[AFL-Review] AFL Round 8

AFL Round 8

 

Three undefeated sides after eight rounds, it's unprecedented. And all three go in warm favourites this week, too. It's causing the field to string out behind 'em. New interchange rules this week, after Sydney were found to have 19 men on the ground in the closing moments of their draw with the Kangers. The AFL's introduced a magnificently unworkable paper-based bureaucracy, in which players entering and leaving the field have to be recorded on bits of paper by an interchange steward. No interchange can take place until the paperwork's done, which in this first week of the scheme led to teams having 16 or 17 men on the ground and plenty of players hanging around the interchange area like unemployed drifters (no change from normal in Fremantle's case - badoom-tish).  If the rules aren't followed the opposition automatically gets a free-kick in the goal-square, a rule not enforced in this trial week but enforceable from now on. Cliché alert - imagine losing a Grand Final etc.    

 

At Docklands:

St. Kilda    6.3    9.5   12.6   14.10.94

Collingwood  5.1   10.3   14.5    16.7.103

 

"There were a lot of mistakes but we made fewer," was Poi Mick Malthouse's take on this one as the Poise held out the bedraggled Stainers and drew level with 'em at 4-4. Both sides have been disappointing so far this year, hence this game was deemed 'big'. The Pies emerged with some credit, the Stainers' many critics with more ammunition. But Sinkilda had excuses, with Nick Riewoldt (knee), Xavier Clarke (hamstring), Steven Baker (knee) and Matt 'Goose' Maguire (stress fractures in foot) missing from the team which fell in against the Tigers. Maguire will miss the remainder of the season with a problem which kept him out for most of 2007 as well. The Satiners did have Max Hudghton back from injury, while Jason Blake, Steven King and Leigh Fisher were recalled. The Maggies were without Josh Fraser, who strained a knee ligament in the Hall of Fame game. Tyson Goldsack and Ryan Cook were dropped, in came Anthony Rocca, ruckman Chris Bryan and Sharrod Wellingham. Shane O'Bree played his 200^th game, a great effort for the under-rated Poi rover.

 

Plenty of early scoring in a high-energy game. Sinkilda's Leigh Montagna bagged the first goal, running onto Fraser Gehrig's tap-on to collect the ball and drill it through. The Poise replied quickly, Nick Maxwell did well to win the pill at half-back and pass to Cameron Wood on the wing, he passed afield for leading Rocca to mark and thump home from 60m. Poi backman Harry O'Brien, who'd followed Stephen Milne down the ground, tackled the little Sainter, stripped the ball and stabbed a kick from the boundary for a fantastic goal, although replays showed the ball'd clipped the flags wedged into the post padding as it went through, so technically it was a behind. Collywood were 6 points up. But the Saints lifted, their very poor ability to win contested ball had been a big focus in the build-up and Luke Ball and Lenny Hayes went in hard. Sam Fisher's long rebound run and kick found Justin Koschitzke in attack, he chipped a short sideways pass for leading Gehrig to mark and convert. Once again Gehrig looked painfully slow and cumbersome, afterwards coach Ross Lyon admitted G-Train's career may be close to ending. Scott Pendlebury put the Pies a goal up again, converting after Travis Cloke collected a loose ball and handpassed. Rhyce Shaw and Dale Thomas moved the ball the length of the field from a kick-in and Alan Didak bagged a goal, the Poise led by 11 points. Sainters David Armitage, Montagna and Ball combined to win the following centre-clearance and Armitage free-kicked a goal, but Didak responded with his second, leading up to mark 'Neon' Leon Davis's pass. Still Pies by 11, but Stinkilda finished the term strongly. Hayes drove the ball in and Shane Birss had a free as he was shoved in a marking contest, he majored. Jason Gram was tackled as he had a shot from outside 50, the ball dropped for Milne to gather and snap through. Ol' Robert Harvey did well to win back his own poor kick and find Koschitzke on the lead, 'Kosi' chipped ahead for unopposed Armitage to mark and convert. A Gehrig miss gave the Stainers an 8-point lead at the first break. The Saints pressed on a bit in the second, Nick Dal Santo bagged an early goal and Montagna's quick shot from a throw-in just missed. The unlikely combination of Paul Medhurst and Chris Bryan boosted the Poise, Rocca roved a throw-in and handballed to Medhurst, his wobbly centering kick was marked by Bryan who booted truly. A minute later under-pressure Saint Sean Dempster hacked the ball outta defence and Rhyce Shaw recovered it, the ball went to Bryan who passed for leading Medhurst to mark and convert. The Pies were back 3 points in arrears but the Stains managed to expand the gap again. Koschitzke failed to score with a set-shot from a tough angle, a minute later Kosi marked Michael Gardiner's pass and this time stabbed a short sideways pass to Brendon Goddard, who thumped it home from 50m. Montagna punted the Saints forward from the restart, Pie backman Harry O'Brien gathered the ball and dropped it cold in Koschitzke's tackle. The ump waved play-on but justice was done as Gehrig gathered the spilled agget and handpassed for Dal Santo to poke it through from point-blank. Stinkilda led by 15 points again. Now the Scraggies entered the part of the game where they'd win it, moving the ball forward with some confidence. Rhyce Shaw did well to win a hard ball and get a handpass away and Poi skipper Scott Burns booted a good goal from the flank. At the restart O'Bree collected Hayes' wild handpass and got the ball to Tarkyn Lockyer, he handballed to Sharrod Wellingham who weaved a bit before slotting a classy running sausage. Medhurst postered with a free and Hayes missed poorly, the Pies trailed by 3. Late in the stanza Lockyer drilled a low centering kick and Dale Thomas marked, he converted after the siren to put the Poise in front, by 4 points.

 

Early in the third Thomas, showing some form at last, held a strong grab but kicked on-the-full from a tough angle. A minute later another boundary-line specialist, Neon Leon, snapped an over-the-shoulder ripper from the tightest of angles. Wellingham missed with a running banana-shot when he had time to steady, a bit later a clanger from Sainter Birss turned over possession and Medhurst did well to find Rhyce Shaw, he switched flanks for Ben Johnson to mark and drill a low punt home from 50m. The Poise led by 18 points and had scored the last 5 goals of the game. Stephen Milne missed a set shot, the Stainers' first score of the korter. The umps helped 'em out, Leon Davis very harshly penalised for manhandling Dal Santo. The resulting free-kick saw Jason Gram go long and Charlie Gardiner's knock-back allowed Koschitzke to snap a major. At the following centre-bounce Bryan dumped young Saint Armitage, no question it was a free and Gram booted a long goal, reducing the Poi lead to 5 points. The Maggies responded, a rare Travis Cloke kick sent them forward and Sinkilda backman Sam Fisher dropped a mark, then was hopelessly caught in possession by Medhurst, who majored from the resulting free. Fisher helped atone a minute later, collecting Luke Ball's pass and passing on for leading Milne to mark and convert. Again the Pies managed a late major, as the Saints attacked Goddard's shot for goal was smothered, the ball rebounded and frustrated Goddard was very unlucky to be penalized for high contact on Lockyer as the latter tried to mark. Lockyer converted the dubious free and the Maggies led by 11 points, Rocca attempted an after-siren torp from 100m out and just made it half-way. The pace slowed significantly in the last quarter. Early-on Bryan made a complete mess of a shot from a tightish angle, but Alan Didak did very well to gather the ball behind Dempster, twist away from the Sainter backman and snap a terrific left-footed goal. Didak celebrated by pulling on his (own) ears, code amongst murderer's mates, maybe. The Pise led by 17 points and O'Brien stopped some Saint thrusts, he ran down Charlie Gardiner with a great tackle and then touched Harvey's goal-bound shot. The Saints were pressing though and the Pies flooded, commentator Nathan Buckley had a go at the Sainters for 'hanging back' from contests. Eventually ol' champ Robert Harvey found some space for a lead and mark for the Saints, he goaled with a good kick and the Saints trailed by 10 points. But Bryan fisted the ball forward from the subsequent centre-bounce and Didak soccered it on, Dane Swan gathered near the point-post and passed backwards for Burns to mark and convert. Poise by 16. Some tired slog for a few minutes, Stinkilda's Hayes missing poorly as he ran into an open goal. With about four-and-a-half minutes to go Sinkilda backman Max Hudghton slipped forward and was well-found by Sam Fisher's pass, Hudghton chipped ahead for Birss to mark and kick a major, reducing the Pie lead to 10 points again. A long two-bounce run from Harvey set up a shot for Milne, but he missed. O'Brien snuffed out the Saints' final chance, with a strong effort to spoil Milne and then force Michael Gardiner to kick on-the-full.

 

The Pies' small forwards were crucial. Alan Didak, fresh from a court appearance (as a witness) relating to said murderer, had 17 kicks, took 7 marks and booted 3 goals. He can play. Leon Davis (27 disposals, 10 marks, a goal) was also very good and Dale Thomas (21 handlings, 7 marks, a goal) played well, running with Dal Santo. Rhyce Shaw (22 handlings, 10 marks) continued his fine season and skipper Scott Burns (22 touches, 2 goals) was good, Dane Swan (28 disposals) and Scott Pendlebury (25 touches, a goal) saw plenty of it. Harry O'Brien (12 disposals, a goal) was terrific down back, with support from Nathan Brown on poor ol' G-Nut. Sharrod Wellingham (16 disposals, 6 marks, a goal) showed some ability and Paul Medhurst kicked 2 goals. For the Saints Luke Ball (30 disposals) tried very hard as did Lenny Hayes (27 touches). Sam Fisher (30 touches, 10 marks) was a great rebound weapon as usual and Nick Dal Santo (28 disposals, 2 goals) and Leigh Montagna (26 possies, a goal) collected plenty of it. Jason Blake did a very good job on Travis Cloke, similarly Shane Birss (5 marks, 6 kicks, 2 goals) quelled Heath Shaw and Max Hudghton (16 touches, 7 marks) kept Rocca to the one goal. Ross Lyon's all about defence. David Armitage and Stephen Milne bagged 2 goals each. "It was a game of opportunities. They (Collingwood) took some opportunities, they probably pressured a bit better than us in the second half," Lyon said. "Even late, I thought we had some opportunities. It was a really fine line I thought . . . I thought (Luke Ball) was super. I wasn't here a couple of years ago but we spoke about rebuilding his running so I think the evidence tells you he's running against elite midfielders and winning his own ball." Mick Malthouse had thrown down to gauntlet to his players before the game and was happy with the response. "I think (Rocca and Cloke's) contributions forced enough errors and contests for other players to actually kick goals . . . There was a challenge thrown out to (Dale Thomas) and I thought he took it and grabbed it and went with it. It's a new role and he'll take some time to adjust to it, and I'm not 100 per cent sure whether we'll stick with it, in fact we'll probably change it around again. It just gives him a break from being the hunter." Mick then became the first of many coaches to bag the new interchange system.     

 

At York Park:

Hawthorn       2.2    8.7   15.9   17.15.117

Port Adelaide  7.4   11.6   14.8   15.12.102 

 

Great, tough game of footy as the Hawks powered back from a 7-goal deficit early in the second term to get up. Hork forward Mark Williams celebrated the match-sealing goal with a 'choking' gesture similar to that made by his Port coach namesake after the 2004 Grand Final, earning the anger of his own coach and everyone connected with Port, no doubt. Should ensure a feisty finals clash, should the two meet up in September. There's a fair chance. The Hawk side here was without Luke Hodge (hamstring) but Chance Bateman returned. Port were made no change to the side which thrashed the Bommers.

 

Port enjoyed ten wins from their past eleven games with the Hawks, and a great record at York Park. The Powder also don't mind 'anti-social football', the Orcs' term for their borderline thuggery. The Power started brilliantly, springing the Hawk's defensive zone with some fast ball-movement and precision kicking. Shaun  Burgoyne gathered the ball at the opening bounce and kicked to Justin Westhoff, he stabbed a short kick for leading Brett Ebert to mark and convert. Danyle Pearce did very well to create the next goal, marking at half-back and playing-on, passing to Travis Boak in the centre, running on to receive Boak's handpass and kicking over the 'zone' to all-alone Warren Tredrea, who converted. A minute later Hawk defender Campbell Brown decided to push Kane Cornes over after the ball went out-of-bounds, from the resulting free Cornes stabbed a quick kick to the goal-square for David Rodan to mark and poke through. Ebert bagged another after marking Brendon Lade's pass and Port led by 22 points. Of course Lance 'Buddy' Franklin lifted the Hawks into it, with consecutive goals from a mark against battling Toby Thurstans and a free-kick respectively. But Port were winning the midfield and the game at this stage, Tredrea bagged two more majors with a quick snap and then a generous pass from Daniel Motlop. Port were dishing out the hurt too, Shaun Burgoyne flattened Sam Mitchell with a heavy bump to the Hawk skipper's head, and it wasn't a good look a few seconds later as Burgoyne raced past the prostrate Mitchell and gaggle of Hawk trainers, had a bounce and drilled a goal to much booing from the crowd. Burgoyne got 3 weeks for that, earlier Hawk Ben McGlynn had been reported for clattering into Kane Cornes's head when the latter was crouched over the ball, subsequently McGlynn's got four. McGlynn himself was later clobbered by Peter Burgoyne. Port led by 30 points at this stage and 32 at quarter-time, Mitchell having been stretchered off but he returned halfway through the second term. The Powder carried on into the second stanza, Rodan embarked on a long run and ended with a pass to Motlop, he goaled and Port led by 38 points. Hawk backman Brent Guerra had done a hamstring as he pursued Motlop, his day was over. The Hawks abandoned their zone and went man-on-man. Their comeback started in the centre, Robert Campbell and Brad Sewell combined to win the following clearance and Franklin led out to mark Sewell's pass, Buddy kicked his and Horforn's third. Robbie Gray responded for Port following a good mark, Pearce again heavily involved in the build-up, he was playing very well. But the Hawks' ruckmen, Campbell and Taylor, and rovers Sewell and Jordan Lewis, were doing better now. Stuart Dew ran from half-back to receive Lewis's handpass and kick long, Jarryd Roughead seized a great grab in the goal-square and popped it through. Sewell collected Campbell's tap at the restart and drove a long kick for a sausage. A running move ended with Chance Bateman passing to Rick Ladson on 50m, he dished a handball for Franklin to thunder it home and the Awks had cut the margin to 18 points. Port steadied, Gray did very well to gather Adam Thomson's wobbly kick and snap truly, after a coupla misses each Tredrea kicked his fourth goal, Port led by 30 points again. But the Hawks kept coming, the restored Mitchell won a hard ball and set up a long goal for Cyril Rioli, Mitchell then combined with Lewis to find Sewell on-the-run, he thumped another long kick for full points. Port by 17 points at orange-time.

 

Roughead kicked the first goal of the third korter, a strong grab against Carlile, and the margin was down to 11 points. Port lifted again, Shaun Burgoyne, Cornes and Pearce were still going well for them. Motlop out-marked Brown from Lewis's kick-in and executed a complicated dummy before booting a superb goal from the boundary-line. Gray missed a shot but Rodan recovered the kick-in and handballed back to Gray, another to Westhoff gave him an easy conversion and Port led by 25 points. Back came Horforn, Taylor, Lewis and Mitchell combined to clear a ball-up on the wing, Bateman passed to McGlynn who was clattered by Peter Burgoyne in the aforementioned incident. A 50m penalty gave McGlynn an easy shot. Taylor and Lewis combined to take the ball away from the subsequent centre-bounce, Franklin juggled a grab over the hapless Thurstans and booted another sausage roll, the Orcs were 13 points down. A wayward Hawk kick in defence allowed Port's Thomson to gather the Sherrin and kick a goal, but the Hawks finished the term full o'runnin'. Rioli and Sewell kicked behinds before Xavier Elllis picked out Michael Osborne with a short pass, he goaled. Osborne's free-kick on the wing led to a mark and goal for Clint Young, a minute later Franklin roved his own contest and dribbly-snapped a kick through the big sticks to put the Hawks in front for the first time, by a point. Taylor, Mitchell and Lewis won the next centre-clearance and McGlynn's long kick saw Roughead leap for another big goal-square pluck, he majored and the Orcs took a 7-point lead into the final term. A slower, nervy opening to the quarter saw a barrage of behinds, ten minutes in and the Hawks had kicked four of 'em to Westhoff's one for the Flowers. Then Osborne collected a loose ball near the boundary, ran inside 50m and slotted. Grant Birchall's miss had Horforn 17 points up, but a minute later Rodan did brilliantly to gather team-mate Cassisi's fumble and set up a goal for Ebert. Cornes and Shaun Burgoyne pushed the Power forward but they could only manage a coupla rushed behinds. It were 12 points the diff when Motlop made a mad decision to smother the umpire's bounce at a ball-up. A rare but obvious free, the Hawks used the possession to run the clock a bit before Chance Bateman kicked long towards Lewis, he gathered and stabbed a short kick for Mark Williams to mark and kick the sealer. Williams, of the 'shotgun', 'bow-and-arrow' and other dubious goal celebrations, ran away making the choke gesture. He's since apologized, privately. Port's coach was asked about it immediately afterwards. "Yeah, I saw it. Probably celebrating his first kick for the day," said Choco with a face like thunder.

 

Brad Sewell (34 disposals, 2 goals) was terrific in invigorating the Hawks, perhaps being left out of the Vic side had a bit to do with it, too. Jordan Lewis (36 touches, 8 marks) and Sam Mitchell (27 handlings) were also important in wresting control of the midfield from Port, it's kinda hard to overlook Lance Franklin's 6 goals from 5 marks and 13 disposals. Chance Bateman (29 possies, 7 marks) was very good and Hork ruckmen Robert Campbell (18 hit-outs, 7 disposals) and Simon Taylor (11 possies, 7 hit-outs) were important, beating Port's rated duo of Brogan and Lade. Campbell Brown (23 touches, 8 marks) was good on Motlop, despite the Port man's moments of genius. Jarryd Roughead kicked 3 goals and Michael Osborne 2. Port's best were Shaun Burgoyne (31 disposals, 8 marks, a goal) and the aggressive (running) Danyle Pearce (23 touches), with Kane Cornes (29 handlings, 7 marks) and half-back Peter Burgoyne (24 possies) also very good. Speedy rover David Rodan (18 touches, a goal) continued his excellent season and small forward Robbie Gray (20 disposals, 12 marks, 2 goals) was handy. Warren Tredrea (14 disposals, 9 marks, 4 goals) started very well but struggled as supply dwindled, Brett Ebert (3 goals) and Daniel Motlop (2 goals) made sporadic contributions. Tom Logan did a good stopping job on Shane Crawford. "We kicked 100 points against a team that hasn't lost so obviously there are some positives there, but without doubt, we got smashed out of the centre square; they kicked a lot of goals from there and that's the game," Port coach Williams said. "As far as we were concerned it was probably the worst we've ever played in the centre square. We changed the ruckmen, we changed the people in there, we tried to have extra players behind the ball, we tried one of everything and to their credit that's how they won the game . . . I didn't think we played well. You combine whatever they were working on with us playing poorly and you'll get that result." Al Clarkson started his press conference by apologizing to his Port counterpart and Port Adelaide for Williams's gesture, saying "that sort of thing isn't acceptable and is the quickest way to the exit door at our club." Some thought it lip service, or an over-reaction. On the game, Clarko said "It (the zone) didn't work very well for us (early) when Port Adelaide was able to win so much of the footy. We got a little bit better as the game wore on, but that was mainly due to us being able to control the ball through the middle of the ground a little bit better. Port jumped out to a bolter like they did [in round 20] last year down here and we just slowly pegged them back in that game as well and fortunately today we were in front when the siren went."

 

At the MCG:

Richmond  3.2   5.4    6.7     10.9.69

Geelong   2.1   4.4   11.12   14.15.99

 

Geelagong retained their unbeaten record with a strong second-half effort to overwhelm the Big Pu55ies at a wet MCG. Typical of recent Cat efforts, they took a while to get into the game but a quarter-and-a-bit of top-line pressure was enough to win comfortably. The Tiges also followed their recent pattern, a committed ball-winning effort undermined by some poor disposal and decision-making, although Jahlong's strong defensive pressure had a lot to do with it. In selection the Tiges recalled Joel Bowden from a month in the twos, regained big man Graham Polak and picked midfielder Trent Cotchin for his AFL debut, he's last year's no.2 draft pick from Essendon Grammar. Those three replaced dropped trio Daniel Jackson, Jay Schulz and Adam Pattison. The Cats had Gary Ablett return from his leg injury, replacing the suspended Mathew Stokes.

 

The game was played in steady rain throughout, the first instance of wet-weather footy in Melbourne this season. The Tiges went in hard again and started well, a series of chipped passes got the ball to Brett Deledio on the forward-flank, his long centering kick dropped from a big pack and roving Trent Cotchin stabbed a grubber-kick for a goal - his first kick in the leeg. A minute later Cat Paul Chapman was penalised for a push-out, from Matthew Richardson's long kick the ball fell to ground again and Cotchin tapped-on for Deledio to soccer a close-range major. The Tiges had grabbed an early 12-point lead. Cat Max Rooke won the ball at the restart and passed for leading Tom Hawkins to mark, he dished a handball to running Ablett whose shot dropped short. But roving Andrew Mackie hooked a kick back to the 'hot spot' and Chapman held a mark, he majored. The Tiges replied, with a bit of luck. Bowden, who's going to play as a forward from now on apparently, tapped on for Deledio to gather and Deledio's snap bounced neatly over Cat full-back Matthew Scarlett's head and through for full points. Cameron Ling won the ball away from the next centre-bounce for the Catters, Tige defender Luke McGuane gathered and hacked it clear but straight to Pu55y David Wojcinski, who drove a punt back for a goal. The Tiges by 6 points as the weather took hold for the remainder of the term, a lotta fumbling and dropped marks as the ball became heavy and slippery. Early in the second term Tigger rover Nathan Foley missed a shot but a moment later Foley did very well to set up a goal, Richardson marked and had the ball punched from his grasp by late-arriving Tom Harley, a 50m penalty giving Richo an unmissable shot. A bit later small Tige Shane Edwards held a good grab on the wing and for some reason Cat James Kelly refused to retreat on-the-mark, another 50m penalty resulted and Edwards converted. The Tiges led by 20 points and were going well. But the Cats lifted their intensity at this point, Ablett was winning a stack of possession and Chapman was playing well too, he enjoys the wet. Kelly postered from close range before Wojcinski did well to win the pill and Chapman kicked long, Ryan Gamble lurked behind his man to mark 15m out and pop it through. The Cats manned up tightly and sweated on the Tiges coming from defence, Tigger Jordan McMahon committed two poor clangers, the second of which allowed Kelly to find leading Gamble for another mark and goal. Ling and Harley were shaken up when colliding and a late Chapman effort dropped short, the Tiges clung to a 6-point lead at the long break.

 

Ablett had a free at the opening bounce of the third Mario, he punted the Catters forward. Tigger Foley made a mistake to keep the ball in play and Ling snapped a very good goal, leveling the scores. Ling was tagging Foley but the Tiger had done well in the first half. The Tiges attacked a bit but only managed a coupla rushed behinds. The Cats did likewise before Chapman marked in front of Jake King, 40m out and fell to ground clutching his head, for no reason at all. But the umpiring clown bought it, a 50m penalty and the bald cheat Chapman had an easy goal to put the Pu55ies in front. Wojcinski sped clear of the restart but his long shot missed, a minute later Ablett roved a ball-up and stabbed a low kick for a goal. The Tiges won the ball away from the next centre-bounce, Bowden collected and his quick snap bounced through for a sausage, reducing the Cat lead to 7 points. But it was a momentary interruption to the Cat momentum, Tige Nathan Brown kicked directly to Chapman, he passed to Mackie and on towards leading Cam Mooney who won a free for holding against Will Thursfield. Mooney goaled. The Tiges were making many disposal errors now as the hard-tackling Cats gave 'em no time in possession. Darren Milburn won a soft free for holding and passed for Ling to mark and boot a major, Gamble missed a shot before they had another chance, Tige skipper Kane Johnson kicking hopelessly on-the-full. Mooney ran along the boundary before handballing to Milburn in the goal-square, he poked it through and the Katz led by 28 points. Gamble, playing well, did terrifically to force a turnover amongst three Tiges before Tigger Richard Tambling missed poorly. Chapman sharked Tiger Simmonds's tap at a ball-up and snapped truly to give the Cats a 35-point lead at the final change, a 55-point turnaround since the early second quarter. Given the weather and Richmun's inability to string two passes together, the game was well over. The Pu55ies went further ahead in the early final stanza, Steve Johnson and Mooney missed poorly from set-shots before a long Milburn kick cleared the pack and lurking Chapman soccered it through from point-blank. Edwards won the following centre-clearance for the Tiges, Bowden gathered the ball on the bounce and his left-foot snap bounced through for a major, breaking a sequence of five Geelong goals. Bowden did well a minute later to send Cotchin running into an open goal, but the Tigger debutant sprayed it horribly for a point. Gamble postered before Mooney marked on a long lead and kicked quickly to Hawkins, who marked close-in and popped it through. Cats by 43 points, roughly double the Tiges' score which is handy for percentage. But the Tiggers finished off alright, a handy bounce allowed Kel Moore to find Tambling for a mark and goal, then McMahon kicked a good one after roving Richardson's contest. Cat Joel Selwood majored from a free-kick, before Richardson's tap-on allowed Deledio to run clear and drill a pass for Cotchin to mark 15m out and stab it through. Cats easy 30-point victors.         

 

Gary Ablett made light of the wet and Chris Hyde's alleged tag to pick up 27 disposals and a goal, with 10 tackles, while Paul Chapman (24 touches, 6 marks, 4 goals) revels in the greasy conditions. James Kelly (15 possies) played well and Joel Corey (22 touches) was very good in the second half when switched to a back-flank, similarly Cameron Ling (22 handlings, 2 goals) lifted in the second half after being beaten by Foley in the first. Spearhead Cameron Mooney (11 marks, 15 possies, a goal) was a good target man and running man David Wojcinski (18 disposals, a goal) was solid, forward pocket Ryan Gamble (11 touches, 6 marks, 2 goals) was busy if inaccurate. Better Tiges included Shane Tuck (16 disposals) and Matthew Richardson (13 marks, 20 disposals, a goal), who marked well in the wet but didn't do much up forward. Brett Deledio (21 touches, 6 marks, 2 goals) started well but faded, as did Nathan Brown (15 kicks, 5 marks). Trent Cotchin (16 possies, 6 marks, 2 goals) made a decent debut. The Tiges' leading possession-winner was Jordan McMahon (27 disposals, a goal) but his turnovers were a killer. Joel Bowden bagged 2 goals. Plough took positives. "I would have thought 15 minutes into the second quarter we were fairly satisfied with the way the guys were going about their footy," he said. "I would have thought, for the game, probably 70 minutes of good football, probably 45 minutes of stuff that we were disappointed with, and a lot of that goes to what the opposition allow you to do. To be 20 points in front of what's been the best side in the land for the last 18 months, I thought there were some really good signs there . . . (Cotchin) had 16 possessions, two goals - should have been three - but 16 possessions and two goals in a losing side, in pretty tough conditions . . . is a pretty admirable first-up performance." The Tiges have some 'easier' games ahead, if there is such a thing for Richmond, which'll give a truer indication of alleged improvement. 'Bomber' Thompson said "Today's game was a 30-point win for Geelong and it was wet and we played an incredible third quarter of football, where we just blew the opposition away. And that's enough for today. I don't think there is a person in our footy department that's disappointed about how we're going - eight straight wins, we must be playing reasonable footy and I don't think that we should be compared to last year. People are expecting us to win by massive amounts; well, it's probably not going to happen all year, so get used to it." Both coaches then joined the chorus of criticism of the new interchange system.

 

At Docklands:

Carlton   2.2    4.8    9.14   12.20.92

Brisbane  8.3   11.8   16.13   18.17.125

 

Explosive opening from the Lyin's propelled them to a comfortable win over their favourite whipping post, the Bluies. It was enough to have 'Lethal' Leigh Matthews talking about finals afterwards. The finals are a long way off for Carton, although they do have particular trouble with the Lyin's and Jonathan Brown, who bagged 6 goals in this game. Bloo spearhead Brendan Fevola, fresh from 6 goals and a (barely deserved) BOG medal in the Hall of Fame game, booted 5 himself but also missed 5 and provided a few vintage tantrums. The Blooze were unfortunate here in having to select 'ruckman' Cain Ackland, as Cameron Cloke was out with a wrist injury. He's been good for them so far this year. On the plus side Richard Hadley returned from injury, at the expense of junior David Ellard. Nick Stevens played his 200^th game, well done to 'Strauchanie'. Brisbun made multiple changes, having Brown, Simon Black, Travis Johnstone, Josh Drummond and defender Jason Roe all returning from injury, outgoing were younger men Matthew Leuenberger, Lachie Henderson, Cheynee Stiller, Albert Proud and not-so-young Robert Copeland.

 

Predictably, Ackland was thrashed in the early going by Jamie Charman and Black, Luke Power and Michael Rischitelli drove the Lyin's forward continually. Travis Johnstone bagged the opening goal, Blueser Eddie Betts replied with a free-kick. But the Lisbon Brians scored the next three, handballs from Black and a long one from Power allowed Rhan Hooper to slot one, good work from Anthony Corrie set up Brown's first goal, he whacked it home from Justin 'The Shermanator' Sherman's handpass. Sherman was tagging Judd. Bloo backman Jarrad Waite, who started on Brown, set up the Lyin's next goal with an awful clanger straight to Jared Brennan, who handballed for Johnstone to bag his second. Fevola missed his first opportunity, commentator Robbie Walls was most upset Fev had missed all his pre-game practice shots. "He didn't take it seriously," intoned Wallsy. Anyway, some good running from the kick-in by Joel Patfull got the ball to Rischitelli, he kicked long and Brown marked over Waite to boot his second. Black and Russell missed for their respective sides, then Lyin' Jed Adcock converted a free after being decapitated. Nearly. Brown's third followed shortly, created by Black's tough effort and Brisbun led by 36 points. Bloo Simon Wiggins broke the run, leading to mark Brad Fisher's pass and boot a major. But there was time for Rischitelli to free-kick another for the Brians, Brennan heavily involved in the build-up. Brisbun led by 37 points at quarter-time and the Blues made changes, most notably Waite was removed from Brown and allowed a 'free' role in defence, Irishman Setanta O'hAilpin went onto the Victorian captain. Bluie Jordan Russell kicked the first goal of the second Mario, a thumping kick on-the-run from 50. Fevola marked on a lead and Bloo fans stirred, but he missed again. Wallsy muttered darkly. Brown then booted his fourth goal, found alone by Adcock's pass, and the Lyin's led by 37 again. The Bluies began to get into the game at this point as Marc Murphy and Heath Scotland won them some ball, but Judd was struggling with Sherman's tag and Stevens struggled in general. Waite was providing some effective rebound. There followed some misses from both sides, including Brown and Fevola again, but the big Fev finally got on-target after being awarded a dubious mark in a big pack. Lyin's Black and Ashley McGrath combined to win the following centre-clearance, Brown marked McGrath's pass and dished off to Power, he kicked for Hooper to mark and convert. Fevola took his tally to 1.4 before the prolific Black kicked a major of his own, set up by McGrath and Johnstone. Brisbun by 7 goals precisely at half-time.

 

The Bluies at least maintained parity thereon. Judd tumbled a kick forward from the opening bounce of the third term, Fisher did well to gather the pill and handpass for Fevola to drive it through the big sticks. Brisbun replied rapidly as Josh Drummond used a 50m penalty to get running and thump a long kick home from 55m. Brown booted another sausage, a free against grappling O'hAilpin and the Brians' lead expanded to 48 points, mid-way through the quarter it'd increased to 56 following a goal from Corrie (great kick from 50m out wide) and misses from Johnstone and Mitch Clark, the latter doing a good job as the no. 2 ruckman. The Blueis managed a reply, Betts marked on a long lead and handballed to Murphy, who ran inside the 50 with a coupla bounces and speared it through. But a minute later Black slotted one from a tricky angle and Brisbun were still 56 points ahead. Carlton rallied to kick goals in time-on, after a series of rushed behinds Judd booted a long major, well-created by Waite, Bryce Gibbs and Adam Bentick. Brown replied for the Lyin's by walloping a 50m goal off one step, Corrie's pass finding him completely unmarked. But then Fevola majored after having his arms chopped by Daniel Merrett, the clock showed 33 minutes had elapsed when Wiggins booted truly with a free-kick. The Lyin's eased up a bit in the final term, leading by 41 points as it commenced. Johnstone kicked a goal in the first minute, with a rare pack-mark. Johnstone also tackled a few blokes in this game, Matthews must be getting through to him. Fevola replied after marking on-the-lead, Judd with the pass. A series of behinds from tired players over the following 12 minutes before Fevola kicked another, a free against Merrett again. At this point Brisbun full-forward Daniel Bradshaw managed his first score for the night, a point. He'd been well-beaten by Michael Jamison but Jamison hurt his shoulder in the marking contest and departed, he could be out for a while which is a shame, as he looks a decent player. Of course Bradshaw kicked his first and only goal a minute later. Murphy got one direct from the restart for the Blooze and the game petered out with a series of points from Carlton, Fevola gave team-mate Paul Bower a Richo-like spray when the gangling, afro-ed defender elected to have a 50m potshot rather than pass to leading Fev.

 

The Lyin's experienced men, Simon Black (28 disposals, 2 goals), Travis Johnstone (32 touches, 7 marks, 3 goals), Luke Power (32 possessions) and big forward Jonathan Brown (7 marks, 14 disposals, 6 goals) all had very good games, makes you wonder about the outcome of that Geelong game if they'd played (well, Power did). Michael Rischitelli (18 possies, a goal) was good too and Ashley McGrath (18 touches) enjoyed a run in the midfield, Justin Sherman (17 disposals) did okay on Judd and ruckman Jamie Charman (25 hit-outs) was a winner, Mitch Clark (14 hit-outs, 7 disposals) did okay too. Rhan Hooper booted 2 goals. Better Bluies included rover Marc Murphy (32 disposals, 10 marks, 2 goals) and ball-magnet Heath Scotland (39 possessions, 10 marks). Brendan Fevola managed 5.4 from 5 marks and 10 kicks, pretty decent given his slaughtered midfield, while Michael Jamison was very good on Bradshaw at the other end. Bryce Gibbs (24 disposals) was handy, Jarrad Waite (23 touches, 8 marks) and Chris Judd (26 disposals, a goal) worked into it as the game progressed. Simon Wiggins kicked 2 goals. Brett Ratten was sobered after the triumph in the West. "I think this was our worst performance, especially early," Ratten said. "To be blown out like that it makes it pretty hard to try and win a game of football because you're always playing catch-up. I think some of our mistakes were pretty bad in the first quarter and we really got hurt from them. From a mistakes point of view we had mistakes we shouldn't have had when there was no pressure . . . Maybe towards the end we had the chance to maybe put some real pressure and get the margin down to 20 points." Leigh looked ahead. "We thought the group we've got together had some patches, [played] really top football last year. That made us think there is some good capabilities within the team. We supplemented the team with Travis Johnstone, who I thought was excellent tonight, but it's really been that group. We probably got more of them available in the one week this week than we had prior to that, so it was a pretty reasonable team out there tonight. I think that team is pretty capable of playing pretty good footy, and being competitive against anybody, which is what the team has been for the past couple of months anyway."

 

At Carrara:

North Melbourne  5.2   7.2   11.8   13.11.89

West Coast       4.3   9.5   10.7   12.11.83

 

The Ruse slogged to victory in this fixturing anomaly. North's summer decision to reject a move to the Gold Coast left the leeg with four meaningless Roo home games programmed for Carrara, they managed to remove one but the others remain. Norf still collect 400K for each home game transferred up there, handy for them. Only 6,300 turned up to the 13,000 capacity stadium, locals responding to Norf's rejection in kind although the stormy weather may've had a bit to do with it. This wasn't the greatest game but the Ruse found a way to get up when challenged by the struggling Eegs. Plenty of team changes from round 7 for both sides, for Norf Laidley axed Leigh Brown, Scott Thompson and Josh Smith while the roundly criticized Daniel Pratt was out with a groin strain. Josh Gibson and 'Carrara specialist' Scott McMahon returned while junior Matt Riggio was called up, rookie-listed 21-year-old Alan Obst from SA's Central District was given an AFL debut. The Wiggles lost Chad Jones (ankle), Beau Waters (thigh strain) and Jamie McNamara (thigh strain) and dropped Steven Armstrong, they had some handy 'ins' with Matthew Priddis, Mark Seaby and Brent Staker along with a debutant, rookie-listed teenager Ryan Davis from Sydney's North Shore Football Club.

 

South-east Queensland had been belted by storms in the hours leading up to the game and the ground had been soaked with plenty of rain, although it didn't precipitate during the game itself. Thunder rattled in the background and there was a contingency for abandoning the game if lightening threatened. It didn't. The Weegs started well in a flowing first term, Brent Staker booted the opening goal after marking over Roo junior Alan Obst, a tallish defender. Staker also missed a coupla shots and David Wirrpanda kicked a point as the Weegs spurted to a 9-point lead. Norf man Daniel Wells appeared to seriously injure a knee but he returned quickly and Norf responded with the next four goals. Skipper Adam Simpson collected Brent Harvey's handpass and stabbed a kick to Daniel Harris, he booted the first. A lengthy build-up of short passes was completed by Nathan Thompson's grab on-the-lead and conversion, then Matt Campbell took advantage to find David Hale unattended and the big man sausaged. Harvey snapped one from a throw-in and the Ruse had sped to a 17-point lead. The Weegs hit back, David Wirrpanda kicked long and Quinten Lynch seized a strong grab, he converted. Josh Kennedy found Ben McKinley on-the-lead, the lad McKinley goaled, then Weeg first-gamer Ryan Davis snaggled a goal, with his first kick of course and the Weegs had grabbed the lead back, by a point. But from the following centre-bounce Roo Shannon Grant battled to work the ball forward, his eventual kick was marked by Hale who booted his second and the Ruse led by 5 points at quarter-time. Obst had suffered a punctured lung in a heavy collision, ending his debut night. The Weevils enjoyed a decent second stanza with experienced men Cox, Fletcher and Embley working hard, along with juniors Chris Masten and Kennedy. Early on Staker kicked his second goal, a free against Roo captain Adam Simpson for a throw. The Ruse reclaimed the lead when Wiggle Mark Nicoski's clearing kick went straight to Roo Riggio, he found Grant on-the-lead who was shoved over by Masten, adding a 50m penalty. Grant majored, Norf by 5. The Weegs were trapped in their backline for a bit, their own ragged disposal a big factor. But the Kangers couldn't capitalize and eventually a decent handballing move saw the Weegs clear, Tyson Stenglein had a kick smothered but the ball rebounded for him to gather again and run on to boot a goal. Priddis punted the Weegs forward from the restart, Kennedy couldn't mark but roved his own contest to snap truly. The Weevils also cleared the next centre-bounce with a free to Stenglein, Kennedy had a free for being shoved in the back by Drew Petrie. Kennedy handballed to Brad Ebert whose pass to Lynch wasn't the best, but the big man scooped the ball and snapped it home. A minute later Chad Fletcher roved a throw-in and kicked to CHF, Wirrpanda crumbed the pack and snapped another sausage for the Weegs, four in-a-row and they led by 20 points now. Norf broke the run when Matt Campbell stole the ball off Adam Selwood and sped away on a long run, drawing the man before handballing to Grant for a goal-square tap-through. Lynch missed a shot after the half-time siren, leaving the Eegs 15 points ahead at the break.

 

Norf had some chances early in the third korter, but dithered about with over-cute passes and the Eegs rebounded, forcing the ball forward in a scrappy passage before Staker soccered a goal. The Eegs led by 21 points and were going okay. Roo man Brent Harvey was struggling with Selwood's tag and was reported at this point for deliberately tripping Priddis, although there was very little in it. It may've fired Harvey as he improved notably from this point on, as did the Ruse generally who managed to move the ball with some fluency at last. Harvey and Hale got the ball forward for the Kangers, Eeg defender Embley gathered but Thomas smothered his kick and Corey Jones collected the Sherrin to snap truly. A long Kennedy shot postered for West Ghost, a bit later Nicoski's centering kick was picked off by Brady Rawlings and he handballed to Harvey, a pass to leading Nathan Thompson who grabbed and goaled. The Weegle lead was down to 10 points. There were some missed shots in the next few minutes, Eagle Seaby's the worst. Roo Campbell was clobbered by Matt Rosa, it went unseen by the officials apparently. Roo Daniel Wells gathered the ball from a throw-in but was forced backwards, eventually he hooked a kick forward and Hale marked strongly 15m out to boot a major. The Roos trailed by 3 points and slogged to the lead with consecutive behinds from Harvey, Grant and Thompson, plus a rushed one to go ahead. Thompson was unlucky not to be paid a mark in the goal-square in that spell. With 30s remaining in the term Simpson received a gift from Michael Braun, shoved in the back at a ball-up. Simpson free-kicked a goal and the Kangers led by 7 points at the last change. Wirrpanda missed a set shot to start the final term, then Simpson hooked the ball forward from a throw-in and Wells found plenty of space to race onto it and smack a goal home from 50m. His knee was okay, perhaps. North led by 11 points and had kicked the last 5 goals of the game, the challenge was before the Weevils. Their McKinley missed a shot but Masten did well to recover the ball on the kick-in, he passed for leading Kennedy to mark and major and the Roo lead was back to 4 points. Roo Lindsay Thomas leaped for a big grab over Jones and Schofield but missed the shot, Campbell followed up with a point to make Norf's lead a goal exactly. McKinley held a juggling grab and was knocked down by late-arriving Petrie, a 50m penalty and McKinley majored to level the scores. As the game resumed a light-tower failed, we assumed it was storm-related but found out later a 'local' had unplugged it or something. Eh? The Weegs' forward line was a bit dark thereon. Hale missed from a tight angle before Weeg Fletcher was run down by Daniel Harris, Jones punted the Ruse forward. Weegirl Cox gathered the pack spillage but his aimless handpass was collected by Campbell, who stabbed a low kick for a goal. Norf led by 7 points with about 6 minutes remaining, try as they might the Eegs never really threatened. Their only real chance was a mark and long shot from Embley, touched through by Petrie.

 

Ruck-roving captain Adam Simpson (26 disposals, a goal) was the Roos' most consistent on the night, as others came in and out of the game. David Hale (10 marks, 16 disposals, 3 goals) responded to a mid-week rocket from Laidley and Shannon Grant (17 touches, 2 goals) was busy, Daniel Wells (16 possies, a goal) provided some class and Brent Harvey (20 handlings, a goal) started and ended well. Daniel Harris (21 disposals, a goal) battled on-the-ball and full-back Michael Firrito (18 disposals) played well, Matt Campbell (12 touches, a goal) and young half-back Matt Riggio (16 possies) were handy. Nathan Thompson kicked 2 goals. The usual Weeg led the way for them, ruckman Dean 'Big' Cox (24 disposals, 31 hit-outs). Rover Chad Fletcher (29 disposals, 10 marks) was alright and afterwards appealed to Worsfold for more game-time. Brent Staker had 18 disposals and kicked 3 goals restored to the forward-line, his best game for a while and veteran Andrew Embley (25 touches, 8 marks) was good, playing in defence and thrashing Thomas. David Wirrpanda (17 possies, a goal) was useful and CHF Josh Kennedy (7 marks, 14 disposals, 2 goals) showed ability again. Quinten Lynch and Ben McKinley kicked 2 goals each. Worsfold saw improvement. "Previous to tonight we hadn't got it inside 50 enough, tonight we got it in there enough and it functioned okay but we still missed some opportunities," he said. "There's little things we're working on to make our team perform better and I think we've seen an improvement over the last three weeks and we'll keep doing that and get better. Trying to defend better, attack better, win more of the ball, we've been getting beaten in possessions, so that was better tonight, more inside 50s, that was better tonight. Defensively we were probably let down a little bit, they took too many marks inside their forward line, so we're working on all of those facets of the game and most of them are improving rapidly." Dean Laidley said "I was really pleased with a lot of our younger guys, especially after we lost Obst in the first quarter. We played most of the game with 21 men and I was really pleased with (Matt) Riggio and (Ed) Lower through the midfield and Scotty McMahon, who we had to send to the backline. I thought after half time we started to win our share of the contested ball and also to use it better in the conditions . . . If you look at (the Eagles') form, it's actually not too bad. I know they haven't got the wins on the board but the club was stung after its last performance. And I had no doubt watching their players in the media that they were going to come to play tonight."

 

At Football Park:

Adelaide   8.1   12.6   15.15   22.18.150 

Melbourne  4.4    6.5    7.7     11.8.74 

 

Big and easy win for the Camrys. The Dees couldn't find an opponent as accommodating as Freo this week, every time their run-and-carry broke down the rebound specialists Addleaid punished 'em. The Cows made three changes to the side victorious over North, Richard Douglas was out with a knee problem and Kris Massie with a hamstring, James Sellar was dropped. Ben Rutten, full-back for the Dream Team, returned from injury along with Luke Jericho and ruckman Ivan Maric. The Dees were in trouble defensively, losing Paul Wheatley and full-back Nathan Carroll to calf  injuries and Jared Rivers with an injured hip. Replacements were Simon Buckley, Paul Johnson and debutant Shane Valenti, a rookie-listed midfielder from Sandringham. Just yesterday skipper David Neitz announced his immediate retirement, doctors opining Neita's playing on was to risk permanent spinal damage. Neitz hangs 'em up holding the Demons' club records for games played (306) and goals scored (671). Neitz was a superbly athletic centre half-back as a younger man, his developing body and the Dees' requirements saw Neitz move forward later and he was a terrific spearhead on his day, a magnificent kick for the sticks who won the 2002 Coleman Medal and was the Dees' leading goal-kicker 7 times. Not afraid to clobber blokes either, as Luke McCabe and Rory Hilton would know.

 

The Dees tried to be positive. Cale Morton intercepted a telegraphed Camry pass to boot the first goal, the Cows responded with a goal from Simon Goodwin, created by Nathan Bock and Brett 'Birdbath' Burton. Another Dee move broke down and the Cows rebounded again, Scott Thompson was run down as he advanced on goal, the ball spilled and Jason Porplyzia gathered and snapped it through. But a bit later Daniel Bell's fierce tackle on Edwards forced the ball loose, Aaron Davey handballed for Colin Garland to run clear and boot a goal, leveling the scores. A minute later Porplyzia set up an easy goal for Brett 'Birdbrain' Burton with a lightening handpass, excessively praised but it looked like a borderline throw. Dee man Davey sped clear of the restart but his long shot missed. The Camrys advanced swiftly from the kick-in and Nathan Van Berlo's long run and free allowed Porplyzia to bag his second goal, then Jarrhan Jacky used a free-kick to find Van Berlo alone just 15m out and he jabbed it through. Terrible manning-up from the Dees as Adderlayed skipped 17 points ahead. Melbun kept attacking, they scored a coupla behinds though. Cressida Nathan Bassett initiated another defensive rebound and kicked wide to Simon Goodwin, he lobbed it to the goal-square and Kurt Tippett clutched a good grab, he majored and the Cows led by 21 points. Melbun responded as new man Shane Valenti's strong tackle on dithering Bassett loosened the ball, Austin Wonaeamirri handballed for Brad Miller to kick a goal. Valenti also set up the next goal, with a centering pass to Wonaeamirri who thumped it home from 50m. The Dees'd reduced the margin to 9 points but the Cows managed two goals in the final 90 seconds of the korter, Robert 'Don't Call Me' Shirley roved a throw-in and handballed to Thompson, he passed for leading Burton to mark and convert. A centre-break and Chris Knights marked 30m out, he converted after the siren and the Corollas led by 21 points again. Into the second and Jericho missed a shot, wasting a lovely pass from Scott Stevens. Brock McLean went long for the Deez and Morton roved the pack, handballing for Brent Moloney to snap a major. The Dees were 17 points behind but the Cressidas put the hammer down now. Melbun won the next centre-clearance but lost the ball, Nathan Bock ran outta the Camry backline and found unopposed Tippett for a mark and goal. Unusual to see Tippett outside the goal-square. Burton free-kicked a goal when shepherded out of a contest by James Frawley, watching uncle Danny tsk-ed. A coupla misses each before Bock ran down the ground again, swapped handballs with McLeod and passed to wide-leading Goodwin, he kicked quickly to the goal-square for Burton to mark and convert. The Cows led by 36 points now. The Dees defended desperately for a while, Jeff White marked in defence and stood about ignoring the umps' yells of PLAY ON. Lurking Ivan Maric tackled, Bernie Vince collected the spilled ball and cantered into an open goal. Camrys by 43 points, Melbun managed a late goal as White tapped a ball-up to Simon Buckley, a handball to Nathan Jones and another to Morton saw the young Dee score his second. Addelaid led by 37 points at the long break.

 

One-way traffic after half-time. The Camrys opened up with five consecutive behinds, some rushed by the Dees, others poor misses. Ten minutes elapsed before Stevens marked 60m out and received a 50m penalty for being grabbed afterwards, he kicked a goal. Camrys Shirley and Edwards missed shots, taking the Cows' tally for the term to 1.7 and if not keeping the Dees in it, at least limiting their embarrassment. Something special from Porplyzia broke the tedium, he collected the ball at half-back and ran clear, tackled as he kicked the ball dribbled to McLeod but Porplyzia ran on to collect McLeod's handpass and boot a great goal. Bock ran off half-back to receive Knights's handpass from the restart and he kicked to leading Tippett, another Camry goal and the Corollaws led by 63 points. It was getting hard to concentrate and I switched over to the close (at this stage) Siddey / Essadun, but through the miracle of blanket meedya coverage I know what happened thereon. Melbun scored the final goal of the korter, young Morton again with a goal-square tap-through completing a slick end-to-end move. The Cows led by 56 points at the last change but the Dees produced something of a goal-blitz to start the final trimestre, as they tend to do, also as usual Russ Robertson featured after barely touching the ball in the first three quarters. The Dees cleared the opening bounce and a wayward Camry handpass allowed Clint Bartram to snap a major, then there were two from Robbo. The first also came from a centre-break, White fisted the ball long, McDonald swapped handballs with Cam Bruce and kicked forward, Robertson gathered and also exchanged handpasses with Wonaeamirri before booting truly. A minute later Robbo roved his own contest to snap another and the Dees had 'slashed' the margin to 38 points with the last 4 goals. The Camrys got moving again, Johncock and Porplyzia missed shots before Burton produced a highlight, riding Matthew Warnock for a hanging, classical goal-square screamer. A mark-of-the-year contender no doubt, Birdman popped it through. The floodgates opened and Luke Jericho cashed in with two goals in rapid succession, from a free-kick and Burton's tough handpass, respectively. Then Goodwin bagged consecutive sausages, both long 50m kicks from marks on-the-lead. At the other end Miller's strong tackle on Bock set up a goal for Matthew Bate, but the Camrys rounded off with majors from Jericho again and Tippett, to record a useful percentage-boosting victory.   

 

Camry fans could be happy with the leadership shown by their younger midfielders, headed by Nathan Van Berlo (27 disposals, 10 marks, a goal), Bernie Vince (29 touches, a goal) and Chris Knights (25 handlings, a goal). In attack Brett 'Harvey Birdman' Burton (11 marks, 22 possies, 5 goals) enjoyed a day out and Simon Goodwin (18 touches, 3 goals) worked effectively, marking machine Kurt Tippett (er, 3 marks, 5 kicks, 4 goals) was also handy. Plenty of rebound run came from Nathan Bock (24 disposals) and Jason Porplyzia (22 touches, 3 goals) excited the crowd again. Luke Jericho kicked them 3 final-quarter goals. Robert Shirley (21 possies) tagged key Demon Brock McLean out of it. Wingman Clint Bartram was probably the Dees' best, he tagged McLeod effectively while managing 15 touches and a goal himself. James McDonald (16 touches) was similarly effective on Edwards and youngsters Cale Morton (18 possies, 8 marks, 3 goals) and Simon Buckley (24 disposals) went alright, Nathan Jones (25 handlings) and half-back Daniel Bell (24 possies) went in hard. Russ Robertson kicked them 2 last-quarter goals. Dean Bailey wasn't happy. "Today, I reckon we took a step back. We probably fell back into a pattern we had before the Fremantle game. Our skills today and decision-making were really poor at times. We didn't move the ball as well as we would have liked. And against the Crows here, they really make you pay. I thought we started OK . . . (but then) they kicked two goals in the last minute of the first quarter which was disappointing . . . I was expecting us to use the ball better today, but we went back into our shells a little bit. There are signs in there, small snippets of the game where you can say we actually played reasonably well, but you can't do that against a good club. You've got to play well and be competitive for longer than what we have been, and when we're not competitive and not using the ball well teams are unfortunately scoring heavily against us." Neil Craig employed relativity. "The best measure of anyone is when you play the best in the competition," Craig said. "Clearly, we're not the best in the competition and Melbourne is not yet the best in the competition. Even today, when we ended up having a 12-goal-win, there were times where we lost all our power and drive towards goal. A win like that covers a multitude of sins that we are acutely aware of. We just need to keep our heads down, tails up and continue to improve each week, which I think we are. We are getting there slowly, but surely. We're quite a way from being one of the elite teams in the AFL."

 

At Stadium Australia:

Sydney    4.5   6.11   13.15   21.17.143

Essendon  0.2   4.7     7.9     7.10.52

 

With six minutes to go in the third quarter, the Swans led by 12 points. Siddey booted five goals in those six minutes and another eight unanswered in the last quarter to thump the hapless Dons. The Swans'd engaged in a bit of a pi55ing contest with the Dons before then, seeing who could plant the hardest tackles. Then as the Bommers tired and gave up, the Bloods started to kick goals. A lot. Not a good week for the Dons, their president Ray Horsburgh - The Man Who Sacked Kevin Sheedy - revealed coach Matty Knights had told senior men Jason Johnson and Damien Peverill they'd have 'limited opportunities', i.e. their Bommer careers were over. Knights wasn't happy about that leak, or a later one in which his pre-hiring strategy for the Dons to 'target the finals every year' seemed at odds with the current 'lose with kids'. Anyway. The Bloods had a big surprise in selection, picking Nick Malceski less than three months after a knee reconstruction - the surgeons had replaced his torn medial ligament with a synthetic cord, rather than the usual graft. Handy because Tadhg Kennelly suffered a dislocated kneecap in this game, he could be gone for a while. Luke Ablett also returned, he and Malceski replaced Ed Barlow and skill-free battler Ben Mathews. The Dons made a hefty seven changes to the side thrashed by Port, making you wonder what they'll do next week. Dustin Fletcher, Mark McVeigh, Adam Ramanauskas and Kyle Reimers returned from injury while Jason Laycock, Sam Lonergan and Jason Winderlich were recalled. Outgoing were injured Jobe Watson (bruised back), suspended pair Nathan Lovett-Murray and Adam McPhee, while Jarrod Atkinson, Jay Nash, Courtney Johns and Ricky Dyson were dropped. 

 

They were playing at Stadium Australia as a clause in the Bloods' contract was activated when they averaged 55,000 at the ground last year, bringing about an 'extra' fixture. The ground itself was a cow paddock, a mess. With their senior men restored the Dons went in hard early, won a bit of the ball and utterly failed to score. In fact they helped the Swans kick theirs. Ruckman Darren Jolly booted the opener with a free against Don counterpart David Hille. Amon Buchanan fumbled under no pressure as he ran inside 50m but the Dons ploughed into Jarred Moore and he free-kicked a goal. Don defender Paddy Ryder's telegraphed handpass was intercepted by Jolly, he snapped another and the Bloods had kicked to a 19-point lead, 3.1 to nort. Just before time-on Don man Mark McVeigh kicked a point, but the under-siege Dons rushed a string of behinds for Siddey late in the term, before Michael O'Loughlin marked 60m out and received a 50m penalty. He majored and the Swans led by 29 points at the first break. The Dons scored a goal at last early in the second stanza, Hille lobbed the ball forward, Andrew Welsh gathered and his hurried, high snap took a right-angle bounce to go through the sticks. A minute later Jay Neagle did well to win the ball and junior Bomma David Myers kicked for Matty Lloyd to mark strongly in front of Leo Barry, the Dons' skipper converted. Neagle missed a shot, from the kick-in Swan Craig Bolton's punt towards Spida Everitt sailed on-the-full. The Siddey runner kicked the ball away, that's a 50m penalty and Hille slotted another Essadun goal, they trailed by 7 points only. The Swans woke up a bit, but O'Keefe and Jolly missed shots. The Dons had some rushed behinds before Hille punted another goal, completing good work by Myers and McVeigh. A Bachar Houli miss made it 2 points the diff and the Bommerz were right in it. I'd just switched over from the Addleaide / Deemun fixture at this point, just in time to see Tadhg Kennelly dislocate his kneecap while tackling Brent Stanton. Ow. The Bloods moved clear a bit prior to half-time, Bomma Angus Monfries blundered into a tackle and the Swans constructed a good running move, completed by Craig Bird's pass to Henry Playfair, he goaled. O'Keefe missed awfully with a rubbish free-kick, then Bird was impressively twice-involved in an end-to-end move, but Jude Bolton missed too. Commentator David 'Ox' Schwarz reckoned the Swans were posturing, too busy proving they were tougher and harder than Essadun instead of trying to run the ball and score. He had a point. With 45 seconds remaining in the half Swan man Brett 'Captain' Kirk stabbed a 12m pass to Mick O'Loughlin, he goaled and the Bloods led by 16 points at the long break.

 

The Swans seemed to be getting a handle on it in the early third Mario. Goodes galloped off half-back and kicked long, O'Loughlin ran with-the-flight to take a very gutsy mark, crunched a split-second after grabbing the ball by oncoming O'Keefe and Slattery. Mick's wobbly punt from 50m just carried through. Leapin' Leo Barry went for a run and kicked towards O'Loughlin, who fumbled badly but tackled to regain possession and set up a snapped goal for O'Keefe, and the Swans led by 28 points. The Bommerz hung in, Monfries's smart, long kick found Welsh marking at the back of the pack, he popped it through from close range. A bit later Sam Lonergan and Leroy Jetta did well to get the ball to Mark McVeigh about 60m out, McVeigh stood about for a bit before kicking long. Jetta soccered the pack-spilled ball through the legs of Everitt and Mattner for a goal, a cunning double-nutmeg. Jolly missed for the Swans before the Dons attacked again, Welsh kicked the ball straight to Jolly who obligingly lobbed his pass to Jude Bolton so Lonergan could spoil, gather and kick for Jay Neagle to mark 30m out. Neagle converted and the Dons were 12 points down. "I reckon the Dons look dangerous here," remarked Bruce McAvaney. He couldn't know the Swans would kick 13.3 to the Bombouts' 0.2 from that point. But you'd trust Bruce to be wrong in analyzing a game. From the centre-bounce after the Neagle goal Swan Jolly tapped to Bird, a handball to Buchanan who kicked ahead. Moore collected the ball and handpassed for O'Keefe to snap it through. The Dons had a centre-break but managed a rushed point only, from the kick-in Leo Barry broke numerous tackles and got the ball to Ablett, his kick found Amon Buchanan alone for a mark and goal. Jolly, Bird and Buchanan combined to win the ball from the restart and Barry thumped a long sausage, then Don man Houli copped an unlucky bounce and Jarred Moore lobbed a high kick forward for the Swans, Playfair marked very easily just 10m out. Mark McVeigh complained he'd been shepherded out and he had a point, but McVeigh complains a lot. It's his leadership style. Playfair lobbed it through, the Swans affected another centre-clearance and Kirk snapped a sausage. Fletcher just got a hand on Buchanan's late shot and the Swans'd jumped to a 42-point lead at the last change. And away they went from the miserable Dons. Bomma fans were fuming early in the last when Barry was allowed to hold the ball for several millennia in a tackle, without penalty, but the Sherrin became red-hot when Jason Laycock was tackled with it. From that free the Swans attacked swiftly, Ablett lobbed the ball into a paddock and on-running O'Loughlin gathered the ball coolly before stabbing it through. O'Loughlin also booted the next major, a great kick following an equally good mark under pressure from Ryder. Former Bomma Ted Richards booted a terrific running sausage from 50m, then Kirk and Buchanan sent the ball forward again and Playfair, confidence high, marked strongly in front of Mal Michael. He booted another. O'Loughlin majored again from a mark on-the-lead and Moore got one following a strong grab over Stanton. What were the Dons doing? Mostly they'd stopped running or even moving, apart from Hille who was running about with elbows flailing, trying to get reported. Good work from Moore and Playfair set up a goal-mouth blast for Jolly and Kieran Jack snapped a goal to complete the scoring, a 91-point win.  

 

Siddey hard-man Brett Kirk (29 disposals, a goal) enjoyed the physicality of it and spearhead Michael O'Loughlin's 6 goals (from 8 marks and 19 possies) represented his best haul for 2 years, I think. Adam Goodes (27 disposals, 6 marks) galloped about and nuggety Jarred Moore (18 touches, 2 goals) and Craig Bird (15 disposals) have grasped the Swans' ethos, as Tim Lane might say. Ryan O'Keefe (19 possies, 2 goals) was a busy flanker and ruckman Darren Jolly (20 touches, 8 marks, 3 goals) thrashed his opponents. Leo Barry (21 possies, a goal) and Amon Buchanan (19 touches, a goal) had decent games too. Henry Playfair bagged 3 goals from 9 marks, 12 kicks. Didn't mention Nick Malceski but he played okay (10 disposals) and got through the game, an effort which could revolutionize knee reconstructions. For the Dons, Brent Stanton (19 disposals) tried hard as usual and Dustin Fletcher (11 possies) did plenty of spoiling in defence, Mark McVeigh (18 touches) was okay and juniors Kyle Reimers (16 disposals, 9 marks) and Sam Lonergan (8 possies) battled away before tiring. Angus Monfries (21 disposals) did a bit, but he's good at getting caught in possession. Andrew Welsh and David Hille kicked 2 goals each. The spotlight was on Matty Knights. "I thought Tom Hislop, David Myers, Darcy Daniher, those sorts of young men handled themselves pretty well. I was pleased with Kyle Reimers too. Those guys were our shining lights," Knights said after the game. "We were clearly better around stoppages for about 70 minutes. "But they [the Swans] started to win the stoppages and be very physical in the third quarter which caused a lot of problems for us. Our younger bodies with their tackling started to fall off Sydney half-way through that third quarter and once you fall off those tackles, and they get those handballs out and overlap, and that makes it difficult for your defence and they start to score heavily. That's when our tackling really started to disintegrate." Yep. Paul Roos talked mostly about Malceski and Kennelly. "(Malceski's comeback) is good. As we said at the press conference the other day it's one game and it was good. He [played] 73 minutes, he looked good. He was able to perform pretty much the way we thought he would. As I've said, until the end of the year we're not across the line, but as everyone saw today, the operation itself has been a success. The rehab's been a success and hopefully he can keep going for the rest of the year . . . I think he needs a bionic body Tadhg. He's really been bashed around. He's probably thinking: 'why did I come here? In Gaelic footy they don't tackle'. At this stage it doesn't look anywhere near as bad as last time (Kennelly missed 10 weeks with a dislocated kneecap 2 years ago), but we'll find out tomorrow."

 

At Subiaco:

Fremantle   6.2   9.5   14.8    17.9.111

Footscray   6.3   9.4   11.8   17.12.114

 

Superb last quarter from the Bulldogs saw them overhaul the miserable Dockulaters and remain undefeated. Skipper Brad Johnson, who gave his team-mates a big spray at the final change, led the way with Jason Akermanis, Daniel Giansiracusa and Adam Cooney all crucial. There's not much more to say about Freo and their choking. Two of them were against undefeated sides, but still. Blind men in the desert, a rudderless ship in a stormy sea, adrift in deep space, write your own metaphor. The Shockers made five changes to the side which coughed up a 9-goal lead over the Demuns. Mark Johnson was suspended, while Mark Harvey's character axe fell on Daniel Gilmore, Brock O'Brien, Ryan Murphy and Andrew Foster. Those mostly junior types made way for experienced hands Heath Black, Roger Hayden and Brett Peake, Paul Duffield was given a chance while ex-Bommer Kepler Bradley made his Freo debut. One change for the Dogs, tall backman Tom Williams in for Tim Callan.  

 

For three quarters the Dokkers dominated possession, due in part to the Bulldogs' strategy of defensive flooding and rapid counter-attacking. Freo opened the scoring courtesy a free-kick and 50m penalty to rover Rhys Palmer. Robert Murphy replied for the Dogs, after Will Minson took the ball out of bounds before handpassing to Murphy who ran inside 50 with a coupla bounces, amongst copious booing, and speared it through. Ruckman Ben Hudson was allowed to play-on after marking and thump a major and the Dogs led by 7 points. But Doggy mistakes helped Freo out, Cameron Wight's shanked cross-goal kick went straight to Matthew Pavlich, 10m out and he popped it through. Pavlich then marked on a long lead and kicked towards leading Chris Tarrant, who couldn't mark but handballed to Byron Schammer and, after some battle for the pill, it came back to Tarrant who snapped truly. Freo by 5 points before the Dogs managed a couple, Nathan Eagleton ran and kicked long, Scott Welsh won a free for in-the-back and passed quickly for unattended Rob Murphy to mark and convert. Dogs Ryan Griffen and Brad Johnson hacked the ball forward from the restart, Freo defender Michael Johnson gathered but Doggy hard-man Mitch Hahn ripped the ball from Johnson's hands and stabbed a sausage. The Bullies led by 8 points. At this stage Kepler Bradley replaced Sandilands in the ruck for Freo and he initiated a good spell of attacking but not much scoring for them. Eventually Marcus Drum held a good grab on the wing and handballed to running Heath Black, his long punt cleared Sandilands and roving Garrick Ibbotson snapped a major. A minute later Bradley kicked a goal, holding a strong grab from Bell's kick, and Freo led by 5 points. Back came the Dogs as Johnson found Eagleton with a good pass, the bald man executed an even better kick to allow Welsh to mark with-the-flight, he majored. Bradley produced the exact opposite, an appalling shinned effort from 30m. But a bit later Dean Solomon steamed outta defence for Freo and passed to Bell, Solomon ran on to receive Bell's handball, do a lairy 360-spin out of Lake's tackle and slot a major. Freo by 6 points. Bulldog Giansiracusa missed a shot, the kick-in was directed to Sandilands and he wasn't paid a juggled marking attempt. Cooney scooped the ball for the Dogs and Akermanis marked 30m out, he majored after the siren and the Dogs led by a point at the first break. Footyscray had kicked 6.3 from nine inside-50s in the first Mario, decent efficiency which they continued early in the second. A good kick from Lake found Welsh in the centre, he passed to Murphy and on to leading Akermanis in the pocket, Aker threaded it through. A minute later Akermanis was involved again, leading up to mark Johnson's pass. His quick, long kick found Freo men backpedalling and Will Minson plucked a strong grab, he converted and the Dogs led by 13 points. But Freo's weight of possession began to tell. Matty Pavlich led up for a grab and passed quickly - speed was the key - for unopposed David Mundy to mark and convert. The Dockers pressed but struggled to score, the umps didn't help 'em. After a while Rhys Palmer lobbed a high kick in and Chris Tarrant clutched a good grab, he slotted to put Freo in front by a point. But Cooney had a free at the restart, the ball went via Eagleton to Hahn who was allowed to hold the ball while being tackled for about 15 minutes. Finally he got a handball off and oncoming Eagleton steered a good sausage from the pocket, the Dogs led by 5 points. Late in the stanza a good run and pass from Black got the ball to leading Tarrant, Taz delivered the ball to leading Pavlich who booted a goal after the siren. Freo by a point at the long break.

 

The Shockers managed to put their dominance on the scoreboard early in the third, big efforts from Sandilands and Palmer leading the way. A long Sandilands kick allowed Pavlich to pluck a mark over opponent Dale Morris and boot a goal, a bit later Tarrant bagged good one after roving Pavlich's contest and Freo led by 14 points, the admirably vocal crowd got behind 'em. Doggy Lindsay Gilbee missed poorly and then tangled with Steven Dodd, adding a 50m penalty to Freo's kick-in. Dodd's response was to push Gilbee over and the ump reversed the decision, awarding Gilbee a free which led to Murphy kicking a goal. The Dockertor fans loved that and their lads dropped the bundle for a bit. After a while Brett Peake booted a great major, marking Shaun McManus's kick on-the-run and playing on with a dummy to spear it through from 30m. But the Dogs' ability to win centre clearances was the key factor in the end, Daniel Cross won the next and Brad Johnson held a terrific one-handed mark falling backwards, he majored. Freo finished the term strongly though, Palmer used a free to kick long and Ryan Crowley leaped for a great pack-mark, he converted. Another Doggy centre-clearance followed, Eagleton won a free but postered. A handy break for Freo and soon snappy handballs from Bell and Ibbotson sent Peake in for another running goal. Taz missed a late sitter with an unnecessary dribbly-snap and Freo led by 18 points at the final change. Afterwards Akermanis (who else?) said "at three-quarter time we said, three or four times, 'they're the worst last-quarter team in the comp, so we've got to keep going and hang in there'." The Shockers won the ball from the opening bounce of the last Mario, Tarrant had a free but he missed again. From the kick-in Eagleton ran a long way and booted long, Hahn marked and handballed for Matthew Boyd to find leading Giansiracusa, he goaled. The Pups pressed for a while, a wild Dodd handpass was gathered by Murphy, he handballed for Akermanis to drill a sausage and Freo's lead was down to 6 points. But Bell and Palmer combined to win the subsequent centre-clearance and as the ball sailed to the 'square Tarrant was held back by Williams, Taz hooked his free through from a tight angle. The Dokkas' Peake won the next centre break, McManus passed for leading Jeff Farmer to mark and convert and Freo led by 18 points again. A minute later Bulldog Griffen slipped through some weak tackling and handballed for Giansiracusa to snap truly on the left, but Pavlich replied for Freo with a very good mark against Morris, quick play-on and major thundered home from 50. Still Freo by 18 points. But them Bullpup centre-clearances killed 'em, Boyd won the next and his very good handball released Akermanis, a pass to Hahn and another to Cooney brought a Doggy goal. Josh Hill's handpass got the Pups going from the next restart, Giansiracusa found Cooney again for another grab and major. The Dogs manned up tightly now as the Dockers stopped running and tried to chip their way out of trouble. Lake booted a long behind from a turnover before Dokka Mundy kicked to a contest, Bulldog Cameron Wight marked and centered to Akermanis, he passed for unattended Welsh to grab and convert to put the Dogs in front, by a point. Six minutes to go but it was all played in the Dogs' attacking half. No risks from Freo, no daring to win. Brad Johnson postered from a tight angle before running down a tired Michael Johnson, but Johnno missed with the resulting free. Still 2:20 to go but Freo didn't cross the centre.     

 

Jason Akermanis's superb kicking and big last-quarter effort were crucial, he had 19 disposals in total, 6 marks and booted 3 goals. Daniel Cross (26 disposals) and sidekick Matthew Boyd (20 touches) were very good in winning centre-clearances and running Ryan Griffen (23 disposals) was good too. Adam Cooney (24 disposals) was tagged by Ryan Crowley but still played effectively and kicked those 2 handy last-quarter goals. Robert Murphy (10 marks, 18 disposals, 3 goals) was busy across half-forward again and Daniel 'Guido' Giansiracusa (21 touches, 2 goals) was good. Although quiet, Brad Johnson (14 touches, 7 marks, a goal) provided some inspiration. Brian Lake (18 possies) held an occasionally wonky backline together. Scott Welsh (8 marks, 12 disposals) kicked 2 goals. First-year rover Rhys Palmer (27 disposals, a goal) and big Aaron Sandilands (17 touches, 8 marks, 42 hit-outs) tried very hard for Freo, Peter Bell (29 disposals) played most of the game as a half-forward and did well. Kepler Bradley (21 touches, 7 marks, a goal) was pretty good as the no. 2 ruckman, Chris Tarrant (20 possies, 6 marks, 4 goals) and Matthew Pavlich (13 kicks, 8 marks, 4 goals) were handy and runnin' backmen Roger Hayden (21 touches) and Michael Johnson (24 disposals) busy, but not in the last quarter. Heath Black (25 handlings) and Brett Peake (21 touches, 2 goals) did a bit, but not in the last quarter. Mark Harvey took solace in getting close. "The way that we've conducted ourselves against the top sides is to be commended, but we haven't won and that's the issue. It seems to be a common trend with us in the last quarters. We only had four inside 50s and they had 17, so that would suggest we were under siege. We are in the forefront of the games and that's a credit to the way they play the game. They just don't show enough composure in the last quarter. Trying to stabilise the team is something that will hopefully help stop that. Whilst we keep making four, five or six changes, some of the guys coming in are struggling with the full load of the game. We will only make one or two changes this week," he said. 'Rocket' Eade said "The first three quarters were terrible. Our skills and our decision making was the worst I've seen it all year. It was shocking but in the end we lifted the intensity. It's marvellous in this game that your skill rate is proportional to your work rate. In the last quarter we lifted our work rate, we seemed to be running on top of the ground and all of a sudden our skills picked up . . . I thought we could lift, we've proved it in other games this year," he said. "There was no doubt I thought we could win and if we'd taken our chances we could have won by two or three goals."

 

Ladder after Round 8

                Pts.       %    Next Round

Geelong          32    144.4    Collingwood (MCG, Fri. night)

Hawthorn         32    140.1    Melbourne (MCG, Sunday)

Footscray        30    131.6    North Melbourne (Docklands, Sunday)

Adelaide         24    128.3    West Coast (Subiaco, Sat. night)

Sydney           18    130.0    Port Adelaide (Football Park, Saturday)

North Melbourne  18     99.7    Footscray (Docklands, Sunday)

Collingwood      16    106.8    Geelong (MCG, Fri. night)

Brisbane         16    104.4    St. Kilda (Gabba, Sunday)

------------------------------------------------

St. Kilda        16     96.3    Brisbane (Gabba, Sunday)

Port Adelaide    12     98.9    Sydney (Football Park, Saturday)

Carlton          12     93.4    Fremantle (Docklands, Saturday)

Richmond         10     95.7    Essendon (MCG, Sat. night)

Essendon          8     69.5    Richmond (MCG, Sat. night)

Fremantle         4     86.0    Carlton (Docklands, Saturday)

West Coast        4     69.6    Adelaide (Subiaco, Sat. night)

Melbourne         4     59.1    Hawthorn (MCG, Sunday)

 

Cheers, Tim.

 

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