AFL Round 13
Aha, here it is. Sorry, I went away last weekend and this week has been flat-out with work. Still, what better way to approach a HOOGE weekend of footy than by reading about last week's.
At the MCG:
Essendon 2.4 8.5 14.9 21.10.136
At half-time Nathan Buckley and Leigh Matthews were asked about their final eights. They were identical, with the Bluies in sixth, the Horks eighth and no Bommers. Forty-five minutes later, Bucks and Lethal were kinda sheepish, although they may still be correct. The Dons have a tough run home; they don't get to play the Blooze again. This was a terrific performance from Essadun, particularly considering Jobe Watson missed the entire second half with ankle trouble. But that was the only down-side for the Dons, with their ferocious attack on the ball leading a great effort. As last week, the performances of the recently-returned senior men Fletcher, Welsh, Lucas, Prismall and Skipworth complimented superbly the speedy younger blokes. Enough to earn Matty Knights a new 3-year, improved contract, allegedly. Bloo fans would hope this was just a post-break aberration, but all their old problems - a lack of depth, a weak back-line - were exposed again. They can play better than this; Kade Simpson, so good against the Saints a fortnight ago, was very ordinary here, in his 100th game too. Nick Stevens was made a scapegoat. But this was mostly about Essadun's performance. The Dons made two changes to the side which cruised in against the Deez, Mark McVeigh was suspended for biffing Rivers and Adam McPhee was out with a calf injury, in came Henry Slattery and Nathan Lovett-Murray, himself back from suspension. One change for the Blooze, Brad Fisher replacing Jeff Garlett.
The Bluies were fired-up for this one, we were told. In addition to the usual rivalry, the Bloozers were out to avenge their 4-point loss to the Dons in round 3, widely seen as an upset at the time and which featured an untimely double-goal for the Dons in the third quarter and a game-losing 4.7 from Fevola. There were 83,400 in the 'G to witness this one. The opening minutes were appropriately tough and pack-bound before the Bluies managed a goal from a ball-up at half-back, Steven Browne got a handball away to Chris Judd who burst clear and delivered an excellent pass for leading Brendan Fevola to mark and boot the major. 'Voldemort' Juddy's horribly broken nose had been repaired surgically during the break and was still tender, but Judd had a different problem here with the limpet-like tag of Andrew Welsh. Bomma skipper Matty Lloyd missed poorly with a free-kick before the Dons scored a major, Bloo Browne hacked a clearing kick which was marked by Henry Slattery, he drove the ball back in where Paul Bower's spoil dropped for Lloyd to gather and dribbly-kick for full points. Setanta O'hAilpin provided some entertainment, he out-marked opponent Lovett-Murray a few times but also managed to try and mark kicks meant for Fevola, resulting in the big Irishman being crashed by the hard-leading Fev. Essadun soon had a second goal, from Hayden Skipworth and his remarkable ability to bob up unopposed in the forward-line. As a kick lobbed towards Skipworth he was clattered by Aaron Joseph and Skippy free-kicked truly, the Bommers led by 6 points. No goals for a quite a few minutes as the Bluies did better, but again suffered without a target besides Fevola. Dusty Fletcher just touched a long Mark Austin shot and Fevola missed after marking Gibbs's good pass, at the other end Scott Lucas missed a tough-ish set shot. Late in the term Bluie Dennis Armfield passed to Brad Fisher on a long lead, Fisher played-on quickly and kicked to the goal-square where Eddie Betts held a strong back-pedalling grab behind Courtenay Dempsey. Betts popped it through and the Dons led by a point at korter-time. More goals began to arrive in the second term. Early on Bower lost the ball in Angus Monfries's tackle and Alwyn Davey gathered, sped clear and threaded a smart, delayed handball for Andrew Lovett to dob a running goal. The Bluies soon replied as Fevola led long to take a strong grab on the forward-flank, he kicked into CHF and Matthew Kreuzer who couldn't mark but roving Nick Stevens wobbled a punt to the 'square where O'hAilpin out-marked Lovett-Murray and popped it through. A bit later Davey won a free-kick for a great tackle on Armfield, he jabbed a short pass for unattended Monfries to mark as his man Bannister ran away to cover Prismall. Monfries majored and the Dons led by 7 points. But the Bluies enjoyed a good spell now, following the departure of the games' leading touch-winner to this point, Bomma Jobe Watson. Watson sustained ankle damage in a tackle from Kade Simpson, Watson was also done for 'bawl' in the same action and Simpson free-kicked a major. Fevola missed a shot from the pocket before a noice Bluie rebound saw running Armfield swap handballs with Heath Scotland and pass for leading Fevola to hold a strong grab, O'hAilpin getting in his way again. Fev converted. Ryan Houlihan and Stevens kicked behinds before Judd and Marc Murphy combined to clear a ball-up, Murphy selling three dummies before being trapped and handballing to Houlihan. He tumbled a punt forward which Shaun Hampson gathered on the ground and handballed for Betts to snap a goal. Three in-a-row from the Bluebaggers and they led by 14 points. The Dons continued to tackle hard and were rewarded when Bloo Grigg was done for a throw, some Bommer chip-around ended with Slattery passing for leading Lucas to mark. A 50m penalty was added as Jamison and Davey tangled and Lucas stabbed it through from point-blank. The Bluesers cleared the following centre-bounce, Houlihan gathered, wheeled around and stabbed a pass over Fevola's head. Houlihan does that a bit, but in this case Betts collected the agate and handballed for Gibbs to bag a sausage. The Dons won the subsequent centre-clearance as ruckman Paddy Ryder fired a handball ahead, Monfries gathered and handballed to Prismall who chipped a pass for leading Lloyd to juggle a two-grabber ahead of Jamison, who also dragged Lloydy to ground. A harsh 50m penalty was added and Lloyd popped it through. The Bombouts now managed consecutive goals, Welsh was paid either a mark or a free against Judd - it wasn't clear - and as frustrated Juddy gave the umpire a serve Ryder punted the Dons forward where Kyle Reimers held a grab behind an over-committed
The second half started with Fevola leading to take a juggling one-hander and he turned to 'show' the ball to opponent Tayte Pears. But Fev's mis-kicked shot didn't make the distance and soon Pears'd be doing to the showing. A good switch-of-play from the Dons put Lovett into plenty of space, he ran ahead and stabbed a pass to honour Monfries's cross-field lead, Monfries marked and majored and the Dons led by 10 points. Channel Seven's Tim Watson came on to confirm his son Jobe's night was over, it's a 3-4 week injury apparently. Dennis Commetti followed up by quoting a Michael Jackson song, something about fathers and sons. Commetti went on to give a few more
The Blues came out hard in the early minutes of the ultimate Mario but Murphy missed a running shot and Judd missed after marking in the pocket. Juddy should've kicked it and he wasn't happy with himself. Sure enough the Dons scored the next goal, Lovett got a ride on Hampson to take a big grab on the wing, although Lovett jumped a bit early and took the mark on the way down. There followed a few chipped passes, Dyson stabbed one towards leading Monfries which went over his head, Monfries propped under the ball and Browne cannoned into his back. Monfries free-kicked a goal. A bit later Bloo backman Jamison marked in his own back-pocket and played-on hesitantly, Lovett raced in and smothered Jamison's kick with his own foot and the ball rebounded out-of-bounds. After some conferring with the boundary-ump, the field-ump awarded Lovett a free-kick for on-the-full which the Bommer hooked skillfully for a goal. The TV replay showed that not only had the ball came off Lovett's foot, but it'd clearly bounced before going out. An awful decision, but the Blooze were already beaten. A bit later Browne fired a wild handpass away from a throw-in and Lovett ran onto it, he fumbled but soccer-volleyed a clever major. Prismall's long handball sent Welsh clear into space, he passed for leading Lloyd to mark and boot a great goal from the flank. Soon Davey did well to send the ball forward again for the Bummers, it spilled from the contest between Winderlich and Browne and Lucas soccered a goal, fractionally before being crunched by
Andrew Welsh's (30 disposals, 6 marks) grappling tag on Judd was the subject of much meedya scrutiny and Bluie fan anger, but it was certainly effective. And Welsh found quite a bit of ball himself. Brent Prismall (25 possessions, 6 marks) has also slotted in nicely, along with Hayden Skipworth (19 handlings, 2 goals). Tayte Pears (21 disposals, 4 marks) ended up doing a good job on Fevola and exposing Fev's lax attitude again, flying wingman Andrew Lovett (19 handlings, 5 marks, 3 goals) was good. Once again Angus Monfries (11 disposals (5 kicks), 4 marks, 5 goals) saved his best for the Bluies and Alwyn Davey (13 touches, 2 marks, a goal) was pretty effective with relatively few touches. Matty Lloyd booted 4 goals, Scott Lucas kicked 3 goals. Not many Bluesers worth mentioning, Marc Murphy (26 disposals, 0.3) and Bryce Gibbs (24 handlings, a goal) tried hard and Andrew Carrazzo (22 possessions) had one of those games where he gets a lot of touches but has little influence. Eddie Betts (13 possies, 3 goals) was very good as usual in attack and the paper reckons Setanta O'hAilpin (10 touches, 7 marks, a goal) was among the Blooze best. Hm. Brendan Fevola kicked 2 goals. Brett Ratten said "This was down to one-on-one and just purely beaten for the footy. The fight in the third quarter was pretty embarrassing. We had an opportunity tonight and to let ourselves down and our supporters given that opportunity . . . we've got some hard work to do. They (Essendon) were up, they were hunting and they used the ball really well and made us pay." Are the Bluesers too slow, Rats? "We spoke a lot about (the Dons' speed) pre-game because they are a very quick team and we thought we could slow them down," he said. "Sometimes if you don't move the ball quickly in the back 50 then you play into their hands and they manned up very quickly and we played such slow footy. The only shining light for us is that we haven't had a defeat like that all year and it was a little bit out of character. We're not putting this one away and saying forget about it because we'll review it to the nth degree, but we need to talk to our players about what they can do well because we're a better team than that. That will test out our mental approach next week and how we bounce back. Sometimes you fall, but it's how high you bounce back and I think for some of our blokes, that's the opportunity." Knights was happy, probably 'cause he'd heard about the contract offer. "I think it's probably fair to say that it's the best four-quarter effort we've put in," Knights said. "We've certainly at times played some good football this year and it's probably lasted for about 20 to 30 minutes . . . we've spurted in games (eww - is this rugby league?). But I thought tonight, over the full four quarters, we were pretty strong. We probably just have to talk about, 'you know we're seven wins [and] six losses' but the reality is that's about the middle at the moment. It was a great win in isolation tonight but this game's its own entity and it doesn't guarantee anything for next week . . . the long-term vision is really important." Nice lid-keeping.
At the MCG:
Collingwood 6.3 10.6 16.9 26.13.169
Fremantle 2.2 7.3 11.5 13.7.85
The Poise made it five straight wins with this high-scoring walloping of the battlin' Dockers, book-ended by two scoring bursts at the start of the first and last quarters. It featured amazing feats of skill you don't normally associate with the Magpoise, like long, running goals and big, soaring grabs. Freo conceded the first five goals of the game and lost Matthew Pavlich with a torn calf, after which they were staring down the barrel. But the Dorkulaters played alright in the middle stanzas before running out of puff in the end, with more blokes getting hurt. Despite their big win over the Swans, the Scragpies made five changes to the side, two forced with Scott Pendlebury (strained knee ligaments) and 'Neon' Leon Davis (illness) unavailable. Marty Clarke was a high-profile axing along with junior Steele Sidebottom and ruckman Cameron Wood, in came Paul 'Steak Knives' Medhurst, Nathan Brown, Tyson Goldsack, Dayne Beams and forward Chris 'Rufus' Dawes. Four changes for the Dokkers, in came Des Headland, Brett Peake and two first-gamers in stringbean ruckman Zac Clarke from Surrey Park in Melbourne and small forward Hayden Ballantyne from Peel Thunder. Out, dropped, went disappointing big men Adam Campbell and Kepler Bradley along with junior Michael Walters and injured Clancee Pearce (hamstring).
The Pies were up-and-about and quickly in charge with three rapid goals. Dithering Freo backman Greg Broughton was caught in possession by Dale Thomas and Poi Dane Swan gathered the ball, he handballed for Alan Accessory-to-Murder Didak to scoot clear and snap truly off the left boot. Soon Didak roved a pack and handballed to Swan in the pocket, Swan's hooked centering kick was marked easily by Leigh Brown in plenty of space. L. Brown slotted. A gutsy, diving tap-on from Thomas led to the next, Tarkyn Lockyer hooked a punt to the top o' the 'square and John Anthony clutched a strong grab behind former Poi Chris Tarrant. Anthony converted and the Poise led by 19 points to none. Freo scored a rushed point but the Poise attacked from the kick-in, Nathan Brown ran and kicked very long where Travis Cloke held a with-the-flight chest-mark, aided by some shepherding from Didak. Cloke goaled, which is when Freo may have sensed trouble. More arrived soon, as Freo's Stephen Hill attempted to run the ball from defence he and team-mate Paul Hasleby became confused and Hill 'gave' the ball to Hase when tackled, a throw it was and Dayne Beams free-kicked a sausage for the Maggies. The Poise led by 30 points barely half-way through the stanza, 5.1 to 0.1. Freo had been good at giving their rare touches away, Des Headland had already been done for 'bawl' twice and coughed up another scoring chance. But the Shockerators managed to do something towards the end of the term, Garrick Ibbotson lobbed a kick forward which Aaron Sandilands should've marked, he dropped it but roving Pavlich snaggled a goal. The Pies replied quickly, Lockyer lobbed a punt to the goal-square where Cloke wrestled with Grover before getting a handball away and Anthony snapped truly. Paul 'Steak Knives' Medhurst missed his first shot before a decent Dokker switch of play allowed Ibbotson to find Steven Dodd marking on the 50m line, Dodd the defender, playing in attack here, hammered a long kick for full-points. The Pies led by 25 at the first break. Freo improved in the second term as Sandilands and Hasleby began to assert themselves more in contests and Byron Schammer did well. But they appeared in dire trouble as Pavlich departed early in the term with the damaged calf. Early in the stanza the players were battling for the ball on the wing when Pie Brad Dick swept up the pill and sprinted clear, he delivered a pass to Anthony on a long, wide lead. Anthony chipped ahead to Leigh Brown, still a long way out on a tough angle. Brown played-on to widen the angle and thump a great kick home from 50m. Confidence, eh? But the Dorkers scored the next two, Scot Thornton roved a pack 60m out and tumbled a quick punt forward which Schammer marked, Schammer played-on and snapped it through. A minute later Hasleby drove a long kick towards Schammer again, he got under the ball but it rebounded to him and Schammer and Dodd forced the agate forward where
Terrific Magpoi goal in the first 30 seconds of the third Mario, Thomas went on a lairy double-dummy run down the wing and handballed ahead to O'Brien, O'Brien ran on with a bounce and had a shot from 55m which bounced through for the major. Great stuff but the Dokkers replied soon enough, a good effort from Duffield to win the agate on the defensive wing got the ball to Thornton and then Nic Suban who lobbed a punt forward, Headland nipped in front of O'Brien to hold a decent grab and boot a goal. The Poi lead was down to 20 points and some fairly tight footy followed over the next ten minutes. Unfortunately the Dokkers now lost Steven Dodd, KO'd by flying team-mate Dean Solomon as the latter charged into a pack to effect a spoil. Dodd was stretchered off. The Pies broke the goal-drought as Didak found space for a three-bounce run which carried him to the edge of the 50, Didak hooked a smart right-foot pass for unopposed Swan to mark 40m out and convert. At the restart Shocker Foster was tackled without the ball and dished off his free to Duffield, he passed for leading Hasleby to mark and boot a goal. Freo continued to hover, 21 points behind. The Poise scored next with another great, running sausage, from right in front of the benches Shane O'Bree lobbed a handball which put Wellingham clear, Wellingham had three bounces which saw him just inside 50, Wellingham slowed to assess options before deciding upon a shot, which he threaded beautifully from a tricky angle. Once again the Dorkers had the answer, Peake drove a long kick to the top o' the 'square where O'Brien dropped a mark and roving Headland dribbly-kicked a major while being tackled by Maxwell. The Pies by 20 points again, but in the long quarter (Dodd's stretchering plus all the goals), the Poise scooted clear late. Freo won possession at the centre-bounce following the Headland goal, but Duffield was forced backwards and he handballed over Foster's head, Foster backtracked but was tackled by Wellingham and Anthony gathered the spilled ball to boot a long six-pointer. A minute later Thomas ran from half-back, exchanged handballs with O'Brien and Beams before chipping a pass to unattended Lockyer, who marked and goaled. Then Wellingham thumped a long punt forward and Didak sprinted out to mark it, Didak converted and the Poise'd jumped 38 points ahead. Freo did score the last goal of the quarter, a good move which saw Foster take a with-the-flight mark of Peake's long kick and major. But the Pies box-seated with a 34-point lead at the final change.
The Dokerators also managed the opening goal of the last, good work from Mundy got the ball to Peake in the centre-circle and he raced off with a coupla bounces before booting a 50m goal. Pies by 28 points as the floodgates shattered. Cloke led up to mark 60m out and he punted to the top o' the 'square, as the ball spilled from the contest Beams was awarded a mystery free-kick from which he majored. Freo's Ibbotson spilled a tough back-pedalling marking chance, he gathered the ball but his handball was smothered by Dick and Lockyer collected to snap truly. Great weaving work from Didak in traffic enabled him to find space and chip a pass to Anthony, who marked and majored. From the following centre-bounce O'Bree tumbled a kick forward and Dick read the pack-spillage very noicely to gather at pace and slot a sausage roll. Alan Toovey hacked any old kick forward and Dick's fumble was generously described as a knock-on by the TV folk. But the ball did rebound to Cox (Dick to Cox - ha!) who weaved around trouble before potting a goal from 50m. Just over six minutes of playing-time had elapsed in the final term and the Magpiss led by 58 points. The game's remaining highlight came soon, Cloke missed a shot and Dokker Tarrant sent the kick-in towards Duffield, but it floated and Heath Shaw got a great ride on the Freo man to take a fantastic hovering speccie. Shaw leaped up and charged off towards the sticks, but missed. Ah well. As the game wound down Magpoi Chris 'Rufus' Dawes booted a couple of goals, both 'cheats' really as he ran ahead of the play. Peake booted one for Freo, following a good grab, then Medhurst cashed in late by kicking a couple and setting one up for Dick. Freo fans should've averted their eyes.
Alan Didak (39 disposals, 9 marks, 2 goals) is in rare form, in stats-terms the best of his career. He and the relentless Dane Swan (41 possessions, 11 marks, a goal) made a big difference here. Harry O'Brien (18 touches, a goal) is also having a terrific season at CHB and fellow defender Nick Maxwell (17 handlings, 7 marks) was very good early. Shane O'Bree (28 possies) found plenty of it and Pie fans were very happy with the commitment and one-percenters of Dale Thomas (21 touches, 6 marks), who's not been playing so well. Dayne Beams (22 touches, 6 marks, 2 goals) played well as did Sharrod Wellingham (19 handlings, 3 marks, a goal). John Anthony (9 disposals, 6 marks) booted 4 goals, Brad Dick and Travis Cloke kicked 3 goals each and there were 2 each for Chris Dawes, Leigh Brown, Paul Medhurst and Tarkyn Lockyer. Freo's following pair of Paul Hasleby (33 touches, 10 marks, a goal) and Aaron Sandilands (25 disposals, 8 marks, 44 hit-outs, a goal) were winners again and runnin' half-back Paul Duffield (25 handlings) saw plenty of the pill. Wingmen Garrick Ibbotson (23 touches, 9 marks) and Brett Peake (19 possessions, 3 marks, 2 goals) were handy and rebounding backman Greg Broughton (20 handlings, 4 marks) is proving an early success story. Des Headland (12 kicks, 7 marks) booted 3 goals upon his latest return, Andrew Foster bagged 2 goals. Mark Harvey said "We worked our backsides off to get back into the match . . . the injuries were taking a toll on our ability to have an impact in the game (Grover struggled after half-time with a corked thigh). But Collingwood's skills were terrific . . . I find it unusual that there were only two games last weekend (three, in fact) and we played on a six-day break. I can't understand that. I think you're going to hear a lot more from the Western Australian clubs about the fixture." Malthouse said he was "Pleased with the way we finished, but it certainly wasn't in our thoughts that we needed to get thirteen goals kicked against us. I thought we gave them soft goals in the second quarter and through the third quarter." Ah, Mick's first principles. He went on to say he 'felt' for
At
Once again Barry Hall managed to over-shadow the game by being reported and suspended, 2 games, for biffing Camry full-back Ben 'Truck' Rutten. It was Barry's 250th game and for a while appeared it may've been his last, with coach Paul Roos stating Bustlin' Bazza "doesn't want to play and should retire", although that was on Monday and Roos has walked it back a little since then. Hall used his newspaper column to cast about for a new club. With Mick O'Loughlin last week announcing this'll be his final season, Leo Barry having not played a game in 2009 and Jared Crouch clearly on his last legs, some generational change could be approaching for the Swans. Amongst all that the Camrys pulled off a very good win, turning around a 4-goal deficit in the early third stanza to manufacture victory. Craigy made some good moves, he got some sparks of brilliance from those who can make them and away went the Cows. Hall aside, it's been frustrating being a Swans supporter in recent games. They try hard and win a stack of contested ball, but lack the nous or finesse to capitalize on the scoreboard. Roos is trying some rebuilding in the mean-time, with the likes of Buchanan, Craig Bolton and Malceski out of the side and some juniors given a chance. Here Patrick Veszpremi was in for his first run of the season following a troublesome wrist injury and Ryan Brabazon also played his first senior game of '09. They replaced Jarrad McVeigh (shoulder) and the dropped Jarred Moore, who isn't producing his form of last year. The Corollas were strengthened with Graham 'Stiffy' Johncock and Richard Douglas returning at the expense of luckless Brent Reilly (hamstring) and dropped Jared Petrenko - also a bit stiff.
Sunny day in Camryland and the Swans started with a goal. Mick O'Loughlin roved Hall's contest and some snappy handpassin' ended with Darren Jolly feeding one wide to running Marty Mattner, Mattner drilled it through. The next ten-odd minutes were pretty tight, lotsa ball-ups as usual in a Swans game but they couldn't move the ball forward quickly enough, despite slashing early form from Ryan O'Keefe and Adam Goodes. A point each before Corolla Andrew McLeod's smart kick found Michael Doughty in space, Doughty ran through the centre and chipped a pass to unopposed Jason Porplyzia, 40m out. 'The Porpoise' majored, the Cows led by a point. Siddey soon replied as Mattner embarked on a weaving run from the back of the centre-square and kicked long, Hall bullocked Rutten aside to take a mark and boot a goal. Tight again to the end of the quarter where the Swans led by 5 points, and wished Ed Barlow could kick straighter. The Blerds finally had some reward early in the second, Hall received an unheralded two free-kicks in two games when Rutten was penalized for holding him and Bazza majored. A bit later there was a ball-up 40m from the Siddey goal, Camry man Robert 'Stop Calling Me' Shirley leaped over the ruckman and punched the ball towards the sticks but straight to Goodes, who handballed for Kieren Jack to snap a good sausage. The Swans led by 17 points. Not much later they went further ahead, a good move from a kick-in which saw Barlow kick long 'round the wing to Jesse White, he marked and handballed inboard to running O'Keefe who also punted long for Hall to mark comfortably behind Rutten. Hall converted again, Siddey by 23 points. Audible murmurings of disquiet in the home crowd, but they got something to cheer soon when Patrick Dangerfield ran to receive a handball from Tyson Edwards and chip a cross-field pass for lurking Kurt Tippett to mark and boot truly. The Swans continued to control the game though, Pat Veszpremi missed a shot prior to a classic Swan stoppage-goal, Goodes took the ruck contest from a half-forward ball-up and tapped to Jude Bolton, he fed a handball to runnin' Rhyce Shaw who walloped it home from just inside 50. A White behind (?) had the Siddernymen 25 points ahead before a late Cressida goal, Shirley's cross-field kick found Bernie Vince in space and he kicked long where Porplyzia read it well to mark in front of the pack. Porplyzia's second had the Camrys back to a 19-point deficit at the long break.
Camry leader Neil Craig made some successful moves to start the third, switching tagger Shirley onto O'Keefe and moving Dangerfield and Van Berlo onto the ball, where the Cows had been embarrassed by yer Kirks and Boltons. And he'd given the team generally a rocket, no doubt. The third quartier started with a flurry of goals, O'Loughlin tumbled a punt forward for the Swans and Hall gathered on-the-bounce, he handballed to
Camry Bernie Vince (28 disposals, 9 marks) has become a prolific rover and up forward Jason Porplyzia (15 touches, 7 marks, 4 goals) is reliable as well as clever. Nathan Van Berlo (21 possies, 7 marks, 2 goals) had a huge second half and Michael Doughty (22 handlings, 8 marks) played well, Scott Thompson (22 possies) and wingman David Mackay (19 disposals) were handy. Kurt Tippett and Tyson Edwards booted 2 goals each. Once again in-form Swan veterans Ryan O'Keefe (25 touches, 4 marks) and Adam Goodes (25 disposals, 8 marks) had big games and former Camry Marty Mattner (30 possies, 8 marks, a goal) produced a big one against his old side. Barry Hall (14 touches, 8 marks, 4 goals) underlined his value by beating Rutten. Runnin' Rhyce Shaw (29 disposals, 6 marks, a goal) played well and Brett Kirk (23 possies, a goal) collected much contested ball again. Roos professed to be happy, sort-of, as he lowered expectation. "It's the most pleased I've been after a losing game. Given the team we presented today, given our performance against a very good team. I would not have thought our finals chances are over. We are trying to win as many games as we can, but while we are in that mid-range, you have to make sure you are rebuilding and re-stocking." First time I've heard Roos use the 'r' word. He continued, "But, certainly, we are five-and-eight; it's more about representing ourselves as a footy club, which we have done well the last three weeks." Okay, that's what it's about. Roos blamed the second-half fade-out on 'tiredness' of young players. Neil Craig said "We got heavily exposed in the first half. I thought our first half was the worst we've played for years. We were just non-competitive, we were lucky to be in the game (at half-time). We were playing lazy, non-competitive footy. It's not like us and we don't want to do it, our supporters don't like it and it's not the way we want to be seen. In the end, it was a real good experience to go through that. Our capacity to change at half-time and play some really powerful footy was the most pleasing thing of the day. Our first half was a rude awakening,
At the Gabba:
The Demuns did alright in the first ten-odd minutes. Brisbun scored first,
The third stanza started slowly, with Bradshaw, Bruce and Jared Brennan scoring behinds in a sluggish, scrappy ten minutes. If Melbun couldn't score, at least they stopped the Brians from doing so. But they helped the Lyin's out eventually, Dee Stefan Martin took a very good grab in defence but then lobbed a short pass across half-back towards Morton which Rischitelli read and spoiled, Bradshaw collected the crumb and snapped a goal. Brisbun did a bit better now, from a ball-up 35m out from goal Daniel Merrett tapped perfectly to Rich who sprinted clear and slotted it through. A bit later a big pack of players fought for the ball 50m out, Proud got an excellent diving handpass away and Justin 'The Shermanator'
Lyin' first-year man Daniel Rich (20 disposals, 2 goals) is an unbackable favourite for the Rising Star Award. He's pretty classy, when there's no pressure. Jared Brennan (26 disposals, 10 marks) is also in pretty good form, apart from goal-shooting with his 0.4. Jonathan Brown (18 touches, 8 marks, 5 goals) did the job again and Luke Power (33 handlings, 8 tackles) did a lot of grunt-work, Jed Adcock (26 possies, 8 marks) and Simon Black (29 disposals) played well. Daniel Bradshaw booted 4 goals and James Polkinghorne kicked 2 goals. As usual the
At Subiaco:
West Coast 2.3 8.6 10.9 16.11.107
Hawthorn 4.3 6.4 11.6 13.9.87
NickNat! The newest Weegle was the hero here with three final-quarter goals, with his only three kicks of the game. All in portentous, stormy weather and with Naitanui carrying Cousins's no. 9, a coincidence surely. It was pretty handy for Worsfold as he looks for a new contract. Meanwhile the Melbun press wrote off the Orcs, who suffered more injuries here and face a tough fixture ahead. But it's a bit ridiculous really, they're out of the eight on percentage and no-one would want to face them in September. But Horforn's recent form is not encouraging. Mixed fortunes for the Weevils in selection, Dean 'Big' Cox (groin strain) and turnover merchant Mark Nicoski (back injury) were out and Jamie 'Wrong Way' McNamara was dropped, but Andrew Embley returned along with Sam Butler and Ben McKinley. The Awks had Rick Ladson in for his first game of the season and recalled Brendan Whitecross and Cameron Stokes to replace Stuart Dew (thigh strain) and axed pair Brent Renouf and Travis Tuck.
A stiff breeze blew down the ground at Soobi, not so much the Fremantle Doctor as the Fremantle Bulk-Billing Centre, haha, aha, ha . . . Horforn had the wind at their backs to start with but didn't use it very well and needed the fantastic new rules created by the fantastically idiotic rules committee to score their first two goals. Weegle defenders Darren Glass and Shannon Hurn were battlin' with Buddy Franklin and in their desire not to rush a point, they wrestled the ball towards the boundary where Hurn shovelled the ball out - and was done for 'deliberate'. Hurn's head and shoulders drooped in the classic slump of the defeated and Jarryd Roughead free-kicked a goal. The Weegs did well on-the-ball though and scored a coupla behinds before, with a ball-up 60m out from the sticks, Nick Naitanui tapped very noicely to Brad Ebert and he handballed for Mark LeCras to boot a terrific running sausage. The Weegs led by a point before Kevin Bartlett and his krazy kronies assisted the Orcs again, the Weegs messed up an interchange and Sam Mitchell free-kicked a goal. Oh the humanity as the Weeg fans roared at the injustice. The next few minutes were tight prior to the Weegs drawing level, Scott Selwood got a good handball away under pressure and Mitch Brown punted long where LeCras marked behind a befuddled Grant Birchall. LeCras's major leveled the scores. But the Hawks nudged ahead to the end of the korter, the Weegs messed up a running move from defence and the ball came to Awker Beau Muston, his snap went across the face of the sticks which Campbell Brown marked by the point-post, Brown fired a quick handball into the goal-square where Franklin lurked to poke it through. A bit later Chance Bateman roved
The wind blew harder in the third term, the forecast had been for 'gale-force' but it didn't seem that strong on the TV, maybe the stands offered some protection. But soon squally rain accompanied the winds. The Orcs had the breeze again in the third term but didn't really use it, too much handball, too many short, cross-field kicks. The Weegs flooded back, but the Hawks didn't move the ball quickly enough to give their forwards enough chances. Horforn did do some scoring though, early in the stanza Whitecross bombed his free-kick to the goal-square and the wind pushed the ball beyond Franklin and co, Campbell Brown marked behind 'em and had an easy conversion. The Weegs defended toughly for several minutes as the Hawks tried to press forward. The Vics did get another goal after a while, Roughead roved his own contest at CHF and chipped a kick into space ahead of Michael Osborne who ran onto the ball and slotted a low kick for a goal. The Weegs' lead was down to 3 points but the Hawks were chipping away rather than blasting clear. They struggled a bit more before Bateman sent a lateral kick to Brown on the wing, Brown sold a dummy before racing ahead and wobbling a kick forward where Franklin was awarded a free, for Glass's holding.
Top work from the Weeg midfield, rover Matt Priddis (35 disposals) worked hard and in the ruck Quinten Lynch (26 touches, 3 marks, 23 hit-outs) filled in solidly for the absent Cox. Mark LeCras (13 handlings, 4 marks, 4 goals) is having very good season. Pleasing too was the form of young midfield men Brad Ebert (24 possies, a goal), Chris Masten (27 disposals) and Scott Selwood (15 handlings, 9 tackles) as Kerr was relegated to run-with and tagging duties. David Wirrpanda (27 possies, 5 marks, a goal) was good. Nick Naitanui (8 disposals - 3 kicks - 0 marks, 14 hit-outs) bagged 3 goals in a performance that supported recruiters' notes; he's a penchant for the spectacular but struggles to get involved in general play. Josh Kennedy bagged 2 goals. For the Horks rover and captain Sam Mitchell (40 disposals, 7 marks, a goal) worked very hard with some support from Brad Sewell (32 possies, 5 marks) and Chance Bateman (29 touches, 5 marks). Jarryd Roughead (17 touches, 4 marks, 5 goals) has a unique ability to lose his opponent when near the goals and Luke Hodge (31 disposals) did a bit of rebounding. Lance 'Buddy'
At
Port
A game that was pretty much over at quarter-time, with the Cats 40 points up and cruising. The Power gave a yelp in the second term but
The Pu55ies' midfield control (and the aid of a breeze) propelled their great start, Paul Chapman and Gary Ablett were most prominent and Jimmy Bartel took some good contested marks. But the first ten minutes were reasonable tight, on the scoreboard at last. Cat TomaHawkins bagged the first goal, marking Mark Blake's long free-kick which the breeze pushed beyond leading Mooney. Port got the next, Michael Pettigrew won a free plus a 50m penalty at half-back and the Cats zoned-off and ignored him, allowing Pettigrew to run ahead and kick long. Warren Tredrea leaped in front of the pack, dropped the mark but had Harley punch him in the head, a free which Tredders converted. Scores were level at 1.1 each but it was all Cats after that. A few behinds occurred before Chapman passed for leading Ablett to mark 55m out, Ablett failed to dummy 'round Jacob Surjan on the mark, so he stabbed a short pass to Shannon Byrnes, 45m out who converted. The real flood of goals came in time-on, Bartel kicked the next two. The first was from a strong grab 30m out, Krakouer's very ordinary kick caused a turnover which led to it. Then Bartel punted forward from the centre but was clobbered afterwards by, er, someone, the ump suddenly remembered the new rule about being dumped after disposal which we thought'd been abandoned six weeks ago. Bartel had a free-plus-50 and goaled again. Soon Corey Enright drove a centering kick and Bartel shoved Troy Chaplin meatily in the back to push him under the ball, Bartel gathered and handballed for Byrnes to bag another. Chaplin wasn't too happy. Byrnes also kicked the next goal, Surjan's bizarre handball into a large pack caused another defensive turnover for Port and Joel Corey chipped a kick to unopposed Byrnes in the pocket, who played-on and slammed it through. Cam Mooney slotted from 10m out after out-muscling and out-marking Carlile and the Catters led by 40 points at korter-time. The Flowers improved into the second term, they scored the first goal as David 'D-Rod' Rodan found space on the wing for a run and long kick, Josh Carr slipped forward to take a with-the-flight mark 20m out and pop it through. Mooney missed a shot for
Geelagong surged clear with another goal-burst to start the third term. Harley's strong mark on the wing set up an early sausage, Chapman centered a pass to Mackie, he chipped ahead to Cameron 'The Fanta Pants of Geelong' Ling who had space to run inside 50 and roost it home. Corey marked 60m out and was dragged down by Toby Thurstans, a 50m penalty and Corey dobbed it. Ablett missed a shot - he's a very ordinary kick for goal - before Max Rooke roved Hawkins's contest and handballed for Chapman to snap a tight-angle sausage. A few minutes later Ablett deigned to kick straight, following a good grab behind
Gary Ablett (36 disposals, 7 marks, 2 goals) and Paul Chapman (33 touches, 14 marks, 2 goals) were very busy for the Cats on the day. "Too many bald b@stards," says my grandfather of the Cats. Shannon Byrnes (21 possies, 6 marks, 4 goals) kept up his recent goal-scoring form and Joel Corey (34 possies, 7 marks, a goal) was good, he's got a beard for some reason. In defence Darren Milburn (29 disposals, 7 marks, a goal) and Matty Scarlett (26 touches, 11 marks) played well, half-back James Kelly (22 handlings, 8 marks, a goal) was also very good. Jimmy Bartel kicked 2 goals. Rovery-types David Rodan (23 disposals, 8 tackles) and Kane Cornes (20 possessions) were Port's best, Jason Davenport (21 disposals, 7 marks, 2 goals) kept up the tradition of performing well against the club that discarded you. Defender Troy Chaplin (16 touches, 5 marks) is having a good season and Warren Tredrea (15 touches, 7 marks, 3 goals) was alright. Josh Carr, Brett Ebert and Tom Logan kicked 2 goals each. Williams blamed injuries and Port's tough fixture. "We knew at the start of the year that this was going to be [a tough period]," he said. "We've traveled three or four times in the last four or five weeks, so it's been a difficult period of time, so we knew that was going to happen. It's nice to think we can get back on the bus and the plane and get back to Adelaide . . . from when we played up in Darwin and we came back with our tail between our legs . . . at least this time we can come back with a little bit of knowledge that we fought the game out. It seemed like there must've been a gale going one way - there were so many goals scored in the first quarter at the
At the MCG:
Footscray 6.1 9.4 13.6 17.6.108
The Bulldogs were a little lucky to escape as winners here, the Ruse under their new coach Darren Crocker and with captain Brent 'Boomer' Harvey returning from his dislocated elbow gave it a big go, but couldn't get there. Daniel 'Guido' Giansiracusa was a big factor in the Dogs' eventual win so for him to go down late with a torn knee cartilage was a big blow, they reckon Guido won't be able to play again until the finals. Crocker made four changes to the North side beaten in the Adelaide wet, Harvey returned along with David Hale, Ben 'Milky' Warren and former Perth rover Liam Anthony, making his AFL debut. They replaced Jack Ziebell (fractured leg), Lindsay Thomas (hamstring) and axed pair Aaron Edwards and Sam Power. The Dogs fielded the same 22 which thrashed Port in
Crocker had promised a more attacking game-style from the Kangers and the first term featured plenty of attacking but also plenty of mistakes, from both sides. Crocker had also re-introduced soup after North training - this was significant, apparently. Melbun Nord opened with Cruize Garlett's career-first goal, a nicely-taken one-handed mark and thumping 55m kick. Jason Akermanis punted the Dogs into attack from the restart and Scott Welsh handballed for Shaun Higgins to snap a major. Norf made errors, Hamish McIntosh dithered in defence and was tackled while kicking by Giansiracusa, Bulldawg Callan Ward collected the ball and stabbed a close-range goal. McIntosh atoned a minute later by tapping a forward-pocket throw-in down for Andrew Swallow to snap through. The Pups replied as long kicks from Lindsay Gilbee and Josh Hill allowed Welsh to run onto the ball, he was barreled by Josh Gibson but then sat on Gibson who tried to hatch it. 'Bawl' and Welsh free-kicked a goal. The Doggies led by 4 points but Norf's long-kicking found a target with Drew Petrie going forward. Petrie booted the next major after marking Garlett's clever hooked pass (or it might have been an off-target snap), but almost immediately a Daniel Pratt clanger allowed Doggy Nathan Eagleton boot a goal. Kangers Ben Ross and Corey Jones missed highly kickable chances and Daniel Harris dropped an easy mark 30m out as the Ruies bluie it. Petrie stepped up to bag another goal from a strong grab, coming from Bulldog Higgins's ugly kick straight to Rue 'Lethal' Leigh Harding. Norf were 3 points up, but the Bulldogs scored two late ones. Young Roo Nathan Grima coughed the ball up at half-back and Gilbee bagged a sausage, then Liam Picken marked 50m out and dished off for Akermanis to hammer a long major from the flank. The Dogs led by 9 points at korter-time but Eade gave his blokes a bit of a blast. They commenced the second quarter well, Welsh soccered pack-spillage for a goal despite being out-numbered three-to-one. McIntosh and Michael Firrito combined to win the following centre-clearance for Norf and 'Lethal' Leigh Harding sprinted clear to boot a long goal. The TV cut to footage of Ben Warren being placed in an ambulance, the luckless 'Milky' had suffered a broken leg. The Puppies continued to press though, Eagleton and Welsh missed shots and Hill marked the kick-in of the latter, he dished off to Brad Johnson who booted long where Mitch Hahn held a tough goal-square grab. Hahn popped it through and the Dogs led by 16 points. Norf responded,
Petrie's forward 'drifting' worried Eade sufficiently for him to switch Welsh to the back-line for the third term, an overly-defensive move it appeared. But the Dogs still had an edge in overall class. Early in the korter Akermanis marked 55m out and sent a kick wide to Daniel Cross, glaringly alone. Given Cross's usual kicking prowess you could understand it a bit, but Cross played-on and booted a great long goal. So there, me. Corey Jones booted an answering major for Norf with a very determined effort to win the agate, but then Gilbee half-smothered Gibson's clearing kick and it went straight to Akermanis, he drove the ball back in where Giansiracusa snapped a goal. Dogs by 8 points but the Kangers had the better of the next quarter-hour. Their midfield did well, with Swallow, Ross and Anthony complimenting 'Boomer' and co. But scoring remained difficult. Jones set up a close-range snap for Harding and later Harding free-kicked another, dumped ridiculously by Johnson. But amongst that Garlett,
Ruck-rover Matthew Boyd (26 disposals) was a solid performer for the Dogs all afternoon and the class of Daniel Giansiracusa (20 handlings, 5 marks, 3 goals) was crucial in scoring several goals - pity about his injury (and that of
At Docklands:
St. Kilda 0.3 5.5 11.9 13.14.92
You could sell it as a draw, with each side winning two quarters. Maybe not. Records were set for scoreless-ness, the Toigers going 77 minutes - from the mid-first stanza to the mid-last - without troubling the scoreboard-keyboard typist or whoever it is. Such is the Saynters' anally-retentive compulsion to stop the opposition. The Tiggers did restrict the Stains to a goal-less first term, which was something. In the end the Sainters set up their big clash with the Cats by maintaining their perfect record, and pretty easily too. The Saints took an unchanged side in, following their break, the Tiggers selected Jarrad Oakley-Nicholls and first-gamer Jarrod Silvester, a beefy full-back from Rupertswood via
The Tiges began well under the closed Docklands roof with Nathan Foley and Ben Cousins winning the ball and Jack Riewoldt - the unexpected one, ha ha, said the press - proving a headache for the Stinkilda backmen. The Stainers had Jason Blake on 'Real Riewoldt', an odd decision with Dawson, Hudghton and Gilbert down there. But it didn't matter too much 'cause the Tigger Riewoldt couldn't kick straight enough, scoring 1.2 from three strong early marks and pretty simple shots. Cousins smothered a Sinkilda handpass and then slipped forward to mark Robin Nahas's pass, Cousins majored and the Tiggers led by 14 points. The Stainers' early troubles worsened as Max Hudghton bent his ankle in a marking contest and had to be stretchered off. Richmun's back-line was going alright with Dean Polo and Kel Moore quite good and Jarrod Silvester winning his early contests with Justin Koschitzke. Michael Gardiner hit the post with the Saints' first shot before Jack Riewoldt kicked another behind for the Tiges, a poster. The term petered out with not much more scoring as the Stainers began to wake up, but Richmun led by 12 points at korter-time. The Saints began to crush the Tiges into the second term with suffocating man-on-man pressure and relentless tackling. Richmen became trapped in their own half, although as the TV folk pointed out a number of Tigger midfielders simply don't run or work hard enough to make the play. You're talking Deledio, Trent Cotchin who clearly isn't fit enough, Shane Edwards, Tom Hislop. Sinkilda's Nick Dal Santo, Lenny Hayes, Jason Gram and especially Brendon Goddard began to see a lot of the ball. Koschitzke missed a tight-angle shot prior to the Saints' first goal arriving, from the Tige kick-in Edwards sent a hopeful kick towards Hislop who didn't try hard enough to reach it and Sainter Jarryn Geary held a good grab, he handballed to Stephen Milne whose hurried cross-field kick curved perfectly for Dal Santo to mark and boot a 48m goal. A tough five minutes followed but the Tiges still couldn't get forward. Then Geary sent a pass towards Milne, Richmun's Riewoldt delivered a thumping with-the-flight spoil which sent the ball towards his sticks where Shane Tuck fumbled and Stainer Luke Ball snapped a goal, to give Sinkilda a one-point lead. A bit later a slick move ended with Gram spearing a pass for leading Nick Riewoldt to mark. "It moved," said a Seinfeld-loving Sinkilda man beside me. N. Riewoldt thumped it home. Koschitzke now emerged to clutch a terrific pack-grab 15m out and pop it through, a bit later Lenny Hayes speared a low pass for leading Koschitzke to take a good diving mark and boot another. Gettin' a bit tougher for Silvester as the Saints led by 20 points at half-time. The Tiges'd managed an inside-50 or two in the term but ruckman Angus Graham dropped a grab he should've held and Hislop produced an awful pass towards leading Mitch Morton and the Saints cleared.
Sainter fans were excited during the break as Hudghton emerged from the rooms and had a light jog around the boundary, Max even returned to the game later but couldn't contribute. He'll miss a few. But the game itself didn't change. Goddard did some noice things early, he slipped wide to take a back-pedalling mark of Hayes's lobbed pass and boot a good goal from the flank, a minute later Goddard won the ball with much ease against two flailing Tiges and handballed ahead to Andrew McQualter, he passed for leading Nick Riewoldt to mark and punt truly. Shortly Dal Santo lobbed a centering pass for leading Koschitzke to juggle a two-grabber in front of Silvester, 'Kosi' added another six-pointer for the Stains and they led by 38 points. The Tiges had many men behind the ball by now, so even modest ventures inside attacking 50 found Morton and their Riewoldt heavily out-numbered. There was a bit of a lull in scoring, Gram missed poorly for the Stains and the Toigers lost backman Luke McGuane with an ankle or foot injury. The Saints scored again after Tigger backman Polo slipped over and was tackled by McQualter, 'bawl' it was and McQualter free-kicked a sausage. Koschitzke booted another goal following a good, diving low grab and the Saints led by 51 points. The term appeared to be dribbling out with a few Sinkilda behinds. Nick Riewoldt hooked a shot on-the-full but Tigger Silvester's free-kick was too low and partially smothered by Koschitzke, after some scramble for possession handballs from Sinkilda's Riewoldt and Schneider set up a snapped major for Geary. Sufferin' succotash! The Stainers led by 58 points then and 60 at the final change. We still had interest though, as one of us had even-money odds with the Saints ten goals in. The Sainters scored a coupla behinds to open the final term and frustrated Toiga captain Chris Newman opted to torpedo-punt a kick-in to the centre-square. Foley found some rare space to run forward and handball wide to Richard Tambling, he lobbed a pass into the pocket for Morton to mark. Morton looked to play-on before lobbing a pass to Nahas in the goal-square, but Nahas let Morton's kick bounce through for a goal. Hurray! Sinkilda replied soon enough, Schneider held a clever mark over Polo and threaded a very good shot through from a tough angle. Jack Riewoldt added a point for the Toigs before Dal Santo roved a forward-pocket throw-in and hooked a kick to the top o' the 'square, Koschitzke slipped ahead of Silvester to take another diving grab and boot another goal. The Big Pu55ies scored a coupla late goals, Nahas got a handball away as he was tackled and Morton gathered it to dribbly-kick a major, a bit later Tambling held a very good one-handed, back-pedalling mark on 50m and played-on quickly to find Hislop marking on the opposite flank, Hislop converted. There were some late misses from Deledio and Dawson, the latter's shot not as dramatic as a fortnight ago. At least our mate Big Molly won his bet.
Brendon Goddard (35 disposals, 7 marks, a goal) played terrifically well here, motoring about from half-forward, and Jason Gram (34 touches, 9 marks) was the other most damaging Sainter midfielder. Justin Koschitzke (10 possies, 8 marks, 5 goals) did the bulk of the scoring as the Tiges clustered 'round Riewoldt and Nick Dal Santo (26 handlings, a goal) and Lenny Hayes (24 touches, 8 tackles) were very good again. Sam Gilbert (18 possies, 9 marks) and Zac Dawson (15 disposals, 11 marks shifted onto Jack Riewoldt) were solid in defence and Jarryn Geary (22 touches, 9 marks, a goal) did a bit too. Nick Riewoldt kicked 2 goals. The better Tiges included Shane Tuck (33 disposals, 6 marks), Daniel Jackson (27 touches) again who quelled Leigh Montagna and Will Thursfield (8 touches, 5 marks) who had the better of an early, odd match-up on Milne. Kel Moore (18 touches, 3 marks) did okay against Riewoldt and Dean Polo (25 possies, 9 marks) wasn't bad, nor was Nathan Foley (30 handlings). Mitch Morton kicked 2 last-quarter goals. New Toig coach Jade Rawlings said "We hit the ground running, we missed some chances, unfortunately, but we still went in with a lead (at quarter-time), and that slowly dissipated. It got to a point where . . . I wouldn't say it got to a procession, but certainly they were able to clear the ball much easier, their foot-skills . . . I didn't think Silvester had a chance on a few. Koschitzke's a good player, but I thought it was a good contest across the course of the night. They've got that many kickers - who do you go with? Goddard, Dal Santo, Ball, Montagna, Gram - he got out tonight big-time. They've got some options to go through there, and you have to really work out who you put the energy into, how hard do you lock down on them, do you take them on with backing yourself in? It's an argument I'm sure every club has coming up against St Kilda . . . I genuinely came here in the car this arvo thinking that if we get a couple of things right, we jump out of the blocks and hang in there when it gets tough, we win. (Was it) disheartening? I just think that as long as we're seen to be giving players opportunities, and finding more answers out about these players in tough situations . . . I'm not going to be disheartened by it - we're on an 11-week campaign to see where we come out at the end of that. Whoever's lucky enough to coach this footy club moving forward, hopefully they've got a group that's progressed over the second half of the year while I'm lucky enough to be in the chair." Ross Lyon said "Our aim is to play good football. If you want to break it down simply, the first quarter they didn't allow us to, and the second and third quarters, we did. In the last quarter, they didn't allow us to. We walk away with two out of four, which isn't ideal to be honest. What I can't say is how much is due to the break (and) how much is due to the opposition. We were really pleased to bank four points. We go to 13 wins, and clearly we want to build to top four, top two if we can. It is another four points in the bank." Of course, everyone is looking forward to next Sunday. "
Ladder after Round 13
Pts. % Next Week
St. Kilda 48 177.5
Footscray 32 124.0 Hawthorn (Docklands, Sat. night)
Collingwood 32 116.3 Essendon (MCG, Fri. night)
Essendon 28 104.4 Collingwood (MCG, Fri. night)
------------------------------------------------
Hawthorn 24 93.8 Footscray (Docklands, Sat. night)
Port
West Coast 16 89.4 Melbourne (MCG, Saturday)
Fremantle 12 76.2
Cheers, Tim.
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