AFL Round 9
Congratulations to AFL leader Andrew Demetriou and his henchman Adrian 'Angry' Anderson for realizing Phil Cleary's dream and resurrecting the VFA. Worried about breaching the new interchange rules, most sides erred on the side of caution and opted to have 17 or 16 men on the ground - just like in the VFA - rather than risk a free-kick goal. Last week Anderson responded to a wave of criticism regarding the new rules by saying it wasn't his job to be popular. Just as well, he seems to have made a mess of that too.
At the MCG:
Collingwood 6.4 11.6 16.8 20.14.134
Geelong 2.2 3.3 6.5 7.6.48
Huge upset, the margin was a surprise but it was coming. The Cats have been flirting dangerously with their form for a few weeks now and Collywood do go well against them. The Poise form coming in wasn't great, but they played very well here, back to their furious, hard-tackling best. An unfortunate side-effect is gloating Poi fans. Nathan Buckley, who is shaping as a good commentator, was at it before the first quarter ended. "Have we seen a performance as good this year?" he said, skipping lightly over the game where Horforn shredded his Pies by ten goals. But the Maggies were very good here. In selection Josh Fraser returned at the expense of Cameron Wood, Chris Bryan preferred as the Scraggies' second-string ruckman. Geelong lost Paul Chapman injured and dropped Max Rooke and young ruckman Shane Mumford, in came Mathew Stokes after suspension, Trent West and speedy Travis Varcoe for the first time this season.
The Cats were in trouble early as the Pies tackled ferociously and gave 'em no time with the ball. As Bucks pointed out, the Catters were undone to some extent by their predictability, always playing-on through the corridor, so the Magpiss camped out there. A very early sign that things were askew came when Matthew Scarlett won the ball off Anthony Rocca and played on, as he always does, but was run down by Scott Pendlebury. 'Bawl' but somehow Pendlebury failed to make the distance from 30m. Soon Neon Leon Davis mowed down Joel Corey with a great tackle, Scarlett interfered after the fact adding a 50m penalty to Davis's free-kick and he goaled. More hard Poi pressure won the ball and forced it forward, Rhyce Shaw lobbed a very high kick to full-forward and after some scrap Heath Shaw snapped a major. Rhyce Shaw caught Joel Selwood in possession at the restart and won a free, another free to Paul 'Steak Knives' Medhurst sent the ball towards Ben Johnson who wheeled away from the boundary and drove a trademark low, slowly-rotating drop punt for a major. The Pies had jumped to a 19-point lead. But Davis limped off after turning an ankle and the Cats manufactured a goal, Cam Mooney fought off three Poise to gather a loose ball and handpass for Varcoe to stab it through. Corey roved a Poi kick-in and passed to David Wojcinski, who smacked a goal from 50m and the Catters were going, 7 points down. But as Bucks was eager to tell us, those majors were accidental and soon the Poise kicked on, Fraser emerged from the bench in a timely fashion to gather Marty Clarke's kick and punt long, Travis Cloke had the drop on Harry Taylor to mark behind him and convert. Rocca, who'd been given a big rev by Malthouse during the week, wasn't paid a coupla juggled marking attempts and the Poi fans weren't happy. Poi rookie Sharrod Wellingham won a hard ball and the busy Rhyce Shaw ran clear and kicked long, Cloke marked too easily and booted another. The pressure stayed on as Wojcinski lost the ball in a tackle and Shane O'Bree passed to Alan Didak, another major and the Maggies led by 26 points at the first break. Didak'd been very good in the first Mario, as had Clarke, Dale Thomas and the Shaws. Cloke sliced a tough shot on-the-full early in the second, but the Cats tried to chip it straight up the middle as they came out and Selwood's telegraphed pass was spoiled, collected by O'Bree and his high kick was marked by Rocca who lobbed it through from 20m. On it went, Pu55y James Kelly dithered in defence and was tackled by Medhurst, dropped it cold and Steak Knives free-kicked a sausage. Kat Josh Hunt was clattered (legally) by Rocca and departed, for a bit. The Pu55ies scrambled another goal, Ryan Gamble paddled it along the boundary from a throw-in and Gary Ablett collected in the goal-square, he jabbed it through. Ablett was winning a bit of the ball but not doing much damage, in fact the Cat forward-line was remarkably impotent with double-teamed Mooney unable to take a grab. Steve Johnson's 'trickery' made him appear soft. From the restart after the Ablett goal Poi Clarke stole Cameron Ling's handpass, spurted clear and booted a great goal, a minute later Cloke set himself for a strong pack-mark and hammered a major through from 60m to send the Magpoise a healthy 45 points clear. The Cats steeled themselves to win some possession over the following minutes, but went nowhere in the face of the relentless Maggies. With a minute to go in the half Fraser led up to mark and convert, set up by some good play from Ben Johnson and Collywood led by 51 points at the long break. Pretty hefty.
Everyone was waiting for the inevitable Pu55y fight-back after half-time and early signs were ominous. Ling cleared the opening bounce of the third stanza and passed to leading Mooney, he handballed for Andrew Mackie to kick long and Gamble got a great ride on Nick Maxwell for a big grab and goal. Varcoe's tough tackle and handpass at the subsequent restart sent Ablett running, he thumped a long sausage and the Catters were coming. Ablett's smart roving and long kick created another chance, Mooney was tackled without the ball by Nathan Brown and Mooney free-kicked a third straight Jahlong major, they were 33 points down. But the Scraggies weathered further pressure over the next ten-odd minutes. Rocca had been given permission to roam up to the wings and he took a big grab in front of the Members', from his punt Didak held a falling-backwards grab and booted a steadying goal. A minute later Thomas's great finessing bought him some space, he passed to leading Medhurst and in turn the ball went to leading Cloke who marked and booted his fourth goal. Darren Milburn had already replaced battling junior Taylor as Cloke's opponent. The Pies led by 45 points and soon their half-time advantage was restored, from a defensive rebound running Rhyce Shaw had a couple of bounces and passed to unopposed Davis, he converted. Davis wasn't moving freely and stayed mostly near the sticks. A bit later Cat Kelly's tap-on missed the target and O'Bree accepted the Sherrin, he handballed for Tarkyn Lockyer to curl a snap through. The Cats' earlier surge was a rapidly fading memory as Gamble missed a shot and the Pies advanced slowly, chip-wise from the kick-in until Medhurst's centering kick was marked by Pendlebury, he booted a sausage and the Poise led by a more-than-decisive 63 points at the final change. In the first minute of the last Mario Cat captain Tom Harley spilled a mark and waiting Medhurst pounced to snap a goal, final confirmation if it were needed. The game cooled as Rocca out-marked Scarlett for the first time ever, possibly, and unselfishly set up a goal for Chris Bryan. With seven minutes to go Hawkins booted a consolation goal for Jahlong, but Pie Dale Thomas soon provided the highlight with a superb Daicosian dribbler, from at least 30m out in the left-hand pocket with the outside of his right boot. Cat Taylor was KO'd in a collision with team-mate Hunt, not a good night for him, before Medhurst kicked a goal after the final siren, fittingly a free-kick against Scarlett for 'bawl'. They'd been caught-up at last.
Pies who've been inconsistent were very good here, like Marty Clarke (28 disposals, 7 marks, a goal), big forward Travis Cloke (9 marks, 11 kicks, 4 goals) and sprightly Dale Thomas (18 touches, 6 marks). Alan Didak (26 possies, 7 marks, 2 goals) was very good along with reliables Dane Swan (29 handlings, 11 marks) and Scott Pendlebury (26 disposals, 7 marks, a goal). Rangy Sharrod Wellingham (19 touches) showed ability and Harry O'Brien (16 touches, 6 marks) was a solid defender again. Paul Medhurst bagged 3 goals and Leon Davis kicked 2.
Geelong had two good performers in Gary Ablett (29 disposals, 2 goals) and Joel Corey (29 handlings) but even their impact was limited. Few others did much, Darren Milburn (23 touches, 5 marks) and David Wojcinski (19 touches, a goal) were alright. Of many under-performing Cats Brownlow Medallist Jimmy Bartel'd be the biggest concern, he's done very little all year. Twenty disposals here but many in junk-time. 'Bomber' Thompson said "Some teams play certain styles against others that work and Collingwood seems to be the team that plays well against us. That said, I think we were at fault as much as Collingwood deserve the credit. Sides have done it the last three or four weeks. They come at us, they tackle us, they bore in at us and try to unsettle us and we let teams do it . . . sides will continue to do it all year and I'm not sure we can take it all year. It gets to a point where we've got to give it back . . . It's been a long time since we've lost a game and a long time since we've lost by 86 points. It gives us a chance to work on a few things. We've got the Blues in eight days and we'll go after them as hard as we can." Understanding your average Pie supporter, Mick Malthouse tried hard to keep a lid on. "We've got to be very careful here. Geelong had been up for a long, long time. I'm not going to second-guess Mark Thompson here, but I suspect he would think they were just about due and perhaps the intensity wasn't there. I can't remember it (the tackle count) ever being above 85 so it's certainly one of the highest. Against the top sides you have to be [aggressive in your tackles] because you just cant live with them skill-wise." Malthouse dismissed comparisons with last year's preliminary final. "If you want to refer back to last year, Geelong won the premiership last year and we didn't."
At Docklands:
Carlton 4.3 7.7 11.10 14.13.97
Fremantle 3.1 7.1 13.1 14.4.88
What's the pre-game talk when you're playing Fremantle? "Okay boys, just let 'em get three or four goals ahead at three-quarter-time, we've got it in the bag then." Afterwards Dokka coach Mark Harvey agreed psychologists may be needed to overcome the final-stanza staggers. Head-games and Harvey, a potent mix. Pundits lined up to laugh at Freo's choking again, but the Dockerators were rarely in charge here despite leading by 3 points at the last change. Their phenomenal accuracy kept 'em in it for as long way before their traditional disappearing act in the last. Carlton's win broke a 9-game losing streak against the Dokkers stretching back to 2001. The Bluies appeared to have defensive problems coming in, Michael Jamison (shoulder) joining Bret Thornton and Jordan Bannister on the sidelines, Richard Hadley (groin) was also missing from last week while Cain Ackland was dropped. Replacements were junior ruckman Shaun Hampson, Darren Pfeiffer and Jake Edwards. Freo backman Roger Hayden suffered a punctured lung late in the game against the Dogs last week and Marcus Drum was out with a knee problem, in came Antoni Grover and junior forward Chris Mayne. Wingman Matthew Carr retired last week,
With the key defenders missing the Bluesers put Setanta O'hAilpin on Freo key Matthew Pavlich and clearly Setanta hadn't been briefed vis-à-vis Touching Pav. O'hAilpin tried to engage Pavlich in some pre-bounce handbags and the umps immediately awarded Pavlich a free and 50m penalty as well, Pavlich popped it through. Eddie Betts soon replied for Carton with a strong contested grab from Paul Bower's kick. Neither side dominated early, soon Freo's Chris Tarrant led idiomatically to mark on the wing, he kicked towards Pavlich who roved his own contest and handballed for Peter Bell to slot a major. Brendan Fevola missed his first shot, he struggled against Luke McPharlin on the day. Brad Fisher sharked Sandilands's tap at a throw-in to snap one, a bit later Dokker Kepler Bradley's pass found leading Tarrant again, he played-on and chipped a pass to Paul Duffield who converted. Freo led by 5 points at this stage. The Blooze missed a coupla chances before Marc Murphy used a free-kick to punt to the goal-square, Betts roved the pack and handballed for Heath Scotland to slot it through. Scotland turned provider next, passing for leading Fisher to grab and major and the Bluies led by 8 points at the first break. The Blues started to take charge early in the second term, with more midfield contributors. Shocker Jeff Farmer booted the opening goal, a free-kick for in-the-back against Shaun Grigg. A bit later Bloo Hampson won a hit-out and tough, desperate handballs from Adam Bentick and Chris Judd allowed Kade Simpson to snap a major. A minute later Simpson's pass to leading Fevola dropped short but Fev tapped-on to himself and soccered a brilliantly ar5ey major from a tight angle. Fevola set up the next goal, forced away from the sticks he lobbed a cross-field kick which Simon Wiggins marked strongly in front of Mundy. Wiggins booted truly and the Bluebaggers led by 20 points. Freo edged back, Scot Thornton's gutsy win and handpass released Pavlich for a bit of a run and long punt which bounced through for a goal. Blooze Betts and Edwards missed shots before Dokka rover Byron Schammer handballed to Mayne, who was elbowed in the head by Waite after he handballed back to Schammer, earning Waite a report. Schammer punted for Tarrant to grab unopposed just 15m out and Taz popped it through. Farmer embarked on a long lead and marked in the centre, 'Wiz's' quick kick found marauding Michael Johnson for a mark and long sausage. The Bloo lead was reduced to 5 points and they ran the clock down to half-time, leading by 6 points then.
The third term unfolded similarly, an early Blue surge met by a later Freo push. In the opening minute Blue rookie Steven Browne lobbed a very high kick towards the sticks, it bounced freely and Judd's battling allowed Betts to gather and stab it through from very close. Judd, tagged by Ryan Crowley, had a free at the restart and passed to leading Fisher out wide, Fisher in turn stabbed a 7m pass to leading Edwards who booted a good, long major from the flank. The Bluesers led by 18 points now. The Shockers then enjoyed a good spell, when it looked like they might win. Crowley did some offensive damage with some run off the defensive side of the wing and long kick, Pavlich gathered and handballed for Dean Solomon to boot a goal. Some route-one footy as Johnson played-on from a kick-in and punted to Sandilands in the centre, he marked and dished-off to Duffield who kicked long and Tarrant clutched a good grab, he majored. Then a role-reversal as Pavlich led out to mark on the flank, he kicked long and tail-up Tarrant rode Scotland for a big grab. Another sausage for Taz and they went on, Bradley won the ball against two Bluies and ran clear, dummied around Judd and slotted a great goal. Embittered Bommer-loving journo Rohan Connolly reckoned it was the highlight of Bradley's career as Freo led by 5 points. Grigg won the following centre-clearance for the Blues, Scotland gathered and swapped handballs with Murphy before bagging a major. Farmer regained the lead for the Dockerators, staging spectacularly to simulate off-ball holding and win a free. A minute later Palmer and Duffield sent the ball towards Pavlich who out-marked O'hAilpin and kicked a goal, sending Freo 10 points ahead. But as 31 minutes ticked by Browne collected Bentick's handball and thumped a long, running sausage, or as sarky journos referred to it, 'the sealer'. Freo led by 3 points at the last change, meaning the Blooze were certainties. Early in the last quarter Pavlich restored the Dockulaters' 10-point lead, well-found by Johnson's pass. But the Bluies tackled hard and began to dominate possession. Snappy handball between Simpson, Matthew Kreuzer and Bryce Gibbs sent Andrew Carrazzo in for a running goal. A few minutes later Scotland sent a wobbly cross-field kick towards Gibbs, he couldn't mark but gathered the pill, ducked a weak Schammer tackle and handballed for Nick Stevens to run into an open goal and blast it through, putting the Blues ahead by 2 points. Pavlich marked 20m out right in front and blasted his shot into the post. Ah, Freo. The Bluies scored a coupla rushed behinds and Pavlich missed again, a tougher shot. Into time-on and Stevens passed towards Betts, he was clattered but no free, Pfeiffer gathered, slipped Heath Black and hooked a terrific over-the-shoulder snap for full points. Bluie fans were out of their tiny minds with joy. The Blues led by 8 points, a Fevola miss made it 9. Farmer was denied a late, obvious free-kick but it wouldn't have mattered.
The Blooze had some very handy midfield efforts from Adam Bentick (31 disposals) and Nick Stevens (28 touches, 12 marks, a goal) while Eddie Betts (16 possies, 6 marks, 2 goals) was a handy forward as the bigger men struggled. Wingman Kade Simpson (20 disposals, 8 marks, a goal) is having a consistent season and Jarrad Waite (25 handlings, 7 marks) enjoyed a free role at the back again. Heath Scotland (24 disposals, 2 goals) and Andrew Carrazzo (21 touches, a goal) were useful. Brad Fisher booted 2 goals. The Dokkers had some good service from young midfielders Garrick Ibbotson (21 disposals) and Rhys Palmer (20 handlings) and Luke McPharlin (12 possies) did very well on Fevola. Matthew Pavlich (8 marks, 16 disposals, 4 goals) provided a cutting edge but O'hAilpin wasn't bad on him. Chris Tarrant (9 marks, 14 handlings, 3 goals) is getting back to form and Ryan Crowley did okay on Judd. Jeff Farmer bagged 2 goals. All folks wanted to know from Harvey concerned these accursed final quarters. "Everyone talks about it now and we've created that," he said. "We've got to arrest that situation and get a win on the board. It will be interesting to see what happens when we do that, and what we're going to do after that . . . we could look at some outside sources to help us . . . We might have to consider visualising winning." You couldn't script this stuff. "You'd like to think [we could address it ourselves]," Harvs continued, "but at times that's a specialised area so we may look at things like [psychologists]. There are other things that you can do that you do internally at football clubs that you don't necessarily talk about that hopefully can rectify the situations that we're going through." Brett Ratten knew what to say. "I didn't miss when you're going into the last quarter [against Fremantle], we sort of made it a highlight as well," Ratten said. "I think when it's nearly even at three-quarter time you think you're a massive chance. When you've dominated a game or controlled it for most of it, you think you can go on with the job. It would have been a disappointing factor if we had fell off . . . they hit the front and that was good at 10 points down, we fought our way back and we found a way to win. We squashed another record along the way. I think round 16, 2001, was the last time we beat Fremantle and that's another record we tick off to say 'it's a new beginning for this team and the players that are involved'."
At Football Park:
Port Adelaide 6.1 9.5 11.7 14.10.94
Sydney 8.1 11.4 13.9 16.9.105
You may ask yourself, why are Port and the Swans playing again so soon, after meeting in round two? It's the Mystery of the Fixture, another fine Demetriou/Anderson product. This game was great, tough and intense and close all the way. The Swans were a bit lucky to win in the end, but they led nearly all day and held off plenty of pressure. Siddey's remarkable attacking efficiency in converting inside-50s into goals was the difference in the end, Port's suspect defence exposed. The Power fans were unhappy with the umpires, of course, who ignored a plethora of obvious frees to both sides in a 'put-the-whistle-away-'cause-it's-tough-and-close' effort. The Powder side was without Shaun Burgoyne, suspended 3 games for colliding with Sam Mitchell's head last week which made Port coach Mark Williams very angry indeed, not for the loss of Burgoyne so much (he claimed) as the 'softification' of the game the suspension implied. He had a point, in any case three games seemed unduly harsh. Adam Thomson was dropped as Port regained Chad Cornes and Michael Wilson, although Cornes was of limited use with his broken finger heavily strapped. The Swans lost Tadhg Kennelly with his dislocated kneecap, he was replaced by Tim Schmidt.
In the first minute nuggetty Swan Jarred Moore managed to hit the post from 10m, but it was the last time they missed in a flowing first term. Sinney had some very successful match-ups early, Adam Goodes thrashed Kane Cornes, Paul Bevan shut down Peter Burgoyne and Ryan O'Keefe ran rings around Tom Logan. And every time they attacked, the Bloods scored. Fierce tackling pressure was a big part of it, Port man Toby Thurstans fired a wild handpass when surrounded and Bevan gathered it to bag the opening goal. Goodes bolted clear of the restart and passed to leading Mick O'Loughlin, Mick marked and handballed to no-one but tackled to regain possession and set up a snapped major for Amon Buchanan. The Swans had an early 12-point lead, before a goal-for-goal sequence. Port ruckman Dean Brogan tapped a throw-in to Steven Salopek, he stabbed a very short pass for leading Brett Ebert to mark and thump a long goal for Port's opener. O'Keefe booted a very good goal for Siddey to restore the 12-point lead. Powder spearhead Justin Westhoff marked out wide and ignored hovering Daniel Motlop to have a shot himself, it sliced on-the-full. Motlop had all but begged for a handpass. But a bit later David 'D-Rod' Rodan centered the ball to Warren Tredrea, he did dish off for big Brendon Lade to thump a long goal. A quick Swan rebound saw Bevan get the ball to O'Keefe, he ran forward and passed for Jarrad McVeigh to mark and convert. Lade's slick pick-up and handball created the answering major, Chad Cornes's lobbed shot was marked by Ebert next to the post, he hooked it through. Then the Swans again, Bevan's long kick saw Henry Playfair trapped at the back but his directed spoil allowed Moore to rove, bust Surjan's tackle and stab it through. A minute later Jude Bolton placed his free-kick for O'Keefe to pluck a grab over Logan, 'Rocky' majored and the Swans led by 18 points. Salopek drove the Power forward from a ball-up and Robbie Gray roved Westhoff's contest to snap one. But busy Goodes kicked the Bloods into attack again and some fierce Sinney tackling resulted in Brett 'Captain' Kirk snapping the Swans back to an 18-point lead. Danyle Pearce won the following centre-clearance for Port and punted forward, Motlop soccer-volleyed it further ahead and Tredrea grabbed a fortuitous mark, he majored. But the Swans scored yet another, Craig Bolton marked in the centre and as he trotted back on the mark was grabbed by Ebert for some reason, a 50m penalty and Bolton scored a rare (for him) goal. But there was time for another Power goal, born-again Swan Nick Malceski, who had a poor game, clangered a centering kick for Ebert to mark and boot his third. Swans by 12 points at the first break. Early in the second Playfair and Jude Bolton combined to set up a goal for Buchanan and the Swans led by 17 points. O'Loughlin missed badly and the Power began to get a grip of the game, Kane Cornes and Peter Burgoyne getting involved at last. Brogan lobbed a high kick from a throw-in, Tredrea couldn't mark but roved his own contest to snap a very good sausage. A sustained spell of Power pressure butted against the Swans' flood, they only managed a coupla behinds before Rodan marked and dummied around Bevan, D-Rod ran to the 50 and passed to leading Ebert for a mark and his fourth goal. The Swan lead was down to 3 points and they absorbed pressure for a while, then Powerman Troy Chaplin dropped a tough marking chance in the centre and the Bloods pounced, Moore handballed for Peter 'Spida' Everitt to kick long, ruckman Darren Jolly clutched a good grab and converted. A bit later Jolly tapped a ball-up to Moore, he snapped it home and the Bloods led by 16 points. Tough on Port but with a minute remaining in the half Rodan won the ball and sent Jacob Surjan running, from his kick Tredrea held a strong grab against Ted Richards and booted truly. The Swans led by 11 points at the long break.
Swan Jolly missed a set shot early in the third stanza, the ball went down the other end and Robbie Gray's great tackle on Craig Bolton jarred the ball loose, Ebert gathered and snapped yet another goal for himself, and Port, as they trailed by 6 points now. There followed a lengthy period of tough, intense footy with little scoring, not the usual series of multiple ball-ups and throw-ins you expect in Swans game (well, not too many) but rugged one-on-one contests all over the ground with some great defending. Synney broke the goal-less spell with a lucky free-kick to O'Loughlin, he fumbled and was tackled a split-second later by committed Chaplin. Great work from McVeigh and Moore to get the ball to Mick, though. Goodes, who'd been quiet since quarter-time, powered away from the restart and kicked long, O'Loughlin played in front to mark and convert again and the Swans had jumped to an 18-point lead. Goodes also manufactured the next centre-break and Buchanan had a shot, he missed. The Flowers advanced from the kick-in, Salopek's attacking punt went towards Ebert who was manhandled by Leo Barry, a free with advantage allowed and Ebert booted his fifth goal. A late, poor miss from O'Loughlin had the Bloods 14 points ahead at the final change. Several Swans appeared very tired, nay exhausted as they trudged to the huddle and Port launched a big effort to start the final Mario. Logan's poor early attempt saw the ball bounce out-of-bounds but Brogan tapped the resulting throw-in for Peter Burgoyne to gather and pop through. Burgoyne played as a rover now, with Chad Cornes also on-the-ball. Pearce held a tough grab from the next centre-clearance and handballed to Logan, his low kick was gathered by Motlop who wheeled about and booted a very good sausage. Ebert saw a long shot hit the post prior to another tough spell with some ferocious tackling from both sides, it was great stuff. After a while Port's Gray led wide for a strong grab and dished off a handpass to Motlop, who'd been waiting all afternoon. Motlop ran clear and curled a great kick from 50m for full points, giving the Powder the lead for the first time by 5 points. The Flowers had scored the last four goals and the desperately tired Swans seemed incapable of raising the running effort to win. Rodan hooked a shot on-the-full and Pearce raced into an open goal, only to be run down by Marty Mattner. Then the Swans had a chance, McVeigh hacked the ball forward from a ball-up and Moore gathered, he ran into Siddey's empty forward half and punted a goal to level the scores. Port lost Brett Ebert with a rolled ankle, he'd kicked six of Port's 14 goals. A bit later Jude Bolton kicked the Swans forward from a throw-in, Kirk roved the pack and lobbed another high kick towards the goals. Tim Schmidt back-pedalled to take a chest mark next to the post and coolly banana it through to put the Swans in front again. With a minute remaining there was a fierce scrap for the ball following a throw-in in the Bloods' attack, Peter Burgoyne was tackled superbly by Kieran Jack and McVeigh scooped the spilled ball to snap a close-range sausage. The Swans led by 12 points and it was effectively over. Port's Dom Cassisi had a shot after the siren, he missed.
Highest praise flowed for Siddey leader Brett 'Captain' Kirk (31 disposals, a goal), he and Jude Bolton (25 touches, 6 marks) were terrific in the clinches. Ryan O'Keefe (14 disposals, 5 marks, 2 goals) did some early damage and Jarred Moore (19 possessions, 3 goals) was very good, he's arrived. Adam Goodes (22 touches) started and ended well, Jarrad McVeigh (17 disposals, 2 goals) and Kieran Jack (17 touches, 7 tackles) were handy. Lewis Roberts-Thomson and Marty Mattner played solidly down back. Amon Buchanan and Mick O'Loughlin kicked 2 goals each.
Port's Brett Ebert (7 marks, 13 kicks, 6 goals) played an almost lone hand in attack, Kane Cornes (17 disposals, 8 marks) battled hard with the Swans and Steven Salopek (26 disposals, 10 marks) and Dom Cassisi (27 touches) played well. Ruckman Dean Brogan (13 possies, 5 marks, 29 hit-outs) was pretty good, as was Danyle Pearce (20 touches). Warren Tredrea (18 disposals, 6 marks, 3 goals) started like a house on fire but faded. Daniel Motlop was generally beaten by Mattner but kicked 2 very good goals. Mark Williams had the adrenaline pumping towards the end and a bit drained afterwards. "It's a tough, hard game football. It rips the guts out of you, certainly emotionally," he said. "The players put a lot of effort into the game. We didn't get over the line, but we kept at it. We played Sydney pretty well how Sydney play but we didn't the result, so we're all disappointed. The losses keep adding up and it makes it tougher and tougher each week . . . I thought goals at the end of the quarters really hurt us, they kicked a few again . . . Certainly in the first quarter with them kicking eight goals, was disappointing for us. I think they went inside-50 15 times for nine shots on goal, which is not good." Paul Roos said "Things were going horribly wrong there for 15 minutes (in the last quarter). So to actually get it back on track and to get two goals up before the end of the game was pretty good. Marty Mattner's tackle on Pearce, that was really special . . . I thought Jarred Moore's effort today was just outstanding. I thought he was just phenomenal for a kid that hasn't played a lot of footy; some of the things he did today were unbelievable. I think Kirky and Goodesy stood up in that last 15 minutes too. There were probably four or five guys that at that particular time just raised their game to another level, and that allowed us to overcome their brilliance and then go on and win the game."
At the MCG:
Essendon 0.5 2.6 8.8 10.12.72
Richmond 5.3 10.8 12.10 16.14.110
Tiges recorded an overdue win against the Bombers who were awful, in the first half anyway. Essadun did a bit better in the second half and vaguely threatened for a while, until the Tiges remembered to try again and eased to victory. The Richmun side here recalled Kayne Pettifer from the VFL along with Adam Pattison and Jay Schulz, they replaced injured Graham Polak and dropped pair Mitch Morton and Luke McGuane. The Bombouts made four changes to the team routed by Siddey, a 'message was sent' as plodding old plodders Mal Michael and Adam Ramanauskas were dropped along with timid ruckman Jason Laycock, young rover Bachar Houli missed with 'flu. Adam McPhee and Nathan Lovett-Murray returned from suspension, Jobe Watson from injury and Jay Nash was recalled.
This was the annual Dreamtime game, the centrepiece of a round celebrating the contribution of Aborigines to footy and commencing here with an uplifting celebration, in the light of Ruddy's apology earlier in the year. Any optimism experienced by Bommer fans was quickly drained by their team, Essadun were absolutely terrible in the first half. The only thing a Bomma fan could take from it is the idea they'd 'bottomed out'. Unopposed Tigers ran riot and the Dons' disposal was woeful - when they could get the ball, which wasn't often. Tigger rovers Nathan Foley and Brett Deledio were busy early, Nathan Brown missed a couple of early chances before converting a third, Matty Richardson crashed a pack hard to create spillage and roving Brown poked it through. The Dons' first attack saw Tom Hislop drop an uncontested mark, the Tiges rebounded and a smart handpass from junior Trent Cotchin created a running goal for Matt White. The Bombouts managed some attacking at last, Jay Neagle and skipper Matthew Lloyd took marks within range but both missed. The Toigs advanced from a kick-in and Kayne 'P-Train' Pettifer led up for a good mark, he stabbed a short pass for Foley to mark and convert. Bomma Nash was caught in possession at the restart, Tige Troy Simmonds passed his free to Adam Pattison and he popped another for Shane Edwards to mark and boot truly. Richmun led by 24 points. The Bummers managed a coupla rushed points and Richardson sliced on-the-full from a tough angle. As the Dons tried to advance from the resulting free their Kyle Reimers clangered a kick straight to Simmonds, he passed for leading Pettifer to mark and thump a long sausage. The Tiges led by 28 points, late in the term a good kick from Bomma Watson allowed Leroy Jetta to mark behind Newman, but Jetta's awful kick wobbled on-the-full. The Dons'd failed to kick a goal in three of their previous five quarters now and Knights gave his lads a ferocious spray at the quarter-time break, addressing the issue of accountability, apparently. Perhaps they didn't listen as there was no immediate effect. Tiger Brown had a chance direct from the opening bounce of le deuxieme trimestre, but tried to be too cute with a tight-angle dribbly-snap which hit the post. Brown played a like a smart-ar5e for much of the night. Soon a good kick from Newman found Pettifer on the lead, P-Train punted another long major and the Tiges led by 35 points. The Tiggers won another centre-clearance but Edwards missed a fairly easy shot, he atoned a minute later after marking Brown's pass, Don Stanton dropped a mark to create the chance. Some snappy handballing between Foley, Joel Bowden and Pettifer allowed Chris Hyde to drill a major and the Tiggers led by 48 points, 8.5 to 0.5. The Dons finally managed a goal, Andrew Welsh tumbled a quick kick forward and Lloyd held a diving grab, he punted truly. Bronx cheering from Don supporters. The Tiges continued to dominate though, Edwards missed another shot before good work from White set up a mark and goal for Richardson. Richard Tambling's slick pick-up and handball led to Adam Pattison stabbing a low kick for full points, a poor Richardson miss made the Toigers' lead 55 points. The Dons scored a second goal, Mark McVeigh with a free-kick after Jake King needlessly shepherded him out of a marking contest with three Richmun backmen. McVeigh took a break from trying to whack blokes to kick a goal, the final 5-odd minutes of the half were sloppy as both sides began to struggle.
The Bummers improved in the third term, led by their captain Lloyd who'd been criticized for lack of leadership last week. It's hard to captain a poor side from full-forward. Neagle booted an early goal following a strong mark, McVeigh with the centering kick. Ruckman David Hille missed a shot, preceding a terrible spell of turnover-plagued rubbish from both sides. Finalists they won't be. The Dons soon scored again, Tigger full-back Will Thursfield had an attack of the Koschitzkes when he failed to see Leroy Jetta bearing down, Jetta's fierce tackle forced the ball loose and Lloyd passed for Angus Monfries to mark and convert. Then good play from Adam McPhee got the ball to wide-leading Monfries, he punted to the top o' the 'square where Lloyd won a free against grappling Thursfield and Lloydy booted another. Nash tumbled a kick forward from the following centre-bounce, Lloyd doubled-back to gather the pill and steer a left-foot dribbly-kick for a major. The Bommer fans were mildly excited now as the Dons trailed by 26 points, having scored five unanswered goals. The Tiges managed a steadier, a complicated series of handballs following a throw-in ended with Kane Johnson's high snap scraping through for a sausage. Simmonds did very well to win the next centre-clearance, White ran clear and his long kick allowed Brown to mark behind opponent Henry Slattery, Brown majored and the Tiges led by 38 points. Essadun finished the term well though, Hille and McPhee combined to find Brent Stanton leading out wide, Stanton punted an excellent goal from the flank. Hille then collected a throw-in, sold a good dummy and booted a major to reduce the Dons' deficit to 26 points again. Monfries missed poorly late in the quarter but the Bombouts were a nominal chance going into the final term, 26 points down. The Tiggers scored the crucial first goal of the last korter, classy play from Jack Riewoldt sent the ball forward and leading Brown had his arm chopped by Slattery, Brown converted the free-kick. McPhee hacked the ball forward from the subsequent centre-bounce, Nash executed a great pick-up and goal and the Dons were still there, 25 points behind. Tigers Richardson and Jordan McMahon missed shots and there was terrible sliced effort from Don Reimers during a tense period (for me, anyway). After a while McMahon produced a good spoil, gathered the ball and passed to Brett Deledio who marked and converted, a minute later Pattison initiated a sharp defensive rebound and a chain of handballs presented Edwards with a goal-square tap-through. Richmun led by 37 points and the heat went outta the contest. Brown reverted to smart-ar5ery and blew a certain goal with an unnecessary series of dummies, Richardson kicked a goal after marking on the goal-line as commentators recalled last year's Dreamtime game, where Richo's go-ahead goal was disallowed after he touched Mal Michael on the back. Lloyd snapped a late major for the Dons, set up by Paddy Ryder who'd been very quiet.
Tiger rover Nathan Foley (32 disposals, a goal) won a commemorative boomerang as BOG, Brett Deledio (29 disposals, 7 marks, a goal) and galloping old Richo (14 marks, 18 kicks, 2 goals) were pretty good too. Nathan Brown (23 disposals, 3.4) was an effective smart-ar5e, defender Kel Moore (17 disposals) was good and Shane Edwards (15 possies, 8 marks, 3 goals) handy. Jordan McMahon (22 disposals) did alright, Kayne Pettifer booted 2 goals. Rich (386)
Ess (259). Essadun skipper Matthew Lloyd (6 marks, 12 disposals, 4 goals) led his lads and Jay Nash (14 disposals, a goal) played well, Mark McVeigh (17 touches, a goal) was adequate but could do better. David Hille (17 disposals, 6 marks, 38 hit-outs, a goal) was very good in the second half, Brent Stanton (15 touches, a goal) and Jobe Watson (20 possies) battled away as usual. Matty Knights hadn't calmed down much afterwards "(That was our) worst half for the year, the players didn't display the right attitude. It happens because you're not first to the ball, you follow in and you don't stand up - the contest you flop - that's how it happens and when you're on the deck, you're already playing with one less, which is no good in the modern game. Everyone has got a responsibility, all 22, no-one in particular, no individual, all 22 and I'll deal with that behind closed doors." He said there were "positives in second half" and singled out Kyle Reimers. Plough said "Oh look, I thought it was a three-quarter performance. I thought our first half was excellent. Our attack on the ball and the man was excellent, I thought our ability to lower our eyes and really pick the targets was as good as I've seen for some time. The third quarter was really poor for a lot of reasons - they beat us at contested ball, which we really rate ourselves at. Of course it's a game of momentum, and sides are always going to get momentum at some stage, and they kicked some pretty special goals in that third quarter. I wasn't really too over-enthusiastic at three-quarter time, and let the boys know that, but in saying that, I thought we handled the last quarter fine."
At Subiaco:
West Coast 1.4 7.5 10.10 14.13.97
Adelaide 0.3 1.7 4.12 5.17.47
Pundits don't know what to make of the Camrys, comfortably ensconced in fourth before this game, but not seen by many as a premiership contender. This game muddied the waters further as the Cows were unexpectedly thrashed by the young Weegles, ending a 7-game losing streak for Worsfold's embattled charges. A huge turnaround from round 2, when the Camrys thrashed the Eegs by 76 points at Foopall Park. The other notable incident here was the first goal resulting from an incorrect interchange, although afterwards the officials admitted they'd got it wrong and no such free-kick should've been awarded. What a system. In selection the Wiggles went further down the youth road, midfielder Tim Houlihan from North Ballarat and 22-year-old backman Beau Wilkes of Claremont were given AFL debuts at the expense of axed Mark Nicoski (very poor last week) and Jaymie Graham. David Wirrpanda played his 200th game, a highlight of the indigenous round, although Wirrpanda reckons he might retire at the end of the season. Contract must be up. The Cressidas regained midfielders Richard Douglas and Brent Reilly, at the expense of Jarrhan Jacky and Luke Jericho.
The first quarter was scrappy with some terrible kickin' for goal, but the Weegles succeeded in controlling the midfield. Wirrpanda produced the worst miss in 23 goal-less minutes, before Chris Masten roved Ben McKinley's contest and snapped a goal. The Weevils got moving in the second quarter, with Andrew Embley, Matthew Priddis and Chad Fletcher bossing possession, juniors Brad Ebert and first-gamer Houlihan were also good. Wilkes initiated a defensive rebound which ended with Wirrpanda passing to leading Josh Kennedy, he marked and goaled. Brad Symes's clanger allowed Dean 'Big' Cox to boot a goal and then Kennedy's long kick cleared the pack, McKinley lurked at the back to collect the pill and stab another. Ebert held a good mark on the wing and the ball went via Houlihan to unopposed Steven Armstrong, his major had the Eegs 29 points ahead. The Camrys managed to score a coupla behinds, including a miss from Brett 'Birdman' Burton who was struggling against Brett Jones. From the kick-in the Wiggles chipped a series of passes around the boundary, ending with Fletcher passing to Wirrpanda for a mark and goal. A Cox point made the Weegs' lead 34 points. The Camrys finally managed a goal, ruckman Griffin drove the ball long and Ivan Maric eluded Glass and Wilkes to snap a terrific sausage. But they were already in a lot of trouble. Brent Staker gathered Michael Braun's long kick and punted long for Embley to mark in the goal-mouth, he popped it through and West Ghost led by 34 points again at half-time.
Early in the third term Corolla Scott Stevens, shifted forward, marked out wide and jabbed a short inwards pass to Nathan Van Berlo, he booted a goal. But the Eegs continued to dominate, they missed a coupla shots before Ebert passed to Embley in space on the attacking side of centre, he played-on and drove a long kick for full points to the delight of the already pretty happy crowd. Embley had another go a minute later, but missed. Cox punted 'em forwad again and Staker did well to win the ball, he handpassed to McKinley alone in the goal-square for a tap-through and the Weevils led by 42 points. The Cows produced some pressure at last and Brent Reilly found some space for a run and long kick, Graham 'Stiffy' Johncock roved the goal-square pack to soccer a major. He and Van Berlo added to the hefty behinds-tally before Brett Jones clangered a kick-in straight to Van Berlo, he majored this time and the Weeg lead was down to 29 points. But in the shadow of three-korter-time Cox tapped a ball-up to Ebert, he handballed for Braun to boot a major and the Wiggles led by 34 points at the last change. Not much happened in the opening minutes of the final Mario, until Quinten Lynch won the agget and set up a chance for Wirrpanda, his miscued soccer kick was gathered by Staker who snapped it through while being tackled. Not pretty but effective, the Eegs 40 points up. Now came the 'historic' interchange mess-up which the officials got wrong. Weeg Matt Rosa was running forward when the emergency ump raced onto the field, the Eegs had 19 men on the ground! Except they didn't, Weeg junior Ryan Davis had left the 'holding area' early, but not actually entered the ground. A confusing bout of whistling and arm-waving led to Camry Maric kicking a goal from 20m out. Luckily it didn't matter as Cox and Ebert combined to clear the following centre-bounce, Adam Selwood gathered and handballed to Chad Fletcher, a pass to Wirrpanda for a mark and goal. Ebert thumped a deserved running major to cap off a two-bounce run and still had time in the game to handball for Cox to bag one. Selebration at Sooby.
The Weegle midfielders had a picnic, Andrew Embley (29 disposals, 11 marks, 2 goals) continues to improve and Matthew Priddis (34 possies) and Chad Fletcher (29 handlings) were busy, but the Eegs could be excited by the great performances of youngsters Brad Ebert (28 disposals, 10 marks, a goal) and Tim Houlihan (20 possies). Ebert may've been motivated by facing the Camrys, who didn't draft him and caused some controversy in Addleaid last summer. Brett Jones (24 handlings, 12 marks) kept Burton goal-less and Matt Rosa (35 touches, 8 marks) was also a leather-magnet, Brent Staker (14 disposals, 4 marks, a goal) was handy in attack and Adam Selwood tagged McLeod out of it. Wirrpanda, McKinley and Cox booted 2 goals each. Few Eagles worth mentioning, Scott Thompson managed 32 touches and 10 marks, Graham 'Stiffy' Johncock (21 kicks, 10 marks, a goal) did a bit as did Nathan Van Berlo (24 touches, 8 marks, 2 goals). Junior ruckman Ivan Maric (8 disposals) kicked 2 of their goals and Jason Porplyzia (24 disposals, 7 marks) found a bit of the ball. Neil Craig had no excuse. "I thought their (Eagles') fierceness and their will and their want was fantastic, a bit similar to what we saw on Friday night with Collingwood versus Geelong," he said. Johncock reckoned "We spoke about it (being 'up') before the game, and our record over here is not great. That's one thing we wanted to change, and we did focus pretty heavily on getting a fast start and taking the crowd out of it because in our last few games we're been pretty good at it. Unfortunately when you're playing away and you let yourself down at the start, it can really hurt you on the scoreboard. You look back over the game and it doesn't matter which area it was, the West Coast were probably better at it than us. So it's definitely a wake-up call and we'll have a look back at the game and work on a few things during the week." Worsfold wasn't happy about the interchange goal - he wanted the score amended. "A free kick and a 50m penalty is for a major sanction, which I think is running on the ground before you're teammate's off," Worsfold said. "And our player wasn't on the ground. All I know is, from the feedback I've been given so far, that someone made an error, and gave a free kick when it shouldn't have been given. So whether we get that goal back, I don't know, I'd like to ask for it." He went on to praise the efforts of Ebert and the other kids.
At the Gabba:
Brisbane 3.6 9.10 17.11 21.15.141
St. Kilda 2.4 3.6 6.8 14.11.95
Lyin' key forwards Jonathan Brown and Daniel Bradshaw bagged 6 goals each as Brisbun smashed the abject Saints. This game started a run of four home games in the next five for the Lisbon Brians and they're well aware it could set up a finals appearance. Sinkilda are heading in the opposite direction, their slow ball-movement and awful defensive pressure, featuring non-existent tackling, won't beat many sides, certainly none of the good ones. The staff at the Herald-Sun are no fans, they've been getting stuck into Ross Lyon and the Stainers for a few weeks now and Lyon himself joined in after this game. Previously defensive and supportive of his players, Lyon called them "physically and mentally soft", "unprofessional" and "not committed" in his press conference, although he also took the blame for that as well. Certainly discipline is poor at Sinkilda with most players appearing uninterested. The Lyin's made no change to the side which cruised in against Carlton. The Saints dumped Fraser Gehrig onto the long-term injured list, allegedly due to his arthritic hands, but really it's thinking time while they all work out whether he should continue at all. (Sean Dempster), Raphael Clarke and Charlie Gardiner were also dropped from the team beaten by the Pies. Nick Riewoldt returned very quickly from his knee injury while Aaron Fiora, Clint Jones and junior Jarryn Geary were recalled. Steven King played his 200th game and Stephen Milne his 150th.
A typically warm Brisbun day saw the locals start quickly, with followers Jamie Charman and Simon Black very good and half-back Josh Drummond doing a lot of rebound running. First major came after Sainter full-back Max Hudghton affected a good spoil on Bradshaw, but roving Rhan Hooper gathered and slotted it through. Brown was soon involved, leading up for a mark and quickly dishing off to Black, he kicked towards Anthony Corrie was won a fairly lucky free-kick against spoiling Brendon Goddard. Corrie majored. A bit later Mitch Clark's strong effort got the ball to Bradshaw, he booted long and Hooper marked, he also had a soft 50m penalty after being bumped late by Gram. Hooper booted his second and the Lyin's had an 18-point lead. Sainter on-ballers Lenny Hayes and Luke Ball got them going, Shane Birss had the first of several long, wayward shots at goal but Justin Koschitzke marked right on the boundary, he kicked back for Goddard to mark and thump it home. Nick Riewoldt and Robert Harvey set up a chance for Koschitzke but he missed poorly. The Saints advanced again and Riewoldt should've had a free when 'tunnelled' by Joel Patfull but the ump waved play-on, roving Drummond clangered his cross-goal kick straight to Koschitzke who converted this time. The Saints trailed by 6 points as big Kosi proceeded to spill a coupla marking chances and get spoiled by opponent Daniel Merrett during a spell of Sinkilda pressure. Lyin' Corrie then missed a pair of running shots and Brown sprayed a shot on-the-full after the siren, Brisbun leading by 8 points. The Saints were rarely competitive again. Riewoldt produced a shocking shin-shank shot early in the second, barely scoring a point from 20m, right in front. Lyin' Tim Notting smothered Ball's handpass and produced a good one of his own to find Clark, who ran to 50m and mongrelled a punt through the big sticks. Saints Dal Santo, Ball and Hayes then combined to set up a goal-square mark and goal for Koschitzke, the Brians led by 9 points at this stage. Soon Bradshaw marked on a long lead, turned quickly and found leading Brown marking on 50m. Brown didn't make the distance but Jared Brennan jumped high for a goal-square grab and major. Hooper's good tackle created the next chance, Scott Harding burned several team-mates when having a wild punt from 50m but Bradshaw marked and slotted from a tight angle. Bradshaw soon had another, marking in the goal-square after Patfull's long rebound run and kick. The Saints' midfield chasing and tackling was abysmal as the Lyin's led by 27 points now. Dal Santo ignored options to have a running banana-shot, it went on the full. Brisbun missed a few shots before Charman tapped a ball-up to Black, his switching kick found backman Jason Roe for a mark and good, long punt for a sausage. Gram missed a set shot for the Stains, the Lyin's rebounded from the kick-in and Luke Power found Harding with a pass. Harding was then awarded a 50m penalty as St. Robert of Harvey mouthed off at the umpire over an earlier incident where he was clobbered and not paid a free. Harvs had a point but he never verbals the ump, it's like Nelson Mandela swearing. Harding converted an unmissable shot and Brisbun led by 40 points. A visibly angry Harvey (at either the umps or himself, or both) worked hard to clear the restart and Birss marked 40m out, his shot after the siren sliced on-the-full.
The Lyin's motored ahead in the third. Brown hammered a free-kick through from 50m after Sam Fisher sat on him, a bit later Charman and Black cleared a ball-up again and Justin Sherman marked 60m out. He waited a long time before lobbing a kick towards Bradshaw, who got a good leap in to hold an excellent pack-mark. Bradshaw majored. The Brians won the pill from another ball-up, Troy Selwood handballed to Notting and his well-weighted kick cleared Sam Fisher for Brown to mark. Gram ran dopily through the mark adding a 50m penalty and easy major for Brown, Brisbun led by 57 points now. Birss managed to win the following centre-clearance for the Saints and Dal Santo kicked for leading Koschitzke to hold a diving grab, he majored. But then Birss failed to complete his own good play with another miss, Brisbun swept afield from the kick-in and Jed Adcock found Brown leading into the pocket, he threaded it through. Luke Power's goal had the Lyin's ten goals ahead, 62 points to be precise. Brown missed a sitter before the Saints managed another goal, Riewoldt had a free when clambered upon by Patfull, he passed short to Sam Fisher whose jumper was tugged by Corrie, a very soft 50m penalty gave Fisher an easy conversion. But it was the term of the Lyin' forwards, Black won the ball away from the restart and kicked long, Bradshaw juggled a one-handed mark between Saints Blake and Goddard and booted another sausage roll. The Saints finally produced some tackling pressure and Dal Santo won a free, Goddard kicked long and unfortunate Merrett spilled a goal-square mark, enabling Koschitzke to snap another major. Black replied almost instantly for the Lyin's with a running six-pointer, Corrie raced clear of the restart and delivered to leading Brown, big Jonafan booted his fourth goal of the quarter and the Brians led by 69 points at the last break. Stinkilda did finish the game strongly, with Brisbun easing off. Stephen Milne passed for Leigh Montagna to mark and convert, before Brown kicked another goal for the Lyin's, thundering a punt through from 50m after marking Charman's pass. Bradshaw booted another after marking Black's pass, then Dal Santo did what he failed to do earlier and steer a running shot through from the flank. No team discipline there, either. Ron Barassi would've benched him. Good defensive play from Merrett initiated a rebound, Hooper and Brown were involved in hitting Bradshaw on-the-lead again. Bradshaw's goal was the 400th of his career and sent the Lyin's 75 points ahead. The Sainters flattered themselves by kicking six of the last seven goals. Hayes racked up the stats as first Milne, who'd been very quiet, bagged consecutive goals and Birss finally got on-target, from point-blank. Brown kicked his sixth for Brisbun after marking Drummond's perfect pass, but then Birss scored with a good running kick and Riewoldt converted from a grab. Dal Santo kicked a goal after the final siren.
Simon Black (28 disposals, a goal) could be accepting a second Brownlow at this rate, while Jonathan Brown (15 marks, 20 disposals, 6 goals) and Daniel Bradshaw (9 marks, 11 kicks, 6 goals) thrashed their opponents Fisher and Hudghton respectively. No pressure upfield. Josh Drummond (28 touches) and Jed Adcock (30 handlings) were busy and Tim Notting (20 disposals) played well, Mitch Clark (16 disposals, 7 marks, a goal) was a handy back-up ruckman again. Rhan Hooper kicked 2 goals. Lenny Hayes (32 disposals) worked hard for the Saints and got a lot of the ball, Robert Harvey (27 touches, 8 marks) was good and Luke Ball (25 handlings) okay. Justin Koschitzke (8 marks, 9 kicks, 4 goals) did a bit up forward, Nick Dal Santo and Shane Birss (both 20 disposals and 2 goals) finished with reasonable numbers. Stephen Milne kicked 2 goals. Lyon didn't spare us his thoughts. "If we're honest, which is a reflection of me which grates on me, but we're not hard and we're not tough enough, consistently enough,'' he said. "I could show you games and I could show you quarters, but footy is about a week-in, week-out battle. We're not hard and tough enough, often enough across the board, which is my responsibility and I've got 13 weeks to fix that and if I can't do that we'll assess. It's a reflection of me and my job at the minute, for the supporters and the club, to set us in a direction with a group of players who aren't mentally soft and physically soft and at the minute we've got a few that are - and opposition clubs know that." Leigh Matthews said "We won the ball well, we carried it well, we used it well and I think we were good in defence in making it hard for the opposition . . . It was a good exhibition. The last 10 minutes were quite poor, whereas the first 100 or so minutes were exceptionally good. I'm always conscious of percentage. It's one thing to win a game and then the next phase is to try and win by bigger margin. We've had a number of games where we've blown what should have been a much bigger margin by having a very poor last 10 minutes. Fortunately the majority of times we have been far enough in front that all it has cost us is margin. But against Geelong it cost us the game.
At the MCG:
Melbourne 4.3 6.4 9.5 12.6.78
Hawthorn 3.3 4.7 10.9 14.13.97
For a while there it appeared all three of the top sides would blow their unbeaten records on the same weekend. But the Hawks managed to pull the game out in the end, with the help of some friendly umpiring which had Dee coach Dean Bailey pretty upset afterwards. You may remember the Hawks crushed Melbun by 104 points in the opening round, so a 19-point loss represents a fair improvement by the Dees, but Bailey wouldn't have it. "We still lost," he said. To be fair the Hawks were missing a few, the Dees came in fired-up by the retirement of David Neitz, who did a lap of honour here and addressed the lads pre-game, and perhaps by some comments from Hawk president and celebrated big-mouth Jeff Kennett, who last week said the Demons should move up to the Gold Coast. He was sort-of backed by Demetriou, who again slagged off the Dees' current situation without offering much in the way of support. Melbun legend Jim Stynes is considering taking over from the somewhat discredited Paul Gardner as the Dees' president. The Dees made one change to the side thumped in Adelaide, Ben 'Saddlebags' Holland called up for his first appearance of 2008, at the expense of ruckman Jeff White whose leg problem ended a run of 100 straight games. The Hawks had to replace Brent Guerra (hamstring), Jordan Lewis (injured) and suspended pair Ben McGlynn, who got 4 weeks for clattering into Kane Cornes's head, and Shane Crawford who got 2 for biffing his tagger Logan. They chose to debut two players in Josh Kennedy, son of John Jr. and grandson of John 'Kanga' Kennedy, and Claremont's Jarryd Morton, brother to Richmond's Mitch and Melbun's Cale. Tim Clarke and Thomas Murphy were recalled.
Neitz did his lap in front of a decent crowd of 41,300, then got into a huddle with the Dees before they broke the banner. The Dees were fired and what they lacked in finesse made up in determination. Brock McLean managed 13 disposals in the first quarter and Matthew Bate ran about a lot. The Horks managed the first goal, Jarryd Roughead using a free-kick to find Chance Bateman in space, he stabbed a short pass for Rick Ladson to mark and convert. The Dees answered, Russ Robertson managing to kick a goal before the final quarter with a free. Robbo missed a later shot and then, ominously, Lance 'Buddy' Franklin got his first for the Orcs, with a strong grab against his opponent Colin Garland. The Hawks missed a couple before ruckman Robert Campbell converted from a pack-mark and the Hawks'd jumped to a 12-point lead. But the Dees fought back late in the term, McLean did well to win the ball and Aaron Davey found Austin Wonaeamirri lurking in the pocket, he converted. Cameron Bruce was twice-involved in a defensive rebound before Davey punted forward again, Cale Morton and Wonaeamirri set up an accurate snap for Nathan Jones. McLean's kick into the pocket was marked by Robertson, he slotted after the siren and the Dees led by 6 points at the first break. They upped the intensity in the second term, winning the ball at stoppages and tackling fiercely. Hawk Brad Sewell's switching kick was picked off by Wonaeamirri, he hooked it back to the goal-square where Ben Holland took a grab and popped it through. Roughead replied for the Hawks following a good mark, there followed a rugged spell where the frustrated Hawks were tackled to a standstill. Robbo missed but a bit later Paul Johnson bagged one with the aid of a 50m penalty and the Dees led by 13 points. The Orcs scored four straight behinds to end the half, including two poor misses from Roughead. Stuart Dew's day was over with more hamstring trouble.
The Hawks lifted for the third term, led by Sam Mitchell and Bateman. Mitchell was reported for deliberately tripping Simon Buckley, Foxtel's 'On The Couch' later suggested Mitchell attempts to deliberately cork blokes' thighs. Ten minutes into the third Mario the Hawks had managed just a single goal from Franklin, whacked through from 50m out on the flank after he led to Bateman's pass. The Dees still led, by a point, and after Roughead missed again the Dees took the kick-in the length of the ground, Bate collected Morton's long kick and handballed for Wonaeamirri to punt truly. Horforn responded, Sewell kicking for leading Cyril Rioli to mark and convert. The Dees surged again with consecutive goals from Ben Holland, the first from a mark on-the-lead to Buckley's pass, the second after Robertson exchanged handballs with Buckley and kicked to find Holland alone, 20m out. A Johnson point had the Demuns 14 points ahead. But the Hawks rammed through four goals in time-on. Rioli kicked the first, controversially as Roughead was tackled, did a complete 360 and then simply dropped the ball. Play-on said the idiot official and Rioli swooped on the ball to jab it through. Mark 'Choker' Williams converted following a good grab and Xavier Ellis got one direct from the restart, thanks to a 50m penalty. Bateman completed a two-bounce run with a kick for Franklin to pluck over Garland and convert, the Hawks led by 10 points at the last change. The momentum was with the Awks but the Demuns didn't give up. Clint Bartram gathered McDonald's pass on-the-bounce and handballed for Jones to whack it through, he very much enjoyed it. Mark Jamar and McLean cleared the restart, Wonaeamirri collected Jones's wobbly kick a slipped a handpass to running Davey who slotted it through, the Dees led again by a point. The Hawks cleared the next centre-bounce and Sewell's long punt was grabbed by the unlikely Tim Clarke, he majored. The Dees went ahead again, Cameron Bruce marking Shane Valenti's free-kick in the goal-square and popping it through. Then the Hawks, Rioli ran in from the side to take a gutsy and superb mark of Ellis's kick, virtually plucking the ball from the hands of Roughead. Rioli didn't break stride, straightened with a bounce and slotted it through. The Hawks led by 5 points. There were a few misses each, Demon fans again furious with the umps when Davey caught Jarryd Morton red-hot 30m out, again no whistle. Two Mark Williams goals sealed it, from a mark and a free respectively. The Hawks'd escaped.
The ball-winning of Sam Mitchell (33 disposals) and Chance Bateman (28 touches, 5 marks) helped the Hawks over the line, with help from Brad Sewell (23 possies) and running flanker Rick Ladson (22 handlings, 7 marks, a goal). Back-flankers Campbell Brown (16 handlings, 7 marks) and Grant Birchall (23 touches, 8 marks) played well and the skills of Cyril Rioli (14 disposals, 3 goals) were handy. Lance Franklin (14 touches, 3 goals) was generally well-held by Colin Garland, Mark Williams kicked 3 goals. Brock McLean (29 disposals, 7 marks) was very good for the Dees and running men Matthew Bate (29 touches, 9 marks) and Brent Moloney (26 touches) played well, Austin Wonaeamirri (16 touches, 6 marks, 2 goals) and Aaron Davey (20 disposals, a goal) fired the crowd. Down back Brad Green (20 touches, 8 marks) and Matthew Warnock (13 disposals), on Roughead, did solid jobs. Ben Holland took advantage of his recall to boot 3 goals, Nathan Jones kicked 2. Bailey didn't like the umpiring "I thought we tackled really well all day and didn't get rewarded. I've got no doubt tackling is important, and you should get rewarded . . . We didn't win. We still didn't win the game. There's been improvement from the first game. Eight weeks later we were more competitive for longer, and if a couple of things had gone our way, we may have been closer at the end . . . Let's hope they can stand up next week and do it without David saying those things before the game." Al Clarkson said "We couldn't have done it without [Chance] Bateman. I thought he was just outstanding. He, and a couple of cameos from 'Junior' Rioli. That terrific tackle and goal in the third quarter [by Rioli] . . . seemed to just ignite our boys a little bit. Sewell and Mitchell in the second half started to get on top of their opponents, but it was a real grind. We know we've got to play a lot, lot better than what we did today . . . but we've been on a high for a long period of time. It's hard to win back-to-back games, and we had a bit of a lull today. Full credit to Melbourne, I might add. The lull wasn't necessarily just because we weren't on top of our game. We were forced to not be on top of our game by the good play of the Melbourne footy club. For us to finally get over the line was a credit to the hard work of our boys."
At Docklands:
Footscray 5.3 11.7 14.10 16.14.110
North Melbourne 5.3 7.7 12.11 16.17.113
The Bulldogs rolled the dice and came up short this time, Brad Johnson missing a shot after the siren. Should've 'done a hammy' and had Will Minson take it. Thus the Ruse maintained a lengthy winning sequence over the Bullpups, all of them seemingly goal-for-goal thrillers at Docklands. Norf trailed most of the evening but produced a remarkably intense effort to get up in the end and celebrate Brent 'Boomer' Harvey's 250th game. Laidley galloped onto the field triumphantly after Johnno missed. What was he going to do if it were a goal - walk on and berate the Kangers? Probably, knowing Laidley. Euphoria may be tempered by an apparently serious knee injury for Daniel Wells. The Dogs made two changes to the team which overhauled the Shockers, Stephen Tiller and Josh Hill were dropped to include Tim Callan and Farren Ray, the latter for the first time this year. One change for Norf, Daniel Pratt returning to replace the unfortunate Alan Obst, who suffered a punctured lung on debut last week.
Each quarter had a pattern, the Doggies would start very well and the Roos'd peg 'em back, usually when Adam Cooney and Robert Murphy went off for a rest. Minson kicked the first goal after a strong grab against Drew Petrie. Harvey's milestone game got off to a poor start when he was accidentally kicked in the head by Bulldog backman Ryan Hargrave, 'Boomer' staggered off groggily for a rest. He returned later and kicked a superb goal, but had a quiet game overall. Murphy drove a long kick forward for the Dogs and Scott Welsh jumped in from the side for a good grab and major, the Bullies led by 13 points. North opened their account with the aid of a free-kick to ex-Puppy Sam Power, Brady Rawlings received his handpass and then ran forward to get on the end of Daniel Wells's pass, Rawlings goaled. But the Dogs were doing most of the attacking, Johnson missed following a two-grab mark. Their next goal came after a Norf turnover, ruckman Hamish McIntosh collided with the umpire and Puppy Nathan Eagleton swept up the loose pill and handballed for Jason Akermanis to boot a long sausage. "What was I supposed to do, he (Rawlings) handballed straight at me," said the official to complaining McIntosh, and he was right. The Dogs cleared the restart and Ryan Griffen went long, Welsh roved his own contest and handpassed for Akermanis to bag another. The Dogs led by 19 points, a Griffen miss and a rushed point made it 21. Big effort from on-baller Rawlings propelled Norf back into it, although they had a break when Dog Lindsay Gilbee clangered a kick-in straight to Matt Campbell, he slotted. Harvey trotted back on as great play from Shannon Watt and Scott McMahon sent the ball towards McIntosh, he was grabbed early by opponent Ben Hudson and McIntosh free-kicked a goal. A bit later Harvey got the ball in space on the wing, took off on a two-bounce run, sold a lovely dummy and had another bounce before drilling it through. Inspirational stuff to level the scores. Norf advanced through a series of chipped passes, Matt Riggio played-on after marking and jabbed a pass for leading Nathan Thompson to clutch and convert, the Ruse led by 6 points. Minson punted the Dogs forward from the subsequent centre-bounce, Akermanis gathered and handballed for Johnson to boot a major and scores were level at the first break. Kangers Corey Jones and Ed Lower missed straightforward set shots early in the second term, then Watt lobbed a pass over leading Thompson's head and Bully full-back Brian Lake marked. The ball went quickly to Eagleton who centered a kick for Mitch Hahn to mark. While marking Hahn was biffed in the head by Pratt, I think, and wasn't the best. He gave a handball for Cooney to kick the goal. Cooney also won the following centre-clearance for the Bulldogs and Johnson kicked long, Akermanis roved the pack-spillage to snap a major. David Hale made it a trio of poor set-shot misses by the Ruse for the quarter, the Dogs advanced from the kick-in and Akermanis led out wide for a mark, he stabbed it further 'round the flank to Welsh, who centered the ball for Hahn to mark and boot one. Minson kicked the Dogs into attack again, a smart handpass from Matthew Boyd allowed Murphy to boot a running sausage and the Bullys were 21 points ahead. Norf battled to hold them out for a while, until tiny Matt Campbell wrapped up Minson with a great tackle. 'Bawl' and Campbell passed his free to leading Thompson, he majored. A minute later Petrie, playing at CHF now, marked in the centre and Bulldog Callan ran through the mark insouciantly, a 50m penalty and Petrie converted. Norf were coming back again, 9 points down. But Boyd drove the Dogs into attack from the restart, Watt's clumsy one-handed spoiling attempt gave opponent Johnson the ball and he slipped away from Watt to dob one. With a minute remaining in the half Cooney's smart kick found Murphy alone, he played on and smacked a great 50m kick for a goal from the flank. There was still time for a Bulldog centre-clearance and Welsh to miss a shot, the Dogs led by 24 points when the siren went.
Norf got off to a good start in the third korter, Dan Harris won the ball from the opening bounce and kicked towards Shannon Grant, he was spoiled but Rawlings gathered and delivered to leading Thompson - except it wasn't 15m, so Thompson handballed back to Rawlings who hooked a kick to 'Lethal' Leigh Harding, this time. Harding kicked a goal. Good handpasses from Wells and McIntosh enabled the Ruse to clear the next centre-bounce and Petrie dobbed a running major, the Dog lead was quickly cut to 12 points. But the prolific Cooney won the next centre-break for the Puppies, he kicked long and Minson was held back by Michael Firrito, a free-kick which big Will converted. The game settled a bit, the most notable incident over the next few minutes Wells doing a knee when team-mate McMahon fell on it, although McMahon was pushed over by Hahn, so Roo fans cam blame him. In a tough spell Roo Jones ducked into a tackle and was penalized for 'bawl', Lindsay Gilbee free-kicked a major and Footyscray led by 24 points again. The Ruse lifted again, Rawlings, Harris and McIntosh going well. Harvey punted a long kick forward and Thompson had the sit on Lake to hold a strong grab and convert. McIntosh clutched a big grab on the wing and handballed to Grant, the ball went to Harris who booted a terrific running goal. The Dogs' lead was 11 points now and again they responded, following a tough scrap for the ball Griffen emerged in possession and found Ryan Hargrave with a good kick, he speared a pass to leading Murphy for a mark and major. Roo Harding juggled a terrific grab on the wing and it set up a shot for Thompson, but he missed. A minute later Campbell's good spoil allowed Lindsay Thomas to collect the ball and create another chance for big Thompson, his ugly helicopter-punt swerved through and the Bullpups' lead was down to 10 points. The Bullies failed to convert a coupla late chances, they led by 11 at the last change. Norf mainlined Shinboner Spirit for the final term. Good play early from Thompson and Grant, the latter very good in the final stanza, got the ball to Campbell and he lobbed a very high kick to the 'square, Petrie held a great mark and handballed over-the-top for an easy Corey Jones slot. A few minutes later the Kangers grabbed the lead, McIntosh kicked long and Thomas roved the pack, his little kick-as-tackled was gathered by Harvey who snapped it home. The Ruse led by 2 points. The Dogs replied soon enough, Murphy's excellent kick to pick out Akermanis in traffic allowed Aker to boot one and the Pups led again. There followed a coupla behinds each including consecutive posters from Brad Johnson, the first where Johnno ran right in and slammed it into the woodwork from 10m, albeit on a tightish angle. Should've known then it wasn't his night. From Johnson's second poster the Ruse ran the kick-in downfield, Adam Simpson did well to get the ball to Ed Lower and Lower thumped a terrific running sausage, Norf led by 2 points again. Norf cleared the restart, Petrie gathered but missed. Soon David Hale had a shot and made a complete mess of it, but Petrie gathered the ball again, turned away from a tired-looking Cam Wight and steered it through. The Kangers led by 9 points, 10 after a Thompson behind. With a bit over 2 minutes remaining Bulldog Johnson roved a contest and snapped truly, reducing the Kanga lead to 4 points. Frenetic battle as the siren approached, before Giansiracusa bought himself enough space to lob a short pass to Johnson, marking 30m out on a modest angle with 4 seconds on the clock. He never looked confident, the ball went right of the goals. Cue stacks-on-Boomer.
Ruckman Hamish McIntosh (22 disposals, 18 hit-outs, a goal) drove the Ruse onward, with some very good efforts from Brady Rawlings (28 touches with 20 handballs, a goal), Adam Simpson (27 touches) and Shannon Grant (19 disposals, 8 marks) in the final stanza especially. Drew Petrie (13 possies, 6 marks, 3 goals) was kinda handy shifted to his old CHF position and Nathan Thompson (8 marks, 14 possies, 4 goals) maintained his good record against the Doggies. Daniel Wells managed 18 disposals in two-and-a-bit quarters, Daniel Pratt had 18 touches and was good down back. Brent Harvey kicked 2 goals, he had 15 disposals. On the Bulldog side Jason Akermanis (20 disposals, 9 marks, 4 goals) continued his terrific recent form as did ruck-rover Adam Cooney (33 touches, 6 marks, a goal) and Matthew Boyd (30 touches, 10 marks). The running and long-kicking of Ryan Griffen (20 possies) was handy and Robert Murphy (10 marks, 17 disposals, 3 goals) is back to his best across half-forward. Daniel Cross (25 handlings) played well and Brad Johnson finished with 3.4 from his 19 possies with 9 marks. Will Minson kicked 2 goals. Rocket was unusually philosophical. "There are not too many other blokes (than Brad Johnson after the siren) in the team that would be safer. But, that's the way it goes. At the end of the day that's the thing that loses the game but it's not really. There were a lot of other factors in the game and individual efforts and unfortunately it comes down to that last kick. We just missed a few tackles that we normally don't miss, and haven't missed this year, and there were some poor decisions at the wrong time that certainly cost us." Eade went on to praise Norf's effort. Laidley carried the emotion into the press conference. "It was a wonderful performance by the whole team. I thought we did a lot right in the first half. Perhaps we didn't make the most of our opportunities, but contested ball was the indicator for us today; to match them in that area and in our work off the ball was very good. At half-time all we spoke about was that we were four goals down and let's get it to two [at three-quarter time] and I think pretty much we did. We set ourselves for a big last quarter and to the boys' credit I'm sure it gladdened the hearts of our supporters out there today the way they continued to go about it."
Ladder after Round 9
Pts. % Next Round
Hawthorn 36 138.5 Footscray (York Park, Saturday)
Geelong 32 125.4 Carlton (Docklands, Sat. night)
Footscray 30 127.2 Hawthorn (York Park, Saturday)
Adelaide 24 118.2 Essendon (Football Park, Fri. night)
Sydney 22 127.5 Richmond (SCG, Sunday)
North Melbourne 22 100.1 Brisbane (Gabba, Sat. night)
Collingwood 20 116.4 West Coast (MCG, Saturday)
Brisbane 20 109.2 North Melbourne (Gabba, Sat. night)
------------------------------------------------
Carlton 16 95.0 Geelong (Docklands, Sat. night)
St. Kilda 16 91.8 Melbourne (Docklands, Sunday)
Richmond 14 100.2 Sydney (SCG, Sunday)
Port Adelaide 12 97.9 Fremantle (Subiaco, Sunday)
West Coast 8 76.6 Collingwood (MCG, Saturday)
Essendon 8 69.2 Adelaide (Football Park, Fri. night)
Fremantle 4 86.5 Port Adelaide (Subiaco, Sunday)
Melbourne 4 60.9 St. Kilda (Docklands, Sunday)
Cheers, Tim.
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