AFL Round 8
Sorry 'bout the lateness, I was away on the weekend.
At Subiaco:
Fremantle 2.2 3.4 7.8 9.11.65
Hawthorn 3.2 8.4 11.6 13.9.87
The Awks took their chances and the Dockerators didn't, just about sums up this one. The Orcs sprung a surprise by abandoning their 'rolling zone' and going man-on-man, which made for a pretty tight game. Five straight Horforn goals in about ten second-quarter minutes proved the difference in the end. One change to the Freo side victorious on the Gold Coast, Greg Broughton a.k.a. 'The New Roger Hayden' came into the side to replace dropped Luke Pratt. The Horforn side embarrassed by Essadun saw Luke Hodge (groin strain) and Cameron Stokes (hamstring) sent for spells with Brent Guerra and Jarryd Morton returning.
The Hawks' decision to make it man-on-man led to plenty of ball-ups and fierce tackling. To combat Freo's clearance dominance they put Ben McGlynn as a tag on Paul Hasleby. Horforn scored the opening goal as handballs from Brad Sewell, Jordan Lewis and Sam Mitchell put running Chance Bateman into space, Bateman weaved around Grover and booted a noice sausage. Bateman was the key Hawk early, his running breaking up the congested packs. The Awks soon managed a second goal, McGlynn passed wide to leading Mark Williams on the 50m line, Willo stabbed a centering pass back to McGlynn who looked about for a dish-off until Stuart Dew arrived, McGlynn handballed and Dew dewly sank the six-pointer. Orcs with an early 12-point lead but the Dorkers began to work into it. A good move started by Aaron Sandilands's tap-out on the wing set up a shot for Ryan Murphy, he missed. Then an under-pressure Mitchell clangered a kick straight to Luke McPharlin on the attacking side of the centre-square, McPharlin passed to the flank where Scot Thornton marked and converted. A bit later Brett Peake's handball sent Stephen Hill racing inside 50 with a bounce, Hill was tackled as he kicked and his low, wobbly mongrel was dragged down one-handed and soccered for a major by McPharlin (that's former Hawk McPharlin). Scores were level, a long miss from Dokka Paul Duffield nudged them ahead by the margin. Tight'n'messy for a few minutes until the Orcs' twin towers emerged late in the stanza, Sewell roved a throw-in and the ball went across the ground to Morton, he stabbed a kick back in-board to Garry Moss who scooped it on the half-volley and passed for leading Lance 'Buddy' Franklin to mark out on the flank. Buddy thumped a great kick home from 50m. Mitchell tumbled a kick forward from the restart and Jarryd Roughead sprinted out to mark it, but he missed. Hawks by a goal at the first break. Ten minutes ticked by in the second stanza and all we'd seen was a lotta rugged tackling from both sides and a few behinds. Finally a clearing Matthew Pavlich kick to the wing was well-gathered by Peake, he kicked ahead of Clay Hinkley who collected on the flank and lobbed a punt to the goal-square where Murphy marked and popped it through. Freo led by a point but the Orcs got moving, with the speed of Bateman and Cyril Rioli crucial. Mitchell marked at half-back and chipped a kick for Bateman to mark with-the-flight, Bateman played-on and his pass found Williams in an extraordinary amount of space. Williams played-on and jabbed a low kick for a goal. A minute later Campbell Brown's pass found
Horforn went further ahead early in the fird, great running from McGlynn allowed him to find leading Rioli with a pass, Rioli marked and sped away from Hayden to punt forward. Dokka Steven Dodd gathered the ball but was wrapped up by Williams, 'bawl' and Williams free-kicked a sausage roll. Six straight from the Orcs, in fact, and they led by 36 points. The Dorkers broke the run quickly, Hasleby had a shot from 50m which dropped short but Michael Johnson marked strongly over Brown and stabbed a goal from 10m out. Hasleby had struggled with McGlynn's tag but Pavlich and Byron Schammer were going well midfield for the Doks. But they missed a series of chances in the third term. There were poor misses from junior Nic Suban and Johnson (who'd gone close to missing that goal earlier) and a slightly tougher one from McPharlin. Finally they scored one, Suban's tackle on Travis Tuck forced the Orc to cough up the ball and Duffield swept it up, he ran inside 50 but elected to send a strange cross-field pass towards McPharlin when it might've been easier for Duffield to kick the goal himself. No mind as McPharlin marked and booted a goal anyway, Freo's deficit was cut to 22 points. Hawks replied quickly as Mitchell - busy - sent a pass towards leading Roughead, team-mate Rioli got in his way and spoiled 'Ruffy' but roving Moss gathered and handballed over-the-top to running Rioli, who'd already set off towards to sticks. Rioli gathered the pill and stabbed a major. Then Freo as Antoni Grover's running 'broke the line' and a coupla handballs later Matt de Boer kicked long, Johnson spilled a difficult marking chance but he managed to soccer the ball to Ryan Murphy, he gathered and snapped accurately. The Awks replied in turn, Freo man Tarrant dived to spoil
Great ball-winning work from Hawk skipper Sam Mitchell (34 disposals, 10 marks), with the running of Chance Bateman (22 touches, 8 marks, a goal) important, particularly early. Brad Sewell (29 possies, 11 tackles) also did well on-the-ball with Ben McGlynn (21 disposals, 10 marks) limiting Hasleby to 6 touches in the first half. Jordan Lewis (23 handlings) and Cyril Rioli (16 possessions, 2 goals) did some important things while Lance Franklin (11 disposals, 4 marks, 4 goals) made the most of his touches, Tarrant wasn't disgraced but couldn't stop the Buddy influence in the end. Mark Williams kicked 2 goals. Freo captain Matthew Pavlich (30 possessions, 8 marks, a goal) worked very hard for them and runnin' rebound man Paul Duffield (26 touches, 6 marks, a goal) was good too. Aaron Sandilands (15 disposals, 4 marks, 41 hit-outs, a goal) and Byron Schammer (29 handlings, 9 tackles) did well 'round the many stoppages and Michael Johnson (16 touches, 3 marks, a goal) was good in attack, at the other end Chris Tarrant (14 possies) and Antoni Grover (18 possies, 5 marks) performed decently on Franklin and Roughead respectively. But the Awks still found a way to win. Luke McPharlin and Ryan Murphy kicked 2 goals each for Freo. Mark Harvey produced positive spin. "I thought to our blokes' credit, after half time we got to the stage where Hawthorn really had to bottle it up and we just weren't able to capitalise when we had those opportunities and shots on goal,"
At the MCG:
Footscray 3.3 9.6 12.10 15.14.104
Frustration again for the Deez as plenty of effort didn't transfer into the four points, a lack of polish in attack probably the cause. The Bulldogs lifted in the second half but were pushed all the way, next week against the Catters will sort 'em out. Another injury to Robert Murphy, a hamstring, was a further worry from this underwhelming Bullpup effort. In selection the Demuns had experienced man Matthew Whelan in for his first game of the year, along with battling juniors Kyle Cheney and Shane Valenti. They replaced injured defenders Jared Rivers (ankle ligaments) and James Frawley (groin strain) while Jamie Bennell was pretty unlucky to be dropped. The Bulldogs made one late change, Ryan Hargrave ('leg') replaced by Dylan Addison.
A minute of silence before the game in honour of Melbun legend Dr. Donald Cordner, who died during the week. The opening minutes were a bit scrappy on a windy, cool day at the 'G. A handful of behinds were scored until the first goal arrived after five-or-so minutes. Under a bit of pressure Doggy full-back
The Doggies tightened the game up in the third Mario, in the first six minutes the only score was an Akermanis behind. Melbun broke the stalemate thanks to a terrible free-kick to Robertson, he fell over and was handed the free for an alleged push from Morris. The replay showed how ridiculous it was, but Robbo majored anyway and the
Jason Akermanis (19 disposals, 4 marks, 4 goals) has been instrumental in the Dogs' last two wins and is proving a very astute purchase at the minute. Daniel 'Guido' Giansiracusa (28 disposals, 5 marks) is a very good ball-user when allowed time and on-baller Matthew Boyd (33 touches, 7 marks, a goal) is in great form. Lindsay Gilbee (28 touches, 2 goals) did well as did CHB Tom Williams (9 touches), keeping the in-form Brad Miller quiet. Adam Cooney (26 possies, a goal) was busy and Scott Welsh (14 touches, 6 marks, 3 goals) a handy performer. The
At
Norf's slender, practically non-existent chances were even more slenderized (?) by the pre-game withdrawal of Daniel Wells (hip), who joined Matt Campbell (hamstring) and Jack Ziebell (leg injury) in those absent from the team which beat Port last week. It'd been suggested North 'rested' these half-fit blokes rather than risk more long-term injuries in a game where they'd get thumped anyway. And who could blame 'em? The Catters look back two years to the game where North upset them at
Gusty wind down in
The remainder of the game was a little dull from the neutral's point of view, but the Northerners fought it out reasonably well. Pu55ies had an early goal in the third after Firrito kicked into the man-on-the-mark, the Cats recovered the pill and a lovely, long handball from Corey Enright allowed Byrnes to run inside 50 and boot the sausage. Norf replied following a behind from their Edwards, Mackie's kick-in dived in the breeze and was marked by Petrie, he chipped a pass ahead to Andrew Swallow who booted a good goal from the flank. Tight for a few minutes before the Kangers scored again, a good move of chipped short-passes ended with Firrito finding Hamish McIntosh alone on the forward-flank and McIntosh converted, reducing the Cat lead to 51 points. Geelers' Wojcinski set up the next major, he sprinted down the wing with a coupla bounces and stabbed a centering kick towards Bartel, who scooped it up classily on the half-volley and slotted a punt for full-points. There followed a series of behinds from both sides including one of several from Mooney, who was having trouble with his accuracy again. And his temper as Mooney was reported for clattering Thompson off-the-ball. Eventually Johnson's long kick spilled from Mooney's contest and was gathered in the pocket by Stokes, he attempted a little banana-pass back to oncoming Johnson who dropped it, but Byrnes gathered and snapped a goal. Late in the term good, tough work from Petrie won possession for Norf at half-forward and Scott McMahon handballed to Sam Wright in the clear, the first-gamer Wright dobbed a goal. Cats by 57 points at the final change. The highlight of the final stanza came early as Cat Rooke bashed and crashed his way through a series of contests, eventually forcing the ball free to Byrnes who booted a good goal - great second, third and fourth efforts from Rooke to create that one. A bit later Varcoe showed great acceleration to run clear of half-back and deliver a good, long pass to leading Mooney on the 50m line, Moons handballed off quickly to running Cameron Ling who booted a noice goal. Ruse Josh Gibson and Adam Simpson combined to win the ball from the restart, McIntosh dived to try and mark Simpson's kick and was ploughed into the turf by Cat skipper Harley, a free-kick for McIntosh and he majored. Nothing happened for the next twenty-odd minutes as players waited for the final siren, save a good goal from Stokes after he marked on a tricky angle.
Cat men Jimmy Bartel and Steve Johnson seemed to swap roles here, Bartel (34 disposals, 5 marks, 3 goals) spent a lot of time in attack while Johnson (31 possessions, 7 marks) played a lot more in midfield. Both were very good. Half-back James Kelly (37 possessions, 7 marks) was more prominent than usual and Max Rooke (18 possies, 4 marks, a goal) enjoyed the physical stuff, half-back Andrew Mackie (27 handlings, 6 marks, 2 goals) was effective. Shannon Byrnes (23 touches, 3 goals) played well on a wing and Cameron Ling (17 touches, a goal) had the better of tagging assignment Simpson. Cam Mooney, Mathew Stokes and Travis Varcoe kicked 2 goals each. Kanger half-back Josh Gibson (24 disposals, 5 marks) enjoyed some freedom to roam and Drew Petrie (14 possies, 8 marks) tried hard across half-forward. Running wingman Ben Ross (23 touches, 4 marks) played well again and big men Hamish McIntosh (16 touches, 4 marks, 19 hit-outs, 2 goals) and David Hale (7 marks, 2 goals) weren't too bad. "The margin's really disappointing, but at the end of the day, you saw our future today and I reckon that's fantastic," span Roo coach Laidley. "We have played the most players in the competition and we've had the most debutantes in the competition which I reckon is great. For me - and I've said this through the pre-season - this is the most exciting time that I've had at the footy club. Over the last three years we've made the most changes to our list and to see the young guys come through, they're so coachable, they really are . . . I thought some of our younger guys got a little bit over-awed early. We turned the ball over, but we had our opportunities probably in the first 15 minutes to put a bit of scoreboard pressure on. The 15-minute mark of the first quarter to about the 13-minute mark of the second quarter it was nine gals to zip and pretty much that was the final margin give or take a goal or two. I thought the second half was a lot better. We had a lot of young kids in, but we put them in the middle and I thought Ross, Urquhart, Thomas and Wright in his first game gave us some real run and carry through the middle of the ground. For me it always hasn't been about wins and losses. I'll publicly state that we set ourselves to finish in the finals, [but] the week before the first game we didn't have an injury and we didn't have an injury over the whole pre-season." Having a bit each-way there, is Laidley. Cat man Bomber Thompson said "Hawk (Hawkins) and Moons (Mooney) are working well with Stevie Johnson, and obviously having Rooke there, who seems to know what's going on with those guys, was good. They were very good - Varcoe's getting better and better, Stokesy's really hit some good form, kicking goals and setting them up . . . Shannon Byrnes kicked three again today and puts enormous pressure on the opposition when they have it. He's creating for us, and our small forwards have been outstanding . . . (Chapman) has got a tight lower back, and basically he should be right to play next week. It was more of a precaution - he's had a history of problems with hamstrings, and we just don't want for a hamstring to occur this year. So more than likely he'll play next week with
At the Gabba:
Lyin' games this year are following a pattern, a sluggish first quarter or half followed by a big third quarter which determines the result. So it was here as the Brians trailed at half-time but a big seven-goal to two third term, with four from Daniel Bradshaw, righted their ship. The Brisbun side here made one change, debutant Matt Austin from
Despite no change in personnel, Craig made a couple of canny alterations in their deployment. Experienced men Simon Goodwin and Tyson Edwards were restored to the midfield, rather than swanning about half-back for cheap kicks. Young forwards Taylor Walker and Kurt Tippett stayed forward and they benefitted from the efforts of the oldies, kicking the game's first two goals after both sides missed some early chances. In fact Tippett also kicked three points in the first korter. The Lyin's responded with majors from Justin 'The Shermanator'
The momentum swung sharply in the third term. Simon Black and Daniel Rich lifted in the midfield to help out
Justin Sherman (35 disposals, 11 marks, 3 goals - 3.4) was the Lyin's best all-game performer, the paper noting The Shermanator's kicks and handballs actually went to team-mates most of the time. Daniel Bradshaw (8 marks, 11 kicks, 5 goals) provided the finishing power the Cows lack and in the middle Simon Black (28 touches, a goal), Travis Johnstone (34 possessions, 10 marks) and Daniel Rich (18 disposals, a goal) all played well. Fill-in ruckman Mitch Clark (16 possies, 6 marks, 16 hit-outs, a goal) battled admirably again, Albert Proud and James Polkinghorne (11 disposals and 2 goals each) made handy contributions. Jonathan Brown kicked 2 goals. For the Cows wingmen Tyson Edwards (32 disposals, 10 marks, a goal) and David Mackay (30 handlings, 8 marks, a goal) played well and Ben Rutten (11 possessions) had the better of Brown. Ruck-rover Bernie Vince (29 touches, 7 marks, 0.3) and half-back Andrew McLeod (23 possies) were good and Simon Goodwin (25 possessions, 7 marks) made a handy effort, forward Jason Porplyzia (17 touches, 9 marks, 2 goals) was busy again. Chris Knights and Taylor Walker finished with 2 goals each. Neil Craig wasn't so positive this time. "We played some pretty good footy (in the first half) but you are going to lose that momentum and you are going to get into an arm wrestle and we have to stay in the fight for longer," he said. "Just before half time we were very good but, when it came to an arm wrestle, we were found wanting. We have got to be harder mentally with ourselves. We had most of the play in the first half, the opposition scored two late goals and there's an element of disappointment in that, we have just got to be better than that . . . We have done that a fair bit to sides, when we can't do anything more than hold the ball in our forward line. We expect more of (forwards Walker, Dangerfield and Richard Douglas) than some of the stuff we saw tonight." Harsh on the first two - they wouldn't have played ten games yet. Mick Voss said "(The second quarter) was probably frustrating for the fans, but exceptionally important for us because we didn't have ascendency of the game. So to get it back to an even keel we just took a bit of time with the ball in our hands and we just grinded away at it and then later, with about two minutes to go, we kicked two goals and came in at half-time 10 points down. It's a part of our game where normally we just let opposition teams score and we come in a lot further down as opposed to being able to come in 10 points down and have a real shot at it (in the second half) . . . A lot of people have criticised (Sherman) for a lot of things but I think tonight was a reward for the hard work he's put into his game and how much he's persisted. He provides energy and emotion and spread and run and he just wants to get involved. Some of the real impact players we had were Polkinghorne, Daniel Rich chimed in for a goal, Justin Sherman was fantastic all night, Albert Proud played that role. Daniel Bradshaw kicked his five goals but it was a lot of those guys that we relied on tonight to kick our score so it was pleasing to see our ground level guys get involved." Big test against the Saints next week.
At Stadium
West Coast 4.2 6.6 11.6 15.11.101
Tradition continued as the Swans and the Weegs fought out a close battle. In the end the Swans, after appearing to have the Weegs' measure all night, were lucky to escape with victory, relying on some late mistakes of judgement and skill from some junior Wiggles. Siddey's Kieran Jack emerged the hero by snapping a very good winning goal. The Swans made three changes to the side beaten heftily in Geelong, Luke Ablett, Craig Bird and big man Jesse White were recalled at the expense of juniors Kristin Thornton and Mike Pyke and more senior man Nick Malceski, struggling for form in the last couple of games. The Weegs made four alterations to the side which squeaked past the Demons in
The Swans bounded out to a three-goal lead which they maintained for the first three quarters, more-or-less. Some typically tough, tackling-dominated opening minutes preceded the first goal, a sweeping Swan move from half-back ended with Paul Bevan kicking for running ruck-rover Jude Bolton to mark with-the-flight in the pocket and Bolton punted a major. A few minutes later Mick O'Loughlin led long to mark 65 m out, he passed quickly for leading Barry Hall to mark comfortably and boot a goal. In the build-up to this game Barry had countered his negative press of last week, announcing he wanted to play for the Swans next season rather than go boxing as everyone'd assumed. Hall certainly played very well here, putting in a committed effort. Some called it his best game for the Swans in three years, although that's going a bit far. You may recall this fixture last year, in which Hall had a particular 'mare, flattening Weegirl Brent Staker with a terrific left hook which cost Bazza 7 weeks suspension, turning out to be academic as Hall broke his wrist in a collision with the fence later in the same game. Anyway, Staker didn't play in this one but the Eegs were keen to test Hall's temper, while asserting their own non-wimpish-ness. Hall and his direct opponent Darren Glass engaged in some handbags after that goal, Barry's captain Brett Kirk was in there quickly to calm things down. Soon the Swans were advancing again and Ted Richards marked just outside 50, he passed to Adam Goodes, lurking on the flank, and Goodesey steered a noice kick for a goal. The Swans led by 18 points. The Weegs got going with the next two goals in quick succession, Dean 'Big' Cox tapped a forward-pocket throw-in straight to Swan Bird but he was wrapped up in a tackle and the ball spilled to Jamie McNamara, who jabbed it through. A minute later Josh Kennedy collected pack-spillage at half-forward and lobbed a pass to Ben McKinley right on the boundary, 25m out. McKinley steered a good drop-punt for a major. A few points before the Swans kicked away again in time-on, Hall's superb tackle on Glass forced the ball free, Richards wobbled a punt forward and as Jude Bolton tried to reach it he was tripped (accidentally) by Nicoski, Bolton free-kicked his second goal. The Swans won the following centre-clearance (eventually) and Jarrad McVeigh booted long, the ball bounced up handily for Marty Mattner to gather and stab a dribbly-kick for a sausage. Siddey by 18 points with about two-and-a-half minutes remaining in the term, but the Weegs bagged two goals in that time. After some prolonged scramble and backwards-handball from their forward pocket Adam Cockie snapped a good left-foot major, Cox had a free at the restart and from his kick Kennedy took an excellent one-grab pack-mark. Kennedy slotted and the Weegs trailed by a goal at korter-time.
The Bloods nipped ahead again early in the second term, they cleared the opening bounce and McVeigh's long kick found Hall maneuvering behind Glass to take an easy grab and boot his second goal. A minute or two later Ryan O'Keefe's clearing punt found Kieran Jack in much space on the wing, he ran and kicked long where Goodes held a solid back-pedalling mark under pressure from Adam Selwood. Goodes kicked his second goal, again the Swans led by 18 points. A bit later Swan Jarred Moore missed a shot and a lengthy goal-less spell ensued as both sides amped up the defensive pressure. McKinley and Moore kicked points before the next goal in time-on, Swan Rhyce Shaw's low kick on the wing was chopped off by Mackenzie, he handballed to Cockie who punted long towards Quinten Lynch. The big Weegle couldn't mark but Lynch showed terrific agility to gather the ball, sell a dummy and snap truly from 15m. Weegs Scott Selwood and Andrew Embley combined to win the ball from the next centre-bounce, Kennedy sprinted flat-out to mark Embley's kick right on the boundary. Kennedy goaled with superb punt from the angle, 45m out and the Bloods' lead was cut to 6 points again. Behinds from Hurn and Lynch made it 4 points the diff at half-time.
Similar pattern in a high-scoring third stanza. Swan Luke Ablett bagged an early goal, marking Jack's quick punt to clear a throw-in. A coupla minutes later Amon Buchanan handballed his free to Jack and he passed for leading Hall to mark comfortably ahead of Glass, Hall booted a major. Behinds from O'Loughlin and Shaw saw the locals 19 points ahead. A bit later Goodes's clunkily telegraphed one-two handball combination was intercepted by Sam Butler, Cox gathered the ball and produced a flat, low mongrel punt which McKinley marked 40m out. McKinley converted. Goodes made up for his error a bit later, after ruckman Darren Jolly flattened Adam Selwood with a hefty bump. Goodes bounced down the wing and sent kick towards a contest at CHF, after some battle Buchanan lobbed a high kick forward where Goodes arrived to out-mark Cox and Wirrpanda; the Weeg men looked at each other in nonplussed fashion. Goodes threaded it through and the Swarns led by 19 again. The Wiggles replied, a very weak throw-in in their forward-pocket was missed completely by Jolly and Lynch's quick banana-dribbly-kick rolled through for a six-pointer. Where do they get these boundary-umps in
The Weevils poured some pressure on with a big effort in the final Mario, led by big men Cox and Lynch. Mark LeCras (very quiet here, due to Craig Bolton) cleared the opening bounce and Lynch led out to mark strongly in front of Richards, he kicked quickly to find lurking Cox marking alone 40m out and Cox goaled. Lynch proceeded to miss two difficult shots as the Eegs pressed, before Adam Selwood stabbed a short kick clear of a forward-pocket throw-in and it went straight to Brett Jones, not 15m so Jones snapped immediately and accurately for a major. The Bloods' lead was down to 5 points. McKinley had a golden chance to put the Weegs in front when he marked 10m inside the boundary 30m out, but he played-on attempting either a quick shot or a pass to Cox, it wasn't clear. Whatever the case, McKinley produced an unbalanced, sliced kick which just scored a behind, and copped a spray from Cox. Tough for a few minutes as the Swans, not running anymore, hung in there. After a bit O'Keefe found space to run and kick long, Mackenzie spoiled O'Loughlin but Bloods Moore and Bird worked to win the ball, Goodes handballed and Hall snapped truly. Siddey by 11 points but that'd been against the run. Cox tapped the following centre-bounce to Cockie, he kicked long and McKinley took an easy chest-mark in front of Bevan. McKinley majored. The Eegs won the next centre-clearance too and Embley tumbled a kick forward, it bounced over the pack at CHF and Scott Selwood turned, chased, gathered and snapped a sausage roll. The Weegs led by a point. They had opportunities to extend it, but Lynch and Cockie missed shots after marking. Lynch's was a tough one from outside 50 but Cockie should've done better with his. It felt as though the Swans were let off-the-hook and sure enough they copped a break, as the Weegs made to switch play deep in defence Mackenzie stabbed a weak, under-hit kick towards Hurn, a poor decision as there were men further up the ground. Or the boundary. But Jack swept in, bumped Hurn off the ball, gathered and snapped a major off the left boot. Great stuff by the youngster. The Swans led by 3 points, there were still about 5 minutes remaining but the Bloods are masters at sitting on a narrow lead. Ablett snapped a point before O'Loughlin booted a behind after the final siren.
The Swans' veteran leaders were their key players, Adam Goodes (26 touches, 6 marks, 3 goals) played another very good game and indeed Barry Hall (5 marks, 6 kicks, 5 goals) was very good also. Ryan O'Keefe (25 touches, 6 marks) was busy as a wingman and Jude Bolton (25 disposals, 9 tackles, 2 goals) led the midfield battle, with Kirk effectively shackled by Sam Butler. Rhyce Shaw (29 disposals, 5 marks) and Jarrad McVeigh (23 handlings) weren't bad and ol' Mick O'Loughlin (16 touches, 6 marks, a goal) did some handy things. Kieran Jack (18 possies, 5 marks, a goal) had a decent game overall and Craig Bolton (20 disposals, 7 marks) kept Mark LeCras very quiet. For the Weegs, centre half-forward Josh Kennedy (15 kicks, 11 marks, 3 goals) was very good and as usual ruckman Dean 'Big' Cox (22 disposals, 6 marks, 30 hit-outs, 2 goals) was a standout performer. Andrew Embley (22 possessions) won a fair amount of it midfield and Sam Butler (20 possessions) kept Kirk pretty quiet. Quinten Lynch (19 disposals, 8 marks, 2.5) also played very well as a forward and pinch-hitting ruckman, every week there seems to be a Weegle who kicks lots of points. Ben McKinley (9 kicks, 5 marks) enjoyed some luck in booting his 4 goals and Adam Cockie (13 disposals, a goal) did some useful things. 'Woosha' Worsfold was frustrated but still positive, refusing to condemn Mackenzie for the late error that cost the game-deciding goal. "I thought Eric (Mackenzie) played a good game . . . and his progression has been outstanding. So we'll wear the fact that young players do make errors and it's certainly one of a hundred things in the game that we want to do better at, and we'll keep working on that . . . We were behind most of the night but the boys never gave up. It's disappointing but the effort in the last quarter to want to win the game was outstanding. It (the pressure) was there all night but in the end there was a kick in it. [I'm] pretty pleased with a lot of the efforts of a lot of our players and where we're at in terms of what we're working on and where we can get better. When those young players that we talked about get to 30 or 40 games, we've already seen the massive difference that makes in the likes of Rosa, Hurn and LeCras." Paul Roos cracked wise. "We have a confidence when we play them because we've beaten them in a grand final but we also fear them because they've beaten us in a grand final. It goes both ways . . . it just happens to result in an unbelievably close ten games or whatever it has been over the last six years . . . It's a good effort by Woosha to be able to get those young guys up to speed in such a short space of time and to be able to come here . . . their effort out here was really good and our guys' ability to get over the top of them was terrific as well . . . We just said to (Hall), 'We're not worried about marks, kicks, handballs and goals - you're a better player when you tackle and chase'. He only had six kicks but all of a sudden he's chasing, he's tackling, he's pressuring and those six kicks turn into five goals and he's a very significant player over the course of the game . . . Kieran's goal at the end was a super goal, even though Mick (O'Loughlin) said he was down there in the goal square by himself and he said he would have kicked it anyway. Kieran's happy to prance around the change-rooms and claim all the glory while Mick's a bit flat in there."
At
Port
Port's Warren Tredrea made the difference, booting 7 goals including the one which put Port in front for the final time, with 44 seconds remaining. Tredrea went on to take a defensive pack-mark with 7 seconds to go, ensuring the Powder scraped over the line against the benighted Tiges. It'd raise further questions about the Power and precisely how good they are, despite now sitting fourth on the ladder. Richmun, with a revamped side, had a fair crack and provided some support for Wallace's statements about the overall potential of a full-strength Tiges. But the fact remains the Tiges failed to close out a game they should've won, leading by two goals with under three minutes remaining. It's been a regular occurrence for the Tiges over recent years and points once more to their lack of on-field leadership and discipline. In
Very damp at
The Flowers threatened to clear out to a big lead early in the third, as most (all?) tipsters had predicted. Pearce roved Tredrea's contest at CHF and lobbed a punt into the pocket for Ebert to chase down, Ebert gathered and stabbed a pass back into the corridor for Cassisi to mark and boot a goal. Pearce missed a shot - Pord's inaccuracy flattered the Toiges - before Dean Brogan booted the Power into attack again and Tredrea galloped out to mark on his chest and bag another major. Joel Bowden had been Tredrea's opponent since quarter-time, despite his modest credentials as a key defender. Tredders' fifth goal had sent Port 31 points ahead, but the Tiges began to convert possession into points, at last, by kicking more and handballing less. Chad Cornes's handball-while-tackled went to Ben Cousins, he handballed to Nahas who passed to Tambling, and he onto Nathan 'Axel' Foley who booted a 50m goal. A few minutes later Tambling roved Simmonds's contest at half-forward and Tambling showed great handling and acceleration in the wet to boot a running major. Ebert missed a shot before Tuck and Tambling combined to send the Tiggers forward again, Pettifer was spoiled in his marking attempt but roving Collins handballed for Pettifer to soccer a major from the goal-square. A minute later there was a throw-in in the Toigs' forward-pocket and Collins did brilliantly to smother Cassisi's kick, gather the ball and snap truly. Four unanswered goals from the Big Pu55ies and they trailed by 7 points. Power ruckman Brendon Lade hacked a kick forward from the restart and it went straight to Ebert, playing in front like a good forward should. Especially in the wet. Ebert bombed to the goal-square where, inevitably, Tredrea out-maneuvered Bowden to mark on his chest and bag another goal. A point each, including a miss from Ebert, before Coughlan booted the Tigers into attack, the ball went over Collins and Port's Cassisi had a big soccer-hack at the pill which he missed completely. You might wanna use your hands, mate. Tigger Nahas gathered and slotted a major. Richmun's Trent Cotchin missed a shot but Pearce's kick-in went to a big pack, Tigger Matt White gathered and handballed for Chris Newman to kick long where Morton chest-marked behind the pack. Morton popped it through and scores were level. Behinds from Ebert and Motlop nudged Port ahead but the Tiges claimed the lead before the final break, Cousins (playing well) won the ball from a throw-in and handpassed to Brown who punted truly from 40m. Richmun were 4 points ahead at three-quarter-time.
The upset looked on into the final korter. There were a whole bucketful of behinds in the tight, first ten minutes, Tiggers Cousins and Moore scored a coupla early ones before Powermen Tredrea and Ebert scored one-pointers, there were a coupla rushed ones. From a kick-in Port's Pettigrew played-on hesitantly before jabbing a telegraphed pass towards Peter Burgoyne, Toiger Morton swooped to spoil, gather and, unable to resist his instincts, hook a snap at the sticks from the pocket rather than centre the ball. But Morton was accurate and the Tiges went 10 points ahead. Morton's day peaked there, but for now the Big Pu55ies pressed on. Brown roved a contest at half-forward and punted to the top o' the 'square, Deledio couldn't mark but roving Cotchin produced a terrific left-foot snap for a goal, from a very tight angle. The Tiges led by 16 points and really should've won from there, although Port are very good at late come-backs, as they showed last week. From a half-forward
Warren Tredrea (20 disposals, 11 marks, 7.4) is enjoying his best season in several years, and there was another very good game from midfielder Travis Boak (25 touches, 9 tackles, a goal) who's taken a step ahead in his career. Skipper Dom Cassisi (23 possies, 9 tackles, a goal) and running Danyle Pearce (24 possessions, a goal) were also very good in the Power midfield and defenders did well, in particular Jacob Surjan (14 touches, 3 marks) and Troy Chaplin (19 possies, 4 marks). Pity about that missed shot, but it didn't matter in the end. Brett Ebert (17 disposals, 5 marks) worked hard but again had trouble kicking straight with 1.4, Peter Burgoyne (26 possessions) was okay. Despite the galling loss, there were some encouraging signs for the Tigers. Mark Coughlan (28 disposals, 7 marks) and Ben Cousins (24 possessions, 4 marks) played their best games yet, unfortunately for Cousins he suffered a new setback with a broken hand late in the game. Small forward Robin Nahas (8 kicks, 3 marks, 5 goals) was terrific and efficient, Shane Tuck (31 possies, 7 marks) and Daniel Jackson (22 handlings, 7 tackles) worked hard midfield. There was a decent effort from Nathan Brown (18 touches, 5 marks, 2 goals), often guilty of selfishness if we're punishing blokes for that. Luke McGuane (10 possies, 4 marks) did a good job on Motlop and Richard Tambling (19 disposals, 5 marks, a goal) did some handy things. Mitch Morton bagged 2 goals but copped a post-game spray from Wallace over his late error. Apparently Wallace said "That sort of thing can cost people their jobs," a pretty selfish view in itself. Looks like selfishness is endemic at
At the MCG:
Collingwood 0.4 1.7 3.9 7.11.53
The Bluies climbed the ladder again by fairly smashing an under-strength Collywood outfit, in front of a huge crowd at the 'G. In fact the Blooze were so confident going in they had a plan to publicly embarrass Brendan Fevola, punishment for his latest listless, pathetic effort on the Gold Coast last week. The Poise went in with a forward-line consisting of John Anthony, Leigh Brown, Tarkyn Lockyer and Ben Reid, a line-up which'd be flat-out kicking a winning score in the VFL. After the game Malthouse blathered on about having more inside-fifties again, which is true, but the Poise moved the ball so slowly and indirectly into attack that their forwards were well-covered by the time the ball arrived. And at least four of the inside-50s were bombed kicks straight to unopposed Blue defenders, so there are lies, damned lies etc. The Maggies made a hefty seven changes in selection, from the team slaughtered by the Saints Josh Fraser (knee), Dale Thomas (knee), Travis Cloke (hamstring) and Anthony Rocca (groin strain) were unavailable while Danny Stanley, Brent Macaffer and Jaxson Barham were dropped. On the plus-side 'Neon' Leon Davis, Dayne Beams and Jack Anthony returned while Ben Reid, Cameron Wood, Ryan Cook and Shannon Cox were given chances. Two changes for the Blooze, Steven Browne and Mitch Robinson were called up to replace Simon Wiggins (hamstring tightness) and the axed Cameron Cloke.
Fevola didn't line up at full-forward but instead wandered about from a half-forward flank, with Jarrad Waite and the resting Bloo ruckman taking turns at the spearhead. And the Bluies were also allegedly under instruction not to pass to Fev, if they could avoid it. Regular Poi full-back Simon Prestigiacomo still followed Fevola about, though, making Fev an effective 'decoy'. In front of 82,800 the Blues effectively sealed it with three unanswered goals in the first ten minutes. Waite kicked the first two, the first one from a diving 'mark' he was paid but clearly dropped. No luck for the Poise there as Waite converted. The next came as the Pies dithered hopelessly trying to clear their defence, after some circular handball Heath Shaw went for a lateral jog-trot and casual bounce, he was mown down by Waite and 'baawwwwllll' cried the many thousand Bluesers. Waite free-kicked truly. A bit later a Bloo rebound saw Steven Browne pass to Chris Judd in space, Judd punted long to the goals where Eddie Betts took a terrific with-the-flight mark, running flat-out. Betts popped it through from 15m out and even though the Blooze led by just 18 points with three-and-a-half korters to go, you could sense the day would not end well for the Scraggies. Watching Lockyer trying to out-mark guys a foot taller than he, or Anthony leading up to mark 70m out and then kicking in vain to Leigh Brown, was kinda dispiriting for yer Poi fans. Malthouse defended Leigh Brown after the game too, I'm not sure why. Brown was hopeless with Freo, woefully inconsistent at Norf and he's been hopeless at Collywood so far, too. Anyway. Anthony kicked a point from a tight angle before the Bluies bagged another goal, Judd lobbed a kick into the pocket and half-back Mark Austin sprinted to take a with-the-flight grab,
The margin expanded in the early third Mario Lanza. Mitch Robinson drove a long kick forward for the Bluies and Hampson soared to take a terrific grab over Maxwell, wide on the flank. Hampson proceeded to wallop a tremendous 50m kick for full-points. Some Bloo folks questioned the selection of Hampson over the more aggressive, competitive O'hAilpin, but on current evidence Hampson is a better player. Maybe more of a front-runner at this stage, though. Anyway, a minute later Bryce Gibbs punted long to the top o' the 'square and Judd leaped to take a tremendous one-grab mark over a big pack. A 50m penalty was tacked on for some unknown reason, Juddy converted and this was probably the
The Herald-Sun called Chris Judd's 32-disposal, 7-mark, 8-tackle, one-goal game 'perfect'. A big call, it was certainly very good. Kade Simpson (29 touches, 12 marks) was also pretty useful and Bryce Gibbs (25 possessions, 10 marks) motored about half-back playing well. Jarrad Waite (17 possies, 8 marks, 3 goals) did the job in attack again while a tight defence was led by Bret Thornton (25 touches, 9 marks). Eddie Betts (7 kicks, 3 marks, 4 goals) finished as the game's most effective forward and Marc Murphy (24 touches, 8 marks, 2 goals) and Nick Stevens (25 handlings, 6 marks, a goal) were decent. Hard to find a Pie winner, Scott Pendlebury (31 possessions) certainly worked hard midfield and Simon Prestigiacomo (7 disposals) was a winner over Fev by default, sort-of. Marty Clarke (16 touches) was okay and Tarkyn Lockyer (17 disposals, 5 marks, 2 goals) tried hard in attack. Dane Swan (30 touches) gets a lot of the ball without doing much damage. John Anthony kicked 2 goals. "You're dealt a hand, you play that hand," Malthouse said, commenting on the Pies' many injured absentees. "I didn't think we were out of the game at any stage until the last five minutes. Obviously, that's the coach's perception. We were getting enough football but not enough clean football and we weren't getting the ball in a clean manner forward. We played a good side that were better than us and they got away to a very good start and we didn't really put enough pressure on them in the first quarter. From there on in, we were on a bit of a back foot but at least they battled it out. They tried their guts out and on the scoreboard it didn't show because we got outscored every quarter but I don't think it was through lack of effort . . . Sometimes that's got to do with the way we moved it because we just didn't have the confidence to run it, and when we did, we looked okay but that was infrequent . . . The game is a game of attrition, and we've lost a lot of players but we were still able to field 22 and we'll continue to field the best 22 that we can . . . (Leigh) Brown has been fantastic for us. He's a competitor, he helps out in the ruck, he can go forward if we lose our forwards and he can go back if we lose our backs." Okay. Bloo coach Brett Ratten expressed relief at victory. "It was an eight-point game and we've seen Collingwood with their backs against the wall before and the way they go about it - they're stiff opposition to knock off and today was no different. We came with the attitude of 'let's just get the four points'. I thought, to a man we had a lot of contributors and that's been a big part of our game that's probably fluctuated a fair bit. We've sort of had 10 or 12 players contributing and blokes we've had to carry through games. I thought today everyone played their part . . . Sixteen goals without Fev - I think it [helps] the belief of the players around him that he doesn't have to dominate games for us to win. I think we kicked 15 goals against Hawthorn and he kicked eight and today we kick 16 and he doesn't kick any . . . I thought the way he went about rolling up and assisting and creating space for others was fantastic. He had great body language, he was up and I think we saw a great reward for a team performance across the board and he was one that played his part on the day . . . We forced Collingwood's inside 50 kicks to be high balls and not clean and crisp. I thought we did that really well."
At Docklands:
St. Kilda 6.5 8.8 11.11 13.12.90
Essendon 2.1 5.1 8.6 10.11.71
The Sainters were challenged following an explosive start, by an Essadun side once again to determined to run and attack at full-speed. It's starting to come off more often that not, and confounded the Saints who couldn't swarm around the opposition ball-carrier as effectively as normal, 'cause they couldn't catch up. But the Sainters were still tough enough and good enough to win their share of the ball and their big forwards Riewoldt and Koschitzke made a helluva difference. The Stainers made one change to the team which crushed the Pies, ruckman Steven King returning at the expense of young Ben McEvoy. No change to the Bommer team which upset the Horks.
Bomma Jay Neagle snapped the opening goal, a terrific kick from just inside 50m off one step after Paddy Ryder roved his own roved pack-spillage and handballed to Neagle. But it was all Saints until the first break. Their first goal arrived soon as Nick Dal Santo bounced his way 'round the wing and kicked to the 'square where Nick Riewoldt marked strongly in the pack and converted. Then it was Justin Koschitzke's turn, leading out to accept Lenny Hayes's pass and punt truly from 40m on the right forward-flank. Riewoldt missed a shot before Luke Ball chipped a free-kick wide to Leigh Montagna and he lobbed a pass for Andrew McQualter to mark very much alone, McQualter sausaged. Rookie Bommer backman Tayte Pears managed to spoil Koschitzke but roving James Gwilt handpassed for Ball to dribbly-kick a major, then Montagna punted for Jason Gram to take an ambling with-the-flight mark 40m out, play-on and slot it through. Koschitzke bagged another following a strong grab in front of Pears and the Stainers led by 33 points, misses from Riewoldt and McQualter edged it out to 35. The Don lads had found themselves under a lot of pressure, as with most Sinkilda opponents, and their fans had enjoyed little cheer so far, save Stephen Milne being caught in possession a coupla times. But the Bommers managed a late goal, Sainter backman Zac Dawson punched the ball way from Matty Lloyd on a forward-flank but Alwyn Davey gathered and kicked long, Neagle marked right on the boundary and produced a terrific banana-kick for a goal. Nevertheless the Satiners led by 28 points at the first break and appeared set for another huge win. But the Dons began to put the run together in the second term, they also received a fantastic ball-winning game from Jobe Watson. The first few minutes of the second were tight before Neagle booted his and the Dons' third goal, racing out to take a diving, sliding mark of Watson's wobbly kick. Certainly kicks like a mule, the boy Neagle, as his shot from just inside 50 went through post-high. Should teach Watson a thing or two. The Sainters replied after Brendon Goddard extracted the ball from a pack, Gwilt ran, eluded tacklers and tumbled a kick to the goal-square where both Milne and Clint Jones lurked unopposed, Milne bagged the 'cheat's' goal. The Bummers answered directly from the restart, Angus Monfries fired a good handball and Heath Hocking raced clear and handballed to Jason Winderlich in a sea of space, Winderlich cantered forward and speared a major. The Saints led by 23 points and both sides struggled to score for the next ten-odd minutes. Dal Santo was flattened by a poor, high shoulder from Davey, who jumped into the air to get the Saint man in the head deliberately, it appeared. Davey was reported and might have a week or two off. But in the short-term Davey helped break the goal-drought, he accepted Paddy Ryder's handball, sold a coupla smart baulks and kicked for David Myers to mark, running with-the-flight into a very open, nay empty Essadun forward-line. Myers's subsequent major reduced their deficit to 19 points, but Sainter man Jarryn Geary thumped a terrific running goal from 50m late in the term to have Stinkilda 25 points ahead at the long break. The Dons'd won the korter, though.
More of the same in the third trimestre. Milne missed an early chance before ruckman Michael Gardiner tapped a throw-in out the back and Hayes gathered, ran clear and steered the Sherrin between the big posts. The Saints led by 32 points, just more than double the Bommers' score at this stage. But the Dons worked at it, Hooker and Lloyd kicked points before Hocking marked Watson's hopeful clearing kick on the attacking wing, Hocking handballed to running Ricky Dyson who kicked long and the ball cleared Saint pair Dawson and Jason Blake for Lloyd to mark and punt for a simple goal. The next major was seen as emblematic of Knights's 'kamikaze Bombers' as Pears found himself surrounded deep in defence but somehow squeezed a handball to Adam McPhee, a few more suicide handballs and Dyson got a kick away to Andrew Lovett on the back flank. Lovett took off with a coupla bounces, drawing opponents before firing a terrific long handpass to Courtenay Dempsey in plenty of space. Dempsey duly ran into the attacking 50 with one, two, three bounces as Blake steadily backed-off to cover Davey. Dempsey kept running as if in a trance, Sainter defenders swarmed closer but at the last second Dempsey veered left to create a moment's space for himself and snapped a goal. Brian Taylor's commentary was priceless. "Here goes Dempsey, one bounce, two, Blake's backing off, you've gotta come at him Blake, Dempsey's still going, he should've kicked it already, Blake you've gotta go, Dempsey's messed this up, oh he's turned, he's snapped a goooaaaal!" The Bombouts were 18 points down after that but the Sainters scored a steadier soon after, Jones recovered pack-spillage and lobbed a 'catch that' kick forward which Koschitzke did indeed catch, working in front and using his considerable bulk to hold out a frustrated Pears. 'Kosi' converted. A few points each before Lloyd closed the gap again, another non-stop, full-speed-ahead Bomma move from a kick-in and McPhee's kick found Lloyd glaringly alone 35m out. Lloydy took possibly the easiest mark of his career and booted the sausage. The Dons were 19 points behind but again the Saints had the rapid reply, Koschitzke running out to mark Goddard's long punt on his chest and convert. Lloyd and Angus Monfries missed late shots and the Stainers took a 23-point advantage into the last term. Following a coupla rushed Bummer behinds Sinkilda man Riewoldt emerged, Koschitzke led right up to the wing to take a grab and handballed off to Adam Schneider, he punted for Riewoldt to hold a back-pedalling mark behind Dempsey, 25m out on a 45-degree angle. Rooey majored and the Sainters led by 27 points. Back came the Dons thanks to a free-kick to Lloyd for Dawson's arm-chopping, apparently, although a replay showed Lloyd had a handful of Dawson's guernsey before then. 15m out right in front and Lloydy duly lobbed it through. Dempsey and Monfries, the latter having a Barry Crocker, kicked behinds and the gap was back to 19 points again. But Riewoldt booted what was effectively the sealer, Milne recovered a loose ball on the wing and handballed to running Dal Santo, Dal's kick was noicely-weighted for retreating Riewoldt to mark 20m out. Riewoldt was hammered fractionally after taking the grab by late-arriving Lovett-Murray, a 50m penalty allowed a simple conversion for the big blonde Stainer. A 25-point Sinkilda lead then, with eight minutes remaining. Plenty of time but a Henry Slattery goal for the Bommerz, found by a excellent kick from Lovett, came too late to make a difference.
No doubt the Saints' twin towers of Nick Riewoldt (11 marks, 14 kicks, 3 goals) and Justin Koschitzke (8 marks, 10 kicks, 4 goals) played a significant part in the result, further afield Lenny Hayes (33 disposals, 6 marks, a goal) continued his great recent form with handy support from Leigh Montagna (28 handlings, 9 marks), Nick Dal Santo (23 possessions) and Brendon Goddard (27 touches). Sam Fisher (20 disposals, 7 marks) was handy too in the Stinkilda back-line. Jarryn Geary (19 disposals, 4 marks, a goal) picked up a Rising Star nomination. Bomma Jobe Watson's effort (39 disposals, 6 marks) in winning contested ball from packs was brilliant, arguably the best game of his career to date. Running men Andrew Lovett (25 disposals), Courtenay Dempsey (27 possessions, 7 marks, a goal) and Ricky Dyson (30 handlings, 5 marks) supplied the excitement while Matthew Lloyd (6 marks, 7 kicks, 3 goals) worked hard to keep the Dons in it. Adam McPhee (25 possies, 8 marks) played well in defence - he's happier there - and Jay Neagle (4 kicks, 2 marks, 3 goals) started very well, but vanished rapidly. Knighta was frustrated. "It was a missed opportunity, so we're really disappointed. [I] understand they're a super side and they're in great form, but if you've got a chance to win the game, you've got to take those opportunities, and we weren't good enough or mature enough to do that today," Knights said. "(The Stains) keep rolling on, and that's a pretty damn good effort to have a string of wins they have in a pretty tough competition. They're a very good side . . . I was very pleased for the (Bommer) players defensively. To keep St Kilda to 13 goals was a good effort, because they've been scoring fairly heavily - 18, 19 or 20 goals a week, so that was a real positive. Offensively, with the ball in our hand, we really hurt ourselves . . . we just overcooked the ball. I am asking them to (play) at a fairly high tempo and pretty swift, but that's the modern game - like it or lump it. You've got to make good decisions at top speed." Knights went on to praise Dyson, Lovett and Watson. Sinkilda coach Ross Lyon professed it to be a good learning experience. "We learn about our make-up and character, which we believe is strong. It's good to see a challenge come through,"
Ladder after Round 8
Pts. % Next Week
St. Kilda 32 195.3 Brisbane (Docklands, Sunday)
Footscray 20 107.9
Port
Hawthorn 16 97.2 Melbourne (MCG, Sunday)
Essendon 16 96.7
------------------------------------------------
West Coast 12 93.3 Collingwood (Subiaco, Sat. night)
Collingwood 12 92.9 West Coast (Subiaco, Sat. night)
Fremantle 12 77.1 North Melbourne (Docklands, Saturday)
Cheers, Tim.
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