AFL Round 4
At Docklands:
Essendon 1.2 7.7 14.12 14.14.98
Footscray 5.4 10.6 13.8 19.14.128
Bulldogs were a bit lucky to overhaul the depleted and exhausted Bommers in the final quarter. But the Puppies did show admirable composure and strength to retrieve a game which'd run away from them in the third term. Essadun coach Matty Knights is enjoying a romantic honeymoon period from the Bomma fans in the press, Rohan Connolly et al., who're rapt Knighta has 'freed' the Don players. Didn't know Sheeds had 'em caged. The love won't stop because of this loss, Knighta and his Bombouts had excuses as Matty Lloyd was out with a calf problem and Mark McVeigh twanged a hamstring early in the last quarter. The Dons ran out of puff. Leroy Jetta was also out from last week, another hammy, and Angus Monfries was a late withdrawal with food poisoning. Un-refrigerated smallgoods, no doubt. Nathan Lovett-Murray was back and Henry Slattery recalled, while tall WA youngster Tayte Pears made his AFL debut. One change for the Bullies, a significant one as Scott West missed with a knee problem. Nathan Eagleton returned to replace him. Umpire Scott McLaren officiated for the 300th time, you may remember James Hird once accused McLaren of being biased against the Dons.
Interesting how playing styles take hold. A few years ago everyone flooded, chipped the ball slowly around the flanks and it was all about 'limiting goals against'. Now it's all about playing-on at every opportunity (Geelong style), running through the corridor with lots of handball and booting as many goals as possible. They started early, with Bulldog Ryan Griffen very good in the centre. He skillfully won the opening clearance and Mitch Hahn shrugged a weak Andrew Welsh tackle to snap the first goal. A bit later Don man Kyle Reimers kicked dangerously into the centre, Bully Daniel Cross marked and handballed for Griffen to thump it home. Dogs by 12 points. Without Lucas or Lloyd, the Bommers set up with Adam McPhee at CHF and the ruckmen rotating through full-forward, with Lovett-Murray and McVeigh also in attack. As commentator Tim Watson pointed out, McVeigh always played on Brad Johnson under Sheedy. Slattery had the job here. But it was all Dogs early as Cross, Hahn and Griffen won the contested ball. A kick-in went end-to-end and Eagleton capped a two-bounce run with a long sausage roll, Hahn and Harbrow missed poorly as the Dogs went 18 points ahead. A good McVeigh tackle brought the Dons' first goal, Lovett-Murray collected the loosed ball and passed for Andrew Lovett to mark and convert. But a minute later a diving Hahn mark got the ball to Akermanis, he kicked cross-goal for lurking Johnson to grab, play-on and poke through. The Bullies continued to attack but didn't get the reward really, until a poor Mal Michael kick gifted Scott Welsh a mark and goal in the final seconds. Bulldogs by 26 points at the first break. Essadun began to get the running game going in the second korter. Straight from the opening bounce a string of handpasses ended with Jason Winderlich slotting a major. Bulldog Adam Cooney won the ball from the next centre-bounce, Josh Hill punted the Doggies forward and Akermanis won a free for in-the-back, he majored. Still Dogs by 26. The Dons were running though and the Bullies struggled as Hahn and Griffen were benched for a rest. Lovett-Murray and Dustin Fletcher missed shots before Brent Stanton free-kicked a goal, slung without the ball by Cam Wight. The Dons burned a few chances until Doggy Ryan Hargrave's switching kick to Murphy was spoiled by Michael, Stanton gathered the spillage and booted another sausage. Yer Bomma fans were roaring as Lovett sped into an open goal, but he postered. Soon fellow whippet Alwyn Davey bagged a goal, completing some good work by Lovett-Murray and McVeigh, and Essadun were 5 points behind on the back of three straight goals. Akermanis booted a relieving goal for Footyscray, banging it through from 50m after Cooney won the ball from a throw-in. Goals alternated for a bit, junior Bommer Sam Lonergan lobbed a very high kick and ruckman David Hille marked far too easily, he converted. The Dogs re-introduced Hahn and Griffen and swung Rob Murphy to defence. A tough effort from Griffen set up a mark and goal for Jarrod Harbrow, but the Bommers replied quickly as Hille walloped a huge kick through from the flank. The Dons were poised, 6 points down, but the Pups bagged two late majors. Cooney's exemplary second effort to win the ball allowed him to snap truly, then Jobe Watson's hot handpass to Stanton caused a Bomma turnover and an easy goal for Scott Welsh. The Dogs slipped away to a 17-point half-time lead.
The Dons pressed again in the third, as the Dogs' prime movers continued to struggle. Don ruckman Hille missed an early set-shot before some farcical umpiring and resulting confusion on the wing allowed Bully full-back Brian Lake to slip up the ground and eventually pluck a goal-square mark of Murphy's long kick. Lake majored and the Dogs led by 22 points. A bit later Brad Johnson committed the most deliberate out-of-bounds ever, the Bommers attacked with the free and a good gather and handball from Sam Lonergan allowed Brent Stanton to slot it through. The Dons were running again and a slick rebound from defence was completed by McVeigh's pass to leading Jason Laycock, he majored. The Bulldog lead was down to 9 points, they replied as skilled work from Harbrow and Murphy sent the ball forward, Johnson's under-hit soccer-kick was in turn soccered through for a goal by Giansiracusa. Griffen won the ball at the restart but slipped and lost it, Stanton punted the Bummers forward and Reimers won a free, he converted. McVeigh missed awfully but soon made amends, the ball squirted out from a battle to Stanton and he wobbled a kick, McVeigh maneuvered to out-mark Dale Morris and kick truly. Lovett-Murray punted forward from the next centre-bounce and McVeigh beat Morris again for another grab and goal, putting the Bombouts ahead for the first time, by 5 points. The Dogs replied direct from the restart, a smart Cooney handpass releasing Griffen for the running bomb through the big sticks. But the Dons had a run-on, on a rebound Damien Peverill's smart kick found Ramanauskas in plenty of space, Rama's equally astute handpass set up Lovett-Murray for an easy major. A bit later Jay Nash played-on from a kick-in and drove the ball to the wing, Alwyn Davey roved the contest, rocketed away on a three-bounce run and drilled it. The Don fans loved it as their lads went 10 points up. The Dogs weren't helped by some poor attacking play during this period, Jarrod Harbrow kept getting the ball at half-forward and making a mess of it. Essadun were well worth their 10-point lead at the last change though - which would've been more if Paddy Ryder hadn't missed a sitter late in the stanza, after riding Cross for a big screamer. But Essadun ran into early trouble in the final Mario as first Lonergan and then, more damagingly, McVeigh departed with torn hamstrings. With the Dons tiring quickly, the loss of those two didn't help. The Bullies, in turn, had a big lift from the sparingly-used Will Minson in the ruck, Giansiracusa was good too. The frenetic pace slowed and there wasn't any scoring for a while, before Brad Johnson roved a contest and tumbled a quick kick forward, Minson held a good mark and banana-ed it through from a tight angle. A minute later Minson's long torpedo punt just eluded Johnson but roving Akermanis handballed for Harbrow to snap it through, recovering the lead for the Dogs. A poor Lovett handpass turned over possession and Murphy kicked smartly for Scott Welsh to mark and convert, Murphy was also involved in the next goal when he passed to Akermanis, a handpass over the top and Minson again had a pressure-free tap-through. Big Ben Hudson won the ball at the next centre-bounce and a long Cooney handpass set up Giansiracusa for a running goal. The Dogs led by 19 points now and the Dons basically gave up, the game slowed right down. Murphy kicked a goal with the aid of a mystery 50m penalty, there were a few Bulldog pot-shot misses before the final siren.
The Bulldogs are showing some strength on the ball, Adam Cooney (24 touches, a goal), Ryan Griffen (23 disposals, 2 goals) and Daniel Cross (26 possessions) were good and took up the slack of missing West. A fit Jason Akermanis (21 touches, 7 marks, 2 goals) is being useful and Will Minson (14 touches, 7 marks, 2 goals) was very good in the last quarter. Ryan Hargrave (15 possies) did well on McPhee and Matthew Boyd (21 touches, 10 marks) was a solid contributor. Scott Welsh kicked 3 goals, Daniel 'Guido' Giansiracusa and Jarrod Harbrow 2 goals each. Running Brent Stanton (27 disposals, 3 goals) and 'freed' Mark McVeigh (20 kicks, 8 marks, 2 goals) were the Don's best, with Dustin Fletcher (32 disposals, 10 marks) again enjoying some rebounding. Andrew Lovett's (19 possies, a goal) speed came in handy again and ruckman David Hille (21 touches, 9 marks, 2 goals) was decent, Kyle Reimers (18 disposals, a goal) was alright. Alwyn Davey kicked 2 goals. Matty Knights was asked about the spate of hamstring injuries. "As a club we just have to investigate everything in the program and we'll do that diligently," Knights said. "Certainly those two guys (Lonergan and McVeigh) coming out of the line-up didn't help the scenario but it's not an excuse for losing the game. When you put yourself into a winning position at three-quarter time you've then got an ownership to make it happen and get the win. We didn't, so we're disappointed no matter who we put out there." 'Rocket' Eade said "At three-quarter time I spoke to our guys and thought it was that we were making silly errors and they were capitalising on them. We turned the ball over and we conceded the other way. They were basic errors, guys who were good kicks putting it on teammates' heads and fumbling . . . Just at three-quarter-time I thought they (Essadun) looked tired, obviously everyone was puffing and blowing but I thought they were doing more of it than our guys."
At the MCG:
North Melbourne 4.8 8.11 13.15 18.19.127
Melbourne 1.0 3.6 5.10 11.13.79
Straightforward win for the Ruse over the poor old Demons. Could've been bigger if they'd kicked straighter and afterwards the Kangers focused on the negatives, a disappointingly small crowd of 23,400 after they'd begged for supporters to turn up, and a knee injury to defender Josh Gibson although it's not as bad as first thought. Even the Dees managed to be disappointing after a promising effort against the Cats last week, again blame was laid with their senior players and their inability to adapt to Dean Bailey's run-and-carry game plan. Norf made three changes to the side beaten by Hawthorn, big man David Hale was out with a thigh injury while Andrew Swallow and Leigh Harding were dropped. In came Jesse Smith, Ed Lower and debutant Ben Ross, a blonde forward-flanker from Gippsland. The Dees were able to select experienced men Matthew Whelan and Mark Jamar for the first time this season, they replaced Paul Johnson (injured hand) and the dropped Colin Garland.
Dee forward Russell Robertson and Kanga runner Daniel Wells started of the bench for their respective sides. The first quarter was awful with plenty of disposal errors from both teams, a minute before time-on the Ruse led 0.7 to nothing. Dee Brad Miller was reported for roughing up the troublesome Daniel Pratt. Then Wells, on the ground now, forced the ball loose with a tackle and Lindsay Thomas bagged a goal. The floodgates opened and Aaron Edwards (with a terrific pack-mark), Shannon Grant and Jesse Smith all bagged majors in rapid succession, Norf led by 32 points (4.8 to nothing) before Dee man Lynden Dunn marked and converted with an assist from Aaron Davey, by far Melbun's best player on the day. Into the second term and Edwards snapped another goal, then Corey Jones bagged a couple to send Norf 45 points ahead. Brock McLean kicked Melbun's second, again set up by Davey and the Deez exerted some late pressure, with Paul Wheatley and Jared Rivers kicking behinds. Jeff White walloped a running goal from 50m and the Demuns had slashed the margin to 30 points. But Norf cleared the restart and their spearhead Nathan Thompson had a free against manhandling Nathan 'The Cougar' Carroll. Thommo converted and the Kangers led by 35 points at orange time. Early in the third Davey bagged a goal of his own, thanks to a decent effort from young Austin Wonaeamirri. At the following centre-bounce Roo ruckman Hamish McIntosh tapped to Adam Simpson, he kicked long and Grant used a free to set up a poke-through for Matt Campbell. Another McIntosh ruck win, at a throw-in, led to a goal for Thompson and a coupla minutes later Dee Daniel Bell clangered a kick-in straight to Campbell, he kicked another. Add in a few more misses and the Kangers led by 50 points. Again the Dees managed some pressure late in the quarter, scoring a coupla behinds before Wonaeamirri kicked his career-first goal, found unmarked by Clint Bartram's pass. Thomas booted one in reply for the Roos and another sausage for Edwards just before the siren had Norf up by 53 points at the last change. But the Kangas continued a trend for fading out in the last quarter and they were outscored in the final stanza here. Dee Russ Robertson also continued his recent pattern of kicking goals when the game's over, he kicked two in the early minutes of the Mario including a gift from David Neitz, also very quiet again. Poor delivery doesn't help 'em. Roo Thompson replied smartly after collecting Lower's kick on-the-bounce, a minute later Thompson majored again from a strong goal-square grab and it were Ruse by 54 points again. Wheatley banged a long one through for the Deez and Wonaeamirri kicked a second, a free while roving a ball-up. Norf's Thomas got another then Robbo bagged his third for the quarter, majors from Thompon, Davey and Brent Harvey completed the day.
The very good Brent Harvey (26 touches, 7 marks, a goal) and Daniel Wells (16 disposals) led the way for the Kangas, with skilful half-forward Lindsay Thomas (13 handlings, 3 goals) also playing well. Lanky Sam Power (21 touches, 7 marks) had his best game for the Ruse to date, playing off half-back, and Hamish McIntosh (9 touches, 12 hit-outs) was handy in the ruck. Brady Rawlings (14 touches) tagged Nathan Jones out of it and Matt Campbell (13 possies, 2 goals) was good. Nathan Thompson (4 marks, 11 disposals) bagged 5 goals, Aaron Edwards kicked 3 and Corey Jones 2. For the Deez Aaron Davey (20 disposals, 2 goals) was clearly best, James 'Junior' McDonald (23 disposals) plugged away and Cameron Bruce (21 touches) was okay on Corey Jones. There were promising signs from Austin Wonaeamirri (10 possies, 2 goals) and Cale Morton (16 possessions). Brad Green (28 disposals, 5 marks) looked after his stats, Russ Robertson kicked them 3 last-quarter goals. "Today we fell behind in that competitiveness, so we expect that from all of our players," Bailey said. "We're about having even contributors across the ground, and guys came in and out . . . but at the end of the day we got beaten significantly. The fact that the Kangaroos kicked inaccurately probably made it look better than what it was . . . We started poor and they got off to a good start and we'd spoken about how important our start was this week against them. We couldn't get ourselves back into it . . . we took a step back from last week, no doubt." Laidley had his usual beefs. "I thought we kicked poorly and had five forced behinds, yet we pride ourselves on not having forced behinds. They were able to force it through and get the ball back, but gee, you ask any coach in the competition whether they'd like 38 scoring shots, I think they'd take it . . . I thought there were some positive signs. Jesse Smith coming back into the side, Thommo (Nathan Thompson) bobbing up again and we had Thommo and Aaron (Edwards) and CJ (Corey Jones) as multiple goal-kickers. I just think Matty (Campbell) and Lindsay Thomas are growing by the week. Look, (first-gamer) Benny Ross was a little bit out of it, but what he did do was allow us to rotate the other two off the bench which kept their pressure up and their involvement".
At Docklands:
St. Kilda 4.7 7.8 10.11 13.16.94
Geelong 4.0 10.6 17.9 21.10.136
The Pu55ies saw off a bit of a challenge from the Stains to maintain the supremacy. I've gotta call them the Pu**ies as the correct spelling is blocked by your e-mail servers. Bah. As last week, the Saints were good for about 40 minutes and then stopped winning the ball. That loss to the Doggies saw the meedya hook into Sinkilda. Robert Harvey and Fraser Gehrig are too old. Nick Dal Santo is too soft. Riewoldt and Koschitzke need to play on-the-ball more, etc. This effort won't silence the doubters but this Sainter side can improve, and they might've had an excuse as Harvey (too old), Xavier Clarke and Goddard were injured during the second term, but played the game out. More arguments for an expanded interchange. It's difficult to see where the supremely confident Catter side can improve. Peaked too early. In selection here the Stainers welcomed CHB Matt 'Goose' Maguire back from his latest foot problem and selected former Swan Sean Dempster for his Sainter debut, they replaced dropped pair Raphael Clarke and Jarryn Geary. The Pu55ies recalled Ryan Gamble following illness, at the expense of Shannon Byrnes.
The first quarter-and-a-bit was competitive. The Katz had the first goal when Tomahawkins used a soft free to find leading James Kelly, he converted. The Saints won the ball from the restart, in fact they dominated clearances early as discarded Cat Steven King fired-up on their behalf. But Goddard missed a sitter and the Cats managed to mess up the kick-in, twice, forcing them to rush a behind the first time and Lenny Hayes missed from the second. A Luke Ball snap was touched through as the Saints didn't put some early pressure on the board. Then the Cats rebounded for a second goal, Steve Johnson kicked for Cam Mooney to hold a diving grab and boot truly. Johnson limped through the first quarter. Cats by 8 points but King and Leigh Montagna combined to win the following centre-clearance for Sinkilda, Harvey's pass found Riewoldt alone for a mark and goal. A minute later some snappy handpassing allowed Hayes to find lurking backman Sam Gilbert for an uncontested mark and goal, the Saints led by 4 points. The Pu55ies responded with a typically complex move to switch flanks and Darren Milburn kicked for Mooney to mark in the pocket and steer it through from a tough angle. Sainter Aaron Fiora missed a set shot before Cat Kelly did well to win the ball at half-forward and handball to Hawkins, he passed for leading Ryan Gamble to mark in the pocket and boot a major. Cats by 7 points. But the Saints finished the quarter strongly, if erratically in front of the posts. Clint Jones speared a pass over Koschitzke's head but Kosi was shoved by Tom Harley, Koschitzke free-kicked a goal. Riewoldt missed another set-shot but a minute later some tough work to win the ball allowed him another chance, Riewoldt was much happier on-the-run. Riewoldt could've had a third goal in the dying seconds but Corey Enright executed a goal-saving tackle. Early in the second stanza Riewoldt was spoiled by Harley in a contest but roving Stephen Milne chipped a pass for doubling-back Riewoldt to mark and convert. The Saints led by 13 points and as they returned to the centre King engaged in fight with ex-team-mate Mark Blake. The umps' radar was attuned as King was penalized at the restart for clattering into Blake, the kick went to Johnson, he exchanged passes with Gary Ablett and slotted a goal. That began a complete turnaround in centre-clearances as the Pu77ies began to dominate. They won the next one and Cameron Ling's centering kick was dropped by Paul Chapman, but Bartel tapped the ball back to Chapman and the bald battler snapped truly. Ling hacked a kick forward from the next restart, Kelly gathered and handballed for speeding Mathew Stokes to spear a major. And another Cat centre-clearance followed, leading to a diving grab for Chapman. He postered but in a coupla minutes the Cats had grabbed a 6-point lead. The Stainers managed an attack and Goddard lobbed a speculative kick, Xavier Clarke roved the contest and handballed for Koschitke to boot a running goal, leveling the scores. But the Cats were firing now, Mooney missed from a mark but a minute later Kelly played-on after a free-kick and booted truly. The Pu55ies were fired in several ways, Saint man Clarke was flattened off-the-ball by Cat ruckman Trent West and had to be stretchered off. A hip-and-shoulder, but Clarke didn't expect it and the ball wasn't nearby. Harvey had limped off with a thigh problem and not long after Nick Dal Santo, struggling against Ling, was punched in the face by Gamble. Bad Kitties! After a coupla misses each the Cats pressed on, Kelly's high centering kick was spilled by West but roving David Wojcinski dribbly-snapped a goal, Steve Johnson sausaged with a free for Dempster's arm-slap and the Cats led by 21 points. The Saints managed to pull one back before half-time, Leigh Fisher converting with a soft free-kick, following good play from Riewoldt and Sam Fisher to create the chance. The Cats led by 16 points at the break.
All Cats in the third term, with their on-ballers thrashing the Sinkilda men. Sinkilda did have some early chances, a low (too low) kick from Jason Gram was touched-through for a point. Then a good kick from Catter Josh Hunt was marked strongly by Hawkins, he goaled. Kelly's tough roving and a good handpass from Mooney allowed Ling to punt a major with his non-preferred right foot, sending Jahlong 22 points ahead. Clarke returned to the fray for the Saints and Harvey was back too, with lotsa tape around his left thigh. But the Cats put the hammer down, Hawkins kicked another goal after out-marking Maguire and a bit later Joel Selwood kicked backwards to switch the flanks, Hunt's pass was marked in the pocket by Stokes and he threaded a major. Pu%%ies by 34 points. Matthew Scarlett, running off the lumbering Gehrig, initiated another thrust and Kelly handballed for speeding Wojcinski to have a bounce, race inside 50m and boot a sausage. Good work from Harley and big West set up a running goal for Selwood, six straight six-pointers and the Cats led by 46 points, effectively ending the contest. The Saints kept at it, but Clarke, perhaps still groggy, snapped on-the-full from the goal-square, before Gilbert began and completed a move from half-back with a goal, via Riewoldt and a rare Gehrig touch. A bit later Gehrig had a free but his shot dropped short, the Cats swept downfield from Scarlett's goal-square mark and Steve Johnson stabbed a pressure-free major. Riewoldt marked Harvey's pass in the pocket and played-on to set up an easy goal for Milne, but Milne produced a woeful set-shot on-the-full to end the quarter, the Cats leading by 40 points. Gehrig was on the bench as an un-enticing final quarter started. The Saints got the deficit down to 30 points, Koschitzke kicked an early goal from a mark on-the-lead. Enright and a long Johnson run set up an easy goal for Mooney, but a bit later a Hunt turnover saw the Stains attack again and Riewoldt marked strongly, a handpass to Montagna and another to Milne set up a goal-mouth tap-through. Some tired shots for behinds cut the Cat lead to 30 points. Goddard seemed to have tweaked his hamstring. The Cats powered home with goals to Hawkins (big goal-square grab), Hunt (with-the-flight mark and running slot, set up by Ling) and Steve Johnson, this last one the result of a great smother by Stokes. The Pu55ies led by 48 points, Gehrig marked and converted after the final siren.
Very even performance from the Catters, thought half-forward James Kelly (18 disposals, 6 marks, 2 goals) was terrific in the first half and fellow forward-flanker Steve Johnson (20 touches, 5 marks, 4 goals) was also very busy. Full-back Matthew Scarlett (24 disposals, 6 marks) gave Gehrig a hiding and Cameron Ling (28 touches, 6 marks, a goal) kept Dal Santo out of it. Jimmy Bartel (31 possies, 9 marks) and Joel Corey (29 possies) were their usual productive selves. Josh Hunt (22 touches, a goal) showed some dash of half-back and Gary Ablett (26 handlings) was busy enough. Big men Cam Mooney and Tom Hawkins kicked 3 goals each and there were 2 each for David Wojcinski and Mathew Stokes. The Saints had Lenny Hayes (32 disposals, 7 marks) and Leigh Montagna (35 possessions) battle hard midfield and Nick Riewoldt (13 marks, 17 disposals, 3 goals) was good here, even if he does lead up to the wings a bit much when the Stains are struggling. Luke Ball (27 disposals) was okay and Brendon Goddard (19 touches) played alright in defence, Sam Fisher (22 disposals) picked up his usual stats. Justin Koschitzke finished with 3 goals and there were 2 each for Gehrig, Milne and Gilbert. But the Stainers are not in good form. Lyon took 'positives'. "I deal in facts and the facts are that they (Geelong) are the benchmark team. So we go away and we learn a lot from it. In a lot of ways we were in the game for a fair chunk, but they made us pay with a lot of turnover goals. I thought we looked dangerous when we were winning the ball, but clearly not taking the opportunities early to put some scoreboard pressure on [hurt us]. Then in the second quarter they really got to work as what happened [to us] the previous week, so I'll have to go and analyse it. There was a significant swing from quarter to quarter. That's what we're trying to understand because the plans don't change, but the results did. I'm not sure the scoreboard exactly indicates it, but at no stage did our group give up." Bomber Thompson talked about individuals. Mark Blake: "He's human. He knew exactly what was at stake. He knows how bitter Steven King was from being removed from the club, and Mark was bitter last year when Steven got to play in the grand final. So there was a lot at stake and he got through, and he stood up like a man." Tom Hawkins: "(He) has had two really good weeks in a row now and he looks more comfortable, more confident, and it's just a real bonus for the Geelong footy club." Ryan Gamble: "Young Ryan is just tough and hard at it and pretty clean, and just functions in that forward line and understands how they all play. It's a real bonus to have two boys come into the forward line and really help us kick more goals." Cameron Ling: "There's not much I can say about Cameron Ling. I'd adopt him if he didn't already have a mother and father." Touching note.
At Stadium Australia:
Sydney 4.2 8.6 12.8 16.11.107
West Coast 1.2 2.3 4.5 5.15.45
Like Ken Bruce, Barry Hall went completely mad and his antics overshadowed the game and result. Late in the first quarter Hall, trying to escape some Brent Staker holding, wheeled about and planted a left hook flush on Staker's jaw, knocking the Weegle out cold. Hall the boxer'd be proud of it but the footballer wasn't, he'll get at least 6. Or if you follow the fate of reported Swans, Staker'll be fined and suspended for provoking Hall, who'll get off due to his clean record. Towards the end of the game Hall collided heavily with the fence and broke his right wrist, so afterwards Roos reckoned any suspension was moot. But it'll go down on his permanent record. The game itself was anti-climactic, the Swans thumping a Weegle team heavily depleted by injury, on top of their indifferent form so far. But the aftermath'll be the worry, with Siddey having made an unusually good start to the season. One late change for the Bloods in selection, Luke Brennan replacing Heath Grundy. The Eagles arrived without key men Matthew Priddis (knee soreness), David Wirrpanda (hamstring) and Andrew Embley (an illness rumoured to be glandular fever) while Chad Fletcher and Brett Ebert were dropped. On top of them Dean Cox was clearly hampered by a injured foot. Replacements were Steven Armstrong, Matt Rosa, juniors Jamie McNamara and Chris Masten plus first-gamer Matthew Spangher, a tall, mobile flanker from Oakleigh in Melbourne.
Without the senior men the Eegs really struggled, even the classy on-ballers Dean 'Big' Cox and Daniel Kerr were beaten by the Swans, Kieran Jack doing a great stopping job on Kerr. Forwards Ash Hansen and Quinten Lynch are in terrible form and suffered further here by lack of supply, the game was played mostly in the Swans' attacking half. After a few cagey minutes and a point each the Swans got a goal from a defensive rebound, Leo Barry ran clear and passed to Darren Jolly on the wing, big Jolly's kick was nicely weighted for Mick O'Loughlin to mark over Adam Selwood and punt truly. The Weegs competed hard midfield, tackling strongly, but had nothing forward of the centre. Hall, who was good early, marked on a long lead and centered a kick towards leading O'Loughlin, 'Molly' spilled the mark but recovered the ball and snapped a great goal with the aid of an off-break bounce. Hall booted the next himself, a free kick after being smacked in the face by young Masten. Shoulda hit him harder. Bazza's goal had the Bloods leading by 18 points. Adam Hunter went forward for the Eegs, with little effect. Swan Marty Mattner went down off-the-ball as the Swans attacked again, the ump saw it and Mattner free-kicked a major. Shannon Hurn snapped a behind for the Eegs, their second score, the Swans advanced and Big Bad Barry Hall's moment of madness occurred. Congrats to the Channel Ten cameraman for capturing the action perfectly. As the TV folk noted, it was the sort of blatant thuggery that hasn't been seen for nearly 30 years. The crowd went into a bit of shock after that and the Eegs did some attacking, they scored a point and on the way out Swan Brennan's wobbly centering kick was intercepted by Eeg Ben McKinley, he kicked a goal. The Swans won the ball from the restart, Hall marked on a lead but missed to booing from the small but vocal Eegle supporter section. Swans by 18 points at quarter-time. The Hall/Staker incident had been shown a couple of times on the big screen and a few Weegs went to remonstrate with Bazza at the break, led by Beau Waters. Adam Goodes cut loose in the second term, he hit an early ball-up at pace to shark Cox's tap and handball inboard to Jarrad McVeigh, who slotted a major. Goodes repeated the play at the next ball-up, had a shot himself this time but missed. A few minutes later he was involved again, O'Loughlin marked 60m out and chipped a pass for Goodes to mark running with-the-flight, Goodesy played-on and dobbed a goal. Weeg tagger Tyson Stenglein was switched from Goodes to Ryan O'Keefe. Within a minute McVeigh kicked long and O'Keefe out-marked Stenglein, he converted and the Swans led by 38 points. The Eegs managed a goal, good work from Waters got the ball to leading Mark Seaby, he kicked quickly for unopposed McKinley to mark, play-on and pop it through. Hall had gone quiet, he wasn't paid a clear free when shoved by Glass in a marking contest, a bit later Glass ran him down with a good tackle. Very late in the half Goodes tumbled a kick forward from a throw-in and Brett 'Captain' Kirk was awarded a free for holding, a terrible decision as Kirk was actually doing the holding, of Masten. Kirk booted a major and Siddey led by 39 points at the long break.
The rest of the game was kinda dull. There was a flurry of goals to start the third term, two quick ones for the Swans from Jude Bolton and Darren Jolly had them 51 points ahead. The Weegs pulled one back as Cox's pass found Steven Armstrong on a lead, he converted with a good kick from the pocket. The Bloods answered presently, tough efforts from Jarred Moore and O'Keefe to win the ball sent Jack running into an open goal, he speared it through and very much enjoyed it. Swans by 51 points again and the game slowed down a bit after that, with some pretty ragged disposal and turnovers from both sides. The Weevil midfielders began to win more of the ball and after a while the Weegs managed a goal, Waters kicked long and McKinley leaped for a good grab over Brennan, McKinley sausaged. The Swans replied, O'Keefe kicked long for Goodes to hold a with-the-flight mark, he played-on and punted to the top o'the 'square. O'Loughlin out-maneuvered young opponent Matt Spangher to mark, play-on and pop it through. Swans still by 51 points, Hall went off for a rest as commentators speculated the Swans were trying a Hall-less forward set-up, which they'll need for the next 6-8 weeks. The Bloods led by 51 points at the final change. The Wiggles managed a few behinds to start the final stanza, including a poor effort from Lynch. Probably his first kick. Hall marked in the centre and stabbed a short pass to O'Loughlin, he quickly kicked long for lurking McVeigh to mark unopposed in the goal-square and dob a sausage roll. A minute later a string of handballs released Jude Bolton, he kicked long and O'Loughlin out-marked the hapless Spangher again, 'Molly' booted another goal. Swans by 59 points. In the next few minutes Weeg Armstrong missed a couple of set shots, poorly, and Swan Buchanan saw a great snap touched on-the-line. Young Blood Ed Barlow finished off well, he kicked a good long goal after a strong pack-mark of Craig Bird's high kick, a bit later Barlow accepted surging Buchanan's handpass and booted another long major. The Swans led by 66 points. In between them Barlow goals Hall ran heavily into the fence while leading for the ball, cutting his head open and fracturing his right wrist. Richo '95, all over again. In the final minute McKinley snapped his fourth goal, after some tired scrap for the pill 20m from the Eeg goal.
Siddey's defensive toughness, against admittedly weak opposition, was the key with Tadhg Kennelly (21 disposals, 6 marks) in good form, supported by 'Leapin' Leo Barry (25 touches, 12 marks) and hard-running Marty Mattner (25 handlings, a goal). Ted Richards (23 possies, 10 marks) thrashed Lynch and Kieran Jack (14 disposals, a goal) held Kerr to 15 touches, no mean feat. That allowed Brett Kirk (23 disposals, a goal) and Adam Goodes (17 handlings, a goal) free rein while Ryan O'Keefe (19 possies, 6 marks, 1.4) and forward Michael O'Loughlin (8 marks, 10 kicks, 4 goals) were also very good. Jarrad McVeigh and Ed Barlow kicked 2 goals each. The Weegs didn't have a winner, you might count Ben McKinley (4 marks, 9 disposals, 4 goals) and wingman Matt Rosa (23 touches, 11 marks) won a bit of the ball. Dean Cox (13 disposals, 31 hit-outs) tried hard and Steven Armstrong (10 touches, 1.3) was slightly dangerous, even if he couldn't kick straight. John Worsfold stays on the front foot. "I always say our aim is to win 12 games and make the finals," he said. "I've got a lot of confidence in what this player group can achieve this year, both on and off the field and they'll continue doing that. We're not in great form and some of our young players really got caught out. They found out about the intensity of it in the first half but the really pleasing thing was they showed what they could do in the second half. These young players are going to be playing for a long period of time with our club and they're going to help us win premierships." Continuing the cricket metaphor, he played a dead bat to the Hall questions. "You don't like to see anyone get injured in the game. It makes you feel for them, but it's a pretty tough game so you have to learn to be resilient." On the same topic, Roosy: "I didn't see the incident with Staker, obviously being on the bench I can see the replays on the screen, so I missed that," Roos lied, um, said. "But I don't think he (Hall) will be playing too much in the however many weeks anyway, he's broken his wrist." Moving on, Roos said "there were a fair few guys out from their best team but things can turn around pretty quickly. They've still got a good forward line and defence and some young guys. It's hard to cover those losses and we consider ourselves a pretty good football team. But we got on top early and we were able to keep working away." Acid test against the Cats next week.
At Football Park:
Port Adelaide 6.3 10.5 15.7 16.8.104
Brisbane 2.2 4.6 9.10 18.16.124
Amazing comeback by the Lyin's, 8 goals down during the third quarter and still 6 goals behind at three-quarter-time, they rampaged home to record a 4-goal win, an amazing turnaround. A Port apologist would point immediately to the after-effects of the rugged Showdown, but this was another average effort from the Flowers with too few contributors. Allowing Lyin' men Simon Black, Travis Johnstone and Luke Power 79 possessions between them is going to put any side under pressure. 'Choco' Williams called it Port's worst loss under him and this is now winless Port's worst start to an AFL season in their brief history. In selection here the Power were unchanged following the hard-hitting Showdown. The Lyin's made three changes, most notably ruckman Jamie Charman was a late withdrawal with a calf problem while Robert Copeland and Albert Proud were dropped, in came Wayde Mills, Troy Selwood and Cheynee Stiller.
With Charman missing the Lyin' ruck duties fell to young Matthew Leuenberger, not surprisingly Port pair Dean Brogan and Brendan Lade gave 'em a lot of momentum. Rover David Rodan started well again and Port rattled through the first four goals, including one each for big men Brogan, Warren Tredrea and Chad Cornes, who was playing at CHF. Big Lyin' Jonathan Brown was switched into the ruck, he boosted the Brians a bit and they managed some goals, Daniel Bradshaw from a mark on-the-lead and Anthony Corrie stabbed one through from some goal-mouth scramble. But majors for the brothers Cornes had the Power a healthy 25 points ahead at the first break. The second term was more competitive, Rodan slotted an early sausage roll to put the Powder 30 points ahead before some misses from Bradshaw and Brown - two each - wasted a brief spell of Lyin' control. Simon Black and Travis Johnstone were winning plenty of the ball for the Lyin's but they often turned over possession. Brown did kick a goal during the flurry but later in the term majors from Rodan again and Justin Westhoff extended Port's lead, deep in time-on Johnstone clangered directly to Port's Danyle Pearce and Pearce kicked a long goal. Port by 35 points at half-time. The third korter didn't start well for Brisbun as their Mills missed an early shot, then a terrific running, handballing Port move from a throw-in ended with a free kick for Brett Ebert, arms slapped on-the-lead. Ebert converted and a coupla minutes later Tredrea added a goal, created by aggressive play from defender Alipate Carlile who was on Brown. The Powder led by 46 points. Brisbun started rolling as Black won the following centre-clearance, ran on to receive Rhan Hooper's handpass and slot a goal. Lithe Michael Rischitelli converted after marking Johnstone's pass and the gap was down to 33 points, but Jacob Surjan got one for the Power. Johnstone cleared the restart for the Lyin's, ran forward to collect the ball again and kick for Brown to out-mark Carlile in the goal-square, Browny's sausage had the Brians 34 points down. Port appeared to have all the answers as Lade, Travis Boak and Rodan combined to win the next centre-clearance and Steven Salopek kicked a goal, then Jacob Surjan kicked another. Deep in time-on in the third quarter and Port led by 46 points again as rain started tumbling.
Still in third-quarter time-on, Chad Cornes missed a shot and Brisbun raced downfield from the kick-in, Black and Power set up a long goal for Jed Adcock. Another rebound and Jared Brennan held a good grab, he passed for leading Bradshaw to mark and convert. Lappin and Hooper missed shots and Port still led by 33 points at the final change but the Lyin's rolled spectacularly over the top of 'em. Tim Notting snapped truly from close range early in the last, soon Black kicked forward again and Johnstone swept up Brown's spillage to spear another. Bradshaw out-marked Thurstans in the goal-square to bag the next goal, panicky Port defenders rushed a coupla behinds as it was one-way traffic now. Stiller punted a major, reducing Port's lead to 5 points and from the restart Power sent the ball wide to Corrie, his pass saw Black win a free and chip short to Hooper. The skinny small forward thundered it home from 50m and the Brians were in front, they'd kicked the last seven goals. And there were more, Bradshaw led long for a mark and dished off to Johnstone, he finessed smartly and passed for Brown to mark and slot it through. Bradshaw then kicked another, scooping up the ubiquitous Johnstone's pass on the bounce and wheeling about to wallop it home. Brisbun led by 13 points and Port hadn't scored since that Chad Cornes behind at the top of the paragraph. The Powder won the following centre-clearance, Peter Burgoyne handballed to brother Shaun and he sprinted clear to punt a long, running sausage. It proved a dead cat bounce, Lappin won the ball away from the subsequent restart and kicked to leading Bradshaw, his kick was marked in the goal-square by Brown and popped through. Bradshaw provided icing by collecting Power's scrubby kick and booting his fifth major, a great effort.
Big forwards Daniel Bradshaw (7 marks, 16 disposals, 5 goals) and Jonathan Brown (9 marks, 16 handlings, 4 goals) provided the inspiration in the end but it was the furious hard work of Simon Black (32 possessions, a goal) and delivery of Travis Johnstone (22 kicks, 7 marks, a goal) which supplied the opportunity. Luke Power (23 touches) was very good in support and Joel Macdonald (27 touches, 9 marks) has found his place apparently as a rebounding back-flanker. Anthony Corrie (19 possies, a goal) played well on a wing and Justin Sherman (14 possies) quietened Rodan after half-time. When Port were going well David Rodan (26 disposals, 2 goals) and Steven Salopek (29 possessions, a goal) led the way, with Chad Cornes (27 possies, 2 goals) and hard man Jacob Surjan (19 possies, 2 goals) handy. Brendon Lade (12 touches, 30 hit-outs) was a dominant ruckman and Peter Burgoyne (26 disposals) played alright. Warren Tredrea kicked 2 goals but not many Power players will want to remember this game. "That's probably the worst loss I've ever been associated with at the club, I can't remember someone outscoring you by 53 points in the last quarter of a game, especially given the fact we'd played terrific football for three quarters," Port coach Williams said. "I feel completely devastated for our supporters; they come here with a lot of hope in their hearts and to finish up like that was just a disaster for everyone. For three quarters we were great, but we don't take anything out of that - you can't lose like that." On being 0-4, Choco said "The more you lose, the more pressure is on you - I understand that. It would be a mighty effort [to turn it around]. We're certainly up against it now. Our character and our resolve will certainly be tested, but I think we lost four games in a row last year as well." Lethal Leigh Matthews said "It's the best (comeback) we've had, I can't remember any others, tonight was good. When we got back within two or three goals early in the last quarter I looked at the time clock saying there's 12 minutes to go and I think we were only a goal or two down - we got in front half way through the last quarter . . . two things happened, we won the contested ball better and our forwards, Daniel Bradshaw and Browny and others, got on the end of it and we kicked goals, rather than it bouncing out of our forward 50. He's (Bradshaw) very important. Obviously tonight in difficult conditions he and Jonathan Brown kicked the nine between them. But the best part I've got to say is that we had 11 goal scorers."
At York Park:
Hawthorn 3.4 8.5 14.8 17.12.114
Adelaide 2.2 5.5 8.7 10.10.70
The after-effects of a brutal Showdown are the obvious Adelaide excuse but that belittles another fine effort from the Hawks, who were the better side all day, not just at the end. And the Orcs were far from full-strength too, with Jordan Lewis copping a one-game suspension for biffing Daniel Pratt last week, Sam Mitchell (calf strain) and Tim Boyle (bruised hip) also pulled out. The three were replaced by Shane Crawford returning from suspension, Mark Williams returning from a knee reconstruction and Tim Clarke returning from the VFL. Chance Bateman played his 100th game for the Hawks. The Camrys lost Kris Massie (hamstring) and Luke Jericho (cracked sternum) from the Showdown but Nathan Bassett, KO'd in the game, was okay to play. The injured pair were replaced by tagger Robert Shirley and midfielder Bryce Campbell.
Launceston's huge, windswept York Park is a tricky venue for any team and the 'home' side Horforn are no exception. Camry skipper Simon Goodwin and Orc Mark Williams both saw set-shots blown wide in the opening minutes, as attacking moves generally broke down. The Cows managed the first goal after Hork backman Thomas Murphy was caught in possession by Scott Stevens, who free-kicked a goal. Cressidas by 5 points. At the other end Lance 'Buddy' Franklin missed a couple of times, one a wild out-on-the-full when he allowed too much for the effects of the breeze. But soon a good, fast running move ended with Cameron Stokes's handpass to Clint Young, he steered a low kick for a sausage. The wind continued to trouble 'em, Hawks Rioli and Stokes kicked points and Roughead's first shot slewed way on-the-full, that was just a shocking kick really. At the other end good play by Goodwin allowed Jon Griffin to kick long, Brett Burton plucked grab which seemed to be over the boundary-line but the umps allowed it and 'Birdman' check-sided a good major. Crows by 3 points but Buddy Franklin stepped up for the Hawks, having had a few 'sighters' he converted after marking Bateman's pass, then after a strong Rioli tackle and a weak 50m penalty against Burton, Franklin led to mark Brent Guerra's pass and boot another goal. Goodwin missed awfully with a late free-kick and the Awks led by 8 points at the first break. Franklin continued on into the second term, he was too tall for Ben Rutten when marking Bateman's kick, Franklin jabbed a short pass to Williams who converted. Burton missed after a very good grab, a bit later Corolla Nathan Bock fumbled and the busy Bateman effected a Hawk rebound, Franklin marked and majored again. Hawks Luke Hodge and Brad Sewell combined to win the following centre-clearance and Guerra passed for leading Franklin to mark and thump truly from 50m. Four goals already for Buddy as the Orcs led by 25 points, but Rutten stayed in place. The Coronas pulled one back, Burton and Tyson Edwards combining to send the ball deep and Ken McGregor clutched a strong goal-square grab, Kenny McG majored. But the Hawk on-ballers, led by Bateman and Sewell, were winning handsomely and ensuring steady forward supply. Camrys Stevens and Kurt Tippett held good, saving pack-marks in defence as the Awks bombed it in, next time Hodge kicked smartly wide for leading Tim Clarke to mark and steer it home. Clarke was tagging Andrew McLeod and doing well. Bateman started the move for the next goal, centering a pass to ruckman Robert Campbell, handball to Franklin and he kicked long. Hodge out-marked Graham Johncock in the goal-square and popped it through, Horforn led by 30 points now. The Camrys stayed in touch with two late majors, Stevens twice involved in a move which got the ball to defender Brad Symes in the 'dead' pocket. Symes kicked very well to bring up 6 points. A bit later Shane Crawford's lazy handpass caused a turnover and Camry Richard Douglas's kick found Burton for a grab, he handballed over-the-top to Goodwin for a goal-square tap-through. The half-time scoreboard showed the Camrys a flattering 18 points behind.
The gap expanded quickly in the third Mario. Running Bateman walloped an early goal with his left boot, Guerra and Sewell kicked points before Bateman gathered skillfully and found Williams alone for a mark and goal. The Hawks led by 32 points. Tight for a while as the Cows clung on, Burton snapped a very good goal after big men Tippett and McGregor worked the ball free from a ball-up. Quickly Roughead thundered a running goal, set up by Xavier Ellis's smart kick to Hodge and a slick handpass from same. A bit later Hodge crashed (legally) into Symes to force the ball free, tackled Bernie Vince to win it again and pass to leading Franklin, who goaled. Okay, there's more to Hodge than thuggery. The Crows were visibly wilting under the Hawk pressure and some ragged defending saw Johncock kick the ball into Franklin, 10m away, and Buddy duly snapped it through the big sticks. The Hawks led by 43 points now. Bateman raced clear of the restart and Roughead held a juggling grab, but missed poorly. As in the second quarter the Corollas manufactured some late goals, Vince thumped a 55m major after some tough Goodwin tackling to win the ball and a bit later Nathan Van Berlo's smother at a throw-in saw the ball rebound to Tippett, he handballed for Edwards to snap it through on the left boot. The Cows won a rare centre-clearance after that and Tippett leaped for a big pack-mark, but missed. A complementary Williams behind saw the Hawks 37 points up at the final change. Two tired teams commenced the final term at a dawdling pace. The Camrys opened with three consecutive behinds, including a poster for Stevens. The Hawks then missed three times, Franklin twice including a poster. Fifteen minutes dragged by before Guerra, who'd had a mountain of touches out of a back-pocket, kicked cleverly to find Rioli alone, 20m out, and he majored. Shortly afterwards Van Berlo set up a goal for running Camry Stevens. Guerra was venturing forward now and also created the next major, Crawford playing-on quickly to boot a 50m goal. Bateman marked and majored for the Hawks after a long, long lead which saw him run in a u-shape from flank to flank, at the restart Sewell was pinged for 'bawl' plus a 50m penalty for grabbing Scott Thompson afterwards. Thompson's goal completed the scoring.
Chance Bateman (30 disposals, 8 marks, 2 goals) played terrifically well on the occasion of his milestone and many of his disposals ended up with the seemingly unstoppable Lance Franklin (18 touches, 9 marks, 6 goals). Made Rutten look like an Easter Island statue. Unopposed Brent Guerra (38 possessions, 16 marks) had a stack of it and Luke Hodge (25 disposals, a goal) shrugged off Shirley to be very effective. Wingman Clint Young (26 handlings, 6 marks, a goal) played very well and Cyril Rioli (23 touches, a goal) again displayed his talent. Mark Williams (7 marks, 9 kicks, 3 goals) made a successful return and Tim Clarke did the job on McLeod. Of the Camry midfielders only Tyson Edwards (25 disposals, 7 marks, a goal) made much impact, Michael Doughty (29 touches, 12 marks) was busy and Simon Goodwin (15 touches, a goal) tried hard. Running backman Brad Symes (23 possies, a goal) worked, Brett Burton (5 marks, 10 disposals, 2 goals) did what he could with limited supply and Nathan Bock (17 touches) did the rebounding quite well, he also kept Roughead fairly quiet. Ruckman Kurt Tippett (9 disposals, 15 hit-outs) battled away. Scott Stevens kicked 2 goals. Showdown hangover, Craigy? "That would be taking too much away from Hawthorn and if we went down that path, if that even entered our thinking, we'd be doing ourselves a disservice," he said. "Hawthorn was very good today in terms of a benchmark game for us for the season so far, [just] to see our style of play under some really good defensive pressure; their capacity to get to us quickly was very, very good. It was a tough learning experience, but a good learning experience. We've got a lot of development to do - a lot of development. And that's why that game for us, both as a playing group and a coaching group, will be a significant game for us this year." Fair enough. Can't find a quote from Clarkson, so here's Crawf. "We're certainly not getting ahead of ourselves. We've won four matches and it's certainly very exciting to be undefeated but we've still got a lot of work to do. We realise that it's such a long year and an even competition so we can't be thinking that everything's going to be rosy. I reckon this week is going to be one of our biggest tests of the year, going up to Brisbane and coming from a sensational win for them and they're an up and coming side too so it's going to be a really big test for us to see exactly where we're at."
At the MCG:
Carlton 6.0 10.2 12.6 17.9.111
Collingwood 3.4 6.6 7.9 13.10.88
Ha! It's only the equal-worst Carlton side ever. I didn't back 'em with anyone's money. Brett Ratten brought up his first 'real' win as Bloo coach with a big effort over the auld enemy, led by Brendan Fevola's 7 goals. Folks queue up to kick Fev when he's bad, but for the last two weeks he's been very, very good. Off the grog again, apparently. The Poise made a wobbly start and despite threatening they never really got going and Fev and the Bluesers kept on to the finish. They also limited the opposition to under 100 points for the first time in a long while. In selection here the Blues made two changes to the side beaten in the shootout by Essadun, Shaun Grigg and Setanta O'hAilpin were recalled at the expense of Ryan Houlihan and Shaun Hampson. The Poise were missing skipper Scott Burns (calf strain) and dropped John Anthony, they recalled Marty Clarke and gave Danny Stanley an AFL debut I think, he's a strongly-built back-flanker from Ocean Grove.
The Poise sprang the first surprise as lauded teenage full-back Nathan Brown started in the forward-line and Harry O'Brien picked up Fevola. It seemed inspired when Brown snapped the opening goal, after Bloo junior Bryce Gibbs mucked up a kick-in. O'hAilpin replied for the Bluies, leading to mark Heath Scotland's pass. The big paper had an article last week suggesting time was running out for the absurdly athletic but somewhat clueless Setanta and his younger brother. A few minutes later came a possibly crucial incident, Bloo rover Marc Murphy flattened in the centre by Nick Maxwell's flying elbow. It got the Blue blood going. No score for a bit before Poi Dane Swan missed a shot, the Bluies advanced from the kick-in and O'hAilpin stabbed a pass for leading Fevola to mark and thump home from 50m. The Bluesers surged, Brad Fisher popped it through after marking in the goal-square and Gibbs speared one after starting and ending a move via Richard Hadley and Darren Pfeiffer. Fevola bagged a second after holding off O'Brien to mark Murphy's kick and then Eddie Betts threaded a great goal from the pocket, a free against Marty Clarke for 'deliberate'. The 'baggers had skipped 26 points clear. Collywood managed two late goals, Alan Didak bagged the first with the aid of a 50m penalty and then won the ball at the restart, Nathan Brown marked Didak's kick and added his second goal. When Scott Pendlebury snaggled the opening major of le deuxieme trimestre, the Pies were only 8 points down and you thought the Bluies had fired their shot. But not really. The Pies who were so good last week, Dale Thomas, Dane Swan, Rocca, fu**ing Medhurst, were silenced here and only the Shaw cousins were up to much. The Blues controlled most possession and they had the firepower. Fevola missed a shot before booting his third goal, another stupendously long, accurate kick from wide on the flank. A quick Poi move via Medhurst and Swan allowed Travis Cloke to mark close-in and boot a goal, but Fisher replied for the Bluies with a strong grab of Murphy's pass. Carton then had a great team-goal as Betts soccered and tapped the ball forward under pressure, Shaun Grigg gathered and kicked wide for Pfeiffer to collect and steer through. The Blues led by 20 points, Thomas punted a long sausage for the Poise but Nick 'Strauchnie' Stevens had the Bloo answer after a long, complicated but satisfying build-up. Blooze still by 20 points at the long break.
Fevola kicked another direct from the opening bounce of the third term, ruckman Cameron Cloke punted long and Fev out-maneuvered O'Brien to trap the ball and jab it through. A few quiet minutes followed before Stevens roved Fisher's contest and handballed for Hadley to boot a long major and the Blooze led by 31 points now. The next ten minutes saw the Poise begin to win more possession to match the mood, they'd wake up, overhaul the Bluies and win. Stevens was reported for donging Didak, Medhurst kicked a goal with the aid of a ridiculous 50m penalty and the Scragpies were 25 points down, still close enough if good enough in the words of Lou Richards. It was 27 points the diff to start the final term and Fevola booted another goal from the opening bounce, Stevens drove a kick forward and Fev had a free, he converted. But Thomas and Didak combined to win the next centre-clearance and Swan bagged a goal, within a minute 'Neon' Leon Davis snapped truly after Brown handballed and the Pies were hovering, 21 points in arrears. Bloo skipper Chris Judd lifted and Fevola came to the rescue again, inexplicably unmarked 20m out when found by Grigg's kick. That was it for O'Brien and Nathan Brown retreated to pick up Fev. Davis bagged another goal for the Poise and they were still there, Fevola missed a shot and after a ragged sequence of turnovers Clarke booted a long sausage for the Pies, set up Didak and Swan. Now the Poise were only 17 points behind. Big Fev stepped up again, from the next centre-bounce Murphy wobbled a low kick forward and Fevola shrugged off Brown to double back, gather the ball and thread a great kick through from a tricky angle. A minute later, unable to mark Carrazzo's under-hit pass, Fevola planted two crushing tackles on Heath Shaw and Brown to force the ball loose, he then handballed for Grigg to dart clear and dribbly snap a great major. The Blues were home, 30 points up and after some appalling kicking at the other end, Kade Simpson sealed it with a terrific running roost for full points. Rocca's only goal for the day and the obligatory Dale Thomas goal-square ride-and-screamer were unsatisfactory late highlights for yer Poi fans.
As good as Fevola was (8 marks, 12 kicks, 7.2), other aspects would've cheered Blueser fans. Jarrad Waite (26 disposals, 13 marks) did a great job on Rocca and marshaled a previously leaky defence, with Michael Jamison (16 possies, 8 marks) silencing Medhurst and solid efforts from Bret Thornton (24 touches, 12 marks) and Paul Bower (20 possies, 8 marks vs. Cloke). Marc Murphy (22 handlings, 8 marks) was very good in the centre again and Bryce Gibbs (19 disposals, a goal) stood up, Chris Judd (26 possessions) had 14 touches in the last quarter to rally the troops. Brad Fisher (13 marks, 14 kicks) bagged 2 goals, Nick Stevens (23 disposals, a goal) was alright too. Heath Shaw (27 disposals) was comfortably the Pies' best. Marty Clarke (21 handlings, a goal) and Rhyce Shaw (22 touches) were okay and Alan Didak (23 possies, 8 marks, a goal) provided some attacking threat, running half-backs Tarkyn Lockyer (26 touches) and Scott Pendlebury (24 disposals, a goal) saw a bit of the ball. Other Pies made fitful contributions, Nathan Brown, Dale Thomas and Leon Davis kicked 2 goals each. Mick Malthouse said "It doesn't matter how good your forwards are if they don't get the ball properly. I just thought they (Carlton) were very, very good. Our tackles were not what they should be or could be but I think we take too much away from Carlton if we blame little bits and pieces." O'Brien on Fev? "Superman or Batman or Spider-Man wouldn't have done any better . . . when Fevola's in the zone he's pretty hard to stop. I thought Harry was beaten one-on-one once, when he was out of position, and the other times because the ball was delivered beautifully." Brett Ratten was relieved. "I felt like about 80 kilos just jumped off my back. We didn't talk about the (losing streak) because . . . it wasn't about this playing group or this coach, a lot of different people were involved. But for us to, I suppose, get two records out of the way in one day is pretty pleasing."
At Subiaco:
Fremantle 3.3 6.7 8.9 10.13.73
Richmond 5.7 10.11 14.13 20.17.137
Okay, Plough coached pretty well this week, to give him due. The remodeled Tiges produced a tenacious effort to thump the very disappointing Dockers. The meedya have Freo in perpetual crisis, but this loss to the struggling Tigers was particularly galling for their supporters. Maybe the Dockerators are a collection of has-beens and never-will-bees, with a couple of exceptions. Perhaps their coach belongs to one of them categories. Last week's derby could be offered as a tenuous excuse as the Dokkers made four changes to that victorious side, tall defender Michael Johnson (injured) missed out while Matthew Carr, Ryan Murphy and Heath Black were dropped. Luke McPharlin returned along with Dean Solomon and Chris Tarrant, Scot Thornton was in for his first game of the season. Des Headland played his 150th game and Peter Bell his 277th, a record for West Australians in the VFL/AFL. The Tiggers made four changes to the side thrashed by the Pies last Sundy, veterans Joel Bowden and Greg Tivendale were dropped while Kayne Pettifer was suspended for biffing Maxwell, Daniel Jackson was a late withdrawal. Replacements were Luke McGuane, Jack Riewoldt, Chris Hyde and Shane Edwards.
'Twas a very warm day in Perth. The Tiges' new plan had forward monolith Matty Richardson start on a wing with regular defender Graham Polak in attack. Freo's Headland, who booted 5 goals in the corresponding fixture last year, was tagged closely as was Byron Schammer. Freo had Luke McPharlin start at full-forward. The Tiges made a reasonable start for a change, in his new role Richardson combined with Kane Johnson to send Chris Newman running inside 50m, Newman thumped a long sausage. Freo replied quickly as Solomon burst clear of a ball-up and passed for leading McPharlin to mark and convert. The Tiges majored again from a poor Freo kick-in, Newman marked it and switched flanks to Shane Edwards, he lobbed a punt for back-pedalling Polak to mark and pop through. A rare sight, Polak kicking truly for goal. Freo scored in sequence, Headland marked on a long lead and dished off to running David Mundy, from his long kick Tarrant held a mark over Luke McGuane and booted a goal. The clear high-point of Taz's day. A moment later Tarrant, Solomon and Tiger McGuane were involved in a heavy three-way collision which saw Solomon stretchered off and McGuane depart with a sore shoulder. There followed a period of end-to-end attacks by both sides, with multiple behinds interspersed. McPharlin and Polak missed badly for their respective teams and Richardson postered from the flank. The run was ended when Richardson doubled back to gather Jordan McMahon's long punt and poke a major from point-blank. The Tiges won the following centre-clearance, an area they dominated, and Richardson out-marked undersized opponent Antoni Grover to bag another goal. A minute later some good play from Nathan Brown and Jack Riewoldt's low kick allowed Mitch Morton to mark strongly in-front, he converted. Three straight majors for the Toigas and they led by 20 points. Freo icon Matthew Pavlich shifted onto the ball. Soon Freo rover Rhys Palmer marked 50m out and kicked into Richo on the mark, but Palmer gathered the rebound, ran inside 50 and kicked long. Shaggy-haired Chris Mayne got a ride on Kel Moore for a big grab and goal, reducing Richmun's lead to 15 points. A similar pattern in the second quarter. The Tiggers started well enough, Brown burned a chance and the ball went out-of-bounds. But Brown won the ball from the subsequent throw-in by diving into the pack and Morton snapped a superlative sausage from the tightest of angles. Tiges by 22 points. Freo responded, Jeff 'Wiz' Farmer found McPharlin on a long lead and then sprinted forward to rove the pack from McPharlin's kick, Farmer stabbed a major. Richmun won the following centre clearance with great work from Richard Tambling and Kane Johnson, Chris Hyde raced clear and speared it through. Tiggres Matt White and Jay Schulz missed set shots to make Richmun's lead 24 points before Freo applied some pressure. Pavlich majored with a ridiculous free-kick because You Cannot Touch Pavlich. Palmer missed a coupla shots, then Headland lobbed a centering kick from a throw-in and roving Mayne handballed for McPharlin to slot one on-the-run. The Tigger lead was down to 10 points and there was much anguish at our house as Richo and Tambling committed more poor misses. But the Toiger midfield had more and keener contributors than Freo's and they kicked clear late, Moore's pass sailed over leading Polak's head but roving Brown gathered and slotted a major. Tige ruckman Troy 'Snake' Simmonds tapped the following centre-bounce to Nathan Foley, he sped clear and speared a pass to leading Richo, who sausaged. Foley's good bump created the next goal, Edwards collected the spilled ball and handpassed for Hyde to drill it between the big sticks. The Tiges led by 29 points then and 28 at half-time.
The Big Pu55ies' momentum continued after the break, wingman-Richo initiated a defensive rebound, Foley kicked for Brown to hold a decent grab and convert. A bit later the Tiges won a scrap for the ball at half-forward, Foley handballed for McMahon to kick a goal and the Tiges led by 40 points. Very quiet at Subiaco as the TV folk pondered the lethargy of the Freo leaders. Solomon had returned to the fray but Headland was struggling with a knee problem which would soon end his afternoon. Handily the You Cannot Touch Pavlich rule was invoked and the big-nosed Freo hero free-kicked a goal. The Tiges responded, Brown extracted the ball from a pack and lobbed a handball for Tambling to gather and snap through from a tricky angle. Richmun led by 41 points. The following minutes saw Freo waste some chances, Pavlich over-ran the ball when steaming into goal and McPharlin soared for a big grab, only to be made to give the agget to team-mate Ryan Crowley for a hands-in-the-back free. Crowley missed, as did Schammer a minute later. The Tiges recovered, from a quick rebound lumbering Adam Pattison chipped a smart kick for Brett Deledio to mark with-the-flight and slot a goal without breaking stride. Freo won the following centre-clearance and McPharlin set up a mark and goal for Crowley, but the Tiges still led by 40 points at the final change. An early Freo goal in the final term gave 'em a rough hope, from a kick-in Tigger Pattison kicked on-the-full and Pavlich passed the free-kick inboard for unopposed Peter Bell to mark and boot truly. The Shockers trailed by 33 points. Hair was torn in the living room as Tige and ex-Freo man Polak missed another set-shot. Soon Edwards punted long, Polak again seized a great grab - and dished off in the one motion to Richardson, who dribbly-snapped it through. Dokka Josh Carr missed a long shot, the Tiges advanced from the kick-in and some smart work by Morton and Pattison set up a major for Edwards, the Toigers led by 45 points now and that was it. Even a You Cannot Touch Pavlich plus 50 bonus metres at the restart, resulting in a goal, couldn't alter the outcome. A Tarrant mark on the back flank drew Bronx cheers from the locals, turning to genuine anger as Taz clangered his kick to Richardson, leading to a running banana-goal for Tambling. The Tiges added percentage in the final minutes, with goals to Hyde, Shane Tuck and Tambling again.
Great games on-ball from Tigers Nathan Foley (24 disposals) and Kane Johnson (36 touches, 10 marks), with Matthew Richardson (15 marks, 25 disposals, 4 goals) wandering all over the place to great effect. Jordan McMahon (32 possies, 9 marks, a goal) is a bit of a front-runner but he does it well, Jake King (26 handlings, 10 marks) was excellent in defence again. Nathan Brown (19 possies, 8 marks, 2 goals) played his best game for a while and Richard Tambling (18 disposals, 3 goals) really fired after half-time, playing as a rover. Graham Polak took 11 marks at CHF and kicked 1.3. Chris Hyde bagged 3 goals, Mitch Morton kicked 2. Few standouts for the Dokkerz, apart from Matthew Pavlich (17 touches, 7 marks, 3 goals) and spearhead Luke McPharlin (5 marks, 10 possies, 2 goals). Ol' Peter Bell (25 disposals, a goal) plugged away but faded, Aaron Sandilands again monstered hit-outs but his rovers couldn't get the ball, Daniel Gilmore (16 disposals, 7 marks) was okay as a roving big man. Mark Harvey gave 'em a blast afterwards. "It was non-competitive, and our members and supporters have every right to be disappointed with it. This club has got to learn to string winning games together," Harvey said. "I was angry (in the rooms), yes. When you go through that of course I would be. Whilst I like to encourage and compliment players when they do things right, there's a time when you need to express yourself vigorously, and I did that. I didn't let the players talk after the game as I did all the speaking, so I'm not sure if they felt there was any reason for the performance. We continue to have problems in the centre square, we let Richmond get uncontested marks, quick ball movement and easy goals . . . If you have a look at it, both derby and showdown sides struggled, so the two-team town stuff is interesting. Even though we had an eight-day break, it was a good learning curve for me to see the effects of the derby." After refusing to take the blame for the poor efforts, Plough took credit for a good one. "We chose a running side, and we just structured up what we thought was the right way to go, playing on a big ground. I must say, I walked out during the pre-match warm-up and was quite surprised how big their side is. It's a massive, massive, massive team. We spoke to our guys, we came back in and said, 'It's got to be the giants versus the runners', and that was the way that we basically set up and spoke to the players about that as a structure. On this ground, normally you would think running was the way to go." He went on to praise Richardson's effort.
Ladder after Round 4
Pts. % Next Week
Hawthorn 16 159.1 Brisbane (Gabba, Sat. night)
Geelong 16 155.7 Sydney (Kardinia Park, Saturday)
Footscray 16 144.4 Richmond (Docklands, Sunday)
Sydney 12 159.2 Geelong (Kardinia Park, Saturday)
Collingwood 8 112.2 North Melbourne (MCG, Sat. night)
Adelaide 8 109.3 Fremantle (Football Park, Saturday)
North Melbourne 8 104.6 Collingwood (MCG, Sat. night)
Richmond 8 102.2 Footscray (Docklands, Sunday)
------------------------------------------------
Brisbane 8 97.1 Hawthorn (Gabba, Sat. night)
St. Kilda 8 90.4 Essendon (Docklands, Fri. night)
Essendon 8 87.9 St. Kilda (Docklands, Fri. night)
Carlton 4 86.7 Melbourne (MCG, Sunday)
Fremantle 4 79.0 Adelaide (Football Park, Saturday)
West Coast 4 66.3 Port Adelaide (Subiaco, Sunday)
Port Adelaide 0 77.6 West Coast (Subiaco, Sunday)
Melbourne 0 50.0 Carlton (MCG, Sunday)
Cheers, Tim.
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