Rugby League World Cup 2008

Rugby League World Cup 2008
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Dear Footy Tipping List Subscriber,

We've sent you this email to let you know about the release of our Rugby League World Cup 2008 edition.

The 2008 Rugby League World Cup (which is being hosted in Australia) starts on 25th October ending with the Final on 22nd November.

Last played in 2000 Australia is expected to retain its title as World Champions playing against sides such as England, New Zealand, France and others.

We have released a special edition of Footy Tipping Software to celebrate the Rugby League World Cup. We have also decided to charge only half our normal price and to offer FREE web hosting of our Web Edition if you need!

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[AFL-Review] AFL Grand Final

AFL Grand Final

 

A truly modern flag, the Hawks the first team to 'bottom out', go through a full rebuild by exploiting the potential of the draft and trade systems and reach the pinnacle again. Also embracing trendy solutions, the Horks didn't just sell games interstate, like a few struggling clubs, they sold half the club to Tasmania. All in five years, which is pretty amazing and 'ahead of schedule' as a few of the Hawks themselves noted. Some credit must go to Ian Dicker, President Jeff's predecessor who rescued the club from financial ruin, and some to the maligned Peter Schwab for recruiting some of the key players. But the lion's share goes to Alastair Clarkson, a moderately skilled but tough and annoying little b@stard as a player who's turned into a tough, smart coach. And his team, of course. Jason Dunstall also drew some praise last week for his stint as interim CEO in 2004, 'Bunghole' was instrumental in hiring Clarkson and in trading Trent Croad to get the no.1 draft pick for Luke Hodge - I remember I was driving around listening to talk-back radio that evening and Hawk supporters flooded the airwaves to give Dunstall an absolute torrent of abuse over the deal. 'Bung' promised 'em all Hodge would be a champion. He wasn't wrong, and they got Croad back eventually too. The Cats, lost for a response when Plan A failed, were much-compared with the Essadun teams of 1999-2001 who won every week but blew two of the three GFs in that period. Time'll tell.  

 

Bulldog Adam Cooney was the winner of a surprising Brownlow Medal count, by one vote from Brisbun's umpires' favourite Simon Black, with pre-count bookies' fave Gary Ablett and ol' Tige Matty Richardson, a sentimental choice, tying for third another vote back. Cooney was great early in the season, his form tailed away later in the year due to a hairline fracture in his kneecap, we've since discovered. But 'Coons' managed to pick up a BOG in round 21 to overhaul Black and get to the line. In retrospect, Ablett's ankle injury against the Dockers which cost him (effectively) four games also cost him the gong. Disappointing night for Kanga Brent 'Boomer' Harvey, who finished well back after failing to poll early votes, including a Norf win over Collywood where he had 34 disposals. Must've upset the officials somehow. Bittersweet days for the Dogs as coach 'Rocket' Eade made the tough decision to end Scott West's career, the champion rover had two second-places and one third in the Brownlow and won the Bullies' B&F a record seven times. He's a remarkable leather-gathering machine, but aged 33 and with a seemingly chronic knee problem which restricted him to 2 games this season (the first two), the Pups made the very tough but necessary call. West was understandably upset and wants to play on, but you can't see it happening. Oh, mistake in the AA side last week, I had Pavlich on a forward-flank, he was actually on the bench and Brent Harvey was in the position, apologies.  

 

At the MCG:

Geelong   5.3   6.12   9.18   11.23.89

Hawthorn  5.2   8.3   14.5     18.7.115

 

In the build-up the 1989 Grand Final was recalled several thousand times, but this game more closely resembled the 1998 GF, with Geelong in the North Melbourne role. The Cats' kicking for goal was appalling in the second quarter, wasting a spell of midfield control and the Hawks took charge after half-time. In sharp contrast the Hawks were extremely efficient going forward, extracting goals from most thrusts and from a variety of players - credit to Clarkson and his players for re-organising their attacking strategy in the wake of their last defeat against Richmond (I had to get that in) where they were criticized for being too Buddy-centric. Franklin wasn't a major factor here, but he did kick some handy goals as the Hawks drew away in the third quarter. The Cats were called 'selfish' by their coach Bomber Thompson afterwards, while a few other Cat supporters reckon they choked. The classic case of a side having no 'Plan B', understandably as Plan A works 99% of the time. But the warning signs were there last week as the Cats' forward-line barely functioned against the Bulldogs. In team selection Bomber Thompson was true to his word and found room to recall Paul Chapman, dropping the 'last in' David Wojcinski whose prelim final was his first game since round 12. No change for the Hawks, meaning ruckman Simon Taylor, who played 18 games this year, missed out in favour of the more aggressive Brent Renouf.

 

On a very warm day - the warmest GF day for 20 years, they reckoned - the first quarter was terrific and stood comparison with the sainted 1989. After some tough exchanges Cat Joel Corey set up the opening goal, winning the ball on the wing and sending it inboard, Jimmy Bartel kicked for leading Tom Lonergan to take a lunging chest-mark and punt truly from 40m. Pretty rugged for the next few minutes, the highlight being Cat Matty Scarlett flattening opponent Lance 'Buddy' Franklin as both attacked the ball head-on. Terrific hard-but-fair bump, Franklin was okay. About six minutes in the Horks opened their account, Chance Bateman drove a centering kick which Campbell Brown marked low-down, a handball to Michael Osborne and his back to on-running Bateman saw the hairy Hawk run inside 50 and drill a low sausage to level the scores. Bateman was tagging Ablett, not very well as it turned out but Bateman won some crucial touches himself, like that one. The Hawks enjoyed a good spell with some rapid rebound footy, initiated by half-back Luke Hodge who gave Mathew Stokes an early, thorough hiding. Cyril Rioli raced clear of defence with a long, three-bounce run 'round the Members' wing and handballed to Brown on 50m, Brown's sliced miskick dropped perfectly for Xavier Ellis to mark 45m out and curl through for a major. Grant Birchall embarked on another long run from the back and set up Franklin for a shot, but Buddy missed. A minute later great skill from Jordan Lewis and Stuart Dew sent the ball forward, roving Rioli finessed to send the ball to the goal-square where Mark Williams gathered pack-spillage and handballed for Jarryd Roughead to poke it through from point-blank. The Horks led by 13 points. Jahlong replied with the ump's pleasure, Ablett led up to mark in the centre and was dragged down afterwards by Bateman, a 50m penalty plus another as Brent Guerra placed Steve Johnson in a head-lock off-the-ball. Easy slot for Ablett. Ablett also won the following centre-clearance but Travis Varcoe's kick-under-pressure was picked off by Dew, the Orcs rebounded again and Osborne's long punt was well-marked by a back-pedalling Brown. Adrenaline pumping, Brown leaped up and thumped it home from 50m. The Hoks led by 13 points again but the Catters responded, the move of hard-man Max Rooke onto Hodge playing dividend. On the Katz next attack Rooke wrapped up Hodge in a great tackle, 'bawl' clearly and Rooke free-kicked a goal. Varcoe ran forward and passed towards leading Cameron Mooney, his man Stephen Gilham got a spoil in but Rooke crashed in solidly to win the ball and handpass back to Mooney, who snapped a good goal. The Awks led by a point. Brown took a with-the-flight mark on the point-line, from another swift Hawk rebound, but he postered after the ump spent an age setting the (very tight) angle. Dew and Guerra rushed points for the Cats, their first behinds of many. Guerra's kick-in of the latter point went straight to Darren Milburn, he chipped for Paul Chapman to mark 30m out and miss poorly - the third of etc. The Pu55ies drew ahead as Mooney gathered Chapman's smothered kick near the boundary and dithered a bit before drilling a low kick through for a superb goal, galling considering what Mooney'd miss later. Cats by 7 points but the Hawks scored the final goal of the term, Cat Lonergan's bad centering kick went straight to Hawk Ellis, he was knocked down after by Rooke and the resulting 50m penalty allowed Ellis to pass to leading Williams, who marked and converted. Catters by a point at the first break.

 

We settled down for a high-scoring classic but it didn't look like happening in the second stanza. The Cats cleared the opening bounce with a free-kick to Joel Selwood, he passed to leading Lonergan on 50m who in turn lobbed a kick for Mooney to mark in front of Gilham deep in the pocket. Mooney kicked to the top of the 'square where Chapman would've marked if not pulled down by Guerra, Chappy free-kicked a goal and the Cats led by 7 points. Williams missed for the Awks but Andrew Mackie's ordinary kick-in was marked by Williams, he chipped a short pass for Rioli to mark and punt a good goal from the flank. Scores level but it got very tight for a while now. Mackie and Chapman kicked points for the Cats, Mackie narrowly avoided Sam Mitchell's flying elbow before being knocked down by Bateman. Mitchell was being tagged right out of it by Cameron Ling, Lewis was very quiet too leaving Brad Sewell to carry the Hawk midfield. But he was being overwhelmed by Ablett, Selwood and Corey. About now the Hawks lost backman Trent Croad too, he'd come in with a fractured foot and broke the same bone, his day was over. But the Pu55ies' midfield and general dominance didn't translate into goals. Steve Johnson missed a shot he should've kicked, then came an incident oft-mentioned later as the Hawks turned-over on a rebound and Chapman soccered ahead for Brad Ottens to gather in an ocean of space, Ottens could've handballed over-the-top to Lonergan alone in the goal-square but Ottens had a crack himself and missed, woefully. The Hawk defenders were keen to rush behinds under any hint of pressure and a coupla those made it six straight one-pointers for the Cats, by which they led. Duly the Hawks scored a goal with their first inside-50 in many minutes, Franklin gathered Dew's wobbly kick on-the-bounce and had a left-foot snap which dropped short but Williams arrived to mark 1m out and pop it through, scores level. At the following centre-bounce Ablett was all set to gather the pill but Mitchell ran through and creamed the bald Catter with a hip to the head, for which the Hawk captain was reported. He was a real head-hunter on the day. The Cats had a chance from the resulting free but Varcoe booted another behind. The Awks scored a goal without going inside 50, Clint Young thundering a running kick home from within the centre-square. He was good. Stokes missed a set-shot for Geelong and Catter hearts sank perhaps fatally late in the term, Mooney marked on the point of the goal-square but managed to shank it horribly wide. And to make it worse the Cats lost their captain, Tom Harley concussed in a nasty clash-of-heads with Williams. Horforn led by 3 points at the long break with the Cats having scored 1.9 for the term. Richmun's Matt White won the Grand Final Sprint, making the third straight year a Tiger's won the event.  

 

Mooney developed his horror day by missing the first shot of the third Mario. Young hurt his ankle in a slinging tackle from Corey, a few minutes and a Lonergan miss elapsed before Ablett broke the Cats' lengthy goal-drought. Corey lobbed a handball and Ablett ran inside 50 to drill it through, just missing the right-hand post. Cats by 4 points but the Hawks pressed on, Sewell won the ball in the centre and Bateman kicked for Franklin to mark on-the-lead ahead of Scarlett for the first time, Buddy punted truly and the Hawks led. Mooney kicked another point to level the scores, then Sewell was involved a couple of times in getting the agget to Osborne 40m out, he was grabbed 'round the head by Mackie and awarded a free which he dished off to Hodge, who speared it through from 50m. A bit later terrific second and third efforts from Rioli to win the ball against Milburn and Rooke on the wing drew much praise from his coach and soon Rioli was rewarded, as he roved Franklin and Scarlett's contest and raced into an open goal to slam it into the stands. Orcs by 11 points as the floodgates buckled, just like Stuey Dew's waistband. Junior Cat defender Harry Taylor had a 'Rhyce Shaw' GF moment as he fumbled the ball under no pressure while running it out, Osborne gathered and handballed to Dew who walloped it home off one step. A minute later Franklin and Roughead did some clearance work down back, Williams gathered Roughead's long kick and appeared to be tripped, play-on and Dew gathered and handballed back to Williams, who had space to run in and jab it through. Tubby Dew was enjoying a purple patch, Franklin slung Scarlett aside to gather the ball and handpass to Dew. "He can kick this", intoned McAvaney who watched as Dew dew-ly curled a great snap for a sausage. The Orcs had skipped to a 30-point lead. To give the Pu55ies some credit they rallied late, Gilham hacked the ball clear of defence and Johnson would've marked if not shoved in the back by Hodge, Johnson free-kicked quickly and Milburn marked in the goal-mouth to punt a major. A minute later great play from Ablett, who was clothes-lined again by Mitchell, got the ball to Ling and advantage was allowed for Ling to find Johnson alone 30m out, Johnson goaled and the Cats trailed by 17 points at the final change. But they made no inroads in the early final quarter as the Hawk defenders assiduously rushed behinds - 11 of the Cats' 23 were rushed. Harley had returned somewhat unsteadily, probably unwisely for Geelong as he made little impact. Half the term had expired before Bateman's long kick found Franklin marking well ahead of Scarlett, Buddy wheeled around onto his left and thumped it through for a six-pointer. Soon Cat Jimmy Bartel's hurried kick from a defensive ball-up went straight to Mitchell on the 50m line, Mitchell played-on and booted a left-foot goal. The Cats cleared the restart but Brown held a gutsy grab as Lonergan arrived at full-tilt. Lonergan should've put him down. Rick Ladson led up to the wing to take a mark and was given a shove in the back by non-compis Harley, a 50m penalty as Ladson gestured to Harley and Ladson duly booted a goal. Hawks by 33 points and it was over. Rooke goaled with a free-kick for the Cats, some tough work from Osborne led to a goal for Roughead and Lonergan managed to kick the game's first and last goals.

 

Horforn 'quarterback' Luke Hodge (26 disposals, 9 marks, a goal) won the Norm Smith Medal for best afield, although disgruntled Catter fans reckoned Ablett should've won it. But Hodge was a decent choice as winner, he, Brad Sewell (27 touches, 7 marks) and Clint Young (19 possies, 8 marks, a goal) held the Hawks together early. Xavier Ellis (28 handlings, 14 marks, a goal) was also a handy midfielder while Stuart Dew (19 disposals, 2 goals) and Cyril Rioli (10 possessions, 2 goals) made vital contributions. Michael Osborne (26 handlings, 8 marks) was a tough performer from half-forward and veteran Shane Crawford (25 handlings) worked hard all day. Stephen Gilham did admirably on Mooney. Mark Williams booted 3 goals, Lance Franklin and Jarryd Roughead kicked 2 goals each. The Cats' best was Gary Ablett (34 disposals, 2 goals) and he would've been a worthy Norm Smith. Joel Selwood (29 possies, 6 marks) was excellent early, faded a little, while the Pu55ies had great defensive efforts from Cameron Ling (20 touches) on Mitchell and Matthew Scarlett on Franklin, Joel Corey (30 possies) gave Lewis a hiding too (I think that was the match-up). But the Cats' forward-line didn't function, only Steve Johnson (34 disposals, 6 marks) managed to find the ball much but too far upfield, he scored just the one goal. Cameron Mooney kicked 2.3 ("I'm ashamed," he said), Max Rooke and Tom Lonergan kicked 2 goals each as well. Mathew Stokes copped a bake from Thompson at quarter-time, but it had little effect, he was invisible. Thompson said "I just didn't think the forward line functioned that well together today. I thought our defenders were fantastic, our midfielders were reasonable, but our forwards – to have 62 (inside 50s) and score 10 or 11 goals . . . it's not enough. [Ablett] couldn't have done any more, he was fantastic. Scarlett was fantastic, Lingy was great on Mitchell, Mackie gave us plenty of drive, the old boy Dasher (Milburn) was great, Enright's rebounds - there were a lot of positives, but in the end there weren't enough to help us get over the line and win the game. But Gary Ablett's performance was sensational. He looked like he just wanted to win so much. I wish he had a few friends in that same frame of mind . . . I just told the players 'don't give up on the gameplan, because it's won 42 out of 44 games or whatever it is. If we had our day again today we'd probably plan the same way, we'd just hope to implement it better. The game plan's held up, we've won a lot of games over a couple of years, and we were red-hot favourites to win. Maybe if the game was played next week, we'd probably do it better and beat the Hawks, but on this day, they've got the points and the premiership, and they thoroughly deserve it. But that doesn't mean that we're going to panic and be ruthless and sack people and just forget about what we've done. We're still a very very good club." Indeed.

 

Alastair Clarkson said "It was similar to the grand final that North Melbourne and Adelaide contested in the late '90s when the Kangas couldn't put the score on the board and split the game open. We were really fortunate to hang in there. We were really lucky to still be in the game at half-time to be truthful. Geelong dominated the second quarter . . . There is so much hard work that goes into winning a premiership. I know that the 22 players and a coach probably draw a lot of accolades, but there is just so much work into getting yourself into a position to even contest in a grand final. I suppose it'll sink in over the next couple of weeks that we've actually won one, but it's a little bit surreal at the minute . . . What we had done is studied models of teams that have developed a premiership group over time. It was quite common that to be in a group together that it usually took five, six, seven or eight years," Clarkson said referring to Geelong, Port Adelaide and St Kilda. "So many sides have jumped up to play in the finals series and then fallen away the following year and that could quite possibly have been the case with a young group. But such was the resolve of this particular group, their fanaticism to improve as people and players drove the whole group forward again this year. We got ourselves into a position where we won the first nine games of the season and that was the real realisation that we could finish top four and give it a real nudge, if we got some momentum going in September." And they did. You get the feeling these two could contest a few GFs in coming years.  

 

So that's it for another year, thanks once again to David Layton and the folks at Footy Tipping Software, all the people who've e-mailed during the year and all the readers in general. Next year's up in the air as I look like being away for a bit of it, and time is an issue. But we'll see. Cheers and thanks once again,

Tim.  

 

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[AFL-Review] AFL Preliminary Finals

AFL Preliminary Finals

 

Good results 'cause we've got the best two sides in the big one, unlike last year when the planets aligned to let a mediocre Port side into the GF. Should be great. It was a week ago but it's tradition, so here's the All-Australian side:

B: Dale Morris (Foot) Matthew Scarlett (Geel) Tom Harley (Geel)

HB: Luke Hodge (Haw) Nathan Bock (Adel) Sam Fisher (StK)

C: Adam Cooney (Foot) Jimmy Bartel (Geel) Joel Corey (Geel)

HF: Matthew Pavlich (Frem) Nick Riewoldt (StK) Steve Johnson (Geel)

F: Brendan Fevola (Carl) Lance Franklin (Haw) Paul Medhurst (Coll)

Foll: Dean Cox (WC) Chris Judd (Carl, capt.) Gary Ablett (Geel)

Inter: Matthew Richardson (Rich) Aaron Sandilands (Frem) Corey Enright (Geel)

 

Most unlucky to miss was Hawk Sam Mitchell, who led the leeg in clearances and had a terrific season. There were 'only' seven Geelong players, down from nine last year despite them losing one game all season, as opposed to four in 2007. Of those 'dropped', Matthew Egan didn't play at all in 2008 and Darren Milburn was a lucky pick last season, but folks wondered what Cameron Ling had done wrong. Sandilands appeared pretty lucky to be selected ahead of Bomma ruckman David Hille, while the choice of Judd as skipper ahead of his Geelong counterpart, Harley, was also a bit controversial. A few people reckon Pavlich has replaced Mark Ricciuto as the non-Victorian bloke who gets picked every year. It was pointed out Pav now has six AA guernseys to Jonathan Brown's one. 

 

A few more retirements since the season's end, Collywood skipper Scott Burns (264 games) has given it away, as have team-mates Shane Wakelin (252 games, quite a few for the Saints) and Ryan Lonie (knee problems, 123 games). Jess Sinclair (192 games, 50 for the Dockers) and Nathan Thompson (179 games, 119 for Horforn) are finished with the Ruse, Thompson was told he was a 'required player' before two very ordinary Kanger efforts in round 22 and the finals respectively prompted Norf into a re-think. Gary Ablett is $2.40 favourite for tonight's Brownlow Medal, ahead of team-mate Jimmy Bartel ($3.50) and North's Brent Harvey ($4.40). Others are double-figures, the bookies may have it right.  

 

At the MCG:

Geelong    5.3   8.8   10.9   12.11.83

Footscray  4.3   5.5    7.9    7.12.54

 

Ah, the Doggies had a red-hot go but simply could not crack the watertight Cat defence. Add in a few crucial misses, dubious umpiring and some slick Cat moves and the Pu55ies won easily enough in the end, but as the TV folk noted it 'felt' close most of the night. Geelong were unusually sluggish and subject to some tough tackling pressure from the Pups, but they also scraped through the prelim last year and still went on the smash the Powder in the big one. Disappointed the Bulldogs will be, but this has been a pretty good season for them. As Eade pointed out afterwards, thirteenth to third was the biggest ladder-jump in the AFL this season. A second consecutive late-season fade-out was a worry but didn't affect them in real terms, the abject effort in the final against Horforn was poor but they've played pretty well in the two games since. Taking marks up forward continues to be a problem, Scott Welsh was okay during the season but useless in the finals, Will Minson and Mitch Hahn have stood up at various times, but struggled here. But there's improvement in this Footscray side still. In pickin' the Cats replaced injured Brent Prismall (torn knee ligament) and Paul Chapman (tight hamstring) with James Kelly and David Wojcinski, both returning from injury. Hard luck for Prismall, who'd earned his spot. No change for the Bullies, Daniel 'Guido' Giansiracusa playing his 150^th game.

 

Tough all night with both defences going well, Brian Lake led the Bully backmen superbly while Tom Harley was great for the Catters. Jason Akermanis, who'd stirred the Cats during the week, labeling them arrogant, was slung to the ground in an early tackle which drew cheers from Pu55y supporters. Cameron Ling hacked a quick punt for a behind to open the scoring before Cameron Mooney led long to mark inside the centre-square, handballs to Ablett and then running Matthew Scarlett who sent the ball long and Mathew Stokes held a with-the-flight mark, he played-on and hooked it through. Typical Cats but the Doggies began to win the ball. Shaun Higgins gave Milburn some early run-around, unfortunately for the Dogs Higgins snapped a behind with his first chance and then missed a sitter from 30m, right in front. A minute later Ryan Griffen chipped a pass towards leading Brad Johnson, he went to ground but Higgins swept up the ball and bounced a very good left-foot snap for full points. The Dawgs led by a point. The Cats replied as Ablett was allowed to go 360 in a tackle and get a handball away to Kelly, who produced an excellent kick across the ground for Jimmy Bartel to mark with-the-flight and thump through from 50m. Cats by 5 points before the Doggies enjoyed a good spell, applying plenty of pressure. Cat Andrew Mackie was tackled strongly by Minson at a back-pocket throw-in, the ball spilled to Brad Johnson who poked it through from close range. A great move by the Doggies saw Josh Hill stab a low pass to Lindsay Gilbee, he in turn speared the ball onto the chest of Higgins who steered another goal from the pocket. That sort of passing was the way to beat a zone defence, Leigh Matthews pointed out. Tough for a bit, Bulldog Lake rushing a coupla behinds for the Cats 'Bowden-style'. After a while Matthew Boyd kicked towards leading Minson, who took his man Taylor under the ball but Akermanis raced onto it to gather and snap a superb left-foot sausage from a tight angle. The Dogs led by 11 points but lost Giansiracusa at this stage with a hyper-extended elbow, Guido returned later but clearly favoured his damaged arm. The Cats hit back late, a poor handball from Doggy Robert Murphy (terrible early) led to a turnover and Ablett kicked to Travis Varcoe forward of the centre, Varcoe handballed to running Wojcinski whose long punt bounced through for a major. A minute later Corey Enright snuffed out a Doggy attack with a gutsy mark running backwards into the pack, the ball went to Mark Blake whose lobbed kick forward was well-marked by Max Rooke, he converted. Puppy Nathan Eagleton missed a tight-angle shot and the Cats raced afield from the kick-in, Ablett held a good grab on the forward-flank and kicked quickly where Tom Lonergan was awarded a mark in the goal-square, he popped it through. Cats by 6 points at the first break. The second term was tight for a long time. Milburn, carved up by Higgins, started it on the bench with Enright now picking up the Bulldog. Hahn scored an early behind for Footyscray with a long pot-shot, Wojcinski did likewise for the Pu55ies. The Dogs burned a few chances, Eagleton clangered a pass inside 50 when he had plenty of time and Brad Johnson had a selfish, hurried go when he should've handballed ahead to Jarrod Harbrow, in hectares on space. At the other end Mooney twice dropped marks he should've held, although Dale Morris was doing well on Mooney. When Mooney did hold a grab his shot hit the post, but thirteen minutes into the stanza the goal-drought broke. Bartel kicked wide to find leading Stokes, he jabbed a low pass for leading Steve Johnson to mark and convert from a tricky angle. Cat skipper Tom Harley marked behind the centre-circle and was clattered late by Ryan Hargrave, a 50m penalty and Harley wobbled a punt for a rare six-pointer. The Catters were finding space in the corridor now and after tough play from Joel Selwood won possession, Enright lobbed a kick forward and Morris's spoil on Mooney saw the ball fall to Brad Ottens, who poked a major from point-blank. Three straight from the Catters and they led by 26 points, but the Pups managed to get one late in the term. Cooney roved a forward-pocket throw-in and handballed to Eagleton, who snapped it through. The Dogs were 21 points behind at half-time.

 

The Katz were supposedly ready to lift in the third term and scored an early goal, Joel Corey stabbed a daisy-cutter pass onto the chest of leading Mooney who played-on by accident really, and chipped a centering kick where Varcoe marked despite slipping over. Varcoe's subsequent goal had the Pu55ies 27 points ahead. But the tight scrap resumed, both sides finding it difficult to crack the other's defence. The Bulldogs were tackling hard, forcing the Cats into atypical errors but the Dogs were chipping the ball about, retaining possession as they couldn't find a way forward. Josh Hill was reported for smashing his hip into Mackie's head, a bit later Selwood missed a shot. The Doggies finally managed a goal with a quick rebound, Higgins kicked long and Hill won a free-kick for having his arm chopped by Taylor, Hill majored. A bit later more good Bulldog defending saw the ball out to the wing, Harbrow roved smartly and centered the ball to Cooney, on to Higgins who dithered a bit before handballing back to on-running Harbrow, who swerved onto his left foot and booted a goal with an across-the-body snap. The Bulldogs were in it, 15 points down. They exerted plenty of pressure, after some prolonged chip-about Brad Johnson got the ball in the forward-pocket, he kicked backwards and centrally to find Higgins marking 40m out - but Higgins's weak punt didn't make the distance and was marked by Taylor. A rushed point to the Doggies followed, then some more chip-around before Eagleton kicked long and Minson plucked a strong grab in front of Ottens. But Minson missed too. Hahn's bombed behind from 50m whittled the Cat lead down to 12 points but the Catters finally escaped with a rapid move from the kick-in, Varcoe kicked long and Mooney drifted behind Morris to take a mark and pop it through from 15m out. Geelagong led by 18 points, the margin at three-quarter-time as Lonergan marked in the goal-square, fractionally after the siren. The Dogs exerted more pressure in the early final term, but still couldn't convert. Boyd marked 40m out but sliced his shot on-the-full, a bit later Cat Milburn was the victim of a harsh 'bawl' decision but Minson, normally a pretty reliable shot, missed again from 40m out, no angle. Higgins ran inside 50m but his wobbly kick bounced out for a throw-in, from which the Catters cleared. Twelve minutes in and the Cats led by 17 points, before they managed a controversial goal. Bulldog Morris collected the ball on his half-back flank and kicked a cross-field pass towards Brad Johnson, who was crunched head-on by Rooke. The ump waved play-on and Lonergan collected the spilled ball, he handballed back to Rooke who kicked a goal. Much booing from Bulldog fans as the TV replay showed Rooke had taken his eyes off the ball and had no intention of trying to mark it - he just wanted to hit Johnno. The Cats led by 23 points, in the next few minutes the Bulldogs managed a rushed behind only and the Cats started to control the ball and slow the game down. Corey missed after a mark on-the-lead, the Dogs had another behind as Scarlett affected a great spoil on Minson. Late in the piece the Cats advanced on a defensive rebound and Ablett kicked long, Steve Johnson was held back by Hargrave and Johnson free-kicked a goal. The Pu55ies led by 28 points with 2:40 to go, they were into another Grand Final.

 

The Cats' backline was very good, led by Andrew Mackie (29 disposals, 7 marks) and Tom Harley (18 touches, 3 marks, a goal), the latter terrific early. Matthew Scarlett (14 possies) came into it as the game progressed. Further afield Cameron Ling (22 handlings, 6 marks) beat a sluggish, apparently 'flu-afflicted Cooney and Jimmy Bartel (27 disposals, 6 marks, a goal) had a big second half, Brad Ottens (17 touches, 6 marks, 22 hit-outs, a goal) had the better of the rucks. Joel Corey (28 possessions, 6 marks) was classy as usual and as the key forwards struggled, Travis Varcoe (18 handlings, 7 marks, a goal) and Max Rooke (9 disposals, 5 marks, 2 goals) were important attackers for the Cats. Steve Johnson kicked 2 goals. The Bulldog back-line was also very good, led by Brian Lake (22 disposals, 8 marks) on Lonergan, Dale Morris (9 touches) on Mooney and Ryan Hargrave (19 disposals, 5 marks) did very well against Steve Johnson. Daniel Cross (32 disposals, 8 marks) was their stand-out midfielder, back-flankers Tim Callan (23 possies, 7 marks) and Lindsay Gilbee (25 touches, 8 marks) did some attacking running. Daniel Giansiracusa (24 touches, 8 marks) wasn't bad despite his damaged wing, the speed of Jarrod Harbrow (16 possessions, 2 goals) was handy at times. Shaun Higgins (12 touches, 5 marks, 2 goals) was their only dangerous attacker. "I think the main lesson is that there are fruits of your labour if you do work hard enough," Eade said after the game. "And then the extension of that is that close enough is not good enough. I think there's a lot of pride and a spirit in their efforts - a lot of people wrote us off two weeks ago, and we showed last week and this week that there's a fair bit of spirit within the group. I think there's a real big positive for the season, but there's something to learn. We've got to have the same hard work, the same focus for next year, and we've got to be prepared to take those steps forward again next year." On the game itself, Rocket said "I think we made some goal-kicking errors and some execution errors at times, and I think against good teams you've got to be able to take those chances. It's all ifs, buts, maybes - you kick a couple of goals before three-quarter time, you might go in one goal down and then obviously you get a real sniff, and then a couple at the start of the last quarter, but as I said, you've got to be able to take those chances, and we didn't." Bomber Thompson brushed off the Cats' below-par effort. "I don't think it has to be convincing," he said. "In the end all you have to do is win in finals and that's why you see a lot of times teams in comfortable positions take their foot off the pedal. Not that you deliberately want to do that - you never want to do it from the box - it just seemed to be what happened. There's no need to win by a lot. As far as convincing, we were happy to win the game . . . It's been a pretty pressurised year, it really has. The longer it's gone, the more pressure people are putting on us. The expectation to win, the supporters are expecting to win every game they play. The media and all of the people from other clubs - that's a hard thing to carry. I think our guys have just handled it terrifically well. We'll just put our heads down this week, go about our business and give ourselves the best shot to play the best footy we can next week." He praised Rooke's probably illegal late goal. "I like that. I thought it was significant. It just made a statement. One of the reasons why he is in the side, Max Rooke, is because he does those things. He runs straight, he plays for keeps and we love him," Thompson said. "I had a look on the replay and I wasn't sure [if it was a free kick]. Sometimes they pay them, sometimes they don't. Was Darren Milburn unlucky when he got pinned for holding the ball? Maybe. They pay them sometimes. Every game there's a lot of decisions which aren't consistent. And you've just go to live with them. We don't ever whinge or moan about decisions. Ultimately they don't help you win or lose the game - 99 per cent of the time."

 

At the MCG:

Hawthorn   4.4   11.5   15.8   18.10.118  

St. Kilda  2.3    3.6    7.7    9.10.64   

 

Retiring Saint legend Robert Harvey summed it up best; he couldn't wait for the final siren. The Hawks out-played the Saints from start to finish, despite a reasonably close first quarter. Too tough, too fast, too good. An added bonus for the Awks was the big win coming with no meaningful contribution from Lance 'Buddy' Franklin, due to a great game from the Saints' full-back Max Hudghton and the Hawks' own tactics. Afterwards Robert 'Banger' Harvey was chaired off by Hudghton and Lenny Hayes through an honour guard of players from both sides, ending a magnificent 21-year, 383-game career with two Brownlow medals and countless club champion and All-Australian awards. No player, ever, has had a career spanning 21 seasons. Harvey's genius as a player was his incredible ability to get to contests and win the ball, turning or carrying a game through sheer weight of possession. As a few have noted Harvs wasn't one for the spectacular, he didn't have explosive speed, a booming kick, take big grabs or kick bags of goals; the one criticism of him has been the lack of goals he's kicked through the years. But he was the first midfielder to regularly get 30+ disposals a game, in the era before the current heavy-possession style. And Harvey did it regularly, the mark of a true champion; they don't have great games or great years, they have great careers. If only the Saints could be so consistent. They were written off numerous times during the season, only to pull out a big win; overall, the Stainers had a good second half of the year, as they did in 2007, but this game showed how far they are behind the true contenders. They're still half-a-dozen decent players short and it'll be interesting to see what they do list-wise. Trade for more experienced players as they did last season, or bring in more kids which they haven't tended to do. In selection here the Hawkers made two changes to the team which thumped the Bulldogs a fortnight back, Cameron Stokes (hamstring tightness) and Thomas Murphy (alleged back injury) missed out, replaced by Xavier Ellis and Stephen Gilham. Gilham picked up Riewoldt and was always going to play. The Sainters picked hamstrung Luke Ball but he didn't play, to little surprise. Instead Aaron Fiora replaced Jarryd Allen (torn hip ligament).

 

The umpires were the key early players, awarding a bucket of technical frees and 50m penalties which led to goals. But as the game wore on the Hawks' superb, fast ball-movement and rugged play wore the Sainters down. As mentioned Gilham picked up Saint leader Nick Riewoldt, with help from Trent Croad. Nick Dal Santo was tagged very closely by Chance Bateman. The Saints had Hudghton on Franklin and Jason Blake, instrumental in the Saints' win over the Hawks earlier in the season, started as a forward-flank tag on Luke Hodge. Young Saint Robert Eddy had some early chances but he nervously fumbled a marking chance 20m out, then saw a low snap smothered. Hawk Mark Williams missed badly with a free-kick, as things evolved Williams was the forward the Hawks went to most often, with early success. Smart, disciplined play to sparingly use defender-magnet Franklin. The Saints scored the first goal, Adam Schneider marked on the wing and was grabbed briefly by the late-arriving Croad; a soft but technically correct 50m penalty was awarded and Schneider majored. Williams missed again for the Awks, a quick snap following a turnover by Saint Raphael Clarke. The Orcs soon had a goal as Cyril Rioli dived after the ball at a throw-in and was grabbed 'round the neck by Brendon Goddard, no doubt it was a free-kick and Rioli converted. Sainter Stephen Milne free-kicked a point after being tripped by Hodge, then the Saints benefitted from another 50m penalty as Sam Fisher marked on the forward-flank and had his jumper grabbed by Michael Osborne. Fisher booted a goal and Sinkilda led by 5 points. Commentator Robert Walls raged against the ump's technical decision, as co-expert Mick Voss pointed out the players should know the rules. Wallsy had a go at coaches during the season for being too old and out-of-touch; a saying involving black kettles and glasshouses comes to mind. Anyway, the Hawks soon replied as leading Williams had his arms chopped in the marking contest by opponent Sam Gilbert, Williams slotted his resulting free for full points. More whistledge a minute later as Jarryd Roughead was awarded a Mystery Rucking Free at a throw-in (Koschitzke's arm briefly brushed his shoulder), Roughead managed to kick straight from the pocket and the Hawks led by 7 points. Saint Leigh Montagna intercepted smartly and set up Milne for a shot, but Milney missed poorly. It was tight for a few minutes and tough with a few blues breaking out. Bateman was all over Dal Santo and Riewoldt got plenty of attention from the 'unsociable' Hork backmen. The Hawks crept ahead after Ellis cleared a ball-up at the second try, a handball went to Clint Young and he roosted it through from just inside 50, Horforn led by 12 points. A key incident came soon afterwards, Koschitzke soared over back-pedalling Hodge to take a good grab, of a ball which was out-on-the-full so the mark didn't count. But Kosi's hip smashed into Hodge's ribs in the contest and Hodge was visibly hurt, doubling over in pain and coughing up blood for the next few minutes. Looked like rib damage but Hodge refused to go off, his side 13 points up at the first break.

 

The Hawks moved further ahead the further the game went. A terrific move from a throw-in, involving the excellent Sam Mitchell and Jordan Lewis, set up an early second-term mark for Williams but he missed, should've had a 50m penalty given what'd happened in the first term. The heavy niggle continued, Riewoldt was knocked down off-the-ball by Robert Campbell and after Hodge slumped on one knee following a marking contest, clutching his ribs again, he was given a very light bump by Hayes, which earned Hayes copious booing for the rest of the night from the easily outraged Hawk supporters. Hodge went off for a brief rest. Franklin's first shot came now, a running right-foot effort which wobbled out-of-bounds. But a minute later Brent Guerra drove a long kick in and Williams was clearly held by Gilbert, a free-kick and Williams popped it through from 15m. Gilbert was struggling. A skilful effort by Lewis got the ball to Rioli, he kicked long and Campbell Brown lurked behind Williams and Gilbert for a chest mark, Brown majored and Horforn led by 26 points. Sinkilda's Clint Jones had a free at the restart, bringing Bronx cheering from Saint fans - they hadn't had many, just goals from 50m penalties. But from the attacking kick Koschitzke spoiled team-mate Eddy. The Orcs rebounded, Bateman dived to take a good grab on the boundary-line and he punted forward where Osborne held a decent mark under pressure from Jason Gram, Osborne converted and it were Hawks by 31. The Saints pulled one back, a Hork handballing move from defence came unstuck when Crawford's look-away effort went straight to Aaron Fiora, he booted a major. The Hawks replied immediately, at the next centre-bounce Koschitzke's big punch went to Goddard but he was tackled hard, Lewis gathered the spilled ball and handpassed to Williams, another released Bateman to run clear and lob it through from 55m. The Saints were wilting, demonstrated when Gram ran forward and tried a torpedo shot from 60m which wobbled into the arms of unopposed Croad. Horforn effectively ended the contest with three late goals. From that defensive Croad grab a possession-heavy move ended with Brent Guerra lobbing a pass to leading Williams in the pocket, Willo played-on and hooked it through. The Sainters scored a point but the Hawks took the ball to the other end with two long kicks; a ball-up in their forward-pocket and Sinkilda's Blake leaped over the ruckmen only to slap the ball directly to Roughead, who snapped a sausage. Another Mitchell centre-clearance followed, Osborne gathered at half-forward, was tackled and fired off a handpass towards the boundary but Shane Crawford swept up the ball and slotted a superb goal from the boundary-line. The Hawks led by a very healthy 47 points at half-time.

 

Any chance of a Sinkilda come-back was snuffed out by another three goal Hawker blast to start the third stanza. A rebound from Sinkilda's opening thrust saw the ball go towards Sainter Clarke, he couldn't hold a difficult back-pedalling mark and Hawk Brown gathered, he drove a low kick to the goal-square where Franklin out-maneuvered Hudghton for the first time to mark in-front and pop it through. Mitchell and Lewis combined to win the following centre-clearance for the Horks, Brown was spoiled in the marking attempt but the ball came back to him and Brown hooked a pass to find Roughead marking alone, he converted. A Brown behind (?) a minute later had the Horks exactly 10 goals in front and it was kinda hard to maintain interest. Soon enough Lewis dived to force the ball clear from a throw-in, Bateman gathered and lobbed a handball inside for running Rioli to steer it through with his left boot. The Hawks led by 66 points. Franklin missed with a free-kick and another rushed point saw the Hawks reach their biggest lead, 68 pointes. Not for the first time Goddard lost his temper and felled Mitchell with a right hook, should ensure a late start to 2009 for Goddard. The Hawks eased up a bit, benching Franklin and later Hodge for a break - Buddy'd jarred his thumb in an early marking contest. Sinkilda backman Gilbert attacked the ball well and manufactured a rebound, Gram passed to Schneider and another pass found Riewoldt marking 40m out, he chipped further ahead for Montagna to mark and convert. The Hawks replied as leading Williams spilled the mark, but recovered the Sherrin and jabbed a pass to Young who thumped it home from 50m. Now Riewoldt enjoyed a good spell, he'd been starved of opportunity really. Lewis was penalized for a throw and Fisher kicked his free towards leading Riewoldt, whose arm was dragged down by Hodge. Riewoldt free-kicked a goal from 50m. A minute later some Sainter chip-about was broken by Gram going for a run, he kicked wide where leading Riewoldt marked easily and steered a good punt for a goal from the flank. Goddard had a free-kick at the restart, pushed in the back, and he drove a long, skilful pass for leading Riewoldt to mark again and boot a third straight major. Sinkilda had reduced the margin to 49 points. Roughead switched to defence as the term wound down dully, save for Brown appearing to knee Schneider in the head. It'll be looked at. The Hawks scored an early goal in the final Mario, Franklin gathered Mitchell's wobbly punt on-the-bounce, fended off Harvey with a hand to the neck and passed to Williams in the pocket who booted his fourth goal. Harvs raised his arms in appeal to the ump, to no avail. Not much happened for the next few minutes although the Hawks drew praise from their fans for some hard hits and general efforts, from Brad Sewell especially. The Saints managed a goal eventually as Riewoldt seized an excellent pack-mark and switched flanks with a pass to leading Fisher, who converted. A minute later Williams dived on prone Hudghton's head, which could have him in real trouble although Max appeared to 'duck' just at the right time. The Hawks produced a great move as Hodge drilled a pass to Campbell, he handballed to Mitchell whose lobbed kick allowed Franklin to soar over Gilbert for a terrific grab. Franklin handballed immediately to Williams, who coasted in for a point-blank major. Montagna won the following centre-break for the Saints and kicked towards Riewoldt, he couldn't mark but Schneider roved and fired a long handpass to the goal-square where 'cheating' Milne lurked to poke a point-blank goal. Franklin flattened Clarke with a heavy (legal) bump before the Hawkers scored the last goal, Roughead juggling a strong grab against Fisher and converting. After the final siren Harvey departed through the honour guard, to a standing ovation from the packed 'G.            

 

Sam Mitchell (33 disposals, 5 marks) and Jordan Lewis (27 touches, 9 marks) dominated contested-ball wins for the Awks and from them everything flowed. Long-kickin' Clint Young (21 handlings, 8 marks, 2 goals) was very good and Brad Sewell (27 possessions) demonstrated his toughness, we were reminded every few seconds about Luke Hodge's bravery (24 disposals, 11 marks). He's pretty good, though. Mark Williams (17 handlings, 5 marks, 5 goals) was the Horks' key forward and Jarryd Roughead (18 touches, 8 marks, 4 goals) was pretty useful, Brent Guerra (26 possies, 11 marks) and Grant Birchall (23 touches, 12 marks) did some penetrating running from the back. Cyril Rioli bagged 2 goals. The Saints' best would have to be Max Hudghton (13 disposals, 7 marks), limiting Franklin to 2 marks and 1.1. Hudghton's considering retirement, apparently. Brendon Goddard (33 disposals, 10 marks) and Lenny Hayes (27 touches, 10 marks) tried hard as usual and Sam Fisher (22 handlings, 11 marks, 2 goals) did pretty well on Roughead, who ventured down the ground a lot. Raphael Clarke (25 disposals, 9 marks) confirmed his late-season improvement. Nick Riewoldt (11 kicks, 9 marks, 3 goals) enjoyed a decent second half, but the game was over by then. Robert Harvey had 19 possessions in his final game. Over to Ross Lyon, concerning whom the jury still out. "I think you'll get a great grand final. They (Geelong and Hawthorn) are clearly the two best teams and they have two unique systems that are in some ways similar. It will be won and lost in the midfield as it was tonight . . . I take no satisfaction in it (making the preliminary final). If you've been involved in any role at a club it's not about making preliminary finals. In the wash-up we've improved and we know where we're heading. Everyone's trying to head to the same spot. It was a turnaround (this year), no doubt about it . . . We felt we've unearthed some young talent. If you analyse every list closely there's additions from drafting and trading. There were a couple we thought about playing like Jack Steven and we gave Benny McEvoy a game. It's a relentless competition and we need to go away in the cold light of day and assess our list. Those that can take the club to a premiership and be successful, whenever that is [will stay] . . . It's not a time for flippancy from me as senior coach now. We've got good people who will sit down and analyse and make (draft and trade) decisions. We'll add talent, we'll improve our systems and we will demand hard work and they are a couple of key ingredients to be successful . . . (Tonight) won't be swept under the carpet. We've got to bridge the gap between the top three. We thought we'd be closer than we were tonight." Hawk coach Alastair Clarkson said "It's good for the coaching staff that it wasn't a nail-biter, I can tell you that. I was really pleased . . . with the endeavour and spirit of the group tonight. It's been a great effort by the whole football club, not just the playing group but the coaching group and the administration to get ourselves in a position where we can be in a grand final. The next challenge, obviously, is to give ourselves every chance of winning it. We demonstrated with our attack on the footy and our use of the footy that we're a very worthy grand finalist this year and we intend to go as hard as we possibly can next week . . . We come up against a side ironically who is very, very similar - and the pioneer and benchmark in that regard in the competition in Geelong. We're aspiring to be like them in that regard, it's the reason why they've been the premier side over the last two years, but we're chasing really, really hard and we get an opportunity next week to see how close we've come in that chase." Should be a cracker.

 

Next week, Grand Final:

Geelong v Hawthorn, MCG, Saturday.

 

Cheers, Tim.  

 

 

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[AFL-Review] AFL Semi Finals

AFL Semi Finals

 

How did both codes of rugby and the soccer manage to get their games live-to-air on Sydney TV on Satdy night, but the footy was on a 2-hour delay? Channel Ten decided we had to see the kids' movie 'Madeleine' for the seventeenth time. Channel Seven were scarcely better, the Swans' game on Friday night wasn't live either. Why on earth not? The All-Australian team is announced tonight, ten Geelong players have been nominated so it'll be pretty similar to last year, you'd think. I messed up Nathan Bassett's final stats last week, he played 210 games for the Camrys (none for the Dees, although he was on their list) and was an All-Australian in 2006.

 

At the MCG:

Footscray  2.3   6.5   11.9    16.10.106

Sydney     2.4   5.7    5.13    9.15.69

 

Recent history repeated as the Dogs beat the Swarns for the third time this season, Footyscray bouncing back from their mauling against the Hawks. The Dogs were tough enough, ran enough and outplayed a tired-looking Siddey mob. This is about where the Swans were anticipated to end up, there was a period mid-season when they were seen as a genuine contender but they struggled later in the season with injuries and moderate form. And they cannot beat Collywood. The question asked continually regarding the Bloods these days is their age and the need to rebuild. It's happening already with blokes like Jarred Moore, Kieran Jack and Craig Bird coming through this year but looking at some of those running 'round, there are some problems. How Jared Crouch gets a game is a mystery, Leo Barry should think about it and if Tadhg Kennelly really wants to go back to Ireland, now would be the time. But they can probably squeeze another season or two out of Hall, Goodes, O'Loughlin and co. Ruckman Peter 'Spida' Everitt surprised no-one by retiring straight after the game, the best tap-ruckman of his era Spida played 291 games, was a three-time All-Australian and a great performer for the Saints and the Hawks where he won best-and-fairest awards, he hasn't done much for Sydney though. In selection here the Bulldogs made just one change to the side thumped by the Awks, Stephen Tiller replacing softy runner Farren Ray. No change to the Swan side which overran North.

 

A fairly open, end-to-end start to the game, thought to favour the Bullies. Both sides had numbers back though and there was some poor early shooting. An accurate Ben Hudson snap for the Dogs was touched off-the-boot, then Adam Goodes, Ryan O'Keefe and Psycho-Barry Hall all missed for the Bloods, Hall's a very difficult banana-shot from a tight angle. The Doggies had Brian Lake on Hall in an enticing match-up, Dale Morris on Goodes and Ryan Hargrave on O'Keefe. Ten minutes ticked by prior to the first goal, coming from a soft free-kick to Bulldog Tim Callan. He passed to Daniel Cross, who lobbed a poor pass short of leading Robert Murphy. But Murphy did well to gather, spin away from Paul Bevan, have a bounce and spear it through. The Swans replied quickly, Amon Buchanan was tackled without the ball by Akermanis and Buchanan punted his free-kick smartly forward, Hall shoved off Lake to mark and convert. The Dogs attacked a bit but Josh Hill and Will Minson kicked points, leveling the scores. A minute later Goodes won the ball with some strong battling in the centre, he handballed to Patrick Veszpremi who kicked long. Hall juggled and spilled a mark but got a throw-pass away to allow ruckman Darren Jolly to soccer a major. The Bloods led by a goal and a Nick Malceski point made it 7 points. But a bit later Doggy Jarrod Harbrow found leading Daniel 'Guido' Giansiracusa with a lobbed pass, Guido handballed to Nathan Eagleton whose long punt spilled from the goal-square pack and Scott Welsh soccered a typical Welsh goal. The Swans led by a point at the first break. The game was tightening up with more stoppages, favouring the Bloods' style. Not much happened in the first few minutes of the second, save O'Keefe failing to receive a 50m penalty when smacked in the gob after marking, by Callan. O'Keefe didn't 'sell it'. Then the Dogs had a goal, Murphy led wide to mark on the flank, he wheeled about, drove a long kick in and the ball was fought over. Jolly tried to barge clear for the Swans but was tackled, Welsh gathered his handball and handpassed in turn to Shaun Higgins who snapped truly to put the Bullies 5 points ahead. Shortly Higgins had another chance, leading to mark 30m out. But no - the Bulldogs had messed up an interchange and under this stupid rule the Swans had a free-kick 30m out, at the other end. But in the first of several crucial Swan misses, backman Kennelly's gently poked kick hit the post. Siddey went alright for the next few minutes though, Spida Everitt juggled a two-grab pack-mark and punted to the 'square where Hall was thrown out of the contest by Lake, Hall free-kicked a major. There was some rugged stuff, Bully Brad Johnson had already had Craig Bolton's full weight in the middle of his back, now Johnno was clattered by Bolton, then Mattner in the same contest. Poor ol' Johnno staggered off. Siddey defender Lewis Roberts-Thomson kicked a rare goal thanks to a free for being held without the ball, plus a 50m penalty when slung to the ground afterwards by Cooney. The Swans led by 9 points now. The Bullies lifted late in the term, Callan did well to win the pill and tumble a kick forward, the agget spilled from Hill and Barry's contest and roving Mitch Hahn stabbed a sausage. The Swans won the following centre-clearance and handballs went from Hall to Jude Bolton to Jarrad McVeigh, McVeigh passed to leading Goodes who marked and steered a major from a bit of an angle. Still Swans by 9 points but the Dogs reclaimed the lead before half-time. Murphy led up wide to mark again, he passed towards leading Welsh who was shoved heftily in the back by Ted Richards. Welsh drove his resulting free-kick for a 50m goal. Brad Johnson returned for the Doggies and immediately crashed a pack, crunching Luke Ablett and getting a handball away to Higgins. Higgins's lobbed kick dropped for well-placed Murphy to mark in traffic, Murphy majored and the Pups led by 3 points. Minson engineered the following centre-clearance, Akermanis raced clear and had a shot but it was rushed through. Bulldawgs by 4 points at half-time.

 

The Puppies kicked away in the third term, out-numbering the Bloods at contests and just about everywhere else, it seemed. The Swans appeared a tired outfit. Early in the stanza Hargrave roved a contest on the wing and his centering kick found Stephen Tiller in plenty of space, Tiller kicked into the pocket where Josh Hill was awarded a two-grab mark against big Spida, who claimed the first touch was all his. Spida had a case, but Hill booted a good goal from a tricky angle. Hill had another chance a moment later, a free kick for being held by Malceski, but Hill missed awfully. Bully Adam Cooney dropped an easy mark when leading and then wasn't awarded a marginal grab in the goal-square, Higgins free-kicked a point after being clattered off-the-ball by Barry. The Dogs were pressing, the floodgates straining and they finally opened. Cooney's over-head handball found running Callan, he punted long and Hill arrived to seize a good grab, he converted to have the Doggies 19 points ahead. At the other end Mattner snapped a behind from a ball-up, Siddey's first score of the korter and a poor miss in context, Mattner had time to steady. The kick-in led to a throw-in which Hill cleared with some class and skill, his kick was swept up in the centre by Lindsay Gilbee who handballed to running Lake, the Bully full-back charged to the 50m line and hammered a long goal which he very much enjoyed. The Doggies led by 24 points, a minute later Swan Jarred Moore delivered a pass to leading Hall who marked 45m out. The importance of Hall's shot was clear to everyone, but Big Mad Barry's kick from the 50m line hooked for a behind. The outcome got worse for Siddey as the Dogs moved the kick-in with the best play of the night, Akermanis marked and handballed inboard to running Johnson, his long punt went to leading Giansiracusa, 'Guido' handballed over to running Ryan Griffen, who raced away from McVeigh with three bounces and speared it through from 25m. A two-goal turnaround and the Dogs led by a healthy 29 points. Minson missed a set shot and Siddey's McVeigh hit the post after marking 20m out, then Doggy Gilbee passed for long-leading Murphy to mark again, he punted long and Minson clutched a big pack-mark in the teeth of goal. Minson stabbed it through and the Bulldogs looked home, 33 points up and 32 at the final change-about. The Bloods gave some early cheek in the last, Lake had to lunge to touch Buchanan's goal-bound snap, from the kick-in Johnson clangered a pass over Daniel Cross's head straight to Brett 'Captain' Kirk, he passed to unopposed Hall who popped it through. The Swans were 25 points down but the Doggies slammed the door rapidly. They won the following centre-clearance through Hudson and Matthew Boyd, Higgins got a dubious handball back to Boyd who gathered and got a quick handball to running Akermanis, he curled a low, spearing kick for full points. Soon Hargrave was driving a long kick forward, Hahn won the pill strongly and handballed for Johnson to slot a kick through from the flank. Hudson tumbled a punt forward from the next centre-bounce and Murphy marked behind Leo Barry, Murphy booted truly and the Bulldogs had kicked out to a 43-point lead. It was still willing for a while as the Swans showed some frustration, Leo Barry was reported after coat-hangering Higgins; the first report of Barry's career, apparently. Then the Swans crept up a bit, good play from Mattner sent Jared Crouch running inside 50 and the ageing Swan battler booted a decent major. A minute later Paul Bevan converted after marking Jude Bolton's pass, then a tough gather and a bit of finessing from Buchanan allowed him to find Hall marking alone 30m out, Bazza majored and the Swans were 25 points down, with over six minutes remaining. Again the Dogs responded, Crouch hacked a clearing kick which went straight to Hill, he jabbed a short one to Eagleton who thumped it through from 50m. Now it was over and the game slowed down, although Welsh gave Roberts-Thomson a back-handed whack which might attract tribunal interest. The Bullies scored the final goal, Hahn smothered Everitt's kick and Minson collected the ball, he was tripped as he tried to run clear and handballed the free to Eagleton, who thumped another long sausage.

 

Very even team effort from the Bulldogs. Ruck-rover Matthew Boyd (33 disposals, 7 marks) lifted from last week to be an important ball-winner, similarly running men Lindsay Gilbee (28 touches, 9 marks) and Ryan Griffen (20 handlings, a goal) were much bigger factors than against the Awks. Down back Dale Morris (15 possies, 8 marks) kept Goodes very quiet and Ryan Hargrave did well on O'Keefe, Tim Callan (12 possies) did some useful things. Daniel Giansiracusa (18 disposals, 7 marks) was a handy half-forward and Mitch Hahn (14 possies, a goal) used his strength again, forwards Robert Murphy (16 possies, 11 marks, 3 goals) and Josh Hill (9 touches, 3 marks, 2 goals) were important. Noice game from ruckman Ben Hudson, too. Scott Welsh and Nathan Eagleton kicked 2 goals each. No stand-out for the Swans, Brett Kirk (22 disposals) battled hard and kept Cross pretty quiet, Barry Hall (16 touches, 10 marks, 4 goals) had the better of Lake in the end and Amon Buchanan (19 touches) wasn't bad. Jarrad McVeigh (20 disposals, 6 marks) has had a good year, pity about that missed shot, and Marty Mattner (19 handlings) was alright. Craig Bolton (17 possies, 5 marks) did his usual job on Brad Johnson. Paul Roos reckoned he was happy with the year overall. "We had our chances (tonight)," he said. "Coming off last week with a bit of momentum, against a team you knew was going to bounce back, you've got to take your chances and we probably didn't. Their belief started to grow and grow and they're a very good team. You don't finish third on the ladder if you can't play . . . I think we've improved on last year which is something we tried to do in then off-season and address some of things that we knew we weren't quiet as good at last year. I think we have improved as a team. Midfield talent, with the way the game is played now, is probably a little bit more important than your forward talent. That's probably an area we still need to look at." Is it rebuilding time, Roosy? "I'm not sure - possibly. It's something we need to assess in the off-season because it's hard to do it straight after the game. I think what you've got to be careful of is going down (the ladder) just for the sake of going down. As a club we have to make sure we make smart decisions and I think we've done that reasonably well [in the past]. It may be a rebuilding year but we'll see what happens in the next month." Bulldog man 'Rocket' Eade said "Obviously we didn't play very well last week and it was very disappointing, and people were circling and even some of our supporters jumped off a bit, which was also disappointing. I think they showed character with the way they played and being able to not let last week's result engulf them, and with a lack of finals experience, to be able to do what they did and bounce back like they did. We proved tonight that we should be at least in the top four. I think the players didn't want to let that slip . . . We just thought with the bigger ground, with our run . . . (the Swans) had a tough game last week, we were up there watching it and it was a tough and physical game. We thought if we could slog it with them for a half, we would probably be able to run over the top of them. That was our focus." Cats next week? "Anything can happen in a two-horse race. You can't beat them if you're not there," Eade said. "We'll go in with, and rightfully so, no one picking us, and that's fine because they're a great team. But anything can happen and there will be no pressure on us from that aspect. We've just got to play our way and back ourselves."

            

At the MCG:

St. Kilda    4.1   8.1   14.2    17.4.106

Collingwood  3.4   4.11   5.16   9.18.72

 

The value of the double chance was shown again as the Saints climbed up off the mat and cruised to victory over the Magpoise. Strange journey for the Stainers, written off by many after a very weak loss against the Poise in the wake of the 'Porky Pies' incident, they improved a bit, enjoyed a healthy slice of luck to finish fourth and are now in a prelim final against the Hawks, whom they beat the last time out. Opinions are divided regarding the Maggies' year. One argument says they and coach Mick Malthouse have done very well, given the players absent here and through the season; Heath Shaw, Alan Didak, Ben Johnson, Scott Burns, Anthony Rocca, Sean Rusling. When Shaw, Didak and Johnson were suspended following the Porky Pie thingy, most assumed Collywood wouldn't even make the eight. On the other hand, a 12-10 record in the home-and-aways is average and suggests they've a way to go to become a contender, despite being the Cats' apparent nemesis. It'd be good for the Poise if they could actually land the oft-touted big-name signing; a rumour circulated a week or so ago reckoning Jonathan Brown was 'signed and sealed' turned out to be nonsense. In selection here the Sainters made two changes to the side dismantled by Geelong, David Armitage and junior forward Jarryd Allen replaced flighty flankers Xavier Clarke and Charlie Gardiner. Luke Ball was named but was never any chance to play, apparently. Last week Fraser Gehrig announced his retirement again, G-Train's abortive comeback this season yielded 5 games and 9 goals. The Pies revisited the Porky times last Friday when Scott Burns declared he was certain to play, but he didn't. Neither did Simon Prestigiacomo, who hurt a shoulder against the Corollas; Shane Wakelin replaced him.   

 

The stats tell a tale of this game. Collywood had more inside 50s and, as you can see, scored a lot of behinds. This came from the fact none of the Maggie forwards could take a mark, not helped by some awful delivery to them, resulting in a lot of hurried, roving snaps or rushed behinds by spoiling Saint backmen. And a massive number of Sainter marks in their backline. At the other end Nick Riewoldt played a towering game for the Stainers, a big part in their amazing goal-kicking accuracy. Sinkilda also won the tackle-count, a facet in which Collywood are very rarely beaten. Maligned Ross Lyon also made a coupla very good match-ups, Clint Jones tagging 'Neon' Leon Davis and Sam Fisher on Paul Medhurst. On the other hand Mick Malthouse produced a poor non-match-up, allowing form-lite Nick Dal Santo to run free. Despite all that, the first half was pretty close, as the Pies still won a lot of the ball. As would happen the Maggies opened with two behinds rushed by spoiling Saint defenders. Big Saint Justin Koschitzke didn't begin well with a clanger and a dropped mark but he soon atoned with a goal, after taking a diving mark of Robert Harvey's pass. Medhurst had a free-kick shot after being manhandled by Fisher, it drifted 'cross the face where Nick Maxwell took a good grab, but he banana-ed it on-the-full.  Dale Thomas missed with a long pop before the Poise got on the board, Shannon Cox drove a long kick in and three Sinkilda backmen rose to spoil Tarkyn Lockyer. But one of 'em, Raphael Clarke, gave Lockyer a bit of a shove and the ump awarded Lockyer a free, he converted. The Pies led by 3 points, Sinkilda responded quickly as Cox was palpably caught by Jason Gram, who handballed his resulting free-kick to Harvey. 'Banger' passed to leading Riewoldt, who marked strongly and thumped it through from the flank. Pie rovers Shane O'Bree and Ryan Cook combined to win the ball from the restart, roving handballs from Medhurst to Davis and then to Dane Swan allowed Swan to jab a sausage. Pies by 3. Davis won the ball very well against Jones but kicked a selfish dribbly-point. Wakelin lobbed a telegraphed pass towards Maxwell which was picked off by Stainer Brendon Goddard, he passed to Harvey and he on to leading Riewoldt who had a mark and easy shot from 30m out, right in front. Saints by 2. Dal Santo hit the post, badly, before the Pies reclaimed the lead again, Chris Dawes roved his own contest and handballed to Davis, whose left-foot tumbly kick allowed John Anthony to ride Harvey for a decent grab, kneeing ol' Harvs heftily in the ribs. Anthony goaled, Pies by 3. Saint Robert Eddy had a free at the restart and handballed to Dal Santo, his pass dropped short of leading Riewoldt who was shoved meatily in the back anyway by his man Nathan Brown, into oncoming Goldsack too. Riewoldt appeared to hurt his shoulder in that, but converted the resulting free-kick. Three goals in the first term to Riewoldt as the Sainters led by 3 points at korter-time.

 

Into the second and the Pies looked alright to start with, Anthony ran down Sam Gilbert but the usually accurate big man missed with the resulting free. As the Saints moved up the ground on a rebound Poi Tyson Goldsack smartly smothered a Sainter handpass, gathered and booted a clever goal to have the Pies 4 points ahead. A bit later Koschitzke managed to get himself reported, slinging Wakelin to the ground in a tackle after the Pie man had got rid of the ball. 'Kosi' has carry-over points which could have him in trouble. It was tight for a while, the Saints played some keepings-off and the Pies delivered the ball terribly inside attacking 50, bombs from O'Bree and Davis were marked by Gilbert and Goddard respectively, then Medhurst chipped a kick neatly to Jason Blake. The Saints got going again as leading Riewoldt marked strongly in front of Brown and handballed off to Gram, his hurried snap curled through for a major. A set-shot miss from Pie Anthony leveled the scores, then a series of chipped Sainter passes from Jason Blake to Dal Santo, to Lenny Hayes, to Harvey, then to leading Milne, then finally James Gwilt saw Gwilt's shot from 50m just drop through for full points. Anthony booted another long behind for Collywood. Pie backman Brown had a rare win against Riewoldt as the Sainter man pushed him in the back, Brown passed his free-kick to Rhyce Shaw but as the Poise ran it out junior John McCarthy dropped Shaw's handpass. Trying to tidy up, Shaw was tackled by Schneider and the ball spilled to Stephen Milne, who snapped a goal. O'Bree punted the Pies into attack from the next centre-bounce but Raphael Clarke marked easily for the Saints, the limitations of Anthony and Dawes as key forwards were being exposed. Travis Cloke had done nothing, it'd been rumoured he was suffering glandular fever which the Pies had denied, but Cloke did have an illness of some kind. Late in the term Goddard drove a long kick in, Riewoldt got big fly over O'Brien and Milne but couldn't hold the grab, handily Milne was like lightening in pouncing on the spillage and snapping truly. The Saints led by 14 points at half-time. 

 

Early in the third Cloke led up to take a mark on the wing, producing much Bronx cheering. "I don't think that's Bronx cheering," reckoned Tim Lane. "The crowd are trying to encourage Cloke." In a roundabout way, I 'spose. Schneider ran into an open goal for the Stainers and missed awfully, their second behind of the night. But a minute later Poi Marty Clarke chipped a pass over Fraser's head, from the turnover Leigh Montagna advanced for the Sainters, his kick was half-smothered but spilled to Milne who raced inside 50 and booted a sausage roll. As the TV folk noted, when Milne's kicking goals it's usually good news for the Sainters. They led by 21 points now. Swan and Medhurst missed shots for the Poise, then Riewoldt led long for another mark and kicked forward. David Armitage produced some slick roving and handballed to Harvey, his shot didn't make the distance from 40m but sat up handily until Schneider arrived, gathered and poked a major from point-blank. Swan booted the Pies into attack from the restart and the ball rolled out for a throw-in in the forward-pocket. From it Cloke was awarded a mystery free-kick and punted a goal, reducing the Saints' lead to 19 points. Pie ruckman Chris Bryan had a free at the restart and a 50m penalty as Gram failed to return the ball quickly enough, but Bryan missed poorly. Cloke marked 60m out and assessed options for about 15 minutes before trying for the sticks, his wobbly punt dropped short and was marked by Gilbert. Sums up the Pie night. Medhurst kicked yet another point for the Scraggies (tough shot), the Saints advanced from the kick-in and Gilbert kicked towards Koschitzke. He was dragged back by Wakelin, Kosi passed his free-kick to all-alone Riewoldt for an easy mark and major. The floodgates opened, Riewoldt led long for another grab and centered a pass to Dal Santo, from his kick Koschitzke flew from behind and knocked the ball down, roving Schneider stabbed a pass to Andrew McQualter who marked and converted. Schneider found leading Riewoldt for a mark, 'Rooey' played-on to find Dal Santo alone 30m out and Dal booted a major. That was enough for Nathan Brown and Nick Maxwell replaced him as Riewoldt's opponent. Too late. Maxwell produced a good spoil on Riewoldt in their first contest, Maxwell soccered the ball clear but straight to Gilbert, who drove a long kick where Gram marked alone in the goal-square. Gram popped it through and Stinkilda led by 41 points, pretty healthy. Poi McCarthy kicked a long behind on the three-quarter-time siren, so the Saints led by 40 then. Pie hopes were raised slightly in the early final stanza, Cloke used a free-kick to switch flanks and find Fraser alone, he passed to leading Scott Pendlebury who in turn passed for leading McCarthy to mark and boot a goal. The Saints led by 34 points, their ruckman Steven King tapped the following centre-bounce to Hayes, a handball to Montagna and he kicked long where Koschitzke won a free against manhandling Wakelin. Kosi majored. Pendlebury added to the Poise enormous tally of behinds before a weak effort from Goldsack allowed Gram to collect the ball for the Stainers, it went to Dal Santo and fittingly on to Riewoldt for a mark and the sealing goal. The Stainers led by 45 points and it was over. Not much happened for a while before Medhurst led for a mark and goal, his 50^th sausage of the season which is a fair effort. Medhurst also set up a mark and goal for Brown, after a behind each Marty Clarke used an 'advantage' call to run clear of a ball-up and slot a major, reducing the Saints' lead to 28 points. But the Saints had the final say as Koschitzke marked strongly in front of under-sized Wakelin and booted a major. Kosi's fate at the tribunal is Sinkilda's main worry - apart from the Hawks.   

 

Big game from Nick Riewoldt (20 disposals, 15 marks, 5 goals), the Saint you've got to stop - I think folks knew that already. Nick Dal Santo (32 touches, 8 marks, a goal) played his best game in an age, not given respect by Malthouse or the Poise. Robert Harvey (22 possessions) was good early and avoided his final game yet again, Jason Gram (22 disposals, 2 goals) and Leigh Montagna (29 handlings, 10 marks) were handy too. Down back Sam Fisher (27 touches, 17 marks) did the job on Medhurst and Jason Blake (27 handlings, 18 marks) kept Cloke very quiet, although Cloke wasn't a hundred percent. James Gwilt (14 touches, a goal) and Raphael Clarke (25 disposals, 13 marks) were good and Justin Koschitzke (17 disposals, 10 marks, 3 goals) had a big second half - a huge tribunal coming up. Stephen Milne bagged 3 goals. For the Poise battling Dane Swan (23 possessions, 6 marks, a goal) was best, but you'd struggle to find a clear winner. Josh Fraser (20 disposals, 8 marks, 16 hit-outs) played well 'round the ground and Scott Pendlebury (23 touches) had good stats, but minimal influence. Rhyce Shaw (21 disposals) and rover Shane O'Bree (21 touches) were okay, backman Harry O'Brien (16 possies) went in hard as usual. The Maggies had nine goal-kickers. Malthouse blamed 'tiredness' but looked ahead positively. "It's been a long year for a lot of those players - I just sensed, even at quarter time, that we had opportunities to be a better score than what we did, but I just sensed that almost every element of our indicators were down. We just didn't seem to have that energy, and it's been a pretty arduous last month or so - we've been on the road three of the last five weeks. It does catch up with you, I think anyway, probably in the second week, if you've been away a few times . . . It's no excuse, I think it's a reasonable reason that a lot of the players - particularly younger players - just lacked some of the things they gave us over the last month. So I can hardly be critical of young players, and I thought three or four of our senior players just never got near their best." He went on to stonewall a reporter who demanded to know what Mick said to the players post-game, and to berate the Pie supporters who Bronx-cheered Clokey ("I sometimes get very upset with the Bronx cheers for a bloke who was our best-and-fairest winner last year, Travis Cloke. Travis really was quite ill after last week's game."). Ross Lyon savoured a good night. "There was a couple of times where they (Collingwood) had it and they looked to go [forward] and someone got a fingernail in and we were able to turn it over. The pressure skills were good. It was important, as it would have been for the Bulldogs, that we didn't go out in straight sets. The heat would have been on the club. So it was pleasing for a lot of people who worked hard that we go a little bit deeper into the finals series. We're under no illusions about what we've got ahead of us next week, but I don't really want to talk about Hawthorn tonight and I don't want to talk about 'Buddy' [Lance Franklin]. Let me enjoy tonight and I'll go and review and get it done quickly and move on." Looks the closer of the two prelims, but the Hawks will still be warm favourites.

 

Next week, Preliminary Finals:

Geelong v Footscray, MCG, Fri. night.

Hawthorn v St. Kilda, MCG, Sat. night.

 

Cheers, Tim.  

 

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