Bryce Gibbs postered after marking Fevola’s pass. Lyin’ Josh Drummond hammered the kick-in to Notting in the centre, he passed to leading Brown, goal. Brown soon kicked another, his ninth making the Lyin’ lead 104 points. Nigel Lappin ventured forward and looked for Brown, but instead sent the ball wide for Hamill to snap his career-first goal. With 30 seconds remaining Brown booted his tenth, a lead, mark and thumping kick from 45m.

Jonathan Brown’s stats were 14 marks, 20 disposals and 10.1, eclipsing the 9 goals kicked by both Daniel Bradshaw and Brad Hardie. Jed Adcock (23 disposals, 3 goals) was very good, a bit of a Hardie himself, and the restoration of Nigel Lappin (31 disposals) has boosted the Lyin’s enormously. Rhan Hooper (14 touches, 4 goals) capitalized on the chances and ruckman Jamie Charman (22 hit-outs, 13 disposals, a goal) was very good. Wingman Tim Notting (25 touches, 10 marks) is having a good season and reborn forward Robert Copeland (11 possies, 4 marks, 2 goals) was good early, Jason Roe (19 disposals) played well down back. For the Blues, Andrew Carrazzo (24 disposals) won a bit of the ball again and Adam Bentick (25 touches) gave some cheek on-the-ball, Josh Kennedy (15 touches, 7 marks) showed a bit of form as a ruckman. Brendan Fevola (8 marks, 15 disposals, 3.4) wasn’t bad but now has a ‘thigh strain’ which’ll keep him out for 3 weeks, they reckon. The subtleties of tanking. Parko’s mate Andrew Walker (23 disposals) got a bit of it as did Luke Blackwell (23 touches). Pagan’s standard post-game blather showed why he had to go. "The guys have been to hell and back. You're in a situation where (the opposition) get a couple of goals, what's the first thing going through your mind? They're just saying, 'Here it comes again'. We've got so many young blokes and haven't got perhaps that leadership or strength in direction that the opposition have. We need to get some players, that's obvious." And a new coach. Leigh Matthews pondered finals. "Our destiny is in our hands - if we win every game, we’ll make (the finals). That’s mathematical fact, but it doesn’t help to worry now about what’s going to happen in Round 22. We had games earlier in the year where he (Brown) was getting his five shots and probably kicking 2.3. There is a morale boost, apart from the scoreboard boost, when your main target forward kicks accurately - it lifts everybody. On the other hand, when they kick inaccurately you get deflated - that happened a few times earlier in the season and we lost a few of those games."

At the MCG:

Richmond       7.4    7.7   10.9   15.10.100
Port Adelaide  9.3   13.6   19.9   24.11.155

Whither Terry Wallace, now the three teams sitting above the Tiges on the ladder have each dumped their coaches in the last few weeks? Plough is perceived to be fairly safe, but the Tiges facing away games to Siddey, Geelong, the Eagles and Collywood, the potential is there. Especially if the Tiges keep producing woeful, error-plagued displays like this. The very good Powder belted ‘em. Not a good way for the Toigs to honour Matthew Richardson, who played his 250th game for the club. Good ol’ Richo, poor b*stard. The Tiges also played Port in Richo’s 200th, two years ago and they belted the Power then. Ah well. The win lifted Port into the top four and they’re a good chance to stay there. In selection the Tiges axed the heavily-criticised Richard Tambling along with Brent Hartigan, replacing them with Jack Riewoldt and Luke McGuane. Port recalled Robert Gray and defender Troy Chaplin, at the expense of Greg Bentley and Adam Thomson. Dropped after a 91-point win, you’ve gotta be stiff.

Saw the first term, a ridiculous sixteen goal affair. A centre-break or a clean rebound meant a goal. Port’s Brett Ebert booted the first, a great kick from the boundary-line. Warren Tredrea hacked the ball forward from the restart, it bounced off Tiger Luke McGuane’s back I think and Port’s Daniel Motlop pounced to slot a major. Tige captain Kane Johnson won the following centre-clearance, both Richardson and Jay Schulz led to his kick. The Tiger forwards did that a lot. Neither marked but Schulz got a handball away for Shane Edwards to snap a Tigger goal. Motlop free-kicked another, held by Andrew Raines as the ball came in. Chad Cornes had a free at the restart and a 50m penalty as the ball wasn’t returned correctly or some rubbish, Cornes majored and Port led by 16 points. Joel Bowden was following Chad about. The Tiges hit back, Schulz and Edwards doing well to set up a goal for Kayne Pettifer. A minute later Nathan Brown’s skilful long pass was marked by Pettifer, he thumped it home from 50m and the Port lead was down to 4 points. Schulz and Richo spoiled each other again before Ebert free-kicked a goal, also against Raines who’d been moved away from Motlop already. Tige McGuane threw the ball while tackled and former Tige David Rodan free-kicked a goal for Port. Motlop then produced a stupendous goal, he marked just inside the boundary fully 60m out, turned about and thumped it through off two steps. Amazing. Port led by 22 points now but the Toigers fought back, Chris Newman’s pass found Brown on-the-lead and he converted with a good kick. Motlop’s unselfishness wasted a chance before Tige Adam Pattison drove a low kick towards leading Richardson, but Jack Riewoldt nipped in front of him to mark and kick a career-first major. Who’s the forwards coach at Punt Road? Good work from Daniel Jackson set up a left-foot snap for Shane Tuck, it sailed through and the Tiges were 5 points down. Shaun Burgoyne punted long towards the Port goal-square, Motlop maneuvered to mark easily and pop it through, Chris Hyde countered for the Tiges with a long shot which bounced home. Port cleared the restart, Nathan Lonie ran wide on the flank and his long kick just cleared the goal-square pack for the sixteenth goal of the stanza. Sheesh. Port led by 11 points.

The Port midfield tightened up after that, forcing the Tiges into a series of awful clangers. Kane Johnson and Hyde had long pot-shots which missed and later Schulz postered from close range. The Power had the Burgoyne brothers go well, Peter picked up a heap of touches off half-back where he plays now and Shaun booted a couple of goals in the second quarter. Toby Thurstans, whom Port are trying to convert into a full-back, ventured forward early and passed for leading Ebert to mark and boot another. Dom Cassisi set up Shaun Burgoyne for his second of the quarter late-on and Port led by 35 points at half-time, the Tiggers goal-less for the term. The Flowers stretched the margin into the third term, early on Ebert intercepted a Tige kick-in and slotted his fifth and Shaun Burgoyne bagged another one, sending Port 48 points ahead. Richardson had barely touched the ball in the first half but now he bagged a major after collecting the loose pill. Edwards kicked another and Richo converted following  a juggling goal-square mark as the Tiges clung on, but Port responded again with Motlop and Shaun Burgoyne once more kicking goals as the Pooer went to a 54-point lead at the final change. Peter Burgoyne and Chad Cornes had 15 touches each for the quarter, Chad now playing across half-back. Both sides booted 5 goals in the final stanza, Richo got a couple more for the Tiges and Riewoldt added a second, Tredrea, Motlop and Kane Cornes kicked very good majors for Port. In the end some 15 of Port’s 24 goals came directly from Richmun errors. Jeez.

Chad Cornes (35 disposals, 8 marks, a goal) is now also talked about as a Brownlow contender, he and Peter Burgoyne (31 touches) countered many a wayward Tigger thrust. Shaun Burgoyne’s (23 disposals, 4 goals) running power and penetrating kicking was damaging and the Tiges had no answer to the skilful small forwards Brett Ebert (9 marks, 14 kicks, 6 goals) and Daniel Motlop (4 marks, 12 kicks, 5 goals). Ruck-rover Kane Cornes (36 handlings, 10 marks, a goal) won a heap of touches and Warren Tredrea (11 marks, 18 possies, 3 goals) showed he’s improving again. In defence Toby Thurstans (18 handlings) and Troy Chaplin were pretty good. For the Tiges, rover Nathan Foley (31 disposals) did very well again and Kayne Pettifer (21 touches, 7 marks, 2 goals) was busy across half-forward, defender Luke McGuane (4 marks, 11 disposals) played well on big Westhoff. There were good games from juniors Shane Edwards (20 disposals, 2 goals) and Jack Riewoldt (4 marks, 5 kicks, 3 goals). Graham Polak (15 disposals, 7 marks) did alright in defence and Andrew Raines (19 possies) must’ve improved a lot after quarter-time to get mentioned here, he was terrible in the first quarter. Matty Richardson finished up with a decent 4 goals from 7 marks and 10 kicks. “I didn’t think the effort to win [the ball] was that bad, but certainly the ability to hang onto it from that stage was the thing that we saw as the clear difference between the two sides,” Wallace said. “The skill level of the opposition was far too great, whether it was their goal-kicking - I think they ended up with 15.1 from set shots - or our turnover rate. They actually got 15 goals directly from our turnovers and that hurts you in any game of footy. From an effort point of view I didn’t think that there was anything wrong with it. I think [our players] showed in the first quarter when Port Adelaide jumped out and kicked the first three or four goals that they were really determined to step back. The other clear difference between the two sides was their very, very best players played terrific and we didn’t get the same result out of our best players.” As with a few coaches, Port’s Williams looked ahead. “To come to the MCG three times in a year and to win three times is fantastic for our players. I think we had four players that had never played at the MCG before, so it was great. And even thought we were playing the bottom side, there’s a lot of anxiety when you’re playing against a side that’s playing a milestone game, so to get away with a ten goal win is brilliant for us and it keeps our ambitions of making the finals alive.”

At Docklands:

North Melbourne  4.2   9.3   14.9   19.12.126
Melbourne        2.3   4.5    7.6     9.8.62

Completing a dog of a day for the bottom three, the Demons were thumped by the Kangers at a sparsely-populated Docklands. North ascended to second spot and like Rodney Dangerfield, they can’t get no respect. Second but you can still get $21 for them to win the flag. It’s still difficult to believe the same team which limped to fourteenth last year can now be a contender; a weaker team even, with no Nathan Thompson. The press rumbled on, linking un-contracted Dean Laidley with now-vacant coaching jobs but Laidley drew a cheer when he said “I’m not letting the media set the agenda for discussions on my future.” Hear, hear. In selection the Ruse replaced injured Daniel Wells (knee) and the dropped Lindsay Thomas with Ed Sansbury and debutant Djaran Whyman. A rover or small forward, Whyman’s 23 and had spent time on Hawthorn’s rookie list, then several years in the VFL before the Ruse drafted him from North Ballarat last year. A great story. The Dees also had a good story as their Russell Robertson played his 200th game for the club, a terrific achievement for the spring-heeled forward. Pity a few more Dee supporters didn’t turn out to congratulate him. The Dees had Brad Green and skipper David Neitz back from injury, also Brent Moloney who’s been battling osteitis pubis. They replaced suspended Aaron Davey and dropped Colin Garland and Lynden Dunn.

Norf dominated early. First goal came as Kasey Green roved a pack and handballed for goal machine Drew Petrie to snap it through. Tough for a few minutes but the Dees did all the defending. Then big David Hale executed a slick pick-up and pass for Corey Jones to mark and convert, from the restart Jesse Smith kicked long, over the pack but Petrie doubled back and soccered a major. Ed Sansbury delivered a good pass for leading Jones to mark and boot another and the Ruse led by 24 points. The Dee forward-line had very few opportunities, they appeared to have wasted one as Norf cleared but Roo Shannon Watt’s lazy handpass was intercepted by Brent Moloney, Moloney’s long shot bounced through for a Deemon goal. Soon they had another, Nathan Jones bustled through a couple of tackles to kick forward and Michael Newton won a free-kick for being clouted in the head by Archer. Newton goaled and Arch was not happy. The Ruse led by 11 points at the first break. The Kangas scored the first goal of the second quarter but the game’s chief highlight came shortly afterwards. Newton rode on ol’ David Neitz’s back and head for a superbly high, hovering mark, an absolute screamer. Reminiscent of Shaun Smith at his best, it was an instant classic and a leading candidate for mark of the year. Commentator ‘Gerhard’ Healy made some joke about Newton and law of gravity, and was so pleased with himself he referred to Newton as ‘Isaac’ thereafter.  Fittingly, Newton went back and kicked a goal and reduced the Roo lead back to 11 points. But normal service resumed and Hale and Jones bagged goals for the Ruse to send them to a 23-point lead. The Dees pulled one back but the term ended with Sansbury jabbing a pass for Scott McMahon to mark and boot a goal, although Roo Dan Harris clearly threw the ball in the build-up. Norf by 22 points at the long break.

The margin stretched inexorably in the third stanza. Early in the term McMahon dived after the ball and was hit head-on by Simon Godfrey’s hip, a nasty clash although partly accidental and Godfrey was immediately apologetic. Won’t stop him being suspended though. After lying still for a bit, McMahon got up and free-kicked a good goal. The big Roo forwards were troubling the Dees’ undermanned backline and Norf now sent Leigh Brown forward. Petrie and Brown kicked points, Brown’s miss was awful, and Dee man Russ Robertson kicked a point after marking 40m out. He wasn’t having a good evening. Leigh Brown redeemed himself a bit later, converting following a strong mark on-the-lead. The Kangers peppered the sticks, Hale, Whyman and Sinclair each kicked behinds, Sinclair failing to reward his own terrific running effort. Then a ball-up in the Ruse goal-square was snapped through by Shannon Grant. A minute later Leigh Brown charged out of the goal-square, half-controlled the ball and tapped it down to Djaran Whyman, who snapped his career-first sausage roll. The Ruse led by 56 points. The Dees’ Moloney won the ball at the restart and hooked a kick forward, Robertson roved his own contest and bounced a snap through for a goal. Good for him. It sparked a mini-revival for the Dees, Rue Andrew Swallow took a dive at a throw-in (see what I did there?) and was penalised for ‘bawl’, Brock McLean free-kicked a major. A bit later young Dee Simon Buckley roved a ball-up and snapped a very good left-footed sausage, three in-a-row for the Demuns and they were ‘only’ 39 points down. But just before the final break Whyman won the ball and found Swallow, he kicked smartly for Brent Harvey to hold a with-the-flight mark. Harvey goaled after the siren and the Kangers led by 45 points. Into the last and, er, someone bagged an early major for Melbun, Harvey replied for the Ruse after Dee Clint Bizzell was caught throwing the ball. Robertson tumbled dramatically as he led into the pocket was awarded a free-kick for in-the-back, Robbo threaded it through. The North lead was 40 points but they accelerated to the finish. Harvey soccered a freakish goal from close range and there was another for the Kangers after that. Adam Simpson sold a couple of dummies and stabbed a pass for Petrie to mark and convert, final goal was kicked by Whyman after he marked Hamish McIntosh’s centering kick.

A very even effort from the Kangers although Brent Harvey (28 touches, 3 goals) was again the standout, shaking off the determined Godfrey. Half-forward Corey Jones (18 disposals, 10 marks, 4 goals) was pretty good, with midfielders Jess Sinclair (28 possessions, 12 marks) and Adam Simpson (23 handlings, 7 marks) busy. Brady Rawlings put McLean out of it and Michael Firrito (15 disposals) was effective again at full-back, out-pointing a sluggish Neitz. A multi-pronged attack worked well again with big men David Hale (3 marks, 11 possies, 2 goals) and Drew Petrie (9 marks, 16 kicks, 3 goals) complemented by the smaller Scott McMahon (8 touches, 4 marks, 3 goals), Djaran Whyman (9 disposals, 2 goals) and the aforementioned Jones. Jesse Smith (12 touches) was given more time on the ball and is improving steadily. The Dees had decent efforts from James ‘Junior’ McDonald (21 disposals) and Nathan Jones (17 touches, 11 tackles) on-the-ball, Jeff White (18 handlings, 7 marks, 23 hit-outs) plugged away in the ruck. Michael Newton’s (6 marks, 10 kicks, 2 goals) big grab was a highlight and Simon Buckley (15 disposals) showed some ability, Brad Green (21 possessions) was almost invisible but seems to have managed a few kicks. Russ Robertson bagged 2 goals from 5 marks and 12 kicks. Brief comments from Mark Riley. "We just had a dirty night . . . I thought initially I was glad I came to the footy when that (Newton’s mark) happened. But I wasn't feeling the same way 90 minutes later." Laidley instructed his lads to lap it up. "I spoke to the players after the game and told them they had to enjoy the moment because they have worked pretty hard. They'll do that, but then we have to make sure we switch our minds back to preparing well probably from tomorrow afternoon. They deserve a little bit of down time and I want them to think tonight that they have worked hard because they are in second spot. But that doesn't mean much as of tomorrow afternoon about 2pm when they switch their attention to further down the track. Our next month (Hawks in Launceston, Lyin’s away, Eagles and Cats at Docklands) will really tell us where we are at. It's going to give us a good sight."

Ladder after Round Sixteen

                Pts.    %       Next Week

Geelong          52    155.8    Fremantle (Subiaco, Saturday)
North Melbourne  44    105.8    Hawthorn (York Park, Sunday)
Hawthorn         40    114.2    North Melbourne (York Park, Sunday)
Port Adelaide    40    108.5    Melbourne (Football Park, Sunday)
West Coast       40    107.7    Footscray (Docklands, Fri. night)
Collingwood      40    106.5    Brisbane (MCG, Sat. night)
Footscray        36     97.2    West Coast (Docklands, Fri. night)
Sydney           32    112.3    Richmond (SCG, Sat. night)

---------------------------

Adelaide         32    110.4    Essendon (Docklands, Sunday)
Essendon         32     95.8    Adelaide (Docklands, Sunday)
St. Kilda        32     93.3    Carlton (MCG, Saturday)
Brisbane         30    104.6    Collingwood (MCG, Sat. night)
Fremantle        28    102.4    Geelong (Subiaco, Saturday)
Carlton          16     73.7    St. Kilda (MCG, Saturday)
Melbourne        12     77.1    Port Adelaide (Football Park, Sunday)
Richmond          6     75.8    Sydney (SCG, Sat. night)

Cheers, Tim.