[AFL-Preview] Round 10

AFL PREVIEW ROUND 10
Last Week 5 from 8 = 51 / 72 = 70.8%
 
Tipsters, apologies for the two misleading tips given to you over the past two rounds. Overcome with greed and a desire to secure top spot in a couple of tipping comps the tips of Richmond last week and Adelaide the week before were just rubbish. On the other hand there were a couple of tips that were not favored by the experts which I did give you to make up for them. When we have about 12 of the teams on almost the same number of wins then you know there might be some form reversals from week to week. It's simply a matter of picking them. The Collingwood win was rather meritorious and the argument is that they should travel more often so they would win more games. My two sons, who attended the game in my absence and were rightfully inebriated with both joy and amber liquid, telephoned me in Kalgoorlie as I watched the game on the box. There was much celebration. The Adelaide win over the Blues can show you just what a form reversal means with both teams having opposite results from the previous round and just about cancelling out the loss margin with an equally impressive win margin. Carlton did not kick a goal in a half of footy. That was fun to watch. My tip of Richmond beating Essendon would have had you readers in awe of my foresight until after half time. The possibility of Ben Cousins playing for the Tigers back here in Perth has the press once again salivating with comments of incredible stupidity and irrelevance, just when you thought it was safe to buy the local newspaper again!
Beware this week tipsters, the games look reasonably straightforward but remembering the consistent reversal of form – there's an oxymoron – anything can happen. The Bulldogs nearly beat the Cats and the Lions almost did the same to the Saints last week and what a nasty fright that would have given us all. Thanks to a couple of readers for their feedback last week. Apparently there is a subscriber that still thinks this preview is coming from the East. Now I'm in Kal that's almost right. Good luck.
 
Carlton V West Coast Eagles Telstra Dome Friday Night
 
West Coast were shocking last week against the Pies, thank heavens, but likewise the Blues were atrocious against the Crows. Based on that summary we expect the game to be shocktrocious and it will be only Carlton fans staying up after 10.30pm here in the west where we wait hours for a coverage on Friday night. But no! Wait! It's the Eagles so it will be an early night after all. Probably just an hour delay for the telecast. Waite suffered a serious knee injury and is out for the season but the loss of one player shouldn't help West Coast's cause. If they don't hold Fev who hasn't kicked too many goals in the last two weeks then this will be a blowout. Actually, Carlton really isn't as good as their press so it could be tight. But, the Blues will win.
 
Carlton by 33
 
Western Bulldogs V Sydney Manuka Oval Canberra Saturday
 
This is definitely the game of the round with both teams playing well last week. Unfortunately Johnno missed that goal on the last kick of the game and the Bullies were just pipped at the post by 2 lousy points. I would have been happy to drop the tipping point to see the Cats lose one but alas, it wasn't to be. Just file that game away in your minds when we get to the pointy end of the season. Okay, we might have to dip into some stats and history to work through this tip. Bulldogs apparently have won a couple here but so has Sydney. It's a matter of which team can throw off the icicles the quicker in the Canberra cold. Will the Bulldogs be suffering a downer after the close loss last week? Will the Swans be still on a high from their thrashing of the Power last week? Let me put it this way for you. The Bulldogs almost beat Geelong. That's good. The Swans annihilated Port Adelaide. That's average. Akermanis needs to shut up. I think that will help. Gotta go Bullies.
 
Western Bulldogs by 22
 
North Melbourne V Brisbane Lions Telstra Dome Saturday
 
Did anyone, other than dedicated Docker supporters watch the game between them and North last week? It was mighty average. I watched the Lions game against the Saints sitting in the front bar of the Broad Arrow pub last Sunday. Broad Arrow is about 40 kms north of Kalgoorlie and this little bar is a biker or bikie hangout on Sundays. There were a few bikies there on a poker run (look it up) with lots of Harleys  and the place was pretty well buzzing. The wind off the desert was freezing but it was okay if you could find a seat in the sun. Every conceivable inch of walls, ceilings, bar, outdoor  tables, urinals, whatever, had writing on it from the visitors and patrons over the past 100 years or so. Signatures, messages, obscenities, jokes, all with dates and nicknames or real names for the brave in texta, pencil, pen and paint covered the areas. If the game between the Saints and the Lions wasn't so close I could have wasted away a few hours just reading Broad Arrow history! What character! Back to the tip – Brisbane, although they are playing in Melbourne, should win this game in the third quarter. It will be tight up to then because North is coming off a win and a high and the Lions are coming off a very frustrating and disappointing loss to the AFL leaders.
 
Brisbane Lions by 24
 
Fremantle V Richmond Subiaco Saturday Night
 
Did you all know that Ben Cousins will be back to play this game in front of a home crowd and that the pundits are predicting that even Eagles supporters will go to the game just to watch the return of a prodigal son? Utter nanny goat poo. Did Collingwood supporters go to Vic Park just to watch Des Tuddenham front the Magpies dressed in Essendon strip? Not bl**dy likely! Coughlan out for the Tigers, Richo still out for the Tigers, Hayden out for the Dorks and Harvey loves Wallace. Should be a good game. Can you in your right mind tip the Dockers? Can you in a moment of insanity tip the Tigers? Terry Wallace is coaching his 500^th game. It might be his last. It might be draw.
 
Fremantle Dockers by 4
 
St Kilda V Melbourne Gold Coast Saturday Night
 
The Demons will eventually win another game. This isn't it. Melbourne coach and players will receive another encouraging pat on the back for a brave loss. Sigh.

St Kilda by 55
 
Adelaide V Hawthorn AAMI Stadium Sunday
 
What was the reason the AFL have allowed the Crows to play two consecutive games at AAMI? I must have missed that one. After their win against the Blues here last week, the fact that the game is at home again gives them a pretty good chance of back to back victories. After half time Hawthorn were far from impressive and when you consider that a) they were playing Melbourne and b) Buddy and Roughy had 7 goals between them to that stage of the game how come they didn't advance that situation to win by 10 goals with those two forwards kicking 12 or 13 between them? Injuries causing fewer rotations through the interchange is what I heard being explained. Okay. The Hawks are sort of progressing slowly up the ladder with some hard fought wins but Adelaide is not all that far behind them. McLeod, with over 312 games, an Adelaide FC games record under his belt, continues to play good footy and the rest of the team play well, coached well by Craig. Bock is returning to the back line to take on one of the Hawthorn goal kickers and I guess the question is can they provide their loving supporters with a repeat performance at home? The Hawks need the win to maintain contact with  Geelong and St Kilda. They will find this tough. When in doubt go for the home team.
 
Adelaide by 11
 
Essendon V Geelong Telstra Dome Sunday
 
I made ladder predictions for the year and I had the Bombers a lot lower than they currently are. One can only hope that the Cats will prick the Essendon balloon and help drop them down to a more realistic level. It's annoying.
 
Geelong by 39
 
Collingwood V Port Adelaide Sunday
 
The Magpies versus the 'wannabe'' Magpies. Port get to play away from home two weeks in a row which fits in with the Crows playing at home two weeks in a row. The Pies might find this a bit harder than last week against the Weagles because the Power can actually play the game sometimes. Inconsistency and their gap between their winning margins and losing margins must be a point of frustration for the coach and supporters (apart from the game against Richmond). The Pies injury list is a source of frustration for the supporters and it would be nice to see their best team on the field. If they can snag Didak, Medhurst and Thomas from their injury list that might be enough to get them over the line. Then again, the Pies have had the wood on Port Adelaide over the years and with the game being at the MCG it might be enough positives to keep them in favour for the tip. Regretfully didn't tip them last week and hope they can get up this week.
 
Collingwood by 25


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[AFL-Review] AFL Round 9

AFL Round 9

 

At Docklands:

Geelong    6.4   9.10   14.12   17.14.116

Footscray  3.2   8.3    11.8    17.12.114

 

Gyaaahh! What an ending. Bulldog veteran Brad Johnson missed a banana-shot from about 10m, after the final siren, leaving the Bullies 2 points from causing anuge upset. This was a great game too, the second half in particular as the Dogs came back from 6 goals down in the third term. The result underlined how good the Cats are but also some weak links; Brad Ottens's importance was demonstrated as they were thrashed in the ruck and with Mooney absent (suspended) the forward-line struggled. Other regulars Milburn and (by the end) Chapman were missing too. Okay, they had excuses. But straight after the game Steve Johnson echoed his coach about how the Pu55ies 'like a challenge'. Would they have enjoyed it as much if they'd lost? It's the sort of arrogant dickishness which doesn't endear you to the Catters. The Doggies have been underwhelming so far this season and now sit at a tenuous 5-4, but this performance was very good and suggested they can be a contender. In pickin' the Katz regained Gary Ablett and Paul Chapman and called up Ryan Gamble and David Johnson. An unusual four changes for the Cats necessitated by injuries to Darren Milburn (ankle) and Shannon Byrnes (hamstring), Cameron Mooney was suspended for clobbering Roo Thompson and Tom Lonergan was dropped. The Dogs selected an unfit Shaun Higgins and called up Callan Ward and Tim Callan, they replaced Rob Murphy (hamstring), Andrejs Everitt (knee) and Dylan Addison (knee). Jason Akermanis played his 300^th game, a great achievement for a bloke who's had a great career. Aker'd used the attention to engage his legendary mouth during the week, belittling Michael Voss's coaching ability and (again) whingeing about the circumstances under which he left Brisbun.

 

Quick start for the Catters as the Dogs struggled with the pressure and conceded a bucket of frees. Cat man Mathew Stokes held a strong grab on the wing and quickly dished off to running Ablett, who had a mountain of first-half touches. Ablett kicked towards Paul Chapman, awarded a free for 'on the shoulder' from Tim Callan. Chappy free-kicked a goal. A few points before Ablett was awarded one of those excessively punitive free-kicks-plus-50m-penalties for being slung to the ground after disposal in a tackle. Gablett passed his free to Joel Selwood, who booted a goal. Cats 13 points ahead but Bulldog Lindsay Gilbee hacked a punt forward from the next centre-bounce and noice work from Mitch Hahn, Jason Akermanis and Shaun Higgins set up a point-blank goal for Brad Johnson. From the following centre-bounce Puppy Callan's poor pass towards Matthew Boyd dropped short and Boyd overran the ball, Cat Andrew Mackie soccered the agget forward and TomaHawkins gathered, he kicked to the top o' the 'square where Steve Johnson was given a free for Dale Morris's holding. Johnson majored, he was playing more forward this time with Mooney absent. Soon Steve Johnson bagged another goal, out-bodying Morris (no mean feat) to mark Harry Taylor's wobbly punt forward. The Catters led by 19 points. Akermanis was awarded a free-kick at the next centre-bounce, for being held back by Cameron Ling. Aker passed wide for leading Josh Hill to mark on the 50m line, Hill chipped a pass for Daniel 'Guido' Giansiracusa to mark and dob a sausage. The Bulldogs began to work into it and raise their intensity, but they didn't put it on the 'board. There was a poor miss for Catter Steve Johnson before Selwood did very well to extract the ball from a pack and fire a handpass away, Chapman kicked long and Stokes held a handy two-grab mark in front of Jarrod Harbrow. Stokes goaled and a bit later the Cats scored again, Mark Blake tapped a ball-up to Selwood and he lobbed another terrific handball to running Chapman, who duly thumped a 50m sausage roll. The Cats were cruising with a 26-point lead, but the Doggies managed a late goal as Gilbee speared a pass to leading Scott Welsh and Welsh in turn passed for leading Akermanis to mark strongly in front of David Johnson. Aker majored and the Katz led by 20 points at the first break. A break which was timely for the Puppies as they started the second stanza in good form. Ruckman Will Minson tapped the opening bounce to Boyd, his quick punt cleared a pack at CHF where Welsh gathered and handballed for Brad Johnson to dob a goal. Johnno'd had a heap of touches already, but most of 'em in the Bulldogs' back half. A bit later Higgins dummied around Jimmy Bartel, who threw out a leg and tripped the Bulldog. Everyone in the ground saw it except the umpires, apparently, as play proceeded amongst much booing from Doggy fans. But Giansiracusa tumbled a punt forward and it dropped for Brad Johnson to mark in the goal-square, Johnson popped it through. Ablett missed a shot after staging appallingly (and successfully) for a free, a bit later Ablett and Steve Johnson messed up a chance and had words. "It's like Einstein disagreeing with Beethoven," said McAvaney, bizarrely. "Were they even contemporaries?" asked Commetti. Anyway, soon some good efforts from Brad Johnson and Cross got the ball to Akermanis, Aker's well-placed kick allowed back-pedalling Giansiracusa to mark amongst three Catters and Guido goaled. The ball went wide from the restart and Higgins punted the Dawgs into attack, Cat man Taylor spoiled Welsh but Taylor's handball from a kneeling position went straight to Josh Hill, who snapped a major. The Doggies led by a point, having scored the last five goals of the game. They kept pressing, Hahn missed a shot and a bit later Ablett was forced into a hurried soccer-kick at half-back. Handily for him, the Sherrin went to David Wojcinski who sped clear on a two-bounce run and kicked long for Stokes to mark in the goal-square and lob a major. The Cats steadied and turned hunter again, Bulldog Callan fired a hospital handpass to Harbrow who was tackled by Stokes, Harbrow then dragged Stokes and the ball 10m to the sticks in an attempt to rush a point - no, it was 'bawl' and Stokes free-kicked a goal. A bit later Bully full-back Brian Lake spilled a marking attempt, badly and roving Ablett stabbed a pass for Ryan Gamble to mark and convert. Three straight sausages for the Pu55ies and they led by 17 points. But Gamble's night was soon over as he was 'tunnelled' by Morris while leaping to take a mark, Gamble's head smacked sickeningly hard into the ground and knocked him out. Gamble was stretchered off and Hawkins took the kick ('cause Gamble'd marked it), but Tomahawk missed. Late in the term Bulldog Adam Cooney sold a smart dummy and curled a great 50m kick for full-points, the Katz led by 13 points at half-time.  

 

The early third quarter recalled the Dogs' only home-and-away clash with the Catters last year, when Geelong romped clear following a close first half. The Pu55ies bagged three goals in the first three minutes of the third, for the first a handy bounce allowed Steve Johnson to trap the ball and snap a classy major. The Dogs tried to advance from the restart under much pressure and eventually their Johnson coughed up possession with a wayward handball, the Cats rebounded with runnin' handball until Selwood accepted Ling's and chipped a smart kick for Chapman to mark behind Bully Liam Picken, Chapman majored. Selwood also lobbed a good pass forward from the next restart and Hawkins marked on-the-lead, his awful, mongrelled shot didn't make the distance from 45m and was marked in the goal-square by Bulldog Lake. But poor ol' Lakey produced an awful kick of his own, straight to Steve Johnson in the pocket who proceeded to thread a noice punt for full points. The Cats'd jumped to a 31-point lead and it expanded soon, Chapman was tackled 'round the head by Harbrow and Chappy passed his free to Ling 55m out, 'Cling' stabbed another to unattended Max Rooke 40m out and Rooke dobbed one. Rooke was sporting a terrific 70s moustache to go with his carefully-styled 'wild man' hair. All Pu55y as they led by 37 points. The umps threw the Dogs a bone (see what I did there?) when Cooney was awarded a soft free-kick from a ball-up at CHF, but he missed poorly. A minute later some rugged tacklin' at a throw-in gave Ryan Griffen a chance and he bundled a kick through for a goal from 10m out, breaking the Cats' run. But a long set-shot miss from Welsh appeared a waste of Doggy pressure and sure enough Jahlong responded, a smart switch-of-play involving Ablett, Joel Corey and James Kelly (great running from him) ended with Stokes marking in the pocket and hooking it through. Cats by 36 points. Doggy fans were angered by some umpiring, Wojcinski attempted to out-pace three chasing Bulldogs, and didn't, 'Wojo' dropped it cold when tackled (never mind prior opportunity) but the whistle-blower waved play-on. Within a minute Selwood was also palpably caught in possession but won a free for high contact. No luck for the Pups but they were working hard, eventually a good move from a kick-in was completed by Tom Williams's kick for Akermanis to hold a decent with-the-flight grab on the forward-flank and Aker booted a good goal. Soon Akermanis had another chance after leading to mark Welsh's speared pass, but Aker postered from 55m. Soon the Doggies benefitted from two handball clangers from third-string Cat ruckman Shane Mumford, the Cats recovered the first but were silly enough to give Mumford another go and the ball came to Puppy Cross, he passed into the pocket for wide-leading Akermanis to mark. Aker bisected the big posts from the tight angle and the contest was building nicely as the Dogs reduced their deficit to 22 points at the final change.

 

Cross had a free at the opening bounce of the final stanza, his kick forward was a shocker but Giansiracusa trapped it coolly and handballed to running Griffen, whose banana-kick scraped through for a goal with the aid of some heavy Hahn shepherding. Just 16 points the diff now and both sides were committed. The tackling was incredibly intense, players weren't just grabbed, they were crashed to the ground and blokes just off-the-ball were usually knocked down too - the umps ignored a lot of it. Both teams were doing it and the pill was very hot. After a while the Catters found some space, Bulldog Hill's hurried dribbly-shot from 30m rolled into the opposite pocket and Pu55y David Johnson did well to clear, the ball went to half-forward where Rooke gathered and punted to the top o' the 'square, the pill spilled from Hawkins's contest and roving Steve Johnson stabbed it through. Geelong led by 22 points again. But the Dogs kept on, Griffen missed poorly with a running shot and Eagleton postered on-the-run from 55m. A bit later Welsh had a free in the centre and it led to a mark for Boyd in the pocket, Boyd's shot wobbled across-the-face where Will Minson was awarded a juggling 'mark' against two Cats. Surely Cat backman Taylor got hands on it first, but the mark stood and Minson slotted a goal. Akermanis lobbed a high punt forward from the subsequent centre-bounce, good roving handballs from Welsh and Cross allowed Eagleton time and space to thunder an idiomatic running, left-foot major from 50m and the Dogs closed the gap to 8 points. Eyebrows raised in our lounge-room after that. There was strange bit where Gilbee, under no pressure, elected to punch a high-bouncing ball 30m into the centre of the ground, luckily (or not) straight to Cross who was then ab-ser-loot-lee smashed by charging Rooke. That led to a shot for Steve Johnson, he missed and Doggy Hill postered soon after. Then some more crash 'n' bash from Rooke at half-forward set up a goal for Jimmy Bartel, the Cat man eased Callan under the ball to gather it smartly, run clear and snap it through. Cats by 14 again but the Doggies hit back after Ablett managed to miss from 10m out; the Doggies advanced from the kick-in with risky but ultimately successful running handball, Akermanis led up to take a strong grab in front of D. Johnson about 60m out and quickly pass to lurking Brad Johnson, the Bully Johnno converted. While that was happening Cat Chapman jogged off and down the race, with a badly dislocated finger. Within a minute Wojcinski erroneously lobbed a long handball to Minson in the centre, the Doggy ruckman passed wide to Eagleton and he passed for leading Akermanis to mark comfortably and boot truly again. The Geelagong lead was down to 3 points with 3:26 remaining. They answered from a ball-up at CHF, some heavy bumps and tackling from both sides ended with the ball squirting free to Travis Varcoe and he snapped it through, Cats by 9. A bit later Pu55y Corey was done for 'deliberate', lobbing a long handball out-of-bounds on the wing. From the free the Bulldawgs switched play and Minson had a marking chance 40m out, he was spoiled by Taylor but Minson gathered on the ground and handpassed for Liam Picken to run clear and snap truly off the right boot. Cats by 3 points with just on a minute to go. It took a couple of goes to clear the following restart, finally Harbrow tumbled a kick forward for the Doggies and Welsh took a good grab 55m out. He passed wide towards Hahn who couldn't mark against two Catters, but Hahn did very well to win the ball and hack a kick goal-wards where Brad Johnson marked behind Mackie. Johnno was on a pretty tight angle to the right of the sticks, but close, no more than 12m out surely. He really should've kicked it, but Johnno's banana-effort as the siren sounded missed on the far side and the Cats'd won. Commetti was quick to point out Johnson missed a game-deciding, after-siren shot in round 9 last year, against Norf.    

 

Geelong beauty Steve Johnson underlined his versatility with 5 goals from 11 kicks and 6 marks. Joel Selwood (32 disposals, a goal) was terrific in packs and Gary Ablett (38 touches, 4 marks) didn't miss a beat in his return. Paul Chapman (15 possies, 5 marks, 3 goals) was also a handy 'in' and his injury isn't too serious. Mathew Stokes (11 disposals, 3 marks, 4 goals) did very well up forward and defenders Corey Enright (22 touches, 10 marks) and Matthew Scarlett (27 touches, 9 marks) were decent. The commentators reckoned Jason Akermanis (25 disposals, 9 marks, 4 goals) played one of the best '300ths' ever. A reasonable call. Matthew Boyd (28 touches, 5 marks) continued his good ruck-roving form and Brad Johnson (26 handlings, 10 marks, 4 goals) was pretty good too, until that last bit. Rover Daniel Cross (26 possies, 9 marks) and wingman Ryan Griffen (18 touches, 4 marks, 2 goals) did well, so too Brian Lake (11 touches, 7 marks) on Hawkins and Daniel Giansiracusa (21 touches, 4 marks, 2 goals). "(Brad Johnson) was beating himself up a bit," Eade said. "He takes that personally but it is not just one act that wins or loses you a game . . . I think he just rushed it a little bit. It is all ifs, buts, maybes after it has gone but after he heard the siren maybe he could have gone back; I don't know. Anyway, it was certainly a tight angle but he didn't kick it . . . We came here to win, we didn't come here to have an encouraging loss and push the top side who have belted everyone else. It was disappointing, we could have won so there are some positives out of the game. Individually and as a team we worked extremely hard but probably a couple of ten minutes bursts cost us. They were 37 [points] up and we kicked 3.5 for the rest of the (third) quarter, four of those were set shots. We've just got to be able to kick those . . . We don't believe we are far off teams in the competition, we believe we can compete with anyone. I don't think we have as many stars as other teams, as many 'A' graders, but we are a pretty even side and we need that consistent effort across the board from every player, and I think we got that tonight . . . If you play a great shot in cricket and get caught an inch off the ground doesn't mean you played a good shot, it means you're out." 'Bomber' Thompson reckoned "I should really have a go at Cameron Mooney because we did miss him enormously. To go out with a silly thing like that, it could have cost the club. Lucky it wasn't a knockout final but if it was, it would be disastrous because he's so important to us . . . In the end I didn't care whether we'd won or lost. It's nice to win, I suppose and nice that (Johnson) missed. It would have been a great thing for the Bulldogs to win. To us, we know we didn't play our best footy and they had more of a chance to win it than us. We spoke (after the game) about how it is good to play in those really close games and sometimes we don't always get them. If you play a close game it's always a good thing . . . Just that moment that you're living in the last quarter when every little thing you do is so important. Those matches I'll remember for a while, they're pretty significant . . . I went crazy there a few times, started swearing again. I haven't sworn for years. It exposes you to the pressures that you need to be exposed to. I don't think you need to do it every week because it's a pretty difficult job. Every now and then it's great. It was great tonight, I enjoyed it." 'Cause it's all about you, Bomber.

 

At Docklands:

North Melbourne  2.3   8.8   12.11   14.14.98 

Fremantle        6.5   9.7   10.10   12.13.85

 

Not the greatest game ever but a decent win for the Ruse in front of another modest, financially costly home crowd. The Kangers started slowly against the determined Dokkers and Roo coach Laidley gave his blokes a ferocious and extremely loud spray at the first break. It worked, apparently. As part of the Stadium Deal Wars the AFL is now threatening to move the Grand Final to Sydney. But North have 30,000 members, supposedly. Why do only half of 'em turn up to home games? Freo have now lost 12 straight in Victoria. In pickin' North recalled the blokes they 'rested' against Jeelong, Daniel Wells, Brady Rawlings and Jack Ziebell. Copping the axe were Ed Lower, Matt Riggio and Daniel Harris. The Dockulaters selected Des Headland - remember him? - for the first time in '09, at the expense of Greg Broughton. Skilful Freo man Roger Hayden played his 100^th game.

 

A pretty ragged, low-skill game unfolded in front of the sparsely-populated stands. The opening goal was typical, Rue Scott McMahon ran forward and wobbled a mongrelled punt into attack, it bounced erratically past several players but 'Lethal' Leigh Harding pursued the ball doggedly into the goal-square where he soccered it through. But the Dokkers' on-ballers did better early, shown at the following centre-bounce where Aaron Sandilands tapped to Paul Hasleby, he poked a kick ahead which Matty Pavlich gathered and looped a handball wide to running Hasleby who booted a great goal. A bit later Hayden marked alone on a forward-flank, weaved onto his right boot and stabbed a pass for leading Luke McPharlin to mark, McPharlin converted. Michael Johnson missed a shot before the Dockulaters attacked again, Brett Peake drove a long kick in and Roo Ziebell leaped to get a big sideways spoiling punch in, Johnson gathered in the pocket and handballed for Pavlich to dribbly-kick a major. The Dokkerz led by 14 points. Roo Ben 'Milky' Warren missed a shot but soon he had another chance. Drew Petrie, playing on a wing 'Richo style', swapped handballs with Urquhart before eluding Suban and Dodd a little too easily, Petrie went for a run and fired an insane handball to Aaron Edwards who had to punch the ball on or risk being crunched. Luckily for Petrie the ball came back to him and Petrie passed for Warren to mark 30m out, 'Milky' goaled this time. But Freo were doing better, Hayden finessed a bit at half-forward and handballed to Stephen Hill, his cross-field pass was marked by Peake who played-on quickly and hammered a 55m goal. A bit later Roo backman Scott Thompson's clearing kick towards Ziebell was spoiled tremendously by a diving Garrick Ibbotson, Freo's David Mundy gathered and handpassed for Pavlich to slot a goal. Soon Pavlich was booting long again and Hayden drifted back to mark uncontested, Hayden dobbed it and the Shockers led by 23 points. In amongst those, Roo Ben Ross had kicked a coupla behinds and the korter ended with a series of misses from Dockers Sandilands, Pavlich and Solomon. They don't kick too straight at Docklands, the Docklanders. But still led at the first break here, by 26 points. Laidley delivered his hairdryer treatment at full volume and it had the desired effect in the early second stanza, on Daniel Wells as much as anyone. Smart work from Jack Ziebell at half-back delivered a pass to leading Wells on the attacking side of the centre-square, Wells passed quickly for leading David Hale to clutch a decent grab and boot a long sausage. A bit later running Ross sent a very wide pass towards Wells, he collected the ball smartly and lobbed a punt to the goal-square where Petrie out-marked Dodd and Scot Thornton. Petrie popped it through. Then it was Lindsay Thomas lobbing a kick from the flank to the top o' the 'square, Wells gathered on-the-bounce, sold a coupla dummies and slotted. The Kangers had reduced the deficit to 7 points. The Dockerators steadied after a slightly lazy attempt at a with-the-flight mark from a Roo man, Urquhart I think. Peake gathered and handballed to Johnson, who drove a kick for McPharlin to mark and boot a goal. But the Ruse were going now, a floating Freo kick towards Pavlich allowed Harding to spoil and dive after the agget, Nic Suban dived on Harding conceding a free-kick. Harding sent the ball via Josh Gibson to Brady Rawlings, who banged a long, running major. A bit later Dokker Clay Hinkley tried a cutesey blind-turn around Michael Firrito, and Firrito hammered him. Firrito took his free quickly, kicking long to Hale on the flank, Hale centered a pass to Sam Wright and Wright chipped one for leading Warren to mark and convert. Scores level now, and we had a tight few minutes with a few behinds. Freo kicked ahead after Petrie's centering pass went over Rawlings's head, Hasleby handballed to Headland whose kick went over McPharlin and young opponent Nathan Grima. They doubled back as Pavlich gathered and handballed ahead, McPharlin shoved off Grima and rammed a major. A bit later the Ruse had a lot of difficulty clearing a back-pocket throw-in and Thompson's floated punt was marked by Hasleby, the Freo man raised the twin calicoes from 45m. Freo led by 12 points but conceded a poor late goal, Roo Thomas missed a shot and as the Dokkaz prepared to kick-in Norf had a free, for some handbags involving Chris Tarrant in the centre of the ground. Hale bagged the cheap goal and Freo led by 5 points at the long rest.

 

The Dockulaters had some early chances in the third, but McPharlin and Headland missed shots. From a ball-up in their back-pocket Freo man Hill attempted to run clear, he was tackled while kicking and the ball flopped into the arms of Kanger Sam Power, a pass to Gibson and he delivered one to leading Hale. Hale sausaged. The Docklanderators stayed ahead, Hayden passed for Ibbotson to mark 45m out, right in front, and Ibbotson dished off for running Headland to boot the goal. Freo led by 7 points and stayed there-abouts through a long spell of rugged, goal-less, scrappy football. The Dokkers lost Hayden in this period, with a leg injury. Norf seized the upper hand with three goals in the final four minutes of the korter. For the first Power hooked a left-foot kick to the goal-square, the Sherrin bounced over wrestling pair McIntosh and Grover and Dokka Steven Dodd arrived to punch it through for a rushed point . . . deliberate! The fickleness of fate saw Dodd become the second-ever man punished under this rule and Aaron Edwards free-kicked a goal from a very tight angle. A bit later McIntosh lumbered away from a ball-up he'd contested and received Gibson's handball, McIntosh lobbed an up-and-under kick to the goal-square which Docca Thornton fisted clear, but straight to Wright who snapped a goal. Wright missed a shot and from the kick-in Tarrant lobbed a telegraphed pass towards Grover, McMahon swept in to spoil and Thomas jabbed a pass to Rue ruckman Todd Goldstein, alone in the goal-square. Goldstein popped it through and the Kangers led by 13 points at three-quarter-time. Norf also scored another goal from the opening bounce of the ultimate stanza, Firrito fired a great long handpass to Power who punted long and Hale marked on his chest as he pushed back into Grover. Hale's major had the Ruse 19 points ahead, with the last four goals. A coupla points each over the next few minutes, Warren missed twice for the Kangaz with two terrible, mongrelled kicks while Pavlich rekindled old doubts by missing a set-shot from 30m. But Pav atoned a minute later as Sandilands tapped a ball-up down to Johnson and his kick saw Pavlich win a free, dragged down by Gibson as Pavlich tried to mark it. Pav kicked straight this time and the Roo lead was cut to 13 points. A bit later Suban ran forward and kicked to find McPharlin in a huge amount of space, McPharlin marked and converted and the Freo deficit was just 7 points now. The Ruse clung on desperately in the face of some decent Freo pressure. As time ticked down the Kangers managed a defensive rebound and Ross's good pass found leading Thomas, he passed for leading Hale to mark ahead of Grover and punt the sealer.

 

Big David Hale (11 disposals, 7 marks, 5 goals) delivered his first bag for a while and Drew Petrie (16 possies, 6 marks, a goal) was effective, wandering about from a wing. Josh Gibson (20 disposals) had the better of Pavlich after quarter-time and midfield men Brady Rawlings (24 touches, 4 marks, a goal) and Leigh Harding (15 handlings, 6 marks, a goal) did well too. Michael Firrito (22 touches, 9 marks) is a tough performer in the middle and backline. Gavin Urquhart (19 touches) was okay, Ben Warren kicked 2 goals. Freo rely on too few. Paul Hasleby (26 disposals, 2 goals) was terrific again and Matthew Pavlich (18 possies, 3 marks, 3 goals) was pretty good early. Garrick Ibbotson (24 touches, 6 marks) is a good player and Aaron Sandilands (12 touches, 43 hit-outs) dominated the ruck again. Luke McPharlin (13 handlings, 6 marks, 4 goals) did well at the spearhead, Stephen Hill (21 touches) and Steven Dodd (20 disposals, 5 marks) were alright. But others need to contribute. "With some of our players the difference between their good and their bad is still too much at the moment," Freo coach Mark Harvey said. "I've got to make them realise that and understand the missing link in between (surely Richard Lounder is too old?), otherwise we rely on too few to try and win these games. Once again there was evidence of that today . . . It was a good start, but we need to be able to sustain that on the road, particularly. [We need to] get right on top of oppositions and don't give them any hope of thinking they're a chance in the game. They started winning the contested ball after the first quarter. I did manage to hear Dean [Laidley] let go at his players at quarter time, so I made our players aware of it. They knew what was coming." Harvey was asked to comment on free-kicks going 19-9 to North. "I've got a headache . . . look, I've spoken to Jeff Gieschen on a number of occasions about, in particular, on the road and what happens and we're working through that. I don't want to use that as an excuse, and I can't, for losing, but nine free kicks doesn't represent a lot of the hard work that we did. That's all I'd say and that's happened twice in the last three weeks." Dean Laidley was asked about the quarter-time bake. "Could you hear me from where you were sitting? Yeah? It was pretty loud," he said. "I spoke about contested ball. I spoke about attack on the ball, I just thought it wasn't there and we spoke about it all week. And then from thereon in, I don't know what it was, but they were a lot better, and I was so pleased with that. It's probably the first time I've raised my voice all year, and it had an effect, so if you can keep a few of those up your sleeve . . . you don't want to be doing it all the time though . . . I thought some of the younger guys had some real class about them today - Warren, Wright, Ross and Goldstein, at pressure parts of the game, they executed. Now, I know the scoreline from last week doesn't look that flash, but when we play a team that's got a lot of young guys as well, to see our less-experienced guys execute and play like that is just so pleasing."

 

At Football Park:

Adelaide  3.4   8.6   9.11   15.14.104

Carlton   0.3   0.5   5.8     8.12.60

 

Committed on-ball and tackling efforts from the Camrys allowed them to crush the handball-obsessed Bluies in the first half and survive Carton's minor second-half comeback. A great way to celebrate Andrew 'Bunji' McLeod's record-breaking 313^th game for the Corollas, surpassing Mark Ricciuto. After the game McLeod said he'd share the memories with Ricciuto and Ben Hart "when I've finished in four or five years." The Bloozers, well, with the wind at your backs, you're supposed to kick the ball long. This fundamental truth was forgotten by the handball-happy Bloozers who blew it in the first quarter. Their full-forward didn't play there again either, and by the time the Bluies woke up, they were too far behind. And they'd lost Jarrad Waite. In pickin' the Camrys made one change, ruckman Ivan Maric replacing small man Jared Petrenko. Tremendous faith in the losers from Craigy. One late change for the Bluies, Simon Wiggins returning to replace concussed Heath Scotland.

 

The Bluies has the aid of a stiff breeze in the first quarter but found the Camrys' relentless tackling pressure stifling, and the Blooze declined to actually kick the ball, a handicap considering. Once again Brendan Fevola lined-up at half-forward with Jarrad Waite at the spearhead. I seem to recall Fevola kicking 99 goals last year. How many'd Waite kick? Not 99, at least. But as the Cows poured forward the early 'highlights' came from their Patrick Dangerfield, who led swiftly, marked strongly and kicked like a 5-year-old wearing gumboots. Dangerfield scored 0.2 and an out-on-the-full (point post hit) from three early set-shots, all from marks. From the second Dangerfield point, Bloo Bryce Gibbs's kick-in was stabbed too low and Kurt Tippett snaffled it, he snapped a goal. The ball was in the Camrys' attack a lot, and from a ball-up in the forward-pocket Michael Doughty snapped a terrific sausage. Doughty was Chris Judd's nominal opponent but the Cows in general swarmed all over Juddy. Ivan Maric missed with a long shot before Fevola appeared, to gather the ball on the wing. With no-one ahead of him, Fev launched a long, wind-assisted torpedo-punt which bounced out-of-bounds in the Bloo forward-pocket. From the resulting throw-in Bluie ruckman Matthew Kreuzer was awarded a dubious free-kick, he missed. The Cressidas' kick-in went to Simon Goodwin but his kick was marked strongly by Kreuzer on the wing, he punted long where Fevola clutched a decent grab. But missed. A bit later Waite went down, hyper-extending a knee as he landed awkwardly from a marking contest. Waite's day was over and in the same sequence of play Goodwin stabbed a centering pass for Jason Porplyzia to mark and boot a goal, 'cause the Porpoise never misses a set shot. The Camrys led by 18 points. The Camrys continued to lock the ball in their attacking half, the Bloozers hung in there but skill errors didn't help 'em. Fevola had another go from distance but sliced on-the-full, late in the stanza Bloo backman Bret Thornton clangered a clearing kick to Brent Reilly but he missed. Cows by 19 points at the first break. The locals had more joy with the wind behind 'em, in the second korter. Dangerfield , confidence drained, managed to kick another point but a bit later Bloo Kade Simpson coughed up possession when tackled,  leading to a 55m running goal for Corona defender Andy Otten. A career-first major for the Camry lad. A bit later Bluie rover Marc Murphy chipped a centering pass but Blooze Kreuzer and Dennis Armfield left it for each other, Camry Tyson Edwards swept upon the pill and kicked for Chris Knights to take a with-the-flight grab, Knights goaled. The Camrys led by 32 points, Carton still goal-less. Soon Knights benefitted from Porplyzia's great running and passes, Knights hammered a wind-driven punt from the (forward) point of the centre-square for a major, it bounced on the goal-line. Fevola led for a mark on the 50m line and his subsequent shot hit the post right up near the top, a pretty decent effort into the wind but just a point, all the same. The Cressidas scored a point and Bloo Jamison's kick-in went wide to the flank, Camry Brent Reilly recovered the ball and Doughty punted smartly for Knights to mark unopposed, 15m out. A purple-patch for Chris Knights as he booted his third consecutive goal for Addleaid, they led by 44 points now. The Bluies decided to try and stem the bleeding and slowed the tempo of the game, Murphy was thrice-involved in a very slow move which ended with him dribbly-snapping a behind. The Bloo backmen survived a few hairy moments, until their junior Chris Yarran placed Camry Bernie Vince in a head-lock at a throw-in. Vince smacked his free-kick for a 50m goal and the Cows led by 49 points at the long rest.      

 

The Bluebaggers mounted a bit of a challenge in the third term, with the wind again. Add in the fact that the Camrys are very bad in third quarters. But first Tippett free-kicked a goal, his arms chopped by Bower in a marking contest. Tippett's six-pointer had the Camrys a ridiculous 55 points ahead, considering the Bluesers still hadn't scored a goal. Some handbags ensued after that, but the Bluies soon got moving at last with the aid of Kreuzer. The Bloo ruckman tapped a throw-in down and it was tapped-on smartly by Thornton, having a run in attack. Eddie Betts collected the ball and dribbly-kicked the Bluies' first goal. Hurrah! The Bluies improved a bit, led by on-ball efforts from Murphy and Nick Stevens. But their goals came from the umps' apparent man-crush on Kreuzer. Kreuzer kicked the next goal with a free-kick at a throw-in, pretty soft but technically correct for hands-in-the-back against Maric. A minute later and Kreuzer had another free-kick at a forward-pocket throw-in, but this time it was for some mystical off-ball incident. Kreuzer converted again and the Bloo deficit was down to 38 points. Stevens and Wiggins both managed to hit the post in rapid succession as the Bluies had a bit of a crack. The game tightened up for a while, then good work from Yarran gave Fevola a chance, the ball didn't quite reach Fev on-the-full, he dived and ended up soccering the pill clear to Murphy, who gathered and booted a goal. There were few points over the next few minutes, Fevola missed again after marking and at the other end Camry Taylor Walker missed a set-shot. Goodwin marked on the 50m-line and was crashed to the ground by Mark Austin, but no 50 ensued and Goodwin missed the long shot. The Blooze broke the goal-less spell when Fevola gathered in the centre and whacked a long punt forward, Corolla Graham Johncock found himself heavily outnumbered and affected a good lunging spoil, but the ball spilled to Nick Stevens who bagged a major. Five straight sausages from the Bluies and they trailed by 26 points now. Walker missed a shot after the siren for the Cows and they led by 27 points at the final change. Adderlayed nerves were calmed as they scored the opening goal of the final stanza, Bluie ruckman Shaun Hampson won a tap-out on defensive 50 but Corolla Reilly gathered and punted a long major. The Bloozers replied presently, Kade Simpson eased Douglas under the ball, collected and took off on a two-bounce run, he kicked long towards Fevola who baulked at attempting the mark, as Camry Brad Symes ran back with-the-flight. Luckily for Fev, Symes's one-armed flap at the pill brought it down to Fevola and the Bloo man snapped an over-the-shoulder goal. Porplyzia missed a running shot before the Camrys replied, Bloo Mitch Robinson collected the ball in the centre but was blind-sided and clobbered by Scott Thompson, Knights gathered the spilled ball and passed for leading Dangerfield to mark on the flank. Dangerfield managed to kick straight at last and the Cows led by 34 points. Dangerfield soon reverted to type though, kicking into the man-on-the-mark 20m out following a very good grab in front of Thornton. Several behinds over the next few minutes as the Bluies struggled to mount a challenge, Fevola missed a shot, a Murphy snap bounced into the post. On the kick-in of the latter the Cressidas' runner was inside the 50, a free-kick to Carton 50m out but Wiggins managed to hit the post again. Finally the Bluies scored a goal as Fevola, Kreuzer and Wiggins combined to get the ball to running Murphy, his low punt appeared to have been touched on-the-line but the goal-ump declared a goal. The Bluies hovered 27 points down but a minute later the locals scored, Edwards kicked long towards Tippett who wasn't paid a back-pedalling marking attempt (fair enough probably) but roving Dangerfield handballed for Knights to snap a goal. The Cows led by 33 points, plenty given the time remaining. Just to make sure they soon scored another, Johncock ran to receive in the centre and passed to Vince 40m out, Vince booted truly from 45m. Kreuzer won the ball from the restart, he handballed to Aaron Joseph who passed wide to Stevens 60m out. A hint of frustration from Stevens as he played-on and drilled an excellent running goal. The Camrys went to the line powerfully with two goals in the final 30 seconds. Knights bagged his fifth goal, Vince punted forward from the following centre-bounce and Porplyzia ran out to mark on his chest, Porplyzia booted a 50m major after the final siren. The Blue players lined-up to form a guard of honour for McLeod, who was chaired off by Tippett and Maric. Nice touch.

 

Big game from McLeod's rival, Tyson Edwards (32 disposals, 7 marks). Michael Doughty (26 touches, 5 marks, a goal) won much praise for his game on Judd, although he was the leader of a tagging team. Chris Knights (15 possies, 5 marks, 5 goals) had a day out as a small forward and Scott Thompson (30 disposals, 7 marks) and junior wingman David Mackay (26 possies, 5 marks) both continued good recent form. The defence was very good, led by Graham Johncock (20 touches), rebounding man Andy Otten (23 disposals, 7 marks, a goal) and Ben Rutten (14 handlings, 6 marks) had the better of Fevola. Who doesn't these days? Kurt Tippett, Jason Porplyzia and Bernie Vince kicked 2 goals each. The Bluies had three decent performers, Marc

Murphy (23 possessions, 4 marks, 2 goals), Nick Stevens (32 disposals, 8 marks, 2 goals) and junior ruckman Matthew Kreuzer (11 touches, 2 marks, 17 hit-outs, 2 goals). Backman Paul Bower (25 handlings, 6 marks) was okay and Steven Browne (25 disposals, 7 marks) was a handy midfielder after being toweled up by Knights in the second quarter. "Structurally we got hurt a little bit by trying to put some pressure and some numbers around the ball, but we did it far too much," Bloo coach Ratten said. "They (Camrys) got their hands on the footy very early and were very sharp compared to us and we were really reactive as a group to win back the footy. Going forward we were very slow and reluctant to release the ball to a contest. We thought we could [get back into the game]. It's a pretty big ask to go eight goals down and turn it around. There was a patch there where we thought 'here we go, here we come'. If we could get down to around 20 points we could recharge the batteries and go into the last quarter. We never got into that scenario and that's all hypothetical and we were beaten on the day by a team that was really hungry for the ball and probably won more one on one contests." Then came the typical Ratten excuses for the fact we're not sure if the Blooze are coming. "We're the youngest team in the AFL by experience on our list . . . I think we're averaging about 61 games per player. We've played seven kids under 15 or less games and we've had five kids that have debuted this year. We can grow as a group and move up the ladder, but we're mindful that we need to develop our stocks from underneath," said Ratts. Neil Craig enjoyed a win. "We played some good footy last week in the first half against the Brisbane Lions and the summary of the day [today] was that we saw it for a bit longer again," Craig said. "From a coaching perspective, I didn't feel today the way I've felt in the [third quarter of the] previous two weeks. I thought we were still in the game and had some control of it and our last quarter was fantastic. We've improved from last week, as we did from the week before, so hopefully we can continue to do that . . . Michael Doughty was absolutely fantastic . . . To do that sort of job on Chris Judd requires not just one player's effort but a team effort. If we, or any side this year said they'd hold Carlton to no goals [for a half] coming into the game with the side they've got, they'd say you're an idiot." But our kind of idiot.

 

At Subiaco:

West Coast   3.4   3.8    5.10    9.12.66

Collingwood  1.4   4.10   8.12   12.16.88

 

Monday's experts nodded sagely about the Poise' excellent interstate record, which ignored the fact Collywood had been rubbish at Sooby until recently. But 'Neon' Leon Davis led the Maggies to an emphatic if tediously slogging victory over the Weegles, whose general attitude was typified by their indigenous star, Daniel Kerr. He made a handful of disposal errors early and rapidly lost interest. In selection the Weegs had Kerr return from his groin trouble and called up Brad Ebert, the midfielders replaced dumped Jamie McNamara and late withdrawal Mark LeCras (illness). The stricken Maggies regained one 'regular' in Josh Fraser and recalled Tyson Goldsack and local (Perth) boy Brad Dick. They replaced dropped pair Dayne Beams and Anthony Corrie and late pull-out Ben Reid ('flu). Tarkyn Lockyer played his 200^th game, a great achievement for the long-term Poi servant and a first for someone named Tarkyn, no doubt.

 

With key forwards and a few midfielders still missing the Poise set out to make the game a low-scoring, pack-bound slog. And succeeded. Leon Davis lined up at half-back and was allowed to roam free, a mistake by the Eeg planners. Thirteen battling minutes had elapsed with just behinds from Dane Swan and David Wirrpanda to show. Then Pie Brad Dick marked 40m out, his shot hooked wide and short but 'Jack' Anthony marked in the pocket and banana-kicked a major. The Weegs replied rapidly, their Sam Butler tumbled a quick kick forward from the restart, Wirrpanda over-ran it but Ben McKinley gathered and handballed back to on-running Wirrpanda  who speared a running goal. Soon Adam Cockie won the ball from a forward-pocket ball-up and lobbed a handpass for Brad Ebert to stab a sausage and the Weegles led by 7 points. A few behinds over the next few minutes, including a couple from Weeg Matt Priddis, before Adam Selwood roved a ball-up on the forward flank and stabbed a very short pass to brother Scott on the 50m line, S. Selwood punted long to the goal-square where Wirrpanda's clever tap-on allowed Josh Kennedy to snap a  major. The Weegs led by 13 points at that stage and 12 at the first break, after a few more points. The Maggies scored a goal from the opening bounce of the second Mario, Fraser marked on the wing plus a 50m penalty for sumthin', Fraser's shot dropped into the goal-square where Anthony removed Dean 'Big' Cox from the contest with a hefty bump, Anthony marked and booted a point-blank major. The Weegs led by 6 points and some more pack-bound battle followed, thank Richo predicted heavy rain had held off. Skills were average but Pies Swan and Scott Pendlebury began to gain the midfield ascendancy. Inevitably a goal came from another stoppage, Pie Shane O'Bree lobbed a handball clear of a ball-up at half-forward, Swan gathered and sent one across the 50m line for running Heath Shaw to collect and boot a long sausage. The Maggies trailed by a point after that. A few minutes later the Poise grabbed the lead, Weeg Mark Nicoski was tackled by Swan near the boundary-line and coughed up the ball, Lockyer passed for leading Anthony to mark and thump it home from 50m. Anthony had three of the Poise four goals, they were 4 points up and kicked a barrage of behinds to end the half, with misses from Davis, Dick, Lockyer and Cameron Wood, the last a long set-shot after the siren. Pies by 8 points at half-time.

 

The second half opened a little more brightly, Swan took a diving mark of Dick's flat punt 35m out, Swan went back and had a chat with Davis, standing 10m off to the side. Everyone could see what was about to happen, apart from the Weegle players. Swan handballed off to Davis, who waltzed inside 50 and booted a goal. Symptomatic of the Weegs' attitude and Weegirl-loving commentator Glen Jakovich was scathing. Then Leigh Brown did something, lurking forward to mark Pendlebury's short pass and boot a goal from just inside the 50. Davis missed a shot but a few minutes later he had another chance, Davis's shot from inside 50 was touched off the boot and dropped into the pocket where Dick raced out to gather, he and Lockyer Dicked and Lockyered around a bit before Lockyer snapped a noice over-the-shoulder goal. The Pies led by 27 points now, a bit more than double the Eegs' score. The locals copped a break thanks to an appalling clanger from Pie Ryan Cook, attempting a centering pass from half-back to Goldsack, Cook instead sliced his kick into the arms of Wiggle Ben McKinley, 40m out right in front. McKinley converted. But the Pies answered presently, running through the centre Steele Sidebottom swapped handballs with Alan Toovey and chipped a pass wide to Pendlebury, he in turn chipped one ahead for Dick to mark with-the-flight and Dick slotted, he enjoyed it. McKinley kept the Weegs in there, he booted a goal from the goal-square after Kerr's quick, under-pressure kick wobbled into McKinley's arms. Nice effort from Kennedy to get the ball to Kerr. The Scraggies led by 22 points after that and 20 at three-quarter-time. But they kicked clear early in the last, after Fraser and Sidebottom scored points Davis intercepted Nicoski's long switching kick in defence towards Brett Jones, Davis spoiled, gathered and bagged a major. A coupla minutes later Davis leaped over Swan and Andrew Embley to take a terrific grab - he just held it - wide on the 50m line, Davis played on aided by a good shepherd from Swan and thumped a kick between the big posts. A good night for Neon Leon and goodnight to the Weegs as Collywood led by 34 points now. Jones gave the locals some hope after he roved Kennedy's and Nathan Brown's contest 40m out, gathered and dribbled a goal. But the Pies locked it up again for the next five-or-so minutes, until running Sidebottom accepted Lockyer's handball and passed for Anthony to mark comfortably 25m out in the pocket. Sidebottom ran on and Anthony chipped a pretty ordinary pass back to him, Sidebottom had to dive to mark it on the point-line. But Sidebottom proceeded to boot his career-first goal with a left-footed hook-kick and the Pies led by 34 points again. Goals in junk-time ensued, Cox converted a rucking free from 15m out, Lockyer goaled after marking Swan's pass and then there were two for McKinley, the first soccered through from the goal-square and the next a free-kick after Prestigiacomo sat on him.

 

Leon Davis (32 disposals, 10 marks, 3 goals) had a great night, aided by the Weegs' decision not to oppose him. Scott Pendlebury (38 possessions, 9 marks) and Dane Swan (36 touches, 11 marks) were very busy midfield and Tarkyn Lockyer (25 handlings, 12 marks, 2 goals) played very well at half-forward, on his milestone. Those four were the stand-outs although defender-without-portfolio Nick Maxwell (29 disposals, 12 marks) and Harry O'Brien (16 touches, 4 marks), who started on Wirrpanda, both played well and ruckman Cameron Wood (23 disposals, 9 marks) was upright against a flaccid Cox. Ahem. John Anthony's 3 first-half goals were useful too. For the Weegs midfielder Adam Selwood (26 possessions, 9 marks) worked hard again and wingmen Andrew Embley (26 disposals) and Matt Rosa (20 touches) did a bit, Darren Glass (13 disposals, 5 marks) got on top of Anthony in the end. Ben McKinley (13 touches, 5 marks) bagged 4 goals and Quinten Lynch (18 handlings, 5 marks) tried hard. But Worsfold wasn't happy. "Tonight was just a disappointing effort, I though, in terms of our intensity," Worsfold said. "Last week (narrow loss in Sydney) there was no question about the intensity of the players, and it was disappointing to lose because they tried so hard. Tonight was disappointing to lose because maybe they didn't try as hard as they did last week. That's why it makes it a more disappointing loss . . . We'll wear the skill errors. We'll wear the fact that Swan was too good when he was matched up on Cockie, and Masten and Butler for different periods. But if the real intense effort wasn't there, which I don't think it was at times, that's something that the players now need to address. You can see that it's the senior midfielders from the opposition sides are the ones we're struggling against at the moment. We saw that last year (a young Weegle midfield group struggling) and we're copping that at the moment. We've got Hansen, Hunter, Stenglein and Fletcher that we could easily bring straight back in, but we're prepared to give some of these kids the opportunity to learn. As long as the young players do what we ask and are really giving it everything." Malthouse talked it up. "They (Pies) played to the strategies absolutely perfectly. There will always be mistakes made because it's a high pressured game but, to a man, everyone endeavoured to play their intended roles," Malthouse said. "Sidebottom is a third-game player and will gain so much from this game, and two of our older players in O'Bree and Lockyer played their roles so well, and Simon Prestigiacomo is always reliable . . . Leon (Davis) has been outstanding the last four or five seasons. People like to remember too long ago when he was a young lad coming from the bush and breaking into a Melbourne team, and being terribly homesick. Leon's last five years have been outstanding and he has got better as those years have gone with the improvement in his consistency . . . These seasons are not sprints, they are marathons. There is going to be an attrition rate this season and we've learned a lot about the intensity of the competition. Most of the players we've lost have been players that have had previous leg injuries and history shows that they happen when there is real duress. We are part way through a marathon and I think it could be a rare season where 10 wins could make the finals." You're aiming for ten wins, Mick? Six of the next thirteen?      

 

At the MCG:

Richmond   5.5   9.8   10.12   12.13.85

Essendon   3.1   7.4   13.6    19.11.125

 

Confidence is an interesting thing. For two-and-a-bit quarters the Tiges intimidated the Dons with their intense, seemingly totally committed effort. But then a few Dons took a few big grabs, the Dons scored a coupla exciting goals and the Bommers collectively grew a foot each, while the Tiges' tissue paper-thin bravado was rent asunder. The Tiges'd had a very Richmond week in the build-up, on Tuesday morning rumours circulated to the effect that coach Terry 'Plough' Wallace had been sacked, the Tiges called a press conference only to announce Plough had not, in fact, been sacked but then the press hemorrhaged details over the next few days of a rift or rifts between Plough and 'senior players'. Some ambivalence from Review HQ on the Plough question, where you may have divined there's some empathy for the Big Pu55ies. The head says keep Plough, 'cause it's tankin' time and he's proved himself very good at not winning. On the other hand, WHERE was Jack Riewoldt - dropped to 'regain confidence' in the VFL, kicks 6, but no, not selected and the Tiges take an underpowered, midget forward-line into a very winnable game. In selection the Toigs recalled Adam Pattison and Daniel Connors to replace Ben Cousins (broken hand) and ruckman Angus Graham (hamstring). Shane Tuck played his 100^th game, congrats to the battling on-ball weirdo. Why are his ears taped closed? One change to the Bomma side which threatened Sinkilda, Leroy Jetta returning at the expense of David Myers.    

 

This was the annual 'Dreamtime at the 'G' game, the highpoint of a round celebrating Aboriginal players. The pre-game featured "traditional indigenous cultural activities", read Channel Ten's Tim Lane. He'd apparently spent several seconds preparing for the broadcast. The Tiges started with a big effort, 'cause "the eyes of the football world were upon them" blah-de-blah pressure-cakes. Nathan Brown missed with a set shot from 50m but a minute later a handball-heavy move worked Chris Newman into the clear, he passed for leading Mitch Morton to mark and boot a long sausage from the flank. Morton, featured in much of the preceding week's upheaval, celebrated demonstratively. A bit later Andrew Collins's clearing kick found Kel Moore in an enormous amount of space, Moore went on a five-bounce run (he bounces a lot, every few steps) which carried him inside the 50, Moore lobbed a handball to Dean Polo who weaved onto his left boot and slotted a goal. The Tiges led by 13 points. Commentator Anthony Hudson announced Tiger Brown and Bomma Adam McPhee "crossed swords" in a contest. I doubt they'd be allowed to show that on TV. Maybe in videos Huddo watches in the privacy etc. The Dons got on the 'board as Matthew Lloyd slipped over on a lead, but doubled back and soccer-hacked the ball with much ar5e straight to Leroy Jetta at CHF. Jetta passed wide to David Zaharakis, who booted the goal. A bit later the Dons had another, from a throw-in several players wrestled for the ball and Tiger Polo was mysteriously pinged for 'bawl', Jobe Watson bagged the free-kicked goal. Tiges by a point but they nudged ahead again, Brett Deledio finessed smartly from a forward-flank throw-in before accelerating into the clear and booting a superb goal from the junction of 50m and boundary-lines. Richmen by 6 points but both sides struggled for a bit going forward, poor delivery the chief problem. Tigger Robin Nahas missed a shot, Bomma Brent Stanton went over-the-line on the kick-in and the Dons rushed a point from the resulting ball-up. The Dons closed in again as Courtenay Dempsey's good pass allowed leading Lloyd to mark in front of McGuane, Lloyd majored and the Toigs led by 4 points. But the Big Pu55ies scored a coupla late ones, Adam Pattison hacked a kick forward from the following centre-bounce and Brown raced out to mark in front of McPhee, Brown booted a long major. Daniel Jackson cleared the next restart with a smart handball to Deledio, he lobbed a kick for leaping Kayne Pettifer to pluck a decent grab over McPhee. Pettifer converted and the Tiges led by 16 points, prompting some handbags as Pettifer is one of footy's more excited goal-celebrators. Tiges by 16 points at the first break. The ascendency see-sawed in quartier le deuxieme, Bombout Henry Slattery missed an early shot before the Dons scored from a throw-in, Jason Winderlich fired a good handball to Watson and his kick found leading Zaharakis for a mark and goal. The Tigers replied from an Essadun kick-in, a long one which Deledio did very well to win the ball from, elude trouble and handpass to Shane Tuck, Tuck passed for leading Brown to mark on the 50m line. Brown played-on to open the angle and boot a long sausage, the Tiggers led by 16 points again. At the restart Tigger ruckman Troy 'Snake' Simmonds fumbled appallingly and was hopelessly caught by Angus Monfries. Advantage was allowed as Jetta soccered ahead for the Bummers and Heath Hocking gathered to slot an easy goal. The Toigs cleared the next centre-bounce, Nathan 'Axel' Foley swapped passes with Trent Cotchin and booted long where Brown plucked a goal-square mark behind Dons Pears and Slattery. Unusually, Brown gave a handball for Morton to poke it through. A minute later a blistering burst of speed from Nahas excited the crowd and ended with a pass to leading Brown, he kicked quickly to the goal-square where Morton marked by the goal-post and stabbed a pass back to Daniel Connors, who converted. The Toigs were looking okay with a 22-point lead. The Dons reeled it in though, scoring their goals more easily than the Tiggers it seemed. Alwyn Davey free-kicked a major after being clothes-lined at a throw-in by Collins. Bommer McPhee limped off and down the race. Bomma pack-ruler Watson got a smart handball away from a ball-up and Monfries passed for leading Lloyd to mark, Lloydy booted his second and the Richmen lead was reduced to 9 points. Tough for a minute or two until young Don backman Cale Hooker helped the Tiges out, he dithered coming outta defence and Pattison smothered Hooker's kick, Hooker recovered the ball but then produced a clanger handpass to Nahas, who was ploughed into the turf and ignored but Pettifer gathered and snapped a six-pointer. Tiges by 16 points as a streaker ran onto the ground. Traditional invader cultural activities, although the streaker appeared to be some sort of protestor, we didn't get much of a 'look'. A late Jetta shot was punched through for a behind by Moore, setting off commentator Lane on a rant about the rule against such. Tiggers by 16 at half-time.  

 

McPhee returned to the fray for the second half and Toiger Foley was wearing guernsey no. 47, not his normal 41. The korter started slowly with quite a few ball-ups and throw-ins. The Toigs scored a coupla points and led by 18 before Bomma Sam Lonergan passed into the centre for leading Winderlich to mark, he passed quickly and short for Watson to grab 35m out and Watson confounded history by kicking accurately for goal twice in the same game. The Toigs didn't help their cause by missing kickable shots, Polo the first culprit. The Bummers put together a good move, started by Watson again, Lloyd led up into the centre for a mark and handballed off to Jetta and he passed for Monfries to mark and boot truly. The Bommerz trailed by 7 points and they got some shots of adrenaline, first Nathan Lovett-Murray soared and hovered for a big ride and screamer over Pattison at half-back. Mark Coughlan missed poorly for the Tiges but a minute later Pettifer punted 'em forward and was flattened by a late, high shoulder from Lovett-Murray. Should be a week or three holiday for Lovett-Murray but in the meantime Nahas marked Pettifer's kick and lobbed a handball into the goal-square for Morton to stab a major. Tiges by 14 points, preceding a fairly ragged spell with turnovers from both sides. Then more Don adrenaline as they put together a trademark runnin' handballin' move, finished by Winderlich kicking for Davey to mark behind Connors. Davey slotted and then Watson powered the Dons, he jabbed a handball free from a throw-in and further handballs from Winderlich and Zaharakis allowed Andrew Lovett to slam a left-foot shot for full points and tie the scores. Momentum had clearly shifted as Watson also got the crucial touch at the next centre-bounce, a handpass to Hocking who hacked a kick forward where Lloyd was awarded a free for McGuane's alleged holding. Lloyd's resulting sausage gave the Dons a 6-point lead. The Dons also won the next centre-clearance, an area in which they'd been thrashed in the first half. This time Brent Stanton kicked 'em into attack and Jay Neagle bundled it wide to Monfries, he handballed for Lloyd to snap truly. Three-korter-time couldn't come fast enough for the Tiggers as the Dons led by 12 points at the break. But a few quartered oranges made no difference. Into the last Mario and Nahas and Lonergan missed set shots for their respective sides, from Richmen's kick-in of the latter Don ruckman Paddy Ryder soared over the pack for a fantastic speccie. Ryder handballed quickly to Lovett, who passed for Lonergan to mark 30m out. Lonergan didn't miss this time, the Dons led by 18 points and with the Bombouts and their fans still buzzing from the Ryder grab, they could've blown the hooter right then. But that would've denied the Dons vital percentage. Tigger captain Newman's spoil on Neagle went straight to Winderlich who sprinted clear and slotted a goal. At the other end Morton marked in the pocket, played on indecisively and was caught. Bah. Lovett soon did the exactly the same thing, but wasn't held in Polo's tackle and Lovett scooted clear to bag a goal. The TV focused on a young Tiger fan shedding a few tears and being consoled by his Dad. This was the cue for some Toiger 'humour' from yer Channel Carlton commentary team. "He's got many years of crying ahead of him! . . . He'll curse his Dad in the future, ha, ha, ha." Thank Richo for the invention of the mute button.  The Tiges were so abject they even made the blundering Hooker look good, sending the ball to Monfries who kicked for Davey to mark and boot another Don sausage. The Bummers led by 37 points, having scored eight unanswered goals. The Tiges broke the run thanks to a free-kicked goal from Collins, dragged down without the ball by Slattery. A bit later Newman drove a centering pass to Cotchin, who marked and booted a good long goal. But great work from Watson won the following centre-clearance for the Dons and Hocking passed for leading Zaharakis to mark and convert. Another Essington centre-break followed and Winderlich booted a running goal. Lonergan and Dempsey limped off with late leg injuries but it was a great night again for the Bombouts.  

 

Thought Jobe Watson (24 disposals, 2 goals) was terrific in winning contested ball for the Dons, although the Yooiken Award for best on the night went to Jason Winderlich (28 possies, 12 marks, 2 goals). Paddy Ryder (20 disposals, 5 marks, 15 hit-outs) put in another very good rucking effort and Andrew Lovett (23 handlings, 6 marks, 2 goals) helped fire 'em in the second half. In attack Angus Monfries (17 touches, 10 marks, a goal) and Matty Lloyd (12 touches, 7 marks, 4 goals) were useful, as was David Zaharakis (11 handlings, 5 marks, 3 goals). Alwyn Davey bagged 3 goals. The Tiges' best on the night were Nathan Foley (27 disposals) and Daniel Jackson (26 possessions, 7 tackles against Stanton). Shane Tuck (27 touches, 7 marks) put in his usual solid effort in the milestone game and in defence embattled skipper Chris Newman (14 disposals) and Kel Moore (11 touches, 3 marks), the latter on Neagle, both played well. Nathan Brown (18 touches, 12 marks, 2 goals) started well but faded, he had plenty of mates. Mitch Morton was assisted to 3 goals and Kayne Pettifer kicked 2 goals. Death Row Plough said "We're number-two for contested footy in the competition at the moment and all our parameters for hardness have been reasonably up. That side of it is there but when it goes to the parameters of genuine quality, we're running short and that's the reality. You can be as hard as you like and be cracking into the contests, but unless you can get some quality to go along with that, you're not going to get results. Clearly what's going out on the park right now can't get us the job done. I think it's trying hard enough most games. We've been in most games at some stage, apart from the round one debacle, so we're having a crack from that point of view . . . I thought they were on for the challenge and they were really looking forward to it. There were good signs in the initial part of the game. Again, you've got to use that quality on the scoreboard and we just weren't capable of doing that." And who brought all these committed but skill-light battlers to the club? Plough was asked to comment on his personal travails. "(Football) dishes up some fascinating things and it's dished up a pretty interesting week this week. Therefore that's an added challenge again you want to take on and that's the nature of the competition . . . I'm just doing my job and that's what I've said I would do. We're losing games and we've got to look at why we're losing games, and we've got to look at the personnel and see who can take us forward and who can't. That's the reality of our position at the minute." Matty Knights was happy to have beaten his old side for the first time. "I felt, going inside 50 in the first-half, we were too rushed and weren't making most of our opportunities. I was confident we would be able to certainly address our form line at half time," said Knighta. "(The Tiggers) were fluent and fast-moving in the first half and we weren't able to combat it. But we got going and played very good footy ourselves in the second half and we were able to capitalize. We had to start winning some ball around the centre . . . which allowed our running game to get moving. We got a better surge mentality and we started to push the ball forward. I thought our forwards in the second half were excellent in stifling Richmond. It just took the edge off the Richmond counter-attack."

 

At the SCG:

Sydney         8.1   11.6   13.13   18.15.123

Port Adelaide  1.0    3.3    6.6     10.8.68

 

Ah Port. Confronted with a game where defensive skills would be paramount, they contrived to be beaten after 21 minutes, when the Swans led by 43 points (7.1 to nothing). Every time the Bloods won the ball, they scored a goal. A lot more attacking than the usual Swans but when the opposition is standing around spectating, what else can you do? Some video last week, taken at Port's Alberton training ground, showed Daniel Motlop kicking some freakish goals, one hooked out, around and through from the steps of the stands, another with the ball flicked up off the ground with his feet and volleyed through, from the impossible angle. But if there were ever footage of Motlop chasing, tackling or manning-up, that'd be truly amazing. Too many glory-hunters at Port and not enough blokes prepared to win a hard ball, chase or tackle. The Swans made two changes to the team which scraped by the Weegles, Nick Malceski and Ol' Jared Crouch returning at the expense of Lewis Roberts-Thomson (hamstring) and dropped junior Brett Meredith. Port dropped Jason Davenport, David Rodan and Nathan Krakouer from the side which just beat the Tiges, but Steven Salopek returned only a fortnight after dislocating his shoulder and Josh Carr was recalled, also Daniel's cousin Marlon Motlop was given an AFL debut. Like cuz, Marlon's a lithe, athletic forward flanker, from Wanderers in the NT. 

 

The Siddey goals came early and often, before I could get in the ground in fact. For the first Barry Hall leaped over a pack 30m out to pluck a good grab and dob it. Then Adam Goodes drove a long kick in, Mick O'Loughlin juggled and ultimately dropped a marking attempt, Hall gathered the ball but his snap was well-smothered by Chad Cornes. But the ball rebounded to Swan Brett 'Captain' Kirk, who snapped it through off the left boot. There was a minor 'lull' where the Bloods scored a rushed point. Then Marty Mattner collected a loose ball at half-forward and handballed to Kieran Jack, his under-pressure punt was lobbed very high to the pocket where Jarrad McVeigh marked far too easily and popped it through. Hall gathered Malceski's wayward pass and handballed to McVeigh, who shrugged off a weak tackling attempt and stabbed a centering pass to Amon Buchanan, Buchanan booted the next major. A minute later Jude Bolton roved a big pack on a forward-flank and handballed to Hall, Barry stabbed a cross-field pass for ruckman Darren Jolly to mark and get in on the goal-scoring festival. Next, Jolly turned provider, banging a long kick from the flank to the top o' the 'square where Goodes got a big leap in to take a great grab 15m out and boot truly. Following a secondary centre-bounce Kirk handballed clear and Jesse White thumped a running sausage from just inside the 50. The Swans led by 43 points at this stage, 7.1 to nuthin'. Port scored a goal at this stage, they'd been inside their attacking 50 once or twice but delivered appallingly. Warren Tredrea marked on the boundary about 70m out and dithered for a while before chipping a well-weighted pass for Hamish Hartlett to mark, Hartlett booted a terrific 55m goal from the flank (we were right behind that one). But the korter's last goal summed it up, from a ball-up at half-back Jolly tapped down to Kirk, he handballed for O'Loughlin to run clear, swapping handballs with Craig Bird before O'Loughlin banana-ed a kick into CHF. It bounced freely and Paul Bevan gathered, handballs from he and Hall set up Jarred Moore for a terrific right-foot snap for a six-pointer. We were behind that one, too. Swans by 43 points at quarter-time and eight blokes had kicked their eight goals. The remainder was a bit of an anti-climax. Tredrea kicked a goal early in the second, Robbie Gray found some space to run forward and hook a good kick for Tredrea to mark behind Ted Richards and convert. The Swans answered quickly, Kieran Jack's kick into space from a defensive rebound found both Mattner and McVeigh running onto the loose ball, as McVeigh was closer he gathered a speared a pressure-free sausage. A few minutes later Jude Bolton marked on the attacking side of the centre-square and chipped  pass for leading Jolly to mark and bag another, Sidderney led by 48 points. The slightly goal-hungry Bloods then blazed a series of behinds, four in-a-row in fact, before Tredrea kicked a point for the Powder. From the kick-in of that, Mattner played-on and drove a long kick to the wing where Heath 'Reg' Grundy got a huge ride on Jolly and Port's Chaplin to take fantastic, enormous hanging grab. An absolute ripper which many are already hailing as mark-of-the-year, although I preferred Lovett-Murray's from the previous night. But Grundy's was 'higher' and certainly a classic. Didn't know he had it in him. Adrenaline pumping, Grundy then stabbed a short sideways pass to Ryan O'Keefe which went over O'Keefe's head and out on-the-full. Port scored a goal, Peter Burgoyne worked hard to win the ball and paddle it to Danyle Pearce, he kicked long and Daniel Motlop took a good diving-back mark in the goal-square, with both Craig Bolton and Rhyce Shaw in the contest. Motlop lobbed it through. The Bloods replied soon enough, Jolly lobbing a kick for Hall to mark strongly in front of a disappointed Alipate Carlile. Hall's goal had the Swans 51 points ahead, the margin at half-time.

 

Hard to maintain much interest in the second half as the Flowers never appeared likely to mount a comeback, while the Swans were in cruise control. Pordaddlaid started the third in a more determined mood, Robbie Gray scooted clear of the opening bounce and passed for leading Tredrea to mark and boot a goal, Pearce missed a shot before Powder skipper Dom Cassisi threaded a handball out of a pack and Hartlett bagged his second goal. Behinds from Tredrea and Motlop reduced Port's deficit to a still-hefty 36 points, or double their current score. The Swans steadied and in fact went on to dominate the remainder of the quarter, their defence doing a very good job. But kicking accurately for goal proved a problem, only two of their nine shots in the stanza raising the twin calicoes. O'Loughlin kicked one after a good, juggling mark as he was hit hard by Carlile, a bit later Mattner drove one through from outside 50 after marking on the flank. Jarred Moore missed a coupla times, before Peter Burgoyne ran onto Marlon Motlop's kick to gather and boot a very good goal from wide on the forward-flank for Port. Also in the third, Swan rover Craig Bird was KO'd after being the meat in a Hall - Chad Cornes sandwich. The Swans were 53 points ahead at the final change. There was a bit more action in the final korter, after a quiet opening Port's Gray forced the ball clear of a ball-up at CHF and Cassisi snapped a goal, answered soon by O'Keefe thumping anuge major from outside 50 off one step. O'Keefe's playing better now after a slow start to the year, but it'd be good if he kicked more goals. More quiet minutes preceded goals for Port's Tom Logan, a free for in-the-back, and then Brett Ebert, set up by some finessin' and a pass from Marlon Motlop. Big grabs had been a feature and now Swan Jesse White got in on the act, Hall's shot from 50m hooked into the pocket and White planted his knee in Salopek's back to get a ride and take the speccie. White duly majored. Even Jude Bolton had a go, but despite getting reasonable height he dropped the grab, McVeigh and Buchanan forced the ball into the goal-square where Goodes soccered a major from point-blank. At the other end Power ruckman Dean Brogan, looking more than ever like Frankenstein's monster with a head-bandage almost covering one eye, wobbled a kick forward which Ebert read best to mark and steer a goal. Swans by 43 points after that but they scored a couple of late goals, Goodes had a running shot from 50 which hooked wide but White tapped it down and Jude Bolton soccered a goal. A bit later Jolly wasn't paid a juggling grab behind Chad Cornes. Tackled by Cornes, Jolly literally threw the ball to Buchanan but play proceeded and a coupla legitimate handballs later Kirk was snapping a goal.

 

Pretty even performance from the Swans, as usual Jude Bolton (29 disposals, 5 marks, a goal) and Brett Kirk (32 touches, 2 goals) got things moving with their contested ball efforts and Jarrad McVeigh (26 disposals, 7 marks, 2 goals) thrashed Peter Burgoyne. Barry Hall (17 possies, 7 marks, 2 goals) worked hard with many 'assists' and Adam Goodes's fine form (18 possies, 5 marks, 2 goals) continued. Ryan O'Keefe (21 disposals, 5 marks, a goal) played well and ruckman Darren Jolly (13 touches, 7 marks, 15 hit-outs, 2 goals) performed handily against Port's pair, Amon Buchanan (17 disposals, a goal) was very good early. Port's forwards received poor supply but credit must go to Craig Bolton (23 touches, 6 marks) on Daniel Motlop and Ted Richards (16 handlings, 6 marks) against Tredrea. Jesse White kicked 2 goals. No real winners for Port but Kane Cornes (23 disposals, 7 tackles) worked hard all afternoon and Hamish Hartlett (16 touches, 4 marks, 2 goals) did some nice things, Robbie Gray (21 possessions, 4 marks) again showed some ability as an on-baller. Danyle Pearce (15 possessions) and Dom Cassisi (21 touches, a goal) bobbed up occasionally. Warren Tredrea and Brett Ebert kicked 2 goals each. 'Choco' was at a loss to explain it. He shouldn't be. "We got here early enough, had a kick on the ground. We had a jog this morning, which is very similar to how we prepare for interstate trips," Williams said. "The last three quarters we were pretty competitive but we were fighting up hill and it's very difficult to start like that interstate and feel like you have a chance. Today we were as bad as we have been. That was one of our worst first quarters for a long time . . . The desire to run and chase certainly wasn't as good as it should've been  . . . (Hartlett's performance) was one of the positives to come out of the game. He'd never been here before and he showed some great poise. His goal in the first quarter was a fantastic kick under pressure when it looked like we were going to get nothing." Paul Roos suggested the Swans may be building momentum. "I think they've got a little bit of belief now, hopefully. They know how to play but it's just about getting up every single week and that's the hardest thing in footy," Roos said. "We've got some really good game time into the young guys but probably today it was time for the experienced guys to show there's still a bit of fight and a bit of life in them. It was clearly the best we've played this year. I think we've played some good footy this year but it was our best four-quarter performance . . . It's probably the best Hally's caught the ball. He took some really good contested marks and Mick (O'Loughlin), every time he goes near the ball, he looks like he's going to make something happen and he generally does. They're in really good form together and they really complement each other. Having Mick and Hally in form certainly makes us a much better team . . . Every week's going to be a battle and next week we've got the Bulldogs, who played outstanding against Geelong. Hopefully we can get on a bit of a roll. That's two in a row and you've got to make hay while the sun shines."

 

At Docklands:

St. Kilda  4.2   5.9    8.12   14.13.97

Brisbane   1.0   5.1   10.3     13.3.81

 

Never before in the field of human history had so few won so many on-the-trot. That is, never before had two sides started the season 9-0. Last year you'll remember Geelong and Horforn's winning streaks ended in round nine. This year the Katz enjoyed a slice of luck, courtesy Brad Johnson's errant boot, to avoid another round-nine loss on the Friday night and the Saints had to dig deep to win the points here. They didn't need luck though, just some centre-clearances and some straight kicking for goal. The Lyin's put in a brave effort and provided perhaps the first clear evidence they can make the eight. Jason Akermanis's criticism of Voss and the club in the preceding week may've helped galvanize the Lyin' lads. The Stainers made one change to the team which struggled a bit against the Dons, Raphael Clarke replaced Jason Gram, dropped under odd circumstances. Gram was injured, then he wasn't, then he didn't train or something and ended up playing in the VFL. Lenny Hayes played his 200^th game for the Stains, a widely-appreciated milestone for a much-admired player. Three changes for the Lyin's as important defenders Daniel Merrett (ankle) and Joel Patfull (broken jaw) missed out, Albert Proud was a late withdrawal. In came Tim Notting, Tom Collier and first-gamer Aaron Cornelius, a teenager from Glenorchy in Tasmania who was a key forward at junior level, but looks more like a flanker at this stage. 

 

With their best defenders missing and facing the most effective key-forward pairing in the leeg (on current form), the Lyin's lined up with Joel Macdonald on Nick Riewoldt and Josh Drummond against Justin Koschitzke, with Jared Brennan and Tim Notting back to help out. But things didn't start well as under-pressure Lyin' Ashley McGrath hacked a kick on-the-full and Nick Dal Santo passed the resulting free-kick to leading Riewoldt, who marked and slotted from the boundary-line. Ruh-roh. A minute later Riewoldt marked again on a lead, capping a slick Satiner rebound move, but this time 'Rooey' hooked his shot on-the-full. Ah. More traditional Riewoldt. The Lyin's manned up tightly in defence and had many men back, a flood which the Saints have proved themselves only modestly competent at breaking. The Lyin's did tackle with great zeal in their defensive half but were forced into long bombs forward, which the Sainter defenders cleared with ease. After a while the Lisbon Brians did manufacture a good move, an excellent Tom Collier kick allowed Michael Rischitelli to mark with-the-flight, Rischitelli handballed off to Luke Power whose pass found leading Jonathan Brown for a mark and 50m goal from the flank. Scores were level. A bit later Hayes sent an ambitious centering pass towards Jarryn Geary but Geary made it good with a terrific grab, sandwiched between two Lyin's. Geary fed the ball wide to Leigh Montagna, who booted a great running sausage. Soon another handballing Stainer move saw Raph Clarke wobble a kick into forward space, ruckman Michael Gardiner lumbered out to mark on his chest and bag a major. The Saints led by 12 points as Koschitzke marked in the pocket, 20m out but missed. The ball was spending long periods in the Brians' back half but they hung in there, however two forward sorties foundered on poor kicks from Scott Harding. Commentator McAvaney reckoned those efforts may be punished and sure enough Koschitzke led out to mark Montagna's pass in the dying seconds of the term and boot a goal after the siren. Saints by 20 points at the first break and the Lyin's had managed one scoring shot, so far so familiar. Early in the second Mario Sainter Stephen Milne's tackle on opponent McGrath injured both men, McGrath's shoulder and Milne's knee. Both departed for a bit. That was the 'highlight' of an opening fifteen minutes which featured a lotta ball-ups ands throw-ins. Oh, James Gwilt did snap a behind at one stage. There was a five-minute period where the ball moved about 20m along the Lyin's half-forward flank, with a dozen each of ball-ups and throw-ins. "It's like the 2005 Swans at their best," observed Commetti. Where'd Ross Lyon come from, again? More than half the quarter had elapsed before the Lyin's found some space and Simon Black stabbed a pass for leading Daniel Bradshaw to mark, Bradshaw thumped a 51m major. The Sinkilda lead was back to 15 points but they won the ball from the following centre-bounce with a series of handballs, eventually Clint Jones's fading cross-ground kick caused Riewoldt to find top gear in order to mark it and boot a very good 50m goal. The Lyin's replied, Harding's great second effort forced the agget out to Black and he stabbed a lateral pass to Bradshaw, who thumped another tremendous long goal. The Saints led by 15 points and were in a battle. They increased the effort but didn't convert, Montagna missed with a rushed close-range snap when he had more time to steady. Riewoldt missed woefully from 20m following a strong grab in front of young Aaron Cornelius, given a baptism of fire. A bit later Riewoldt missed again, a tougher shot from the pocket. The Lyin's managed to break the Sinkilda zone from the resulting kick-in, Daniel Rich wobbled a punt into CHF which Brown gathered on-the-bounce and handballed to Matt Austin, the young Brian switched onto his right boot and Austin's long punt dropped through for a goal with the aid of Bradshaw's shepherding. Saints by 12 points, they won the subsequent centre-clearance and Milne marked 40m out, he missed, then Gardiner hit the post from a tricky angle. Late in the term Sainter Stephen Baker marked at the back of the centre-square and the ump called play-on immediately, for a reason unclear. Baker was crunched by lurking Power and Lyin' James Polkinghorne gathered the ball, his punt bounced and rolled with much slowness in the vacant forward-line before trickling through for a goal. The siren sounded shortly and the Saints led by 8 points, the players departing to booing from the Sainter fans, unhappy about the ump's apparent sacrifice of Baker for that last goal. The commentators were mystified as to the reasons underlying the booing. They have no understanding of supporters.       

 

The Sainters' big men threatened to take over in the third quarter, early on Koschitzke leaped for a big grab over little men Milne and McGrath, while callow Cornelius trailed behind. Koschitzke goaled and the Saints led by 14 points again. But at the following centre-bounce Brennan lobbed a kick forward for the Lyin's and Brown out-maneuvered his man Sam Fisher to take a diving-backwards grab, Brown majored. Then Goddard punted the Stains forward and Riewoldt leaped to take a terrific mark over big men Gardiner and Mitch Clark. Riewoldt booted truly and the Saints still led by 14. Vossy pulled a bold stroke by moving Bradshaw to full-back and Cornelius to full-forward. It paid a dividend soon as McGrath went for a zone-busting run and kicked long, the ball cleared the pack as Sainter Zac Dawson jumped too early and all over everyone else, a free against him but advantage was allowed for lurking Cornelius to bag a goal. A Goddard dribbly-shot missed prior to another Lyin' goal, as they found the cojones to run more. Rich booted a long behind but Fisher's kick-in to the pocket, intended for Clarke, was intercepted by Polkinghorne. Young Polkinghorne steered a great kick for full-points and the Stinkilda lead was reduced to a point. A bit later Lyin' Drummond, dropping into the 'hole', was clobbered at half-back by Koschitzke. Drummond sent his resulting free to the wing, Brennan tidied some messy play by loping clear, clutching the ball in one hand Koutoufides-style, and booting into CHF where Black was ridden into the turf by McQualter. Black's free-kicked major had the Lyin's in front, by 4 points. A ball-up on the Lyin's attacking 50m line was hooked forward by Brennan, a long kick which cleared Saints Gilbert and Geary and Cornelius marked behind them, Cornelius popped it through from point-blank. Brisbun by 10 points and questions were being asked of the Saints now. They continued to miss chances, Farren Ray missed from the flank and during the Lyin's kick-in their runner was in the 50, a free to the Stains which Montagna sent on-the-full. But late in the stanza Goddard kicked deliberately towards Koschitzke and Macdonald, Kosi was far too big and strong for the Lyin' flanker and marked emphatically. Koschitzke's sausage roll cut the Brisbun lead to 3 points at the final change.

 

The Lyin's hung in for a long time. They scored the opening goal of the ultimate korter, Fisher hacked an under-pressure kick away from a back-pocket throw-in and Lyin' Justin 'The Shermanator' Sherman ran and lunged to mark it, Sherman booted a long, long major. Brisbun by 9. Some rugged tackling and general toughness for a few minutes before Sainter Adam Schneider was biffed in the face in a marking contest, Schneider's switching free-kick went to Jason Blake and Blake passed for leading Koschitzke to mark and boot a very noice major from the flank. Brisbun by 3. The Brians tried some very early keepings-off before a throw-in was scrambled and bundled into the centre of the ground, Sherman managed to gather, put on a burst of speed to get clear and thump a long, running goal. Brisbun by 9. Centre-clearances proved to be the Sainters' salvation, Hayes had a free at the next restart when ridden into the ground by Harding, Hayes played-on and jabbed a low pass to Milne 40m out, an unusual choice with the form of the Stains' big men. But Milne didn't let Lenny down, booting a goal. From the subsequent centre-bounce Montagna burst clear and his low, helicoptering punt floated and bounced through for another six-pointer, sending the Saints ahead again, by 3 points. Another centre-bounce and Dal Santo fairly threw the ball to Hayes, but play proceeded and Hayes booted long. Koschitzke couldn't reach it and stuck out a leg, the ball rebounded off his shin and charging Milne whacked a first-time soccer-kick for a spectacular goal. The Saints led by 9 points and that was the sort of ar5ily-brilliant Milne goal which might've dispirited an opposition. But their effort continued, Macdonald did superbly to run the ball from defence but ran out of puff and was caught, a minute later Jed Adcock was poised to snap a goal but Milne mowed him down with a great tackle. A different sort of inspirational Milne effort. Drummond thumped a clearing kick 50m to Polkinghorne, he handballed to running Power, another to Adcock who honoured Brown's lead. Brown'd been pretty quiet but his third goal cut the Saints' lead to 3 points. The Sainters won another centre-clearance as Collier was tackled by Dal Santo, Schneider jabbed a pass to McQualter just outside 50 on the flank and McQualter passed in turn to leading Riewoldt. 'Rooey' dobbed the pressure goal with a noicely-weighted drop-punt. The Stains led by 9 points again and the Lyin's had lost Bradshaw, doing well at full-back, with a damaged finger. Geary managed to miss from point-blank but soon Gardiner tapped a throw-in down to Goddard, he stabbed a short pass to Riewoldt who dropped it but managed to send a centering kick towards unopposed Milne. Milney gathered on-the-bounce and snapped truly, three goals in the last quarter from him as the Saints led by 16 points with about two-and-a-half minutes remaining. It turned out to be the final score. 

 

Sinkilda leader Lenny Hayes (31 disposals) played a very important 200^th with handy midfield support from Luke Ball (26 touches, 10 tackles) and Leigh Montagna (33 possessions, 2 goals). Sinkilda's twin towers in Justin Koschitzke (8 marks, 13 disposals, 4 goals) and Nick Riewoldt (8 marks, 11 disposals, 4 goals) were certainly crucial and at the other end Sam Gilbert (18 touches, 3 marks) played well, he and Fisher double-teaming Brown. Brendon Goddard (31 possies, 5 marks) and Adam Schneider (24 touches, 6 marks) were kinda important as the day progressed and Stephen Milne (12 handlings, 5 marks, 3 goals) deserves some credit for his final-quarter effort. For the Lyin's, Simon Black (27 touches, a goal) and Jared Brennan (26 disposals, 7 marks) proved a contrasting but effective on-ball pair. Cheynee Stiller (10 disposals, 12 tackles) tagged Dal Santo effectively and Luke Power (20 possessions) worked hard across half-back too. Mitch Clark (21 disposals, 8 marks, 20 hit-outs) is performing better in the ruck than the Lyin's could've hoped and Dan Bradshaw (15 disposals, 8 marks, 2 goals) bolstered the defence when he went back there. Justin Sherman (26 possies, 2 goals) did some handy things in the second half. Jonathan Brown kicked 3 goals from limited opportunities, James Polkinghorne and Aaron Cornelius booted 2 goals each. "I'm not too sure what to feel, actually," Lyin' coach Voss said. "I said to them that if you bring that level of effort, then you're going to be able to match it with the best, and they really battled manfully right throughout the whole game. I don't think there was anyone we looked at and thought, 'you're not pulling your weight', or 'you're not trying to do something to help the team'. That was very pleasing because we had been working on that a fair bit over the course of the pre-season and the early part of the season. But, I'm also extremely disappointed because we had them on toast and we gave a couple of opportunities there for them and they took them as good teams do, and they were able to win the game. I don't know if pride is the right word but we certainly made progression, but at the same time, it was very disappointing we didn't get the win . . . In the early part of the year, we couldn't hit the side of a barn inside 50, and now we're being more precise when we're going forward. Our efficiency inside 50 and our skill component has gone up a lot. We also know there are some things we have to work on, and the group has high expectations of themselves so we'll keep looking for those things that make us better." Ross Lyon said "We were no doubt wasteful and you can feel that in the box because we were competing really well and creating opportunities, but we certainly weren't taking them. Some of them were gimmes really. I can remember four [where players were] running in 10 metres out. It was a concern, no doubt about that, but we found a way to win. We didn't fold the deck chairs, did we? We were challenged and dug in certainly didn't put it in the too-hard basket. To be able to kick six goals in the last quarter and to be challenged was a positive for the group, but we walk away with plenty of things to work on no doubt . . . In that last quarter we made them defend and we fixed our forward structure up a little bit. We changed the mix and went about it a slightly different way in the last quarter and we kicked 6.1 and walk off having honoured one of our great club men and champion player in Lenny Hayes which we felt was critical for us."

 

At the MCG:

Hawthorn   6.4   11.7   16.9    17.12.114

Melbourne  2.5    4.6    8.10    13.14.92

 

The class gap was evident early and often. Horforn romped clear but the Deez hung in there and caught up late as the Hawks switched off in the last quarter. Afterwards Hawk coach Clarkson blamed a few injuries for the late fatigue, but really they switched off. Commentator Brian Taylor, who walks that fine line between cleverness and stupidity identified in 'Spinal Tap', mentioned several times that a win would leave the Hawks "level with third". And eighth, as it tuned out.  Two selection changes for the Awks, Stuart Dew was dropped for disciplinary reasons after he missed a training session and Travis Tuck was just plain dropped. In came Cameron Stokes and Beau Muston, the latter a tall, beefy midfielder making his AFL debut. Muston was recovering from a knee reconstruction when he was drafted in 2006 and he's had two more since, which is a worry but also a great story. The Dees had Brad Green return following his jaw being broken in round 4, the Dees' only win so far. Jared Rivers, James Frawley and Jamie Bennell were also recalled, replacing dropped quartet Lynden Dunn, Shane Valenti, Clint Bartram and Kyle Cheney.

 

Horforn started very well with on-ballers Sam Mitchell and Brad Sewell being very busy. Melbun battled a bit early and the first goal was a while in arriving, Chance Bateman ran through the centre to accept Jarryd Morton's handpass and wallop a running six-pointer from 50m. Then Lance 'Buddy' Franklin got min on the act, leading to accept Jordan Lewis's short pass and thump a huge goal from the flank. Buddy's very accurate these days, something not many are commenting upon. Horks by 12 points but Melbin responded, Horforn's Brendan Whitecross fumbled at half-back and Russell Robertson swept in to gather, fumble himself but receive an appallingly soft free for in-the-back against Campbell Brown. Robertson goaled. Behinds from Sylvia and Aaron Davey, the latter tagged by Ben McGlynn, shaved the Hawks' lead to 4 points before McGlynn speared a running goal, set up by good handballs from Lewis and Garry Moss. Next came a brace of goals from Franklin, the first a free-kick for some ridiculous acting as Dee captain James 'Junior' McDonald hipped a kneeling Buddy in the face during a scrap for the ball, Franklin went down as though shot with a .44 Magnum. Although if Dee Cale Morton hadn't flapped one-handed at a mark there'd have been no scrap for the ball 30m out. Buddy's next goal came from a good, diving mark of Beau Muston's low kick, just 15m out. Horforn led by 22 points and after a behind to each side the Awks went further ahead, Brent Guerra ran from the back to kick long and allow Jarryd Roughead to mark behind Dees Martin and Rivers, Roughead majored and the Awks led by 28 points now. Melbun got one back before quarter-time, Cameron Bruce roved a pack on the attacking 50 and swapped handballs with Sylvia before thumping it home from 45m. But Horforn still led by 21 points at the first break. The Hawks accelerated clear at the start of the second korter, from a forward-pocket throw-in the ball struck Dee ruckman Paul Johnson in the face and Bateman gathered it (the ball, that is) to stab a goal. A bit later Cyril Rioli chased a ball along the boundary, paddled and bundled it ahead of himself, shrugged off chasing Jack Grimes and hooked a shot across the face of the sticks where Michael Osborne marked and converted. Dee backman Matthew Whelan made the mistake to do a bit of finessin' in defence and was mown down by Roughead, 'bawl' and Roughead free-kicked a sausage. The Orcs had jumped 39 points ahead. Great play from Mark Williams set up a chance for Rioli, but his shot struck the post. Soon, at the other end, Robertson rode Campbell Brown to take a fantastic goal-square speccie. Robbo landed on his back just inside the goal-line and attempted to kick the goal while lying prone but Hawk Moss, arriving from behind Robbo, was alive to the Demun man's tricks and smothered Robbo's kick, before clearing the ball. Robertson copped the blame for wanting 'one for the highlight reel' but it was smart play from Moss, too. The Deez did score a goal soon, Paul Johnson out-marked Thomas Murphy and dobbed it. Franklin missed after a good Hawk move set him up, Cam Bruce hammered the kick-in long and straight and Matthew Bate marked, he handballed on to running Colin Sylvia who had a bounce and kicked for Brock McLean to reel in a one-handed, with-the-flight mark, McLean kept running and slotted a six-pointer. A terrific goal, the Orcs' lead was back to 29 points. But the Hawkers replied as Bateman's switching kick in the centre, a standard Hawk tactic, found Jordan Lewis in space and he passed for leading Roughead to mark and punt truly. A bit later Williams took a good mark in the centre and kicked towards leading Roughead, 'Ruffy' got under it and Rivers punched the ball clear. But Roughead pursued the ball, gathered and hooked a kick to the goal-square where Franklin marked over Frawley. Franklin majored and the Horks led by 41 points at half-time.

 

The Hawkers put on another scoring burst to start the third Mario. Brent Guerra came steaming through the centre, swapped handballs with Sewell and Guerra drove a low kick through for a sausage roll. Sam Mitchell won the ball from the following centre-bounce and passed for leading Williams to mark, Willo bagged a goal and the Orcs led by 55 points. The Demuns now manufactured a scoring burst of their own, or rather Colin Sylvia did. McLean soccered the Dees into attack from the centre-bounce following the Williams goal, as Sylvia tried to reach the ball he was held back by Guerra and was awarded a free, Sylvia booted a goal. Sylvia's next was a bit of opportunism, pouncing on pack-spillage to snap it through from close-range. The Dees won the following centre-clearance and worked the ball forward with difficulty, eventually Nathan Jones lobbed a kick into the forward-pocket where Matthew Bate's marking attempt was spoiled but Bate got handball away and Sylvia snapped it through. The Melbun supporters in the crowd made some noise, although their lads were still six goals behind.  The Awks endeavoured to put an end to the nonsense, Beau Muston postered following a good effort to create the chance and Franklin missed poorly. Then some handballs from Lewis and Mitchell sent the ball wide to running Rioli and Rioli booted a very, very good left-foot goal from the pocket. Williams's centering kick was marked by Simon Taylor, he dished off a handball to Guerra who blasted another long, running goal. Mitchell punted the Hawks into attack from the next centre-bounce, Rivers got a good spoil on Franklin but the agget went to Williams, who handballed for Rioli to snap a left-footed major. The Hawks had answered Sylvia's treble with three goals of their own, and led by 55 points again. The Deez kept up their effort, McLean's fierce bump on Lewis forced a turnover and Johnson hooked a kick forward, Robertson held a diving chest-mark and this time went back and kicked the goal like a normal bloke. Stefan Martin, having a run in attack, missed after marking on a lead and late in the term commentator James Hird noticed Franklin pulling out of a marking contest, he's clearly troubled by something (Buddy, that is). The Hawkers led by 47 points at the final change, healthy. Perhaps too much, as they eased up in the final quarter. Clarkson later blamed injuries to Stokes and Moss resulting in a lack of midfield rotations, but ball-winners Mitchell, Sewell, Bateman and Lewis kinda coasted. The Deez had an early goal as Green floated a quick punt to the top o' the 'square and Stefan Martin held a good pack-mark, Martin dobbed it for his career-first sausage. The Orcs answered from a ball-up on the wing, Sewell did very well to find Grant Birchall with a pass and Birchall fed a handball wide to running Muston, who booted a terrific goal. His first-ever and Muston had a very good debut game overall, rampaging about from half-back. Prior to the 2006 draft Muston was considered the equal of Chris Judd at the same age, but the knee injury made clubs wary and he ended up going in the mid second-round. Anyway, the Deez pressed on. An Addam Maric pass towards leading Green was spoiled by Osborne but Bate roved the contest, ran into the goal-square and blasted it through. A bit later Bruce wobbled a kick forward from a ball-up and Stefan Martin raced out to juggle a three-grabber, Martin played-on to snap a goal. Horforn's lead was reduced to 35 points after that. Sewell whacked a kick forward from the restart and Roughead reeled in a tremendous one-handed mark against Warnock, but missed the resulting shot. There were quite a few misses over the next several minutes, including a shocker from Mitchell. Then Bateman was caught by Whelan's tackle and fired off a wild handball, Dee skipper James 'Junior' McDonald gathered the ball and booted a 50m goal. Whelan's nose had been broken in the tackle, elbowed (accidentally) by Bateman. The Hawks' lead was 28 points and they started to play some keepings-off, to much booing. Sylvia kicked a goal after the final siren, a mark in the centre and a 50m penalty against late-arriving Muston who'd biffed Sylvia. So the final margin was 22 points, a bit flattering for the Demuns.    

 

The Orcs on-ballers were very good, led by Sam Mitchell (31 disposals, 8 marks) and Brad Sewell (29 touches, 8 marks) and Jordan Lewis (31 possies, 8 marks) provided the finish with some great ball-use. Beau Muston (31 disposals, 10 marks, a goal) was terrific off half-back, the challenge for him now is to stay fit. Ben McGlynn (19 disposals, 8 marks, a goal) did a very good stopping job on Aaron Davey and big forwards Jarryd Roughead (10 touches, 4 marks, 3 goals) and Lance Franklin (14 touches, 8 marks, 4 goals) were handy, although Frawley battled well against Buddy. Cyril Rioli (16 possessions, 2 goals) provided several individual highlights again. Brent Guerra and Chance Bateman kicked 2 goals each. For the Dees, Colin Sylvia (37 disposals, 9 marks, 4 goals) played his best-ever game. Brad Green (30 touches, 8 marks) made a welcome return and Brock McLean (26 possies, 6 marks, a goal) and Brent Moloney (23 possessions) continued their good recent on-ball form. Paul Johnson (21 touches, 6 marks, 25 hit-outs, a goal) battled hard in the ruck, Nathan Jones (23 disposals) and Addam Maric (15 possies) weren't bad. Russ Robertson and Stefan Martin kicked 2 goals each. Dean Bailey was frustrated. "We had a slow start, slow first quarter, slow second quarter and were a little bit better in the third, but better in the last. I'd rather it be the other way around, where we got off to a good start," he said. "We've started most games pretty well, but today we were on our heels. They started very, very well with their speed and we were a bit slow today - I don't know why. We can't give sides five or six-goal starts - any team, let alone the [reigning] premiers - so it was going to be hard to come back . . . Col (Sylvia) played well, which was good. He had a three or four-minute burst there where he really played well, so it's good to see. Since I've been here, he's worked really hard on the track, so it's nice for him to get a bit of a reward. His pre-season was good, and he showed signs in the last six or seven games last year and he's worked really hard off field." Alistair Clarkson said "We were really happy with the way we played in the first half. Going into the game we were just happy to get the points, really, and move on - not that it was ever going to be as flippant as that. We got away to a really good start, [but] we just lost a couple of soldiers in the third quarter that meant that we lost a bit of momentum and run. In today's game, if you run as hard as what we did early in the game and then you've got to lift the volume of your running players even further in the latter half of the game because you've lost a couple of players to rotate, that makes it pretty tough. Full credit to Melbourne, you know they kept going at it . . . I'm glad the game didn't go for five quarters." On Muston, Clarko said "We obviously rate him very, very highly at our footy club. He had to work really hard to get his opportunity to play at the highest level, and hopefully it's just blue sky from this point on for him. He's a great character around our footy club, and these setbacks that he's had along the journey have made him really strong mentally, so hopefully that will mean that going forward he becomes a pretty damaging player for us."

 

Ladder after Round 9

                Pts.       %    Next Week

St. Kilda        36    183.8    Melbourne (Carrara, Sat. night)

Geelong          36    151.9    Essendon (Docklands, Sunday)

Footscray        20    106.6    Sydney (Manuka Oval, Saturday)

Essendon         20    102.0    Geelong (Docklands, Sunday)

Sydney           20    101.7    Footscray (Manuka Oval, Saturday)

Brisbane         20    100.3    North Melbourne (Docklands, Saturday)

Hawthorn         20    100.0    Adelaide (Football Park, Sunday)

Port Adelaide    20     97.9    Collingwood (MCG, Sunday)

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

Carlton          16    114.9    West Coast (Docklands, Fri. night)

Collingwood      16     96.2    Port Adelaide (MCG, Sunday)

Adelaide         16     89.8    Hawthorn (Football Park, Sunday)

North Melbourne  16     81.3    Brisbane (Docklands, Saturday)

West Coast       12     91.4    Carlton (Docklands, Fri. night)

Fremantle        12     78.1    Richmond (Subiaco, Sat. night)

Richmond          4     77.7    Fremantle (Subiaco, Sat. night)

Melbourne         4     74.9    St. Kilda (Carrara, Sat. night)

 

Cheers, Tim.

 

 

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