AFL Round 5
Ah, up to Aaron Sandilands' eyebrows in work and I was away in Canberra last weekend. On your behalf, I had several ideas for the Luvvies for Labour gabfest:
Abolish Kev Bartlett's rules committee.
Establish a Royal Commission into the tribunal system.
Ban club officials from being commentators.
Appoint Richo Governor-General or President, if we ever get around to becoming a republic.
At Docklands:
St. Kilda 5.3 12.9 14.12 18.15.123
Essendon 3.0 6.1 12.1 14.3.87
Sinkilda answered the critics, for this week, to record a confortable-ish win over the battling Bommers. Put-upon Sainters Robert Harvey, Nick Dal Santo and Nick Riewoldt played big games and there were handy efforts from inclusions David Armitage, a young rover, and lanky ex-Cat Charlie Gardiner, who roved about the forward-line in place of the axed Fraser Gehrig. Xavier Clarke and Jason Gram, down on form so far, also had successful runs through the spearhead possie. The Dons really struggled in attack but they did manage one spectacular period, six unanswered goals in the third quarter which reduced the Stainers' 51-point lead to 16. Spirited run off half-back from Kyle Reimers started the surge, David Hille motored about to provide a target together with Paddy Ryder, switched off Riewoldt and to the half-forward line. A goal from Riewoldt just prior to three-korter-time steadied the Stains and two idiosyncratic efforts from Stephen Milne early in the last effectively sealed the result. Riewoldt finished with 11 marks and 3 goals for the winners, Harvey 29 disposals and Dal Santo 26. Armitage, Justin Koschitzke, Gardiner, Luke Ball and Milne kicked 2 each. Max Hudghton kept Matty Lloyd goal-less. For the Dons, Hille (18 possies, 10 marks) and rovers Bachar Houli (23 touches, 2 goals) and Jobe Watson (28 disposals) were good, Adam McPhee bagged 2 goals from his 12 touches as a half-forward while Andrew Lovett and Brent Stanton also kicked 2 goals each. Matty Knights bemoaned the Dons' within-game inconsistency and pointed up an opponent as an example. "I played against Robert (Harvey) and I said to my young players 'If you want an education on how to run out games you'll find no better example'. That's where our young players, Alwyn Davey, Ricky Dyson, Jay Nash, Kyle Reimers, Brent Stanton, those sorts of boys, that's where you want to get them to . . . But you can't consistently play two, two-and-a-half or three quarters of football and win footy games. That's what we're going to have to work on." And a workable forward structure, or Lloydy finding some form. Ross Lyon reckoned it was good to be bagged. "We love that we're a club that gets talked about. It drives a lot of emotion, there is expectation. There are some clubs that would love to get talked about like the Saints. We'd rather that than no one talking about us and not being in the papers." He also offered G-Train a carrot. "There's a spot for Fraser in our team . . . I think once we get all the mechanics right and given our defensive pursuit skills all over the ground then it's going to allow the three tall forwards."
At Kardinia Park:
Geelong 6.2 7.8 8.13 16.18.114
Sydney 1.2 6.7 7.9 10.12.78
Things continue to roll along nicely for the Cats, as they weathered a game challenge from the Hall-free Swans. The Barry Hall circus performed around Hall's 7-game suspension for donging Brent Staker last week, acts included Staker's Mum demanding Hall be suspended for a season, debate about whether Hall should be charged with assault and about a send-off rule, with Hall himself backing such a rule ("I should've been sent off"). Somewhat overshadowed were the fates of the Cats at the tribunal; amazingly, ruckman Trent West had 'no case to answer' for flattening Saint Xavier Clarke off-the-ball and Cam Mooney escaped suspension for kick-tripping Leigh Montagna because it was only 'reckless' and not intentional. Dustin Fletcher'd be bemused. Ryan Gamble did get a week for biffing Nick Dal Santo. Anyway. The Cats started very well, despite the Bloods winning clearances through dominant ruckman Darren Jolly and rugged Brett Kirk. But the Swans did nothing with the ball as recalled Nick Davis (Hall's replacement), struggling Adam Goodes and Ryan O'Keefe all missed shots. O'Keefe'd be great if he didn't kick 1.4 every week. Pu55y full-back Matty Scarlett kept Mick O'Loughlin very quiet while Catters Gary Ablett and Jimmy Bartel raced the ball down the other end, where Steve Johnson and Mathew Stokes did some early damage. Geelong had 4 goals on the board before Jude Bolton got one for the Bloods and Geelong led by 30 points at quarter-time. But the Swans continued to control clearances and slowed the game to their pace in the second term. Two late goals from Ed Barlow saw the Bloods just 7 points down at half-time and the locals were restless throughout a tough third, free-kicks running heavily the Swans' way and the Catters managing 5 straight behinds before Paul Bevan bagged a major for Sinney, reducing the Pu55y lead to 5 points. A free-kicked goal for Bartel provided late relief, but Jarred Moore replied early in the last for the Swans who got within 3 points. Ablett snapped a ripper for Geelong, Moore got another for Sinney. Just before time-on the Cats led by 11 points and Moore missed a set-shot; the ball was swept down the other end and Cat Josh Hunt drilled a goal. It opened the flood-gates as the Cats rattled through four more goals in the last 10 minutes, with Stokes, Mooney and Ablett, who had a terrific game, all cashing in. Ablett had 35 touches and bagged 3 final-quarter goals ("If the umpires don't give him three votes today, they should be sacked," said Thompson), Stokes (21 touches, 4 goals) and Johnson (22 handlings, 4 goals) were important forwards while Bartel (27 handlings, 2 goals) was vital midfield. Defensively, Cam Ling did the job again on Adam Goodes and Scarlett held O'Loughlin goal-less. The Bloods were led by ruckman Jolly (14 touches, 6 marks, a goal) and his rovers Brett Kirk (23 disposals) and Jarrad McVeigh (23 handlings, a goal). Leo Barry (17 possies) provided some surging runs from defence and Ted Richards did a good job on Mooney. Barlow and Moore kicked 2 goals each. "For three-and-a-half quarters we were super-competitive, but we've got a young-ish team and in the end that might have made a little bit of difference," reckoned Roos. Youngish? "You've got to do absolutely everything right to beat (Geelong) at Kardinia Park," he continued, "and probably for three-and-a-half quarters we did most things well but they're a very, very good side." Roos then pointed out the shocker Goodes had. 'Bomber' Thompson said "(After quarter-time) we certainly didn't play as well as we did in the first quarter and Sydney were able to get hold of us and choke us, that's what they do best . . . I knew we had an ability to score quickly if we could break the game open and that's what we did at three-quarter-time. Like many games, once you crack a team it's very hard for them to maintain that intensity once they're three or four goals down."
At Football Park:
Adelaide 3.4 6.6 8.13 12.16.88
Fremantle 1.1 2.5 6.9 10.11.71
Main talking point of this one was the Camrys' extensive use of keepings-off and clock-running-down late in the last two quarters. It provoked copious booing from their own supporters, which is hard to understand. Don't they want to win? Otherwise it was a defence-dominated grind, from which the Corollas were happy to escape after their sluggish Showdown-hangover effort against the Orcs. At 1-4 Freo are as deeply in the poo as ever, although they had a decent crack here. It wasn't a great game, the Camrys handball-happy after being criticized for not runnin' and handpassin' enough in the previous game. They turned over a lot but Freo couldn't capitalize early, with key man Matthew Pavlich held very quiet by Ben Rutten. Camrys Simon Goodwin, Brett 'Birdman' Burton and Kurt Tippett all converted from marks before Shocker debutant Clayton Hinkley majored, found by a pass from Jeffrey Farmer. A similar second term followed with further majors from Goodwin and Burton seeing the Dokkers crawl to a 25-point lead at the long break. A Jason Porplyzia sausage 5 mins into the third stanza made it 32 points the diff before Farmer inspired a Dokka comeback, he bagged a major and then Scot Thornton dobbed one. Following another Goodwin goal amongst a flurry of behinds from the Coronas, Farmer booted the last two goals of the term in time-on to have Fremandle 16 points down at the last change. Defender Michael Johnson narrowed it to 10 with the first goal of the last Mario, a bit later Dean Solomon snapped truly from Pavlich's handpass to make it 4 points the diff. A Scott Thompson sausage steadied the locals, then Goodwin was twice involved in creating a goal for Andrew McLeod. Young Freo rover Rhys Palmer burst clear of the restart and weighted a lovely pass for Luke McPharlin to mark in traffic and convert, then McLeod pounced on a loose ball to slot another although in the lead-up Burton clambered all over his man an hour before the ball arrived, only for the ump to wave play-on. Adderlayed led by 18 points but McPharlin replied presently and the keepings-off began, with Burton kicking a late major. McLeod (34 disposals, 2 goals) and wingman-turned-ruck-rover Michael Doughty (28 touches) were both good for the Cows, with Goodwin (22 possies, 3.5) handy too. Rutten smothered Pavlich and some defensive run came from Nathan Bassett (25 touches, 9 marks) and Brad Symes (28 handlings, 8 marks), Burton (10 marks, 19 disposals, 3 goals) leaped about like a lair but was still useful. Porplyzia kicked 2 goals. Young Palmer (29 disposals) and Aaron Sandilands (14 touches, 37 hit-outs) were good for Freo, recalled Garrick Ibbotson (17 touches) was handy too along with old hand Peter Bell (21 possies). Defenders Johnson (20 disposals, 8 marks, 2 goals) and Roger Hayden (20 handlings) were good and Jeff Farmer (10 kicks, 3 goals) gave 'em something up forward. McPharlin kicked 2 last-quarter goals. Mark Harvey thought they should've won it. "We made some crucial errors when the game was there to be won, because Adelaide were on the ropes. And fundamentally we had some players that just didn't think through the situation good enough, and it cost us. When you lose games like we have, it's either decision-making or skill. And it's the calmness and direction of voice around your teammate that has the ball. We need to understand that and be ruthless about it." Craigy addressed the keepings-off. "To keep hold of the ball for four-and-a half minutes requires, from our playing group, a lot of nerve because you've got the pressure of trying to keep possession and the pressure of the reaction of the crowd. I understand why our supporters react like that, but I'm trying to educate them as to why we do it [tempo football]. It's a really important experience for our younger group to go through, to keep their nerve and be able to win a game, which quite possibly if we hadn't gone that way, may have been lost."
At the MCG:
Collingwood 2.4 8.6 10.11 15.15.105
North Melbourne 3.4 5.9 9.12 16.16.112
There's that line in the preamble to Norf's song about it being lots of fun for everyone, and just about everyone enjoys the Poise being rolled when seeming victors, except their own fans I 'spose. The Ruse launched themselves back from a 21-point deficit halfway through the final term to get up and win, helped by the unlikely Ed Lower, small forwards Lindsay Thomas and Matt Campbell and Shannon Grant converting following a 50m penalty, coincidentally. At the other end Alan Didak assisted with a terrible late miss. Pie fans could blame the umps, they would anyway, but have some justification here. An unremarkable first term was highlighted by Roo Daniel Pratt clobbering Josh Fraser after the latter marked in the centre, Pratt was reported and Fraser booted a goal with the aid of the 50m penalty ensuing. Otherwise it was a sloppy, scrappy game. Norf led by 11 points about halfway through the second quarter, after Corey Jones majored from point-blank. Then the Pies fired, led by Alan Didak and Paul 'Megastar' Medhurst. The Scraggies kicked 3 goals in four minutes, two from Medhurst, to spurt to an 8-point lead. Bit of a lull before 'Neon' Leon Davis and Rhyce Shaw bagged majors in time-on to have the Poise up by 15 points at half-time, Jones having missed two late shots for Norf to give him 1.5 for the half. Goals were traded in a slogging third term but Fraser kicked the last of the stanza and his tap at a throw-in allowed Davis to slot the first goal of the last term, sending Collywood 11 points ahead. Lower replied for Norf, completing a great running move, but Poi Medhurst soon kicked another as did Fraser, who was very good in this game. Should get belted early more often. Fraser's fourth goal, snapped through after collecting Dane Swan's wobbly kick, sent the Maggies 21 points up at the 13-minute mark. The Ruse replied quickly, Wells's visionary long kick picked out unopposed Thomas 15m from goal, then Campbell tidied Grant's quick punt by snapping truly. Thomas dribbly-snapped into the post from 10m, no angle, but rectified it a minute later with a goal, roving Nathan Thompson's contest. Grant's conversion from the 50m penalty put Norf ahead, by 2 points. A shocking centre-bounce allowed Norf to move forward from the restart and Lower sausaged to extended the lead to 8. Past 30 min in the term and Medhurst revived the Pies, milking a dubious 50m penalty of his own. Norf led by 2 points, a minute later Didak cruised into an open goal, and missed. The Kangers went down the other end and following some scramble at a throw-in, Campbell snapped truly. The small forwards, Grant (24 touches, 8 marks, 3 goals), Thomas (8 kicks, 3 goals) and Campbell (7 disposals, 3 goals) were Norf's saviours in the end, but Daniel Wells (19 possies, 8 marks) was also very good and Adam Simpson (20 touches, a goal) battled midfield. Michael Firrito held Travis Cloke goal-less and to minimal influence, Drew Petrie was good on Rocca too. Leigh Harding (26 possies, 9 marks) provided some drive off half-back. Lower and Thompson kicked 2 goals each. Pies' best and probably BOG was Josh Fraser with 4 goals to complement his 18 disposals, 7 marks and 19 hit-outs. Didak (29 touches, 8 marks, a goal) and Davis (18 touches, 2 goals) provided some spark and Medhurst (11 marks, 17 disposals, 5 goals) was their only winning forward. Rhyce Shaw (26 touches, a goal) and Tarkyn Lockyer (29 disposals) did some running. Malthouse blamed poor ball-use. "I suppose we had our chances, [but] I think the better side won," Malthouse said. "I just didn't think we used the ball as well as we should have. They capitalised on the fall of the ball in their forward line - they kicked goals, we didn't - it doesn't get much more simple than that . . . the game can fluctuate and change in a heartbeat; football, the way it's played today, is not necessarily like it used to be played 10 years ago when a 20-point lead will almost sustain a victory. Football changes very quickly." Laidley complained about Tibet and global warming - only gaggin'. Of course he whinged about goal-kicking. "The day that we actually kick straight we will probably put the result away very quickly" said Laidley. "Unfortunately we haven't finished off our work. We played a very good football side tonight - both were evenly matched. There were ebbs and flows in the game, but I thought our work rate was good and some of our younger kids stood up in critical moments, and that's what we talk about all the time, so that is really pleasing."
At the Gabba:
Brisbane 5.3 9.7 14.11 19.16.130
Hawthorn 4.5 10.9 14.13 17.16.118
It were what the meedya calls a full-forward shootout as Hork Buddy Franklin booted 8 goals and Lyin' Dan Bradshaw 7, but Buddy's team prevailed in a decent game. I've never understood the shoot-out thing. One full-forward's performance doesn't effect that of the other. But anyway. This game was close all the way with Horforn mostly keeping their nose in front, then kicking clear at the end. Big Lyin' Jonathan Brown started in the centre this week, even though ruckman Jamie Charman was back, but the Orcs got an early jump with Franklin bagging two goals in the first quarter, one from a juggled one-handed mark against battling Daniel Merrett. Bradshaw kicked Brisbun's first from a strong grab but Brown struggled to impose himself, the returned Hawk Trent Croad doing a good job on him. Small Lyin' forward Ashley McGrath, playing his first game of the season, and Bradshaw kicked goals either side of quarter-time to give the Lisbon Brians a 10-point lead, but the Orcs' on-ballers led by Sam Mitchell and Brad Sewell began to get on top. With Buddy quiet for a bit, Mark Williams took over and plucked a big grab of his own. Cyril Rioli roved Franklin's contest to bag one and then Franklin himself majored just before half-time, hammering a running kick home from 60m. Frustrated Jonathan Brown was reported for clattering into Mitchell as Horforn led by 8 points at the break. In the opening minute of the third Franklin booted another, bisecting the big sticks with a superb kick from 50m out on the boundary-line. But the Lyin's own midfield men, Simon Black and Luke Power, won some ball for them and Bradshaw was matching Franklin in output if not spectacle, he converted from a mark on-the-lead and McGrath bagged another to keep the Lyin's alive. There was about a goal between 'em for the rest of the term as Bradshaw and Franklin traded majors along with the supporting cast, a Sewell goal gave Horforn an 11-point lead before Travis Johnstone got one late in the stanza, leaving Horforn 2 points up at the final change. Consecutive Franklin goals, from a tight-angle snap and a mark on-the-lead respectively, and another from Williams in the first 5 minutes of the final term saw the Awks kick 21 points clear and the Lyin' challenge appeared over. But the locals clung on and sausages from Bradshaw again and Johnstone had the margin whittled to 11 points, before a running Luke Hodge roost sealed it for the Hawkers. Franklin actually kicked 8.6, that's 14 shots at goal for the mathematically challenged, from 9 marks and 20 disposals. Leigh Matthews called him "freakish". Mitchell (32 disposals, a goal), Sewell (27 touches, a goal) and Shane Crawford (28 possessions) won the ball midfield and Croad did a fine job on Brown. Michael Osborne was good defensively and Mark Williams (11 touches, 8 marks, 2 goals) was useful. Rioli also kicked 2 goals. Daniel Bradshaw booted 7.4 from 8 marks and 11 kicks for Brisbun, Simon Black (29 disposals) and Luke Power (23) were good with support from Michael Rischitelli (18 disposals). Travis Johnstone (17 possies, 2 goals) went alright although Matthews said afterwards he 'expected more' from Johnstone. So did the Demons, for 10 years. Anthony Corrie (15 handlings, a goal) played well on a wing and McGrath bagged 2 goals in his return game. Leigh was frustrated. "The fact we were able to push the undefeated ladder leaders and have not that many of our players play up to what they are capable gives us hope," Matthews said. "But it's disappointing. We had a lot of players who I wouldn't have said played a great game tonight. And when we do our club champion votes, there will be a lot of players who will rate well below what they are capable of . . . Composure with ball in hands enables you to make better decisions and then it's a matter of skills execution. That's really what ability is. It's more about decision making than execution, to be honest." Al Clarkson settled on another adjective for Franklin. "He's got an uncanny ability. We know he can kick goals from the boundary line and that sort of stuff but the greatest potency for us is he forces a great contest. There was three or four times in the game where he didn't score the goal, I remember the Rioli goal and Young goal, where he forced the contest, and that's been his greatest improvement as a player in my opinion in the last 12 months. His performances have been really pleasing from our point of view." 17 kicks, 9 marks and 8 goals? Yeah, it's pleasing. Pleasant, even.
At the MCG:
Melbourne 1.3 4.5 4.9 9.13.67
Carlton 3.3 10.6 12.10 15.11.101
The red-hot Brendan Fevola and the red mist for Dee Brent Moloney were enough to decide this one, after it was close halfway through the second stanza. Big Fev bagged another 7 goals while Moloney lost his rag and whacked a few Bluies, serving only to fire them up. Especially their captain, Chris Judd. A second consecutive win and a second week of restricting the opposition to under 100 points was good. All bad for the Deez, with the AFL publicly all-but-calling the club a basket-case last week, then the loss and serious neck injury to David Neitz in this game, which had poor old Neita briefly contemplate retirement. Judd started well with a strong grab 20m out to boot the first goal, on-the-wagon Fev followed up with the next two. Dee backman Jared Rivers was supposed to play in the 'hole' in front of Fevola but it didn't work out too well. The Bluies led by 17 points after 9 minutes, but the Dees knuckled down (literally, as it turned out). Melbun bagged three quick goals to seize the lead early in the second term, Brad Green booted two of 'em and Russ Robertson converted after marking Neitz's pass. The Dees led by 6 points when kneeling Moloney biffed Bloo Darren Pfeiffer, lying under a pack - a classic 'Diesel' Williams-style punch. A modest brouhaha developed, from which Pfeiffer received a free, 50m penalty and goal. Judd raced clear of the restart with his classical sprinter's stride and rammed it home, Blue goals followed in rapid succession to Setanta O'hAilpin, Matthew Kreuzer, Fevola, Marc Murphy and Brad Fisher as the Bluebaggers romped to a 37-point lead at half-time. There was a Dee highlight during this period, a superb hanging screamer from Robertson, riding Jamison in classical style. But he missed the shot. Nothing much happened in the third, apart from Dee Matthew Whelan whacking Fevola and being reported, while Judd lined up a shot at goal. Fev acted it up. Into the last quarter and the Deez made their usual belated charge, Nathan Jones, Green, Robertson and ruckman Mark Jamar kicked consecutive goals to reduce the margin to a respectable-looking 22 points with 5 minutes to go. But Fev capped the day with two entertainingly contrasting goals, the first was flukily soccered through, out of the hands of fumbling Dee junior James Frawley. The second was walloped home with a terrific kick from 50m, wide on the flank, after Judd supplied the pass. Judd (26 disposals, 3 goals) took the honours marginally ahead of Fevola (3 marks, 7 kicks, 7 goals), while Bret Thornton (21 touches, 9 marks) did a good rebounding job. Andrew Carrazzo was busy winning 23 touches and rover Marc Murphy (21 disposals, 13 marks, a goal) played well again, as did ruckman Cameron Cloke (19 possies, 10 marks). Junior ruckman Matthew Kreuzer (15 disposals, a goal) impressed once more. Older Melbun types in Green (25 touches, 10 marks, 4 goals), Cameron Bruce (22 disposals) and James McDonald (19 handlings, a goal) were their best, Russ Robertson (16 possies, 7 marks - all contested, 2 goals) showed improved form and Brock McLean (32 disposals) was okay. Dean Bailey tried to be positive as his team again struggled to employ the trendy run-and-carry style. "I'm here to improve. I'm here to improve the football club and I'm here to improve players," Bailey said. "We're going to continue to look for improvement each week and I'm going to get on the training track and work hard and I've used the word competitive and we need to be competitive for longer and we're going to get it done - we are just going to get it done. The more opportunities we play and the more opportunities we train, we're going to knock the wall down and get there." Brett Ratten saluted his captain. "When you can dodge two players like he did and then kick it to Brendan (Fevola) it showed that lateral movement and power in his game is really coming back. He's the one, at the start of the second quarter, when the game slowed up and became flat, he's the one who broke the game open an really changed it. That's the beauty of having a player of his quality at our club."
At Docklands:
Footscray 4.10 9.11 12.14 19.16.130
Richmond 4.2 9.3 15.8 20.10.130
The Tiges found a new way to torment their long-suffering supporters, blowing a 19-point lead in the final 4 minutes of this one. A big grab from Bully Brian Lake and Will Minson's accurate kick (Lake tweaked a hammy taking the mark, apparently) leveled the scores with 14 seconds remaining and there it stayed. Fair enough it was a great effort from the Puppies to pull this one out of the fire, or half-pull it out - it was charred - but really the Toigs blew it. The Dogs started well, dominating pack clearances through Daniel Cross and Adam Cooney, and inside-50s in the first half, but wasting it with poor shooting (Scott Welsh kicked 0.3 in the first term and 0.5 for the day). Some tough Tige defending contributed. Brad Johnson booted the first two goals of the second stanza to give the Bullpups a 20-point lead, but some aggressive running from Nathan Foley and Jake King dragged the Tiges back into it. Big third-term efforts from Toiga followers Troy 'Snake' Simmonds and Shane Tuck helped establish some parity in the clearances and goals started to come, from a variety of sources including defender Jay Schulz, Shane Edwards and Jack Riewoldt. Bully hero Johnson departed with hamstring tightness. The Tiggers led by 12 points at the final change and early final-term majors from Nathan Brown and Matty Richardson, the latter again roaming far and wide from a wing, saw the Tiggers 24 points up. Three straight Bully sausages including a tough grab and goal from Jason Akermanis and Lindsay Gilbee's clinical conversion narrowed the gap, but Big Pu55ies Riewoldt and Simmonds snapped majors to have the Tiges 19 up again with 3:58 on the clock. But the Tiges proved inexpert and jittery at running the clock down. King's rushed point and some panic from the resulting kick-in allowed Bully Cross to slot a tight-angle goal, then Rob Murphy bounced a running banana home. Lake's terrific grab over the pack and 'injury' led to the denouement. Rover Cross (24 touches, a goal) and centreman Cooney (19 possies, a goal) were very good for the Bullies with ruck-rover Matthew Boyd (29 disposals) also busy. Half-back Lindsay Gilbee (10 touches, 3 goals) launched some raids and Mitch Hahn (16 touches, a goal) bullocked about to some effect. Without Richo to chase about, Brian Lake (15 touches, 7 marks, a goal) was busy. Will Minson, again vital in the last quarter, finished with 3 goals and Brad Johnson 2. For the Tiges Matty Richardson (19 disposals, 9 marks, 3 goals) again roamed about to great effect although opposition coaches should realize Richo would never pick up an opponent. Kane Johnson (25 possies) worked hard to win the ball while Brett Deledio (24 disposals, 2 goals), Nathan Foley (22 touches) and Jake King (21 handlings, 8 marks) provided the running power, along with the promising Matt White (14 touches, a goal). Nathan Brown (19 touches, 9 marks, 3 goals) was handy again, as was Richard Tambling (23 disposals). Jack Riewoldt bagged 3 goals, Shane Edwards and Mitch Morton kicked 2 each. Was Lake, a notoriously poor shot, really 'injured'? "I bet he plays next week," ventured Tigger coach 'Plough' Wallace. "I just didn't think we handled those last four minutes as well as what we could have," he said of the game. "There's probably four or five actions that we'll look at in review from missed opportunities to spoil the ball, to missed tackles, to kicking down the line to stepping back through the goals. There's probably half a dozen of them so to really identify any one think I think is very, very unfair." Eade said "We really should have been well in front at half-time, we had 14 shots at goal in the first quarter for four goals and had 30 inside-fifties to half-time, so really we wasted opportunities. But I suppose, to be three goals down and show a bit of fight and a bit of ticker was pleasing."
At Subiaco:
West Coast 3.3 5.4 9.5 16.8.104
Port Adelaide 2.7 10.11 15.11 19.14.128
Port opened their account - "The best 1-4 side in history," said Choco afterwards - with this decent win over the bedraggled Coasters at Sooby. A crumb of comfort for yer Weegle fans came with their reasonable second-half and, particularly, last-quarter performance, but the finals still appear a long way off for them. On the other hand, you could say it was another fade-out from the Powder. With senior men Andrew Embley, David Wirrpanda and Chad Fletcher restored and celebrating 150th games for captain Darren Glass and Dean 'Big' Cox, the Weegs had a crack early but made plenty of disposal errors in the first term. Nevertheless they led by 2 points at the first break, form junior Ben McKinley having kicked two of the Weevils' first-term sausages. The Flowers really put the hammer down in the second term, David Rodan, Shaun Burgoyne and Travis Boak won the contested ball while Kane Cornes made life difficult for Weeg Daniel Kerr. Daniel Motlop and Adam Thomson bagged their second goals early, Wirrpanda pulled one back for the Eegs before Port rattled through 5 majors in 8 minutes, including two for Shaun Burgoyne and another for Motlop. Warren Tredrea also kicked two for the quarter. Motlop slotted an outrageous sausage from the boundary-line to start the third stanza, when Justin Westhoff converted a free-kick a moment later the Flowers had galloped to a 49-point lead. The Eegs lifted a bit now, led by Embley and Wirrpanda. Three consecutive goals, to Matt Spangher, Chad Jones and an excellent running slot from Quinten Lynch, cheered the locals and, after Shaun Burgoyne got one for the Power, Wirrpanda replied to make the gap 30 points. But the Flowers had the final say for the korter as Brett Ebert and Dom Cassisi booted goals. Port led by 42 points going into the final term and quickly expanded the gap in the last, Ebert kicked three more goals in succession as he discovered some form at last, another for Rodan had Port an unassailable 68 points clear. They put the cue in the rack and the Weevils scored the last six goals of the game, including three more for the feisty McKinley who picked up the Rising Star nomination for the round. Kane Cornes not only quelled Kerr but had 27 touches himself, Shaun Burgoyne (16 disposals, 7 marks, 3 goals) and David Rodan (21 handlings, a goal) were also very good for Port. Motlop (11 kicks, 4 marks, 4 goals) showed his undeniable class in attack and Dom Cassisi (24 handlings, a goal) worked hard on-the-ball, Brett Ebert (14 kicks, 8 marks, 4 goals) cashed in late. Tredrea and Thomson kicked 2 goals each. McKinley (5 marks, 6 kicks, 5 goals) was probably the Eegs' best again, Embley (23 touches, 11 marks), Wirrpanda (18 disposals, 2 goals) and Adam Selwood (25 touches, 2 goals) weren't bad. Chris Masten (18 disposals) found a bit of the ball. Lynch kicked 2 goals. Worsfold allowed a tiny bit of negativity to creep in. "It is going to be tough for us (to make the finals), and we need to be playing better. But we are going to work hard and try and start by winning this week. Finals footy is a distant goal, we have got some short term goals we are aiming to achieve. If we can achieve them, that can become a possibility for us. If you string a few games together you do end up right back in the mix. Winning is the key for us this week." Williams enjoyed the win and ignored another fade-out. "Obviously we're delighted to finally get a win on the board (and) we won by four goals in Perth against the West Coast. So just understand we'll wrap this as a win we really savour. I thought there were some great efforts, a huge work ethic and work rate which didn't get the scoreboard ticking over as well as it should. When we got to the last quarter we played some brilliant football for 10 minutes. Looking back, the pride of West Coast to not give in, that was just brilliant."
Ladder after Round 5
Pts. % Next Week
Geelong 20 156.2 Fremantle (Subiaco, Fri. night)
Hawthorn 20 145.4 Richmond (MCG, Sunday)
Footscray 18 132.9 West Coast (Docklands, Sat. night)
Sydney 12 128.7 North Melbourne (Docklands, Saturday)
Adelaide 12 111.6 Carlton (MCG, Saturday)
North Melbourne 12 105.1 Sydney (Docklands, Saturday)
St. Kilda 12 99.6 Port Adelaide (Football Park, Sat. night)
Richmond 10 101.7 Hawthorn (MCG, Sunday)
------------------------------------------------
Collingwood 8 107.9 Essendon (MCG, Friday)
Brisbane 8 95.5 Melbourne (Gabba, Sunday)
Carlton 8 94.4 Adelaide (MCG, Saturday)
Essendon 8 84.4 Collingwood (MCG, Friday)
Port Adelaide 4 86.0 St. Kilda (Football Park, Sat. night)
Fremantle 4 79.3 Geelong (Subiaco, Fri. night)
West Coast 4 69.9 Footscray (Docklands, Sat. night)
Melbourne 0 52.7 Brisbane (Gabba, Sunday)
Cheers, Tim.
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