[AFL-Review] Grand Final

AFL Grand Final.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Cheers, Tim. 

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