AFL Round 3
At Docklands:
Footscray 1.2 6.6 11.9 19.11.125
St. Kilda 7.3 9.6 10.8 13.9.87
The Dogs could be good this year. Their high-powered running game was complemented here by some strength in the contest as they romped away from the Saints after half-time. The Stainers were made to look cumbersome indeed, although you could argue they were coming off six straight wins with the NAB Cup and all. Still, they've not been too impressive so far. Nick Riewoldt, who blamed 'tunneling' for his struggles in round one, hasn't come up with another theory to explain his weak efforts in the next two games. St. Robert of Harvey was so confused he squirrel-gripped Aker, allegedly, although an investigation led nowhere. We've been calling him 'Knakermanis' here at work. But focusing on the positive, the Dogs looked very good. A full-strength list plus the addition of Hudson, Welsh and the youngster Josh Hill has helped them. They weren't quite full-strength, Shaun Higgins was out with an injured foot and replaced by junior winger Jarrod Harbrow. The Saints welcomed Brendon Goddard back after a year out with a knee reco, he replaced ruckman Michael Gardiner (calf muscle strain). Accident-prone Justin Koschitzke and nimble half-forward Xavier Clarke played their 100th games for the Saints.
Sinkilda dominated the opening quarter, rebounding slickly off half-back, winning centre-clearances and their big men were prominent. Koschitzke kicked the first two goals, both from towering pack-marks following quick moves from half-back. Tall but lanky Cameron Wight was Kosi's opponent. Koschitzke also had the game's third shot at goal, roving his own contest but his left-foot snap missed. A minute later another quick rebound via Jason Gram saw stumpy Leigh Montagna hold a pack-mark, with shepherding from Riewoldt. Montagna converted and the Saints led by 19 points. Ruckman Steven King had a free at the restart and handballed to Montagna, from his long kick Riewoldt juggled a two-grabber in the goal-square and popped it through. Then the bearded G-Train got in on the act, Gehrig converting a free-kick he won for a dive really, in front of the hapless Brian Lake-nee-Harris. The Saints led by 31 points at this stage, 5.2 to a point. The Dogs finally managed a goal with a free-kick to Jarrod Harbrow, thrown to full-forward in a desperate early move. But the Saints responded with two more majors in time-on, a fortunate free to Leigh Fisher saw him mongrel a kick forward, it bounced handily for Stephen Milne to collect and snap through. Xavier Clarke won the following centre-clearance and booted long, Riewoldt seized a strong pack-mark and booted another, all Saints as they led by 37 points at quarter-time. The Dogs went man-on-man for the second quarter, employing six forwards to stop the Saints' coasting run from defence. Ruckman Hudson, Daniel Cross and Adam Cooney gave 'em a lift on-the-ball. That trio combined to win the opening centre-clearance and Robert Murphy marked Cooney's pass, he goaled. But a minute later Ryan Griffen's hacked kick went straight to Saint Jason Blake, he punted long and Milne roved the goal-square pack for a sausage. Still Saints by 36 points The Pups kept working though, Cooney had a free in the centre and dished a handpass for Griffen to run clear and thump it home from 50m, Josh Hill free-kicked a goal after being shoved in the back by Goddard, plus a 50m penalty for something-or-other. Tight for a while but the Saints had stopped scoring, prior to Doggy Brad Johnson playing a one-two with Giansiracusa and tumbling a kick in, Mitch Hahn gathered and snaggled a great goal. The Bullies were only 16 points behind now. The Saints missed three in-a-row before Hill coasted down the wing and passed to Hudson 35m out, Hudson's kick was a shocker but from it Griffen won a free and booted a goal. The difference was 12 points but Adam Schneider gave the Saints some late relief, snapping a sausage from a goal-mouth scramble. Saints by 3 goals at half-time.
The new pattern continued into the third term. Wight hit the post with a free-kick, Bulldog Ryan Hargrave recovered the Saint kick-in and drove it back in. Mitch Hahn had a free when Hudghton slapped his arms in the marking contest, Hahn majored. A minute later Josh Hill kicked a great goal, he found space for a run through midfield and drilled a pass towards leading Welsh. The spearhead couldn't mark but Hill sprinted on to recover the crumb, weave past potential tacklers and steer it through. The Bulldogs went ahead with the next goal, Murphy kicked long, Hahn roved the goalmouth contest and handballed for Akermanis to slot it through from a tight angle. The Dogs led for the first time, by a point and they were rolling. Dale Morris affected a great spoil on Riewoldt at half-back and the ball was swept downfield by the Bullies with a terrific running, handballing move, completed by a running goal for Wight. At the restart junior Saint Jarryn Geary had a free and a 50m penalty, but missed the simple shot at goal. The Stainers couldn't afford that. Soon the Dogs were attacking again, Giansiracusa passing for Akermanis to mark on a wide lead. Aker shaped to centre with a pass before nonchalantly slotting from the skinny angle. Wight and Giansiracusa missed shots as the Bulldogs expanded their lead to 14 points. The Saints broke the run at last, Gehrig marked on a long lead and kicked to the 'square, overexcited Hill clambered all over Luke Ball before the pill arrived and Ball free-kicked a goal. The Dogs led by 8 points as West and Cooney limped off for attention, but they were okay. The game slowed prior to the final break, the Bullies led by 7 points so the Sainters were still in it. But they weren't playing anywhere near well enough. Footyscray quickly expanded their lead in the final stanza, Welsh marked on a lead and handballed off to Dylan Addison, he lobbed a kick for sliding Akermanis to mark and kick truly. A minute later 'Guido' Giansiracusa's free-kick initiated a series of circular passing, completed by Brad Johnson's pass for Cooney to mark and punt for a sausage. The Dogs led by 19 points now. At the next centre-bounce Sinkilda veteran Robert Harvey punted 'em into attack, the Sherrin spilled from the contest and roving Ball snaggled a major. The Sainters were still there, 13 points in arrears but the Pups slammed the door now. Jarrod Harbrow grabbed the ball from a throw-in and his grubber kick just trickled through for a major. Big Will Minson punted long and Welsh clutched a strong goal-square mark, he popped it through. Then Ryan Griffen drilled one following some classy roving, Griffen and Daniel Cross combined to clear the restart and Cooney steered a running kick for full points. Four quick goals and the Bullies had jumped 38 points ahead, it was over now and the game slowed down. Gram kicked a goal for the Saints to complete a good end-to-end move, the first pressure-free play the Saints had experienced since quarter-time. Doggy ruckman Ben Hudson won a free at the following centre-bounce, his kick was marked by Hahn who booted a major. Goals to big men Koschitzke and Minson completed the scoring, Minson very much enjoying his slot from the boundary-line.
The Bulldogs were lifted on-the-ball by Adam Cooney (28 disposals, 2 goals) and Daniel Cross (27 possessions), with a great game from the very talented Ryan Griffen (25 touches, 3 goals). Across half-forward, Daniel Giansiracusa (25 handlings, 8 marks) and Robert Murphy (18 touches, 9 marks, a goal) played well and Josh Hill (18 possies, 11 marks, 2 goals) showed his skill again, with Jason Akermanis (19 disposals, 6 marks, 3 goals) making a telling contribution. Dale Morris did a great job on Riewoldt and Scott West (21 touches) was busy. Perhaps the best aspect for the Dogs was they kicked 19 goals with none coming from Brad Johnson. Mitch Hahn bagged 3 and there were 2 goals for Jarrod Harbrow. Best for the Saints were Nick Dal Santo (20 disposals) and hard-running backman Sam Fisher (21 possies). Aaron Fiora (13 disposals) found some space and some run was provided by Jason Gram (20 touches, a goal) and Leigh Montagna (also 20 possies, a goal). Luke Ball (15 handlings, 2 goals) was okay in patches. Justin Koschitzke (5 marks, 10 disposals, 3 goals) started superbly but disappeared after quarter-time, as did Nick Riewoldt (2 goals). Stephen Milne bagged 2 goals. Ross Lyon was unhappy with his midfielders. "After quarter time we were obliterated in the midfield at clearances and ground ball," Lyon said. "It's an annihilation in the contest through the midfield. Games are won and lost in the midfield. We knew they (Bulldogs) would improve at the contested ball, we knew they'd improve at the clearances and we knew that if you don't man them up when they win it, they score heavily. We fell down in the three basics - contest, pressure and use." 'Rocket' Eade, who'd turned 50 during the week, loved the turnaround after quarter-time. "In all three games we've shown a resolve to be able to keep working for the whole game," Eade said. "[Tonight] was a good win because it was against good opposition. They've had the wood on us through probably height and physicality at times and I think to be able to answer that challenge and match them in a lot of areas was pleasing. I didn't think it was doom and gloom at quarter time because there is a pretty strong resolve within the group and I was confident about that. I thought our effort was reasonable early but we missed some targets and our execution going inside 50 turned it over. It wasn't me that turned them around. Full credit to the players."
At Docklands:
North Melbourne 4.6 7.7 12.8 13.8.86
Hawthorn 1.3 7.5 9.9 15.12.102
Norf attempted a man-on-man approach against the free-running Hawks, a physically draining strategy which saw them tire badly in the last quarter-hour and get overrun. Disappointing for them but yer Awk fan would see it as a measure of revenge, given the Hawks' abject failure against the Ruse in the finals last year. And Horforn were down to 19 men by the early final quarter. The major Hawk problem continues to be discipline, something you feel the better sides will exploit. Jordan Lewis, playing his first game since being reported in and suspended from that final against North, will almost certainly be rubbed out again after punching Daniel Pratt in the stomach here. The primary qualification for 'leadership' at Horforn seems to be a willingness to dong blokes. Apropos of nothing, after this game Roo coach Dean Laidley accused the umpires of 'inappropriate conduct' towards his players. He wouldn't go further than that in the press conference so umps' boss Jeff Gieschen demanded Roo football manager Donald McDonald sit through the video of entire game that night, 'til 2AM, and point out the relevant incidents. Next day Laidley withdrew any complaint and apologized. In selection Lewis replaced injured Stuart Dew (hamstring) for the Hawks. No change for the Kangas.
The Ruse started very well with the tough on-ball crew in charge. Adam Simpson kept Sam Mitchell out of it, Brent Harvey and Daniel Wells went well and Drew Petrie played loose across half-back to antagonize the Hawks' big forwards. The Hawks had Thomas Murphy line up on Norf forward Corey Jones. The Ruse cleared the opening bounce through Daniel Harris and Harvey, Lindsay Thomas stabbed a pass for unopposed Leigh Brown to mark and boot a goal. A bit later Wells used a free and 50m penalty to find Nathan Thompson on the lead, the big man majored and Norf had an early 12-point lead. Lance 'Buddy' Franklin got the Hawks going, booting a 50m sausage after marking Chance Bateman's pass. The Kangers had Josh Gibson on Franklin. A few misses each before Hawk Clint Young's hospital handpass turned over possession, 'Lethal' Leigh Harding lobbed a kick for Jones to outmark Murphy and boot a goal. At the restart Jones ran in to contest the ball and had Murphy dive on him; a free and 50m penalty as Murphy whinged about it, Jones booted another and the Ruse led by 17 points. The Kangers were going very well at this point as the Hawks' primary ball-getters were shut out. Norf men Nathan Thompson, Lindsay Thomas, Harvey and Leigh Brown all missed shots late in the stanza, before Orc Lewis biffed Pratt and was reported for it. He should go. Early in the second term Roo Shannon Watt, playing on Roughead, marked strongly at half-back and initiated a rebound via Thomas and Harvey to Grant, alone 30m from goal. Grant converted, North led by 27 points. The Hawks broke the run, a rare running move completed by Michael Osborne's major. But Harvey won the following centre-clearance, Grant marked and handballed over the top to David Hale for a goal-square tap-through. The Hawks started to get going as Brad Sewell and Lewis got some possession, Lewis kicked long and Lance Franklin won a free as opponent Josh Gibson pulled him back, Franklin majored. Another Harvey centre-clearance brought the reply, Aaron Edwards snapping a goal for the Ruse. They led by 26 points but the Orcs were running now. A string of handballs from a throw-in ended with Franklin walloping it through from 50m, a great kick. A minute later Tim Boyle had a kick smothered but he recovered the ball, handpassed to Mitchell who set up a goal for Osborne. Luke Hodge, beginning to assert himself, missed following a good mark. Soon the Hawks took a kick-in end-to-end, Rick Ladson speared a pass for leading Roughead to mark and thump through from the flank. The Kangers' lead had been reduced to 8 points and they played some tempo football, slowing it down in the shadow of half-time. But in the dying seconds a good switch of play allowed Grant Birchall to find Roughead alone, 50m out. He played-on and booted a major, cutting the Roo lead to 2 points at the long break.
The Hork momentum continued into the early third, Luke Hodge bagging a goal to put them in front. But the Ruse roused themselves, winning the subsequent centre-clearance and roving Grant set up a goal for Matt Campbell. Then Hamish McIntosh held a good grab out wide and punted long to the 'square, it went over the pack and a wayward handpass from some Hork I didn't pick up was snaffled by Rawlings, he poached a sausage. The Hawk leader Hodge dumped Wells after the latter kicked downfield, from the resultant free-kick Jones punted truly. Another Kanga centre-bounce win followed and a handpass from Campbell saw Thomas thunder a long major. Four unanswered goals from the Roos and they led by 19 points. Roughead missed a sitter and Hawk runner Cameron Stokes departed with a leg injury as the Horks bumbled along. Then a bit of class from Cyril Rioli to work some space for himself led to a mark and goal for Brad Sewell. Franklin and Thompson missed shots for their respective sides and Hawk Murphy went off after being kneed in the temple by a flying Thompson. Murphy was probably okay but as he departed directly rather than via the interchange, his afternoon was over. Late in the term a Hawk turnover led to a goal-square blast-through for Grant and the Kangers were still in control at the final change, leading by 17 points. But there were some tired lads in their huddle. The Hawks weren't exactly in good shape either, with Stokes and Murphy off for the duration and they lost Boyle early in the final term, clobbered by team-mate Franklin in a marking contest. The Hawks were allowed a break shortly, lumbering Simon Taylor given an age to get rid of the ball when tackled; Franklin was pushed in the resulting marking contest by Gibson and free-kicked a goal. Soon Franklin had another chance, created by a good switch and Hodge's pass. But Buddy missed. A bit later Hale barreled through Roughead at a throw-in and Roughead free-kicked a goal. Norf were just 3 points ahead now and were barely moving, only Brent Harvey seemed to have the reserves to battle on. Harvey set up a possibly steadying goal for the Kangers, playing on after a mark and centering a kick which spilled from Thompson's contest, roving Leigh Brown snapped it through. But the Orcs answered quickly, a major for Osborne. Time was becoming a factor but Horforn rattled home. Rioli missed a shot before Taylor pounced on a loose Roo handball and gave the ball to Rioli, on to Franklin who weaved a bit and booted truly, putting the Hawks 4 points ahead. A minute later Sewell roved a throw-in and kicked for Hodge to mark strongly in front of Franklin, Hodge kicked quickly to the opposite pocket, Roughead marked and converted. Then Travis Tuck held a good grab and released Sewell, as his long kick came in Lewis shoved Roo Michael Firrito right in the back, marked and played-on to stab it through. The lack of a whistle was harsh but inconsequential, the Orcs were home.
The ball-winning ability of Brad Sewell (34 touches, 11 marks, a goal) and Jordan Lewis (31 disposals, 10 marks, a goal) propelled the Hawk fight-back, as did Luke Hodge (17 touches, a goal) escaping Rawlings's tag. Wingman Chance Bateman (25 possies) was good and, although he had an average day against Gibson, Lance Franklin (14 possies, 4 marks) still bagged 5 goals. And missed 4 times. Jarryd Roughead (10 marks, 13 disposals, 4 goals) was also good in attack and Michael Osborne (16 touches, 9 marks, 3 goals) is making himself useful. Defender Stephen Gilham (17 disposals) did well on big opponent Nathan Thompson, although the Norf man doesn't seem fit. Norf were led by the never-say-die Brent Harvey (27 disposals, 8 marks), with Corey Jones (14 touches, 3 marks, 3 goals) again a useful forward. Adam Simpson (22 handlings) did well on Sam Mitchell and Brady Rawlings (12 touches, a goal) was quite good on Luke Hodge. Leigh Brown (14 disposals, 2 goals) did a little bit in attack and Daniel Pratt (18 possies, 8 marks) was okay. Shannon Grant kicked 2 goals. Laidley's redundant accusations against the umpires aside, he did comment on the actual game. "I take my hat off to our boys because I thought they were terrific today," he said. "When you get to games like this and - probably even early in the last quarter where you don't get a bit of luck - and in the end that's the scoreline. It's gut wrenching to lose and they (the players) were pretty downtrodden after the game . . . unfortunately we didn't get ('the luck') today and they probably got a bit of luck. But, I thought their endeavour and their attack on the football was very, very good. At the end of the day that's all you can ask." Eh? Hawk coach Al Clarkson said "That was a real character-building win. We had a lot of sore boys with corkies and it was just a very, very physical game. The Kangaroos are a very, very physical side. They hit us with everything in the first quarter and to the credit of our guys, we regrouped at quarter-time and were able to offer a much better contest in the next three quarters." He went on to single out Franklin, Roughead, Sewell and Lewis for praise.
At Subiaco:
West Coast 3.5 5.9 8.10 10.13.73
Fremantle 3.2 8.5 10.8 12.15.87
Strange, sluggish and mistake-riddled game played at an excruciatingly slow pace. Like a European art movie with long, pointless pauses in between leaden, dubbed dialogue. The Dockers won in the end due to making fewer errors and because they had the only effective forward on the ground, Matthew Pavlich. A Wiggle fan might argue their junior Ben McKinley was very good, he was and might've been more effective if the Weegs could've got the ball to him more often. The heat was on the underperforming Weegs before this game and it won't let up now, they've been ordinary so far. Coming in 0-2, the Dokeraters had to win and they did. The Weegs made two changes to the side thrashed by the Camrys last week, Jaymie Graham and junior Chris Masten were dropped and replaced by McKinley and another first-gamer, Scott Selwood of the famous Sandhurst clan, debuting in a side containing older brother Adam. The Dockers made four changes to the side beaten by the Hawks, Luke McPharlin (hip), Chris Tarrant (back) and Garrick Ibbotson (infected grass burn) missed injured although you suspect Taz's 'injury' was face-saving. Then again, they weren't coy about Ibbotson's. Adam Campbell was dropped, replacements were Heath Black, Paul Duffield, Ryan Murphy and ruckman Robert Warnock.
The conditions didn't help the standard. Perth had been subject to a biblical deluge in the hours before the game, 100mm of rain in six hours or something. The sandy-based Subiaco drained well but the surface was very greasy and the atmosphere thick and humid, contributing to the game's glacial pace. Heavy usage of the interchange bench, subject of recent debate throughout the leeg, was practiced by both teams. The Wigglers started very well though, Dean 'Big' Cox tapped the opening bounce to Daniel Kerr, he ran clear and handballed to David Wirrpanda, he dodged traffic and slotted a very good goal. A minute later Wirrpanda marked on a long lead, played-on quickly and found Quinten Lynch on-the-lead. Lynch thumped it home from 50m and the Eegs led by 12 points. If only they'd kept playing that way. Soon a more typical Weeg pattern took hold, slow ball-movement littered with disposal errors. Harshly, junior Scott Selwood's first kick was a telegraphed pass off half-back, intercepted by Des Headland who ran on and booted Freo's first goal. Another Weeg mistake led to a major for Dokker Ryan Crowley. Soon Jeff 'Wiz' Farmer marked on a lead and switched flanks with a quick kick; in plenty of space, David Mundy played-on and drilled a major, the Dockers led by 5 points. The Eegs were even getting in each other's way; trying to shepherd for Cox, Wirrpanda clashed shins with the big man, sending Cox to the bench for a while. The umps helped the Eegs out, Matthew Priddis marking 70m out and awarded a soft 50m penalty for mark-encroachment. Priddis converted and the Eegs led by a point again. They attacked for a bit, but only managed rushed behinds and McKinley missed after marking on a lead. Freo giant Aaron Sandilands dropped an uncontested mark 20m out late in the term. Freo took hold of the game in the second korter though, powered by Pavlich. Early on Pavlich marked on the wing, played-on with a couple of bounces and launched a long punt which bounced through for a great sausage. A minute later leading Pavlich spilled Farmer's pass but trailing opponent Glass slipped over, allowing Pav to collect the ball, run clear with a bounce and slot it through. Murphy postered with a free-kick before a poor pass by Weeg Chad Fletcher turned over possession again, Dockerator Warnock passed for leading Pavlich to mark and boot another goal. Three in-a-row from Pavlich had the Dokkers 16 points ahead, aided by regular Weevil turnovers. On they went, Sandilands plucked the ball from a throw-in and wobbled a punt to the goalsquare, roving Pavlich handballed for Peter Bell to snap it through. Weeg spearhead Lynch dropped a goal-square mark to groans from the 'home' supporters, the Weegs managed a few desultory rushed behinds before Shocker Mundy's switching kick found junior Rhys Palmer in space, he passed for leading Farmer to mark and convert. Misses from Pavlich and Sandilands saw the Dockerz leading by a healthy 27 points, the Eegs goal-less in the quarter. McKinley came to his side's rescue late in the stanza, he led to mark Priddis's pass and boot a great goal from just inside 50m. A minute later Cox marked on a flank and launched a ridiculously high centering kick, typical of the Eegs' lack of confidence. McKinley collected the pack-spillage and snapped truly seconds before the siren, the Freo lead was reduced to 14 points at the long break.
The Dockulators picked up where they'd left off in the early third. Headland missed following a strong pack-mark before Farmer bagged a goal, leading into the pocket to accept Chris Mayne's pass. Freo led by 21 points. Solidly-built Weegle Shannon Hurn did some unusual things for his side, firstly he ran with the ball, secondly he decided to bypass his impotent forwards and thunder a huge kick for a sausage roll. Pavlich responded for the Shockers, he gathered a loose ball, exchanged handpasses with Bell and then was tripped by Fletcher and, on the way down, ridden into the ground by Glass. Two free-kicks then, although biased Eagle-loving commentators Tim 'Goose' Gossage and Glen Jakovich didn't see it that way. Pavlich booted a goal from the free(s). The Eegs clung on, rugby-mauling the ball forward until junior Brad Ebert managed a snap. It missed, but Ebert was slung to the ground afterwards by Black and was awarded another shot, Ebert punted truly this time. More slow play, the Dockers determined not to make a disposal error were chipping the ball sideways and backwards, the Eegle players, apart from Kerr and Priddis, seemed disinclined to run anywhere. McKinley made a late intervention again, he led to grab Mark Seaby's pass 50m out and, realizing his opponent was unlikely defender Farmer, dummied, played-on and speared a terrific major. The Eegs were 10 points down at the final change. They had an air of urgency in the final term but didn't play a whole lot better. Freo projected a mixture of calmness and tiredness. Beau Waters bagged an early goal for the Eagles, firing their supporters a bit. But they couldn't press the momentum with Lynch, Brent Staker and Hurn all seeing long bombs fade through for behinds. The Dockers also had a couple of behinds, the Eegs trailed by 6 points when Dokka Crowley managed a good, long run through the centre and kicked long, Pavlich leaped and rode Adam Hunter for classical speccie in the goal-mouth. Pav booted truly and Freo led by 12 points. Hunter was hurt in that and departed. The Eegs replied as Ashley Hansen led out wide for a mark and centered a kick to unopposed Lynch, he marked and then had a 50m penalty as McKinley was pushed over in the goal-square. Lynch majored, cutting the Freo lead to 7 points. This was just prior to time-on and the Dockers began to run the clock down. They forced the ball around the boundary-line with a series of throw-ins; from one in the forward-pocket, Sandilands grabbed the ball and his quick, wobbly snap sailed through for a goal. Sandilands did appear to shove Cox heftily under the ball, but it went unpenalised. The Dokkers led by 13 points with 2:40 left and they hung on comfortably, the game's final highlight a desperate, surging Kerr being run down in a terrific chase by Heath Black.
No question about the BOG and Glendinning Medallist, Matthew Pavlich with his 5 goals from 5 marks and 14 disposals. Young rover Rhys Palmer (24 touches) impressed again and his 'twin' Byron Schammer (22 handlings, 6 marks) was good. The backline was very tight, led by rebounding Roger Hayden (19 possies, 6 marks) and lanky Michael Johnson (24 disposals). David Mundy (25 handlings, a goal) was a useful runner and Jeff 'Wiz' Farmer (9 touches, 2 goals) worked hard, he pointed out those goals he kicked to the crowd. Once again the Eegs' best were the hard-working on-ballers in Matthew Priddis (28 disposals, a goal), Daniel Kerr (33 touches) and Dean 'Big' Cox (22 possies, 7 marks). Ben McKinley (13 touches, 3 marks, 3 goals) gave the only signs of life in attack and Brent Staker (22 possies, 10 marks), playing in defence so far this season, was alright. David Wirrpanda (14 handlings, a goal) played most of this one from his customary back-pocket and was good. Quinten Lynch kicked 2 goals. Coach 'Jolly' John Worsfold remained bullish as his side stared at mediocrity without Judd and Cousins. "We can still beat anybody," he said. How about the Swans in Sydney next week? "I can't wait - bring it on. Why wouldn't you want to play AFL footy? These guys have got the chance to front up and play against Sydney next week in a game of AFL footy, and that's what they do. They love it." What about today, then? "We'd work back and we'd close the gap down, they'd stretch it by a goal or two and we'd peg that back, and got ourselves a chance to win the game, but weren't good enough in the end to get over the top of them. In a 15-minute period in that second quarter they kicked five goals, and that was the game well and truly. That's what cost us at the start of that second quarter – we went forward and turned the ball over and they got easy rebound goals on us. At least three of those five goals were just from our errors going forward." Freo man Mark Harvey had a swipe at the rivals. "The derby always has a finals type build-up and it just puts enormous external pressure on everyone. West Coast had brought up a lot of things during the course of the week about where they were at and there were a lot of distractions and a lot of sideshows leading into the game. Publicly, no-one said anything from our club. It's how you handle it internally that matters the most and we had to remain confident about what we were doing. And it was that sort of behaviour that we had behind the scenes about how to beat West Coast . . . I thought the group really did everyone proud with the way they went about the game and continually fought off West Coast challenges. What was more important from a team aspect was to see some of our younger players and mid-range players have big influences on the result of the game."
At the Gabba:
Brisbane 1.2 5.4 7.7 10.11.71
Sydney 3.3 7.4 10.6 13.10.88
The Bloods extended a lengthy winning streak over Brisbun, stretching back to 2004 now. The Swans have made an uncharacteristically good start to the season, with Barry Hall and Michael O'Loughlin in fine form up forward and the emergence of youngsters Jarred Moore and Craig Bird an unexpected bonus. Brisbun lost here because they couldn't get the ball and Leigh Matthews again bemoaned the inability of anyone apart from Brown or Bradshaw to kick goals. The days of Aker and Craig McRae snapping at the heels of the big men are gorn. Rhan Hooper needs to lift. The Lyin's made one change in selection, Robert Copeland returning to replace Josh Drummond (thigh strain). No change for the Swans.
The Swans got moving early, Adam Goodes being a lot busier than recently with Ryan O'Keefe and Luke Ablett also about. Barry Hall was keen too, after a cagey opening Hall exchanged handballs with O'Keefe and wound up for a shot, only to see his kick smothered but Marty Mattner gathered the loose ball and gave it back to O'Keefe, who punted a long goal. Soon O'Loughlin goaled, doubling back to mark Ted Richards's pot-shot on the point-line. Generally the Swans sat back and waited for the inevitable Lyin' error, then hit 'em on the rebound. Siddey led by 14 points before the Brians managed a goal, 'Lachie' Henderson (as he prefers to be called) marked on the wing and received a 50m penalty when bundled over by late-arriving Leo Barry. Henderson majored. But the Swans had another before the first break, Hall converting from a mark on-the-lead. Into the second Mario and the Swans cruised clear, O'Loughlin bagged a second after marking Jarrad McVeigh's pass in the pocket, then McVeigh kicked a sausage himself after collecting Heath Grundy's centering kick. The Swans led by 25 points and the Brians hadn't looked like scoring a goal, moving forward slowly and with much sloppiness. Daniel Bradshaw came to the rescue with consecutive majors, the first a goal-square free-kick for holding against Barry, the next a great kick from wide on the flank after marking Brown's pass. Speaking of the big JB, he had his hands full with Craig 'The Tunneller' Bolton but soon Brown booted a major, with an emphatic grab of Travis Johnstone's perfectly-weighted kick. Three consecutive goals for the Lyin's and they'd cut the deficit to 7 points. A Bradshaw miss made it a goal exactly, before Brett 'Captain' Kirk snaggled one for the Swans after great work from Jolly and McVeigh at a throw-in, although the ball was clearly out-of-bounds as McVeigh struggled to pick it up. Bradshaw responded with his third goal for the quarter, dropping behind Barry to mark Justin Sherman's long kick and pop it through. But late in the piece Jarred Moore kicked a goal for the Swans, marking Ablett's kick deep in the pocket and threading it through. Siddley by 12 points at half-time.
The Swans again soaked pressure and managed to do the scoring in the early third. McVeigh was involved in a move from a kick-in, then sprinted forward to get on the end of Goodes's pass and punt a major. You don't see many Brisbun players doing that. The ball was congested between the half-back lines for a while before Moore kicked a terrific goal for Siddey. Tadhg Kennelly's smart, switching run and long kick dropped the ball in front of Moore, he tapped it on to Bird, ran on to receive Bird's handpass, race inside 50 and thunder a great goal. Moore enjoyed it and why not? Swans well in control now, leading by 23 points. Again Bradshaw helped the Lyin's out, Anthony Corrie got the ball on the wing, ran afield and drove a long kick for Bradshaw to mark uncontested, he steered it through. A bit later Tim Notting scooped Albert Proud's underhit pass and thumped a very good punt for full points, the Lyin's hung about 10 points in arrears. But the Bloods had the final word for the quarter, O'Loughlin led well up the ground to mark Goodes's pass and boot long to Hall in the pocket, Bazza handballed for Amon Buchanan to poke a major. Swans by 17 points at the last change. Brisbun boxed on but you never felt they'd win. Slow start to the final term before Bradshaw collected the ball in a forward pocket and stabbed a pass inboard for Sherman to mark and convert. Ed Barlow answered promptly for the Bloods, handballs from Moore and Goodes set him up for a well-taken chance. A missed shot from Bradshaw and a coupla rushed behinds had the Lyin's hovering a tantalizing 16 points behind. But O'Keefe completed an end-to-end move by gathering Moore's long kick in the goal-square and stabbing a major, a few minutes later Hall converted from a mark 20m out and the Swans were home, leading by 29 points. Bradshaw and Henderson booted some consolation goals for the locals, both from good pack-marks which was something.
Early signs are good for the Swans, in addition to the old blokes, Jarrad McVeigh (25 disposals, 9 marks, 2 goals) is in golden form. Craig Bolton (21 touches, 10 marks) kept Jonathan Brown out of it and said old blokes, Ryan O'Keefe (27 possessions, 2 goals; he's not very old, actually), Adam Goodes (26 touches, 6 marks) and a widely-roaming Barry Hall (23 possies, 14 marks, 2 goals) were all very good. Brett Kirk (25 touches, a goal) quelled Simon Black and Tadhg Kennelly (24 disposals, 9 marks) is approaching his rebounding best. Michael O'Loughlin and Jarred Moore kicked 2 goals each. The papers reckon Jed Adcock (21 disposals, 7 marks) was Brisbun's best, I don't remember him getting a kick forward of the centre. Surely it's Daniel Bradshaw (9 marks, 13 kicks, 5 goals). The field's a bit thin thereon but ruckman Matthew Leuenberger (21 hit-outs, 12 disposals) impressed and Simon Black (16 touches) worked hard, rebounding Joel Macdonald (16 possies, 6 marks) was okay again and the Lyin's other ruckman, Jamie Charman (14 possies) wasn't bad. Luke Power, so good last week, was invisible this time, tagged out of it by Kieran Jack. Lachie Henderson kicked 2 goals. Matthews had a familiar lament. "Again we didn't have anyone to mop up in the forward line when ball went to ground. We just weren't able to generate enough goals up there, We had only five goalkickers on the night and kicked only 10 goals. The Swans kicked 13.11, which isn't a massive score, but we couldn't even match that." Lethal was impressed by an opposition forward. "Barry Hall was fantastic, probably the best player on the ground. He didn't put the goals on the board but he had 14 marks and was just that really good running centre-half-forward. Their good players played well, better than ours. Kirk, Goodes and Kennelly - all the usual suspects, we couldn't stop them doing what they do well." Paul Roos said "I was really pleased. I thought both teams were switched on from the start and they (the Lions) came at us a few times, and the crowd starts roaring and it's a hard place to play so you take that win every day of the week. I thought our guys were hard at it, in-and-under and we gave our forwards enough chances to kick a score. They came at us a number of times so to steady and get back to two or three goals in front most of the night was pretty impressive." He went on to praise juniors Barlow, Moore and Bird.
At the MCG:
Essendon 6.4 11.8 17.11 23.12.150
Carlton 5.2 9.4 18.6 21.8.134
Entertaining but faintly ridiculous shootout. In the end it was decided by seven straight Essadun goals either side of three-quarter time, after a Fevola burst had given the Blues a sniff. Good for the Bommers to recover after their mauling at the hands of the Cats last week, I suppose. But Carlton equalled the dreaded 14-game losing streak last experienced by the club in 1901-2 and I wouldn't back them to avoid the record against the Pies next week, not even with your money. Brett Ratten's yet to taste victory, unless you count a NAB Cup game which he probably does. But even the unlamented Denis Pagan managed to win one now and then. In fact it's unclear exactly what Ratten is doing that's dissimilar to Pagan's crash-through-or-crash style. Anyway. In selection here the Bommers made four changes, Nathan Lovett-Murray and Courtenay Dempsey missed with leg injuries while Jason Johnson and Henry Slattery were dropped. In came Damien Peverill, Angus Monfries, Kyle Reimers and Andrew Lovett for his first game of the year. The Blues were excited over the debut of their no.1 draft pick from last year, ruckman / forward Matthew Kreuzer from Bundoora. Defender Michael Jamison returned, out dropped were Setanta O'hAilpin and Jake Edwards.
Goals rained through often, right from the start. Bloo Heath Scotland elbowed Monfries in the face before the opening bounce, from the resulting free Bomma Damien Peverill marked and goaled. Forwards Brendan Fevola and Brad Fisher replied for the Bluies. Fisher's goal was set up by Chris Judd passing to Fevola, Judd running on to receive a handball and kick long for Fisher to mark. Fevola and Judd were 'on' for the Blues, as was Nick Stevens who'd endured plenty of comment over his weight during the week. Apparently the St. Kilda blokes were calling him 'Strauchnie' last Saturday. Mark McVeigh and Andrew Lovett were busy for the Bombers. Alwyn Davey completed a good move to slot for Essadun and put them a point up, Eddie Betts snapped one for Carlton. Bomma Patrick Ryder, who'd started forward, led out to mark Matty Lloyd's pass and boot a long sausage. Dustin Fletcher set up the next goal for the Dons, taking a kick-in and then running afield for another kick onto the wing. Kyle Reimers accepted Laycock's handpass and booted a great, running goal. Dons by 7 points. Judd passed for leading Fevola to mark and convert for the next major and have yer Bloo fans dribbling. Adam Ramanauskas bagged the next for the Dons before the Blues became excited again, Judd and Betts combined to find Matthew Kreuzer alone, 35m out. He converted, first kick'n'all. A late goal for Angus Monfries, roving his own contest after great work from Leroy Jetta to send the ball long, had the Dons 8 points up at the first break. Young Don Sam Lonergan booted the first goal of the second trimestre, a free-kick against dopey Scotland, and the Dons led by 14 points. Nick Stevens responded with consecutive running, 50m goals for Carlton, both created by strong work and running from the lad Kreuzer, who was playing in the ruck at this point. Kreuzer then booted a major himself, roving a pack to snap it through. Channel Ten's Bloo-loving commentators Lane and Walls were gushing. The Bluesers by 3 points before a snappy Don rebound saw Jay Nash punt long, again Monfries roved Lloyd's contest and poached a major. An unusual scoring lull before Adam McPhee gathered the ball on the flank and centered a kick towards McVeigh, he gathered calmly and slotted a goal. A Lloyd miss had the Dons 10 points up, before a complicated interchange of handball from a throw-in eventually released Bloo Jordan Bannister for a goal. The Dons finished the half well though, Laycock and Jetta combined at a ball-up to release Andrew Lovett, who sped through the centre with a couple of bounces and thumped a great long goal - which he'd top later. Late in the term McVeigh added another, leading to mark Dyson's pass, and the Dons led by 16 points at half-time.
The third korter was dominated for a long way by Brendan Fevola. Big Fev had a goal in the first minute, accepting Marc Murphy's very short pass. Murph probably coulda kicked it himself. The Bummers restored their three-goal lead soon enough, Laycock booting a great set-shot home from wide on the flank. Judd bagged one for the Blooze, pouncing on a loose ball in the pocket to steer a major. Laycock punted the Bombouts forward from the restart, Alwyn Davey got the ball and handpassed for Lloyd to snap it through. Still the Dons by 16 points. Fevola kicked another for the Blooze, Stevens with the pass to his lead this time. A bit later Cloke and Murphy won the ball from a throw-in for the Bluies, Betts couldn't mark but he got a handball away for Judd to boot another major. The Bommer lead was 4 points. Lovett now produced the best goal in game which had lots of 'em. Scooping Fletcher's kick on the half-volley, he took off around the wing with a bounce, handballed inside to Jobe Watson, raced on to receive Watson's handpass and thump a superb running goal from the flank. Don fans roaring as their mob led by 10 points. But it preceded a good spell for Carlton, Richard Hadley snapped a goal from a ball-up in their forward-line and unattended Andrew Carrazzo punted truly from just inside 50, putting the Blues a point ahead. There followed two more goals for Fevola, the first soccered through as he doubled back on a long kick, the second a conventional lead-and-mark to a Stevens pass. The Blues led by 13 points, David Hille pulled one back for the Dons with a big goal-square grab but Fev was on fire now, he missed a shot before booting his fifth goal of the quarter, out-marking the hapless Mal Michael as Kreuzer's kick came in. Blues by 14 points at the 28:30 mark of the third. The Dons rallied now. Time enough for them to kick two goals before the final change, Lloyd booted a long captain's goal after marking Stanton's pass, then Lovett sped clear of a throw-in with a coupla bounces and kicked for unopposed McPhee to mark and convert after the siren. The Bloo lead was cut to a point at the final change and the Bommers put the game away with five unanswered goals to start the final stanza. McVeigh kicked the first with a tough grab of Stanton's long kick, then a 50m penalty for Nash and Ryder's long kick saw Lloyd mark strongly under pressure from Jamison and boot truly. A short-passing move against the rapidly tiring Blues ended with Winderlich chipping a pass to leading Lonergan, he majored. Bachar Houli converted a free-kick, after Fevola missed a shot McPhee led up to mark Peverill's pass, he in turn passed for leading Lloyd to mark and steer it home with some reverse-swing, out wide on the flank. Seven straight for the Dons and they led by 29 points now. The Blues boxed on, goals for Murphy and Bryce Gibbs cut the gap back to 17 points before McVeigh kicked one for the Dons, there was time for Fevola to bag his eighth goal before the siren sounded.
The Dons had some strength in depth that the Blues don't have. Mark McVeigh (26 disposals, 8 marks, 4 goals) was very good and the speed of Andrew Lovett (21 touches, 2 goals), plus his willingness to 'back himself', was important. Dustin Fletcher (21 possies, 6 marks) kept Brad Fisher very quiet and did a bit of rebounding as always. The Dons had more contributors in midfield, with Brent Stanton (19 disposals), Alwyn Davey (15 handlings, a goal) and ruckman David Hille (15 possies, 6 marks, 17 hit-outs, a goal) all prominent. Angus Monfries (12 touches, 2 goals) and Jason Winderlich (19 disposals) were alright too. Matty Lloyd struggled a bit against Jamison but still kicked 4 goals, Sam Lonergan bagged 2 goals. Bloo man Brendan Fevola (10 marks, 17 disposals, 8 goals) was probably the best player on the ground, he set up a few goals besides the eight he kicked. Chris Judd (32 disposals, 2 goals) played his best game to date for the Bluies and lively Eddie Betts (27 touches, 11 marks, a goal) is becoming a midfielder. Marc Murphy (23 possies, a goal) played well again and Nick Stevens (26 disposals, 2 goals) improved, although he's clearly overweight and faded after half-time. Bloo fans were excited by the debut performance of Matthew Kreuzer (16 disposals, 4 marks, 12 hit-outs, 2 goals), with reason. Ryan Houlihan (21 touches) was alright. Brett Ratten lamented the late third-term Don goals. "I think our ball movement and the way we played was a lot better, but there were patches through there where our pressure wasn't good enough and we just let goals slip through our fingers at critical times in the game. That can be demoralising for a team and with young players you need to grab your chances and hang on. If we had gone in [to the three-quarter time break] 19 points up it might have been a different mentality going into the last quarter for Essendon and for us." The record losing streak? "The Carlton football list from 2007 to 2008 has changed so I think the record, when you look at it, it involves people that weren't even here, so now we're looking at 2008 and it's not so much about 2007." Different coaches, too. Matthew Knights said "I didn't think defensively we were very sound tonight. I thought we were ordinary, and that's something we're going to have to work on as a group to make sure we're better with our defensive actions so we put a lot more pressure on . . . (But) to bounce back (from the Geelong game) and still have the confidence to come out and play hard and kick the amount of goals we did was a good sense that we're going to continue to evolve as a team and continue to develop our brand of footy. It was just great. We knew coming here tonight that Carlton was going to be hugely formidable and that Chris Judd and Nick Stevens are getting fitter by the week. I still said to the guys after the game, it's a good reward after three rounds to be two and one. We played the Kangaroos, who finished top four, Geelong won the premiership and Carlton is always tough. To be two and one after three is pleasing for the group."
At Kardinia Park:
Geelong 4.4 8.11 13.14 16.16.112
Melbourne 3.4 6.6 10.8 12.10.82
Folks patronized the Dees after this one, as Melbun weren't shredded, diced, fried and flushed as predicted by the bookies and everyone else. But these predicted massacres rarely eventuate and if you wagered heavily on the $1.70 at Melbourne losing by under 75 points, well done ($4.60 for the Cats winning by under 39.5, by the way). Maybe the Cats didn't go flat-out and the Dees altered their game-plan to incorporate a decent amount of flooding, and good on Dean Bailey or Chris Connolly or whoever ordered it. Flowing, fast, attacking plans are great if your side can actually enact them, if not, then it's okay to try and win the game another way. Or at least limit the damage. Could someone please tell Terry Wallace? The Catter side here welcomed in Max Rooke for his first game of the season to replace injured Ryan Gamble, a shame for Gamble as he's been in very good form in the early weeks, in a tough side to break into. The Deez made limited changes again although the return of tough defender Jared Rivers was a bonus, Chris Johnson and Austin Wonaeamirri were also selected, rookie-listed small forward Wonaeamirri from the NT via Norwood making his AFL debut. Outgoing Dees were Isack Weetra, Jace Bode and Simon Buckley.
The Cats unfurled their premiership flag beforehand, this being their first true home game of 2008. It'll fly high from dawn to dark, down at etc. The game was a sell-out for many weeks in advance, further limiting what was already guaranteed a modest Melbun crowd. As in their first two games the Dees gave some early cheek. Cameron Bruce has been one of the heavily-criticized Melbun leaders but he's been given defensive 'stopper' roles so far by Bailey and had another here, on Steve Johnson. But Bruce ran off Johnson early and was involved three times in an end-to-end move, prior to snapping the opening goal. Soon enough some Dee errors gave the Cats a chance but Cam Mooney obliged them by managing to snap out-on-the-full from inside the goal-square. Mooney missed a set shot a minute later and Melbun attacked from the kick-in, Cale Morton's centering kick found James 'Junior' McDonald and he jabbed a pass to Paul Wheatley on the 50m line. Long-kickin' Wheatley thumped it home. A bit later thunder-thighed Cat Josh Hunt was caught in possession and some Dee handballs set up David Neitz for a major. You could've heard a pin drop at the sold-out Cattery as the Deez led by 17 points, 3.2 to a point. Soon Neitz marked on a lead but his shot hooked wide and the Catz swept downfield from the kick-in, a slick James Kelly handpass set up Cameron Ling for a running goal. The Deez worked and tackled hard to hold out the premiers for a while, before a terrible Nathan Jones clanger to Jimmy Bartel resulted in a goal for Gary Ablett. Big ticker but small brain, the Jones lad. A bit later Rooke, sporting a beard which makes Fraser Gehrig look like a bank manager, punted forward and Dee full-back Nathan 'Cougar' Carroll tried to force a behind, but all he did was tap the ball into the path of Cat Tom Hawkins, who poked it through to level the scores. Melbun forward Russ Robertson marked on a lead but postered. The Cats attacked again and Wheatley's smothered kick was gathered by Shannon Byrnes, his tumbled kick was collected by Mathew Stokes who slotted a major. Cat fans relaxed a bit as their lads led by 6 points at quarter-time. Dee fans had that familiar feeling early in the second term. Cat Paul Chapman did one of those annoying ducking/shoulder-rolling maneuvers at a throw-in and won a free for a high tackle, he kicked long and Hawkins roved his own goal-square contest for a major. Mooney missed again, a poster, but a poor Demun kick-in led to a goal for Ablett. A minute later Steve Johnson gathered a loose ball and handballed to ruckman Mark Blake, who punted a great, long goal. The Cats led by 25 points now and had scored seven straight goals, after the Dees kicked the first three. The Dees switched to flooding, with big men Jeff White and Paul Johnson both dropping back. And it sort-of worked, aided by some Cat misses including another from Mooney. After a while Brock McLean punted the Dees forward from a throw-in and Bruce, lurking forward again, out-marked Steve Johnson and booted a goal. Paul Johnson wobbled a kick forward from the restart, Colin Sylvia gathered and passed for leading Brad Miller to mark and punt truly. The Demons were still there, 15 points down. A few misses each before Bruce was again involved in an attacking Demun move and Morton's wobbly into-the-wind punt dropped for Lynden Dunn to mark and convert, the Dees were only 10 points down. The Catters replied directly from the restart, Chapman soccered the ball forward and Milburn gathered and handpassed for Steve Johnson to steer it home. The Cats led by 17 points at half-time.
Melbun continued to give cheek into the third term, with another goal for Dunn inside the first minute, accepting Neitz's handpass and snapping it through from close range. The Cats replied quickly, Ablett punting long and Hawkins again bullocked in the goal-square to poke it through. Then the Cats advanced from a kick-in, Milburn took the kick-in and within a minute appeared at the other end of the ground to clutch a good mark of Stokes's wobbly kick and boot a goal. Cats by 22 points but the Dees kept battling, in fact they scored the next three goals. Jeff White marked in the centre and handballs sent the agget wide to running Morton, he lobbed a wind-assisted punt home from just inside 50. White himself then bagged a goal thanks to a 50m penalty, then Morton toe-snapped another after gathering Robertson's scrappy punt. The Dees were only 5 points down at this stage and again the locals were restless. Ablett missed a couple of shots before a late Jahlong goal-burst. Mooney marked on a long lead, swapped handballs with Chapman and kicked long to find Ling unopposed in the pocket, 'Cling' popped it through. Mooney also had a hand in the next goal, although it was mostly the effort of Hawkins with a terrific one-handed mark in a pack which emphasized his strength. Move over Jonathan Brown. Hawkins converted and a minute later Mooney finally got on the board, poking it through from 20m out. The Cats had cleared out to a 24-point lead at the last change. Dee Cameron Bruce bagged his third goal early in the final stanza, following some panicky dither in the centre Daniel Bell kicked long, the ball came to Robbo and from his punt Bruce won a free close-in. Lingering thoughts of an upset were extinguished though, Mooney marked Jimmy Bartel's kick and converted again, a few minutes later Chapman curled a snap which sure-as-hell looked like it missed on TV, but the goal-ump signaled a six-pointer. Hawkins extended the Catter lead to 36 points with a kick walloped through from 55m and it were all over, Brad Green bagged a consolation goal for the plucky Dees.
Biggest talking-point for yer Cats would've been Tom Hawkins with 5 goals from 15 disposals and 4 marks, even if he did jab three of 'em through from goal-mouth mayhem. Upfield Joel Corey (34 disposals) and Paul Chapman (29 touches, 8 marks, a goal) were best of a scrappy midfield, Gary Ablett (29 possies, a goal) was quite good too. Plenty of drive came from the back, through Tom Harley (19 disposals, 14 marks) and Matthew Scarlett (20 possessions), who kept respective opponents Robertson and Neitz to one goal between 'em. Josh Hunt (23 handlings) and Cameron Ling (26 disposals, 2 goals) were quite good too, Steve Johnson kicked 2 goals. Melbun's Cameron Bruce (19 disposals, 3 goals) bounced back to some attacking form and there were good efforts from Brock McLean (30 possies, 9 marks), also a bit quiet prior to this, and junior Cale Morton (22 touches, 2 goals). Nathan Jones (21 disposals) worked hard again and Austin Wonaeamirri (16 possessions) was energetic and threatening on debut. Needs a touch of composure. Brad Green (23 touches, 11 marks, a goal) was okay and Jeff White (25 disposals, 10 marks, a goal) racked up the stats again, but was also useful. Lynden Dunn bagged 2 goals. Dean Bailey projected the correct attitude, but must've been relieved. "We asked for being competitive and we were a little bit more competitive today, but we still lost," Bailey said. "Our decision-making at times is still not at a sufficient level, so we'll keep working on that and a couple of times our skills probably let us down again, but it was probably more the decision that we had to make when we had the ball, but we lost - we lost by 30 points - so it's still a loss. We lost the game by five goals, so we lost the game and there were some good things to come out of the game, but we still lost." Bomber Thompson called it a good hit-out or something. "It was an honest game. Melbourne came to play and they were really physical and hard . . . we were hoping to get over them a bit earlier, it didn't happen but in the end we've got the four points. We've won four quarters of footy and we've worked a few things out as the day went on and we'll be happy to move on to next week."
At the MCG:
Richmond 1.1 4.5 9.10 11.12.78
Collingwood 5.2 11.7 15.9 18.14.122
It's easy to beat the Tiges and their ridiculous game-plan. Simply sit across half-back and wait for them to bomb it to static, out-numbered Richo. As Plough demands his Tiges move the ball through the corridor with running handball, when they do turn it over half the Richmun players are standing in bunch just forward of the centre, meaning all the opposition blokes are completely free all over the field. They can just casually swing it down the other end and kick some goals. At least the good sides can, like the Magpoise. The game was over at quarter-time and even more so by half-time, before Plough set his side up properly and Richmun managed some belated but irrelevant pressure. As Wallace promised the Tiggers made some changes in selection, Dean Polo, Cleve Hughes and Chris Hyde were dropped while Andrew Raines'll be out for a few weeks with a dislocated kneecap. Replacements were captain Kane Johnson, back from self-imposed suspension, Greg Tivendale, Matt White and Mitch Morton from the Eagles, making his Tiger debut. Two changes to the Poi side beaten by Brisbun, Tyson Goldsack was out with his smashed nose and Chris Egan was dumped, in came Alan Toovey and debutant John Anthony, a tall defender from Diamond Creek in the rugged Diamond Valley league.
Just how poor the Tiges are was brought home by the fact Paul 'Megastar/Steak Knives' Medhurst was about the Poise best player. Jeez. Medhurst led up to mark and create the first goal, passing for leading Anthony Rocca to mark and convert. The Tiges cleared the restart and Dan Jackson's lobbed kick was marked by Kayne Pettifer, who also got a 50m penalty for some reason, he goaled. But it was mostly one-way traffic as outlined above. The Toigs' best ball-winners and users, Nathan Foley and Brett Deledio, started deep in attack to avoid tags supposedly. They never saw the ball. The Pies had a second goal when ruckman Cameron Wood tapped a throw-in to 'Neon' Leon Davis, he threaded it through. Medhurst did well to win the ball on the boundary and centre a kick towards Travis Cloke, he outmarked opponent Graham Polak and booted another. Alan 'Killer's Apprentice' Didak won a free and passed to the ubiquitous Medhurst again, he chipped a short pass for marauding defender Nick Maxwell to mark and convert. Another sluggish Tiger move broke down when Davis ran down Jackson with a great chase, Davis passed his resulting free to John Anthony in an ocean of space, Anthony played-on and dobbed a goal with a good kick, his career first. The Tiges were 26 points down and managed to avoid slipping further back prior to the first break, in fact Deledio snapped a behind. Huzzah! For the second term Foley and Deledio were put somewhere near the action and Jay Schulz was moved to CHB, on Cloke. It made little difference as Cloke kicked the first goal of the stanza, albeit from a rubbish free-kick. A square-up came as the Tiges managed the following centre-clearance and Shane Tuck's high kick spilled from the pack; the umps ignored Heath Shaw being clobbered and Matty Richardson snapped an unlikely sausage. The Tiges were 25 points down but at the subsequent restart Tivendale slipped over and missed Jackson's pass; Pie Ben Johnson pounced and kicked long to leading Medhurst, he marked and goaled. Poi ruckman Fraser won the next centre-clearance and punted the Poise forward, Tige Schulz was pinged for a throw and John Anthony kicked a goal with his second kick, too. A moment later Dale Thomas's great second-effort saw him win the ball on the wing, sprint clear of Jordan McMahon and deliver a superb pass to leading Rocca. Anfernee (as opposed to Anthony) steered a punt through for full points. The next Pie attack broke down with a mark and 50m penalty to Tige backman Kel Moore; he drilled a neat pass to Collywood man Dane Swan. Gosh, I exclaimed. A terrible Tige kick-in gifted Fraser a goal as the Poise galloped 49 points ahead. Frustrated Pettifer elbowed Maxwell in the face and went into the book. The Pies rebounded again as Richo failed to mark, Shane O'Bree roved Rocca's contest and handballed for an easy Thomas slot. In said Rocca contest Tige Polak was kneed in the head, he departed for a bit. The Magpiss led by 55 points now and the Tiges had just the 2 goals; Richo missed a set shot to much jeering. But the Pies slowed now, probably tired of kicking goals. They missed a few shots and the Tiges got a coupla late majors, for the first Kane Johnson dished off a free-kick to Jake King who booted a good long major. Then one of them painful running moves actually worked - the law of averages - and Chris Newman thumped a running goal. Pies by 44 points.
The second half was more even, as in their first two games the Tiges woke up a bit and the Pies, back from a wet Gabba, slowed a bit. Nathan Brown (the Richmun one) actually appeared interested for a while. The Tiges managed an early rebound, Richardson and Jackson bullocked through packs to force the ball forward and Brown had an easy tap-through. King cleared the restart and Deledio passed for leading Morton, now at full-forward, to mark and convert. The Tiges had scored the previous four goals of the game and trailed by 32 points, but the Poise steadied. The rehabilitated Rhyce Shaw sprinted upfield on a kick-in and found Rocca, big Anfernee's kick was a shocker but Thomas gathered near the boundary, swiveled away from the sticks and dribbled through a Daicosian cracker. Sigh. From another kick-in Harry O'Brien galloped half the length of the field ahead of plodding Pettifer, and the ball went via Davis to Rocca in the pocket. Rocca thumped it through with a very good kick and the Poise led by 41 points. Goals alternated for a while now. Foley won the next centre-clearance for the Tiges and King lobbed a good pass for Adam Pattison to mark and convert. On another Pie rebound Cloke marked all alone 50m out and passed to Medhurst, even more gallingly unmarked. Steak Knives sausaged again. Good work from Richmun's Brown created a goal for Richard Tambling, who also did well in weaving through traffic before potting it from 45m. But Tambling's all too typical. Looks good when he's got the ball, bad without it. Richardson's poor turnover set another Poi rebound in motion, a great move ending with Ben Johnson's long goal. A Tiger actually tackled, new man Morton. He'll learn. It led to a goal for Pettifer and the Tiges hung about 36 points behind. Polak was playing at CHF now, he missed for the second time in the quarter to end it. Richmun had fired their bolt though and the Maggies rained shots on the sticks in the early final Mario, only to miss often. Davis missed two snaps he'd normally kick in his sleep and Thomas did likewise (er, once). A bit later Tige Joel Bowden saw his attempted handpass out-of-bounds pull up short, Medhurst gathered the ball and whipped it through from the tight angle. He could do no wrong. The Pies led by 45 points now and the motions were gone through. Polak finally kicked straight for the Tiges and Pie Thomas converted after a big goal-square grab over Bowden. Wood kicked the first goal of his career for the Scragpies following a two-grabber in the goal-square, Pattison bagged one after an exhausted Heath Shaw kicked it to him.
The Pies ran wild off half-back, led by Heath Shaw (33 disposals, 9 marks), Rhyce Shaw (26 touches, 12 marks) and a defensively-positioned Scott Pendlebury (21 touches, 6 marks). The small forwards dominated too, led by Paul Medhurst (24 possies, 14 marks, 3 goals) with Dale Thomas (17 handlings, 7 marks, 3 goals) doing some great things, 'Neon' Leon Davis (24 touches, 10 marks, a goal) and Alan Didak (23 kicks, 9 marks) were pretty busy too - Didak had 12 kicks in the last quarter. Travis Cloke (14 kicks, 12 marks, 2 goals) started very well, Schulz actually did alright on him after half-time. Anthony Rocca (6 marks, 6 kicks, 3 goals) was value too, John Anthony kicked 2 goals. The Tiges' best ended up being Jake King (27 disposals, 11 marks, a goal) and Nathan Foley (28 possies). There's a gap back to the rest of the Tiger field, Chris Newman (17 touches, a goal) was alright and full-back Will Thursfield did okay on Rocca considering. One of the few match-ups Plough got right. Shane Tuck (29 disposals with 23 handballs) was one of the handball-happy Tiges and ol' Kane Johnson (27 touches) plodded away, the Tiges actually won the majority of contested ball. Then gave it away. Kayne Pettifer and Adam Pattison kicked 2 goals each. Peter Beattie-like, Tiger coach Wallace dissociated himself from his own failed plans. "Clearly we had too many midfielders with high handball-ratio stats and nowhere near enough kicks," Wallace said. "That's not the way we want to play; clearly that's not the way we want to play . . . If you get as much possession of the footy as what we had today you can't be finishing with 170 kicks in a game of footy; if you're not getting over 200 kicks in a game of footy, you won't win. Unless you're getting some of your midfielders and running backs with high kick numbers you're not going to win games of footy and that's what we spoke about." Isn't it your fault, Plough? He insisted not. Wallace fingered the slow-start problem too. "We've clearly got to be working on our first quarters and be better than that early in games. When you play two top-four sides from last year and you give them a start, they don't let you back in." Mick Malthouse was upset the Tiges won the majority of clearances. "That's the first time this year that we've been really taken to the cleaners," Malthouse said. "I don't know what the scores were from the clearances, but we were absolutely smashed. I reckon we'll go with the players and consult them, and find out why they thought when you have two ruckman that, I believe, out-rucked at the stoppages, we still got smashed. We've got to work that through fairly quickly, I'd imagine, given who we play over the next month."
At Football Park:
Adelaide 2.3 4.8 8.11 12.13.85
Port Adelaide 2.3 4.7 7.12 11.13.79
Terrific blood-and-thunder Showdown. Fast, furious with blokes (mainly the Camrys) getting clobbered all over the place, it was great stuff. In the week beforehand they'd told us Adelaide folk were 'bored' with recent, low-scoring Showdowns. This should turn 'em around. The Cows emerged triumphant with only 17 fit men, apparently, and great efforts from veterans and youngsters alike. Port are now 0-3, not where the runners-up from last year expected to be although they've had a tougher fixture than some so far. But three important forwards, Brett Ebert, Warren Tredrea and Justin Westhoff, didn't manage a goal between them. The form of Ebert in particular must be a concern. Neither side made a change from last week.
Rugged, hard-hitting opening. The Camrys had plenty of the ball but foundered going forward, Port's on-ballers led by Peter Burgoyne and Dom Cassisi were much better than their soft (as described by Josh Francou) effort last week. After twelve minutes only a rushed behind to Port was on the board. Adderlade's Simon Goodwin came up with the first goal, on a long lead he found Scott Thompson's pass didn't reach him, but Scott Stevens recovered the ball and David Mackay stabbed a short pass back to Goodwin, he majored with a great long kick from the flank. Port cleared the restart with a free to Dean Brogan, Jacob Surjan kicked long. David Rodan roved Tredrea's contest, swapped handballs with Tredders to weave through traffic and slotted a classy major. Camry Bernie Vince missed a shot but Camrys Nathan Van Berlo and Richard Douglas forced Powder full-back Toby Thurstans to muck up the kick-in, Goodwin handballed for Douglas to snap truly. Port replied presently as Westhoff marked 55m out, played-on and kicked long to the 'square. Shaun Burgoyne plucked a strong grab and popped it through, leveling the scores. The term petered out with a few behinds including misses from Ebert and Brett 'Birdman' Burton. Ebert missed again early in the second but on the way 'out' a hanging Kris Massie kick was intercepted by Chad Cornes, he thumped it back for a major and the Power led by 6 points. A few minutes later Rodan sped clear of a throw-in on the wing, had a couple of bounces and handballed to Travis Boak. His low, mongrelled kick dropped perfectly for Daniel Motlop to mark and punt truly and Port led by 12 points. Tight for a while until the game's main incident, running Camry Nathan Bassett was tackled as he kicked by Matt Thomas and, with arms pinned, Bassett's head smacked heavily into the ground. He was out cold and had to stretchered off. Thomas was also the tackler 18 months ago when Camry forward Trent Hentschel wrecked his knee and a few fights broke out over the following minutes, most of 'em involving Port ruckmen Brogan and Brendon Lade. Anyway, the Cows got a free and a 50m penalty from the Bassett thing and Vince took it, booting a goal. Port's Steven Salopek missed a couple of shots as Brogan flattened Luke Jericho with a heavy bump, Jericho also departed with concussion. Andrew McLeod stayed cool to set up a goal for Goodwin, reducing Port's lead to a point. A coupla behinds had them ahead by the margin at half-time.
The third term had barely started when Cressida Kris Massie limped off with hamstring trouble. The Cows had an early goal, Burton went long with a free-kick and Douglas roved Edwards's contest to slot it through from the pocket. There was a string of behinds over the next ten minutes, more injury trouble for the Camrys as Jason Porplyzia departed with a sore shoulder, hit hard by Ebert. Then ruckman Jonathan Griffin went, falling awkwardly from a marking contest and Thomas intervened again, hammering Vince. All three of them Crows would return but the Camry fans were screaming. Tyson Edwards focused, twice-involved in a long move which saw him boot a running goal from just inside 50m and the Corollas led by 12 points. Port responded, Brogan won a contested ball and handpassed to Boak who won a free and converted. But the Cows hit back, Vince won a free near the boundary and jabbed a kick inboard to marauding Andrew McLeod, who scooped the ball under pressure and booted a very good goal. Then Vince booted a goal himself, thumping it home from 50m and the Camrys were 18 points ahead. It looked like they'd broken it open but the Flowers kept on, Lade and Danyle Pearce won the ball from a throw-in, Shaun Burgoyne raced clear of pursuers and walloped a superb kick fully 55m for a terrific goal. A minute later Surjan and both Burgoynes combined to get the ball to Chad Cornes, he threaded another ripper of a goal home from the boundary and the Camry lead was cut to 6 points, 5 at the final change. Early in the last McLeod collected Brad Symes's handpass and kicked to Vince in the centre, he kicked for Douglas to speed past Shaun Burgoyne, gather the ball and boot a terrific goal. A few minutes later Brogan converted a rucking free for Port and they were still there, just 4 points behind. The Camrys unleashed a decisive burst now. Edwards and Burton got the ball to Scott Thompson, 35m out on a bit of an angle, lacking confidence he passed backwards to Goodwin who obliged by booting a long 'captain's' sausage. A bit later Ken McGregor wobbled a short kick for Porplyzia to mark, he lobbed over the top for Burton to mark in the goal-square and pop it through. Then youngsters Vince and Douglas combined, Douglas handballing to Jonathan Griffin on the 50m line. "This'll be the highlight of his career if he kicks this, they'll be dancing in the aisles," screamed commentator 'Dwaynepipe' Russell as Griffin's hefty punt duly sailed between the big sticks. The Cows led by 22 points now and you felt it was over. The Flowers pressed on, to their credit. Salopek got the ball in space and passed to leading Shaun Burgoyne, who majored. Goodwin and Kurt Tippett missed shots for the Coronas before Shaun Burgoyne booted another, roving his own contest to race into the open goal. Addleaid's lead was down to 12 points and now they began to milk the clock a bit, but a Port defensive rebound saw Troy Chaplin kick long and Daniel Motlop led out to mark. The man who's notoriously unreliable with late-game shots punted truly and there was a possibility of a draw if the Powder could clear the restart. But a strange free-kick against Westhoff - he either tripped or fell and lost hold of the ball, which the ump deemed a throw - caused a crucial turnover and the Camrys held on.
Young Camry Bernie Vince (24 disposals, 9 marks, 2 goals) won the 'Balfours' Showdown Medal (it should be West End!), with fellow junior Richard Douglas (19 touches, 7 marks, 3 goals) also very good. Much important running came from Tyson Edwards (26 possies, 11 marks, a goal) and Graham 'Stiffy' Johncock (19 possies), Scott Thompson (27 handlings, 7 marks) was also busy. The injuries forced Simon Goodwin (20 handlings, 6 marks) to have longer stints in midfield but he still managed 3 goals. Ben Rutten (14 disposals, 9 marks) kept Tredrea out of it and Nathan Bock (24 disposals) controlled much rebounding. For Port, Peter Burgoyne bounced back to his best form with a mammoth 41 disposals. Dean Brogan (14 touches, 15 hit-outs, a goal) was a tower of strength in several ways. Chad Cornes (34 possies, 13 marks, 2 goals) provided moments of inspiration and Kane Cornes (27 touches, 9 marks) is now used to tag opposing running backmen, in this case McLeod. Jacob Surjan (24 disposals, 6 marks) was good off Ports' own half-back line and Dom Cassisi (24 disposals) also lifted his game. Shaun Burgoyne (12 touches) was again a bit quiet apart from booting 4 goals. Troy Chaplin (17 disposals) did a good job on Burton, Daniel Motlop kicked 2 goals. 'Choco' urged us to look on the bright side. "From last week to this week it was a hell of a lot better and that's the attitude we take - we're moving forward," Williams said. "I'm sure all the Port Adelaide people, although disappointed with the result, will be enthused by the fact we won the inside 50s and clearances and tackles and played tough. We just didn't get the result. They'd be disappointed but they've seen a very, very competitive game between two sides that were really trying to win. As far as I was concerned it was terrific. They went hard at the ball. We saw blokes colliding . . . and that's why people come and put their bums on seats and look forward to the Showdowns. It's fantastic football. One week you get told off for not doing bumps and the next you're told off for doing too many. It's amazing, isn't it?" Neil Craig was also buzzing, 'cause he won. "I think the 45,000 fans who came along tonight and are driving home now, irrespective of the result, what they saw from our footy club was enormous. It was an enormous effort from our playing group. Before half time we got down to 19 men and I think we had a total of 17 rotations in the second half. I think we had plus-17 contested ball [wins] in the second half too . . . so I'm sure our supporters are proud of our playing group. They should be proud. Even though it's a costly game injury-wise, it's a great day for our footy club. In the end the thing that was ticked off for our playing group, and didn't need to be ticked off, was the courage of our players."
Ladder after Round 3
Pts. % Next Week
Geelong 12 160.3 St. Kilda (Docklands, Saturday)
Hawthorn 12 157.9 Adelaide (York Park, Sunday)
Footscray 12 149.3 Essendon (Docklands, Fri. night)
Adelaide 8 130.2 Hawthorn (York Park, Sunday)
Collingwood 8 126.3 Carlton (MCG, Sunday)
Sydney 8 122.4 West Coast (Stadium Australia, Sat. night)
St. Kilda 8 101.5 Geelong (Docklands, Saturday)
Essendon 8 92.0 Footscray (Docklands, Fri. night)
------------------------------------------------
Fremantle 4 90.9 Richmond (Subiaco, Sunday)
North Melbourne 4 90.3 Melbourne (Carrara, Saturday)
Brisbane 4 88.7 Port Adelaide (Football Park, Sat. night)
Richmond 4 83.2 Fremantle (Subiaco, Sunday)
West Coast 4 75.0 Sydney (Stadium Australia, Sat. night)
Port Adelaide 0 85.5 Brisbane (Football Park, Sat. night)
Carlton 0 77.6 Collingwood (MCG, Sunday)
Melbourne 0 46.4 North Melbourne (Carrara, Saturday)
Cheers, Tim.
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