AFL Round 22
At Subiaco:
Fremantle 5.0 7.1 9.7 12.8.80
Collingwood 1.4 4.5 6.6 8.8.56
Positive end to a very ordinary season for the Dockulaters. Most pundits had the Shockers in their eight, nay top four, before the season started but their odd collection of has-beens and never-weres, complementing the ageing core, never produced. The punditocracy is divided over the meaning of Freo's record of narrow losses, including many last-quarter fade-outs, whether it indicates a potentially good side with minor problems or something more serious. One thing the Dockers do lack in this era of speed-football is pace, something Harvey'll have to address. Five retirements have freed up space on the list already. As far as the Poise are concerned, our man commentator Bucks pointed out they've blown hot-and-cold all year. Cold here - freezing, in fact; maybe it was the shock of playing a game interstate, which they'll have to do again next week. Last week Harvey pointed out Freo's stream of mid-season retirements had caused a selection problem, here juniors Andrew Browne and Clayton Hinkley were called up to replace dropped pair Steven Dodd and Brett Peake. No Pavlich. Last game for Mark Johnson, who spent just one year with the Dokkers but was a great player with Essadun, winning a flag with them in 2000 and their best-and-fairest in 2004. He played 208 games in total. The Poise sprung a surprise by picking Simon Prestigiacomo for his first game in about eighteen months, Rhyce Shaw was recalled following suspension for his part in 'Porky Pies' while Nathan Brown and Danny Stanley also earned call-ups. They replaced players who were being rested, notably Scott Burns (out with a calf strain, officially) along with Shane Wakelin (groin), Sharrod Wellingham (groin) and Alan Toovey (foot).
This was a pretty terrible, ugly game for much of it, what decent footy there was occurred in the first half. A stiff cross-field breeze led to some woeful kicking, Poise Dane Swan and Travis Cloke missed set shots before a good run and pass from in-form 'Neon' Leon Davis allowed John Anthony to clutch a decent grab, he converted and the Maggies had an early 8-point lead. Freo proceeded to put on a perhaps game-winning spurt, a string of centre-clearances helped. Poi defender Tyson Goldsack had a forgettable few minutes, he was caught in a chicken-wing tackle by Mark Johnson and done for 'bawl', Johnson handballed off to running Paul Duffield who slotted a goal. Soon Goldsack, running with-the-flight, threw in some very timid fairy-steps when failing to attack a high ball. Mark Johnson collected the agget and handballed to Jeff 'Wiz' Farmer, playing for his career again, he passed to Adam Campbell and ran on to receive a return pass from Campbell, Farmer stabbed a low kick for a major and Freo led by 4 points. A minute later Ryan Crowley drove a long kick to a big pack, Roger Hayden roved it smartly and tumbled a kick forward where Josh Carr lurked, he gathered and snapped truly on the left boot. The Dokkers won the following centre-clearance, after some scrap Chris Mayne's tidying handpass got the ball to Clay Hinkley and he lobbed a pass for Rhys Palmer to mark with-the-flight (see, Small-sack?), Palmer booted a sausage. At the next centre-bounce Pie Shane O'Bree hacked a kick straight to Mayne, he handballed off to Palmer who ran to 50 and a few handballs later Kepler Bradley bagged a major. Five goals in about eight minutes from Freo and they led by 22 points. The game became scrappy after that as the Pies fought to stop the Dokka run-on, but they didn't do much themselves. There were more Goldsack-like soft efforts from a few Pies, Bucks noting the 'leaders' had to stand up when such incidents occurred. To be fair Goldsack himself did produce some better efforts towards the term's end, a coupla rushed behinds having the Pies 20 points down at quarter-time. Their Shannon Cox held a good grab but missed the shot early in the second, a bit later O'Bree launched a very high, wobbly kick from a throw-in towards the goal-square and after some scramble Marty Clarke poked it through from point-blank. Carr kicked a point for the Dokkers, the following minutes were a tough, ugly scrap with plenty of ball-ups and throw-ins as wobbly, wind-affected kicks failed to hit targets. After a while Freo managed a goal, Des Headland converting a free-kick for a push in-the-back from Harry O'Brien. It was Headland's first touch, they told us. Pie Paul Medhurst (booed by Freo fans) won the following centre-clearance and passed to Cloke, he chipped ahead for lurking ruckman Josh Fraser to mark, Fraser goaled and the Pies were 14 points behind. Freo answered quickly, David Mundy held a strong grab in the centre and passed to leading Ryan Murphy on 50m, Murphy lobbed a pass into the pocket where Farmer marked on-the-lead and steered a good punt for full points. The next few minutes were more indicative, Freo rover Byron Schammer hooked a shot on-the-full, Pie O'Brien's resulting free faded on-the-full, Crowley chipped the free from that back to Schammer, who proceeded to shoot on-the-full again. Davis rescued the game with a superb goal, he tackled and harassed Headland to win the ball, finessed and spun away from Browne and proceeded to spear a low kick through from the boundary-line to score a terrific goal - "of the season", added Commetti. Maybe. The Poise trailed by 14 points again but Cloke, Dokka McPharlin and especially Danny Stanley all missed very kickable shots prior to the long break, Freo still 14 points ahead.
The third term was mostly awful, as if the teams were having a contest to see who could produce the most kicks on-the-full. Palmer started it with a terrible miss, but a moment later some Leon Davis class again proved positive as he set up a shot for Cloke. Duly, Cloke kicked on-the-full but Freo made a mess of the resulting free and the Pies had a throw-in in their forward-pocket, from which Goldsack's rain-making snap drifted through for full-points. The Pies trailed by 10 points but got no closer over the following minutes during some very ugly footy from both sides. From a throw-in in Freo's forward-pocket Poi Fraser tried to catch the ball cleanly but fumbled it dreadfully, Mayne pounced and handballed for Bradley to snap a sausage roll. A bit later the ump's low-bouncing ball-up allowed Mayne to tap smartly to Schammer, the Fremandle man spurted clear and stabbed it through and Freo led by 23 points. Bradley and Palmer combined to win the ball from the restart, Mayne marked on a lead but missed. The Poise scrapped to stay in touch, late in the stanza four consecutive handball-turnovers in the Shockers' backline ended with Poi Medhurst putting the ball in the hands of Cloke, he stabbed it through from a tightish angle. The Mag-lies trailed by 18 points then and 19 points at the final change. Freo locked it up quickly in the ultimate stanza, Carr's looping handball from the opening bounce allowed running Mundy to collect the pill, he kicked into the pocket where Farmer nudged Rhyce Shaw under the ball to mark it. 'Wiz' produced an excellent kick for a goal, which he appeared to enjoy. Five minutes later under-pressure Pie Tarkyn Lockyer mongrelled a kick from defence straight to Freo's Marcus Drum, Drum produced a pretty awful kick forward himself but Adam Campbell read it well to take a lunging mark and convert from 20m out. The Dockerators led by 31 points, almost double the Poise score. It was over and the players behaved accordingly. "Do you know Freo haven't been in the eight, not for one week, for the last two years?" said McAvaney. Commetti replied "Living here in Perth, I think I'm aware of it." Freo 'sweeper' Michael Johnson took some good marks in defence as the Pies did absolutely nothing until time-on. Misses from Cox and Chris Dawes preceded a goal for Cloke, 'cheating' as he ran ahead of the play to receive Swan's pass, after the latter had roved a marking contest which should've involved Cloke, probably. A good Freo move ended with Mayne marking on the 50m line, playing-on with a noice dummy and handballing for Bradley to bounce a shot through for a major. The Poise won the following centre-break - about their first for the night - and Swan passed for leading Anthony to mark and convert. The siren sounded presently, Mark Johnson chaired off.
Even contributions from the Freo men, rovers Byron Schammer (23 disposals, a goal) and Rising Star man Rhys Palmer (27 handlings, 9 marks, a goal) were busy and second-string ruckman Kepler Bradley (15 possies, 4 marks, 3 goals) made handy efforts. Luke McPharlin (18 disposals, 11 marks) kept Cloke pretty quiet and Michael Johnson (14 handlings, 10 marks) was also good down back. Jeff Farmer (21 possies, 5 marks, 3 goals) played well, guessing his fate occupied a lot of commentary time. Andrew Browne (20 touches, 8 marks) and Chris Mayne (15 disposals, 6 marks) made bids to be part of the future. Josh Carr doesn't want to be part of it, he's already asked for a trade back to Port. For the Poise, in-form Leon Davis (23 disposals, 11 tackles, a goal) was easily their best, with Scott Pendlebury (24 touches, 7 marks) and Dane Swan (21 possies) doing a bit too. Josh Fraser (19 possessions, 7 marks, a goal) and Shannon Cox (20 touches, 10 marks) were alright, Travis Cloke and John Anthony booted 2 goals each. Malthouse reckoned the Pies were 'due'. "We've had a massive, big month," he said. "I think sometimes you just need a little, gentle reminder every now and again about what has transformed in the club in the last 12 months, in regard to young players coming in. Quite frankly I think, given our vulnerability of where we're going to sit on the ladder, we were extremely tired after a very, very solid, emotional, gut-busting month. I've no doubt that there is a psychological let-down after (big) games, particularly if you've got a lot of young players. No question about that because they're human, they're going to have the frailty of human nature." Asked about the finals, Mick said "Whoever we're playing, it doesn't matter. Finals football in our case is going to be cut-throat; one loss and you're out , one win and you get another chance." They do have a good record at Foopall Park, though. Mark Harvey looked ahead. "Whether we are good enough to play finals . . . remains to be seen, but tonight we beat a team that is playing in the finals. The thought process now of how our whole group prepares for the pre-season is of paramount importance. A lot of self-belief has been gained by players that might have seen themselves between our 20th and 40th player. All of a sudden they've been given opportunities and we've found some chemistry between them and that they can play at that level." Farmer? "We will sit down with Jeff in the next couple of days. He was lively tonight and looked like he was playing for his life. He is an inner-strength at our club, especially to the Aboriginal guys, and I can't speak highly enough of him as a player." Carr? "I want Josh to stay but you understand sometimes there are issues players have to deal with . . . We will do as much as we can to get him to stay but if it's beyond what we can do or offer, the decision is out of our control. He's very astute and knows what he needs to do so we will wait and see."
At Docklands:
North Melbourne 4.3 7.5 9.10 10.12.72
Port Adelaide 3.4 10.5 18.8 23.10.148
So the Ruse didn't want to play Geelong again, after all. A terrible effort here cost 'em the double chance and confirmed many people's thoughts about the Kangers, that unless they're wound up tighter than Sam Newman's face, they're exposed as very mediocre. Norf's lack of intensity allowed Port's front-running midfield to run all over them, Peter Burgoyne profiting the most with 45 possies. If the Powder over-achieved in making the Grand Final last year, which Mark Williams has said, they under-achieved in 2008. Choco's statement "we're the best 0-4 team in history", after their first win in round 5, was rubbish really. Of those four losses two were awful, a very weak effort in the season opener against Syddey and an appalling fade-out against Brisbun at home, coughing up a 9-goal lead in about 40 minutes. Yes they 'pressed' Geelong too and had some narrow losses during the year, but those were the exception. While possessed of great skill there's nowhere near enough grunt in the Power midfield, they were often thrashed in clearances and contested ball-wins. The backline's a bit weak too. Coupled with continued rumours of off-field strife, it's clear Port have the job ahead next year. Norf were celebrating Shannon Grant's 300th game, a fantastic achievement for someone who's been a great, under-rated player. Grant also announced his intention to retire at the season's end. In selection here the Ruse regained Matt Campbell and Aaron Edwards, the latter returning from a broken ankle sustained in round two-ish. Jess Sinclair and Scott Thompson were dropped. Port recalled Robbie Gray and Nathan Lonie to replace Troy Chaplin (knee) and Travis Boak ('flu).
Port lulled Norf with a very slow, uninterested start. The Kangers duly bagged the first three goals, 'Lethal' Leigh Harding free-kicked the first after Port's Kane Cornes chipped a poor pass to Dean Brogan, who had to scoop it on the half-volley. Harding pounced and Brogan was done for 'bawl'. Corey Jones led, marked Brent Harvey's pass and converted. David Hale and Drew Petrie missed shots. From a throw-in Harvey ran the ball across the ground before giving it to Daniel Pratt, who launched a speculative shot from inside the centre-square which bounced through for a major. North led by 19 points and the game was going as folks'd predicted. But now Norf relaxed, fatally. Their Adam Simpson over-ran the ball, allowing the Powder to attack. Daniel Motlop soared but spilled a marking attempt, handily Roo Shannon Watt's poor clearing kick went straight to Peter Burgoyne, who booted a goal. Norf replied quickly, Cornes was done for 'bawl' after he fell on it and Scott McMahon passed to leading Hale, who booted a noice goal from 50m. The Shinboners led by 19 points again but Port men began to realize they could run about without much pressure. Danyle Pearce dithered before driving a long kick into the pocket, Robbie Gray was manhandled by Pratt and Gray banana-ed his free-kick for a good major. A bit later Daniel Motlop's very clever soccer toe-poke allowed Brett Ebert to gather the ball, Ebert's poor handpass missed running Gray who was tackled by Leigh Harding anyway. Gray converted another free-kick and worryingly for Norf Harding had hurt his knee, his day was over. The Ruse led by 5 points at the first break. Shannon Grant roused the Roo faithful with a goal early in the second, a 'bawl' free-kick against Alipate Carlile who'd tried to hatch it. Drew Petrie missed a set-shot to have the Kangers 12 points ahead, but a minute later Dom Cassisi's smart kick allowed running Pearce to gather, he handballed to the running-alongside Daniel Motlop who punted it through from 50m as easy as you like. Kanga man Brady Rawlings wobbled a punt forward from the restart and Hale was awarded a free for being held back by Carlile, Hale majored and the Ruse led by 12 again. A throw-in in Port's forward pocket was preceded by "the worst three or four kicks I've ever seen," according to David Parkin. But Port ruckman Brogan, very good here, slapped the thrown-in ball down for David Rodan to collect and slot through. Shaun Burgoyne punted the Flowers forward from the restart, great handballs from Tom Logan and Gray allowed Pearce to steer a terrific tight-angle kick for a goal and scores were level. Norf grabbed the lead back when they managed a quick rebound and Matt Campbell converted after being paid a dubious, juggling mark. But a goal from Port man Paul Stewart leveled the scores again. Tight for a bit before Rue junior Lachie Hansen missed badly and old Port ruck Brendon Lade snapped into the post. But the Flowerman atoned a minute later when Pearce lobbed a centering kick and Lade plucked a mark over Watt, Lade handballed off for Rodan to poke it through from point-blank. Soon Port scored another goal from a throw-in, Brogan tapping for Cassisi to bag the sausage this time. A bit later Roo rover Daniel Harris dived on the pill at a ball-up and was rightly done for 'bawl', Cassisi free-kicked another and Port had jumped 18 points clear, where they were at half-time.
If that second-quarter Port burst had been unexpected the events of the third stanza were shocking for yer Roo fans. Cruelly, they were given some early hope. Daniel Wells, who'd limped off in the second term, returned and after Daniel Motlop rubber-chested a simple mark the Kangers rebounded, Lindsay Thomas placed his kick cleverly for Hale to mark over Damon White and boot a major. North were 12 points down, but the Powder kicked the next 8 goals. Rodan started it by passing to Cornes, then running on to receive Cornes's handpass and thump it home. Then there was another goal from a throw-in, Brogan simply catching the ball under no pressure at all and handballing for Rodan again to score the major. Three Port goals from throw-ins showed how slack and lazy the Ruse were. Kangers Harvey and Thomas missed snaps before Brogan's strong defensive mark led to a slick Port rebound, Dan Motlop led up to mark 50m out and casually whack it through. Port led by 29 points, the Kangers won the following centre-clearance and Hale marked strongly in front of White, but Hale missed badly. Port man White soon suffered concussion, kneed in the head by a flying Corey Jones. But Jones dropped the marking attempt and Port rebounded, Shaun Burgoyne weaving classily through traffic before handballing to Pearce, he passed for leading Toby Thurstans to mark and convert. Roo man Grant missed awfully following a good mark over Pearce. Big Powder man Brendon Lade charged out to take a strong grab and thump it home from 50m, then Ebert led out to mark pass on the 50 and chip inboard to running Robbie Gray, who converted. Kanga ruckman McIntosh coughed the ball up in a tackle and Shaun Burgoyne handballed for running Daniel Motlop to boot another long sausage. An awful clearing kick from Pratt went straight to Shaun Burgoyne again, he handpassed to Thurstans who dummied before stabbing it through from 20m. A Matthew Westhoff behind had Port 58 points ahead. Norf broke the run at last, Harris stole the ball off Lade and stabbed a pass to leading Hale, he marked and converted this time. Watt saved a goal with a great goal-square tackle on Lade, Norf rebounded from that and Petrie marked 30m out, he managed to hit the post after the three-quarter-time siren. But it was over then, the Flowers 52 points ahead. Three quick goals to start the final stanza, Daniel Motlop mis-hit an attempted banana-shot and the ball sprayed into the opposite pocket, before Thurstans could have a go at marking it he was dragged down by struggling Hansen. Free-kick for Thurstans and he majored. A minute later Port cleared from a ball-up at half-back, Pearce, Cornes and Ebert ran the ball forward before Shaun Burgoyne marked and goaled. Port led by 63 points now. Norf soon scored their only goal of the term, Grant roving a pack to snap it through. But there was very little acclimation from the sparsely-populated 'G. Quiet for a while, all competition gone, before three late Power goals. Rodan set one up for Logan, a bit later Ebert featured three times in a rebound move which ended with a lead, mark and goal for Rodan again, his fifth. Ebert pushed more and more into the midfield as the game progressed. The game ended with Marlon Motlop showing the family traits, slotting a running goal from the boundary-line.
As mentioned Port's midfield ran rampant, led by Peter Burgoyne (45 disposals, a goal) while David Rodan (17 touches, 5 goals) received some gifts from his ruckmen. Shaun Burgoyne (20 handlings, a goal) reveled in the lack of pressure, as did Danyle Pearce (28 possies, a goal). Dean Brogan (18 disposals, 11 marks, 17 hit-outs) was terrific in the ruck, hard men Kane Cornes (30 disposals) and Tom Logan (28 touches, 6 marks, a goal) played well too. Daniel Motlop and Robbie Gray bagged 3 goals each, Toby Thurstans also booted 3 and Dom Cassisi kicked 2 goals. Not many worth mentioning for Norf, David Hale (7 marks, 11 possessions, 4 goals) did what he could with limited supply and Drew Petrie (21 disposals, 10 marks) was okay 'round the ground, but was killed in the ruck. Brady Rawlings (23 touches) and Brent Harvey (27 possies) won a bit of the ball, Daniel Pratt (21 disposals, a goal) was okay in defence. Shannon Grant kicked 2 goals. Dean Laidley wasn't happy. "I'm here to apologise firstly to our supporters and secondly to Shannon Grant's family and his supporters," Laidley said. "That was a disgraceful effort today and it all comes down to effort required. It was non-existent. We've blown an opportunity to finish fourth but we have another opportunity and that's the really important thing." What did North need to address prior to next week's elimination final in Sydney? "If you looked at today's performance, you would say everything because we didn't look like a football side out there today. We've got a final to win next week and that is very important to be able to realign yourself, refocus and get yourself ready for the final. Eight other sides would love to be sitting where we are right now." Mark Williams rambled on and on in his final press conference of the year (well, final post-game). But he started simply. "We weren't good enough this year . . . but since the mid-season break we've been working on some new strategies and next year we'll be more equipped to beat most sides and play a couple of different styles . . . The free kick count was a disaster for us again and if you have a look at the whole year it has been a disaster. When you study the stats, have a look at where the goals came from and have a look how many times they come from a free kick - not (only) from the free itself but from the kick then going to someone out on their own. It has happened continuously to us from stoppages this year. We've got smashed . . . We need to spend some time with the umpiring department because I think we are about 90 kicks the wrong way which is just ridiculous." He then expressed interest in all the supposedly available big names - Daniel Kerr, Alan Didak, Ben Cousins and Josh Carr - although he wasn't so keen on Carr. And added "If Jonathan Brown wants come they can have any draft pick they like." Too late there, Choco.
At Kardinia Park:
Geelong 4.3 12.9 18.12 24.20.164
West Coast 4.3 6.3 9.5 10.5.65
After the game Cat coach Bomber Thompson was asked if his players were as 'hungry' this year. "We just beat the bottom side by nearly a hundred points, I think they're pretty hungry," he replied. Can anyone beat the Cats? . . . they have had a soft run-in, a hard game from the Saints might catch them out. But probably not. The Weegs gave some early cheek but they were soon put to the sword as Thompson had said they would be, although it wasn't as bad as the hammering the Pu55ies gave the Weegs at Subiaco. Prior to the season folks pondered how the Eegs would progress without Cousins and Judd, the answer clearly is, very badly. But the Weevils were too bad, absolutely, disgracefully uncompetitive in many games. There were some injury problems but these seemed to accumulate once the season went pear-shaped, typical of the prevailing non-competitive attitude. The pundit-o-sphere lashed the Weegs' weak senior players early in the season until John Worsfold himself tired of them (the players, that is) and gave a stack of youngsters a go. Worsfold has projected a relentless confidence in the future, and we're told these days the gap between the best and worst teams is narrowing all the time, but there would have to be an incredible improvement from the Weegs for them to make the finals next year. In selection here the Cats regained Mathew Stokes and recalled Ryan Gamble, they replaced injured Andrew Mackie ('soreness') and Max Rooke, suspended a game for clobbering Jess Sinclair last week. The Eegs had forward Mark LeCras return and selected backman Will Schofield, they replaced retired Michael Braun and the dropped Tony Notte.
Grey, drizzly day in Catland. The Cats scored a goal directly from the opening bounce, Jimmy Bartel punted forward, Gamble knocked-on and Cam Mooney had an air-swing with a soccer attempt in the goal-square, but Tom Lonergan got a handball away for Steve Johnson to snap it through. The Weegs applied a bit of physical pressure over the following minutes, despite not threatening the sticks themselves. Adam Selwood led the way, niggling Gary Ablett continually. With three Selwoods engaged here, Mr. and Mrs. Selwood were in the crowd. Ottens and Mooney missed shots for the Cats before the Weegs managed a goal, under-pressure Cat Shannon Byrnes handballed over team-mate Scarlett's head and straight to Weeg Ash Hansen, who snapped truly. Dean 'Big' Cox tapped the following centre-bounce neatly to Sam Butler, he punted long and the ball rebounded handily for Andrew Embley to snap a major. At the next centre-bounce Ablett and A. Selwood tangled, the ump awarded Selwood a free and a 50m penalty as Ablett also dragged Mark Seaby to the ground. Adam Selwood goaled and the Weegs led by 10 points, having scored three majors in as many minutes. It was the high-point of their day. The Pu55ies won the next centre-clearance and their Joel Selwood punted wide where Brad Ottens marked on a strong lead, he goaled with a great kick. Another goal came from a centre-break, this time Weegle Chad Fletcher held without the ball. The Eegs were tardy in returning the pill to Fletcher and Cat Johnson jogged through the mark, a 50m penalty and Fletcher majored. Eegs by 10 again. The Cats steadied with help from the friends their umpires, Ryan Gamble goaled with a free-kick for being pushed in the back by team-mate Ottens, it appeared. A coupla minutes later Cameron Ling drove a long kick in and the ball spilled from the pack, Johnson was dived-upon by Ryan Davis - no doubt this time - and Johnson free-kicked a goal. Scores were level at the first break. The Eegs continued to give cheek into the second stanza, firstly Steve Johnson put the Cats ahead with a goal after being paid a dubious juggled mark in front of Schofield, who looked like he got first touch. Eegs Cox and Matthew Priddis combined to win the next centre-clearance and Steven Armstrong kicked long, Ben McKinley out-bustled Harley to take a good grab and played-on to stab it through. Scores level. The Katz went ahead again after Cox held a great grab deep in defence and handballed off to Eric Mackenzie, who was hopelessly caught by Tom Lonergan. Lonergan free-kicked a decent major. A coupla Cat misses before the Eegs responded, Mark LeCras held a grab as McKinley crashed the pack in front of him. LeCras's major saw the Cats just 2 points ahead half-way through the second term, but the Pu55ies and their friends romped away now. Steve Johnson free-kicked a goal after being hammered by Adam Selwood, who also gave up a 50m penalty with vigorous complaints after. Selwood had a point, it was a violent but perfectly fair tackle. Backman Harry Taylor ran by a contest to receive a handball and lob it through off his left boot, a lovely pass from Ling picked out Travis Varcoe for a mark and goal, Ottens fired a great handball while lying on the ground and Brent Prismall's quick punt took a flukey bounce past Mooney and Glass for a major. Geelagong led by 26 points, Varcoe missed a coupla of times amongst some general Cat behinds prior to two late majors. Mooney marked on a long lead, his kick into CHF was a shocker but Gamble gathered and dished off for Prismall to drive it through. Lonergan hooked a free-kick for a tight-angle major and the Catters led by 42 points at the long break.
Just a procession thereon. LeCras booted the opening goal of the third term, with a great kick after marking 40m out on the boundary. The Cats replied as Stokes marked Ablett's free-kick in stride and played-on to bounce a shot home through the empty 'square. Mooney, generally beaten by Glass, managed to get behind the Weegle skipper to run onto Joel Selwood's long kick, wheel about and snap it through. McKinley free-kicked one for the Eegs, ridden head-first into the ground by Josh Hunt, McKinley slotted superbly again from the boundary-line. Mooney marked easily in front of Glass and booted a goal for the Catters, then great play from Stokes (tough handball) and Varcoe (tap-on) set up one for Ablett. Johnson converted from a mark on-the-lead and the Cats led by 61 points. Priddis snapped one for the Eegs after roving a Quinten Lynch bomb, but Stokes booted the final major of the quarter after a strong overhead grab of Ottens's long kick. Stokes had also been reported during the third for striking Fletcher, probably Geelong's biggest worry coming out of the day. The final quarter started slowly, six minutes in Wiggle Jamie McNamara booted a long goal, set-up by Priddis's handpass. The Cats led by 56 points and proceeded to kick a slew of behinds prior to a late goal-burst, Ablett literally wrestled the ball off Armstrong and Corey Enright lobbed a pass for Lonergan to mark and convert. Hunt thundered one into the Hickey Stand from outside 50 off two steps, then a ball-up on the wing was cleared superbly by Joel Corey, Varcoe kicked long and Lonergan marked in the goal-square to pop it through. Embley's pressured clearing kick went straight to Joel Selwood, he passed for Enright to mark and convert. Steve Johnson booted another after marking Mooney's flat, wobbly punt and proceedings closed as Mark Blake intercepted McNamara's tired kick and lobbed the ball goal-wards, roving Byrnes swept up the ball and stabbed it through from point-blank.
Plenty of decent Cats, Steve Johnson bagged 6 goals from 28 disposals with 8 marks. Cameron Ling (34 disposals, 6 marks) was terrific, in the first half especially, while Brad Ottens (20 touches, 6 marks, 29 hit-outs, a goal) was a strong performer against Big Cox. The usual midfield suspects in Jimmy Bartel (28 possessions, 6 marks), Joel Selwood (29 touches) and Joel Corey (20 disposals) were all very good, junior Harry Taylor (23 touches, 7 marks, a goal) played well at CHB and in attack Tom Lonergan (12 handlings, 4 marks, 4 goals) was handy too. Gary Ablett (30 touches, 1.3) battled against Adam Selwood. Mathew Stokes, Brent Prismall and Cam Mooney kicked 2 goals each. For the Eegs, full-back and captain Darren Glass (16 disposals) did well on Mooney and 'midfielder' Quinten Lynch (21 possessions) plugged away, Sam Butler (15 possies) and Matthew Priddis (16 possessions, 10 tackles) were alright as was Dean Cox (21 possies, 15 hit-outs). Adam Selwood was okay. Ben McKinley and Mark LeCras kicked 2 goals each, McKinley finished the club's leading goal-scorer with 42. Standby for Woosha's rosy vision. "There wasn't a lot out of today's game, other than just the guys trying to work pretty hard and hang in there," Worsfold said. "I was still pretty proud of the boys, the way they hung in there. A few of them were pretty sore, but they really fought it out. That first quarter-and-a-half, they really threw everything at Geelong, everything that they had, and I think they were pretty worn out, but it's very positive, our football club, the position we're in. We're very excited now, moving forward, with what we've seen this year. Even though we saw that a lot of our young players are still well short of being top-line AFL footballers, the first thing is they'll be a lot better with our senior players back around them, and they've shown a lot of excitement throughout the year." Worsfold went on to claim Daniel Kerr would still be playing for the Eegs in 2009. Thompson said "I just know that we're playing great football; we have for five, six, seven and eight weeks, so we're more than comfortable with where we're at. They're playing good footy and we haven't got too many injuries and we've managed players' time really well . . . The second, third and fourth quarters (today) were outstanding. We were really pleased with it. [We were] hard to play against and we won a heap of the ball and had a lot of entries and we tackled them and it was exactly the last sort of game that you'd want before a finals series." Bomber went on to concede it'd be difficult to fit James Kelly, Max Rooke, David Wojcinski and Andrew Mackie back into the side. Nice problem to have.
At Football Park:
Adelaide 3.1 4.10 7.12 10.16.76
Footscray 4.3 5.8 7.12 9.13.67
With the teams around them (i.e. North, the Mag-lies) failing, the Camrys grabbed the chance to improve their position with a slogging win over the Bullpups in the wet. In fact the Corollas thought they'd grabbed fourth and the double-chance before the Saints' remarkably huge win the next day. At least the win brought them a home final. The Dogs limp into the finals with some pretty ordinary recent form but they did have a red-hot go here, the rain and an absolute howler of a goal-umpiring decision - Akermanis's clear rushed behind in the last quarter given as an Addleaid goal - didn't help the Dogs. At least the meaningless skirmishes are over now and they can focus on the September campaign. In pickin' the Camrys regained Bernie Vince and Jason Porplyzia and recalled big man Kurt Tippett. They replaced dropped trio Brad Moran, Brent Reilly and Patrick Dangerfield. The Bulldogs experimented a bit, giving an AFL debut to midfielder Sam Reid from Queensland club Zillmere and calling up ruckman Wayde Skipper for his first game in a while, Lindsay Gilbee returned from injury. They replaced Ben Hudson (tight hamstring) and dropped pair Andrejs Everitt and Callan Ward.
Before the game retiring Camry Rhett Biglands did a lap of honour, persistent knee injuries have forced the ruckman with the huge leap to hang 'em up. Light but steady rain greeted the players as the banners were broken, it'd been raining for a while already. Three quick goals were scored before the conditions took hold, Doggy Matthew Boyd tumbled an early kick forward, it spilled to Jarrod Harbrow who got a quick snap away which bounced through with shepherding from Brad Johnson. Daniel Cross booted the Bullies forward from the restart, Mitch Hahn collected the ball and got a handpass away to Akermanis, another to Shaun Higgins set up a simple slot and the Pups had a 12-point lead. The Camrys got one, Nathan Van Berlo completed a two-bounce run with a long kick and Scott Thompson held a back-pedalling mark, he majored. But soon the ball got slippery and the Cows' standard tactics, heavy defensive flooding, dominated proceedings. The Dogs flooded a bit, too. Scott Stevens kicked a long point for the Cows and Nathan Eagleton postered for the Doggies. Bully ruckman Will Minson extracted the ball from a pack in his defensive goal-square but then threw the ball away while being tackled, Camry man Porplyzia free-kicked an easy goal to put the Cows a point ahead. The Bullies responded, young Sam Reid kicked for leading Eagleton to hold a strong grab, Eagleton drove a long kick to the top o' the 'square where Daniel 'Guido' Giansiracusa marked all-too-easily. Guido majored and the Dogs led by 7 points. Richard Douglas lobbed a kick forward from the restart for the Cows and Porplyzia gathered, he fired a handpass inboard for running Van Berlo to lob a kick home from 50m. The Doggies finished off well though, a complex interchange ended with Ryan Hargrave kicking long and Eagleton lurked to mark deep in the pocket, he played-on and hooked it through, celebrating with wet grass stuck to his bald head. The Bullies led by 8 points at korter-time. It was absolutely bucketting down by the time le deuxieme trimestre commenced, and the game turned into a real slog. Half-way through the term, with both sides having managed a coupla behinds each, the Camrys edged ahead when Bulldawg Akermanis's long kick-in went to ground from a big pack and Van Berlo got a quick kick away, the ball slithered past Lake and Stevens and rolled through for a goal. A breeze had sprung up and was favouring the Cows, soon they locked the ball in their forward half. Nick Gill got a ride on Cross to take a superb screamer, but as usual with Gill he missed the resulting shot. The Camrys ground their way into a 2-point lead with a string of behinds, a couple rushed but Graham 'Stiffy' Johncock showed why his name was made as a defender. Footscray backman Brian Lake was reported for crunching Stevens high, it didn't look too bad. In time-on there was a ball-up in the Dogs's attacking goal-square, from it Giansiracusa managed a snap which with smothered superbly by, er, some Camry bloke, but Robert Murphy collected the rebound and handballed for running Lindsay Gilbee to drive a kick through for a goal. Thus the Pups led by 4 points at the long rest.
The rain had eased for the start of the third Mario. The Bullies managed an early goal, Josh Hill couldn't mark Murphy's pass under considerable pressure from Ben Rutten, but Hill got a handball away and Akermanis's quick left-foot shot from 45m drifted through, a great goal. A 10-point lead for the Bullies but the Corollas responded, they worked the ball clear of a big pack with some tap-ons and handballs, Brad Symes wobbled a low mongrel-punt in from 50m and it flopped into Scott Stevens's arms, he majored. Just as well as Stevens had recently missed horrendously. The Dogs did some attackin' but produced four consecutive behinds, at which stage they led by 7 points. Johncock's aggressive attack on the ball broke down a Puppy move, Simon Goodwin got a handpass away to galumphing Kurt Tippett who kicked long where Tyson Edwards would've held a with-the-flight mark, if not interfered-with by Lake. Edwards converted his free-kick but the Dogs answered quickly, Giansiracusa had a free at the restart and jabbed it short to Minson, he kicked into space where running Murphy marked on his chest and steered it through from the flank. Dogs by 7 points again. Bock scored a behind for the Cressidas and the Bullpups made a complete mess of the kick-in, Gilbee played-on with a handpass which Porplyzia half-smothered, Lake tried to help out but fumbled the slippery ball and Tippett lobbed a handball for Edwards to catch and snap through. Scores were thus level at the final change. Into the last then and Controversy City. Edwards kicked a point, Andrew McLeod recovered Gilbee's kick-in and handballed to Thompson who launched a high punt back to the goal-square. Porplyzia spilled a difficult marking chance and after the ball hit the ground he had a soccer-go at it, as diving Akermanis attempted to rush it through. The ball squirted over the line and Aker and team-mates Gilbee and Tim Callan were adamant Aker'd touched it, following prolonged consultation with his colleagues the idiot flag-waver signaled a six-pointer. The TV replay showed clearly Akermanis had punched the ball over, Porplyzia's foot was a mile away. The Camrys led by 7 points but there was still a lotta footy to be played. Chris Knights missed a shot for the Camrys before Tippett clutched an emphatic pack-mark 20m out and dobbed it, giving the locals a healthy 14-point lead. The Dogs hit back, Eagleton wobbled a pass with his non-preferred right-foot towards leading Murphy, only for team-mate Scott Welsh to slice across and mark instead. Some off-ball kerfuffle added a 50m penalty and former Corolla Welsh, booed loudly by the locals, punted a major. A minute later running Ryan Griffen launched a torpedo-punt from 70m into a forward 'paddock' which took a big, skidding bounce off the wet turf and slipped through for a goal, narrowing the Camry lead to 2 points. Approaching time-on the diff was still 2 points when the Cows attacked and Knights launched a long punt to the goal-square, it spilled backwards from the pack and Edwards shinned the ball over from point-blank. The Camrys led by 8 points, a behind from defender Rutten was the only other score.
A day for pack-battlers and the Camrys had the edge. Nathan Van Berlo (22 disposals, 7 tackles, 2 goals) was great again and Tyson Edwards (12 touches, 4 marks, 3 goals) lurked for some handy goals, Scott Thompson (16 touches, 5 tackles, a goal) and Michael Doughty (23 disposals) did well too. Brad Symes (18 handlings) and Andrew McLeod (23 touches) worked well from defence and big men Ivan Maric (18 disposals, 3 marks, 24 hit-outs) and Scott Stevens (19 touches, 4 marks, 1.3) were handy. Jason Porplyzia, who can barely move his right arm, is officially credited with 2 goals. The Bulldogs had great games from Nathan Eagleton (29 disposals, 11 marks, a goal) and Daniel Cross (31 possessions), Daniel Giansiracusa (32 touches, 5 marks, a goal) was pretty good too. Lindsay Gilbee (31 possies, 6 marks, a goal) and Jason Akermanis (23 handlings, a goal) played well, running hard from defence. The Dogs had nine goal-kickers. 'Rocket' Eade commented upon the psychology of the Bulldogs knowing their fate many weeks ago. "We've been in a holding pattern for six or seven weeks really. People have been critical of us, but for three quarters of most games we've been pretty good. We've dropped away in concentration at various stages, which may be to do with that holding pattern; the fact that it's not life and death for us . . . I think it was a pretty good game; pretty tight. Both teams made a lot of mistakes, which you'd expect in the wet, and maybe just at crucial times they just had a little bit more poise than we did. It was the sort of game that was great for us going into a finals series. Against a very good side I certainly thought we held our own, which was good." Not surprisingly, he suggested 'technology' (i.e. replay) should be used for contentious goal-umpiring decisions. Neil Craig said "I certainly thought our group responded big time from our performance against St Kilda. Our inside 50 metres were 57, so we've gone from 37 last week to 57 this week and hopefully that will continue into the finals. On the same theme, of response, I thought the Western Bulldogs were a bit better than us early in the game and, until we adjusted to the wet conditions, it looked like we were going to be in a bit of trouble. But once we adjusted, the fight of our playing group I thought was just fantastic . . . Now, we're still not sure yet how it will all fall. It [fourth place] is still not guaranteed I don't think, but that was what we were playing for and we've given ourselves a chance." Well, a dopey goal-ump did. Only for the Saints to snatch it away.
At Docklands:
Carlton 2.3 4.5 8.6 12.9.81
Hawthorn 6.4 10.7 16.13 24.15.159
Drama at both ends as Hawk forward Lance 'Buddy' Franklin kicked his 100th goal of the season late in the first quarter and Carlton spearhead Brendan Fevola finished the year with 99 goals, missing a series of early shots before booting seven majors in the second half. Couldn't happen to a nicer bloke. This game was devoid of any meaning outside the race-to-100, the Hawks cruising to an easy win. As many feared and Blueser fans dreamed, the arrival of Chris Judd and return of Nick Stevens from serious injury precipitated a sharp improvement in the Bluies' fortunes this season, with the recruitment of Matthew Kreuzer and improvement from Bryce Gibbs, especially, along with the likes of Grigg and Jamison all bonuses. There's still a lack of strength in depth, especially in the back-line and perhaps an over-reliance on Fevola to kick goals, but they should resolve over a season or two. There was debate recently over whether the Tigers or Blues were the bigger improvers this season, in terms of wins it's the Tiges but you could argue the Bluesers have had more impressive victories. The Bluies made two late changes to the side victorious in Brisbane, Darren Pfeiffer and Mark Austin replaced Andrew Carrazzo (knee) and Heath Scotland (hip). The Hawks regained Robert Campbell and Luke Hodge and recalled Xavier Ellis, while resting Simon Taylor and Shane Crawford. Cameron Stokes missed with gastro.
Sure enough Fevola missed his first set-shot, in front of anuge crowd. A minute later they roared as the ball went towards Franklin and about seventeen Bluie backmen, Lance couldn't mark it but Cyril Rioli swept by, scooped up the ball and slotted a lovely left-foot goal from the flank. There's a big push to have Rioli in the All-Australian side. A bit later Rioli tried to set up Franklin for his first, but Rioli's poor pass yorkered big Buddy who was also slung to the ground by Paul Bower, but the ump waved play-on and Mark Williams handballed for Jordan Lewis to grubber a goal. Hawks by 12 points before the Bluies got on the board, Fevola sliced another shot into the opposite pocket but Cameron Cloke gathered and snapped a noice one. The Bluesers won the ball from the following centre-clearance, Shaun Hampson handballed for Judd to spurt clear and thump it home on-the-run. Scores level then, the Hawks went ahead thanks to a beautiful cross-ground kick from Clint Young which running Hodge marked in his stride, Hodge ran inside 50 and speared it through. A bundle of behinds were scored over the next few minutes, including a another from Fevola. Well into time-on Franklin maneuvered in front of Bower to take a strong grab of Lewis's long kick and punt his first sausage roll for the night and 99th for the year. Two minutes later a quick rebound involving Hodge and Lewis ended with Rioli scooting clear of a would-be tackler and lobbing a kick for unopposed Franklin to mark, 25m out on a slight angle to the left. Buddy got that reverse-swing going and through it went for no. 100, the first man to kick 100 goals within the 22 rounds since legend Tony 'Plugger' Lockett in 1998; last week Lockett practically anointed Franklin as his heir. People streamed on and Buddy was escorted down the race until the carnival was over and the game could resume. When it did, ten minutes later, Franklin immediately kicked a point but with 15 seconds left in the stanza some superb roving from Rioli again set up Williams for a point-blank blast and the Awks led by 25 points at the first break. The Orcs extended the lead in an anti-climactic second term. Franklin and Roughead kicked early points before running Chance Bateman drove a low kick forward and Williams marked behind Austin, Willo turned and popped it through. A minute later Roughead lazily attempted a mark one-handed, he dropped it, re-gathered and was tackled and should've been done for 'bawl' but instead the yellow Sherrin spilled free, Bloo Joe Anderson gathered and was tackled superbly by Sam Mitchell, more spillage and Campbell Brown bagged a goal. The Awks led by a comfortable 38 points now. Carton got one at last, from the next centre-bounce as Judd lobbed a handball and running Jordan Russell saw his long punt bounce home for a six-pointer. But Mitchell and Rick Ladson cleared the restart and Bateman speared a pass onto the chest of Horforn ruckman Robert Campbell, he goaled. Williams booted another for the Hawks, created by some great play from Rioli again, and they led by 43 points. Late in the half Bloo Marc Murphy's hopeful centering kick was well-marked by Bryce Gibbs, he kicked a major to reduce the Bluies' deficit to 38 points, Fevola still goal-less.
Breakthrough for Fev immediately after half-time, a good Bluie move ended with Kade Simpson passing for leading Fevola to mark sliding on his knees and the big galoot thumped it through at last. But the Hawks hit back hard and often, Ladson chipped a kick for Brown to mark strongly against Bret Thornton and boot a major, a minute later Roughead ran forward with a bounce and handballed to Rioli, whose centering kick was meant for Williams but Franklin intercepted and snapped it through. Hungry b*stard. Mitchell won the next centre-clearance and Brad Sewell drove a long kick in, rugged Brown roved his own contest to snap another, great goal. Horforn led by 51 points. Carton steadied a bit, a sweeping rebound move ending with leading Fevola marking Murphy's long kick and punting truly. Bateman and Roughead missed shots before Gibbs lobbed a kick into space and Fevola nipped ahead of Guerra and Croad to mark again, Fev's third goal cut the margin to 41 points. The Orcs surged again, Blue hero Judd's attempted pass to Simpson at CHB was intercepted by Sewell who kicked a goal, Michael Osborne soccered goal-square pack-spillage for a sausage and from the restart taps from Brent Renouf and Mitchell allowed Bateman to gather, run inside 50 and roost it through. Late in the stanza Bloo Ryan Houlihan collected Cloke's directed spoil and stabbed a pass to leading Fevola, big Fev slotted again but the 55-point gap at the final change was probably too big, even for a renowned Blueser final term. Another four for Fev was all most folks cared about - Hawk fans didn't want him to get them. The Awks squashed any notion of a Bluie comeback with two quick goals from Jarryd Roughead, both from marks about 30m out. Great effort from Mitchell to create the second one. Then Fevola got one, 'donated' by a handball from Simpson who could've kicked it himself, although Fev may've given Simpson the Irish barman treatment if he hadn't honoured Fev's call. Sewell hacked a kick forward from the restart and Roughead galloped out again to mark on his chest and kick another. The Blooze won the next centre-clearance and Hampson drove a long kick towards Fev, Cloke and several Hawk backmen, the ball spilled and roving Gibbs snapped a sausage. Fevola kicked a point but within a minute later he took a strong, leading grab of Stevens's pass and booted accurately. Fev was being double-teamed at this point. Another clean centre break, engineered by Hawk Campbell, led to a running goal for Michael Osborne and shortly afterwards Franklin kicked another, leaping to mark in front of Bower. Roughead's rain-making punt from a throw-in took a handy bounce in the goal-square to go through for a major, with decent shepherding from Rioli. Hawks by 74 points but back to Fevola - sandwiched between Croad and Thomas Murphy he couldn't mark Stevens's kick, Brad Fisher roved and was running into an open goal when he turned and handballed back to on-coming Fevola, who was shoved heftily the back by Hork Murphy. A free-kick for Fev and he booted no. 99 for the year. Bateman waltzed clear of the restart and kicked long, Roughead shoved off young Austin to mark and boot his fifth goal for the quarter - a fair effort. Afterwards Roughead trotted down the other end of the ground a made it a triple-team on Fevola, something which angered Ratten afterwards. Pas de cadeaux, Ratts. But first it was another Hok centre-break and Osborne held a tough mark under pressure, he converted. Fevola had one last chance for the 100th, but he was penalised for pushing Murphy out of the way before spilling the marking chance anyway. Blew it in the first quarter.
Sam Mitchell (28 disposals) had a terrific night around the packs, with running Orcs Luke Hodge (32 handlings, 8 marks, a goal) and Jordan Lewis (35 possessions, 8 marks, a goal) also in great form. Brad Sewell (23 possies, a goal) took over when Mitchell rested and half-back Grant Birchall (27 disposals) got plenty of touches as well. In attack Campbell Brown (11 possies, 4 marks, 3 goals) has been very good since moved there mid-season, Cyril Rioli (17 handlings, a goal) did some smart things. Jarryd Roughead (14 touches, 6 marks) booted all of his 5 goals in the last quarter and Lance 'Buddy' Franklin (14 handlings, 6 marks) ended with 4 goals (4.5), 102 for the season so far and the Coleman Medal. Mark Williams and Michael Osborne finished with 3 goals each. Perhaps fittingly Chris Judd (31 disposals, 6 marks, a goal) was the Blooze best, with Marc Murphy (36 possies, 7 marks) and Bryce Gibbs (32 possessions, 11 marks, 2 goals) battling away. Brendan Fevola (8 marks, 12 kicks) finished with 7 second-half goals, he's the first bloke to end a VFL/AFL season on 99. 'Football's Don Bradman', one headline read. Steady on. Andrew Walker (22 touches, 11 marks) and Adam Bentick (18 handlings) were okay, Paul Bower (18 disposals) did well on Franklin considering and Bret Thornton (20 possessions) at least cracked a few heads down back. Brett Ratten talked mostly about Fevola. "I think that shows the talent of the player. We've only got the ball in 43 times and he's still kicked seven and hit the post and things like that. It's just a shame that he didn't kick (the ton) because I think if he would have kicked it this game would have been replayed [for years to come], regardless of the score between the two teams. I don't think you'll ever see two full-forwards kick 100 goals on the same day in the same round, so it would have just been a fantastic fairytale romance." On the game and year he said "Our performance today, I think we learned a lot from a team that really runs hard that is playing finals and we'll have to match that next time . . . I'm reasonably satisfied we've finished out of the bottom four, where we've been anchored for the last few years, and we have a group of promising younger players who can take us forward." Al Clarkson said "The guys were really determined to do well, and we think winning form is good form. That was a real focus for us . . . When we move the ball swiftly like that and give our forwards opportunity, we're an exciting team to watch . . . It's been a real slog, the 22 rounds, and all the home-and-away does is give you the opportunity to qualify for a position in the top eight. We've managed to finish in the top four, so we know we're going to play at least two finals. If we play well enough, we'll go deep enough into September. I wouldn't imagine that games will be as free-flowing and as high scoring in the finals as what it was today. The strange part about footy is that you can nearly put away what's happened in the previous 22 games. I recall last year we got defeated handsomely by the Sydney Swans in round 22, Adelaide had a victory in round 22 and we managed to win the following week. It's really how you prepare for the day. We're not under any illusions about the difficulty of our task going forward, and we'll prepare for the Western Bulldogs as we've done every other side in the 22 home-and-away rounds."
At the SCG:
Sydney 3.3 7.8 12.9 17.12.114
Brisbane 1.6 3.9 5.13 6.17.53
A game since overshadowed by the resignation of Lyin' coach 'Lethal' Leigh Matthews, the true legend of the game who's done it all is leaving the Lisbon Brians after ten years in charge with three premierships, a fair stint. Matthews denied his decision, made privately the day before this game and announced Monday, had anything to do with the Lyin's poor finish to this season or rumoured rifts with senior players. Lethal said he had a gut-feeling it was time to retire, after finding himself wondering more and more often about when he would give it away. If you believe the conspiracy theory though, Jonathan Brown and Matthews haven't been on speaking terms for weeks and Monday's sequence of events is suspicious; Brown announces he'll be signing a new 'long-term' Lyin' contract; Lethal's resignation; Michael Voss seeks leave from the Eagles, where he'd signed up as an assistant to Worsfold in 2009, to apply for the Brisbun job. Brisbun's late-season form, a miserable 2-7 from the last 9 games which saw them tumble from sixth to eleventh, indicated problems anyway. Terrible losses in Melbourne to the Dees - a shocker - Essadun and the Tigers featured and the home loss to Carton last week was the latest in a series of fade-outs. Matthews copped some criticism for having no 'plan B' or not employing tempo-football when the opposition get a run-on. Siddey secured a home final with the expected win, they could draw some encouragement from the fact they won without Adam Goodes (rested due to dodgy groin), Ryan O'Keefe (ditto) and Mick O'Loughlin, who wasn't in the side to start with but will play next week. Luke Ablett and Nick Malceski were recalled here to replace Goodes and O'Keefe. The Lyin's made six changes to the side beaten by the Bluesers, Ashley McGrath (thigh strain) and Matthew Moody (groin) were unavailable while the axe fell on Rob Copeland, James Hawksley, Rhan Hooper and Travis Johnstone, the last one very deserved. Incoming were Troy Selwood, Lachie Henderson, Tom Collier, Albert Proud, Scott Harding and Scott Clouston. Neglected to mention the retirement last week of champion Lyin' wingman Nigel Lappin, a member of the 'Fab Four' in Brisbun's peak years. He's got the three premiership medallions, four All-Australian selections and a club B&F from 2004. Persistent ankle and achilles tendon injuries have ruined his recent years, but he's been a great player for the Lyin's (and Bears) over 279 games.
The drizzly night started in typical Swan fashion, three ball-ups before the ball was knocked into Jarred Moore's path and Moore slotted a goal. Moore proceeded to miss a couple of shots but so did twin Lyin' towers Brown and Daniel Bradshaw, both men kicking two points each in the opening term. They were tricky shots from distance, but still. After the game Matthews lamented his side's goal-kicking inaccuracy over the season, they're the worst in the league. Halfway through the stanza Lyin' Troy Selwood majored with the aid of a marginal free-kick, tackled without the ball by Buchanan, and a mystery 50m penalty. That tied the scores but the Swans slipped ahead by the korter's end, Barry Hall led up to the wing to take a solid grab and Moore stabbed a kick into the centre for running Nick Malceski to collect, Malceski's long shot bounced home through an empty 'square. A bit later Patrick Veszpremi slotted a running beauty from the boundary-line and the Bloods ended up leading by 9 points at the first break, after Brown and Bradshaw had kicked their second behinds. The second stanza commenced with plenty more points from both sides, it was a scrappy game with the middle of the ground very congested. Again about halfway through the stanza some goals came, Moore slipped free of congestion and the ball went to Craig Bird, his pass went over leading Hall's head but Kieran Jack slipped in behind to poke it through from point-blank. Moore also had a hand in the next goal, handballing (poorly) to Heath Grundy who did well to gather and give another to Jarrad McVeigh, he thumped it home from 50m. The Swans had opened a 24-point lead. Brisbun pulled a goal back when second-gamer Scott Clouston led into the pocket to mark Simon Black's pass, Clouston steered it through from a very tight angle. Siddey replied direct from the restart, Darren Jolly thumped the ball forward and after some scramble, diving Jack managed a handball to Bird, who curled a great snap between the big posts. The Brians replied presently, Michael Rischitelli lobbed a kick to the goal-square and as Siddey backmen swarmed around Brown the ball spilled, roving Lachie Henderson had a simple tap-through. The Bloods' lead was 19 points, Moore intervened for them again with a goal scored with an absolutely mystifying free-kick, plucked from a big stacks-on at CHF. It was against Irishman Pearce Hanley, apparently. Before half-time Bradshaw kicked another point, his tight-angle shot clipping the inside of the post. The Swans led by 23 points.
Siddey ground inexorably clear in the third. Barry Hall provided a side-show, tangling with opponent Joel Patfull and giving Daniel Merrett a patented 'tummy-tap' - a very soft one, it must be said. Psycho-Barry was kinda frustrated by some poor delivery and Patfull's decent effort against him. Bradshaw missed again early-on but finally bagged a goal a minute later, a free-kick from 35m right in front after Leo Barry took his arms in a marking contest. Brisbun were relatively close at 16 points down but the irrepressible Jarred Moore responded for the Swans, roving Hall's contest to run inside 50 with a bounce and stab a low kick home. Crumbing to a double-teamed Hall contest also brought the next goal, Veszpremi sweeping by the collect the ball and stab a sausage. Soon Paul Bevan sent a pass wide to Ted Richards who played-on and whacked it through from 50. 'Spida' Everitt and Brisbun counterpart Jamie Charman had indulged in some handbags and Everitt won a free against wrestling Charman at a ball-up in the centre, there was also a 50m penalty against Jared Brennan for some back-chat. As Spida lined-up from 20m the ump awarded another 50m pen, against Charman for being 'too close' to the old Swan battler. Not even Spida could miss from point-blank. The Swans had kicked out to a 39-point lead now. Henderson punted the Lyin's into attack from the next centre-bounce and Bradshaw held a good grab under some pressure, he goaled. Nothing happened for a while until, late in the quarter, Lyin' Black coughed up a handball under pressure and Moore collected, the ball went to Veszpremi who had a pop from 50m and the Sherrin took a bizarre, high bounce to go over Henderson and between the big posts. Siddey led by 38 points at the last change and spurted further ahead early in the last, a prolonged scrap 50m out - featuring a great tackle from Mattner on Charman - ended with the ball in Jack's hands and he punted a long major. A few minutes later Psycho Barry Hall finally got one, out-maneuvering Merrett to mark Veszpremi's long kick by the point-post, play-on and hook it through. Shortly Jude Bolton chipped a very short pass to McVeigh, who was slung heavily to the ground after marking by Selwood - the Lyin' complained, with some justification, that Bolton's kick hadn't travelled 15m. But the ump decided it had so it was a 50m penalty and goal to McVeigh. The Swarns led by 56 points now. A consolation goal for the Brians, Rischtelli bombed it in and after some group-juggling Charman emerged with the ball, he made to play-on but the ump blew the whistle to pay a mark. Charman had a wry smile as he dobbed it. Jude Bolton later flattened Albert Proud with a high bump, could be trouble. In the dying minutes Moore threaded a great free-kick goal from the boundary and Veszpremi bombed another 50m goal after leading to mark Grundy's pass. Brown kicked another point.
Although the Swans have been talking 'end of an era' they've uncovered promising youngsters this year, Jarred Moore (22 disposals, 4 goals) had a great game to end a fine (home and away) season and although he's only played a handful of games, Patrick Veszpremi (14 handlings, 3 marks, 4 goals) looks very promising. A super-fit Jarrad McVeigh (28 disposals, 10 marks, 2 goals) has also had a good year, at CHB Lewis Robert-Thomson (19 touches, 9 marks) was unusually good, helped out against Brown by team-mates and the Lyin' man's inaccuracy. Nick Malceski (27 possies, 8 marks, a goal) and Ted Richards (21 handlings, 12 marks, a goal) played well too. Leo Barry did a decent job on Bradshaw and Ol' Spida Everitt (16 disposals, 19 hit-outs, a goal) actually did a bit. Kieran Jack, another decent kid, kicked 2 goals. For Brisbun, thought Jared Brennan (21 possessions, 6 marks) was their best amongst a small field of candidates, Simon Black (26 touches) worked hard and Bradd Dalziell (25 disposals, 8 marks) is one of those blokes who gets lots of touches without you noticing. Daniel Merrett and Joel Patfull (17 disposals) teamed up well on Hall and Scott Clouston (13 touches, 11 marks, a goal) showed a bit. Daniel Bradshaw kicked 2 goals (2.4) to finish third in the leeg goal-kicking table with 75, Jonathan Brown kicked 0.4 on the night but he booted 70 goals for the season, fourth in the leeg. Can't be may sides have their key forwards kick 70+ goals and not make the finals. Leigh Matthews said "It's a long time before you play again, but there's not much positive to take out of round 22. I don't think anyone could think we were anything but average on our performance tonight." On the season he said "There are two sides that have less than 50 per cent accuracy and the Eagles are the other. Somehow or other, we've been able to stay around the action, but our scoring percentage is about 48 per cent. It's horrible. We've always struggled to find anyone finding the ball at ground level in the forward line. Down the other end, however, their smaller forwards were the goalkickers. They only had one big one in Hall, and Merrett did a pretty good job on him, I thought." Leigh hadn't announced his intention to retire at this point. Paul Roos said "It was a good contribution. Our small forwards did really well and to kick eight between them is a good effort, particularly with Paddy (Veszpremi) coming in late for Ryan O'Keefe. It's good to see some of the young guys amongst the old fellas. The thing I really liked [about tonight] was the tackling and the energy and the intensity . . . the things that we haven't been doing as well as what we know. So hopefully that gives us confidence . . . Our objective tonight was pretty clear. It was to pick a couple of guys who were out of form in Malceski and Luke Ablett and hope to get them into form. And rest a couple of guys and then to play a lot better than we have. And now we have a home final, it's a real bonus. Better than heading to Melbourne or Adelaide or somewhere like that . . . It keeps us rolling along. And we love playing at our home venues and it makes a big difference to our guys. It's a significant advantage."
At the MCG:
Melbourne 2.1 3.1 4.4 6.5.41
Richmond 2.5 8.9 12.10 18.13.121
The previous night's losses by the Bluies and Lyin's meant the Tiggers were guaranteed a ninth finish again, but this was a 'good ninth', they reckoned. Instead of being achieved with ageing battlers like Gaspar, Kellaway and Rogers, it's been done with all-new strugglers like Thursfield, McGuane and Edwards, who can go on being mediocre for years to come. Ninthmond's challenge is to make the eight and to do that they need to do better against sides like the Kangers, Poise, Swans and Camrys, all of whom belted the Toigs this year (the Corollas twice). Despite a relatively successful year there's already off-field trouble at Tigerland, with president Gary March going on the radio before this game to give coach 'Plough' Wallace a "five out of ten" for the season. Ah, Tiges. The rebuilding Melbun were never going to do well this season and delivered on that promise, with a no.1 draft pick and a priority pick too. Early-season injuries to key forwards David Neitz and Russ Robertson, Neitz's serious enough to cause his retirement, didn't help, and as the season didn't progress yer McLeans, Riverses, Daveys etc. were sent for full rehab. The Dees underwent a complete off-ground overhaul to match what happened on-field, recently re-hiring Cameron Schwab as CEO, who left in the late 90s after disagreements with Joe Gutnick. Dee coach Dean Bailey is of the opinion Melbun 'have the cattle', so it's all ahead of 'em. The Demun side here selected former Tiger Ben Holland for his final game, 'Richo's decoy' is retiring after 191 games (125 with the Tiges), he's also suing Richmun for 300K in unpaid salary, apparently. Also in were Nathan 'The Cougar' Carroll, Addam Maric and debutant Jack Grimes, a highly-rated draftee from Hurstbridge who's battled injury most of the season. Outgoing were Austin Wonaeamirri (hamstring), a bit of a find this season, along with axed trio Mark Jamar, Matthew Bate and Lynden Dunn. They wanted the no. 1 pick. 'Twas also the final Melbun games for ruckman Jeff White and mercurial forward Adem Yze. 'Ooze', of Albanian descent, has been a great entertainer and terrific performer for the Deez over the years. At one stage Yze played 226 consecutive games amongst his total of 271, he also won a club best-and-fairest and finished in the top three four times. Two years ago Yze was poised to become the Dees' leader in games-played and goals-scored, but injuries and a rapid fall from favour conspired against him. Maybe just as well, as his (and White's) inability to perform in the biggest games has been an indictment against them. White was a no.1 draft pick with Fremantle but demanded a trade to the Dees three years later. Always described as 'too short for a modern ruckman' (then why wasn't he used somewhere else?), White played 237 games in total and was Melbun's club champion in 2004. The Tiges had a forced retiree, Greg Tivendale called up for his 188th and final appearance. Tivva is quick with a raking left boot, but his nickname amongst some Toig fans - Squibbendale - suggests why he's no longer required. Tristan Cartledge made way.
It wasn't a contest. The opening term was kinda sluggish, Tivendale kicked two early behinds, the first a running miss. "Typical of his career," said Commetti. Yze also missed awfully, his kicking was terrible which at least proved reassuring for the Dee hierarchy. The Tiges indulged in lotsa back-line chip-about before deciding to try, Matty Richardson won a rucking contest at half-back and passed to leading Jack Riewoldt, he kicked quickly to find Daniel Connors marking alone 15m out, who popped it through. The Dees replied after Nathan 'Cougar' Carroll was gifted a 50m penalty in the back pocket, he dished off and Daniel Bell kicked long where Brad Green roved the spillage and stabbed it through. Tiges Mitch Morton and Matt White missed set shots before Jordan McMahon set up Brett Deledio with a hospital handpass, Deledio was hammered by Dee Brad Miller and Matty Whelan swept up the spilled ball to bag a major - the Deez led by 3 points. Huzzah! Richo missed selfishly from the boundary-line, ignoring options, before Riewoldt placed a smart kick for Deledio to mark with-the-flight in the pocket, he played-on and hooked it through. A sudden, heavy rain shower drenched the ground late in the term and the Tiggers led by 4 points at the first break. The Toigs ground ahead in the second stanza, early on Richard Tambling lobbed a kick to the top o' the 'square and Nathan Foley gathered the pack spillage to stab a major. Dee man James McDonald, who had a terrible day, blew a certain Dee goal by dropping a mark 15m out. The Toigs majored again from a goal-square scramble, Jay Schulz battled toughly and Riewoldt soccered it through. From a throw-in good handballs from Tivendale and Kane Johnson set up Mitch Morton for a dribbly goal and the Tiges led by 23 points. Some awful footy from the Dees led to another Tige chance but Connors postered. Melbun refused to move forward, preferring to handball sideways or backwards, badly. But a surprise, sharp move ended with Paul Wheatley stabbing a pass to Jeff White, he majored. The Tiges cleared the restart and the wind grabbed Tivendale's long punt to push it through for a goal. A moment later Tivendale produced an accurate right-foot pass! to Daniel Jackson, it led to a free-kicked goal for Shane Tuck after Simon Buckley dropped his knees into prone Tuck's back. Trent Cotchin ran down Carroll with a great chase and Connors kicked long towards Richo, Jackson roved the contest to boot another. Tiges by 38 points at half-time.
The game continued in similar fashion after the break, the TV commentators forced to reach into their bag of 'other material'. The Dees, Miller especially, showed some aggro in the early third before settling down. Tiger Newman, very good here, manufactured a good rebound and McMahon's pass went over leading Riewoldt's head, but Carroll slipped over allowing Riewoldt to double back, collect and poke an easy sausage. Richo led, marked and kicked on-the-full, then took a terrific grab amongst three Dees which wasn't paid. Richo was crunched in that contest and subsequently benched for a bit, Joel Bowden went to full-forward. Bowden immediately kicked a goal, benefitting from Riewoldt's skilful set-up, but a minute later Bowden met Richo's standards by spraying an easier shot on-the-full. Melbun-connected commentator David 'Ox' Schwarz suggested Colin Sylvia should be offered for trade. Harsh. New Dee Jack Grimes took a gutsy back-running mark but his low shot was rushed through for a point, Melbun's first score for a while. Retiring Deez Yze and Holland put on a brief comedy routine, Yze gave off hospital handballs while Holland specialized in falling over. Dee Cale Morton was mown down by a great chase from Deledio, Tambling gathered the spilled Sherrin and lobbed a kick for running McMahon to collect and slot a noice goal. A bit later Deledio was caught in possession but Tuck scooped the loosed ball and handpassed for Matt White to snap truly, the Tiges led by 60 points. Amazingly, Melbun scored a goal. Buckley, who was going okay, kicked long and Newman's emphatic spoil went straight to Holland, who jabbed it through the big sticks. Late in the term Jackson was crushed in tackle but the ump waved play-on, leading Commetti to quote his favourite movie, Caddyshack: "You'll get nothing and you'll like it." McAvaney responded "Was that the movie with Roger Dangerfield?" Oh Bruce. Richardson, the least-interested player out there, missed appallingly again late in the third and when the final stanza commenced he was on the bench and Deledio at full-forward for the Tiges. Deledio responded by booting an early goal, then Bowden majored following a comfortable grab in traffic and the Tiges led by 66 points or 11 goals to use the vernacular. Dee Nathan Jones, too obsessed with his own tackle-busting strength - get rid of it, son - hacked a kick forward from the next centre-bounce, Maric wasn't paid a deserved free but he battled on the floor and Sylvia soccered a goal. Deledio managed to hit the post from 12m and Richardson, sent to defence, marked a goal-bound Sylvia shot on-the-line. Deledio, who had a big last quarter, completed a three-bounce run with a chipped pass to Bowden who proceeded to goal as the Tiges surged to the line. Jackson, Tuck and Newman combined cleverly to set up an easy goal for, um, Jackson, then a poor Foley kick eluded several Dees with a tricky bounce and Deledio poked another major. Tiges by 80 points. Dee fans were roused when it appeared Miller's strong work had created a goal for Yze, 'Ooze' dithered and was tackled, but got a handball away for White to kick one. Deledio booted the final goal following a terrific pack-mark.
Brett Deledio (25 disposals, 10 marks, 4 goals) made a late bid for the Tiges' B&F with a big game and final quarter in particular. Runnin' half-back Chris Newman (30 touches) had another fine game and Shane Tuck (30 possies, 8 marks, a goal) continued his late-season burst of form, Joel Bowden (34 touches, 13 marks, 3 goals) and backman Luke McGuane (22 possies, 8 marks) were good. Jack Riewoldt (14 handlings, 6 marks, 2 goals) worked hard in attack, Jordan McMahon (25 possies, a goal) and Daniel Jackson (19 disposals, 8 marks, 2 goals) weren't bad. Not many Dees worth singling out, Matthew Warnock did a good job on Richo, Matthew Whelan (20 touches, a goal) and Cameron Bruce (29 possessions) did a bit. Colin Garland (11 touches, 5 marks) is a promising key defender. Adem Yze's stats were good (25 disposals, 8 marks) but he struggled in his final game, Jeff White managed 17 touches, 23 hit-outs and 2 goals. "We didn't show a lot of competitive nature today and we had a lot to play for [with] three blokes retiring. It was disappointing that we didn't give a yelp," Dean Bailey said. "It's very embarrassing the way we've played the last two weeks - very embarrassing. Everything that you pride yourself on as a player; I'm not sure whether too many blokes ticked any of the boxes in any of those areas, for two weeks now . . . We finished last for a reason and attitude and non-competitiveness have been the two big problems that we've had. Our on-field performances certainly don't reflect the ground swell of support and financial support that we're getting and that's the disappointing thing - really disappointing . . . We didn't see anyone really, other than Whelan, who is a competitive beast and Bell is a competitive guy and Matty Warnock plays every game as if it's his last. We didn't have enough of those blokes today . . . We've got to be careful in not getting out the culling too quickly, but we'll spend the next couple of weeks, certainly, analysing our list even further. Where we need to make the tough decisions, we will." 'Plough' said "We'll take ninth, that's where we're at. We believe that this time around it's a strong ninth. I genuinely think we are on the improve and what we've got to do is take that momentum into summer and ride into the start of next season . . . I think we are now locked and loaded (?) and ready to be able to put in some form of challenge going into next year . . . We've come a fair way and we've still got a long way to go. Always the challenge for us was to get the young blokes into reasonable form before our senior players were at retirement stage. That's clearly a battle we've still got but our senior guys have still got a bit of senior footy in them."
At Docklands:
Essendon 2.3 2.6 5.8 5.9.39
St. Kilda 5.5 8.12 14.15 21.21.147
The Saints needed to win by 100 points to finish fourth and lo, they did. By more than enough, in fact. How 'bout that? The Stainers get to tackle the Catters next week and also have a double chance, all from a side which was playing like rubbish a few weeks ago. The Bommers were struggling to come up with 22 players apparently, listing twenty players on the injured list last week. Their injury crisis has been insidious, striking reserve-level players first so we all (me and Mick Malthouse) scoffed when Knights first raised the idea of injury trouble a few weeks ago. But as senior players have been struck down recently, the Dons' problems have become apparent. An official rebuilding phase excuses much but after Essadun started the season with some competitive losses, Anzac Day and beyond saw the Bommers produce some appallingly un-accountable football. Vastly improved mid-season form which brought six wins in seven games energized the Don supporters before the injuries and some stronger teams took toll. Knights's job involved 'managing change' as much as actual coaching and he seems to have done plenty of PR and spin in Essadun's first post-Sheedy year. The Dons farewelled four players here, the best credentialled was Jason Johnson, a tough, long-kicking centreman who was an integral part of their dominant late 90s/early 00s team. Johnson played 184 games for the Dons and was twice a best-and-fairest. Adam Ramanauskas was the most sentimental, only 19 when he played in the Dons' 2000 premiership side, Rama's survived two bouts of cancer and a knee reconstruction to come back and play, 134 Essadun games in total. Mal Michael was a stop-gap for the Dons but will be remembered as the massive bulwark of a full-back in Brisbun's three flag-winning sides, Mal started at Collywood but was traded to the Lyin's for Jarrod Molloy. He's played 238 games altogether and is a hero in Papua New Guinea. Damien Peverill was the other Don retiree, Pev made a sensational debut off the rookie list in 2001, replacing injured Joe Misiti. Peverill soon earned a place on the senior list as a tagger but as the years have passed his limitations in skill and especially pace have became more evident. Pav played 103 games for the Dons. Wasting no time, Knights has already issued delistings to Courtney Johns, Andrew Lee and two rookie-listed players. In selection here the Dons called up Leroy Jetta and movie composer John Williams for his AFL debut, Williams is also a tall midfielder from Morningside in Queensland. They replaced Andrew Welsh (hamstring) and Adam McPhee (ankle). No changes for the Sainters.
The Dons managed the opening goal, Mark McVeigh shoved off Sean Dempster to get a centering kick in, Paddy Ryder marked and converted. Dempster hurt his knee in that sequence, a strained ligament which's ended his season. The Stainers were nervous early, fumbling badly and slipping over. They got moving eventually, ruckman Steven King slapped a throw-in goal-wards and Adam Schneider bullocked his way past Ricky Dyson to collect the pill and snap it through. A minute later Stephen Milne sped by Nick Riewoldt's contest and paddled the ball ahead, he was pulled back by Henry Slattery and Milne free-kicked a major. The Saints led by 7 points. Then controversy which made Bummers see red. Ryder apparently steered a free-kick through for a goal but Sam Fisher, on the mark, was adamant Ryder's low kick had hit him (Fisher) on the arm. The ump agreed, maybe after looking at the replay on the screen. The score was changed to a behind amongst copious booing from yer Bomma fans. But it was the correct decision. Just to rub salt in, Stainer Leigh Montagna immediately kicked a goal thanks to a 50m penalty against Cale Hooker, who slapped the ball outta Montagna's hands just after he'd marked. Two huge kicks from Justin Koschitzke and Jason Gram set up the next goal, as he ran with-the-flight Riewoldt was shoved under the ball by Nathan Lovett-Murray, another free-kick major. The Saints led by 19 points but an emotional high-point soon arrived for Don fans, new boy John Williams took a terrific grab in the centre and kicked long, Sainter Fisher dropped a mark badly and Ramanauskas roved, he handballed for Jason Johnson to slot it through. The first term finished in a flurry of points but Riewoldt also kicked a goal, another free-kick against his under-sized opponent Lovett-Murray. The Satins led by 20 points at the first break, in the second term their own ridiculous over-use of the ball and hopeless kicking for goal seemed an insurmountable natural barrier to reaching fourth spot. Charlie Gardiner bagged an early goal, nipping in front of Riewoldt to mark Montagna's high punt and convert. Koschitzke, Riewoldt and Gwilt managed to miss shots over the next ten minutes amongst much stuff-about, until the Stains recovered a Jay Nash kick-in and Shane Birss placed a smart kick for leading Riewoldt to mark and kick truly this time. The next ten minutes saw two behinds scored (one each) before a ball-up 30m out was tapped by Riewoldt towards Clint Jones, he tapped-on to Robert Eddy who snapped truly. Milne and Schneider managed to miss shots prior to the long break, the Sainters 42 points ahead.
The Stainers cranked it up a gear to start the second half. Goddard punted 'em forward from the opening bounce of the third term, the ball flopped about in attack before Goddard arrived and handballed for Milne to snap a sausage. Jason Gram cleared the next restart and Milne wrestled Slattery to clutch a mark in the crook of his arm, although it might've hit the ground. But it was paid and Milney majored. A minute later a throw-in in the Stainers' forward-pocket was forced backwards until it came to Shane Birss, he jabbed a kick for King to mark 30m out, right in front and slot it through. The gap had expanded quickly to 60 points. The charge stalled again as a hospital handpass from King allowed Lenny Hayes to be hammered by Peverill, from the turnover the Bommers swept forward and Jobe Watson bagged a major. Riewoldt hit the post following a grab and there was a terrible miss from Schneider, he does that a bit often. Gram restored the momentum with a running goal walloped through from 55m. Essadun's stocks slumped further as Angus Monfries limped off with a damaged hamstring. But a bit later Lloydy battled hard to win the ball against Max Hudghton and Nash handpassed for Rhys Magin to snap a goal. Riewoldt missed another set shot and immediately grabbed his knee, a worry. He appeared to be alright though. The Sainters led by 56 points, then Goddard free-kicked a goal for being held without by Magin and shortly Milne also free-kicked a major, after catching Slattery in possession. Late in the stanza Bomma Jason Johnson's pass found John Williams in the centre, he drove it long and Lloyd was awarded a very soft free for, er, I dunno really. Sympathy, probably. Lloydy's goal reduced the Saints' lead to 61 points at the last change. Going into the final Mario Lanza, Foxtel's commentary team had Danny 'Spud' Frawley on the calculator to work out the percentages. "Saint Kilda need eight goals to none in this quarter to finish fourth," he said. That sounded about right. "If Essadun get a goal, the Saints need to kick an extra five goals," Spud reckoned. That didn't seem right. Off we went, about five goal-less minutes elapsed before Milne ducked under a right hook from McVeigh and passed to King, his centering kick was marked by Gram for an easy major. A lazy fumble from Lovett-Murray caused a midfield turnover which caught the Don backmen outta position and Harvey set up an easy goal for Milne. Bommer first-gamer Williams affected a gutsy spoil but the ball went to Dal Santo, he centered a kick to Charlie Gardiner whose chip-kick allowed Gram to mark with the flight, Gram converted. The Saints led by 79 points now, but again scored a barrage of behinds. There was some justice amongst 'em for the Dons as Gardiner postered following a ridiculous advantage call, then Koschitzke managed to miss from 15m out. Finally Milne poked a six-pointer following some excessive battle for the ball. As the Bummers turned it up the Saints swept downfield on a rebound and Hayes found the ubiquitous Milne on-the-lead, he played-on and booted another. Then trouble! Bombout Adam Ramanuaskas marked 20m out on a tricky angle. "If he kicks this, the Saints have to kick the next thirteen goals," said Spud. What? Poor old Rama hit the post. Robert Eddy equivocated by missing awfully at the other end. Then Gram, the coolest Saint out there, did well to get the pill to Leigh Montagna and he lobbed a kick for Schneider to mark over Peverill, Schneider majored and the Saints led by 101 points. Hurrah! A minute later Schneider juggled a one-handed mark over the hapless Peverill again, but missed. Handily, Riewoldt kicked a goal after the final siren, due to a solid pack-mark. That was only seven goals to none, but you add in the six behinds.
Stephen Milne (24 disposals, 9 marks, 7 goals) is one of footy's great front-runners, he loved the pressure-free atmosphere. Nick Riewoldt (21 touches, 11 marks, 4 goals) was pretty busy, in the midfield the running and long-kicking of Jason Gram (27 disposals, 7 marks, 3 goals) and Brendon Goddard (30 possessions, a goal) were handy and Lenny Hayes (29 touches) and Leigh Montagna (25 possies, 6 marks, a goal) were also busy winnin' it, Justin Koschitzke (22 disposals, 14 marks) enjoyed a good game as no.2 ruckman. Adam Schneider kicked 2 goals. Not a great day for the poor old depleted Dons, Adam Ramanauskas (23 possessions, 8 marks) worked pretty hard in his final outing as did youngster Sam Lonergan (23 disposals; er, not his final game). Damien Peverill (20 possies) and Jobe Watson (18 touches, a goal) battled away. They had five goal-kickers. "Today was a hugely disappointing way to finish the season," Matty Knights said. "[It was] four goals to two goals after about 15 minutes or 20 minutes and we were in the game, but then physically we just couldn't keep up. As the game wore on, we just couldn't match St Kilda with their run . . . I don't think it means that our players or our club didn't think about trying to or endeavouring to send the boys off in a good way. I think every player that represented our club today had that best intention to do so, [but] it just didn't pan out like that. We didn't play well enough, and I know there's a lot of emotional players in there (the change rooms) that really do admire the four boys that are retiring . . . To sum up the first year, it's been like on the Mad Mouse at the Melbourne Show. There's certainly been some ups where we've played some good footy and then some periods of the season where we've played some very average football that hasn't been good enough. From a win-loss point of view, I think it's been a year that we would have liked to have picked up another two or three wins at least. From a development perspective, I think we've unearthed some good younger players that have shown that they can play at AFL level. We've just got to make sure they get good pre-seasons under their belts so they can continue their improvement next year." Ross Lyon reckoned "It (winning by enough to finish fourth) certainly wasn't a focus at all pre-game, at quarter-time or half-time. The only thing that happened at three-quarter time was we spoke about [it]. We hadn't focused on any prizes - top four or top eight - we've just been all about how we want to improve our footy, but I did say 'look, if you continue in this vain, that mathematical possibility is there'. Why we got ourselves in this position is because we were about the contested ball, our ball movement, our defensive work and our chase and tackle . . . (Playing Geelong next week) is the biggest challenge in football, but we've earned the right to be there and we're excited about trying to play our best footy against what's proven to be the best team in the competition. What I would say is that we've improved our football. How you measure confidence, I don't know. Confidence is a result of actions; at the minute our actions are making us competitive in most AFL games we play in."
Ladder after Round 22
Pts. % Next Week
Geelong 84 161.9 St. Kilda (MCG, Sunday)
Hawthorn 68 131.9 Footscray (MCG, Fri. night)
Footscray 62 118.7 Hawthorn (MCG, Fri. night)
St. Kilda 52 110.6 Geelong (MCG, Sunday)
Adelaide 52 109.8 Collingwood (Football Park, Saturday)
Sydney 50 112.5 North Melbourne (Stadium Australia, Sat. night)
North Melbourne 50 97.0 Sydney (Stadium Australia, Sat. night)
Collingwood 48 111.3 Adelaide (Football Park, Saturday)
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Richmond 46 97.4
Brisbane 40 98.0
Carlton 40 94.2
Essendon 32 81.7
Port Adelaide 28 95.9
Fremantle 24 93.7
West Coast 16 65.9
Melbourne 12 62.6
Cheers, Tim.
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