AFL Round 14
At the MCG:
Collingwood 2.3 9.6 12.10 15.12.102
Essendon 2.6 3.8 6.10 9.13.67
Revenge is a dish best served cold, they say, and it was freezing at the 'G as the Pies' blood ran hot over their mild performance on Anzac Day. They swept forward in a rolling front with, er, okay enough weather. But the Pies were very good, going back to Malthouse's basic plan of rock-solid defence, quick kicking 'round the boundary and forwards with nous and skill, and a light drizzle of luck. Essadun weren't embarrassed and it could've been a lot closer if they'd kicked straighter in the first korter. The Bommers' effort was fine but their running game stumbled under the Poise pressure and they ended up kicking long into half-forward, which is not their go. The game demonstrated the improvement the Dons require to be a finals contender. In selection the Maggies welcomed back Scott Pendlebury and Leon Davis, dropping
There'd been speculation the crowd would match the 83,400 the Bummers and Bluies drew last Friday night, in the end 77,660 turned up which is still pretty good. It included Tom Cruise. Maybe he'd finally shown up for that date Naomi Watts won with him in that 1980s advert for lamb. Too obscure? The Bommers started well, controlling the ball and supporting each other despite some strong tackling pressure from the Poise. The Maggies flooded back heavily, frustrating the Dons' scoring efforts. Andrew Welsh and Dustin Fletcher booted long points and Matty Lloyd hooked on-the-full from a tight angle, Lloyd later missed very poorly after marking 35m out, no angle. The Dons finally scored a goal when they cleared a throw-in on the wing and Heath Hocking wobbled a kick forward which Scott Lucas marked very well, against two Maggies. Lucas majored and the Dons led by 9 points. Collywood took ten minutes to score, an off-target snap from Travis Cloke. But a bit later they manufactured a boundary-hugging move and Sharrod Wellingham punted into attack, Cloke roved Fletcher and Medhurst's marking contest and tumbled a kick ahead where Dale Thomas had run, Thomas gathered and slammed it through. The Bombouts continued to press forward though, Poi Nathan Brown was under pressure in his defensive goal-square and handballed to Tyson Goldsack who was promptly crunched by Angus Monfries's terrific tackle. Alwyn Davey collected the spilled ball and banana-ed a great left-foot goal from the tough angle. The Bommers led by 8 points. Cloke postered from a tight angle as the Pies began to manufacture some moves, a bit later they extracted the ball from a scrap thanks to Thomas and Brad Dick passed for Cloke to mark alone 20m out. Clokey slotted and the Dons' lead was back to 2 points. Don Sam Lonergan kicked a point following a very good Bomma move and a bit later there was a poor miss from Poi Dane Swan. Welsh was tagging Swan and the Don had annoyed Swan early, but once Swan's amazing non-stop running kicked in, Welsh struggled. "Looking at Swan's right arm, you'd think he'd be used to some needle," quipped Commetti, referring to Swan's heavily tattooed limb. Kyle Reimers booted yet another Don point prior to the first break, Essadun 3 points ahead. The Magpiss claimed the lead early in the second, a clearing kick from Bommer Andrew Lovett went over the target's head and straight to Harry O'Brien, the Pieman kicked long and John Anthony out-maneuvered Tayte Pears to hold a strong grab and convert. Anthony had been singled out by Malthouse for some criticism at quarter-time. The Pies led by 3 and a few more points followed, plus Cloke's set-shot on-the-full. Lloyd led long for a grab and dished off to Lucas, he punted long to the goal-square. Goldsack affected a great spoil on Monfries but the Don gathered the crumb and was tackled 'round the head by Alan Toovey. A clear free to Monfries who booted an easy goal. "Monfries just buckled at the knees there to draw the high tackle," whinged Nathan Buckley. Anthony marked 15m out right in front and, not for the last time on the night, hit the post with the almost un-missable shot. But the Poise were taking control. Swan, everywhere, drove a long kick in and Don Slattery's spoil was gathered by Cloke, he handballed back to on-running Swan who snapped a goal, aided by Thomas's goal-line shepherd. At the following centre-bounce Josh Fraser tapped perfectly down to 'Neon' Leon Davis, he ran clear and kicked long where Anthony's pack-bullocking forced the ball clear and Cloke soccered a goal. Fraser copped plenty after being well-beaten by Paddy Ryder on Anzac Day and Fraser was very much 'up' for this one. Nick Maxwell wasn't paid a terrific defensive mark by a goose of an ump as the contest heated up, some furious tackling which forced a series of turnovers midfield, from both sides, ended when Pendlebury and Toovey won the ball for the Poise. Thomas handballed to Alan Didak who passed for Tarkyn Lockyer to mark in the pocket. Lockyer threaded a very good kick for a six-pointer and the Maggies led by 15 points now. Lovett-Murray sent a Don chance on-the-full before the Poise managed another goal, Thomas's strong tackle on Pears forced the ball loose and Thomas and Fletcher raced towards it. The ball squirted away from their clash and rolled between the big sticks, the goal-ump signaled a goal. The replay suggested diving Fletcher's hand and Thomas's boot connecting simultaneously with the agate, but the decision was probably right. Cloke roved Leigh Brown's contest at CHF and bashed Lovett-Murray aside, which I enjoyed, before handballing to Swan, his tumbling snap was marked on the goal-line by 'Steak Knives' Medhurst who could've let it go. Medhurst popped it through and Collywood led by 28 points. The Scraggies' kicking game was working well, Maxwell punted clear of defence and Didak held a great with-the-flight mark on the wing, Didak jabbed a short pass to Medhurst and he in turn passed to leading Cloke who marked 45m out. Off-ball handbags between Reimers and Leigh Brown saw Cloke given a 50m penalty, Cloke bagged another sausage roll. A multi-player tackle on Brent Stanton and an emphatic ruck-clearance from Fraser ended the term, the Poise 34 points ahead.
Essadun tried to work back into it in the third term, as in the first they focused on clean, quick ball-movement. But they couldn't crack the Poi defence. The Dons did score an early goal, Courtenay Dempsey produced a very good kick for Reimers to mark behind Brad Dick on the forward-flank, Dick slipped over allowing Reimers to play-on and slot a very good major. The Dons trailed by 28 points but they struggled to find a marking target in attack as Pie Maxwell motored about to support O'Brien, Prestigiacomo and Nathan Brown. At half-time Don assistant coach Gary O'Donnell had said "We've got to play through Maxwell's opponent, if we can find him." They couldn't. The Bomma pressure was relieved thanks to a turnover from their Cale Hooker, a wayward handball which Goldsack collected and passed to
A very impressive game from Josh Fraser (23 disposals, 7 marks, 35 hit-outs, a goal) and a nice up-yours to the likes of Grant Thomas. Where is he now? Dane Swan (40 touches, 4 marks, a goal) showed you can break Welsh's tag if you have the running capacity of a Kenyan marathoner. Alan Didak (36 possies, 8 marks) continued his fine form and Travis Cloke (19 touches, 9 marks, 4 goals) found some at last. He takes a long time to warm up. Junior Dayne Beams (25 possies, 8 marks, 2 goals) was very handy and the backline was tight, led by free man Nick Maxwell (17 handlings, 7 marks) and Harry O'Brien (17 touches, 4 marks). Dale Thomas bagged 2 goals. No real Don winner, Brent Prismall (28 disposals, 9 marks) saw a stack of it early and seems to be the designated delivery-inside-50 man. Dustin Fletcher (18 touches, 7 marks) was solid as ever in defence and Andrew Lovett (24 possies, a goal) wasn't bad. Adam McPhee (29 touches, 6 marks) saw a bit of the ball but he was also on Cloke, so . . . Scott Lucas (18 disposals, 9 marks, 3 goals) went alright and Tayte Pears (16 possies, 3 marks) had the better of Anthony, aided by the Pie man's poor goal-shooting. Matty Lloyd kicked 2 goals. Matty Knights said "[It was] a hurdle tonight, we were beaten but it's a journey and we've got to get started again and we've got a big interstate trip playing Sydney next weekend . . . You come against a Collingwood team that's fully loaded, with all the guns firing, they're hard to beat . . . I thought they out-worked us, particularly through the middle of the ground . . . and then when we had the opportunity to hurt Collingwood going inside 50 we certainly bumbled and fumbled tonight. We didn't go in there with any efficiency or any preciseness. We kicked 1.10 from 40m-plus and two out on the full, so when you run at that type of scenario you're going to get hurt by a good football team . . . I thought we were quite competitive in the first quarter. They really burst into space hard in that second quarter. I think they clearly put the foot down and out-worked us and a six-goal margin in that second quarter was the telling fact." Mick Malthouse tried to down-play a sixth straight win. "I think it's important to win," he said. "Too often sides become a little bit satisfied with what they've seen over the last month and that might be indicative of sides that, this year, are not as good as St Kilda and Geelong . . . I don't get caught up in ladders and all that sort of stuff. We play a side next week (Bulldogs) who are a very good football side. I don't get caught up in where we are or where anyone else is." Mick went on to individualize. "A massive credit to Scott Pendlebury and I said [it] to the players after the game," he said. "His attention to detail to be able to get back (in two weeks from a strained knee) was outstanding . . . (Cloke) is a young man - who's judging him? You're harsh if you think key forwards will perform like Jonathan Brown every week - it just doesn't happen. He's very important to us but we have other contributors."
At the MCG:
West Coast 4.6 7.8 11.12 13.14.92
Several folks thought the Weegs could break their long away-win drought against the battlin' Deez, but events conspired against us, er, them. Melbun made up for their moderate skill with a ferocious attack on the ball and man while the Weegs massacred enough leather to destroy Ross Faulkner and Co. Then there was the emotional factor of
An emotional build-up manifested itself in the usual way; fightin'. Plenty of handbags early and the Weegs lost Brett Jones in the first two minutes, he twanged a hamstring. The sandgropers managed the first goal though, Mark LeCras with a nice snap which bounced through. But the
The Weegs opened the scoring in the second term, their Shannon Hurn punted long and Josh Kennedy held a good grab over Jack Grimes.
Green won the ball from opening bounce of the third stanza and kicked long where Stefan Martin clutched a very good pack-mark, Martin converted and Melbun led by 24 points. The differences at this stage were the
Young Dee man Jack Grimes (29 disposals, 16 marks) was very good at half-back, as 'they' have been telling us. Ruckman Mark Jamar (7 touches, 4 marks 29 hit-outs, a goal (from his only kick)) had modest stats but his aggression was key, Brock McLean (28 touches, 7 marks) was very good at winning contested ball. Cameron Bruce (28 possies) used the ball with some skill and Brad Green (20 touches, 6 marks, 2 goals) was good again. Brent Moloney (27 possessions) helped
At
Port
Still don't rate Port, but credit where it's due. The Powder have lost just once at home this season, to the undefeated Saints and they won this spiteful and sometimes violent game against Brisbun with a terrific effort in winning pack-clearances, an area in which the Flowers've been very weak this year. Maybe the resolution of Mark Williams's future last week settled and re-focussed his lads. Or maybe they really don't like the Lyin's, their rival of the early Noughties. Brisbun coach Mick Voss had foreshadowed this result with his dissatisfaction following Brisbun's win over Melbun last week, in this one the Lisbon Brians played well in patches and had some momentum late in the third korter, at the end of which they trailed by 7 points. But some bizarre ill-discipline saw them collapse startlingly in the ultimate Mario. Brisbun mixed their form horribly last year, under Leigh Matthews and the signs are creeping in again. The Port side here saw Steven Salopek and Paul Stewart recalled, Stewart for his first game of the season. They replaced dropped pair Nick Lower and Michael Pettigrew. Not before time for the latter. The Lyin's recalled Travis Johnstone, axing Jason Roe.
The game began in bright sunshine but it was heavy underfoot. Port won the bulk of clearances all day thanks to ruckman 'Mean' Dean Brogan and rovers David Rodan and Dom Cassisi, while Kane Cornes stuck to key Lyin' Simon Black. Small Powder forward Robbie Gray was also handy early, Gray led wide for an early mark, played-on and lobbed a kick to the top o' the 'square where Justin Westhoff marked a bit too easily. Westhoff popped it through. Gray also set up the next with another long lead-and-mark, Gray kicked long to Warren Tredrea in the pocket who spilled the mark under pressure from Daniel Merrett and soccered the ball inboard, Westhoff scooped it up and bagged another. Port by 12 points but not much happened for the next ten minutes before the Lyin's got on the board, a running rebound through the centre involving Joel Macdonald a coupla times ended with Daniel Rich firing a long handpass for Rhan Hooper to slot a goal. Tredrea, then Lyin's Michael Rischitelli and Mitch Clark kicked points. Port full-back Toby Thurstans's kick-in from the last of those was marked out wide by Lyin' Travis Johnstone, he centered a pass to Jed Adcock who played-on and lobbed a kick for Daniel Bradshaw to mark pretty easily. Bradshaw booted a major and the Lyin's led by 2 points at the first break.
A bit more action in quartier le deuxieme, Port opened with three quick goals. Danyle Pearce punted long from the opening bounce, Brett Ebert wasn't paid a briefly-held grab in front of Joel Patfull. Probably the right decision. There followed some battle for the loose ball before Rodan intercepted a Lyin' handball and gave the agate to Cornes, his half-smothered snap spilled to Ebert who booted the goal in the end. A measure of justice, maybe. A minute later Rodan extracted the ball from a pack and handballed to Cornes again, he lobbed a kick for Westhoff to mark with some heavy shepherding from Tredrea behind him. Westhoff converted. Then Jacob Surjan drove a long punt into space and Gray ran out to mark it, Gray steered a noice punt for a goal and the Flowers led by 15 points. The Lyin's missed a coupla shots before Westhoff, with no protection from Tredrea, was crunched in a marking contest and won a free but advantage was allowed as Pearce gathered and kicked long. Tredrea used his bulk to hold Merrett under the ball, but Tredrea dropped the mark, fumbled when he tried to pick up the ball and eventually soccered it through. Ugly but effective as the Power went 19 points up. Now Brisbun scored a rapid trio of majors, from the next centre-bounce Cheynee Stiller punted them into attack and Johnstone dove after the pack spillage, he handballed from a kneeling position to Jonathan Brown who snapped a goal. Soon Stiller again punted the Lyin's deep into attack and Bradshaw won a free for being held down by Thurstans, Bradshaw majored. Then Powerman Peter Burgoyne helped Brisbun out, on the wing Burgoyne ran towards Brisbun's attacking end before lobbing an insanely risky kick into the centre, in Burgoyne's defence two Port men managed to spoil each other and Brian Ash McGrath gathered the ball, he ran ahead and kicked to unopposed Bradshaw who marked and handballed to Brown for the point-blank slam-through. A good few minutes for the Lyin' forwards as their side trailed by a point, but in general Bradshaw and Brown would struggle with their team-mates' slow delivery and Port's loose defender, Troy Chaplin. Port's turn for three unanswered sausages again, Merrett jabbed a kick-in short to McGrath, McGrath played-on and ran, and ran, and ran until caught by Ebert. 'Bawwwl' they cried and Ebert free-kicked a very noice goal. Rodan collected the ball from the restart and fed a handball wide to Steven Salopek, he passed for wide-leading Ebert to mark just inside the boundary. Ebert passed inboard for leading Tredrea to mark, he booted a goal. A bit later Port were rebounding and Rodan galloped through the centre, Rodan was tackled but leaped up un-held and ran on, D-Rod handballed to Salopek who kicked long and Ebert marked behind Patfull and Merrett. Ebert popped it through and the Powder led by 20 points. Brisbun got one, a good tap-on from Hooper allowed Justin 'The Shermanator'
The third term started slowly, both sides hanging onto the ball when they could get it. Six minutes in Port went further ahead, their Paul Stewart was placed in a head-lock by
As mentioned Port's pack-work was unusually good, rover David Rodan (30 disposals) is in career-best form and skipper Dom Cassisi (25 touches, 5 marks) was also good in-tight, wingman Danyle Pearce (35 touches, a goal) saw plenty of the ball. Dean Brogan (15 possies, 4 marks, 24 hit-outs, a goal) was a key part of winning contested ball and loose defender Troy Chaplin (26 disposals, 15 marks) helped out Thurstans and Carlile. Half-back Nathan Krakouer (25 touches, 7 marks, a goal) used the ball skillfully and Robbie Gray (18 handlings, 6 marks, 3 goals) was handy. Brett Ebert (17 disposals, 11 marks) bagged 4 goals in an overdue effort, Justin Westhoff kicked 3 early goals and Warren Tredrea kicked 2 goals. With Black and Brown subdued, Justin Sherman-ator (26 disposals, 3 marks, a goal) was about their best with Jed Adcock (29 disposals, 8 tackles) and Luke Power (25 handlings, 5 marks) working hard, Daniel Rich (12 disposals, a goal) didn't have many touches but oozed class with them, he wasn't hurt in the collision with Chaplin. Mitch Clark (20 disposals, 6 marks, 19 hit-outs) was handy 'round the ground and Ashley McGrath (22 disposals, 8 marks) was good. Dan Bradshaw, Jonathan Brown and Albert Proud kicked 2 goals each. "Most of our performance was pretty poor I would have thought," Voss said. "We gave ourselves a chance in the last quarter to perhaps come over the top a little bit, but for most of the game, if you look at their clearances, we got absolutely smashed. The guys did well to get into that position (at three-quarter time) where they could be a chance to win, but the actual momentum of the game was pointing otherwise, apart from a small window of opportunity that we had. It was a credit to the guys to get into that position, but then a few undisciplined acts (Brennan/Carr) that we saw across the whole game, hurt us in the end . . . Their centre clearances, no matter what we did, we couldn't stem them for any particular time. Then there were the fundamental things such as being able to kick to a lead and win the ball and we just didn't do that as well as them. They ran the ball exceptionally well out from the stoppages and we didn't lay a glove on them." They're a bit of a worry, the Lyin's. Mark Williams could be happy again. "The clouds had parted and they could see the light, it was fantastic for all of them," he said. "No one will be perfect every week but it's about preparation, it's about mindset and being ready for the opposition, and it's also a fitness thing. We've reduced some of the stuff that we hand feed them with, and now they've got to actually do it themselves. We've got some creative players on the ground - it's about time that they actually played that way." What about the contract stuff, Choc? "It could have been today, someone else coaching the side. That's a fact," he said. "So for the players - they didn't really know what was going on, so now that they are much more confident of the way ahead and they know that I'm in charge."
At
The Corollas wrapped up this one in the first ten minutes, at which stage they led five goals to none, and they more-or-less stayed there before the Tiges potted some late sausage rolls. Camry folk may have regretted the unexploited opportunity for a percentage boost, but six straight wins have put them and Neil Craig in a very strong position. Craigy's done a very good job with his lads, although his common post-game claims of a developing Grand Plan are a bit of over-sell. Isn't there another team out there, most weeks? Richmen have a very strange game-plan which requires 372 handballs to be performed before a kick, which is only allowed for shots at goal. The plan was obliged 'cause the Tiges swarmed around the ball in huge numbers, so there was no Toig more than 30m away from any other Tige to whom they could actually kick the ball. In selection here the Tiggers regained Andrew Collins and selected Jayden Post for his AFL debut, Post was a key position player at junior level and hails from Altona in
If you're wondering why the Tiges had a home game against the Camrys fixtured on the Gold Coast, you're not alone. Norf's refusal of a Gold Coast move meant the AFL shoehorned some other games into
Early in the second term Tippett led and marked ahead of Silvester again but missed his shot. A bit later Nathan Bock committed a rare Crown clanger, a centering kick stabbed straight to Morton. He gave the ball to Nahas who ran and chipped a kick ahead of running Tambling, Tambling gathered and slotted a noice major. The Camrys' lead was back to 16 points and a minute later Morton led to mark in the pocket, he played-on with the favoured 'round-the-body snap but missed. The Tiges failed to set up a zone from the kick-in and the Camrys' rapid re-entry went easily to Knights in an absolute ocean of space on the wing, Knights played-on and kicked long, as he can, and Tippett held a with-the-flight mark on the point-line. Tippett banana-ed it through - not a check-side, it was
More of the same in the third Mario. Richmen's Jack Riewoldt missed a set-shot early in the term, a bit later Camry Knights scored a behind with an uncharacteristically poor kick. The cleaner, classier Adlaid began to stretch the margin, Porplyzia showed some superb running and his great handball exchange with 'Stiffy' Johncock allowed Porplyzia to go running inside 50 with a bounce, Porplyzia slotted a perfect kick from the boundary for a goal. A bit later McLeod was allowed a blatant throw clear of a pack to Otten, he passed for leading Stevens to mark and boot truly once more. The Camerys led by 39 points. At the next centre-bounce Tigger Deledio was ridden into the ground by Thompson, Deledio's long free-kick cleared the pack and Nahas marked at the back of it, the tiny Tige converted. A bit later Bock played-on casually at half-back and was run down by the speedy Nahas, Morton did well to recover the spilled agate and lob a handpass forward for Nahas to collect and slot another goal. At the next centre-bounce Richmun skipper Chris Newman's great tackle on Tyson Edwards won Newman a free for 'bawl', a handball to Hislop and his to Deledio set up a long shot for Deledio which scored full points, with Morton's goal-square shepherd. Three straight sausages from the Tiges and they trailed by 21 points. The Corollas responded with three of the best, more Tiger handball madness from Tuck and Ben Cousins turned over possession and
Big Camry forward Kurt Tippett (13 disposals, 8 marks, 5 goals) did very well, aided by some quick, accurate delivery. Tippett's a Gold Coast local, from
At Docklands:
Footscray 9.6 13.10 15.14 19.19.133
Hawthorn 0.2 0.4 4.6 6.9.47
It's the Kennett Effect. Jeff took an apparently unbeatable Liberal Party to inglorious and ruinous disaster and now he's doing the same for Horforn. Kennett's normally expansive post-loss thoughts were strangely absent from the Orcs' website following this absolute disaster of a game for them, Jeff's 'overseas', apparently. Horforn created new records for low-scoring and Buddy Franklin went goal-less for the first time in three years. Of the finals, Clarkson became the first coach to use the term 'mathematically possible' this season. That schadenfreude is a good word, eh? All this is under-selling the Bulldogs, who were very good and underlined their silent-but-deadly threat to the run-away leaders (um, not in that way). Always a free-scoring side, the Puppies have added significant defensive steel to their game this season. 'Rocket' Eade underlined this, pointing out the Dogs had scored thirteen unanswered goals against the Swans and ten straight against the Powder. But this was something else. In selection the Pups made one change to the side which slogged to victory over North, junior midfielder Sam Reid replacing the luckless Daniel 'Guido' Giansiracusa (torn knee cartilage). Nathan Eagleton played his 250th game again, apparently. Horforn rang the changes once more, Mark Williams (strained knee) faces a bit of a spell while Beau Muston, Brendan Whitecross and Ryan Schoenmakers were dropped following the loss in
The Bulldogs were white-hot from the off, moving the ball with great speed and skill as they do in their best form. Horforn's defence was exposed again, not only the actual backmen but the famous 'rolling zone' appeared non-existent. The Bullies had 16 inside-50s in the first quarter and scored 15 times. Jason Akermanis kicked things off with a behind, before Bulldog Robert Murphy clutched a good mark of an attacking Orc kick at half-back. The ball went forward and Scott Welsh gathered near the boundary-line, he handballed inboard to Adam Cooney whose tumbling kick was marked by Will Minson. Minson steered it through from a tight angle. Matthew Boyd won the ball from the following centre-bounce and after much chip-about Ryan Hargrave marked 50m from goal, he lobbed a punt to the goal-square where Brad Johnson marked rather easily in the middle of a pack. Johnno popped it through. Hawk Ben McGlynn missed a close-in but difficult shot for Horforn's first score. The Bully Murphy played-on from the kick-in and drove it long to the wing, Jarrod Harbrow marked and dished off to Johnson whose kick found Welsh completely alone 25m out. Welsh went back and converted. A minute later Harbrow speared a pass for leading Shaun Higgins to mark on the forward-flank, Higgins raised the twin calicoes with an excellent drop-punt. The Bullies led by 26 points but the hammer really fell on the Horks in time-on, the Pups ramming through five goals in seven minutes. The ball was trickling through for a behind when Welsh dived and hooked it back into play, Welsh forced the pill into the goal-square where quickly-arriving Callan Ward over-ran it badly, but Akermanis followed up and soccered a major. Minson's solid work won the following centre-clearance for the Dogs and Higgins passed to leading Welsh, who marked and thumped a 50m goal. Ryan Griffen gathered a loose ball on the wing, had a bounce and chipped a pass for Mitch Hahn to mark 30m out, Hahn goaled. The Bullies led by 44 points as Channel Ten's
And there was no immediate relief for the Hawkers. In the first minute of the second stanza the Bullpups had a forward-pocket throw-in, Higgins gathered the agget from it and handballed back to Lindsay Gilbee, who drove a curling left-footer for a very noice goal. Gilbee wheeled away, kissed his palm and patted the logo of the Bulldogs' chief sponsor, a Mexican food company. The logo happens to be on the left breast of the guernsey, the Dogs might want to re-think that placement. The relentless flogging eased up as the Dogs' very good backline, headed by
Four minutes into the third Mario, Higgins juggled a one-handed mark in front of frustrated Campbell Brown and booted the fourteenth straight Bulldog goal, they led by 90 points. Unheralded stuff but now it came to an end. At the following centre-bounce Hawk man Josh Kennedy bullocked and dived to get a handball away to Brad Sewell and he passed successfully to leading Roughead, Roughead booted a goal. Boooo! Energized, the Hawkes enjoyed a decent spell as their midfielders began to win some ball. But Bateman and then Franklin missed shots, before the Dogs attacked again and Johnson led for mark wide out on the flank, he flipped a handball inboard for running Griffen to collect and slot through. Dogs by 88 points and then they missed a few chances. A bit later Bulldog Gilbee marked in defence but played-on crazily when surrounded by Hawks, Jordan Lewis was right behind Gilbee as the Bulldog wandered off and Lewis clamped Gilbee with a strong tackle, Lewis then punted his free-kick for 'bawl' for a goal. Horforn proceeded to score a couple of goals in time-on, Xavier Ellis chipped a pass to Bateman just outside the 50 and Bateman handballed quickly to running Rick Ladson, who raced ahead and drilled a sausage. Luke Hodge ran forward and from just outside 50 lobbed a punt into the pocket for unattended Lewis to mark, Lewis steered a kick for a decent goal. The Bullydoggies led by 74 points at the final turn-about. So the Horks had won the quarter by 10 points, which is something. Starved of opportunity,
Hard to pick a stand-out player for the Bulldogs, some focussed on the midfield where in-form Matthew Boyd (35 disposals, 7 marks, 2 goals) was probably the leading protagonist with support from Adam Cooney (32 possessions, 6 marks) and Ryan Griffen (31 touches, 8 marks, a goal). Others pointed to the defence with marauding Ryan Hargrave (32 touches, 8 marks), solid
At the SCG:
It's Hall Over! Let's Hall Go Down Together! Hall Ar5e! Barry Hall managed to overshadow the Swans again, but for the last time. Hall announced yesterday (Tuesday) that's he's quitting the Swans, effective immediately. Hall and Paul Roos were all "remember the time" at the press conference but throughout last week Roos had made it clear he'd had enough of Hall's antics. Hall himself confessed he doesn't know why he goes mad and dongs people. 'Cause you're a psycho! His immediate future is unclear, Barry said he wasn't boxing, he wasn't playing footy, just wanted to 'chill'. But in his newspaper column Hall reckoned he wants to play on at a new club. The Bulldogs, forever searching for a key forward, are the most obvious destination. But anyway. This was a slightly ragged game which was close all day, but the Swans kept their nominal finals hoped alive by nudging ahead in the final fifteen minutes. Norf led by 2-3 goals a few times and might've opened an interesting lead if David Hale could kick straight. At least he took a few marks. In pickin' the Bloods regained Craig Bolton and Jarrad McVeigh from injury and recalled Nick Malceski, they replaced the suspended Hall and axed pair Kristin Thornton and Jesse White. Norf had ruckman Todd Goldstein in to replace Ben Warren (broken leg).
Despite it being a still, sunny day it was a scrappy first term in which most of the goals came from stoppages. The Swans got the first, from a ball-up 40m from the sticks. Norf's Andrew Swallow got a quick punt which went straight up in the air, when it came down Siddey's Jared Crouch won possession and handballed for Adam Goodes to run clear and slot the major. A bit later Norf had a throw-in in their forward-pocket, Hamish McIntosh tapped it down and Swallow soccered a goal at the second attempt. The Ruse went ahead a bit later from a ball-up just inside their 50m line, McIntosh's forceful slap of the ball saw it bounce off the back of Swan Malceski's head, 'Lethal' Leigh Harding gathered (the ball) and curved a terrific kick for a goal. There followed a string of behinds including Hale's first miss for the Kangers and two from Corey Jones. Eventually the Bloods managed a goal, Jude Bolton poking it through from a goal-mouth scramble. But Rue Adam Simpson won the ball at the following centre-bounce and sent the pill wide to Brent 'Boomer'
The same sort of stuff in the third term. The Bloods grabbed the lead early, O'Loughlin gathered a loose ball in attack and handballed back to Lewis Roberts-Thomson, appearing at the wrong end of the ground. But LRT sold a noice dummy and slotted a major, Siddey led by a point. Norf had a free-kick prior to the next centre-bounce as O'Loughlin blued with his man, Scott Thompson. Norf full-back Thompson seems to get punched a lot, but he doesn't look like a stirrer. McIntosh took the free in the centre of the ground and drove it to the top o' the goal-square, Drew Petrie almost marked it but Lachy Hansen gathered the ball and snapped truly. A bit later Swan backman Rhyce Shaw's long clearing punt went straight to Hansen on the wing, Hansen passed for leading Cruize Garlett to mark. Garlett kicked quickly towards a Hale-centered pack, the agget spilled from it and as Swallow gathered he was almost-decapitated by Paul Bevan's sloppy tackle. Swallow free-kicked a major and Norf led by 11 points again. Behinds from O'Loughlin and poor old Hale followed before lumbering Roo ruckman Goldstein lost possession on the wing, the ball came to Siddey's Craig Bolton who speared a good pass for Veszpremi to mark 55m out. Veszpremi lobbed a pass wide for backpedalling Shaw to mark, Shaw booted a pretty decent, long goal and celebrated quite a bit. Some rugged Siddey tackling won them possession at the following centre-bounce and Goodes punted long, Jude Bolton flew high over O'Loughlin and Thompson and almost held the grab, but Veszpremi raced onto the crumb and tumbled a left-foot snap for a tight-angle sausage. Veszpremi celebrated madly too as the Swans went ahead by a point, again. There was some frantic end-to-end footy for a few minutes, with no scoring, before Siddey found a way through. Heath 'Reg' Grundy passed for leading O'Loughlin to mark right on the boundary, O'Loughlin probably should have had a 50m penalty as he was slammed into the ground by Scott McMahon. No dice, O'Loughlin jabbed a short inboard pass to O'Keefe who booted a great long goal. Siddey led by 7 points, in the remaining minute-or-two Norf's Josh Gibson saved a certain Siddney goal with a fine goal-mouth mark, Gibson also rode opponent Goodes for a great grab. The Swans led by 7 points at the final change. Into the final stanza and again the Kangers struck the early blows, Rawlings roved a ball-up on the wing and lobbed a quick punt forward where Firrito juggled a terrific one-handed mark just inside the 50m line. Firrito's shot just crept over the pack for a goal. Five minutes later O'Keefe's under-pressure handball was intercepted by Jones, he handballed ahead to Harvey who chipped a centering pass to Ross. Ross played-on and thumped a sausage, North led by 5 points. But the Kangers' run was starting to fade. After a bit, Swan McVeigh finessed at half-forward and stabbed a pass to leading Goodes as Roo defenders looked at each other in the time-honoured "who's on him?" scenario. Goodes booted a goal. From the subsequent centre-bounce Goodes and Craig Bird forced the ball forward for Sidderney, North's Liam Anthony should've had a free when he dived after the ball and Bird dropped his knee into small of Anthony's back. The ump waved play-on and really fixed the
Ryan O'Keefe (37 disposals, 8 marks, a goal) played superbly for the Swans as he roamed about the ground and on-baller Brett 'Captain' Kirk (30 touches, 5 marks) is also playing very well. Kieren Jack (16 possies, 3 marks) tagged
At Docklands:
St. Kilda 5.3 8.4 10.5 14.7.91
Did you know the Cats and Saints were both undefeated before this game? Okay. The big clash lived up to the hype, a very tough, very close battle with sublime skill and a great finale, Saint Michael Gardiner's towering pack-mark and goal to break tied scores. See it, if you haven't. Thus Sinkilda honoured their billing as marginal favourites. Their amazing defensive record was seen as the key factor, the Docklands venue was also in their favour and the Cats had the slightly poorer form coming in, if you can line-up the form of two teams who've won thirteen straight. Catter supporters would also point to the absence of Steve Johnson (hip soreness), a very important player for them. So there's potential improvement for the Pu55ies, next time. We can all look forward to it. In selection the Saints replaced injured Max Hudghton (ankle) with Raphael Clarke, the Cats had Johnsons Steve and David (calf strain) both unavailable, they called up Mathew Stokes and second-game midfielder Simon Hogan, who debuted in round two against the Tiggers. This may suggest the Cats were prepared to wear a loss. The big prize is still three months away.
Tickets sold out weeks in advance and a Docklands record 54,444 crammed in. Meanwhile the MCG stood empty. The AFL said they couldn't move the game for 'logistical' reasons', i.e. the badly-negotiated contracts they have with the managers of both venues. People my age may remember a game shifted from a sodden Western (now Whitten) Oval on about a day's notice. At least this game was live on the TV. The Saints started explosively, it probably made the difference in the end. Nerves were evident in the opening minutes, Cat skipper Tom Harley clangered a clearing kick and Sainter Justin Koschitzke dropped his first, uncontested marking chance. But the Saints swarmed all over their opponents as usual and it paid rapid dividend, deep in defence Gary Ablett fumbled and gave an under-pressure handball to Harley, he was tackled immediately by Stephen Milne and dropped the agate, Stainer Andrew McQualter fired a quick handpass for Clint Jones to bag the opening goal. Jones was tagging Ablett and the Cat man soon switched to the forward-line. Satiner backman Sam Fisher, who saw a lot of the ball in the opening quarter, ran and kicked long and charging Nick Riewoldt launched himself to take a superb, idiomatic with-the-flight mark in the goal-square. People say (truthfully) that Australian football is better viewed live than on TV, but the camera-shot of Milne and Harley hovering in trepidation as (out-of-view) Riewoldt barreled towards them, then the thrill of Riewoldt suddenly slamming into view, was priceless. Anyway, Riewoldt booted a goal and an early 'statement' was made. A minute later Lenny Hayes speared a pass to leading Koschitzke, he marked 45m out and Koschitzke's shot dropped right on the goal-line, Cat ruckman Shane Mumford forced the ball into the post and it rebounded back into play where Saint Gardiner gathered and poked it through. The goal-ump hadn't seen the ball glance off the post, so the 'goal' stood. Another quick Stainer rebound seemed certain to bring a goal for Adam Schneider but he and then Milne messed it up, a point only. Cat Joel Corey tumbled them into attack from a throw-in but Sam Gilbert gathered and produced a great running rebound, Milne held a tough grab in the centre and the ball went wide to McQualter, he passed for leading Koschitzke to mark and convert. The Saints led by 25 points at this stage and the Cats hadn't scored, Stainer Jason Blake's spoil on TomaHawkins now delivered a rushed behind. The Cats locked the ball in their forward-line for a while but didn't score, a bit later Cat man Cameron Ling, who looked awfully slow in this game, speared a low, risky clearing kick upon which Gardiner got a deflecting hand, the ball came to Fisher who booted a running major. Sinkilda led by 30 points and we were shown a replay of Bomber Thompson's reaction to Ling's error, throwing his headset down, leaning back and sighing. I thought Bomber liked being challenged. The Pu55ies had a break after Ablett held a strong grab in front of Jones and made to play-on, Jones grabbed his arm and the ump awarded Ablett a 50m penalty, 'cause he hadn't called play-on you see. Ablett popped it through from 5m out. In the final minute of the korter Ablett roved a throw-in and looped a handball to running Travis Varcoe, Varcoe's shot faded wide for a point but he was knocked down after kicking by Zac Dawson. Another Catter free and Varcoe majored this time, Stinkilda's lead was 19 points at the first break.
The pattern remained in the early second. Rebounding Jason Gram passed to leading McQualter, he passed quickly to leading Riewoldt on the flank and Riewoldt steered a good punt for a six-pointer. The Catters had Harry Taylor on Riewoldt and Matthew Scarlett against Koschitzke. Cat spearhead Cameron Mooney soon marked about 30m out on a 45-degree angle but Mooney betrayed his low confidence by passing to Jimmy Bartel, who was 45m out. Bartel missed. Again the Saints rebounded swiftly from the resulting kick-in, Schneider did well to find Milne in space on the attacking wing and Milne's kick saw McQualter marking alone, 30m out. McQualter converted and the Stainers led by 29 points. With their forwards struggling Max Rooke stepped up for the Cats, he led up to mark Andrew Mackie's pass and dished off a quick handball to Varcoe, who was forced to back-track a bit before lobbing a pass to Darren Milburn, who'd also crept forward. Milburn booted a good, long major. A bit later the Cats finally halted one of these damaging Sinkilda rebounds, Varcoe ran down and tackled jogging Jason Blake. 'Bawl' and advantage was allowed as Mooney picked up the spilled agate, he kicked long where Ablett out-maneuvered Jones to take a comfortable mark. Ablett played-on while surrounded by Saints but his quick dribbly-kick scored full points. The Sainter lead was reduced to 17 points but they won the following centre-clearance and Luke Ball handpassed to release McQualter, he lobbed a smart kick over Milburn for retreating Schneider to mark. Schneider booted a sausage and Milburn had to depart, he'd strained a calf muscle when leaping in vain to touch McQualter's kick. The Cats answered again after Jimmy Bartel jumped into (potential) trouble to take a superb defensive mark. He sent a long kick to Ling on the wing, who kicked ahead to Corey, 60m out. Corey played-on, dummied around
The Catters began to assert themselves in the third Mario, mainly through winning more contested ball. Joel Selwood and Paul Chapman were keys in this. The Pu55ies dominated the opening minutes but Chapman kicked consecutive behinds, one touched on-the-line by Fisher. Ablett was tackled by Jones as he lined-up a running shot and Gilbert's great mark saved the Saints another potential Cat goal. Gilbert was fantastic here, as was the Saints' defence in general. The Stainers scored a goal against the run. Riewoldt gathered Hayes's clearing kick in the centre, turned away from Taylor and lobbed a kick of which Gardiner clutched a strong grab, his main opposition back-running team-mate Koschitzke. Gardiner majored and the Stains led by 21 points. But the tide was turning, exemplified when
The Satiners scored first in the final stanza, Hayes produced a good pass to find Riewoldt in traffic and Hayes ran on to receive a return handball from 'Rooey', Hayes then passed to leading Koschitzke who marked and punted a 50m goal. Luck was not going the Katz way, there'd been that early Gardiner goal after the ball'd hit the post, now Mumford scrambled deep in the Pu55ies' back-pocket to avoid a 'deliberate' out-of-bounds, but Mumford's quick handball hit Taylor on the shin and rebounded out on-the-full. Schneider took the free-kick quickly, stabbing a pass to Gardiner at the top of the goal-square and Gardiner slammed it through. Sinkilda led by 23 points. Byrnes hacked an awful shot on-the-full but the Catters kept at it. A furious scrap for the ball on the Pu55ies' half-forward flank was resolved when Rooke swooped in to collect it and snap a very good goal. Then the Cats had some luck of their own. Bartel took a mark at the back of the centre-square and was hit by late-arriving Schneider, a 50m penalty resulted (that's not the lucky bit). Bartel was still 50m from goal so he handballed off to Chapman, who produced a ridiculous, rain-making torpedo-punt. Gardiner appeared set to mark it but he slipped over and the ball took a kind bounce to score full points for the Cats. From the following centre-bounce Chapman fed a handball wide to Corey, he passed for leading Mooney who marked on the 50m line again. Commentator Leigh Matthews observed that Mooney is one of those forwards who prefers a long shot, Mooney duly hammered it home. Three unanswered goals from the Cats and they trailed by 5 points. The Saints replied, after some tough battle at half-back Hayes ran clear and speared another great pass to leading Riewoldt about 70m out, he played-on and lobbed a kick into space for Milne to run out and mark. Milne's not the best with set-shots and he produced a low, wobbly kick but it was straight, Saints by 11. It was tense now and I don't barrack for either of these. Nick Dal Santo missed poorly for the Saints and Selwood's tough work following the kick-in sent the ball to Bartel in much space on the wing, Bartel ran forward and chipped a good pass for leading Milburn to mark. Milburn had returned to play in a forward-pocket and he booted this goal. A minute later Ling's free-kick at half-back sent the Pu55ies forward again, Ling swapped handballs with Selwood and passed for leading Mooney to mark, Mooney lobbed a kick into the pocket where Stokes lurked alone. Stokes marked, played-on, slotted and scores were level, with just under 5 minutes remaining. The whistle was put away, which is very annoying. In close cricket matches, do the umps ignore the LBW, no-ball and run-out rules in the final overs? When the officials did pay a free, to Corey, they allowed an advantage which was no advantage at all, but the free was not recalled. Geezus. Montagna was given a free-kick on the wing, he handballed to running Ball who had space to advance and bomb long, the TV cut to the pack of Milne and three Cat defenders but Gardiner! soared into the frame to take a huge grab. In the process Gardiner also slammed into
Sinkilda skipper Nick Riewoldt (16 disposals, 11 marks, 3 goals) was fantastic and his predecessor as captain, Lenny Hayes (33 touches, 8 tackles) was also very good, especially late in the final stanza. Defender Sam Gilbert (27 handlings, 9 marks), who thrashed Hawkins, went to another level and roving backman Sam Fisher (20 possessions, 10 marks, a goal) was great early and okay over the journey. Michael Gardiner (12 kicks, 7 marks, 20 hit-outs, 4 goals) was crucial and underlined an ongoing problem for the Cats, their weakness in the ruck without Ottens. Not that much of a weakness with the side unbeaten before this one, but still. Brendon Goddard (24 disposals, 7 marks) kicked the ball with some skill. Justin Koschitzke bagged 2 goals. Jimmy Bartel (37 disposals, 6 marks) was great for the Cats and Joel Selwood (30 touches, a goal) threw himself into packs as usual. Gary Ablett (27 disposals, 8 tackles, a goal) performed on the big stage again and Paul Chapman (39 handlings, 10 marks, a goal) was crucial in getting 'em going after the slow start, Joel Corey (27 handlings, 6 marks, a goal) played pretty well too. You could tell Corey was serious 'cause he'd shaved off his beard. Travis Varcoe's (14 disposals, 3 marks, a goal) speed and skill was prominent at times too. Darren Milburn and Cameron Mooney booted 2 goals each. "We don't like (losing)," said Thompson. I thought he liked etc. "The boys are a little bit filthy and we're a bit disappointed, but it is good sometimes to taste the loss and be hurt by it," Thompson continued. "In some ways, we don't see it as a bad thing. I don't think either team would have any advantage over the other next time they play one another. We know a fair bit about St Kilda and they know a fair bit about us . . . There are so many things we'd like to do better and we've had a real good look. The beauty about this game was it was a pretty pressurised game, and we tried things that worked and that didn't work. They certainly exposed us in some areas. They have a very good knowledge of us and now we know what they're going to do against us. (The comeback) was one of the real positives out of the day. We could have just packed our bags and gone, but there was a resolve and a level of excellence. The
At Subiaco:
Fremantle 6.2 9.7 13.8 15.10.100
The Bluies rattled home in the final quarter to record a handy win, bouncing back from their thumping at the hands of the Bommers last week. Bloo folk and the
The Bluies were playing in blinding yellow guernseys (with navy-blue 'piping') as part of a fund-raising effort for Lance Armstrong's 'Livestrong' cancer charity. The guernseys were auctioned off afterwards. Or maybe Carton were imitating local Waffle side Subiaco. Counter-balancing Freo's late fade was a brilliant start. Six-and-half minutes into the first quarter the Dokkers'd had 23 disposals to Carton's 2 - yes, 2 - and scored 3.1 to nuthin' of course. Luke McPharlin stood up in Pavlich's absence and his long lead to the wing set up the first goal, a short pass to Hayden Ballantyne and his to Kepler Bradley saw Bradley lob a kick towards Aaron Sandilands 30m out, Matt de Boer roved the pack spillage, shrugged tackles and snapped truly. A minute later McParlin marked and lobbed a kick for Bradley to be awarded a dubious mark over Michael Jamison, Bradley barely held it but it was paid and he booted a goal. Then Nick Suban passed towards leading David Mundy who was shoved under the ball by Thornton, Mundy free-kicked a major. Suban's later miss gave Freo the 19-point lead. The Bluies began to win some of the ball now but didn't score, before Freo attacked again and Sandilands lumbered out to mark Des Headland's pass, Sandilands booted a long major and it were Freo by 25 points, 4.1 to nowt. The Bluies finally got on the board, Brendan Fevola kicked a point before Bryce Gibbs kicked into the pocket where back-running Jeff Garlett marked on his chest, Garlett steered a major from the tight angle. The game was tightening up a bit now as the Bluies midfield got moving, but early in time-on Freo got one (or should that be two?) of them annoying double-goals. McPharlin kicked the first, he led long to mark Duffield's pass on the 50m line and after Suban and Bluie Mark Austin tangled in the goal-square - Austin was reported - a 50m penalty to McPharlin gave him a simple tap-through. Afterwards Jamison handbagged with Ballantyne resulting in another Freo free, a 50m penalty was tacked onto that too after a Bluie trainer - a slender blonde woman, for those who'd be interested - wandered too close the action. Ballantyne popped through the sausage, his first-ever, I believe. Carton men Houlihan, Simpson and Judd kicked late behinds and the Dokkerz led by 28 points at korter-time. But that late salvo of Bloo points showed momentum was shifting. The Dokkerz scored very early in the second term, McPharlin led up to mark Suban's pass and then punt to the goal-square where Des Headland wrestled off Thornton to take a good grab and lob it through. A behind from Ballantyne and a rushed point had Freo a hefty 36 points up. Bloo man Setanta O'hAilpin committed the first of what'd be a few misses but a minute later he bagged a goal, Andrew Carrazzo's attempted pass wobbled over his head but Eddie Betts gathered and as O'hAilpin doubled back towards the posts he received Betts's handball and stabbed it through. The floodgates opened a little for the Bluies, from the following centre-bounce Carrazzo punted them forward and Freo's Duffield gathered the ball but couldn't break Jordan Russell's tackle, 'bawl' and Russell free-booted truly. Then Fevola came to the party, also free-kicking a major after Chris Tarrant dragged him back during a marking attempt. The deficit was back to 16 points when Freo broke the mini-run, Ballantyne sprinted past Gilmore to receive a handpass and the jockey-sized Freo forward drilled it through from 40m. The Blooze kept coming though, Bryce Gibbs playing very well for them and Judd slowly warming up. Fevola led and marked strongly in front of Tarrant before hammering a 55m goal, then a slick handpassing move released Judd who kicked long where Gibbs plucked an excellent mark over Schammer, played-on and walloped a great major from just in the 50. Chris Johnson held a good grab and lobbed a short pass ahead to O'hAilpin, who defied the odds by scoring full points with a difficult shot from the flank. Judd's behind narrowed the gap to 2 points, Ballantyne and Schammer kicked points before Ballantyne soccered a goal after roving Sandilands's contest about 15m out. Freo led by 11 points at half-time.
Into the third term and Fevola and O'hAilpin wasted early set-shot opportunities before Freo won the ball from a throw-in and Duffield kicked to the teeth of goal, Bradley roved his own contest and handballed to Ballantyne who finessed a bit before producing a wobbly banana-snap which sailed across the face of the sticks and dropped into the arms of Stephen Hill. Hill, a left-footer, produced a better banana-kick for the tight-angle major. The Blues replied, quick hands from Gibbs as he collected Greg Bentley's handball on-the-bounce and got one away to Shaun Grigg, who booted the sausage. Freo were 9 points ahead and received a boost from McPharlin, young Freo ruckman Zac Clarke won the ball from the following centre-bounce and handballed to Suban, he passed for leading McPharlin who was spoiled by Jamison but McPharlin turned sharply, recovered the ball an bounced a quick kick for a goal. McPharlin free-kicked the next goal, poised to mark Ballantyne's pass he received a meaty shove-in-the-back from Jamison. The Dockerators led by 21 points after those. Bloo tagger Aaron Joseph missed with a snap before O'hAilpin led to mark Judd's pass and convert from 40m, he's learning. Slowly. Freo's fatigue was becoming evident at this stage and the Bluesers began to press forward with increasing frequency, but they blazed away. Garlett and Russell produced off-target snaps and O'hAilpin missed with a set-shot much simpler than the one he'd converted earlier. Late in the stanza Freo managed a goal very much against the run of play, a tortuous bit of play finally saw Paul Hasleby kick to the top o' the 'square where Ballantyne failed to hold a juggling making attempt, Hill took the agget and handballed to Scot Thornton who snapped it through. Freo led by 18 points at the final change but the Bluebaggers rolled over 'em. Judd, Gibbs, Carrazzo and Marc Murphy all had ten (or more) touches in the final korter as Freo ground to a halt. From an opening-bounce clearance Garlett snapped a point but a minute later Johnson hooked a snap goal-wards and Fevola somehow marked the ball one-handed while jammed between Tarrant and the goal-post. Fev popped it through. Judd missed a shot but Murphy recovered Freo's kick-in and handballed for running Carrazzo to boot a 50m goal. Longest kick of his life, probably. The Bluies eventually won the ball from the restart, Judd heavily involved, and Johnson finessed a bit before feeding a handball to Gibbs, who also bagged a long sausage to put the Bloozers in front for the first time, by 2 points. A bit later Carrazzo booted another 50m goal - okay, the first one wasn't a fluke, or there was a stiff breeze blowing only when Carazzo kicked - after which Carton led by 9 points. The Blooze enjoyed a 10-point advantage before Freo scored for the first time in the stanza, a McPharlin point. But a bit later long kicks from Hill and Headland worked them forward and some tough work from de Boer and Brett Peake's rapid handball sent Mundy in for a running goal, which kept Freo alive. Peake followed up with what, in retrospect, was a pretty poor running miss. The Bloozers led by 2 points but romped away, some commentators were pretty unimpressed with the Dockulaters' effort from this point, given the state of the game. But you can't pull your socks up if you're not wearing any. Man-drawing, over-the-top handballs from Murphy and Betts set up a goal-square tap-through for Matthew Kreuzer, who'd spent a lot of the game in defence. Johnson's great tackle on lumbering Bradley forced a turnover and Grigg passed for leading O'hAilpin to mark and convert. Gibbs marked 60m out and dished off a handball to Johnson, who thumped it home from right on 50m. Carton led by 21 points and it was over, to the delight of their large and vocal supporter group. The Blooze seem to have a lot of fans in WA. Or maybe they did think they were watching Subiaco. Schammer kicked a goal in junk-time for Freo.
Young Bryce Gibbs (33 disposals, 11 marks, 2 goals) was terrific for the Blooze as Chris Judd (35 handlings, 9 tackles, 0.3) got going later, slowly working off Garrick Ibbotson's tag. Marc Murphy (27 touches, 7 marks) played well too and there was no need for Stevens to complete the 'Pre-Fab Four'. Or four-and-a-half if Stevens is out there. Jordan Russell (23 touches, 5 marks, a goal) actually did a little bit and Setanta O'hAilpin (10 kicks, 6 marks, 4 goals) was handy too. Ok, he's no star but he does try very hard. Andrew Carrazzo (33 handlings, 4 marks, 2 goals) was more than useful. Brendan Fevola (10 kicks, 7 marks) booted 3 goals. Luke McPharlin (20 disposals, 9 marks, 3 goals), who played CHF mostly, was very good for Freo and junior half-back Greg Broughton (31 touches, 8 marks) very handy, especially early. Defender Antoni Grover (26 possessions, 16 marks) took a bucket of marks and David Mundy (26 possessions, 5 marks, a goal) played well on his milestone. Hayden Ballantyne (13 kicks, 6 marks, 3 goals) gave the locals some excitement, he's a dead ringer for someone I can't recall at the moment. Byron Schammer (28 possies, 8 marks, a goal) battled hard as usual, Paul Hasleby (31 disposals, 7 marks) saw a lot of the ball but Aaron Sandilands spent much of the game in the forward-line and had little influence. It's part of Mark Harvey's plan, apparently. "I'm going to have to [rest them], just to do the right thing by them,"
Ladder after Round 14
Pts. % Next Week
St. Kilda 56 170.4 West Coast (Subiaco, Sunday)
Footscray 40 130.4 Collingwood (MCG, Fri. night)
Collingwood 36 118.4 Footscray (MCG, Fri. night)
Essendon 28 101.4 Sydney (SCG, Saturday)
------------------------------------------------
Port
Hawthorn 24 88.0 North
West Coast 16 88.8
North Melbourne 16 77.2 Hawthorn (
Fremantle 12 77.0
Cheers, Tim.
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