[AFL-Review] AFL Round 18

AFL Round 18

 

At the MCG:

Collingwood  1.2   3.8    6.13    8.14.62

Hawthorn     6.3   8.8   12.11   17.14.116

 

End of a tough week for Mick Malthouse, and the start of another as Heath Shaw was done for drink-driving on Saturday night. Shaw rang Alan Didak for help, Didak arrived but according to the paper "left the scene quickly" when it became apparent the police were coming. You couldn't make it up. Anyway, Malthouse's odd comment last week, that the Pies "don't have the cattle at the moment" was pounced upon by the meedya, as was Robert Walls's article stating Malthouse was too old and washed-up. A saying containing the words pot, kettle and black springs to mind. Still, the Pies looked very ordinary yet again here as they were belted by the Hawks, for the second time this season. The Hawk midfielders' far harder and more intense attack on the ball was a key difference and eight goals from Buddy Franklin was the icing on the Hork cakewalk. Malthouse didn't help himself in selection, calling up doubtful heifers Josh Fraser and Ryan Lonie plus calves Tyson Goldsack and Alan Toovey. Rhyce Shaw was out with a back injury, while Ben Johnson was a high-profile axing along with Cameron Wood and 'rested' Shane Wakelin. Why you'd rest a key backman against a side with a powerful big forward pairing isn't clear. The Horks called up experienced men Shane Crawford and Stuart Dew to replace Michael Osborne (corked buttock) and the dropped Travis Tuck.

 

Quick start from the Horks, driven by Sam Mitchell's phenomenal clearance ability. The Horkers bundled the ball forward from the opening bounce, Cyril Rioli swept up the loose pill and handpassed for Dew to snap it threw. Pie skipper Scott Burns was done for 'bawl' at the restart and Mitchell passed his free wide to Robert Campbell, he passed for leading Jarryd Roughead to mark and bang it home from the flank. A minute later Chance Bateman's hard running saw him collect and find Franklin on the lead, Buddy also thumped it through from distance and the Hawks led by 17 points. The Pies were trying a tactic to put Franklin's kicking off, having a bloke wide of the mark (on Franklin's left) run at him as Buddy ran in to have a shot. The jury's out. Fraser's winning tap engineered the next centre-clearance for the Scraggies and Alan Didak passed for Scott Pendlebury to mark and convert. But soon Mitchell punted the Awks forward from a ball-up, Franklin juggled a three-grabber and fell dramatically to earth - Pie man Maxwell was adjudged to have 'slung' Buddy and was very harshly pinged for a 50m penalty, Franklin popped it through from point-blank. The game settled a bit but the Pies burned a few chances going forward, punting aimlessly and often over Trav Cloke's head. Franklin missed a shot, a bit later Dew roved another Buddy contest and lobbed a Diesel-esque handpass into the corridor for Xavier Ellis to collect and slip one to running Bateman, he converted. The Horks cleared a throw-in and Jordan Lewis drove a long kick to CHF, Franklin battled to win the ball and stab a short pass for unopposed Roughead to mark, play-on and boot another. Korter-time and the Hawks led by 31 points already, being far more intense than the Pies. Collywood lifted a bit for the second term but had trouble scoring. A few minutes and behinds passed before Hawk Grant Birchall won the agget and kicked to unattended Dew, he kicked for Franklin to out-mark Harry O'Brien and steer it home again. Buddy on-target as the Orcs led by 36 points. More tight minutes, the Pies were winning the ball now and trying to play-on more, eschewing their normal static, short-passing game. Perhaps the criticism had gotten to Malthouse. They couldn't use it in attack but at the other end Franklin and Roughead missed to keep 'em alive. Unfortunately Dane Swan postered with a free and Cloke snapped on-the-full. Handily, Hork Robert Campbell dropped a kick-in under no pressure and Didak collected the ball, he centered a pass for Paul Medhurst to mark and convert. Franklin's normal service was resuming, he missed again and the Poise swept afield from the kick-in, John Anthony seized a strong grab on the 50m line and punted quickly for Didak and mark and kick a major. The Horforn lead was down to 26 points and commentator Nathan Buckley, paying the merest nod to objectivity, was becoming excited. But Thomas and O'Brien missed straightforward shots and the Hawks got a goal, Franklin spilled a mark on-the-lead but re-gathered and snapped it through. You can only give him so many chances. The Hawkers led by 30 points at orange-time.

 

The Pie effort extended in to the third term, they exerted some decent early pressure. Swan lobbed a speculative high punt forward, Anthony tumbled and was rewarded with a free for an alleged shove from Croad - it looked real 'live'. Anthony majored. Fraser cleared the restart with a free-kick, the ball went for a forward-pocket throw-in but Pendlebury gathered and weaved very skillfully through traffic before snapping truly. A minute later Sharrod Wellingham's gutsy dive to win the ball and handpass allowed Heath Shaw to run clear and slot it home. The Horforn lead was down to 10 points and Bucks was enthusing clearly now instead of mumbling about injured Collywood forwards ("If we had Rocca and Rusling etc."). The Orcs steadied. Mitchell won the next centre-clearance, there was a battle for the ball at the Hawks' CHF before Cameron Stokes collected and handpassed for Franklin to snap it through. The Poi defenders rushed a coupla behinds, the kick-in of the second saw O'Brien stab an 8m pass to Heath Shaw, the ump called play-on and like a rabbit in the headlights, Shaw stood still so Franklin could mow him down and handball to Roughead for the simplest of goals. Mitchell again kicked the Awks into attack from a centre-bounce, Buddy-fearing Pies spoiled each other in the marking contest and roving Roughead lobbed a short pass for backman Stephen Gilham to mark and kick a major. The second goal of Gilham's career had Horforn 30 points ahead again. Hork Campbell Brown was done for 'deliberate' when he tried to rush a point and missed but Leon Davis missed the resulting shot, Rioli postered at the other end. Luke Hodge drove a long kick in and Mark Williams trapped it cleverly before hooking an accurate right-foot snap for full points. Poi Dale Thomas, being pretty quiet again as Malthouse moved him about, produced a shocking effort late in the stanza, the Hawks led by 34 points at the last change. The Maggies gave some cheek in the early final term, after Franklin produced one of them awful, shanked shots at goal. Davis swept up a loose ball and passed for Heath Shaw, leading into the pocket. Shaw threaded it through from the boundary. The Orcs responded, Campbell tapped a throw-in to Dew and he fired a handpass for running Brad Sewell to slot it home. The Pies bagged another goal, Pendlebury won a hard ball and Anthony lobbed a kick to Davis, backpedalling towards the boundary. Neon Leon hooked a great right-foot snap for full points. The Awks had the answer again, Jordan Lewis punted long and Roughead came steaming out to seize an emphatic grab, he thundered it home. Horforn led by 35 points and McAvaney reckoned the Pies had "just about had enough." Franklin and Roughead failed to hammer home the nails by missing set-shots before Lewis held a good grab of Hodge's spearing pass and played-on, Lewis's kick wasn't a good one but Roughead managed to create a contest, the Sherrin spilled and roving Franklin snapped a sausage. Anthony kicked a point for the Poise and the Horks swept downfield from the kick-in, Hodge kicked for Franklin to out-mark Maxwell and wallop it through from 50m, as some Pie ran at him from the left again. Bucks sounded like yer average Pie fan. "Well, Collingwood had a rough patch at this stage last season before losing the preliminary final to the eventual premiers by 5 points," he blathered. McAvaney pointed out the Poise could slip outta the eight this weekend, at which Bucks bridled. Franklin led, marked and missed but his eighth came presently, after marking on-the-lead again to Ladson's pass. Medhurst sliced a free-kick on-the-full after the siren.     

 

Sam Mitchell (35 disposals, 6 marks) was superb in the clearances and as the Awks swept forward Lance Franklin (21 touches, 12 marks, 8.6) was the key beneficiary. Assisting Mitchell were Chance Bateman (23 touches, 8 marks, a goal) early and later-on Luke Hodge (32 handlings, 10 marks), Jordan Lewis (38 disposals, 9 marks) and Xavier Ellis (28 disposals with 21 handballs) were pretty good. Jarryd Roughead (17 disposals, 7 marks, 4 goals) did okay as Buddy's foil too, backman Trent Croad (12 possies) thrashed Cloke and ruckman Robert Campbell was handy. The Poise had a great game from Scott Pendlebury (24 disposals, 8 marks, 2 goals) and Heath Shaw (25 possies, 8 marks, 2 goals) was alright, given a run in the midfield which Malthouse had said he wouldn't do. Scott Burns (27 touches) and Dane Swan (26 possessions) plugged away as usual and the papers reckon defender Nathan Brown was good - he was on Mark Williams. Alan Didak (28 disposals, a goal) saw a bit of the ball. Malthouse said the opposition was too good. "It didn't set it up the way it was intended, the way they got a flier. They cleared it out of the centre so easily and as a consequence it puts so much pressure on you. When you get beaten 21-7 in the middle it's not hard to work out that you are going to get thrashed. I'll say now that Franklin is better than any of our defenders. That's not a slur on Nick Maxwell; he showed enormous courage from the third quarter onwards . . . Whatever he (Franklin) kicked in the last quarter it wasn't through lack of effort from Nick Maxwell . . . Unfortunately at this stage we lack in a lot of areas. People can have a bad day and people can have a bad month, which we are close to having. It doesn't make them any less of a good person, we have some terrific people who are not in good form . . . I'm not going to be surprised one day if Franklin breaks that record for the number of  goals kicked in one game. If it's not him it's Roughead. They kicked 12 goals between them tonight." Clarkson was very happy with his midfield. "They're very similar, the Collingwood and Hawthorn midfields in terms of tough, hard bodies, and we've got a lot of regard for the way the Collingwood midfield go about it," he said. "Swan, Burns, O'Bree and those type of guys, they've just been stellar players for the Pies, and we've got similar guys like that ourselves, with Lewis and Mitchell and Sewell and those types of guys, so we knew it would be a real battle in there. I was pleased - I reckon we might have just got the points in that midfield battle tonight. It was so important, being able to get the ball inside 50 to the tall targets up forward."

 

At the MCG:

Essendon   3.1   9.6   14.8   19.10.124    

Melbourne  2.2   7.3   11.5    17.6.108

 

Essadun were pursued all the way by the battling Demuns but always had the edge. Don fans were excited by Matthew Lloyd's performance, his eight goals garlanded by a superb, classical full-forward's screamer in the third quarter. The Deez try hard and have improved since the early season - they couldn't have got much worse - but Dean Bailey is frustrated by inconsistency of effort. In picking their teams the Bombouts recalled the disciplined Andrew Lovett but lost Scott Lucas (back spasms). Melbun regained Brad Green and Paul Wheatley and recalled Austin Wonaeamirri, the trio replaced Brad Miller (hamstring) while Nathan Jones was a surprising axing along with Matthew Newton.

 

Lloyd was up-and-about early, bagging two goals in the first four minutes. He chest-marked easily ahead of his opponent, third-gamer Stefan Martin, to boot the first. Don ruckman David Hille had a free at the restart and kicked to leading Adam McPhee, he went long and Angus Monfries roved the pack-spillage, handballing for Lloydy to poke it through. But the Deez were competitive all day and hit back soon. Wheatley galloped clear of a throw-in and kicked long to the goal-square where second-gamer Addam Maric clutched a with-the-flight grab and popped it through. Demun Martin had already been switched off Lloyd and onto McPhee, but his first act against his new opponent was to concede a free for holding, from which McPhee goaled. The Dons led by 12 points. Tight for the next ten minutes, the Deez competing strongly in the midfield through ruckman Mark Jamar and Lynden Dunn, tagging Jobe Watson, veterans Bruce and Green contributed. Into time-on and Wheatley punted the Deez forward again, Paddy Ryder's big spoil went straight to Jamar who handballed for Clint Bartram to slot a goal. The Dons led by 5 points at the first break. A lot more goals in the second stanza. Lloyd got another early, McPhee led up to mark Hille's kick and passed quickly to leading Lloyd, who played on and curled it through from the flank. Matthew Warnock was Lloyd's opponent now. A minute later Dee James McDonald marked in the centre and stabbed short to Cale Morton, Don Stanton wouldn't retreat on-the-mark and a 50m penalty gave Morton an easy goal. Coupla Don misses before Demun Cam Bruce's long kick was well-marked by back-pedalling Colin Sylvia, he converted, then Wonaeamirri's smart centering pass allowed Simon Buckley to run inside 50m with a coupla bounces and drill it through - the Dees led by 6 points. The Dons replied, Dee Matthew Bate was tackled strongly by Ryder and Lovett swept up the loosed ball, he raced inside 50 and slammed it home. Ricky Dyson's wobbly kick forward was marked by back-running Monfries, he played-on and hooked it through. Dons by 6 points. Melbun replied as Bate drifted into the pocket to mark Morton's kick, Mal Michael knocked McDonald down off-the-ball and Bate was given a 50m penalty, he couldn't miss. Dons by a point but they enjoyed a good patch now. Damien Peverill hacked a kick forward and Monfries couldn't mark under pressure from Chris Johnson - too much pressure, the ump decided and Monfries free-kicked a sausage. Sam Lonergan's battling handpass allowed Lovett to speed clear and drill another goal, then Lloydy bagged another after playing in front to mark McPhee's hurried kick. The Bommers led by 21 points at this stage. Melbun won the following centre-clearance and managed a late goal, Paul Johnson marked 50m out and dished off to Aaron Davey who thumped it home, just. The Dons led by 15 points at half-time.

 

The Fuchsias closed the gap early in the third. McDonald tumbled a kick forward from the opening bounce and a fortuitous bounce allowed Maric to collect and pass to leading Sylvia, he punted truly. A minute later Paul Johnson got a ride on 'Dustbin' Fletcher, Johnson couldn't take the grab but gathered on the ground and poked it through. Just like that the Bomma lead was back to 3 points. Monfries and Jamar missed shots as the Dons hung tough for a while. Of course Matty Lloyd broke the deadlock. McPhee was the supplier again, he ignored Lloyd's lead and went to the goal-mouth but Ryder's 'directed' spoil dropped perfectly for Lloydy to gather and stab for a major. The Dees pressed on, Bomma galoot Jason Laycock's under-pressure handball at a throw-in went straight to Wonaeamirri and he snapped it through, a minute later leading McPhee spilled a mark and his man Colin Garland gathered and passed to leading Sylvia, who marked and punted another long major. The Demuns were in front again, by 2 points. The Bommers surged though, with the last four goals of the korter. Stanton lobbed a hopeful kick into CHF and Kyle Reimers probably would've taken a mark at the second grab, but team-mate Jarrod Atkinson pinched the ball and spurted clear to slot a goal. A minute later running Lovett lobbed a hospital handball for Monfries to collect, but Green's overzealous tackle ploughed the Bomma into the turf and Monfries free-kicked a major. Some fierce goal-mouth tackling from Lovett and Laycock allowed Reimers to poach a goal and then came Lloydy's moment. Peverill drove the kick long and Lloyd got a huge, hovering ride on team-mate Lonergan, mainly, to pluck a superlative grab. There were three other players down there to give the photo 'depth'. It was 10m out right on front, Lloydy popped it through - just - and the Dons'd cleared out to a 21-point lead at the final change. Early in the last Bummer Henry Slattery ran onto Dee Martin's 'long' spoil and slotted a goal, the Dons were a comfortable 27 points ahead now. But the Dees weren't done-with. Green goaled after great play from Sylvia to create Green's with-the-flight grab, McPhee answered quickly for the Bommers with an accurate left-footed snap from a throw-in. Dee ruckman Jamar won a softish free at a throw-in for high contact and he booted a goal, then Green marked Bruce's kick on a tough angle and stabbed an inboard pass to Morton, who sausage-rolled. Bomma Jay Nash's too-cute kick to Fletcher allowed Morton to intercept, after a scrap Jamar fired a handpass out to Morton who dummied around Nash and slotted another goal. Three unanswered majors from the Deez and they'd cut the deficit to 9 points. Time for more Lloyd, assisted by Demun Sylvia. The Melbun man held a saving mark deep in defence but then belted a bizarre rain-making kick across the ground, perhaps meant for Warnock but marked by Lloyd. The Essadun captain thundered a goal from 55m. A coupla minutes later Bate drilled an easy goal, set up by a great roving handpass from Wonaeamirri and Melbern were just 9 points behind again. But time was runnin' out. Bomma Lonergan roved McPhee's contest, drew a man and handballed for a Leroy Jetta tap-through, then Atkinson kicked long and Lloyd marked strongly in front of Warnock on the 50m line. Lloydy walloped home his eighth and the Dons led 22 points at the 28-minute mark of the korter. Maric booted a consolation goal for the Deze.

 

Matthew Lloyd (15 disposals, 8 marks, 8.1) is well-and-truly recovered from his early-season travails. Damien Peverill (30 disposals) battled midfield as Watson and Stanton struggled, Angus Monfries (16 touches, 7 marks, 3 goals) was a decent small forward again and there was good defending from Henry Slattery (11 handlings, a goal) and Paddy Ryder (14 possies, 9 marks). Adam McPhee (18 disposals, 8 marks, 2 goals) played very well as a CHF and Nathan Lovett-Murray (28 handlings, 11 marks) wasn't bad. Andrew Lovett bagged 2 goals. Dee junior Cale Morton (26 disposals, 7 marks, 3 goals) is a very promising type and Colin Sylvia (21 kicks, 11 marks, 3 goals) worked very hard in attack, shame about his late clanger. Of the old blokes James 'Junior' McDonald (23 possies) and Cam Bruce (28 possessions, 10 marks) did well and Lynden Dunn (12 touches, 6 marks) tagged Watson very effectively. Mark Jamar (12 disposals, 24 hit-outs, a goal) combated Hille, forward Matthew Bate (23 possies, 10 marks, 2 goals) and defender Colin Garland were decent. Addam Maric kicked 2 goals. "We had our chances - we got close a couple of times, we fought back a couple of times, which was good in a young group," Bailey said. "But when you get the chance, after you've worked hard to get yourself back into the game and the scoreboard's pretty close, that's when it's game on. That's when you've got to actually continue on. You can't just relax for even a second or two, because good teams - and all teams - will score against you. Once we get into that situation where the scoreboard is telling us we're in it, we need to fight really hard after that, so that we can kick the next goal and the next goal. We shouldn't be happy with kicking two, but we need to make sure we keep that pressure on . . . The game is about decision-making, and the greatest test comes when the game's in the balance. The decision-making you make, when one - there's pressure on, and two - it's a close game. The good teams make the good decisions that make the game look a lot easier than it is." Matty Knights said "It was a tough game. When we spoke during the week about Melbourne, we were endearing (?) to the players to learn about some of these Melbourne players that are high-quality players. When you see Cameron Bruce and Davey, Sylvia, young Buckley, I knew when we came in today it was going to be tough. It was that way. At times, I thought our ball movement was a bit stagnant and we didn't have much flow. Melbourne tend to push back really hard and clog you up, and they did that effectively. Thankfully, we had the big fella up front in our skipper (Lloyd) who had a day out, from a marking and a goal-kicking perspective. I thought up the other end that Henry Slattery was nearly as effective in the role he played. He stopped a lot of attacks by Melbourne." He was asked about finals. "I'm not sure if it will be 11 or 12 [wins]. It's hard to look five weeks ahead and a total of 25 to 30 games that might have an impact." The Dons face the Eagles in Perth, then the Camrys, Dogs and Saints, all at Docklands. They've no chance.    

 

At Football Park:

Adelaide  1.7   6.11   12.14   13.16.94

Carlton   4.4   7.6     9.8    12.14.86

 

Tough win for the depleted Camrys, seeing off another Bluie last-quarter surge. Well, more of a brief spurt than a surge. The Blooze tired quickly and used the ball awfully towards the end, so did the locals as it became a war of attrition. Addelaid made fewer mistakes in the end and managed to exploit the Blooze weaker defence. In selection the Camrys made one change, Kris Massie in for tall man Kurt Tippett. Good to hear Toyota have signed up to sponsor the Camrys for another three years. The Blues called up Dennis Armfield, dropping Adam Hartlett. Brendan Fevola finally re-signed for 3 years last week, ending his contract saga.  

 

Unlike the Bulldogs last week, the Camrys did tag the key Blues. Michael Doughty was on Nick Stevens and tagger-in-chief Robert Shirley took Chris Judd. The game itself was tough and littered with pressure-induced mistakes, the spongy, damp surface contributing. Of the Camrys' stack of early behinds, many were rushed by Bluie defenders, keen to advance from kick-ins. From just such a move the Bluesers scored the opening goal, a steady progression culminating in Andrew Walker's pass to Jordan Russell, he slipped a handpass for running Heath Scotland to boot truly. Russell and Scotland also had a hand in the next major, Shaun Grigg passed for leading Brad Fisher to mark and convert. The Bloozers led by 10 points. Nick Gill missed a shot for the Cows and Tyson Edwards postered, the Blues missed a couple before the Cows managed a goal. Scott Thompson used a 50m penalty to find Shirley marking unopposed 50m out, Shirley played-on and thumped a long one. Blues by 4 points. Fevola and Fisher missed long shots and the Blues rushed a couple more points for the Cows, the second due to a messed-up kick-in of the first. But Fevola came to the party with two late goals. The first originated with a free-kick to Judd, slung after a handpass by Doughty. Judd drove his free-kick in and Fevola juggled a grab as McLeod's attempted spoil missed the ball and knocked Ben Rutten out of the way. Fev converted. A bit later Camry Thompson dropped a with-the-flight marking attempt and Bloo Thornton swept up the ball, he kicked for leading Fevola to mark just inside the boundary. Fev walloped it through from 55m after the siren, reminiscent of his game-winner at Foopall Park in 2004. Carton led by 15 points at the first break. Thornton rushed yet another behind for the Corollas to start the second term, but a bit later Bernie Vince collected a throw-in and passed to leading Jason Porplyzia, who clutched a decent grab and majored. Bloo ruckman Cam Cloke had a free at the restart and sent the ball wide to Scotland, he kicked long and the whistle blew for a free to Fevola - Rutten had cupped him gently under the chin in the marking contest. Fev's third had the Bluies 14 points up. The Cows were blowing it going forward, producing long kicks to unopposed Bloo backmen with amazing regularity. The ump gave 'em a hand when Goodwin's long punt was apparently marked by Thornton, but Camry David Mackay was allowed to pull the ball from Thornton's grasp and boot a goal. Then came a big moment, Adderlayed's Nathan Bock (playing at CHF here) marked 60m out and as Porplyzia tried to run into space ahead he was pushed by Thornton, into on-coming Stephen Browne. Porplyzia fell heavily from the seemingly innocuous collision, he was unconscious and had also re-dislocated his wonky shoulder. Some handbags ensued as the stretcher came out and when the game re-commenced, the Crowns fired-up. Andrew McLeod picked out leading Ivan Maric with a pass, he majored. A minute later Bock battled hard to paddle the ball forward, it went through Andrew Walker's legs and Goodwin handpassed for Gill to snap a goal, giving the Camrys a 3-point lead. The Blues responded, Scotland punted long from a throw-in and Fevola bullocked Rutten aside, no mean feat, to mark and boot another. A bit later Fevola marked 70m out and played-on, but collided with the umpire and lost the ball. Brad Symes missed appallingly for the Cows before they reclaimed the lead, the umps again prominent. Bloo defender Michael Jamison was done for 'travelling', McLeod passed the free wide to leading Bock who won a free for gentle nudge in the back from Thornton. He kicked long where Bluie Shaun Grigg was punished for an even softer touch on-the-back of Brad Moran, Moran majored. The Blues went ahead again prior to half-time. Simon Wiggins marked 50m out and thumped it home, Carlton led by a point at the break.

 

When the second half commenced the Camrys were down to 20 men, Chris Knights (hamstring) joined the concussed Porplyzia. Carton had also lost a man, Eddie Betts with a hamstring. The Blooze extended their lead early, lanky Mark Austin drove a long kick over leading Fevola's head but Cloke, lurking behind, marked and goaled. But most of the stanza belonged to the Cows, who ran furiously midfield and found a forward target in Brad Moran. Thompson, forced backwards, centered a pass to Maric, he passed for leading Moran to mark and squeeze it through. An acrobatic snap from Vince hit the post, which leveled the scores. Bock's tough effort to win the ball created the next chance, Vince roved Scott Stevens's contest and kicked long, Moran nudged Thornton under the pill to take a goal-square mark and pop it through. Bluie backman Waite hacked a kick clear under pressure, it went straight to Shirley on the 50m line who was allowed to play-on and drive it between the big sticks. Soon Massie's strong defensive grab initiated a quick rebound, Thompson punted long again and Stevens's smart tap-back allowed Maric to snap a major. Four straight goals for the Cressidas had 'em 19 points ahead. The Bluebaggers had a break at the restart, Camry Doughty penalized for a throw.  A long kick went inevitably towards Fevola, he couldn't mark but got a handpass away to Cloke, his handball set up an excellent running banana-goal, sorry, checkside goal for Walker. The locals continued to dominate though, Nathan Van Berlo missed a sitter but a moment later Blue Nick Stevens clangered a handpass straight to Vince, he handballed to McLeod and another to Edwards saw the Camry veteran boot a long sausage. Moran led for a strong grab in front of Thornton and the big man booted his third goal of the korter. The Camrys led by 26 points, reduced to 24 points at the final change by a coupla rushed Bluie behinds. TV folk anticipated another Judd-inspired last-quarter effort from Carton, even though Juddy'd been visibly frustrated by Shirley and Doughty's close-checking. It was a while in coming, Corollas Thompson and Douglas missed early final-stanza shots before Edwards bagged a goal for the locals, running onto Thompson's lobbed handpass. Addleaide led by a healthy 32 points. A minute later Waite's smart cross-field pass picked out Browne's lead, to booing from the locals (re Porplyzia). Browne lobbed a strange kick into space but Simpson gathered and slotted a goal. Now Judd stepped up. He won the following centre-clearance, with assistance from Gibbs and Murphy. The ball went to Nick Stevens, pass to leading Fevola, mark and 50m goal. Judd tumbled a kick forward from the next centre-bounce, Simpson gathered and handballed to running Stevens who drilled it through. Three quick goals for the Bloozers and they trailed by 14 points. But that was the extent of it, due mostly to subsequent inaccuracy. Murphy won the next centre-break but Scotland's running shot faded wide for a point. Kreuzer and Scotland again proceeded to kick behinds and Fevola kicked into the man on-the-mark when winding up for a shot from 55m. Gibbs capped off a two-bounce run with a long, straight shot but Rutten got a hand to it in the goal-square. Tiredness now became a factor as the Bluies' desperation led to several turnovers. The Camrys had stopped completely, but they led by enough. Gill sliced a shot on-the-full before Bloo junior Armfield kicked a behind to end the game.          

 

Huge midfield efforts from Nathan Van Berlo (40 disposals) and Tyson Edwards (22 touches, 2 goals) led the way for the Camrys, with the negating effort of Robert 'Don't Call Me' Shirley (10 possies, 2 goals) on Judd important, Michael Doughty (24 handlings, 7 marks) on Stevens was also useful. As was Brad Moran (17 possessions, 7 marks, 4 goals). Andrew McLeod (22 possessions) was pretty good too and Kris Massie (24 handlings, 13 marks) did well in defence, replacing Nathan Bock's role. Ivan Maric had 29 hit-outs and booted 2 handy goals. For the Bluesers Heath Scotland (27 disposals, a goal) saw a stack of the ball in space and Nick Stevens (32 touches, 9 marks, a goal) worked hard in tight. Jarrad Waite (21 touches, 7 marks) played well down back, Andrew Carrazzo (33 possessions, 10 marks) got a lot of the ball, maybe didn't do a lot with it. Brendan Fevola (14 disposals, 4 marks, 5 goals) showed his skills, but the Blues perhaps do look for him too much. Andrew Walker (25 touches, 7 marks, a goal) and Bryce Gibbs (21 handlings) weren't bad. Brett Ratten was unhappy with his lads' sloppy ball-use. "It's very frustrating," Ratten said. "Probably the most frustrated I've been all season on a performance. I thought we had enough of the ball to hurt Adelaide and we gave it back and we paid the price. I think we over-finessed the footy. In slippery conditions underfoot, we turned the ball over when we were in control and Adelaide swept on our mistakes. Everything we touched we pretty much destroyed though parts of the game. Our kicking - we had 72 clanger ineffective kicks. That's just enormous. To be as close as we did it's not a bad effort, considering. But you can't win AFL games of footy kicking the football like we did today." Neil Craig placed it in context. "To be able to get that win against a side that jumped us early and to have to play with 20-odd players for a half of football, on top of the premiership table situation, it was an enormous win. And it will hold us in good stead, not only this year, but for the future of this playing group. I just thought it was a fantastic win for our playing group with the two guys that went down both being key players for us in the last couple of weeks. To battle on like we had to in the second half, and even when Carlton came at us in the last quarter, I thought our guys still held their nerve and continued to attack . . . That five-week losing streak earlier this season tested everyone. I'm just really proud of how the playing group have gone about the business and kept really strong in the mind. I'm sure our supporters would be really proud of the playing group at the moment with the way they're going about their work. We're not the best team in the competition, we understand that, but our supporters would be driving home with a smile on their puss."

 

At Docklands:

Geelong   2.6   8.8   15.13   20.14.134

Richmond  2.2   4.6    6.9    10.11.71 

 

A good side - the best - easily thumping a mediocre - developing - one. The Tiges tried hard enough but their ball-use was terrible, thrown into sharp relief by the Catters' possession-heavy Sherrin ballet. Even the umps were in awe, helping the Pu55ies out with lots of soft frees. 'Cause they need it. The Cat side here welcomed Cameron Ling back from his broken cheekbone and Darren Milburn from 'flu or whatever, they replaced Paul Chapman (hamstring) and the dropped David Johnson. Still no Gary Ablett, with the Cats being vague regarding his ankle injury and defensive/aggressive in response to questions about it. Matthew Scarlett played his 200^th game for the Cats, a great effort, and Cameron Mooney his 150^th AFL game - 19 for North. The Toigs had Nathan Brown ('flu or whatever) withdraw, in came Jake King.

 

The Tiges again instituted a Horforn-like zone and did okay in the opening ten minutes. Joel 'Hero' Bowden started at full-forward but managed to miss two set-shots, bah. But the Tiges did score the first two goals, Cat Milburn's stabbed pass from a kick-in was intercepted by Mitch Morton, he converted. Some skill and luck a minute later allowed Shane Edwards to find Matty Richardson in space, he lobbed a kick forward for Jack Riewoldt to mark and convert. The Tiges led by 13 points. But the Cats soon got moving. Handily for the Tigers, Jahlong couldn't kick straight with Stokes, Mooney, Steve Johnson and Bartel all missing very gettable shots. It was time-on before they finally bagged a goal, James Kelly roving a ball-up and snapping it through. They got another after the quarter-time siren, Tom Lonergan converting a free-kick for Will Thursfield's arm-chopping. The Pu55ies led by 4 points. The game assumed a more predictable pattern thereon. The Katz extended their lead quickly in the second, Mathew Stokes free-kicked an early goal, roving his own contest and being coat-hangered by Nathan Foley. A minute later Thursfield's clearing kick drifted on-the-full and Cat Corey Enright took the free quickly, finding Stokes alone who could play-on and steer it through. Tige Richardson ploughed his knee into the turf on an awkward landing and limped off, he returned later but didn't appear 100%. Toiga King was caught in possession and the Cats attacked from the free, Joel Selwood, Stokes and Mooney combined in a slick move to set up a mark and goal for Ryan Gamble. The Cats led by 22 points, the under-pressure Tige defenders rushed a coupla behinds for them. Richmun were committing some terrible disposal decisions, moreso than skill errors. It's what they call 'referred pressure', hurried, poor efforts due to the idea you're about to be tackled, even if you're not. A pure lack of confidence, and leadership. King missed poorly with a lucky free-kick for the Tiggers, but the Cats messed-up on the kick-in and some Tigga handballs ended with Matt White booting a goal. A minute later some tough Richmun tackling won possession and Edwards's switching kick found Jay Schulz in space, he passed for leading Bowden to mark and convert, at last. The Cat lead was back to 11 points. The Tiges hung tough for a few minutes until Bartel kicked long and Mooney marked behind his man for a straightforward conversion. The chance came from a soft free to Enright and Tige fans were a little frustrated at this point, frees running 87-2 Geelong's way, or something like that. The Tiges were their worst enemies though, Daniel Jackson and Thursfield blew attacking chances with some awful clangers and Edwards missed a pretty easy shot. From the resulting kick-in the Pu55ies swept afield, Lonergan led up for a mark on the 50m line and dished off a handpass for Bartel to wallop a terrific goal off a coupla steps. Schulz missed a shot for the Toigs and again the Katz attacked, waltzing down the field under no pressure at all until Andrew Mackie marked Johnson's pass. Mackie stabbed a short one for Bartel to mark and convert after the siren, at which point the Pu55ies led by 26 points.

 

The Tiges drew close-ish with the first goal of the third, White led to mark Brett Deledio's pass and was slung to the ground by Enright, adding a 50m penalty to the ironical cheers of Tigger fans. White majored and the Cats led by 20 points. For all the complaints (mostly meedya-driven) of the violence employed by Port and Fremantle against Geelong, the Cats themselves aren't averse to light thuggery, usually manifesting as late bumps or slam-tackles after the ball's been disposed-of. The Pu55ies put a gap in 'em now, Tige Riewoldt's hanging centering kick was picked off by Brad 'The Traitor' Ottens, Ling and Varcoe combined to set up a mark and goal for Mackie. Richo postered with a tight-angle shot and Tige junior Trent Cotchin also missed a running chance, the Cats again swept downfield from the kick-in and Mackie marked in acres of space, he jogged in and slotted. Max Rooke marked 60m out and handballed to running Selwood, his punt was marked too easily by Lonergan in the goal-square and he converted. Selwood cleared the restart and again found Lonergan on-the-lead, an accurate shot was touched through. Milburn slam-tackled Tige junior Edwards into the turf, well after the ball was gone. The ump allowed play to proceed and Kelly kicked cross-field for leading Mooney to mark and convert. The Cats led by 43 points now. White had a free at the next centre-bounce and lobbed a punt for charging Richardson to seize a great grab amongst three Cats and boot a very good sausage. Momentary respite for the Tiges, Varcoe did very well to win the ball for the Cats and Tom Harley passed to Stokes, he handballed for Selwood to bag a running major. A Cotchin clanger gave the Pu55ies another chance and Mooney lobbed a kick for Rooke to hold a good with-the-flight grab, the Rookester goaled. Late in the stanza Brent Prismall centered a pass to Lonergan, he jabbed a short one for Milburn to mark and convert. The Catters led by 58 points at the last change. Early in the last the Tiges chipped some 'safe' short passes about until Bowden marked 30m out, and sliced on-the-full. Any Lyin' supporters watching would've been choking on their own livers. A minute later Bowden had a free-kick on the tightest of angles and threaded it through. It's always the way. The Catters responded, Steve Johnson using a free-kick advantage to handpass for running Ling to collect and punt truly. The Tiges had a good few minutes, Richardson converted from another big pack-mark, allowed a run at it. Richardson and Riewoldt missed with snaps before Richardson again slotted a tight-angle goal with a dubious free-kick. The Tiges managed a decent move from a kick-in and Morton punted long, Schulz was allowed an easy goal-square chest-mark. 'Sarge's major had the Cat lead down to 39 points. They kicked into gear again, Lonergan goaled from a free-kick and a minute later Steve Johnson did likewise, ducking into a tackle and winning the free for high contact. Gamble booted the last two goals of the night, the first from Ling's pass, the next a mongrelled kick on-the-run which bounced through.

 

Plenty of good players for the Cats but ball-winners Jimmy Bartel (32 disposals, 7 marks, 2 goals) and Joel Selwood (32 touches, a goal) stood out. Joel Corey (31 possessions) continued his fine form and Cameron Ling (22 handlings, a goal) not only made a successful comeback but curbed speedy Foley. Darren 'Dasher' Milburn (24 handlings, 10 marks, a goal) and small forward Mathew Stokes (24 possies, 7 marks, 2 goals) were handy again and Tom Harley (22 disposals, 10 marks) played well in defence. As usual the goals were shared about, Tom Lonergan and Ryan Gamble kicked 3 each while Andrew Mackie and Cameron Mooney booted 2 each. The Tiges' best was probably Brett Deledio (25 disposals, 10 marks) with Chris Newman (23 touches) doing a decent job on Steve Johnson, assisted by the Geelong man's inaccuracy (1.3). Matthew Richardson (12 touches, 7 marks, 3 goals) competed strongly again and Shane Tuck (31 possessions) won a fair amount of the ball, Richard Tambling (24 disposals, 6 marks) was alright. Matt White and Joel Bowden kicked 2 goals each. 'Plough' Wallace summed it up. "Thirteen goals to six from turnovers - that's a massive difference between the two sides. We've still got a way to go and we know that and understand that, but also if you have a look at other sides - good sides in the competition - they've beaten Adelaide in Adelaide by 68 points and the Bulldogs two weeks ago down at Geelong by 61 points. They're a very good side. We're not to where they are, but I think we're around the same mark as where they've beaten other sides by. I would think the Geelong footy club is getting more competitive games against Richmond now than in the past. I still think that says we're going in the right direction, but clearly we've still got some things to clean up if you want to be the best." 'Bomber' Thompson said "It was a slow start, but we did a fair bit right and it was a really competitive game and a good result; 63 points is a pretty good margin to win that game by in the end. We just never got carried away with ourselves at any stage. We had a reasonable lead for most of the night, apart from the first quarter, and you'd have to say that we just kept chipping away at it. [We] kept putting as much time into our defensive side as we did into our attacking side; that was probably the most pleasing thing." The Cats have a pretty easy run home and boredom would be their biggest threat prior to the finals, you'd think.   

 

At Carrara:

North Melbourne  5.6   6.9   10.10   13.14.92

Brisbane         3.3   8.7   10.13   11.18.84

 

The slings and arrows. Brisbun blew it again and there cannot be a side in the AFL worse at missing shots for goal. It's the sort of thing stats say balances over time, but the Lyin's seem to consistently kick a lot more points than goals. Norf are good at winning the tight ones and this 'farewell to the Gold Coast' victory put 'em in position to challenge for the top four and the doubtful honour of being thrashed by Geelong in the first week of the finals. Just like last year. North made two changes to the side which beat Melbun, Leigh Brown replaced junior ruckman Todd Goldstein and captain Adam Simpson (hip injury) was a late withdrawal, replaced by 'forgotten' Jess Sinclair. Quite a few changes for the Lyin's, regular Tim Notting was dropped following the loss to the Tigers, his form has fallen away recently, Rob Copeland and juniors Cheynee Stiller and Tom Collier were also axed. Rhan Hooper and Albert Proud were recalled along with Irishman Colm Begley and debutant Scott Clouston, a 21-year-old from Brisbane club Morningside.

 

Very quick start by the Ruse, with Brent Harvey going very well along with Brady Rawlings, who particularly enjoys the Carrara ground. Big David Hale was handy too. Folks assumed Leigh Brown had been selected to play in defence and combat Lyin' pair Jonathan Brown and Daniel Bradshaw, who'd booted six goals each when the Brians thumped the Ruse at the Gabba a coupla months ago. But the Norf Brown started in attack and kicked the first goal, Corey Jones recovered a Lyin' kick-in and Gavin Urquhart punted long, Brown clutched a decent grab and slotted. The Brisbun Brown missed his first shot. A bit later Harvey's centering pass picked out Hale and the Roo man marked and thumped a long goal, the Kangers led by 11 points. Bradshaw booted the Lyin's first goal, a free-kick in the goal-square against grappling Josh Gibson. But the Ruse went on, Scott McMahon drove a long kick towards Hale, Lyin' full-back Daniel Merrett effected a big spoil but roving Daniel Pratt swept up the loose ball and slotted a rare goal. The unlikely combination of ruckman Leigh Brown and rover Michael Firrito won the following centre-clearance and Harvey stabbed a pass for leading Hale to mark and goal again. Harvey missed a couple of shots before Hale booted his third goal, following a big pack-grab in the goal-square. A Drew Petrie miss had the Kangers 28 points ahead. Brisbun scored some handy late majors, typically Jonathan Brown marked 50m out and kicked quickly for Bradshaw to out-mark Gibson, Bradshaw converted. Anthony Corrie majored after marking Travis Johnstone's pass and the Lyin's'd reduced their deficit to 15 points at the first break. Leigh Brown booted the opening goal of the second from a downfield free-kick, Leigh Harding pushed over after punting. But now the Brisbun Brown fired-up. Michael Rischitelli, who also had a big second quarter, won a free at the next centre-bounce and kicked for Jonathan Brown to out-mark his man Shannon Watt and boot truly. Five minutes later Corrie worked well to get the pill to Simon Black, his long punt cleared Brown and Watt but Hooper gathered and handballed for running Brown to pop it through. Jared Brennan intercepted Firrito's clearing kick and did well to find Jon Brown on the lead for a third goal, reducing the Kanger lead to 2 points. A tight few minutes with a few behinds before Jonathan Brown emerged again, accepting hard-running Bradd Dalziell's pass and slotting his fourth straight major. The Lyin's led by 3 points and a moment later Bradshaw got in on the act, converting after a strong grab 40m out. Brisbun led by 10 points at half-time.  

 

Lyin's Johnstone and Power missed shots early in the third stanza. North advanced from the kick-in of the latter with a steady series of short foot-passes, until Corey Jones marked 60m out and stabbed another to Josh Gibson, hurting Bradshaw 'the other way'. Gibson goaled. Matt Campbell ran down Jed Adcock and won a free for 'bawl', he converted and scores were level. Tight few minutes until Rue Lindsay Thomas lobbed a cross-ground handpass to find Sam Power, he jabbed a kick to unopposed Lachie Hansen for a mark and major. Hooper kicked a point for the Lyin's and Gibson ran the ball out for the Kangers, Hale won the Sherrin on a forward-flank and Blake Grima passed for Campbell to mark and convert. Four unanswered goals from the Ruse and they led by 11 points. Jonathan Brown and Bradshaw came to the party again, but they both missed set-shots before Brown seized a decent grab of Rischitelli's long punt and slotted a goal. Mitch Clark won a ball-up and Black handballed to Rischitelli, he kicked quickly and Bradshaw marked on a tight angle, he majored and Brisbun led again at the final change, by 3 points. Bradshaw booted the opening goal of the ultimate stanza too, Rischitelli involved again as his wobbly punt was collected by Brown, whose poor left-foot snap went very high and across the goals but Bradshaw marked under decent pressure from Watt and Firrito. Bradshaw converted. The next fifteen minutes were tense and goal-less, although Lyin's Black and Drummond kicked behinds along with Roo Hale and a few rushed. Just prior to time-on Brennan was kicking-in from a Norf behind, he stabbed a 20m pass to Drummond. Bizarrely, the ump called play-on - not 15 - and Drummond was beset by North forwards, the Norf Melbun Power, Sam, scooped up the ball and bagged a goal, reducing the Lyin' lead to 3 points again. Travis Johnstone waltzed forward for the Lyin's, ignored options and had a shot - he missed. The Ruse attacked from the kick-in and Rawlings's punt found Hansen marking noicely with-the-flight, 45m out. The put-upon Roo junior thumped a long sausage and the Kangaz led, by 2 points. Petrie and Hansen combined to clear a secondary ball-up and Watt kicked towards McMahon, who drifted across to mark in front of Campbell and Ash McGrath. McMahon goaled and the Ruse led by 8 points, they hung on.    

 

The Ruse most consistent players on the night were running men Daniel Wells (31 disposals) and Daniel Harris (22 handlings, 7 marks), Wells collapsing early with a seemingly terrible knee injury, as he does most weeks. He also got nasty cut on the face, though. Honest running defender Gavin Urquhart (22 possessions) was good again, other Ruse played in bursts. David Hale (6 marks, 10 disposals, 3 goals) was great early as was Brady Rawlings (21 handlings, 7 marks), Drew Petrie (15 touches, 17 hit-outs) gave another sterling ruck effort and backman Daniel Pratt (13 touches, 5 marks, a goal) was good. Norf folks were relieved to see no. 3 draft pick Lachie Hansen (13 touches, 5 marks, 2 goals) actually do something. Leigh Brown and Matt Campbell kicked 2 goals each. Lyin' midfielders Michael Rischitelli (30 disposals, 7 marks) and Bradd Dalziell (34 possessions, 8 marks) were very good, the papers are saying it's hard to believe Dalziell was overlooked in about three drafts. On my limited viewing he is a bit of a receiver, though. Twin towers Jonathan Brown (13 touches, 7 marks, 5 goals) and Daniel Bradshaw (9 kicks, 8 marks, 5 goals) did their jobs again and there were decent midfield games from Albert Proud (21 disposals) and Jared Brennan (26 touches, 9 marks), Justin Sherman (22 possessions with 16 handballs) closed down Harvey after quarter-time. Lethal Leigh contemplated the meaning of déjà vu. Or as the AwFuL website has it, 'de javu'. "I thought déjà vu was a movie but unfortunately it's becoming real life for us," Matthews said. "We played well enough, got the lead, missed a lot of shots and instead of having a big lead, we had a little one. You lose in the end because you didn't play the last five minutes well enough. You miss shots when you are going okay, then allow the opposition to kick the last few goals of the game . . . It's funny, given what happened last week, we actually had a bit of a class this week on what to do in certain circumstances. We're going to be gutted this weekend because that's how it works. But next week you start again - different opposition, different venue and the scoreboard starts again at nil-nil. Certainly the emotional response from today is very disappointing for all of us. When you are playing well and not winning it's particularly galling and when you are beaten in close games after being in front late in the last quarter, well that's maximum galling." Leigh brushed off comments from Robert Walls, who lumped Matthews in with Malthouse as blokes too old to cut it. But the Lyin's, out of the eight now, have a tough run ahead against the Hawks, Bulldogs, Carlton and Sydney. Dean Laidley was pretty happy. "I thought we played some very, very good footy tonight," Laidley said. "I was very pleased with the contribution right across the board. We won the contested ball, penetrated the game like we wanted to, we shared the workload, had some terrific individual efforts and I thought we deserved to win and that's not taking anything away from Brisbane. I thought it was outstanding." Top four, Deano? "I reckon when we've won enough games to finish in the eight we'll start thinking about the top four," he said. "You can't think about top four until you're in September or you might find yourselves on holiday. That's the reality of it, it's that close, everyone plays each other. We've got another tough gig next week with the Bulldogs so it'll be on for young and old, and then we play Carlton, so (if) you take your eye off the ball for one minute, and that's not just us, that's every team in the competition, you get caught with your pants down."

 

At Manuka Oval:

Footscray  3.2   11.4   13.7    17.11.113  

Sydney     5.3    6.6    9.11   14.13.97

 

The Bulldogs arrested a brief slide with this workman-like victory over the struggling Swans, Siddey coach Roos tried not to blame the injuries but couldn't avoid pointing them out. If you believe Mike Sheahan, well firstly you're in a very small club, but secondly you might note sagely the Bullies' winning just one of the quarters here. In the world of old Mike, that is a worrying statistic. The Bullies made one change to the side overrun by Carlton, Stephen Tiller recalled to replace Dylan Addison, who'll miss up to 12 months with a knee reco. The Swans made five changes to the team beaten by the Camrys. As intimated by Roos, Adam Goodes (groin) was left out while Henry Playfair (hamstring) and Jarred Moore ('leg') were also forced omissions, Matt O'Dwyer and Ben Mathews were dropped. In came forgotten men Luke Brennan and Jared Crouch, junior big man Jesse White and two first-gamers, flanker-types Patrick Veszpremi from St. Mary's Bundoora and Ryan Brabazon, originally from Claremont but in his third season with the Swans. Veszpremi's the strongest-looking 18-year-old you've seen.

 

Typically fine but nippy winter's day in Canberra. The ground was dry and very hard, leading to many players slipping over, Swans especially. It didn't worry the Bloods early though, with a terrific opening burst. 'Spida' Everitt had a free at the opening bounce, it led to another ball-up 30m out and Jarrad McVeigh roved it to bag a goal. At the restart the Swans bundled the ball forward, Doggy Ryan Griffen gathered but handballed while tackled and McVeigh scooped up the pill, ran clear and booted another. Ryan O'Keefe hacked a kick forward from the next centre-bounce, Barry Hall tapped-on for Luke Brennan to gather and boot a third Siddey sausage. And a minute later Luke Ablett's very good handpass released McVeigh again, his tumbling shot dropped for Ted Richards to mark and convert. Six minutes in and the Swans led by 24 points, Footyscray barely having recorded a stat. But the Dogs steadied. Adam Cooney did well to win the ball and kick towards Mitch Hahn, who nudged his man under, turned, gathered and kicked long. Brad Johnson marked strongly under pressure from Craig Bolton and majored. A minute later Swan Richards, swapping manically between the forward- and backlines, dropped a mark and roving Bully Daniel Cross got a handball away, Ryan Hargrave booted a running major. The Swans by 12 points. Hall missed his first shot and we laughed at Crouch, whose first touch was a handpass out-of-bounds and second a soccer-kick out-of-bounds ('deliberate'). The Dogs were attacking when an eccentric bounce took the ball away from Rob Murphy and into the arms of Paul Bevan, he passed for Kieran Jack to mark on the 50m line and boot a long sausage. Must've had a breeze. The Swans led by 19 points. Young Veszpremi missed his first shot and the Dogs attacked from the kick-in, Johnson nudged Craig Bolton under the ball, gathered, swapped handballs with Lindsay Gilbee and delivered a pass to leading Daniel Giansiracusa. 'Guido' majored. A good Swan move ended with Richards marking 15m out, playing on and slamming a low kick into the post. The Swans led by 13 points at korter-time. At the break Doggy coach Eade reserved big sprays for Cooney (McVeigh's opponent) and Griffen. He also put a man behind the ball for the second stanza, a damage-limitation exercise which proved a good attacking move. Early on Johnson did well, tapping ahead continually with Bolton on his hammer, until Scott Welsh arrived to soccer a major. A minute later Siddey junior Ryan Brabazon marked behind the centre and, disoriented by hovering Matthew Boyd, handballed straight to the Bulldog man. Boyd sped clear and booted a goal. Richards postered again for the Swans, as you may gather mistakes were costly for 'em. Will Minson forced the ball clear of a pack and Gilbee's kick found Johnson alone, he converted and the Bullies led, by 3 points. Minson got a big fist to the following centre-bounce, Jarrod Harbrow gathered, weaved and speared a pass to leading Welsh, he marked and goaled. Harbrow set up another chance for Welsh, he missed as did Akermanis with a rare touch. Aker spent most of this one in a back-pocket and was pretty quiet again. Must be carrying something. But the Pups were going well now, Welsh goaled thanks to a softish hand-in-the-back free against Richards. An umpire (Nicholls) was flattened in a collision with Craig Bolton, in the ensuing confusion Crouch hacked a clearing kick straight to Gilbee, the ball went back in long and Josh Hill leaped to take a big pack-mark, he handballed for Johnson to tap-through. The Bulldogs led by 22 points now. Cooney goaled next, a free for being held down in marking contest by C. Bolton. Veszpremi led for a mark but his telegraphed pass was picked off by Brian Lake, the ball went to Harbrow who ran in and kicked a point. But Ablett slipped over on the kick-in and his kick went straight to Harbrow, who goaled this time. The Dogs led by 34 points, with 8 unanswered goals in the korter. The Swans managed a late major after Bulldog Johnson was penalized for a throw. Brett 'Captain' Kirk roved Richards's contest and lobbed a kick goal-wards, Hall marked by the point-post, played-on and hooked it through. Dogs by 28 points at half-time.

 

Some fairly ragged footy opened the second half, with the Swans putting in a big, competitive effort. But their ball-use was ordinary. In the opening ten-odd minutes McVeigh, Veszpremi, Hall and Brennan each missed set-shots (as did Hill for the Dogs). Brennan's came after a great leap and pack-mark. Sure enough the Bullies punished 'em, Griffen finessed smartly and kicked long, over the pack and roving Hill stabbed it through. McVeigh won the following centre-clearance for the Swans and kicked long, Hall bullocked Dale Morris aside to mark and punt truly at last. Jack got a quick punt away from the next centre-bounce, Richards marked and fired a slick handball for running McVeigh to boot a long sausage. The Bloods were still there, 19 points down. There was a period featuring lotsa hard tackling and no easy touches, but the Swans couldn't turn the pressure into points. Eventually Murphy seized a strong defensive mark in front of Hall, he passed to Andrejs Everitt who kicked long and Welsh clutched a good grab in front of Tadhg Kennelly. Welsh majored and the Dogs led by 27 points. A bit later the Bloods had due reward, Marty Mattner winning a hard ball and getting a handball off to running Veszpremi, who steered it through. Hall missed a late, long shot and the Swans trailed by 20 points at the last change. Try as they might, the Bloods couldn't manufacture the type of scoring run-on necessary to claim victory in the final Mario. The Bulldogs were admirably professional. Brennan and Cooney kicked behinds early, then Brennan's centering kick was intercepted by Gilbee who ran ahead and handballed to Hahn for an easy tap-through. A minute later Gilbee mongrelled a kick forward but Kennelly, poised to collect it, slipped over. Bulldog Griffen gathered, kicked long and Welsh roved his own contest to snap truly. The Bullpups led by 33 points. Crouch wobbled a kick forward from a throw-in for Siddey, Bulldog Tiller gathered but was tackled violently by Brabazon. McVeigh collected the spilled ball and snapped a major. Another Swan turnover allowed Nathan Eagleton to gather and release Gilbee for a long punt, which bounced through for a goal. McVeigh came to the party again for the Swans, stabbing a goal from Richards's good tap at a ball-up. In fact McVeigh was on fire, soon bagging another major from a ball-up after weaving cleverly through traffic. Eade's face (and the air around it) was probably purple as Siddey trailed by 21 points with six minutes remaining. Soon the Dogs took a kick-in from a rushed behind down the ground, Harbrow capped a three-bounce run with a lengthy punt and Johnson marked behind Bolton, he popped it through. The Dogs led by 28 points and kinda switched off. Welsh made a half-ar5ed marking attempt, dropped it and was then caught in possession, the Swans rebounded. Hall's good scoop and handpass allowed Jude Bolton to drill a running goal. A bit later Hall plucked a good grab over Lake and had a 50m penalty when Lake wouldn't retreat on-the-mark. Bazza stabbed an easy goal and the Swans were just 16 points down, but there was only a minute left. The Dogs ran the clock down.     

 

No real stand-out for the Bulldogs. Efficient forwards Scott Welsh (14 disposals, 5 marks, 5 goals) and Brad Johnson (19 handlings, 10 marks, 4 goals) made a difference, up in the midfield Lindsay Gilbee (18 touches, a goal) was pretty good and Daniel Cross (23 possies) handy. Matthew Boyd (20 disposals, a goal) played well and Ryan Hargrave (20 possies, 6 marks, a goal) mopped up Swan attacks. Big Will Minson (12 touches, 13 hit-outs) countered Jolly and Everitt. The Swans did have a stand-out, Jarrad McVeigh (26 disposals, 6 goals) had the game of his career against Cooney. Ted Richards (19 touches, 10 marks, a goal) was effective moving up-and-down the field. Tadhg Kennelly (20 touches) ran decently off half-back and Ryan O'Keefe (28 possies, 7 marks) was alright, Barry Hall (14 disposals, 10 marks, 3 goals) did okay with limited supply. Patrick Veszpremi (17 disposals, 2 marks, 1.4) showed ability, although he had trouble kicking straight in the tricky Manuka breezes. "To beat the quality sides you've got to play four quarters of quality football, you can't play three, so it was obviously the second quarter that got us in the end," Roos said. "Games are now about intensity . . . Ours at the moment just wavers and goes up and goes down, and with a lot of teams we're seeing that happen. When that happened in the second, we weren't able to get back into the game during that period of time, and then in the other quarters, when we had the opportunity we did okay, and when they were going, we were able to control them a bit. But in the second quarter we just completely lost it in most facets of the game . . . You've got to be realistic with where you're at. There's no point in stumbling into the top four; you want to win games of footy. Unless we start winning, we're not going to finish there anyway. The good thing about today was that we found a couple of players, which was good, which adds a bit to your depth when you've got a lot of injuries, so that will take care of itself if we win enough games . . . It (injuries) hurts because better players are better players, but that's just the reality of where you're at. But you can't worry about who's not there; you can just prepare the team that's there. From a positive point of view, it was good to get some young guys in and they contributed well." Eade said ''We have been planning for this game for a few weeks. Both the previous two weeks we played some good footy, but this was the one we needed to win to give us that break from fourth. It was the classic eight-point game for us today. We have been building for that. That was surprising going back to the start how we started but to be able to fight back was pleasing. [The win] gives us four games clear of fourth with four games left. There are a couple more blokes maybe carrying little things so we are able to get games into players that might be able to help us in September, as well to refresh the stocks a bit. We will need to get games into Tim Callan, Callan Ward, maybe Peter Street, Shaun Higgins, Scott West will hopefully be back about round 20 - 21. [But] we don't want to flirt with our form, we want good form going into September, and we have four tough games." 

 

At Docklands:

St. Kilda      4.1   7.5    9.10   14.17.101

Port Adelaide  4.1   8.3   12.5     14.9.93

 

Sat up late to watch the replay of this and didn't regret it, a great, fiercely competitive game. The Saints' season was on the line as they trailed by 21 points midway through the third term against a Port reserves side, albeit a gutsy and committed one. In the end the key Saints put themselves and their bodies on the line to force the win. "Never giving up, it's what we stand for," said Nick Riewoldt afterwards. "Some of the time," he might've added. The win came at cost, Luke Ball appeared to tear a hamstring late (the Saints are saying it's a corky) and Brendon Goddard could be reported, he's becoming a bit of a thug. In selection here the Sainters lost Max Hudghton with his damaged calf and dropped Michael Gardiner and David Armitage. Justin Koschitzke returned from suspension, Jarryn Geary and James Gwilt were recalled. The Power lost Warren Tredrea (shoulder) for the remainder of the season, Troy Chaplin (ankle) and Steven Salopek (achilles injury) were unavailable too. In came junior Paul Stewart and two debutants, muscular half-back Mitchell Farmer from Craigieburn in Melbourne's far north and rookie-listed forward Nick Salter, who'd played in Woodville-West Torrens's reserves last week.

 

The Saints do not have a good record against Port, because the Power "bash us up", according to Sainter-supporting mate of mine. But with chief knucklemen Chad Cornes and Michael Wilson out, amongst a host of other Port players, and this game being played at Docklands instead of in Adelaide or Launceston, two of the Stainers' least-favoured venues, you'd have thought the Saints were clear favourites. But the Powder still had some experienced hard-men in the following division, led by aggressive Dean Brogan and committed Kane Cornes, with support from pack battler Dom Cassisi. And a knuckle-man in Jacob Surjan. Port flooded a bit and the Saints obliged with long bombs, the Power hit 'em on the break. Brett Ebert gathered Justin Westhoff's long punt to snap the opener and a bit later we had some mercurial Daniel Motlop, collecting David Rodan's fairly pathetic pass Motlop hooked a tight-angle snap over his shoulder, it bounced neatly over Sainter Jason Blake's head and into the arms of Port's Greg Bentley in the goal-square, who popped it through. Port led by 12 points and the Saints got moving, Sam Fisher punted a free long towards Stephen Milne, who won the ball against his man, ran inside 50 and slotted. A minute later Andrew McQualter's terrific tackle won possession for the Stains and Leigh Montagna lobbed a kick for James Gwilt to mark strongly in front of Logan, Gwilt converted with an excellent kick from the flank to level the scores. Thus the pattern was established, Port kick away a bit, the Saints haul 'em back. Motlop booted a goal, leading to Surjan's pass Motlop was awarded a free and a 50m penalty, allowing a simple conversion. Riewoldt roved his own contest and snapped a superb goal from 40m, into time-on and Montagna and Koschitzke combined to set up a major for Jason Gram. The Saints led by 5 points, but Port first-gamer Nick Salter led up to mark Nathan Lonie's pass and wallop a great goal from 55m. Adam Schneider's late miss leveled the scores at the first break. Into the second term and Montagna missed an early chance, Port advanced from the kick-in. Bentley kicked long towards back-running Salter who received a nasty elbow to the back of the head from Goddard, who made no attempt at the ball. Groggy Salter eventually thumped his free for another long goal, but he did little thereon thanks to Goddard's gutless whack. Some amazing running from Riewoldt made the Sinkilda reply, Riewoldt marked on the wing and passed to leading Koschitzke on the 50m line, 'Kosi' waited until Riewoldt galloped past and lobbed kick for him to mark with-the-flight, just outside the goal-square. Big 'Rooey' majored. Port replied as dithering Gram was mown down by Westhoff, Brogan scooped up the ball and booted a sausage. A bit later Port were advancing when Cornes kicked towards leading Westhoff, it wasn't a good kick and Westhoff and his man Fisher over-ran the ball, Surjan gathered, ran in and slotted. Port led by 12 points. The Saints responded, Rob Harvey collected Steven King's tap from a throw-in and handballed for running Aaron Fiora to belt it through. A minute later Fiora used his speed and some coolness to win the ball on the defensive flank, he centered a pass to Eddy. Some runnin' handball ensued and Harvey steered a running major, leveling the scores again. Rodan won a lucky free at the restart for a high tackle and an even luckier 50m penalty against Schneider, due to the ump's hazy idea regarding the location of 'the mark'. Easy major for D-Rod. Saints Montagna and Geary missed late chances, Geary's was poor, and Port were 4 points ahead at the long break.

 

Port began the third term well. Tom Logan led up for a grab and dished off a handball to Bentley, he kicked for Westhoff to hold a good mark against Goddard, who bundled Westhoff over afterwards. No 50m penalty, but Westhoff goaled anyway. A minute later Ebert punted long and Motlop literally climbed on Blake to take a superb screamer - Motlop used his hands on Blake's shoulders to boost himself up, but the ump awarded the grab for some reason. Justice as Motlop missed. But soon Powderman Travis Boak whacked a very long punt to the goal-square where bustling Westhoff out-marked Goddard again, Westhoff popped it through. A slick rebound saw Cassisi pass to wide-leading leather magnet Westhoff, he played-on and centered a pass to leading Motlop who juggled an arrogant one-handed mark. Motlop thumped it through from 50m and Port led by 21 points. You could've heard a membership card drop in the silent Docklands. A moment later Ebert soared above a pack but just failed to hold the grab. Commentator Dennis Commetti was critical of the Stinkilda forwards: "Their idea of leading is to put their arms in the air." Port were attacking again when Sainter Schneider's gutsy with-the-flight mark halted it, Sam Gilbert ran afield, ignored the 'raised arms' leads and lobbed a handpass for running Fiora to curl a good punt for a goal. Sinkilda needed more of that, the TV folk reckoned. Harvey gathered a loose ball, got a handpass away as tackled by Surjan but was slammed face-first into the ground by the Port 'enforcer', groggy Harvs was assisted from the field. No free or report for that, either. The Saints were waking up, Koschitzke missed a shot after out-marking Thurstans and Eddy postered after being crunched taking a with-the-flight grab. But an awful Goddard handpass turned over possession in defence and Bentley stabbed a short pass for Westhoff to mark and boot another major. It wasn't Goddard's day as Port led by 18 points. Flowerman Logan's running shot clipped the inside of the post, a bit later Ball's fierce tackle caught Shaun Burgoyne in possession, the ball went to Gwilt who booted good running goal from the flank. Port led by 13 points at the final break and the Saints had the job ahead. They started the final Mario well, McQualter dived head-first into a pack and got a handball away, Ball gathered and stabbed it through. But Ball and Gram wasted scoring chances with some terrible passes and Schneider missed consecutive shots, the second created by terrific skill from Riewoldt. At a throw-in Brogan won a free for being shoved in the back by Koschitzke, he handballed to Danyle Pearce who passed to Boak, drifting inside 50. Sainter McQualter hovered too close to the mark for the umps' liking and Boak had a 50m penalty, he goaled and Port led by 12 points. A bit later Lenny Hayes advanced for the Saints and lobbed a kick for running Schneider to leap over Milne and Farmer and take a great grab, Schneider threaded it through from the pocket. He needed to. Gwilt, McQualter and Clint Jones worked very hard to clear a ball-up for the Stains, the ball emerged to Hayes again and he jabbed another short, high kick for Koschitzke to pluck a grab over Carlile, Kosi converted and scores were level. The Sainter fans were making some noise now, as were the (few) Port ones. Behinds from Ball and Gram and a rushed one nudged the Saints ahead, at the other end Ebert just missed following a great effort to win the ball. As Sinkilda prepared to kick-in Harvey jogged back on, to much cheering. Sam Fisher centered a wayward pass towards Logan, but the Port man wasn't looking. Ball scooped up the pill and kicked long, Riewoldt ran head-first into the goal-square pack to clutch a superb mark - although, to be churlish, Riewoldt was running flat-out and Koschitzke, Thurstans et al. were standing still. A great grab though and Riewoldt popped it through to send the Saints 8 points ahead. Rodan did very well to set up a chance for Bentley, but he missed and Gwilt's diving smother snuffed out another Port opportunity. Soon Milne punted long for the Saints and there was a fearsome collision between Koschitzke, Ball and Port's Burgoyne, Ball was absolutely hammered (by his team-mate mostly). But the football spilled to Gram, who blasted a goal. Saints by 13 points as Ball limped off with what is officially a corked thigh, but looked  a helluva lot like a torn hamstring. Brogan won the tap at the restart and Shaun Burgoyne bullocked his way clear to boot a very good, long goal. The Saints' lead was down to 7 points with two-and-a-half minutes remaining but they held on, a behind from Gram the only subsequent score.

 

The Saints gradually wrested control of the middle through Jason Gram (34 disposals, 2 goals) and Leigh Montagna (28 touches). The game played to Luke Ball's strengths, not too many touches (16, plus a goal) but 14 tackles and plenty of what coaches call 'sacrificial acts'. Clint Jones (18 possesions) played well and James Gwilt (13 touches, 5 marks, 2 goals) was much improved on his previous senior outing, Sam Fisher (21 handlings, 8 marks) did the rebound thing to great effect. Robert Harvey (19 possies, a goal) did some good things and Nick Riewoldt (7 marks, 14 disposals, 3 goals) provided the inspiration. Aaron Fiora bagged 2 handy goals. Port's senior men led well with Kane Cornes (30 disposals, 11 marks) working tremendously hard again, on Dal Santo, with admirable assistance from Travis Boak (28 touches, a goal) and Dom Cassisi (22 possies). Dean Brogan (19 handlings, 7 marks, 14 hit-outs, a goal) was a warrior in the ruck, he did some Andre-Nel type sledging too. Toby Thurstans (21 disposals, 7 marks) was decent in defence as was junior Paul Stewart (22 touches, 9 marks). Justin Westhoff (6 marks, 8 kicks, 3 goals) enjoyed that brief purple patch, Daniel Motlop and Nick Salter kicked 2 goals each. Mark Williams saw the positives. "Going into the game, obviously by our selection, we were looking to find some positives for next year," Williams said. "I thought that both Nick Salter, in a quarter and a bit, kicked beautifully like I thought he could and showed a bit which was nice. [And] I thought Mitch Farmer played particularly well most of the day. He played hard and tough for a young guy playing his first game . . . it was great for our people to be able to see him come through." On the game itself, Choco said "People like Pearce and Rodan couldn't get the ball much. I think they (St Kilda) kicked quite a few, maybe four goals in the last quarter from stoppages, which you know we'd been doing pretty well as far as scoring goals ourselves in the first three quarters. As a group, to be in front of St Kilda for most of the day was pretty impressive but once again [we're] disappointed with the result at the end." Ross Lyon said "You need those acts, those desperate acts where players take their turn. In the great Hawthorn era of the '80s coached by Parkin and with some contact with Joyce and Jeans, they talk about there being a moment in a game when someone has to go and today our players did that; they went. [But] it's always a relief to get the four points when you're down at three-quarter time by 13 points. I thought we were always in the game competing and the numbers tell you that as well. In the first quarter it was a bit of an outside game and they were pretty efficient going forward . . . and we didn't score that well. We just struggled to get a structure that allowed us to score from our work and then we just changed some things up in the last quarter; we kept winning the contested ball but we found some space and hit targets and we had 11 shots on goal."

 

At Subiaco:

Fremantle   9.2   13.5   17.10   17.14.116

West Coast  4.1    6.6   10.7    12.11.83

 

Derby number twenty-eight became a celebration for Shaun McManus, who announced his retirement last week. The last original Docker, McManus has been at the centre of most debates about the Freo teams over the period - lacking nothing in courage, commitment and toughness, but a bit in speed and skill. McManus debuted in round 5, 1995 and played 228 games for Freo, undergoing two knee reconstructions along the way. The result here was heartening in a way as new Weeg 'midfielders' Brent Staker and Quinten Lynch were made to look like a flighty forward-flanker and a lumbering key forward respectively, which is what they are. Freo's third consecutive win saw 'em climb above Port, losers in Melbourne. In selection here the Shockers duly regained Matthew Pavlich and called up Kepler Bradley, out went Robert Warnock (shoulder) and Josh Head . Weegle skipper Darren Glass returned, at the expense of Matt Spangher.

 

Entertaining opening quarter. McManus did what he does best, apply some meaty tackles and bumps. Pavlich's noice dummy and short pass to Josh Carr set up the opening goal. Ryan Murphy missed poorly after a mark on-the-lead before the Eegs had a chance, Mark LeCras launched a high left-foot snap which drifted through. The Weegs had a decent spell here, Chad Fletcher had a free and handballed for Andrew Embley to kick long, Ben McKinley's calculated spoil went to Ash Hansen who snapped truly. Then came a good move, Brad Ebert fired a wide handball to Fletcher, he passed to Jamie McNamara, another found lurking David Wirrpanda for a mark and skilfully-punted goal. The Weegs led by 11 points. Dokker Ryan Crowley delivered a poor pass but luckily Weeg Beau Wilkes fumbled, Garrick Ibbotson collected the ball and kicked long where Luke McPharlin marked strongly in-front, he majored. McKinley missed following a good pack-grab. A minute later it was gratifying, in a way, to see Staker gather in the centre, run slowly, handball lazily to nobody and then collapse on Brett Peake's back. Peake's switching free went to McPharlin, he passed for leading Pavlich to mark and convert. Jeff Farmer attempted a crazy move which 'earned' a throw-in, but Sandilands tapped it to Pavlich who bagged a goal. Freo led by 6 points. McPharlin missed a shot and the Eegs advanced from the kick-in, Hansen booted long and Mark Seaby was clattered front-on by Kepler Bradley. Seaby free-kicked a goal and Freo led by a point. But they surged now. Mark Johnson's gutsy dive-in and handpass sent Pavlich clear, he broke a tackle and slotted a major. Wilkes was having some trouble with Pav. McPharlin led long for a tough grab, he dished off to Pavlich who punted to the 'square - Farmer roved the pack and backed into a tackle, he won a very lucky free for high contact and popped it through. Chris Tarrant held a diving mark and handballed to McManus, he passed to leading McPharlin who threaded it through from the pocket. Wiggle McNamara was caught in possession and Schammer kicked for McPharlin to hold a strong grab again, he booted another.  As the players jogged back to the centre Glass and David Mundy indulged in some very light scuffling and the ump awarded Mundy a free, he goaled - the most ridiculous 'double-goal' ever. "That type of decision embarrasses the entire game and that umpire needs counselling," bombasted Gerard Healy. Freo led by 31 points at korter-time. The rest of the game wasn't nearly as entertaining, unless you're a Dockulater supporter I s'pose. The Weegs flooded heavily to start the second term and it worked, with the aid of some poor Freo disposal and Weegle-friendly umpiring. Squaring-up for the double-goal, maybe. Ten minutes elapsed with just a handful of behinds to show. Freo managed at last to move ahead from a kick-in, Michael Johnson's excellent pass allowed Pavlich to mark on-the-run and lob a pass for McPharlin to mark with-the-flight, he majored again. The Weegs scored a goal finally, they won the ball from a throw-in and after some kerfartling it came to Lynch, who smashed anuge kick through from 60m. A bit later Bradley led wide to mark Farmer's pass, he handballed off to McManus (cheers) who passed for leading Pavlich to mark and convert. LeCras hooked a terrible shot on-the-full prior to McManus being involved again, he kicked long to the goal-square where Bradley leaped for a grab, dropped it but tackled unfortunate Eric Mackenzie who'd caught the spillage. The ball was loosed and Mundy soccered a goal. Freo led by 41 points now. Weeg rover Matthew Priddis hacked a kick forward from the restart and Hansen out-marked Chris Mayne, Hansen booted a goal. But late in the term fatigued Weevil ruckman Dean 'Big' Cox collapsed on the ball and he wasn't moving, 'bawl' it was and Mark Johnson free-kicked a major. Freo by 41 at half-time.

 

The game meandered along in the second half. At least the Weegs kicked a few goals for their supporters. Dockers Mundy and Farmer missed early shots in the third before LeCras snapped a good goal for the Eegs, slipping out of a couple of tackles. LeCras had marked in the centre and passed to Seaby in the build-up. A minute later LeCras booted another, Seaby marked Hansen's long kick by the point-post and handballed poorly behind on-coming LeCras, but Seaby pursued the ball, won it back and handballed to hovering LeCras again, who snapped it through. Wiggle Steven Armstrong was tripped at the restart and kicked his free towards Ben McKinley, who was also awarded a free for some unknown infringement. McKinley majored and the Eegs were thereabouts, 25 points behind with three straight goals. Depressed commentator Glen Jakovich brightened a bit. Tarrant and McKinley missed shots for their respective teams before Freo's Peake won a free-kick, after a rugged patch on the wing. He gave the ball to Ibbotson whose pass hit leading McPharlin, he goaled. A minute later Shocker backman Steven Dodd made a rare forward excursion, Dodd marked Thornton's pass and finessed smartly before passing to unopposed Bradley for a mark and sausage roll. Freo led by 38 points. A rare Tyson Stenglein touch created the Weeg reply, his long kick allowed backpedalling Hansen to mark behind Mayne, Hansen's switching kick found McKinley for a mark and major. Then Bradley kicked another goal for Freo, a free after being slung to the ground by Wilkes. Sandilands tapped a ball-up for Carr to snap truly and the Dockerators led by 45 points at the final change. The final term became a McManus benefit as the Dockers focused on giving him as many touches as possible and trying to create a goal for him, which they didn't manage to do. Eagirl LeCras punted a good, long goal early in the piece and about halfway through Scott Selwood converted from an easy mark. Upon the final siren McManus departed through an honour guard of Fremantle players past and present.

 

Freo's big forwards Matthew Pavlich (the Glendinning Medallist with 22 disposals, 6 marks, 4 goals) and Luke McPharlin (21 touches, 9 marks, 5 goals) proved a handful for the Eegs and in the middle rover Byron Schammer (24 possies) played well again, as did Rhys Palmer (19 touches) after starting on the bench. Hard men Ryan Crowley (14 disposals) and Josh Carr (23 touches, 2 goals) enjoy the Derbies and David Mundy (20 handlings, 2 goals) was a useful midfielder again. Shaun McManus (21 disposals, 10 marks) was decent in his final outing. Kepler Bradley kicked 2 goals. Feisty forward Mark LeCras (13 disposals, 7 marks, 4 goals) was probably the Eegs' best, with Dean Cox (25 touches, 7 marks, 14 hit-outs) again trying very hard.  Steven Armstrong (24 disposals) was okay playing as a rover and Brad Ebert (22 possessions) showed a bit again, David Wirrpanda (20 handlings, 6 marks, a goal) and Ben McKinley (18 disposals, 6 marks, 2 goals) weren't bad. Ashley Hansen was okay with 8 marks and 2 goals. Worsfold is relentlessly positive. "In those periods in games (where the Eagles drop off), there are reasons for it and there are reasons that we believe that we can address," he said. "But we can't address them overnight, we'll (have to) address them over time. We had a good talk about it after the game and the players will have a think about it and give me feedback tomorrow because they're the ones who will learn the most from it . . . Both of those players (Pavlich and McPharlin) won the game in the first quarter and they didn't have a massive impact on the game after that. So we were chasing and chased very hard. I'm very proud of the way the players kept chasing. We certainly made some errors but I thought some of our decisions were very good, some of the way we used the ball at times. So again (we've got) plenty to work with." Mark Harvey's team has won three in-a-row now and Harvs is undefeated in Derbies. He's already looking ahead. "Because of the emotion of Shaun and the fact that he was one of the players that began at this club and has very much been a big part of the spirit of Fremantle, sometimes the players can go over the top. That may have been telling on the whole group in the last quarter, but it's a day the Fremantle Football Club will never forget and more importantly, neither will the McManus family. It's very important to send your players off in the right way and we did that today . . . It doesn't get any easier as we have the longest road trip next week to play Sydney (isn't Brisbane further?) and we are really going to find out a lot more about the playing group. We did the travelling last week and West Coast had a day's break on top of that, so that was against us but I just want to see how the young players handle the next part of expectation."

 

Ladder after Round 18

                Pts.       %    Next Week

Geelong          68    153.6    Melbourne (MCG, Fri. night)

Footscray        58    122.8    North Melbourne (Docklands, Sunday)

Hawthorn         56    125.6    Brisbane (York Park, Saturday)

Sydney           42    117.3    Fremantle (SCG, Sat. night)

North Melbourne  42     98.4    Footscray (Docklands, Sunday)

Adelaide         40    106.4    Richmond (Football Park, Sunday)

St. Kilda        40    101.1    Collingwood (MCG, Sat. night)

Collingwood      36    109.4    St. Kilda (MCG, Sat. night)

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

Brisbane         36    104.6    Hawthorn (York Park, Saturday)

Richmond         34     94.3    Adelaide (Football Park, Sunday)

Carlton          32     95.7    Port Adelaide (Docklands, Saturday)

Essendon         32     87.5    West Coast (Subiaco, Sunday)

Fremantle        20     94.1    Sydney (SCG, Sat. night)

Port Adelaide    20     92.0    Carlton (Docklands, Saturday)

West Coast       12     64.7    Essendon (Subiaco, Sunday)

Melbourne         8     65.9    Geelong (MCG, Fri. night)

 

Cheers, Tim.  

 

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