[AFL-Review] Grand Final

AFL Grand Final.

At the MCG:
St. Kilda  3.2   7.7   9.11   9.14.68
Geelong    3.0   7.1   9.4    12.8.80

Glory grasped by the Cats as they overhauled the Stainers in the last quarter to win their second flag in the three years, and claim the mantle of a great side. It wasn't easy, the Saints led for the vast bulk of the slogging, fairly dull game but they seemed to run out of energy in the final korter and the Pu55ies' prime movers lifted 'em across the line. Max Rooke's after-siren goal made the final margin a bit flattering for Jahlong, the Saints wasted some chances in the second stanza particularly and as the Swans and Weevils showed us in 2005/6, in this style of footy, the game is always close and you've got to grab the opportunities when they come. Experience and belief may have been the factors for the Cats in the end. The way the Saints played this year, you've gotta believe they'll be back. In selection the Saints made one change, youngster Robert Eddy dropped and replaced by Sean Dempster. Stalwart defender Max Hudghton was not selected. The Cats made no change to their preliminary final side, meaning Mathew Stokes missed out after Thompson had intimated Stokes would be selected. 

Missed the preamble and the first few minutes as I struggled to get up at 5AM, and battle down to the 'Walkabout' Bar in Covent Garden. A mixed blessing. Great that they had the game on, but charged 10 pounds (20 bucks) for the privilege of watching it and consuming a pie and single, miniature VB stubby. Mustn't grumble, as they say here. The reason for Dempster's selection soon became clear as he played as a forward tagger on Catter rebound man Andrew Mackie. The Cats began well, with the aid of a breeze. Max Rooke booted the opening goal with a great chase-down and tackle on Raphael Clarke, loverley long free-kick too. Cam Mooney soon booted one with a strong grab of James Kelly's long kick and the Pu55ies led by 12 points, cut to 11 following a woeful miss from Stainer Adam Schneider. But the Saints upped the pressure and dominated the rest of the korter. They soon had a goal as Steven Baker lobbed a punt forward and Brendon Goddard marked too easily while Cats Ablett and Mackie looked at each other. Goddard majored. The Cats responded soonish, Ablett paddled the pill clear of a ball-up and Joel Selwood gathered it, he showed great strength to shrug Jones's tackle, run clear and slot a noice six-pointer from the flank. Geelagong led by 11 points. Predicted rain began to tumble down just before Pu55y Jimmy Bartel was penalised for a high fend-off on Nick Dal Santo; Dal Santo weighted an excellent, chipped pass for Lenny Hayes to mark and convert. Hayes and Luke Ball were prominent in this period. Stephen Milne missed from a mark on-the-lead a few minutes before Catters Hawkins and Byrnes both dived on the ball to lock it up. 'Bawl' it was and the resulting free came to Luke Ball, who kicked towards Nick Riewoldt and three Pu55y Cat defenders. The ball spilled and roving Farren Ray hooked a punt across the face of the sticks where Schneider marked on his chest and majored, so the Sainters led by 2 points at the first break.

Not much changed into quartier le deuxieme; rain, rugged Sainter tackling and pressure locking the ball in their attacking half. But they didn't convert enough. Early the Cats had a kick-in from a rushed Stainer behind of which Hawkins clutched a very good mark. Hawkins's centering kick was read and marked very well by Goddard, who drove it forward where Cat man Scarlett gathered and had no choice but to plunge headlong into being tackled by Dempster and Koschitzke. After the three of 'em fell to earth Scarlett elbowed Dempster in the head, which an ump saw and paid Dempster a free-kick. The Dumpster majored and Sinkilda led by 9 points. Geelong inside-50s had been rare since the first ten minutes, now they managed a few but pretty poor kicks from Ablett, Mooney and Rooke wasted the thrusts. That wasn't as bad as what the Sainters produced next, however. Milne ran in from the flank but elected to dribbly-kick it and on the sodden turf the ball skidded to a halt in the goal-square; Scarlett gathered and cleared easily. Andrew McQualter raced into an open goal but missed appallingly from 15m; then Milne kicked another behind, a pretty poor set-shot in which he showed little confidence. Milne's entire job is to kick those and he'd already missed three. Sure enough the Catters majored from a rare thrust, Selwood forced the agate clear of congestion and Cameron Ling gathered, his tumbly right-foot kick was gathered by 'cheating' Shannon Byrnes, lurking in the goal-square, who had a simple tap-through. The Sainters' lead was reduced to 4 points but Cat supporters had flashbacks as Paul Chapman grabbed his right hamstring after a kick and departed. But Chappy returned presently and proved important later. Saint man Clarke also departed about now, a sore calf but he came back for the second half. Schneider wasted another Sinkilda chance with a running point, a bad miss again, and the Cats reclaimed the lead against the run. Rooke had a free-kick as he was clobbered by Zac Dawson and Rooke sent the ball towards leading Ablett who was adjudged to have been man-handled by Sam Gilbert. Soft but it was there, I guess, and Ablett free-kicked truly to have the Cats a point ahead. The Cats enjoyed a decent spell as Sainter Dawson held a good grab in defence but played-on dangerously and saw his kick smothered by Hawkins, who gathered the ball and snapped a goal; except it wasn't, replays showed Hawkins's snap had glanced off the post. But a six-pointer went on the 'board. There are too many of these and TV replay has to come in to it somehow. Ablett won the ball from the following centre-bounce and passed to Travis Varcoe, he played-on quickly and Chapman snapped a sausage roll to have the Pu55ies 12 points ahead. They'd appeared to have survived the Sinkilda pressure. But the Saints struck back with three late majors. Clint Jones jabbed a kick from a ball-up for full points, then Sam Fisher found rare space for a forward run and long kick towards Koschitzke and Riewoldt (and their men), Koschitzke soccered the pack-spillage for a goal to level the scores. Cat backman Darren Milburn was adamant he'd touched Kosi's kick (he hadn't) and gave the umpire a mouthful, bringing about one of those ridiculous 'double goals' as the ump gave Schneider a free-kick which he converted. Very harsh, but a square-up for that Hawkins poster, if you view things that way. Thus the Stainers led by 6 points at the long rest.

During the break the TV folk - Wallsy, mainly - blathered on about the large inside-50 differential favouring the Saints, but given the pattern of the game and the wet conditions, it'd been slow, poor quality inside-50. Neither Riewoldt nor Koschitzke had looked like taking a mark in goal-scoring position, although Harry Taylor was doing very well on Riewoldt. The Grand Final sprint was won by a 200cm ruckman, junior Saint Rhys Stanley. A strange sprint it was with three ruckmen taking part, including Canadian Swan Mike Pyke who provided the 'highlight' by slipping on the start-line and not bothering to go on. Once the game started again the Cats pressed early, Mooney and Ablett snapped tight-angle points. As the Sainters cleared from the latter, Dempster was poised to mark on the wing only to have his arms slapped away by Milburn, I think. But the ump didn't pay the free and Milburn gathered the ball and handballed to Ling, he kicked long where Mooney marked too easily at the top o' the 'square and majored. The Pu55ies led by 2 points. Stinkilda managed the following centre-clearance and Jason Gram, who was playing well, kicked long where Riewoldt out-bustled Taylor to take a chest-mark and boot a goal at last. The Stains led by 4 points. The goal sparked a minor purple-patch for Riewoldt but he behinded with a tight-angle snap, then saw another snap smothered by diving Taylor. Leigh Montagna missed a shot to have the Stainers 7 points up, but they suffered a blow as Goddard departed with a broken nose, thanks to a collision with teammate Baker. Goddard returned soon of course but he wasn't as effective. A bit later Pu55y ruckman Brad Ottens collected a throw-in and handballs from he to Selwood to Ling and finally Chapman saw Chapman snap an over-the-shoulder major, good shepherding from Rooke too. Ablett booted a long, running point after shrugging a Montagna tackle to level the scores. Scores remained tied for ten minutes before, with 90 seconds remaining in the term, Sinkilda (and former Cat) ruckman Steven King tapped a throw-in down to Montagna who snapped a goal. The Stainers burst clear of the restart but Hayes's long shot bounced through for a point, the Saints led by 7 points at the final change.

The final Mario of the season began in more rain. The Catters had finished the third term doing most of the attacking and the last quarter followed the trend. Chapman roved an early throw-in and produced a good pass for Hawkins to mark and boot a goal, reducing the Stainer lead to a point. Classic Melbourne weather as the sun now burst through. Players from both sides appeared very tired and the pace of the already sluggish game slowed even more. But the key Sinkilda on-ballers, Hayes, Ball, Dal Santo, were rarely sighted. In contrast Cats Joel Selwood, Corey and Ablett were getting plenty of it. The Saints had chances though, Schneider missed following a smart dummy around Corey and Dempster snapped a behind after roving Riewoldt's contest. At the other end a Chapman snap from a ball-up was off-target and Baker dived brilliantly to touch an on-target Rooke shot. Selwood missed a set-shot, levelling the scores. The prospect of a draw and replay were mentioned as the game slogged on, prior to the Cats enjoying a slice of luck. Sinkilda's Dawson produced a terrific spoil on Ablett in the centre of the ground but a reflexive soccer kick from Scarlett sent the ball back into Ablett's arms, Gablett ran clear and kicked long towards Mooney et al. Varcoe roved the contest and handballed for Chapman, a handy player, to snap truly. Cats by 6 points. Rooke produced a series of efforts to eventually soccer a behind as the Katz knuckled down to the task. Into time-on and the Sainters managed a rushed behind, their best chance was to recover the ball from the kick-in but Taylor marked it solidly. The ball was sent 'round the wing and Selwood kicked for Rooke to mark 40 out, on the flank. The siren sounded and Rooke majored after it. Sainters Riewoldt and Ball shed tears, while Bob Davis presented the cup to the Cats.   

'Stocky' Cat baldy Paul Chapman (26 disposals, 4 marks, 3 goals), sometimes identified as Ablett by irregular footy viewers, won the Norm Smith Medal for his game-deciding majors but it was no clear thing. Chappy tied with Sinkilda's Jason Gram in the voting but Chapman won on count-back with more '3' votes. Retribution for Chapman as his lack of fitness was blamed by many as a reason for the Pu55ies' GF loss last year. Thought Harry Taylor (14 touches, 5 marks) did very well on Riewoldt and Joel Corey (29 disposals) was very good, so was Gary Ablett (25 possessions, 6 tackles, a goal). Max Rooke (11 possies, 3 marks, 2 goals) was a handy forward while Darren Milburn (25 disposals), Joel Selwood (24 possies, 4 marks, a goal) and Jimmy Bartel (19 handlings, 16 tackles) were all handy. Cam Mooney and Tom Hawkins kicked 2 goals each. Jason Gram (30 disposals, 5 marks) was probably Sinkilda's best. Lenny Hayes (24 touches, 3 marks, a goal) and Luke Ball (22 handlings, 7 tackles) started superbly but their influence waned, Leigh Montagna (23 possies, 8 tackles, a goal) did some great things and Brendon Goddard (21 disposals, 9 tackles, a goal) was also very good up 'til three-korter time. Clint Jones (15 possies, 10 tackles, a goal) was okay on either Selwood or Ablett while Steven Baker (12 touches, 7 tackles) kept Steve Johnson very quiet. Adam Schneider bagged 2 goals (2.3 from 10 disposals, 5 marks) while Riewoldt had just the one goal from 13 touches, 5 marks. Milne was officially credited with 0.2 but there was the other 'no 'score' and another behind too, I'm sure.

"Obviously it's an emotional day and I see my boys hurting," Lyon said. "I can't question their effort and their commitment. They gave themselves an opportunity so obviously I'm upset for them and I'm upset for the club. I think we all saw their effort. We did a lot right, [but] I thought we had opportunities we didn't take. A lot of people put in a lot of work and it's a lot of work to get back here so it is a little bit overwhelming. In saying that I don't think we crumbled under the grand final heat. All credit to Geelong - we left the door ajar and they took their opportunity. It's pretty simple really. If you want to be the best you've got to execute . . . I thought we had periods where we controlled the game, no doubt. When the [forward 50] entries are 37-15 at half-time you've had a reasonable go at it, haven't you? The second quarter was the dominant quarter and we would have liked a little bit more reward, but to Geelong's credit they fought on like caged lions and never gave up the ghost. They persisted and persisted until it turned their way and that's what great sides do . . . In simple terms we're a better team and we're a better club than where we were at the end of '08 and that's the aim again next year. There's a role model in front of us about the work that needs to be done and the improvement that we need to do to try and get hold of what we want. We challenge them pre-season to grow and improve and in simple terms there have been a number of individuals that have gone to that next level in their football and we'll need a lot of players to improve again. The only constant in AFL football is change. We'll leave no stone unturned to get better. I can't give you a figure of how much we've improved but clearly we've improved."
 
Mark 'Bomber' Thompson said "To be totally honest, today I found it really easy." What an arrogant git, eh? "Maybe because we've had a lot of close games this year, but I just felt that we were going to win," he continued. "Deep down, walking in to the ground, I just felt like we were going to win. At half time I thought we were going to win, at three-quarter time I even thought that we were going to win." Okay, we get it. "I'm not sure whether I was being stupid or not, but we had to work hard as a coaching group, but that's our job. You don't get paid to get caught up in the game, you get paid to make some good moves, interchange players, position them, and manage the day. I thought with the team behind me, we had a pretty good day up in the box . . . We just threw the challenge out (at half-time), that we had a game on, with the conditions and the year that the St Kilda footy club have had, so it was going to get down to the wire. We talked about how much we were going to have to earn this victory, how much you were willing to put on the line to make sure we do win. At three-quarter time we just said that we'd played a lifetime of footy to get in this position, so have your best quarter of footy. This is what dreams are made of, and I thought our last quarter was outstanding . . . I think (losing last year's GF) definitely did (help). It's really painful to lose a grand final when you play in it - it's hard to watch, it's hard to cop. And if you get a another chance to get in one as quickly as we did - one year - I don't think, if you look back in history, that there'd be too many teams who did lose the second one in a row . . . We talked all week about being the best team - we've got a lot of individual stars, and we've gone one next to us here (Chapman), Gary (Ablett) and Bartel and Scarlett, but individual talent doesn't actually win it for you. It's the best team that's going to win on the day, and I thought we held it together pretty well, and that's the beauty of this group - even though there are some stars amongst them, they still respect each other enormously. That's a great thing to coach." Ah, he was impressive in the end.

That's it for me, too, apart from the outstanding reports which will come, I promise. For years, people have asked me how I find the time to do the footy report and the answer, increasingly, is I can't, as has become obvious. Plus, when I started doing this (and Jeremy Leggoe before me), there were very few internet resources for people to find out about footy; now there are plenty, making the report kinda redundant I think. Anyway, thanks once again and for the final time thank you to David Layton and the folks at footy.com.au for running the mailing list, David's been a great help especially during these periods when I'm overseas, Jeremy for establishing the mail-out report and bequeathing the job to me in the first place as I've greatly enjoyed it, and all the e-mailers who've contacted me over the years - you know who you are. See ya round!

Cheers, Tim. 

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[AFL-Review] Round 21

AFL Preliminary Finals

Er, okay, best get onto these prelim finals. The other finals and round 22 are in the pipeline, promise.

Gary Ablett won the Brownlow Medal last Monday, a victory seen as overdue justice as Young Ablett has dominated other awards for the last three years (inclusive). Gablett Jnr won easily with 30 votes from Chris Judd (22) and Sainter Lenny Hayes (20), not dispelling the idea it's a midfielder's medal. Ablett was accused of stat-collecting in a Brownlow bid during recent weeks and there's no doubt he does a bit of that, but it's a by-product of the way the Cats play and as The Age's Connolly pointed out, Ablett does the hard stuff too. But you could argue the most important player in the leeg at the minute is Nick Riewoldt and he finished equal ninth with Bloo pair Gibbs and Murphy. Hmm. But the best thing about the Brownlow was seeing the Hun's headine; 'Fev Booze Probe'. I suppose he'd be able to ingest it more quickly that way. 

At the MCG:
St. Kilda   0.2   3.6   7.6    9.6.60
Footscray   2.5   4.7   6.7   7.11.53

Another exemplary demonstration of 'Saints footy', as coach Ross Lyon likes to call it, a grinding, tackle-heavy performance and a strong reliance on Nick Riewoldt to do the scoring. Still, it works and the Sainters are more than deserving Grand Finalists. The frustration was galling for the Bulldogs, going out at the same stage as last year in almost identical fashion; controlling possession for lengthy periods but unable to make it count on the scoreboard. The meedya again will harp on about their need for a key forward, but it's not as simple as that. Maybe they're just not experienced and mentally tough enough, lack genuine match-winners like Riewoldt; okay, he's a key forward. But recruiting Barry Hall - they've already offered Bazza a two-year contract - may be a mistake. The Dogs have been busy drafting tall kids for the last coupla years, maybe one or two of them should be given an opportunity. In selection, neither side was changed from the previous game.

Tough opening term in which the Pups, as mentioned, did well, applying plenty of 'frontal pressure' but failed to make it count sufficiently. Six minutes passed before the Dogs scored the opening goal, their ruckman Will Minson juggled a throw-in to the ground and handballs from Mitch Hahn and Daniel Cross saw Liam Picken have a quick left-foot snap which bounced through. The Bullies won the ball from the subsequent centre-bounce, in a sequence typical of the period Sainter backman Sam Fisher collected the ball but his nothing-kick from half-back was recovered well by the Dogs - but Ryan Griffen sent a running shot bouncing out-of-bounds, and copped some admonishment from team-mates. Hahn missed a tight-angle shot and Daniel 'Guido' Giansiracusa sent a difficult snap on the full; inside-50s were 8-1 the Dogs' way at this stage. Justin Koschitzke missed with a long-range free-kick from the flank, Sinkilda's first score, and copped some abuse from his opponent, All-Australian Brian Lake. Dale Morris was on Riewoldt. Griffen missed again with a running chance before the Dogs managed a second goal, good work from Jason Akermanis got the ball to running Shaun Higgins, who exchanged handballs with Giansiracusa and Higgins dobbed a running sausage. The Dogs led by 14 points then and 15 at korter-time, not a true reflection of their territorial dominance. The pattern continued into the second term but the Saints scratched out some goals. Nick Dal Santo slotted noicely for their first, five minutes later Andrew McQualter booted a goal and the margin was back to 4 points. But Morris was doing very well on Riewoldt, who began to lead away up to the wings for a touch, while Koschitzke hardly saw the ball. Bully Hahn bagged consecutive goals, eluding Brendon Goddard, to have the Dogs 15 points ahead again but a bit later Stainer skipper Lenny Hayes snapped a good major and the gap was back to 9 points, and 7 by half-time.

The third Mario started controversially with Riewoldt plummeting to the ground dramatically following a forearmed bump from Lake. It was before the opening bounce and the resulting free awarded to Riewoldt was sent for a goal, a pretty farcical decision. The worst it warranted was a free in the centre. Now the Sainters were just a point down, despite having being out-played to date. The Stainers lifted now, with Dal Santo having a big quarter and Fisher providing some more effective running from defence. A bit later Koschitzke led up for a grab on the flank and stabbed a centering pass for Fisher to mark and convert, to put the Sainters in front. At the following centre-bounce Dal Santo gathered the ball, rode some tackles and handballed for Goddard to spear a pass for Riewoldt to mark and boot another; the Stainers led by 11 points, with the last four goals of the game. But the Dogs hung in, Brad Johnson, who'd been everywhere in the first half, snapped a goal from ball-up and then the Dogs displayed some cool, drawing handpassing to carve through the packed Stainer defence and set up a noice, snapped goal for Giansiracusa. The Dogs had panicked a bit, bombing the ball forward but now they were in front again, by a point. The Puppies attempted to milk the clock as the final change approached but late in the term their Ryan Hargrave hesitated as Goddard dived in to force the ball clear and the previously unseen Stephen Milne snaggled a major. Thus the Satiners led by 5 points at three-korter-time. A tense final term unfolded, the Bullies regained the lead early when the busy Griffen's long kick saw Johnson out-mark Sam Gilbert and Johnno played-on to slam it through. And for a long while, you could dare to dream that the Bullies may play in their first GF since - geez - sometime in the 50s I guess. But two goal-less Sainter korters were a bit much to hope for and with seven minutes to go a long punt sent Sinkilda forward and there was Riewoldt to clutch a big pack-grab and boot a goal. The Sainters led by a point and the Dogs pressed forward furiously, locking the ball inside their crowded attacking 50 for a few minutes. But Giansiracusa's snap on-the-full was their only shot and in the final minute Sainter Clint Jones's clearing effort allowed the Saints to go forward and Riewoldt soccered pack-spillage for the sealer.   

No doubt Nick Riewoldt (18 disposals, 11 marks, 4 goals) was the most important Sainter on the ground, but big lifts from Nick Dal Santo (31 touches, 5 marks, a goal) and Lenny Hayes (34 possessions, 6 marks, a goal) helped the Saints back into it after half-time, as did the running Sam Fisher (30 touches, 7 marks, a goal). Clint Jones (23 disposals) did a good job tagging Adam Cooney and also winning some of the ball himself, Brendon Goddard (21 touches, 7 marks) and Steven Baker (12 touches, 4 marks) were useful too. Bulldog Ryan Griffen (28 disposals) hopefully silenced some critics of his big-game temperament while Brad Johnson (19 touches, 6 marks, 2 goals) did everything he could to propel the Dogs into the big one. Brian Lake (18 handlings, 7 marks) held Koschitzke while half-back Ryan Hargrave (25 possessions, 7 marks) saw a bit of the ball, as did fellow rebound men Lindsay Gilbee (18 touches, 5 marks) and Jarrod Harbrow (23 touches, 9 marks). Matthew Boyd (26 disposals) was very good early. Mitch Hahn kicked 2 goals. "We had our opportunities to win, didn't we?" Rocket Eade said. "[We had] more scoring shots and I thought the game from us was full of character and full of courage. Everything we planned the players carried out for, I suppose, 95 per cent of the time, to the letter of the law . . . I think the players showed a lot of character and a lot of courage when St Kilda kicked those three goals (after half-time) and got a bit of a break. Just to absorb that for the next ten minutes and then to be able to jag a couple back as well just showed the character of the group. Unfortunately, you know, a point down with a minute to go showed the game could have gone either way . . . I think there's a lot of positives and a lot of positives going forward. We've matured from last year and I've got no doubt we'll get better again. I've got no doubt that this group will sting from tonight like they stung from last year. I don't think we're far away, to be honest. We proved tonight, I mean for all intents and purposes, we could've, should've won." Eade pre-empted the key forward question. "I think our defence is okay, midfield's okay," he said. "Everyone says, you know, [you need a] tall forward. Obviously you'd love to have one, but you're not going to have one just for the sake of having it. I mean we still get enough chances so it wasn't a lack of a tall forward tonight; it was a lack of ability to kick straight and we normally kick straight." But they've gone after Hall, eh? Ross Lyon said "There is still work to be done and we're not celebrating - we certainly didn't celebrate in the rooms. I pointed out where they needed to improve and we've got incredible focus to prepare again and bring an effort and a game plan that we think will give us our best chance, but there'll be no guarantees obviously . . . This group or this club has been to four [of] the last six years' prelims and they're really tough games to win. Obviously you get to a grand final and it's a roll of the dice now, isn't it? You can't win them if you're not there. Prelims are really incredibly hard to win and there is a whole lot of tiredness and at times both teams displayed a little bit of that. The fans were roaring and [with] the closeness of the contest, ultimately it's about putting on a big show for our fans and I think they'd be proud of our boys' efforts and the effort they've shown all year. After quarter time, I thought we really ground our way back into it a fair bit – I don't know about control - but we were certainly well in the game after quarter time, I thought."

At the MCG:
Geelong      3.6   7.7   11.13   17.18.120
Collingwood  2.2   5.8    6.9     6.11.47

The Cats gave 'emselves a chance to atone for 2008 with anuge second-half performance to dismiss the Maggies. Perhaps it'll shut Poi fans up about being the nearly men of 2007 and the Pu55ies' kryptonite, or catnip if you like. In fact, the game confirmed the fears of many Poi fans; their terrific comeback win against the Camrys the previous week proved the Pise' Grand Final. Part of the problem was the respective strength of the sides; the Pu55ies approaching full, the Poise not so. But really, the Cats were too good. Busted-legged Poi Scott Pendlebury was a late pull-out and Josh Fraser was also unavailable. Formless Paul 'Butter Knives' Medhurst was dropped and Dayne Beams ended up replacing him as Pendlebury withdrew. On the other hand, the Katz welcomed back Steve Johnson and Max Rooke while losing Mathew Stokes with groin soreness. Youngster Simon Hogan was dropped, as Bomber Thompson foreshadowed he would be.

Cold, windy and wet at the 'G to start with, another factor seen as favouring the Catters. But as Ablett started off in the forward-pocket, the Poise dominated the opening minutes. Brad Dick popped up to mark 50m out, Dick's effort was too short but roving Poi Ben Johnson snapped a major. Dick and John Anthony missed chances before Dane Swan's long kick was marked on the 50m line by defender Harry O'Brien, Ablett's opponent at this point, and O'Brien sank a long sausage to have the Poise up 14-0. The massed Poi nuffers were roaring but as Ablett shifted onto the ball, the momentum swung sharply. Cat Joel Selwood used a free-kick to find leading Brad Ottens marking 40m out on the flank, Ottens slotted a great kick for the Cyats' first major. A minute later some Maggie defender shanked a clearing kick on-the-full and Jahlong's Shannon Byrnes banana-ed the resulting free-kick for full points, the Cats led by a point. Suddenly the Catters were dominating pack-clearances and they streamed forward for the next few minutes, but scored mostly behinds with Cam Mooney a leading culprit of course. Late in the term Paul Chapman snapped truly after roving a pack and the Cats led by 10 points at the first break. The weather began to clear up into the second term but the pattern of the game didn't change much. From the opening bounce of the stanza Cameron 'Cling' Ling punted the Cats into attack and TomaHawkins tapped the ball down for Chapman to gather and bag his second major. The Pies had a coupla chances but Swan missed after Cat Enright clangered the ball to him and Leigh Brown missed with a softish free-kick. Hawkins then thundered a 55m sausage roll from the flank after out-marking Prestigiacomo and the Catters led by 20 points with the last five goals of the game. The Poise had a break when Leigh Brown marked 50m out and had Cat Darren Milburn slap the ball out of his hands, a clear 50m penalty despite Milburn's protestations and Brown was presented with a shot even he couldn't miss. Dale Thomas booted the Pies into attack from the restart and Brown marked again, he hit the post this time. Ominously the Scraggies' key forwards, Anthony, Cloke, Didak and Davis, had been very quiet to this point. Jahlong led by 13 points only, though. From the kick-in of that Brown behind the Cats built-up slowly until Joel Corey punted long towards Ablett was awarded a mark or free-kick against an upset O'Brien. Ablett converted and the Catters led by 19 points. As the weather improved the game began to open up a bit but the Poise wasted some chances, Swan postered and Steele Sidebottom missed a tough shot. The Cats had targeted the normally free-running Poi skipper Nick Maxwell and after Maxwell marked and played-on in defence he was mowed down with a very good tackle from Hawkins, who majored from the subsequent free-kick. The Pu55y Cats led by 24 points now as the Pies' ineffective forward-line saw them bombing the ball aimlessly forward. But the Magpiss hung in with a couple late sausages, Cat backman Matty Scarlett attempted a Barry Hall-like rampage through multiple tackles and was about as successful (i.e. he wasn't) and Tarkyn Lockyer had a free-kick for 'bawl', he goaled. A bit later Cat backman James Kelly clutched a decent saving mark but sliced a poor kick straight to Alan Didak, who also booted a goal. Dargeelong's lead was back to 12 points and Cloke had a flying snap from a throw-in fractionally before the half-time siren, it missed. Cats by 11 at orange time.

The Poise were still a chance then, but the Cats produced a big push to start the third Mario. Andrew Mackie roved a forward-pocket throw-in and handballed for Steve Johnson to snap a major. A bit later Mooney marked on the wing and received a 50m penalty for some off-ball incident involving Didak. Couldn't happen to a nicer bloke. Thankfully, Mooney produced a rare, straight kick and the Catters led by 24 points. They won the next centre-clearance and Johnson marked 20m out, but missed poorly. A runnin' move ended with Corey stabbing a pass to Mackie 60m out, Mackie assessed options before stabbing a pass back to Corey who thumped it home from 50m. A Johnson poster had the Cats 32 points up. Maxwell shifted forward for the Poise but missed with a free-kick from 50m. The Pies' ball-use was ragged with juniors like Sidebottom and Brent Macaffer saddled with responsibility for scoring (or not, as was the case). Byrnes whipped a kick through for a six-pointer after gathering a loose ball, behinds from Johnson and Jimmy Bartel saw the Catters 39 points up, double Collywood's score at this stage. It wasn't looking good and the Music of Magpoi Surrender soon came as a 'Neon' Leon Davis mark on the wing was greeted with Bronx cheering from the Maggie folk. Fifteen seconds before the penultimate siren Macaffer held a decent grab 15m out, right in front, and booted what would prove to be the Maggies' final goal of the night. Geelong led by 34 points at the last change, not quite insurmountable. But it was, with the way the Poise were playing. Early in the final term Didak marked 45 m out but elected to lob a kick to the top of the goal-square, which Cat Milburn marked. Prestigiacomo turned-over on the wing and Milburn set up a goal for Travis Varcoe, who'd been very good. The Cats led by 40 points and it was well-and-truly over. The Catters went on to kick the last five goals of the game, including three for Chapman and one hammered through from 60m by Ablett.

Gary Ablett (34 disposals, 4 marks, 2 goals (2.3)) presented his credentials as the leeg's best player while quality midfield performances also came from Cameron Ling (27 touches, 4 marks), tagging Dane Swan (17), Jimmy Bartel (32 disposals, 13 marks) and Joel Corey (34 touches, 10 marks, a goal). Paul Chapman (26 possessions, 7 marks, 5 goals) was always dangerous in attack while Matthew Scarlett (15 handlings, 3 marks) and Harry Taylor (23 touches, 12 marks) took care of Anthony and Cloke respectively. Travis Varcoe (15 possies, 2 goals) did some classy things as usual. Shannon Byrnes and Tom Hawkins kicked 2 goals each. Pie winners were few, veteran battler Shane O'Bree (26 disposals) worked hard against the tide and Ben Johnson (22 possies, 2 marks, a goal) was alright, Nick Maxwell (12 touches, 3 marks) and Leigh Brown (15 handlings, 6 marks, a goal (1.2)) did a bit. They had six goal-kickers. Malthouse said "It was terrible. Shocking. Big crowd . . . it's a shame to have to talk to a group of players about the last half of football after what I believe has been a fairly productive year. The thing I was most disappointed with - and I told the players I wasn't going to say it but it's that obvious - we needed players to take responsibility. Last week we did, but there seemed to be a lack of it; leadership accountability, in many respects. That's not Nick Maxwell. That's a group of players that have played a number of games that need to have addressed certain things. One of them was bizarre. To allow Steele Sidebottom, Dayne Beams and I think Brent Macaffer to walk into the middle for a ball up against Ablett, Corey, Bartel . . . and a fresh ruckman, that's not what I call good sense . . . We've fallen away badly in the last few weeks in regard to midfield pressure, and midfield clearances and midfield scoring. We have four or five players that have really just fallen right away, and that's a concern and we have to look at that to see what we need to do to help address that. Hopefully the experience to Sidebottom and Beams and Macaffer and so forth . . . it's a moment in their time they can say they played senior football against the best sides.  It won't make their bodies any bigger over 12 months, but at least it gives them a sighter." True, it's still a young side that Malthouse has coached well, although the rumbling about Buckley taking over early probably started after this game. Malthouse spun his history at the club. "Football never ceases to amaze," he said. "We came together, this football club and myself in 1999, on the bottom, and played in a grand final three years later. We have done a lot of hard yards with a lot of young kids who should be stronger. I can't remember a grand final being won by too many young players. Basically, most sides will have a lot of 25-year-olds to 30 and a history of playing a long time together. That's our goal. What we've achieved this year has been an opportunity for a lot of players to play finals footy, and you cannot underestimate that." Bomber Thompson said "Our guys tonight were probably back to some of their best footy that they've played in a long time especially in that third quarter. I think, in some part, we may have intimidated the Collingwood players a little bit in that third period and that helped set up that flow of goals that occurred . . . (Ablett) was outstanding. The thing about wet weather is sometimes you worry about the game being closer and messier, but it's amazing how the good players are still good players in the wet and sometimes become better players. He handled it outstandingly well . . . We did have some severe (injury) problems in round 18, 19, 20 but I think that since then we've just done a lot right as far as the medical fitness and making brave decisions to play people at the right times.Credit to all the staff at the club to get those decisions right because they certainly helped us be a better team and they all played pretty well tonight . . . We match up really well (with Sinkilda), we have a long rivalry, they're filled with talented players and so are we, they are a big, strong-bodied team, they play a physical game and so do we. As a form guide, I think it's very even, it can go either way. They should respect us and we certainly respect them."

Next week:
St. Kilda v Geelong, MCG, Saturday.

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[AFL-Preview] 2009 AFL Grand Final Preview

 

AFL FINALS 2009

THE GRAND FINAL

Last Week: 2 from 2. To date: 7 from 8

Well tipsters and all AFL fans, it has come down to this - the best two teams in the competition playing off as expected, as predicted, as it should be. St Kilda and Geelong played an absolute cracker of a game in round 14 this year and football lovers across the world are salivating at the thought of a repeat performance in the Grand Final. The St Kilda versus Bulldogs game was similar in intensity and was a great game of footy during which the umpiring left a lot to be desired. As a matter of fact the umpiring in both prelims was questionable and the final three umpires selected for the big game is a bit of a reflection on those efforts. The weather forecast is for rain, hail, wind and bloody cold. Wish I was there!!

 

St Kilda V Geelong MCG on that last Saturday in September

 

This is going to be a tough game from which to pick a winner. Both teams are highly skilled and equally desperate. No changes to the Geelong team. One change to the St Kilda team. I will stick with my prediction from some weeks ago – Geelong. No reason and I am not going to list a whole lot of scientific junk, useless statistics, player behaviour and coaching philosophies to justify the selection. It’s Geelong – learn to live with it.

 

Geelong by 11

 

Ablett won the Brownlow last Monday night I watched,

Fev just did his usual, reputation blotched,

Juddy’s bird was gorgeous, good enough to eat,

While other ladies dresses ‘barely’ stayed on – what a feat!

Demetriou got the giggles, stuffed up someone’s name

But Ablett won it early. Excitement gone! A shame!

Cooney kissed him on the head, we all clapped, were glad

That Gary junior finally did something better than his dad!

 

But it all comes to nought this Saturday, grand final day is here

Fanatics, fans and members flock to the ‘G’ to cheer.

Don’t care ‘bout the weather, may it blow and hail and rain

As Saints and Cats will fight it out with excruciating pain.

The crowd will gasp, the crowd will roar, some will even cry

Hoping that their beloved team will hold the trophy high.

Grand Final day in Melbourne, whole state is in a high

Hope one day I get there before I bloody die!!

 

 

Hope to write for you all next season. Cheers!

 

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[AFL-Preview] Preliminary Finals 2009

 

AFL FINALS 2009

PRELIMINARY FINALS

Last Week: 2 from 2. To date: 5 from 6

Lovers of AFL and tipsters in finals tipping competitions, we are getting down to the real thorny end of the season. Only two weeks to go and the determination of the grand finalists for this 2009 season appears murkily from the depths of AFL brouhaha, applied psychology and amazing injury recoveries. This is how we see it poetically.

 

Pendlebury broke his leg but is playing Saturday night

Steve Johnson’s hip or thigh came good, will he play? He might.

Rooke is in, Medhurst out, Josh Fraser’s knee is good

Will Malthouse leave out Rocca? Opinion says he should.

Mick says Cats are under pressure, Mark says Mick’s deranged!

While the Bullies team against the Saints sees both sides stay unchanged.

The Brownlow count is Monday, Friday the parade

Gawd our love for this great game will never, ever fade.

The thrust and parry of the coaches as grand final day arrives

Without the AFL to entertain we’d lead such poorer lives.

 

St Kilda V Western Bulldogs MCG Friday night

 

I cannot for the life of me work out why the AFL has to have one of the grand final teams play Friday night while the other teams play Saturday night in preliminary finals giving at least one team the advantage of an extra day’s rest. You say it doesn’t matter? Read the sports pages on Monday and get back to me. Anyway, it’s a shame that the combatants in this match have won just one premiership each and have to face each other in a sudden death game leaving one of them still having only one premiership to their name. Look, I don’t want to diminish the Western Bulldogs and the effort they have put in to get this far but let’s face it, their opposition, St Kilda, has lost only two games this year. The Saints are a team about 5 games better than most of these sides and it would be an injustice to see them bundled out in a prelim. The Bulldogs will fight this out to the bitter end but for them it will be just that – bitter. It’s the Saints for me.

 

St Kilda by 26

 

Geelong V Collingwood MCG Saturday Night

 

As a Magpies supporter I am ever hopeful that the Pies can win this one against the Cats but reality is that Geelong, like St Kilda, is head and shoulders above teams placed 3^rd to 16^th on the 2009 season ladder. It’s true that Collingwood has a reasonable chance to win the game but as a Collingwood supporter I would not like to see them face the Saints in another grand final, one they would lose. Will Pendlebury really play? Gee, it’s not like Mick to take chances like that on injured players and it would be some sort of record to see a player return to the highest level of competition after breaking his leg just two weeks ago. Best scenario for the Pies? Bulldogs beat the Saints and face Collingwood in the Grand Final. My credit card would be out to go and see that one. Reality sucks. It could be another tantalisingly close game to watch and the Magpie win against the Crows last week was one of the great football moments of 2009. But it’s over for Collingwood and the Cats will get that chance to fulfil their destiny as one of the great teams of the decade.

 

Geelong by 19

 

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[AFL-Preview] AFL Finals Week 2

AFL Finals Week 2
Last week 3 from 4 in the first finals round tipping.
 
What a week it was, first round of finals over, two are out and six remain to play
The Magpies and the Bulldogs, both have a second chance, but both must win to play another day.
The fallout from the first week ended so bizarre, with Juddy getting rubbed out for three weeks
It wasn't quite an eye gouge, some fingers in the face, looked like he gave the space behind his ear a tweak!
Experts in the martial arts came from near and far and to the case they gave their learned call,
To me it looked like Juddy was at the ten pin alley and was simply reaching for the bowling ball.
It doesn't really matter because Carlton lost a game one that we agree they should have won
So at the beginning of the season when they said the Blues would come little did we know they would be gone!
 
Western Bulldogs V Brisbane Lions – MCG Friday Night
 
As good as the Lions were last week they would have to lift to another level to beat the Doggies in this game. Brisbane have won their last two games coming from huge deficits and this will tell when they Play the Western Bulldogs at the G. If I was a betting man I would be putting $1000 on the Dogs to win this at 35+ points. Brisbane is not and has not been in the same class as the Doggies all year why do you think it would change for this game? It won't.
 
Western Bulldogs by 41
 


Collingwood V Adelaide – MCG Saturday Night
 
Well half of Africa may have woken up this morning starving so what have we to complain about? Well I'll tell you. If the Pies lose it will be due to the fact that they received 2 days' less rest than the Crows leading into this game. Trust me, that will be the excuse and good cause for complaint. However, I am of the opinion that Adelaide has been lulled into a false sense of security with games against Carlton and Essendon in the previous two weeks winning by a combined total of about 168 points! The Crows are the 5th best team in the competition and that will be pointed out to them in this game by the 4th best team in the competition. We all complain about the lack of justice in the world today well here's a perfect example. Justice not only needs to be seen to be done but must be done. Adelaide cannot and should not win this game. Will not win this game! It will be a heart stopper though.
 
Collingwood by 11
 
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[AFL-Review] Round 21

AFL Round 21

Apologies, went overseas three weeks ago and had very restricted
internet access. Some of the games get briefer treatment as a result
and that'll be the norm through to the end of the finals, as I'm now
overseas 'til the end of September.

At Docklands:
Footscray 3.5 7.12 10.12 16.14.110
Geelong 3.2 5.5 11.9 14.12.96

Sweet revenge for the Bullpups, for their 2-point loss to the Catters
in round 9 when Brad Johnson missed an after-siren shot. This was
another very good performance from the Doggies, some ferocious
tackling together with a smart attacking strategy, the victory
guaranteeing the Dawgs a top-four finish. The Age's Dr. Mongrel
Punter reckons the Pu55y Cats are well on the way to becoming the
greatest one-in-a-row premiership side ever, a lotta wins over the
last three years but only one flag (at the moment) as they continue
to slide. Jahlong went in nice and hard and Cam Mooney played well
again, but there was plenty of fumbling under pressure, dropped marks
and imprecise disposal so uncharacteristic of the Pu55ies until
recently. And returning Paul Chapman did his hamstring again. Both
sides have had recent problems with injured players, the Dogs'
balanced a bit here with Shaun Higgins and Daniel 'Guido'
Giansiracusa returning in place of Tom Williams (fractured foot) and
dropped youngster Easton Wood. Five changes for the Cats with
Chapman, Max Rooke, Darren Milburn and David Wojcinski returning and
Ryan Gamble recalled, they replaced Steve Johnson, who is struggling
with his injured hip, Tom Harley (knee soreness), Travis Varcoe
(shoulder) and dropped pair Simon Hogan and Tom Lonergan. Cameron
Ling played his 200th game, a great achievement for the classic
country bloodnut.

Just under 47,000 turned up for this Footyscray home game, their last
of the season and a record crowd for a home-and-away game between the
Dogs 'n' Cats. The Katz started the better here, some very aggressive
tackling trapped the ball in their forward 50 for the first 5-6
minutes but brought just one goal, Gary Ablett's good handball from
the base of a pack allowed a chipped Jimmy Bartel pass for backman
Harry Taylor to mark just inside the 50m line and punt a long
sausage. As the TV folk noted, odds on CHB Taylor scoring the first
goal of the game would've been healthy, it was Taylor's second goal
of the season. The Bulldogs flooded back and hung tough, absorbing
the pressure and eventually they began to attack a bit. They had a
break when Cat defenders Tom Gillies and Corey Enright collided,
Doggy Liam Picken gathered the ball and drilled a centering pass for
Mitch Hahn to mark and score full points with a typically ugly kick.
Scores were level. Higgins scored the first of what would be several
Bulldog posters before a clangered clearing kick from Ablett, no
less, was marked by Brad Johnson, he gave the ball to Matty Boyd who
kicked for Lindsay Gilbee to mark in the pocket, play-on and pop it
through the open goal. Then a typically rapid, flowing Bully move was
completed by Hahn kicking long for Josh Hill to mark behind Gillies,
play-on and dob it. The kick over defenders to forwards lurking
behind 'em would be employed often by the Dogs as they went 13 points
ahead. The Catters managed to respond, a smart switching kick from
Andrew Mackie found Joel Corey in space and he passed for a Shannon
Byrnes mark and major. TomaHawkins marked Mathew Stokes's pass and
thumped a 50m goal and the margin was back to a point, the term ended
with a few behinds including consecutive Puppy posters from Scott
Welsh (soccered) and Boyd (in fact a pretty poor miss). Dogs by 3
points at the first break.

The Bullies dominated the opening minutes of quartier le deuxieme,
but they were revisited by the appalling goal-shooting which cost 'em
victory against the Weevils. Johnson missed a pretty easy, early shot
and Hill hooked a tight-angle behind, before big Ben Hudson led up
for a grab on the flank and lobbed a kick to the top of the
goal-square. Brian Lake started the korter playing at full-forward
with Welsh having a run in defence, Hahn roved Lake's contest and
handballed for Adam Cooney to snap a goal. But then a Brad Johnson
snap hit the post and a long Jason Akermanis effort faded wide, Boyd
snapped on-the-full as the Dogs slogged along to a 13-point lead.
Catter attacks had been infrequent and spoiled by Welsh, not bad down
back, or in one instance a great with-the-flight effort by Gilbee on
Stokes which Catter fans screamed was illegal. The Dawgs got the next
goal after Pu55y defender Matthew Scarlett made a fairly lazy attempt
to gather a loose ball, Dog Robert Murphy speared a tremendous low
pass for Hill to mark between two Cats, barely 5m either side of Hill
who proceeded to pop it through. The Bullies led by 18 points. The
Cats didn't look like the Geelong we've come to expect, being
constantly caught in possession, turning it over, fumbling as the
Dogs bore down. But their key men lifted, a good effort from Ablett
and a superb one from Rooke set up a shot for Stokes which he missed,
woefully. Murphy responded with a pretty terrible miss of his own,
from the kick-in Scarlett drove it long and wide to Mackie, he
centered a pass to running Byrnes who kicked for back-running Mooney
to mark behind Welsh, play-on and poke it through. But Chapman had
hurt his hamstring again during that play and his night was over.
Rushed back. The Cats had dominated ruck-clearances but hadn't made
it count until now, Cameron Ling wobbled a punt forward from the
restart and Mooney clutched a solid pack-mark, he converted again as
the Cats cut their deficit to 7 points. Murphy postered yet again for
the Pups prior to the Bullies surging late in the stanza, Ling threw
the ball when tackled and Boyd free-kicked a goal, then Scarlett was
caught in possession and Brad Johnson soccered the ball ahead, Nathan
Eagleton lobbed a centering kick for Welsh, returned to full-forward,
to mark over Cat David Johnson and punt truly. The Bulldawgs led by
19 points at half-time.

Footyscray opened up a 5-goal lead early in the third Mario, Ward
scooped up Murphy's short kick and bagged one. Then Eagleton ran 50m
flat-out to create an option for Johnson, hard-up on the boundary,
Eagleton collected Johnno's handpass and chipped a centring kick for
Murphy to mark over young Gillies. Murph managed to avoid the post
this time, his accurate shot sending the Dogs 30 points ahead.
Pressure right on the Pu55ies but they responded, finally putting
together some running play from all of the pack clearances. Running
Joel Selwood played a very good one-two with Milburn and stabbed a
pass for leading Hawkins to mark, a 50m penalty too as Lake (in
defence again) didn't retreat on the mark and Hawkins had an
unmissable shot. A bit later Ryan Gamble hooked a major following a
very good mark right on the point-line, against Dylan Addison, and
the Catter deficit was down to 17 points. Boyd had a free at the
following centre-bounce and kicked forward to where Akermanis was
also awarded a free, for Enright's jumper-tug. Aker kicked a major
and the Dogs were 23 up. But the Catters were digging in. Bartel was
ridden into the ground at the next centre-bounce, by Boyd, and Jimmy
sent his free wide to Ablett, he kicked long where Hawkins juggled a
pack-mark and punted a major. A bit later Rooke produced a skilful
pass for leading Mooney to mark 55m out, Mooney jabbed a quick pass
for leading Shane Mumford to grab and the big Catter ruckman booted a
sausage roll. Soon Enright's very good tackle on Addison won
possession for the Katz and Scarlett passed for leading Mooney to
mark on the 50m line, Mooney took the responsibility and produced a
wobbly but lengthy and most importantly, accurate punt. The Cats' big
forwards were doing the job as they cut the Dogs' advantage to 3
points. The Pu55ies grabbed the lead prior to the final break,
handballs from Corey and Ablett won the agate from a ball-up and
Stokes thumped a long, running major. Catter fans were roaring as
their lads had scored six of the last seven goals of the game and led
by 3 points at three korter time.

The early final term became a shootout. Akermanis ran down Mackie
with a great tackle and Gilbee collected the loose ball, he jabbed a
pass for Johnson to mark and convert and the Dogs led by 3 points.
Cat reply as Ablett whacked a lovely long kick for Gamble to mark, he
played-on with a handball to running Byrnes who drilled it through.
Cats by 3 points. Mooney missed again before Boyd was allowed to take
an uncontested mark 15m out and pop it through, the Pups led by 2
points. Dargeelong went ahead again as Selwood potted a 50m running
goal. The Dogs broke the sequence with consecutive majors, Harbrow
mongrelled a grubber-kick forward but young Sam Reid did very well to
trap it and get an under-pressure handball away to Cooney, his kick
was also pretty ordinary but Brad Johnson marked it in the pocket,
played-on and walloped it through. From the following centre-bounce
Hudson's handball and Callan Ward's tap-on forced the pill into
Cooney's path, he gathered and smacked a low wobbler for full points
which had the Doggies 8 points up. Stokes appeared certain to score a
goal but drilled a narrow-angle shot into the base of the post. The
Cats messed up a minute later when Mark Blake won a free-kick from a
throw-in on the wing, but delivered a dreadful hospital handpass to
David Wojcinski. Hahn's crunching tackle forced the ball loose and
Hahn gathered, his long kick cleared Gillies and allowed Hill to
mark, play-on and stab it home. Doggies by 13 points and crunch time
arrived for the Cats a minute later as Mooney marked 35m out, not
much of an angle. As the TV folk noted, this is the type of shot
Mooney misses too often. And he did this time, too. Ward reciprocated
with a pretty bad miss for the Pups and time ticked away during a
scrappy, end-to-end spell as players tired. Eventually Cat Hawkins's
long punt was marked with-the-flight by Mooney on a tight angle, this
time Mooney steadied and scored a goal with a banana-kick. The
Bulldog lead was back to 8 points, but there was only 1:50 to go.
Mooney's penalized, over-the-shoulder tackle on Gilbee gave the
Bullies some relief, they appeared certain to run down the clock but
Brad Johnson elected to tap-on a ball which was rolling
out-of-bounds, Hill collected it and kicked to the top o' the 'square
where Higgins out-marked Wojcinski. The siren sounded as Higgins
majored and the Puppies and their fans were very happy indeed.

Fierce Bully on-ball efforts led by Adam Cooney (29 disposals, 2
goals), appearing to be fit at last, and Matthew Boyd (25 touches, 7
marks, 2 goals) led the way for the Dogs. Up forward Josh Hill (20
touches, 7 marks, 3 goals) worked hard and Brad Johnson (22 possies,
10 marks, 2 goals) tormented the Cats again. At the other end Brian
Lake (24 touches, 6 marks) and runnin' Jarrod Harbrow (25 handlings,
7 marks) were excellent. Robert Murphy (17 disposals, 7 marks, a
goal) was handy and Callan Ward (19 touches, 10 tackles, a goal) had
a big final quarter. For the Cats Gary Ablett (40 disposals, 5 marks)
was very good again but didn't have the influence on the game as last
week. Joel Corey (37 touches, 6 marks) and Jimmy Bartel (31
disposals) were good and Joel Selwood (33 handlings, 9 marks, a goal)
propelled that third korter surge. Cameron Mooney (9 kicks, 8 marks,
4.2) played very well, pity about that last-term miss, and Darren
Milburn (24 possies, 8 marks) and Matty Scarlett (21 disposals)
weren't bad. Tom Hawkins kicked 3 goals and Shannon Byrnes bagged 2.
Thompson was asked to address the slide. "It has been difficult, I
didn't think we'd ever seen it coming that we could struggle as much
as we have in games in such a short time," Thompson said. "But they
have been up for a long time. The key and the secret is, with one
more round to go, is to open up the can and just get them to start
enjoying their footy and get them to work incredibly hard on a
consistent basis. That's the secret. Now it is not that far off, we
can do this. I've just got to keep pushing that message to the
players, that we can do this. That's what we've been so good at doing
over the past couple of years, of pushing people to great heights and
getting them to achieve great things that people respect. If we get
our team balanced and settled a bit where you are making one or two
changes rather than four or five for five weeks in a row then we
might be a chance. I think that can happen. I think Paul Chapman will
play next week and I think James Kelly will play next week and Brad
Ottens will play in the VFL tomorrow night and hopefully he has a
great game and gets through and we put him in the team. Then Steve
Johnson plays [and Tom Harley] and we are up and about. We are
capable of doing it and we are optimistic that we can." Rocket said
"After losing at home two weeks ago, the last three games were
ultra-important and ultra-tough against three very good teams. We
needed to win at least two of them and we've done that so far. I
thought we played well for most of the night. We had that patch about
20 minutes in the third quarter, when we were outplayed and full
credit to Geelong, they got hold of us . . . and they were fantastic
and we dropped our intensity and got caught. But it was pleasing in
the last quarter to be able to answer that and fight back."

At Docklands:
Carlton 6.3 12.5 18.9 24.9.153
Melbourne 4.2 8.3 12.4 15.6.92

Low-pressure, late-season jog-about in which the Blooze progressed
steadily with six goals to Melbun's four in each of the first three
quarters and six to three in the last. The Blooze were hoping for
other results to boost their ladder position but they didn't go the
Bluies' way. Finals kick off a week early against the Cows next week.
Melbun jogged about, got some games into the kids. The Dees had three
announced departures last week, Russell Robertson was tapped on the
shoulder but Robbo's not retiring, he's gonna nominate for the draft.
Good luck with that. Paul Wheatley and Matthew Whelan are retiring,
long-kickin' Wheatley is a pretty good player but been bedeviled by
leg muscle and knee injuries. He specialized in kicking 9-point goals
in the pre-season comp. Tough back-pocket Whelan, who also struggled
with injury, is the first Aboriginal player to be made a life-member
of Melbun, a fact of which he is very proud. He also broke Nathan
Brown's leg. Whelan returned from injury to play here and the Dees
hope Wheatley will be fit enough for a farewell appearance next week.
The Blooze made two changes to their side, Jeff Garlett and Joe
Anderson replaced Mitch Robinson (foot) and Dennis Armfield (ankle).
The Dees had junior Jordie McKenzie and ruckmen Jake Spencer and Mark
Jamar in with Whelan, out went Nathan Jones (gastro) and axed trio
Clint Bartram, Brad Miller and Lynden Dunn.

A lethargic air hung over the early going, with the Bluies having
secured their finals spot last week and Melbun not caring, really.
Dee Paul Johnson walloped the opening goal with a fairly soft
free-kick, quickly-taken which bounced through from 60m. Brendan
Fevola replied for the Bluies with a free-kick, spoiled front-on by
Jared Rivers. Brent Moloney scored another long-range goal for the
Deez, a kick from 75m completely misjudged by the pack over whom it
sailed and bounced through for six points. Russ Robertson hurt his
wrist or arm when diving for a low grab and Robbo departed for a
while, he returned for the second half. A series of Bluie handballs,
including a good 'drawing' one from Joe Anderson, allowed Andrew
Carrazzo to slot a narrow-angle major, then a prolonged scramble for
possession was tidied by Eddie Betts's handball for Setanta O'hAilpin
to shrug a tackle and snap through off the left boot. Blooze by 6
points but the Deez had an answer again as Neville Jetta soccered the
ball clear of congestion and then ran ahead to mark Jordie McKenzie's
kick in the goal-square and pop it through. The Bluies went ahead
again, Dee James 'Junior' McDonald lobbed a useless kick forward and
Bloo Ryan Houlihan marked it easily, initiating a rebound move
completed by Chris Judd's good pass for Bryce Gibbs to mark and
convert. But the Dees leveled the scores again when Bloo Andrew
Walker fumbled in defence and soccered the ball clear in a panic, it
went straight to Dee Stefan Martin who passed for leading Mark Jamar
to mark 30m out. Jamar, playing at full-forward, converted this first
opportunity with a helicopter punt. The Bluies crept ahead late, Jeff
Garlett roved Kade Simpson's and Jared Rivers's contest and had a
left-foot snap which bounced through, aided by Brendan Fevola's
shepherd. Judd roved a ball-up on the 50m line and handballed for
Marc Murphy to pot a running sausage, Murphy's miss after the siren
had the Blooze 13 points up at the first break. Bluie coach Brett
Ratten gave his lads a blast, but it had little immediate effect. The
Dees'd lost Ricky Petterd already, with a strained groin and soon
Whelan was off too, with hamstring tightness. The Dees scored the
opening goal of the second as Jamar led to mark Sylvia's pass and
boot truly with much better kick than his first. Then the Blooze as
Garlett roved a pack excellently at pace and bagged his second. Dee
Shane Valenti tumbled a punt forward from the next centre-bounce and
Paul Johnson marked it, he sent a kick wide to Jetta alone who
played-on and dobbed it. The Bluies led by 7 points but they now
established a belated gap, Fevola went up the ground to get the ball
and then pass for Heath Scotland, alone in the goal-square, to pop it
through. The Dees elected to help 'em out, Cale Morton dropped a mark
awfully and Garlett, lurking behind him, gathered and booted his
third already. Young Dee Tom McNamara clangered a clearing kick
leading to Scotland booting a major and the Bluies led by 25 points
now. In amongst that the Bluies lost the luckless Richard Hadley with
a suspected broken arm. Next up Dee big man Jamar booted his best
goal yet, a free-kick hammered through from 50m. The Bloobeggars got
the next two though, Dee junior Kyle Cheney was kinda upset when
tackled across the boundary-line by Fevola and done for 'bawl',
although it was fair enough. While Cheney whined Fev fired a quick
handball for Simpson to jab it through from the goal-square. A minute
later Judd's skilful scoop and handball created Fevola's second goal
to have the Bluies 31 points ahead. But Robbo was back, and he bagged
a late goal courtesy a pass from Shane Valenti. Carton led by 26
points at half-time.

New evidence for tanking theorists to start the third term, Dee
defender James Frawley had done a pretty good job on Fevola in the
first half but Frawley commenced the third on the bench and
third-gamer McNamara shifted onto Fev. Frawley wasn't injured,
apparently. Then again, Jamar at full-forward was also an experiment
which worked well and Bailey didn't move him. Then again, Brock
McLean spent the entire game in a forward-pocket. You could drive
yourself crazy. Early on an ordinary Murphy pass missed Fevola's lead
but Garlett swept onto the agate and banana-ed an impressive running
goal. The Deez hung around, after the game Ratten expressed
frustration with the relative ease with which the Dees scored their
goals. Dee McKenzie wobbled a bit of a low kick forward and
Robertson, not expecting it, dropped the mark with his hands but
caught the ball between his knees, just as you'd expect. Robbo kicked
the goal though and a minute later Jamar got another, battering Bret
Thornton aside to gather Liam Jurrah's kick and snap it home. The
Bloo lead was reduced to 20 points and they were sufficiently worried
about Jamar to shift O'hAilpin from attack to man him up. The Bluies
got the next goal thanks to a lead, mark and great kick from Fevola,
but the Dees answered immediately thanks to a terrible, late
advantage call from the umpire; Bluie Anderson had stopped chasing
Robertson upon hearing the whistle, so Robbo was 10m clear when the
ump yelled 'advantage' and Robertson accelerated away to dob one. The
goals continued to alternate, Fevola played ruckman at a ball-up 40m
out and tapped it down perfectly for Betts to bag one, but then Jamar
kicked another for the Dees, roving his own contest to snap it
through from close range. The Blooze led by 22 points at this stage
but as they'd done in the first two qwarters, they kicked away a bit
in time-on. Fevola free-kicked a major after being held back by
McNamara, then Fevola got another. Garlett's pass to him was wide but
Fevola wheeled about, gathered the agate on the boundary and
dribbly-kicked a great major. Garlett elected to allow it to bounce
through when he coulda gathered and kicked it himself. The Blooze led
by 34 points as Frawley returned to pick up Fevola, but Fev proceeded
to kick his third straight with a mark of Nick Stevens's pass. The
Bluies led by 41 points at the last change. The margin expanded
quickly into the final Mario, Walker and Robertson collided heavily
and showed fair guts as they went for the same mark, they were both
okay but Bluie Aaron Joseph collected the loose ball and passed for
leading Fevola to mark and kick his seventh, including the last four
of the game, from 50m. Big Matthew Kreuzer snapped the next, created
by Murphy's tough handpass, and when Simpson ran inside 50 to bag a
long sausage the blowout the Blueser fans wanted was eventuating as
the 'baggers led by 57 points. But then Robertson kicked another goal
with a decent mark of Cheney's kick, Simpson replied to complete some
casual chip-around prior to goals from Demuns Robertson - McLean won
a centre-clearance - and Jurrah. Bloo Houlihan, who'd played off a
back flank, wandered forward to kick two late majors.

Junior Bloo midfielders were to the fore as Bryce Gibbs (34
disposals, 8 marks, a goal) and Marc Murphy (37 possessions, 7 marks,
a goal) collected plenty of touches. Brendan Fevola (12 touches, 5
marks, 7 goals - 7.0) has a stranglehold on the Coleman Medal and
Chris Judd (33 possies) cruised about in second gear. Jeff Garlett
(17 possessions, 5 marks, 4 goals) was a lively half-forward and
Andrew Carrazzo (35 disposals, 5 marks, a goal) played alright. Ryan
Houlihan (26 touches, 4 marks, 2 goals) played well off half-back.
Kade Simpson kicked 3 goals and Heath Scotland bagged 2 goals. Dee
skipper James 'Junior' McDonald (20 disposals, 7 marks) is finishing
the season in good form and Mark Jamar (7 possies, 3 marks, 5 goals)
proved a useful spearhead. Colin Sylvia (34 touches, 7 marks),
Neville Jetta (24 possessions, 6 marks, 2 goals) and Matthew Bate (24
handlings, 6 marks) were quite good. Russ Robertson (13 kicks, 9
marks, 5 goals) thought he'd proved he's still got it. Dean Bailey
lunged for an excuse which didn't involve tanking. "It's a bit hard
when you lose two players," Bailey said. "Particularly Petterd and
Whelan, who are your two small players who have been in reasonable
form for us. I thought our blokes were committed at the start . . .
some of our ball use early was pretty good. I thought our blokes hung
in there and pressured pretty well . . . It's important (Whelan)
plays his 150th game next week which would be a great achievement for
Matty and we hope we can get him to the line, or hope he can get
himself to the line because 150 next to his name, I think he deserves
it." Why was Frawley taken off Fev? "I don't think we exposed Tommy
(McNamara) greatly during the game on Fev," Bailey said. "I think
Chipper (Frawley) played on a couple of different opponents as well .
. . most of the time I think Frawley played on Fev. Unfortunately if
you're a young backman playing the game, then if you're going to play
on the good players at some stage you've got to be able to play on
them". Robbo copping the axe? "We've got some young players there and
they need to play games of experience with each other so they get
that combination and that time of playing together," Bailey said.
"Russell's very keen to get an opportunity somewhere else and if he
does, he'll deserve it." Brett Ratten said "I think from an offensive
point-of-view we take a fair bit (from the game) - to score 24 goals
and have 11 goal-kickers, I thought that was pretty encouraging
across the board. I thought defensively - early - we really
struggled, and the first 20 minutes of the game I thought our
intensity was off the mark. Our attitude was the focus at the start
of the game, we could see from the coaches' box if we were on or if
we weren't, and we thought we were off a little bit at the start of
the game. We also spoke about the chance or the opportunity to
rehearse a lot of plays, whether it's a . . . kick-in, a stoppage
through the middle of the ground or a stoppage in your back half or
your forward-50, you get to rehearse these. And that's what we were
trying to do, fine-tune every bit of play . . . because we know where
we're heading, we get the opportunity to play finals".

At Football Park:
Adelaide 2.4 8.8 12.12 18.14.122
West Coast 2.2 4.2 5.5 7.6.48

With the pressure off, sort of, the Camrys enjoyed themselves by
walloping the Wiggles. The Cows have a more important game against
the Bluesers at Docklands next week, for a home final. The Camrys
made just change in s'lection, useful wingman David Mackay returned
from injury at the expense of last week's debutant, Rory Sloane.
Robert 'Don't Call Me' Shirley played his 150th game. The Weegs gave
Ryan Davis and Brent Staker opportunities to prove their worth and
recalled Matt Spangher, they replaced Mitch Brown (broken foot),
Chris Masten (strained PCL) and Patrick McGinnity (gastro).

Slow start from the Camrys despite the aid of a stiff breeze, the
Weegs flooded back heavily and the Corollas didn't cope, as they
often don't when confronted with such tactics. Or at least until
Craigy adopted a more attacking style. But here the Cows chipped the
ball about patiently to work an opening, racking up healthy stats,
before kicking long to a forward with a chance. The Cows would go
within six disposals of breaking the AFL team record. Jason Porplyzia
booted the game's opening goal but Weegle forward Josh Kennedy,
prominent early, majored after pulling down a strong grab. Tight for
a bit before a lucky bounce allowed Camry Kurt Tippett to set up a
major for Scott Thompson, but busy Weeg junior Tom Swift made it two
goals each for the term after Kennedy created a long shot for him.
Camry man Simon Goodwin indulged in the long-kicking in the second
term and his boot led to early majors for Porplyzia, Richard Douglas
and then Ivan Maric with a big leap and grab. Trent 'Potential'
Hentschel then came up with consecutive majors from clever marks
against Beau Wilkes to send the Cows 29 points ahead. The Coasters
staged a brief revival as Mark LeCras kicked a goal, then Quinten
Lynch snapped one out of a ruck contest. The Camrys were 17 points
ahead but their Douglas and Tippett bagged the half's last two goals
to have the Cows 30 points clear at orange-time. The Weegs defended
stoutly for 7 minutes into third quatrain before the Cows found
another burst of goals, Chris Knights lurked to mark and convert from
20m out and then Douglas, Porplyzia and Thompson added further
six-pointers to send the Cressidas 9 goals ahead exactly. Andrew
Embley got a late one for the Eegs. The Cows expanded the margin
further in the final term with Porplyzia kicking three goals.

Simon Goodwin (37 disposals, 8 marks) is in a late-career flowering
of form and Scott Thompson (26 touches, 9 marks, 2 goals) played
well, but Jason Porplyzia (13 possessions, 2 marks, 6 goals) is the
Cows key player. Bernie Vince (34 handlings, 4 marks), Michael
Doughty (37 possies, 6 marks) and Tyson Edwards (33 touches) were all
pretty decent, Graham Johncock (27 disposals, 8 marks) too. Trent
Hentschel, Ivan Maric, Chris Knights and Richard Douglas kicked 2
goals each. Wiggle juniors Tim Houlihan (24 disposals, 4 marks) and
Tom Swift (21 possessions, 8 marks, a goal) were pleasingly good for
Weeg fans and Brad Ebert (24 touches, 10 marks) has improved smartly
this year. Adam Selwood (29 handlings, 4 marks) and Josh Kennedy (14
possies, 11 marks, 2 goals) were alright. Mark LeCras booted 2 goals.
"I think [the players] learned how far off they are [from] where
they've got to get to in both skill level and hard run, and I think
we learnt a lot of lessons today," Worsfold said. "There were not a
lot [of positives] other than we learned those lessons, which gives
the players a really good indication that at this late stage of the
year we have a long way to go. Youth and inexperience isn't an excuse
we want to use for a long period of time . . ." Craig said "We
changed the style we were playing about four or five times during the
game. I thought it was one of the good things the players could learn
and they adapted fairly well to the changes without impacting on the
game. We've already spoken about it as a group. Next week's game (and
Carlton) and the pressure of it is really important because it means
we give ourselves a better opportunity to be successful in an
elimination final. What we're fighting for now is the capacity to
play a home final, which is still not cemented in place. We want to
go into the finals with the best opportunity we can to start to
change the [poor recent] finals record that we have."

At the Gabba:
Brisbane 3.2 7.5 12.8 16.11.107
Port Adelaide 10.0 10.4 14.5 14.8.92

Port out-flaked themselves with ten goals in the first quarter, twice
leading by 47 points, then scoring four more for the rest of the game
as the Lyin's over-ran 'em. Justice really, as we've said before this
Port side is kinda rubbish. Unless they're allowed to front-run as
they were in the first term. Brisbun would've been happy to end a
three-game losing streak (well, not-winning streak, having drawn with
Essadun) and if they can beat the Bloods at the SCG next week the
Lyin's will have a home final. One change to the Lyin' side here,
Matt Austin returning from injury at the expense of Tim Notting. Port
regained Daniel Motlop from his ankle injury and Jacob Surjan too,
Toby Thurstans, Tom Logan and Nick Salter were recalled. Out went
Peter Burgoyne ('flu), Josh Carr (ankle) and Robbie Gray
(appendicitis) while the disappointing Steven Salopek was dropped
again, along with Justin Westhoff.

You could kinda predict the first quarter as Port usually start well
and the Lyin's sleepwalk through opening halves. The Powder scored
four unanswered goals to start, Mean Dean Brogan free-kicked the
first, shepherded out of the contest too obviously by Luke Power.
Runnin' full-back Alipate Carlile hammered a big runnin' goal and
from a secondary, following centre-bounce Brendon Lade whacked a punt
forward and Tredrea marked in front of Daniel Merrett, he converted.
Daniel Motlop majored with a soft free-kick for holding and the
Powder led by 24 points. The Brians opened their account with a good
move completed by Daniel Bradshaw's leading mark in the pocket and
slotted major. But then David Rodan sprinted clear and lobbed a punt
for Nick Salter to mark over James Hawksley and convert. A minute
later Dom Cassisi hacked a quick punt ahead from a throw-in and
Tredrea marked and booted another, the Flowers led by 30. Then
Tredrea kicked his third, running onto Nathan Krakouer's mis-hit pass
while Merrett made like a statue. Shaun Burgoyne was involved a
coupla times in engineering the next centre-clearance and then ran to
receive Motlop's handpass and smack it through. Lyin' backman Joel
Macdonald dropped a mark awfully and Burgoyne handballed for Matt
Thomas to bag one, the Flowers led by 47 points. The Lyin's broke the
run with Jack Redden's long punt marked by Michael Rischitelli and
Risky majored. But the Powder re-established their 47-point lead
after Thomas roved a throw-in and handpassed for Motlop to weave
through traffic and thump a long sausage. Brisbun managed the final
goal of the korter, Jonathan Brown free-kicked it after being dragged
down clumsily by Carlile. But the Lyin's went ultra-defensive for the
first part of the second stanza, in an attempt to stop the Powder's
run-on. Spearhead Daniel Bradshaw went to full-back for a while as
the game became an ugly slog. Eventually Lyin' Brown bagged the first
goal of quartier le deuxieme as the Brians began to get moving. A 50m
penalty against Powder skipper Cassisi for kicking the ball away
after the whistle allowed Justin 'The Shermanator' Sherman to kick
one. Shortly Lyin' Cheynee Stiller was stretchered off after being
'tunnelled' by Brett Ebert in a marking contest - Stiller's head
smacked hard into the turf and he didn't appear well. Ebert was booed
resoundingly by the locals for the remainder of the evening. But then
Bradshaw returned to full-forward for the Brians and came up with
consecutive sausages to have the Powder just 17 points ahead at the
long break, Port having managed just 0.4 for the stanza. But the
Lyin's had further problems, full-back Daniel Merrett had damaged a
hamstring during the term and he joined Stiller on the bench.

And then at the start of the third the Lyin's lost ruckman Mitch
Clark (temporarily), dizzy spells due to dehydration on the humid
Queensland night. Despite the personnel worries the Lyin's continued
to make inroads early, Brown kicking back-to-back goals from tough
angles in an unusual display of accuracy. But the Flowers then broke
their long goal-drought with long-distance majors from ruckman
Brendon Lade and then Tredrea, to maintain Pord's three-goal lead.
Nick Salter got a couple of good ones, from strong grabs, later-on
but as a rehydrated Clark returned to the fray for the Lyin's,
momentum swung their way. A Daniel Rich punt from 75m took some
fortuitous bounces to roll through for full-points, subsequent goals
from Bradshaw and Michael Rischitelli reduced the Powder lead to 9
points at the last change. Early in the final term Lyin's Brown and
Bradshaw collided and Brown came off worse, but the Lyin's hung in.
Redden kicked a goal to reduce the margin to a goal and a bit later
Rischitelli's major had Brisbun in front for the first time. A
running goal from Ash McGrath sealed the result as the Power appeared
to have only about two or three blokes running and trying.

Luke Power (31 disposals, 7 marks) led the Lyin's back into it and
Daniel Bradshaw (10 kicks, 7 marks, 5 goals) was the main man in
attack. Ash McGrath (20 touches, 8 marks, a goal) ran effectively
from the back again and youngster Jack Redden (24 possessions, 10
marks, a goal) was very good. Michael Rischitelli (14 possies, 3
marks, 3 goals) is proving a useful half-forward and Mitch Clark (21
disposals, 12 marks, 20 hit-outs) was a significant feature of the
turn-around. Jonathan Brown struggled to find the ball (6 kicks, 4
marks) against Carlile but still produced 4 goals, handy. Midfielder
Travis Boak (32 possessions, 8 marks) was probably Port's best and
Mean Dean Brogan (23 disposals, 6 marks, 15 hit-outs, a goal)
propelled much of their early dominance. Defenders Troy Chaplin (18
possessions, 10 marks) and Alipate Carlile (on Brown) were good and
Kane Cornes (21 disposals) had the better of Simon Black. Nathan
Krakouer (26 touches, 8 marks) produced some effective rebound
running. Jacob Surjan (21 disposals, 3 marks) battled to the end.
Warren Tredrea kicked 4 goals, Nick Salter 3 and Daniel Motlop 2.
'Choco' Williams was blunt as usual, but his press statements don't
seem to translate into action on the field. "Obviously we need to get
some new players," Williams began. "The mindset, the mental belief
and courage to keep going is certainly very flimsy at the moment.
There was a lot on the game. Obviously we still had some faint chance
of making the finals. Now it's gone, so that's massively
disappointing for us . . . You can get pretty angry after a game like
that. After quarter time we really couldn't get the ball inside 50
until the last quarter. Turnovers, not running hard enough, kicking
the ball to the opposition: those are the things that hurt us." He
found kind words for Kane Cornes, Carlile and Salter. Michael Voss
said "I wouldn't necessarily say it's the best we've played this year
but in terms of the best win, yeah, I'd say it has to be our best
win. It always takes something quite special to be able to find
something when things aren't going well for you because it's very
easy to pack it in. Quite clearly there's more of a want in this team
[and] there's more of a desire in this team to want to get more for
themselves . . . I take my hat off to them because that was just a
remarkable effort to come back. This group has an amazing ability to
be able to never throw it in. You could just sort of feel like the
momentum of the game was shifting. It wasn't a specific incident or a
specific thing that changed that around but you could slowly start to
see that we were arresting the ascendancy of the game." Voss was
asked about the Lyin's slow starts. "Looking at the players before
the game I thought, 'Geez, the guys are on. I think this is the game
we're really going to bounce out of the blocks'. I can read body
language good can't I?" he joked. "The players should come out of
that game feeling really good about themselves, they've earned that.
They had to find something in the belly to get them over the line."

At the MCG:
Richmond 2.2 7.3 9.6 14.9.93
Hawthorn 2.6 8.11 13.14 20.15.135

Straightforward four points for the Orcs, setting up the mother of
all line-in-the-sand games, or something, against Essadun the
following week. The Tiggers gave cheek at various times but weren't
good enough and reduced to walking wounded by the end. Richmun's
un-necessarily epic search for a new coach is down to three-time
reject Damien Hardwick and Catter assistant Ken Hinkley. Two notable
events in selection, the Toigs had Graham Polak in for his first game
since being hit and nearly killed by a tram last year, while Hawker
ruckman Max Bailey played his first game for three years, following
two knee reconstructions. The Tiggers made multiple changes, joining
Polak amongst the 'ins' were Troy 'Snake' Simmonds, Matt White, Kel
Moore and a new player in former Portaddleaide on-baller Adam
Thomson. They replaced Jake King and Tom Hislop, suspended two and
one games respectively for biffing Pies last week, retired Joel
Bowden and dropped pair Tyrone Vickery and Mark Coughlan. The Hawks
brought in Bailey, Beau Dowler and a new player of their own in
rookie-listed Riley Milne, a tall, lanky lad from Mooroopna. Out went
Robert Campbell (broken finger), Jarryd Morton (cork thigh) and
another favourite Hawker scapegoat, Simon Taylor.

Entertaining start. Tiger Luke McGuane spoiled his opponent Lance
'Buddy' Franklin, gathered the ball, raced away through the centre
and his effort ended with Jack Riewoldt snapping a good goal. The
Hawks replied presently as Beau Muston kicked long and Beau Dowler
shoved Kel Moore under the ball, unpenalized, to mark it and dob a
goal. As TV's Robbie Walls noted, Dowler plays from behind his man
and despite bagging a few goals here, Dowler won't have much success
playing that way against better teams. The Toigs went ahead again as
Brett Deledio held a strong grab at half-forward and handballed off
to Robin Nahas, he passed for Daniel Jackson to mark and convert,
Tiges by 6. A bit later the Tiges lost defender Will Thursfield as he
and young Hork Liam Shiels collided heavily, Thursfield damaged a
collar-bone. Shiels was alright and it was a pretty gutsy effort from
him. The game degenerated a bit as Franklin missed a couple of shots,
one after Buddy elected to play-on despite being tripped. Late in the
term the Tiges coughed up possession with too much handball and Awk
Ben McGlynn drove a long kick for Jordan Lewis to mark behind Jordan
McMahon, Lewis majored and the Orcs led by 3 points. Franklin missed
again prior to the first break to have Horforn 4 points up. The
Tiggers reclaimed the lead early in the second, good passes from
Richard Tambling to Ben Cousins to Mitch Morton in the pocket and
Morton converted with a left-footed! hooky-kick. Morton is the genius
of that skill. The Hawkers were winning more of the ball and
dominating possession though, Franklin finally opened his account
following a juggling one-handed grab, McGlynn, Luke Hodge and Dowler
proceeded to miss shots (Hodge on-the-full) before Toig McGuane
clangered a kick from his back-pocket straight to Cyril Rioli, who
passed for Josh Kennedy to mark and convert. The Orcs led by 12
points. The Tiges pulled one back, terrific battling from Graham
Polak to win the ball and handpass out to Nathan Brown, Brown ran
clear and kicked for Morton to mark in the goal-square and pop it
through. Polak's overall effort was admirable in this game but he
didn't mark the ball as well as he used to. Michael Osborne capped a
slick Hawk rebound with a running banana-goal but the Tiges answered
again, Nahas gathered and handballed slickly in traffic and a Deledio
handball allowed Cousins to stab a runnin' sausage. The Hawkers led
by 7 points but they spurted a bit, an awful clanger from Tige
Jackson, over Moore's head, gave Sam Mitchell the ball and he passed
for a mark and goal to Franklin, then Rioli goaled with a great bit
of play. Rioli's tackle on Shane Edwards forced the ball loose, Rioli
extracted the ball from the resulting pack, bulldozed and accelerated
his way through a coupla attempted tackles and sprinted clear to
spear it through. Franklin came up with a ridiculous dribbly-miss but
a minute later Buddy kicked a major, gathering his own spillage and
shrugging McGuane's tackle before snapping it through. The Hawkers
led by 27 points and were worth at least that, but the Toigs conjured
two late gajoles. Jackson tapped a wayward ball-up 20m out down to
Brown who snapped it through, then Angus Graham held a decent
pack-mark and centered a pass to Tambling, who saw an
over-enthusiastic Rioli cross the mark. A 50m penalty and Tambling
popped it through, a late Nahas behind reduced the Orforn lead to 14
points at half-time.

The Toigs gave it a bit of a crack in the early third, McGuane
repeated his effort of the game's opening goal with a very good mark
at half-back, a surging, tackle-busting run through the centre and
handball to Chris Newman, he passed for leading Riewoldt to mark and
convert. The Awks led by 7 points. Their Kennedy blew a certain goal
with woeful indecision, didn't know whether to kick it himself or
handball to Franklin and ended up being caught by Moore. Franklin
then missed consecutive shots including one with an idiotic
hooky-kick. He rarely kicks straight against the Tiges. Their
diagonal stripe upsets his frame of reference. Compensated here with
weight of chances. Muston specialized in long kicks in and he drove
in another, Kennedy roved the pack and handballed for Dowler to snap
a major. A minute later Hodge had a free on the attacking 50 and he
played-on with a dummy around Tige Thomson to bag a sausage and the
Hawkers led by 21 points. The Tiges pulled one back, Riewoldt leading
onto the flank for a grab and converting with noice kick. But the
Awkers pressed ahead with the next three goals. The first of those
followed the game's key 'incident', as Cousins gathered in the
Richmun defence he fumbled a bit and was ab-so-loot-lee creamed by a
massive hit from Franklin. Immediate debate surrounded the hit's
fairness as Cuz was collected in the neck/jaw, Buddy ended up copping
a very controversial 2-week suspension. The head is sacrosanct, but
debate surrounded whether Cuz was actually hit in the head. Cuz was
seeing stars though and he didn't return. Oh, meanwhile Dowler had
gathered the loose ball and snapped a goal. Some handbags followed as
the Tiges harassed Franklin and gave his recently re-inserted tooth a
going-over, some blood appeared around it and Buddy whined to the
ump. But Osborne had a free for some alleged whack from McGuane and
Osborne free-kicked the double-goal. Nice work from Chance Bateman
set up Rioli for a terrific left-foot snap and the Horkers had
cleared out to a 32 point lead at the final rest. Plenty of majors in
an open ultimate Costanza. After Osborne bagged the opening goal with
some smart roving, sending the Orcs 38 points ahead, the Toigs
created some interest with the next three. Some Tige got the first of
those, then a Ryan Schoenmakers clanger to McMahon resulted in a mark
and major from Shane Tuck. Tige Brown snapped on-the-full and Graham
missed a shot before some strong Tige tackling led to Dean Polo
tumbling a kick forward and Morton held a with-the-flight mark in the
pocket, a hooky-kick major followed and the Horforn lead was down to
19 points. But the Mayblooms responded with the next three. From a
secondary centre-bounce Bateman did very well to work the agate clear
and McGlynn thumped a running goal, a minute later a very slick move
ended with Franklin spearing one through. From the restart Mitchell
whacked a kick forward and Franklin was playing in-front to mark it
and convert, the Orcs led by 37 points. The Tiges were struggling
with players, in addition to the departed Thursfield and Cousins they
had Newman and Thomson limping about with leg problems. Some
pressure-free goals followed 'til the end, Morton's influence has
infected the Tiges as Deledio hooky-kicked a major following a mark,
at the other end Dowler's play-from-behind tactics worked as he
marked over off-balance Polo and popped it through. The Tiges replied
with an impressive, albeit pressure-free running move and Deledio
speared it home, there was an amusing bit where Franklin gave away
consecutive 50m penalties with his self-righteous bleating. Some
goals alternated in junk time.

Sam Mitchell (35 disposals) and Brad Sewell (26 touches, 12 tackles)
were great in winning the ball for the Orcs and Lance Franklin (21
possies, 8 marks) continued his waywardness against the Tiges with
5.6, although 5.3 following an 0.3 first term was a decent return.
Luke Hodge (30 disposals, 4 marks, a goal) was busy off half-back and
thought Chance Bateman (29 disposals) played very well, Ben McGlynn
(17 touches, 6 marks, 2 goals) was handy too. Beau Dowler (14
disposals, 4 marks, 4 goals) can't play that way against better
teams. Michael Osborne bagged 3 goals and Cyril Rioli 2. Best Tige,
by a way, was Brett Deledio (36 disposals, 5 marks, 7 tackles, 2
goals). Daniel Jackson (24 touches, 6 marks, a goal) and Nathan Brown
(25 handlings, a goal) were okay. Jack Riewoldt (10 possessions, 5
marks, 3 goals) and Mitch Morton (16 touches, 7 marks, 3 goals) gave
some life in attack, Shane Tuck (22 possies, 10 marks, 2 goals)
wasn't bad. Jade Rawlings's comments on the game were brief. "There
have been unacceptable performances over the past two weeks, and we
dealt with that (last) Monday," he said. "It was a positive week for
our leadership group. They were able to admit they were struggling
mentally with where they were at, and I was probably looking to bring
out the bat and crack it a little bit. We had a good open forum on
Monday and they realised they had to accept responsibility for their
performance and couldn't tuck it under the carpet. The way they
performed this week on the track, and then they were able to commit
their bodies tonight . . . the endeavour generally was there."
Journos were more interested in Rawlings's feelings about being
over-looked for the coaching job ("gutted") and whether the concussed
Cousins would play against the Weegles the following week
("probably"). Hawker coach Alistair Clarkson said "We need to play a
lot better than we did tonight if we want to go deeper in the season.
At the present time we don't deserve to be playing finals footy with
the way that we've played over the course of the season. If we manage
to limp in there we'll take it and we'll progress as far as we can,
but right at the present time our form hasn't been good enough and
that was reflected in tonight's [performance]. It's extraordinary the
way the season is panning out, but it might all be extinguished
tomorrow (if Essadun beat Freo, which they didn't). It might all be
big smiles tonight and sad faces tomorrow . . . [With a similarly
huge inside-fifty differential against Richmun, the Magpies] won by
nearly 100 points, but we just weren't able to capitalise on the
opportunities we had. That's partly to do with the manner in which
Collingwood is playing at the minute . . . and partly to do with us
not being quite there at the moment."

At Docklands:
St. Kilda 3.0 4.4 6.8 8.11.59
North Melbourne 5.2 7.2 8.3 10.4.64

The Sainters stumbled for a second consecutive week, going through
the motions a little against a fanatically determined Kanger side.
Whether it was the appointment of Brad Scott or the imminent demotion
of the popular Darren Crocker (he's staying on apparently, returning
to an assistant role), the Ruse really cranked it up over the final
fortnight of the season. The Saints are fiddling with their side too,
Luke Ball was dropped again here along with Max Hudghton, punishment
for the loss against the Bommers, while Lenny Hayes missed out with
an unspecified illness. Incoming Saints were last week's restees,
Clint Jones and Andrew McQualter, along with James Gwilt. Norf made a
hefty six changes after being beaten by the Eegs, Daniel Harris,
Corey Jones, Gavin Urquhart, Sam Power, Lindsay Thomas and Daniel
Pratt were all axed. Replacements were Ed Lower, Josh Smith, Aaron
Edwards, Cruize Garlett, Alan Obst for his first game of the season
and Shannon Watt for his last ever - the battlin' full-back was
retiring after 150-odd games with Norf. Which surprised me, 'cause
he's never, really, been any good. Perhaps that's it; the Ruse 'did
it for Watty'. Or they may have done it for Brady Rawlings, playing
his 200th game, a laudable effort for a bloke who's been mostly a tagger.

The game itself unfolded a lot like the previous Norf / Sinkilda
game, apart from the result of course. The Kangers, going in hard,
booted the first five goals. Aaron Edwards and Drew Petrie, the
latter again thriving at CHF, bagged two of those each and big Todd
Goldstein kicked one as Norf romped to a 32-point lead, the Saints
hadn't scored at this stage and had managed about four
inside-fifties. But as in that prior, round whatever encounter the
Saints began to crank into gear, some running from Jason Gram and Sam
Fisher sending 'em forward. Nick Riewoldt kicked Sinkilda's first two
goals and Justin Koschitzke bagged one late in the first korter
following a typically emphatic pack-mark. But the Ruse pressed on
into the second stanza, following an early Riewoldt miss, Kanger Matt
Campbell weaved through traffic to score a great goal and a bit later
Leigh Adams completed a slick rebound move with a terrific team major
to send the Ruies 24 points ahead, eight minutes into the stanza.
Nothing much happened for a while after that, the Kangers applied
tremendous tackling pressure and the Sainters moved the ball at a
glacial pace, Sinkilda also directed far too much of the pill towards
Riewoldt which made their attacking efforts very easy to read for the
Ruse. Reminded me of Horforn's late-season loss to Richmond last
year, when the Hawks were obsessed with Buddy Franklin and Roughead
received about two passes all day. Anyway, Riewoldt did kick a late
goal here and missed an even later chance to leave Norf 16 points
ahead at half-time.

The third term commenced with Gram kicking consecutive long, running
points - despite being given much praise by the TV folk, Gram's
kicking, the key to his game, was ordinary here. A terrific kick from
Brendon Goddard set up a chest-mark and goal for Koschitzke and
Norf's lead was reduced to 7 points, they hadn't scored in a
quarter's worth of footy at this point. But they copped a break when
a handball from a Norf bloke hit the Stain's out-of-position runner
and from the resulting free-kick the Kangers ended up with a goal,
from Andrew Swallow. Norf led by 13 points and again the game ground
into a tough, slow phase. Sainter Farren Ray kicked a decent running
goal but the Stains' twin towers Riewoldt and Koschitzke were
off-target with subsequent chances and North were still 7 points up
at the last change, despite having kicked three goals in
two-and-a-half quarters. The Saints were enjoying a healthy edge in
possession and it seemed like it'd tell into the final term,
following a coupla behinds some chipped passes set up Andrew
McQualter for a mark and goal to put the Satiners in front, by a
point, a minute later some tough work and a handball from Stephen
Milne allowed Koschitzke to slot one and the Saints led by 7. Norf
had to do something if they were gonna win, and they did. A rapid
rebound move saw Josh Smith kick long where Petrie dropped in behind
Dawson to mark, play-on and poke it through. Twelve rugged minutes
elapsed before Drewie was the man again for the Ruse, Petrie leaping
to take a terrific pack-mark in the pocket and steer it through from
the tricky angle. Norf led by 6 points after that. When Riewoldt
marked 50m out, inside the final minute people remarked upon the
remarkableness of the Stainer skipper having match-deciding shots two
weeks running, but this time the distance was a problem and Riewoldt
simply wheeled about quickly and smacked it long, hoping for a Kosi
grab most likely but the kick was a good, straight one and would've
scored full points if not punched through by Rue Nathan Grima. The
Kangerz hung on from the kick-in.

The Ruse had stand-out performances from rover Andrew Swallow (33
disposals, 8 marks, a goal) and, as mentioned, a golden-era Drew
Petrie (14 touches, 8 marks, 4 goals). Liam Anthony (31 handlings, 7
marks) played well again and Levi Greenwood (11 possies) did very
well tagging Dal Santo. Nathan Grima (21 possessions, 6 marks) is a
promising full-back to replace Watty, he, Scott Thompson and Alan
Obst were all good. Brady Rawlings (32 possies, 7 marks) was
admirably committed on his milestone, Aaron Edwards kicked 2 goals.
Nick Riewoldt (19 disposals, 11 marks, 3 goals (3.3)) was probably
Sinkilda's best with Brendon Goddard (30 possessions, 7 marks) using
the ball beautifully. Jason Gram could've done more damage with his
30 touches, Farren Ray (24 possies, a goal), Sam Fisher (31
disposals, 5 marks) and Sam Gilbert (20 handlings, 9 marks) enjoyed
some cheaply-won touches in the under-populated Rue forward-line.
Justin Koschitzke kicked 3 goals. Ross Lyon wasn't panicking. "We are
not panicking," he said. "It's a marathon and we're 19-2. We're
injury-free, there were some good performances in the seconds. Luke
Ball put on a good show and Geary and Eddy (too). Max didn't pop his
hammy so there's a bit to like. I reckon we're going forward in
pretty good shape . . . We had 59 (inside 50) entries to 36. I think
you'd walk away with that as a positive. We had a lot of entries but
a lack of composure with the ball and cleanliness and we didn't
spread the ball that well. They jumped us early which is
disappointing, but we've won 17 first quarters for the year so it's
going to happen at some point . . . There are some things we need to
work on and, gee whiz, we slaughtered the ball a bit and didn't
spread them very well and didn't score very efficiently. That was the
main message. Clearly we'd like to get going a little bit but it's a
marathon. We're sort of in no man's land at the minute, aren't we?
I'm not a psychologist but sometimes footy teams are funny beasts."
Crocker'd used press criticism to fire the Kangers. "There was
actually an article throughout the week in the Herald Sun, written by
someone, who questioned the integrity of this football club and
actually what this football club stood for," Crocker said. "As much
as it hasn't been a great season, I don't think at any stage - under
duress with injuries and experimentation - I don't think you could
question these guys ever throwing the towel in . . . I thought for us
to make six changes, coming up against a side like St Kilda on the
rebound, it was always going to be an extremely tough ask . . . I
think Andrew Swallow has had a terrific year and I know he's been a
real shining light in a disappointing year . . . he really set us
alight early in the game and he continued right throughout and he's
going to be a great player for this club for a long time and a great
midfielder. The way Drewy stood up, especially at the end of the game
- his work-rate was phenomenal. He just gives so much to this playing group."

At the MCG:
Collingwood 2.3 5.9 10.13 13.19.97
Sydney 0.4 4.6 6.7 8.8.56

Pies continued their modern-day domination of the Swans, winning
their twelfth of the last thirteen now against the Siddey-siders.
You'd think Roos would try and do something different. It's all
confidence and expectation, probably. The Pie victory created a clash
for third against the Bulldogs the following week, and
Sinkilda-avoidance in week one of the finals. Meanwhile the loss
ended Siddey's slender finals chances, which really only existed due
to the general mediocrity of the teams battling for eighth. In
selection here the Poise regained Josh Fraser from the knee injury
suffered a few weeks ago, at the expense of Chris 'Rufus' Dawes. One
change too for the Bloods with Jared Crouch replacing Luke Ablett (cork thigh).

The opening half was mostly tight, tackling-dominated midfield slog
as is the norm between these two. Malthouse has made no secret of his
admiration for the Swans' back-to-back Grand Finalists of 2005-6 and
in trying to emulate their style. The Pies' two first-term goals came
from John Anthony, thanks to opponent 'Leapin' Leo Barry slipping
over, and Paul 'Steak Knives' Medhurst after noice work from Shane
O'Bree and Dale Thomas to set him up. Barry confirmed his retirement
from footy last week and Jared Crouch announced his, no surprise
really. The Swans struggled to move the ball against the Poise tough
pressure as the Maggies ground to an 11-point lead at the first
break. Jarred Moore opened the Bloods' account early in the second
term but Travis Cloke replied quickly for the Poise. There were a
coupla alternating goals before the Swans drew close with consecutive
majors in time-on, from Adam Goodes and Paul Bevan. But a Brad Dick
sausage gave the Scraggies a 9-point lead at the long break. Late in
the korter Swan Moore's season came to a premature end as he suffered
a broken rib and punctured lung in a collision with Heath Shaw. Ouch.
'Jack' Anthony kicked the opening major of the third but Goodes
replied rapidly to keep the Swans within touch. But the Poise decided
the game with the next four goals. Junior Poi Dayne Beams was
prominent during this period as were 'Neon' Leon Davis and Dane Swan,
who gradually shrugged off an effective, early tag from former
team-mate Rhyce Shaw. Siddey spearhead Jesse White kicked the final
goal of the term but the Poise held a 30-point at the last change.
The margin could've, and should've, blown out in the last quarter but
the Maggies produced a wayward 3.6, with Anthony, Swan and Tarkyn
Lockyer producing goals. Lockyer's came from an alleged Siddey
interchange mistake which angered Roos - he didn't agree with the AFL
official's interpretation.

First-year Poi lad Dayne Beams (24 disposals, 5 marks) has been great
this season and skipper Nick Maxwell (15 touches, 5 marks) again cut
off many a Swan thrust. John Anthony (15 possies, 6 marks, 4 goals)
produced his best game of the season (statistically) while Leon Davis
(19 touches, 3 marks) and Dane Swan (22 possessions, a goal) were
effective performers. Josh Fraser's return (17 touches, 2 marks, 2
goals) was encouraging and Paul 'Dulled Steak Knives' Medhurst (18
possies, 8 marks, a goal) displayed some overdue form. Brad Dick
kicked 2 goals. The Swans relied upon some familiar names, Adam
Goodes (24 disposals, 11 marks, 3 goals) at CHF and ruckman Darren
Jolly (13 possies, 2 marks, 35 hit-outs). But youngster Nick Smith
(17 possessions, 4 marks, a goal) was impressive in shutting out Alan
Didak. Brett Kirk (11 touches) battered about in packs and Craig
Bolton (21 touches, 5 marks) was handy, Rhyce Shaw (22 disposals) at
least broke even with Swan. With finals out of the equation, Roos
reflected on recent weeks. "You always focus on finals because that's
where you want to go, but six or seven weeks ago we put the focus on
playing the young guys and making sure the balance of the team was
right with enough young kids playing," Roos said. "That continued
today and it will continue next week and that's really what we want
to get out of the rest of the season." Roosy praised Nick Smith's
effort on Didak as an example, before adding "Then the other side of
it is Jesse White. He played a shocker today and that's a positive as
well because you can go into pre-season getting a bit ahead of
yourself. He's had a lot of publicity and a lot of talk about him and
we know he can play, but that's the other side of it. He struggled
today and he'll learn from that . . . Today we just slaughtered the
footy; we couldn't move the ball. We didn't give ourselves an
opportunity. Even when we were up and going a bit earlier our ball
use was just deplorable." With Pie flag-talk everywhere by this
stage, Malthouse was asked about selection and team-balance with both
ruckmen (Fraser and Wood) playing here. "You've got to get it right.
You can't just take the easy options, which is Josh is a
vice-captain, a very good footballer, pick him," Malthouse said. "Two
weeks out from the finals, it was very important Josh get a game
under his belt and gets a second one under his belt next week so we
can see what it looks like . . . Today, I thought both (Fraser and
Wood) playing together was probably the best result they've had in
those games. That gives us something, but it will be horses for
courses, make no mistake about it. [The VFL performances] puts a bit
of pressure back on to players to perform at this level. If the
chemistry doesn't mix, we're not going to run with it . . . I thought
we were reasonably flat today. We played a side that we know how they
play, and it was always going to be a mauling scrum, if you like. I
didn't think we handled a lot of it as well as we have in the past,
but as the game went on, I thought we got better at it."

At Subiaco:
Fremantle 4.2 9.6 15.11 21.15.141
Essendon 3.2 5.3 9.8 13.9.87

Essadun went west to be thumped again, this time by Freo who'd lost
to the Dees by 11 goals the previous week. This interstate travel's a
female dog, eh? It meant the finals for the Bombouts all came down to
the following week's game against the hated Horks, while Freo
salvaged a bit of pride, discredited tanking theories and climbed
above the Tiggers on the ladder. In selection here Freo regained
Roger Hayden from injury and Hayden Ballantyne from suspension, also
recalling Clancee Pearce. They replaced injured Dean Solomon (knee)
and dropped pair Brett Peake and Jay Van Berlo. Luke McPharlin played
his 150th. The Dons came in hampered by the losses of Paddy Ryder
(bruised knee) and Courtenay Dempsey (hamstring) from the great win
over the Saints and Sam Lonergan was dropped, in came Leroy Jetta,
Cale Hooker and, handily, Jason Winderlich. Folks expressed
skepticism over Dustin Fletcher's selection, given he'd suffered an
apparently serious hamstring injury last week, but he played. Just
cramp, maybe. And a mention of Scott Lucas, who retired last week.
Lucas was that most interesting of players, a 'natural footballer'.
His right leg was for standing upon and hands for taking marks only
(i.e. never handballed) but Lucas was capable of the freakish on his
day, the best example probably the seven final-quarter goals he
bagged here at Subiaco against the Eegs in Kevin Sheedy's and James
Hird's final games. Lucas was also a very good CHB for much of his
career, carrying the Dons through some tough, injury-riddled years in
the mid-to-late Nineties.

Essadun started okay here with Jobe Watson, in sublime form, bagging
the opening goal. Freo'd opted to use Paul Hasleby as a tagger on
Watson and soon that move began to pay off, nonetheless the Dons
enjoyed the bulk of possession in the first korter but declined to
use the ball effectively going forward, which was also a problem
against the Weevils a fortnight previous. The Dockulaters made the
most of forward sorties with two goals in rapid succession from
lurking Clancee Pearce. Hayden Ballantyne slotted a nice one from the
boundary to give the Shockers a 2-goal lead but then Don junior
Michael Hurley converted following a strong pack-mark and an Angus
Monfries six-pointer levelled the scores. Bommer folk are very
excited about Hurley, with Hird delivering a glowing endorsement on
TV recently. Freo ended the first stanza a goal in front, kicked by
McPharlin. Into the second term and Freo began to dominate
pack-clearances through ruckman Aaron Sandilands, his followers Matty
Pavlich and David Mundy while Hasleby kept Watson out of it. Paul
Duffield and ex-Don Kepler Bradley booted long, running sausage rolls
and when Sandilands slipped forward to bag one the Dokkaz led by 28
points. Bummer Brent Stanton, who'd been very quiet to this point,
kicked consecutive goals to keep the Dons alive and then Hooker made
it three straight Don majors as they cut the margin to two goals, but
the Dokkers kicked away again with the next couple including a ripper
of a snap from Mundy and McPharlin's good set-shot conversion, from a
tough angle. The Dokkers led by 27 points at half-time and they took
a stranglehold on the game with the first three goals of the third
Mario, leaping to a 44-point lead. The Dons managed to maintain some
sort of parity thereon with four goals to three for the rest of the
stanza, but Freo still led by 39 points at the final change. The
Bommers raised a bit of an effort to start the final term, Hurley and
then Nathan Lovett-Murray kicked goals to reduce the margin to under
5 goals and the Dons appeared to have some momentum. But some tough
work from Matt de Boer set up a steadying Freo goal from skipper
Pavlich and Ballantyne proceeded to bag three majors in the remainder
of the korter as Freo cruised away to victory in their final
home-game of 2009.

Freo ruckman Aaron Sandilands (21 disposals, 4 marks, 42 hit-outs, a
goal) would have to be favourite for All-Australian selection in the
position. Matty Pavlich (25 touches, 3 marks, 2 goals) was very good
as a ruck-rover and Paul Hasleby (14 touches, 4 marks, a goal)
produced an important stopping effort on Watson. Nick Suban (25
disposals, 2 goals) has been a first-year find for Freo and Kepler
Bradley (25 touches, 6 marks, a goal) has probably done enough to
stay around. David Mundy (23 touches, 4 marks, a goal) worked hard
too. Hayden Ballantyne kicked 4 goals, Clancee Pearce 3 and Luke
McPharlin (14 touches, 10 marks) kicked 3 goals. Better Dons included
Andrew Lovett (23 disposals, 5 marks), who enjoys Sooby's space,
Brent Prismall (25 possies, 7 marks) and Nathan Lovett-Murray (22
touches, 5 marks, 2 goals). Cale Hooker (17 touches, 5 marks, a goal)
battled as a ruckman/forward and defender Henry Slattery (15
handlings, 5 marks) was okay. Michael Hurley kicked 3 goals. Matty
Knights looked only ahead. "We've given ourselves an opportunity, and
we've still got one more roll of the dice next week to make it
happen," Knights said. "I said to the group after the game, a lot of
other sides aren't even involved in a big-time match next week to
play finals footy, and we are. That's the way we've got to look at
it. I think the last two weeks we've set ourselves up. We'll deserve
it if we make it, that's my attitude. If we're not good enough we
won't - if we're good enough, we will. We're playing last year's
premiers, so if we get over them I think we'll deserve it . . . We
failed today and we're disappointed in our efforts - that's probably
all there is to it. (Freo) were a lot more efficient (and) they were
a lot more fluent when they had the ball. They got momentum out of
the stoppages, and he (Sandilands) was just too much for us to handle
today. I spoke pretty candidly to the group about how we attacked
today and how we were beaten quite convincingly in so many areas of
the game. The only positive out of today is we've got another
opportunity next week to nail that final eight spot against a very
good opponent in Hawthorn, who had a very good win against Richmond."
Freo coach Mark Harvey chortled "I guess I'll be getting a letter
from Hawthorn and Port Adelaide saying 'thanks very much'. . . The
belief out of what we've been able to do in our two home games in
recent weeks (where) we've been pitted against finals teams and
beaten them can never be underestimated." How come the bottom side
beat 'em by 11 goals then? "It's very hard for teams to be up and
viable on a regular basis, (but) having said that, I think today you
saw our future," Harvey said, neatly turning the question into what
he wanted to say. "We like to play exciting football and get people
to come and watch us play, and we did that today. We have been doing
it more so at home than on the road, but we've still got to work on
areas of our game defensively. We're still letting (the) opposition
score probably too easily at times." Harvs went on to praise some of
his lads' defensive efforts (Hasleby on Watson, Dodd on Monfries,
Hill on Stanton) and give Suban a big wrap, suggesting he should win
the Rising Star Award. Eh?

Ladder after Round 21
Pts. % Next Week
St. Kilda 76 155.0 Melbourne (MCG, Sunday)
Geelong 68 126.0 Fremantle (Kardinia Park, Saturday)
Collingwood 60 125.0 Footscray (Docklands, Sunday)
Footscray 56 122.2 Collingwood (Docklands, Sunday)
Carlton 52 115.8 Adelaide (Docklands, Saturday)
Adelaide 52 114.4 Carlton (Docklands, Saturday)
Brisbane 50 106.6 Sydney (SCG, Sat. night)
Essendon 38 99.7 Hawthorn (MCG, Saturday)
------------------------------------------------
Hawthorn 36 93.0 Essendon (MCG, Saturday)
Port Adelaide 36 88.5 North Melbourne (Football Park, Sat. night)
Sydney 32 93.2 Brisbane (SCG, Sat. night)
West Coast 28 89.1 Richmond (Subiaco, Fri. night)
North Melbourne 26 82.6 Port Adelaide (Football Park, Sat. night)
Fremantle 24 77.0 Geelong (Kardinia Park, Saturday)
Richmond 22 76.4 West Coast (Subiaco, Fri. night)
Melbourne 16 75.5 St. Kilda (MCG, Sunday)

Cheers, Tim.