AFL Round 16
At Docklands:
Collingwood 3.3 7.7 10.10 14.12.96
Smells like Shinboner Spirit. Norf have now beaten the Pies twice, also the Hawks and the Bulldogs. But they also lost to Freo and Essadun. They're hard to fathom. So are the Poise, who were remarkably underwhelming here after winning 6 of the previous 8. Mick Malthouse named names afterwards, but it lost impact a little as he named about two-thirds of the side. North played tough in selection despite the narrow win over Port last week, Nathan Thompson axed for form reasons along with junior Blake Grima. Shannon Grant returned from exile as did Corey Jones. A late change for the Pies as Sharrod Wellingham replaced struggling 'Neon' Leon Davis.
More of the tiresome clash-jumper saga beforehand as the Pies refused to wear the alternative they don't have. So the Kangers were in their blue with the white 'V'. Saw the first half in a pub before we went for dinner and the Poise seemed in charge. Norf struggled badly in attack while the Maggies had a bit of a target in John Anthony, who looked like an alien with his ridiculously shaved, bulbous head. Anthony booted the first goal with a free kick after catching Josh Gibson in possession. Tarkyn Lockyer and Alan Didak bagged majors too while the maligned Grant free-kicked one for the
The
The inconsistent Drew Petrie (20 disposals, 11 marks, 26 hit-outs, 2 goals) was very good in the ruck, although his career isn't helped by being switched all over the field to plug big-man holes. Brent Harvey (27 touches, a goal) and Daniel Wells (27 disposals) were very good and Daniel Pratt (24 handlings, 6 marks, a goal) excellent off a back flank. Defenders Michael Firrito (15 possies, 9 marks, a goal on Cloke) and Josh Gibson (on Medhurst) did well and Brady Rawlings (21 disposals) was pretty effective too. Corey Jones (16 touches, 6 marks) bagged 3 goals, Shannon Grant and Todd Goldstein kicked 2 each. Scott Pendlebury (25 touches, a goal) was probably the best Pie, Alan Didak (21 disposals, a goal) and Scott Burns (22 handlings) worked reasonably hard and John Anthony (9 possies, 4 marks, 4 goals) put his hand up to replace Rocca in the longer term. But the others struggled a bit, Rhyce Shaw (19 handlings) was alright. Sharrod Wellingham and Paul Medhurst kicked 2 goals each. "It was one of those games where they had us, and they were going to win by anything from three goals to ten goals," Malthouse said. "You've got to dot the I's and cross the T's. You can't just kick the ball in the air and hope that Travis will mark everything. Especially when we know where Petrie is going to lob every time . . . We had two ruckmen rucking against a centre half-forward and the centre half-forward (Petrie) has been best on ground, second best on the ground and third best on the ground. There's not much you can do when the two ruckmen had the opportunity to get their hands on it." He went on to single out Heath Shaw for criticism, then Clarke, Medhurst etc. But defended Cloke as having a "terrific year". Dean Laidley said "It was a terrific performance, I was really pleased for the boys - they were pretty hard at it all night and the pressure was enormous from everyone. Their attack on the footy was second to none. From basically half time, we went for it, we thought 'right, let's go for it here' - to their credit, that's what they did. We were able to put some scoreboard pressure on - and quickly - which perhaps we weren't able to do . . . in the first half . . . (Petrie's game) was super, he's pushed himself to another level - one of the true leaders of our footy club now and he's just willed his influence on the game. He's pretty-much done that all year, he's been super."
At
Footscray 3.3 7.5 9.9 10.10.70
The Pu55ies rule the, um, domesticated animals and the leeg too as they snuffed out a disappointing Bulldog challenge. After a tight first half the Cats took over in the third and then galloped clear in the final stanza. Folks had tipped the Dogs, based upon the weakened
The Dogs probably blew it in the first quarter when they failed to take advantage of a stiff breeze, bombing the ball long but aimlessly. The tactics enabled the Cyats' wandering half-back Darren Milburn to collect 19 disposals in the first term and Jahlong used the ball a lot, as they do, with 65 more touches then the Pups for the korter. Pu55y spearhead Cam Mooney booted an early goal thanks to a Steve Johnson soccer-pass but it was pretty tight, tough stuff for the first 15 minutes. Ryan Hargrave's free-kick plus 50m penalty against Chapman led to a goal for Brad Johnson and the Dogs led by a point. One of Milburn's many touches set up a mark and major for Steve Johnson, before running Bully backman
The Dogs had the wind again in the third but they weren't winning enough of the ball now. Josh Hunt's long kick picked out Mathew Stokes for an easy mark and early Cat goal. Dogs Johnson and Welsh missed shots before Mooney led long to mark Selwood's pass, 'Moons' kicked for Gamble to pluck a grab against Dylan Addison and convert. Selwood and Corey cleared the restart and Chapman kicked to Stokes's lead in the pocket, Stokes lobbed a kick for Steve Johnson to mark close-in, play-on and hook it through. The Cats led by 16 points now. Giansiracusa was the Dogs' best forward on the day and he snaggled a needed goal for them, following a good goal-square grab. But Hahn missed a shot and a minute later Jarrod Harbrow's attempted centering kick on defensive 50 was intercepted by Harry Taylor, who played-on and roosted a sausage.
Jimmy Bartel (31 disposals, 2 goals) was very good for the Cats but most praise was reserved for their excellent defence, led by Matty Scarlett (32 touches, 5 marks) with run from Darren Milburn (32 handlings, 9 marks) and Corey Enright (24 possies). Forward Cameron Mooney (18 possies, 13 marks, 3 goals) played his best game for a few weeks, 'presenting' continually and Ryan Gamble (14 disposals, 6 marks, 4 goals) played very well, he struggles for a game with the Cats but at most other clubs he'd be one of the first picked. Joel Corey (29 disposals) and Joel Selwood (27 touches) were very good on-the-ball and Brad Ottens (17 possies, 7 marks, 23 hit-outs, a goal) won in the ruck. Steve Johnson bagged 3 goals and Mathew Stokes kicked 2. The Bulldawgs had good efforts from running half-back Lindsay Gilbee (21 disposals) and tough rover Daniel Cross (23 disposals including 18 handballs), in attack Daniel Giansiracusa (16 touches, 5 marks, 3 goals) gave 'em something. There was some run from Nathan Eagleton (22 possies, 2 goals) and Ryan Griffen (22 handlings), and Adam Cooney (25 possessions) wasn't bad. But stats in general dropped after half-time and some of their important goal-scorers of late, including Akermanis, Hahn, Minson and Welsh, were very quiet. Marks inside attacking 50 were 18-4
At the MCG:
Essendon 3.2 7.5 13.7 15.14.104
Can Essadun supporters please calm down? (Given it's practically Thursday, they probably have by now.) They went outta their tiny minds over the final 30 seconds here, in which Tigger Joel Bowden twice walked the ball through for rushed behinds from kick-ins, to retain possession and ensure the Tiges won the game. Once again the football fascists are demanding rule-changes. I love the dully recycled argument "what if it decides a Grand Final?" There'd been 121 games of footy this season before this one, and none of them were decided by deliberately rushed points. So I'm worried about the 2129 GF. What Bomma whingers should focus on are the three set-shot misses preceding Bowden's keepings-off, two from Jason Laycock and the other Brent Stanton. Or the fact they were beaten 64-46 in inside 50s despite Hille and Watson dominating clearances. Or the brave effort from their lads to nearly snatch it despite a casualty-ward of injuries. The Tiges were both lucky and deserved to win simultaneously. But they won't make the eight. One change for the Tiges coming in, backman Will Thursfield returning at the expense of Dan Connors. The Dons were missing key men Mark McVeigh (knee surgery - an old injury flaring up), Dustin Fletcher (ankle) and Andrew Lovett, dropped for not turning up to the recovery session last Sunday. In came Jarrod Atkinson, Ricky Dyson and Mal Michael. Remember him?
The Tigers wore black arm-bands for recently deceased 1980 premiership player and later committeeman Peter 'Woosha' Welsh and once Vic premier Lindsay Thompson. The Tiges started well, with Shane Tuck winning a stack of ball and backmen Kel Moore (on Lloyd) and Chris Newman handy too. Tuck hurt the Bommers in other ways, like (accidentally) knocking out Bomma tagger Andrew Welsh, his day was finished early. Toig forward Mitch Morton was busy too, lurking for two first-quarter goals, ruckman
Things turned about in the third term. Bombouts Hille and Watson dominated clearances and the defence tightened up. Morton had been the only Tiger forward doing anything and he was now shut down by Henry Slattery, I think. Stanton and Kyle Reimers got the Dons' running going and the goals came. Roving Jetta dribbled one through from a tight angle, similar to his first, then Sam Lonergan played-on and slotted following a strong mark. The Bommers lost yet another player in the build-up to that, Jay Neagle with an ankle problem. It's these modern boots. Reimers pounced on a loose ball to slam one through and when Lucas converted from a mark the Richmun lead was down to a point. Slattery snapped the Dons into the lead after roving Thursfield's spoil and it was obvious the very gods were against the Tiges when Lucas scored one of those ar5ey goals in which he specializes. Running onto pack-spillage, on a ridiculous angle in the pocket, Lucas hacked at the ball in mid-air and of course it neatly bisected the big poles. The Bummers led by 11 points at that stage, having scored six consecutive goals. The Tiges managed to stem the bleeding and even score a goal late in the term, Cleve Hughes with his only kick of the day. Richmun wrested the momentum back in the final term thanks mainly to the efforts of Nathans Foley and Brown. There was the small matter of the Dons being down to 19 men, I 'spose. Lloyd scored an early goal, reading Laycock's tumbled snap to mark in-front and convert and the Dons led by 11 points again. But Toiga Brown bagged the next two majors, both cool left-footed snaps in traffic. Both came from Tige centre-bounce wins and they led by a point. Laycock put the Dons ahead again with a good punt from wide on the flank, making his later misses more galling. Then the Tiges, Simmonds booting a pressure major following a juggled grab and after police station pee-er Kane Johnson missed, Brown kicked his third of the korter. 'Twas another left-foot snap, playing-on after a mark by pointing out the mark to the ump and the attending Bomma, 'Gehrig-style'. Richmun led by 9 points before Laycock blew it for the Dons, and Bowden rubbed it in.
Agile rover Nathan Foley (31 disposals) and handy Nathan Brown (26 touches, 11 marks, 3 last-quarter goals) won it for the Tiges. Brett Deledio (19 possies, 8 marks, 3 goals) was pretty good too, others contributed in patches. Shane Tuck (27 possies, 7 marks) started well but faded, as did Mitch Morton (16 possies, 7 marks, 4 goals) who managed a point in the second half. Troy Simmonds (15 handlings, 7 marks, 2 goals) and Richard Tambling (19 disposals, a goal) were alright and Kel Moore (15 touches, 6 marks) did pretty well on Lloyd, who's troubled the Tiges in the past. Jobe Watson (25 disposals) and David Hille (17 touches, 6 marks, 21 hit-outs, a goal) led the Dons and Brent Stanton (27 handlings, 12 marks, 2 goals) ran on and on. Kyle Reimers (18 disposals, 5 marks, a goal) got into it after half-time and Paddy Ryder (16 touches, 3 marks) kept Jack Riewoldt very quiet. Scott Lucas (14 touches, 5 marks) bagged 3 goals, Matty Lloyd and Leroy Jetta kicked 2 each. "I knew the day was going pear-shaped when my runner David Calthorpe did a calf in the first ten minutes," said Matty Knights. Calthorpe - did a calf or ate one? "There's no excuses; we were down to 19 [players], that's a fact. We just had to deal with it and thankfully for the players it didn't affect them. They played admirably - they played their hearts out. The second half with 19 was gallant and they certainly played better football in the second half with 19 rather than 22 which is not ideal. [But] I said to the players post-game that the reality is I don't care whether we're down to 16 or 17 [players]. When you're there to win the game with 10 minutes to go, it's a disappointing loss." Tigger coach Terry Wallace was struggling with a respiratory problem, so assistant Brian Royal had to defend Bowden. "We thought it was fantastic, what Joel did. If you're going to ice the clock, we knew if you're going to lose by one point, or if you're going to lose by five points, what's the difference? . . . We're about winning four points, and if it's doing what Joel did, I mean, it's smart play. You couldn't tell me if Essendon were in the same position, they wouldn't have done the same thing." Precisely.
At the Gabba:
West Coast 3.3 5.6 8.10 9.13.67
Brisbun managed to win easily and be unimpressive at the same time, again committing a string of turnovers. But the Eagles gave up weeks ago and playing 'em is an automatic four points now. Maybe they'll try a bit in the remaining WA Derby. The Lyin's have some tougher games ahead and some injury problems, young ruckman Matthew Leuenberger could miss the remainder of the season with a knee injury and Jed Adcock (thigh strain) was also out from the side beaten by the Bommers, Troy Selwood was dropped. Replacements were defender Jason Roe, midfielder Scott Harding and a debutant, 21-year-old midfielder Bradd Dalziell (yes, two dees in Bradd) from
The game was close-ish most of the way, apart from another abject second term from the Eegs. It's their quarterius horribilus. West Ghost started okay with Dean 'Big' Cox a pillar of strength again and Andrew Embley winning a bit of it, Brent Staker battled as a midfielder. Big Quinten Lynch free-kicked an early goal before the Lyin's got moving half-way through the term. Luke Power and Simon Black were going well and first-gamer Dalziell proved a handy ball-winner. Anthony Corrie gathered and handballed to set up a Travis Johnstone slot, then Dan Bradshaw thumped one home from a mark on-the-lead. Josh Drummond took Harding's dish-off to hammer a 50m sausage and Jonathan Brown kicked one, found alone by Power's pass. The Lisbon Brians led by 18 points but the Weegs hit back, Jamie McNamara majored thanks to a 50m penalty and David Wirrpanda cut the gap to 7 points with yet another goal from a Weegle free. Johnstone's excellent long shot from the boundary late in the stanza had the Lyin's 13 points ahead at the first break. The Lyin's bumbled along in the early stages of the second term, turning over frequently. Corrie snapped a good early goal, but it was answered quickly by Weeg Mark LeCras, set up by Adam Selwood. Darren Glass's long switching kick found Brad Ebert in space, he passed for leading Lynch to mark and thump it home and the Eegs trailed by 5 points. Brisbun ruckman Jamie Charman was struggling against Cox, so he shifted forward and sparked a bit of a surge. Charman kicked a running goal, indeed, after accepting a Rhan Hooper handball, then Bradshaw marked on a long lead and passed quickly to leading Brown, who was clobbered after taking the grab by Selwood. A 50m penalty and Brown majored. Charman kicked another goal, batting to win the pill from a throw-in and snapping it home. A bit later Charman was at it again, soccering the ball from a throw-in to Bradshaw, who snapped it through. Good play from Jared Brennan and Power set up another goal for Brown and the Lyin's went into the sheds leading by 35 points, on the back of them 5 unanswered sausage rolls.
The pattern continued into the third Mario, Lyin's Notting and Bradshaw behinded from early opportunities before Harding's long kick found Bradshaw drifting into the pocket, he jabbed a centering pass for Mitch Clark to mark at the top o' the 'square and punt through. A few minutes later Charman bagged his third goal, a big grab close-in of Dalziell's long punt. Bradshaw booted another after a diving mark on-the-lead and great kick from the boundary and the Brians led by 54 points, having kicked 8.3 to 0.1 since a Ryan Davis point in the second quarter had reduced the Weeg's deficit to 4 points. The Lyin's relaxed a bit now and the Eegs restored a pinch of pride, led by Ashley Hansen who kicked 1.2 in a brief burst of marking. LeCras thumped a long, straight set-shot from wide on the flank and then Hansen bagged another, marking a typically thunderous long kick from Lynch. The Wiggles were 33 points down at the final break, having won the third term by 2 points. Hurrah! Perhaps copping a rocket from Lethal, the Brians surged again at the start of the final korter. There were a few dull minutes, in fact, before Ash McGrath, mostly a backmen these days, booted a long major. Corrie marked Johnstone's pass inside the centre-square, played-on and thumped a 50m goal, then Charman, Rischitelli and Stiller combined to win the next centre-clearance and Drummond's long punt was marked in the goal-square by Bradshaw. His fourth goal had Brisbun 52 points ahead once more and the cue certainly went in the rack. Points trickled through over the next quarter-hour before Weegle Ben McKinley kicked a late goal.
Running half-back Josh Drummond (23 touches, 8 marks, a goal) was pretty good for the Lyin's but most observers were more excited about debutant Bradd Dalziell, his 32 disposals apparently a record for a first-gamer (eclipsing Simon Black, allegedly). Black himself (27 disposals) wasn't bad here, nor was Luke Power (31 possies). Jamie Charman (9 touches, 3 marks, 3 goals) helped get the Lyin' momentum going and Dan Bradshaw (14 disposals, 9 marks, 4 goals) was very solid performer in attack again, Anthony Corrie (13 touches, 7 marks, 2 goals) is a very talented player as I think I've mentioned. Jonathan Brown (17 disposals, 7 marks) kicked 3 goals and Travis Johnstone booted 2 goals. Dean Cox (36 disposals, 11 marks, 27 hit-outs) will win the Weegs' B&F at least and Andrew Embley (34 possies, 13 marks) saw a bit of the pill for the Eegs, Brent Staker (26 touches, 4 marks) was alright as a midfielder. Chad Fletcher (32 disposals, 8 marks) was alright and backman Eric Mackenzie (15 handlings, 6 marks) wasn't bad. Quinten Lynch, Mark LeCras and Ash Hansen kicked 2 goals each. John Worsfold stuck to his it's-all-for-the-good theme. "I saw a fair bit of improvement tonight," he said. "I thought last week we really let ourselves down, everyone's talked about that. We let ourselves down, our club down and our supporters down with our effort last week. It was well below what was acceptable. Tonight the effort was acceptable but there's a lot of areas for improvement in physical maturity, to lay tackles, the ability to hold your own in clinches and use of the ball, decision-making under pressure, all those things are going to come together for the group." Lethal Leigh declared himself happy. "We've fallen at a couple of hurdles, so it was nice to jump one," Matthews said. "A lot of the things that are important to our competitiveness were there tonight. We weren't fantastic with ball in hand but at least we got the competitive building blocks back to something near the standard we need. Therefore we got back to playing something near the ability we've got . . . The perception is the reality. And the fact is when you are on the losing end of two (straight) games, it's very easy for people to think you are going terribly. At different stages of the 22 rounds, different teams will be in really good shape. Essendon has been in pretty good shape for the last month and
At Docklands:
St. Kilda 3.1 6.3 14.5 18.11.119
Hawthorn 5.4 10.7 12.8 13.11.89
The Saints are a-comin' now, this fourth straight win the most impressive of the bunch as they produced an amazing third-quarter run-on to bury the Hawks. Afterwards Sainter coach Ross Lyon was all dopey smiles and aw-shucks-edness while Horforn man Al Clarkson referred to it as a "reality check". Either the Hawks aren't as good as many thought, or they were pre-occupied with last weeks' Swans game and the next mission against the Cats. That's what one Hawk supporter told me. In selection Saints Jarryd Allen and James Gwilt were axed, the latter deservedly, with running men Aaron 'Fiona' Fiora and Adam Schneider recalled. Two changes for the Hawks, Shane Crawford and his wonky knees were rested and Clint Young withdrew with back tightness, but Jordan Lewis and Chance Bateman returned.
The game started as expected, with the slow-movin' Saints becoming lost in the Orcs' cluster, or rolling zone, or whatever it is. The Hawks had no trouble moving the ball around. A smart Cyril Rioli tap-on, gather and pass set up Mark Williams for the first goal, Willo and Michael Osborne missed shots before Lance 'Buddy' Franklin arrived, out-marking Max Hudghton and , as Hawk fans held their breath, punting right through the high-diddle-diddle. Williams led, marked and goaled again, completing a slick Hawk rebound move. Jarryd Roughead missed his first shot at which stage Horforn led by 21 points, 3.4 to 0.1. The Saints had to wait until time-on to score a goal, Sean Dempster converting a free-kick against Bateman for a throw. Then Roughead started and completed a move, with a back-pocket mark ending with 'Roughy' accepting Sam Mitchell's pass, playing-on and thumping it home. The Hawks led by 21 points again. There was a late flurry of majors, Stainer Justin Koschitzke marked and goaled then Hork Williams booted his third of the term, a free against battling opponent Brendon Goddard. Sainter Nick Riewoldt, in the same category as
Sinkilda cut loose in the third Mario, initiated by the move of Jason Blake off Roughead and into the ruck. Riewoldt and Dal Santo had big quarters too. Dal Santo set up an early goal, playing a one-two with David Armitage before stabbing a pass to leading Riewoldt, who again steered it through from a tightish angle. Lenny Hayes and Dal Santo combined to win the ball from the restart and Riewoldt did well to win a hard ball, he handballed clear and then slipped away to receive Montagna's returning handpass and slot a running major. Roughead majored for Horforn with a goal-square free-kick and they still led by 21 points, but the Saints came on. An interchange mix-up between Hawk ruckmen Taylor and
Jason Blake (23 disposals, 11 hit-outs, 3 goals) may've been the catalyst in the ruck but Nick Riewoldt (22 possies, 10 marks, 6 goals - no behinds) was the true leader for the Saints on the night. Nick Dal Santo (32 touches, 7 marks, 2 goals) was also very good, with midfield help from Lenny Hayes (25 handlings) and Leigh Montagna (31 disposals). Clint Jones (24 touches, a goal) and Brendon Goddard (27 handlings, 10 marks) were important influences too, as was small forward Adam Schneider (19 handlings, 2 goals). On the Awk side Luke Hodge (23 disposals, 6 marks, 2 goals) was terrific in the first half but quiet in the second, he wasn't Robinson Crusoe there. Brad Sewell (24 handlings) and Xavier Ellis (19 touches, 6 marks) were pretty good but had a similar game-pattern. Michael Osborne (16 touches, 4 marks, 2 goals) continued his good season while Mark Williams (14 kicks, 4 marks, 3 goals) did most of his damage in the first quarter. Jarryd Roughead (15 touches, 6 marks, 3 goals) and Lance Franklin (9 touches, 3 goals) were generally starved of opportunity. Alistair Clarkson was asked if he could see the second half reversal-of-fortune coming. "I'm sure our coaches, the crowd, and, dare I say it, with no disrespect to the Saints, they probably didn't see it coming at half-time either. As much as they would have had belief in themselves, we were very poor in the second half and full credit to St Kilda . . . There has been a lot of talk and heightened expectations of Hawthorn, but it is a bit of a reality check for our club today. We're still got a lot of work to do to and we know that internally as a coaching group and a playing group. We have to lick our wounds for a couple of days and get ourselves ready for the Cats because there has been a lot of talk and hype about it. Irrespective of how well we performed tonight we need to bounce back pretty strongly. It'll be a really good test for us playing the benchmark side of the competition over the last 18 months. Ross Lyon kept a lid on. "There's no respite, so all it means (is) we stay in the hunt to force our way into the eight, if we keep winning. But, it's a long season, so it's hard for the Hawthorn Football Club, who have been obviously fantastic, to stay up all year. For them, a second-half fade out, I don't think is a major issue. So for us it was pleasing and, for them, I think they'll go away and they've had a super year, so we're respectful of the year they've had, but obviously we're pleased with the win. But we're not getting too carried away, because at some point they were going to have a quieter second half and last quarter, where they've been super, so it was important for us and we're respectful of what they've achieved and we'll enjoy the next couple of hours."
At Docklands:
Perception is the Bluies blew an excellent chance for an upset win and to stay in touch with the eight. The Swans would be relieved to win, following consecutive losses, and restore their two-game lead in fourth spot thanks to the Pies losing. But Siddey picked up some worrying injuries to Leo Barry (hamstring) and Mick O'Loughlin (ankle). In selection here the Bluies called up a few lads following long-term injuries, including forward Adam Hartlett, winger Andrew Walker for his first game of the season and backman Mark Austin. Out, dropped, went Joe Anderson, Stephen Browne and Jake Edwards. Jarrad Waite played his 100th game for the Bluesers. The Swans had to replace Amon Buchanan, who copped a 4-game suspension for clobbering Luke Hodge last week and injured Nick Malceski (calf strain). In came forward Heath Grundy and first-gamer Matt O'Dwyer, a 19-year-old midfielder from the Calder Cannons. Tadhg Kennelly played his 150th for the Swans.
Siddey coach Paul Roos made some changes for the second half, placing hard tags on Judd (Brett Kirk) and Stevens (Luke Ablett) while designating Jude Bolton as primary ball-winner. Jolly and Spida began to dominate the ruck. Goodes, struggling with the groin, went forward. Meanwhile the Blues soon lost the luckless Andrew Walker, hurting his 'good' shoulder, not the one he damaged pre-season which'd kept him out until this round. O'Keefe scrambled a soccer-kick through for a goal early in the third and also kicked a point, Bevan missed too before McVeigh bagged his third goal, a goal-square poke-through on the end of a chain of handballs. That cut the Bloods' deficit to a point and soon the Bloods led by a goal, Jarred Moore converting the aid of a 50m penalty. But O'Loughlin and O'Keefe now both departed with ankle trouble - O'Keefe's was relatively minor - and the Siddey momentum stalled. Bloo Gibbs kicked long and Fevola won a free, he majored, a few minutes later Fevola marked on a short lead and graciously handballed over to Adam Hartlett for a point-blank slot. Fevola was soon lead-mark-goaling again from a Simpson pass, when Cam Cloke tapped down to Murphy from a ball-up and Murphy snapped accurately the Bluies led by 17 points with four straight goals. Another late goal-barrage followed, Jolly wobbled a kick forward for the Swarns and
Jude Bolton (26 disposals, a goal) kept the Swans alive with his pack-roving and the goals came from busy Ryan O'Keefe (29 touches, 10 marks, 3 goals) and Jarrad McVeigh (19 handlings, 9 marks, 4 goals). Darren Jolly (14 possies, 9 marks, 25 hit-outs, 2 goals) dominated the ruck and small man Jarred Moore (16 handlings, 2 goals) was busy too. Handy efforts came from Paul Bevan (17 disposals, 2 goals) and Brett Kirk (18 handlings) on Judd, in defence Ted Richards and Marty Mattner (20 possies) did reasonable jobs. Adam Goodes bagged 2 handy goals. For the Blues, young Bryce Gibbs (26 disposals, 8 marks) is improving at a furious rate and Marc Murphy (24 touches, a goal) and Brendan Fevola (12 handlings, 5 marks, 5 goals) battled manfully. The Blues are sick of Fev's contract shenanigans and have put his negotiations 'on hold'. Running men Jarrad Waite (22 touches, a goal), Kade Simpson (17 possies) and Andrew Carrazzo (29 disposals) were handy and Eddie Betts (13 touches, 3 goals) gave 'em some spark in attack. Chris Judd had 14 disposals and kicked 2 goals, but had just 4 touches (no goals) in the second half. Brett Ratten said "I can't question our boys' commitment. Sometimes you go into battle and you can fight and fight, and it's an arm-wrestle and you just don't get over the line. That's the disappointing part about it. You give that much of an effort and you just come up a fraction short. We didn't have a hollow part throughout the game. Both teams were at each other the whole time. We got the lead up but they were just at us and at us, and the margin after halftime, there was a couple of goals in it both ways. Today was different. It was a real street-fight between two teams where other games have become a little bit more opened up." Ratts wasn't happy with the ruck situation. (We are) dealing with an average 30-tapout discrepancy each weekend, roving to the hands of opponents. Most of the time they're reactive not proactive. I think when we become proactive, we'll see a real boom effect in that midfield." Paul Roos said "Some wins are a bit better, you know, because we're down and out. We had a number of players on the bench that couldn't come back on and we were playing against a team that's in really good form. To come back and win that game was a terrific effort. For Goodesy and Ryan to be able to come back on and play out the game … I mean we wouldn't have won without those two blokes digging in . . . It was really important for us to get back on the winning list and play some really good footy. Hopefully for us it's [the win] a significant step after a couple of average weeks."
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At
Port
The crowd was 31,700, the lowest for a Showdown. Pre-game focus had been on Camry skipper Simon Goodwin and his inability to kick goals in recent games, after booting plenty in the early season. Sure enough Goodwin bagged the first goal, wobbling a left-foot kick through under heavy pressure. But Port had the better of the early exchanges in the tight, high-pressure contest these games inevitably become. Daniel Motlop goaled from a ride and big grab over Graham 'Stiffy' Johncock, a bit later Kurt Tippett replied for the Cows, picked out by Richard Douglas's pass. Port dominated the next fifteen minutes as the Camrys proved fairly poor at clearing their backline. Brett Ebert gathered Chad Cornes's kick on-the-bounce and snapped truly, a coupla misses followed before Motlop led out to mark a Salopek pass and convert from the spot on the ground he kicked his first. A Cow defensive clanger allowed Danyle Pearce to gather and snap a terrific left-footer under pressure and the Flowers led by 15 points. The Corollas responded as Chris Knights's quickly-taken free allowed Scott Stevens to take a mark in acres of space, he played-on and rammed it through from 50m. A
The tough battle continued into the third. Nine minutes ticked by with a handful of behinds registered, the scores were level. Then the Cows managed an end-to-end move from a kick-in, Goodwin accepted Bryce Campbell's handpass and thumped a 50m goal and they led by 6 points. Acid on the Power. They responded quickly, Troy Chaplin hacked a kick outta defence, Chad Cornes gathered and handballed to Motlop, still inside the centre square Motlop ran to 50m and thundered it home. Scores level again. Port pressed but now it was their turn to rack up the behinds, four straight including two misses from Shaun Burgoyne. Into time-on and great battling from Warren Tredrea forced the ball wide to Nathan Lonie, he steered a left-foot shot through. But a killer came moments later, when Ebert out-marked Bassett and Johncock. In fact Bassett seemed to clatter into the back of Johncock and knock him outta the way. Ebert thumped a goal after the three-quarter-time siren and Port were kinda fired-up, leading by 14 points. 'Choco' Williams took his lads over in front of the crowds for extra adrenaline. Meanwhile the Camrys lost the prolific Knights, complaining of blurred vision. Tense start to the final term, a point each before, eight minutes in, Johncock (I think) clangered a kick from deep in defence straight to Motlop, who converted. Port by 20 points but the Cows had a crack, Thompson swept up a loose ball and centered a pass to Stevens, he thumped another long major. A couple minutes later Thompson and Nathan Van Berlo literally rugby scrummaged the ball towards the goal-square and Vince poked a determined major, the Port lead was back to 7 points. Port responded with three very good goals. Salopek kicked to Justin Westhoff on a long lead, Westhoff kicked quickly for Motlop to juggle a one-handed mark while holding off Bassett with the other. Motlop handballed back to oncoming Westhoff, who steered it through. A few minutes later Chad Cornes and Bassett were chasing a loose ball, Bassett made a very weak, flappy attempt at collecting it and Cornes shunted him aside, gathered and handballed to Tredrea. Tredders shrugged a tackle and handballed to running Pearce, who speared it home. Then Pearce lobbed a kick inside 50 and Ebert was clattered by Bock, a 50m penalty was added for some backchat and Ebert blasted it through from the goal-square. Port were home, leading by 25 points. The Cressidas fought to the end, Michael Doughty kicking two late goals. But they were moot.
Port's speedy Danyle Pearce (24 disposals, 3 goals) won the Showdown medal but, while decent, he was an odd choice as most observers thought Steven Salopek (33 possessions) and Dom Cassisi (26 handlings, 13 tackles) had better games for Port. Kane Cornes (23 touches) clamped down on McLeod and in attack Daniel Motlop (12 disposals, 5 marks, 4 goals) and Brett Ebert (10 kicks, 5 marks, 4 goals) were handy. Runnin' David Rodan (14 handlings) played well again and Shaun Burgoyne (27 disposals) was okay. For the Cows, Sinmon Goodwin (16 possies, 3 goals) responded to the challenge and Michael Doughty (29 touches, 2 goals) and Chris Knights (28 disposals, 8 marks) were very busy midfield. Brad Symes (22 handlings, 7 marks) and Kris Massie (18 possessions) were okay running from the back, can't believe both papers mention Nathan Bassett (18 disposals) amongst their best. He made a lot of mistakes. Nathan Van Berlo (22 touches) was okay, Bernie Vince kicked 2 goals. Neil Craig tried to remain positive. "We had a lot to play for; a huge amount to play for and that's disappointing for us as a club. We'll need to go back and regroup and identify why that situation arose. Our last five weeks, I think in four out of those five, we've been up at half time. I think our capacity, as a club to keep doing the things that we know create wins for us is certainly not at the level it needs to be to actually win. So, we're going to keep pushing as hard as we possibly can and we're going to be very demanding on all the players of our football club to get to the standard required for a full game of football. We see patches of it, we see halves of it, but we're not seeing full games of it, which we need to do to stay in the fight for the eight." Choco rejoiced. "The most significant thing for ourselves today was 12-12, we wanted to stay ahead of the Crows in regard to that ledger. We have been (ahead) every time the games have been played so it was really important for our club. Our supporters, it was really important for them today. I really applaud those who came. It's disappointing the
At Subiaco:
Fremantle 0.2 5.9 11.15 16.18.114
Running out of time so I'll be brief. After an awful start, Freo hauled themselves clear of the bottom grouping (!) with a decent 'revenge' win over the Demuns. The build-up hadn't been good with Dean Solomon rubbed out for 8 games for whacking Ling last week, some thought the penalty too harsh. Shaun McManus and Heath Black contemplated retirement as the Shockers look ahead to 2009. McManus was recalled here along with rookies Josh Head and Brock O'Brien, junior rovers Rhys Palmer (soreness) and Clayton Hinkley joined Solly on the sidelines. The Deez recalled Aaron Davey to replace Brad Green (hamstring). Still no White, or 'Junior' McDonald.
Not the opening the locals had hoped for as the Deez scored the first six goals of the game. Davey and junior Cale Morton were very good for Melbun, booting two goals each in that burst but it was a familiar spray of turnovers and poor use going forward from Freo. Lobbed kicks to out-numbered Chris Tarrant were their tactics. When Dee ruckman Mark Jamar led, marked and goaled to start the second stanza the Dees led by 34 points, 6.2 to 0.4 and you coulda heard a pin drop at Sooby. But the Dokkas got moving as Matthew Pavlich, who'd started in midifled, went forward along with defender Luke McPharlin. Byron Schammer and Garrick Ibbotson were handy midfield. Ibbotson booted Freo's first goal and a few minutes later Pav got one, there followed a slew of behinds before Schammer, Josh Carr and Pavlich majored in rapid succession. Scores were level at half-time but the Deez'd scored one point in the last twenty-five minutes. McManus majored from the opening bounce of the third before Brad Miller broke Melbun's goal-drought, and the Deez briefly led again after Lynden Dunn kicked a point. But Freo ground clear as backman O'Brien bagged a sausage, then McPharlin kicked one and Pavlich two.
Difficult to go past Matthew Pavlich (28 disposals, 9 marks, 5 goals) as Freo's best yet again, rover Byron Schammer (27 touches, a goal) was also very good with support from Garrick Ibbotson (17 handlings, a goal). Not surprisingly, Aaron Sandilands (23 hit-outs, 15 disposals, a goal) thrashed the
Ladder after Round 16
Pts. % Next Week
Footscray 54 127.0
Hawthorn 52 125.3
Collingwood 36 117.9 Essendon (MCG, Saturday)
St. Kilda 36 101.8 West Coast (Subiaco, Saturday)
------------------------------------------------
Essendon 24 82.9 Collingwood (MCG, Saturday)
Port
Fremantle 12 89.4 Port
West Coast 8 64.7
Cheers, Tim.
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