[AFL-Review] Round 21

AFL Preliminary Finals

Er, okay, best get onto these prelim finals. The other finals and round 22 are in the pipeline, promise.

Gary Ablett won the Brownlow Medal last Monday, a victory seen as overdue justice as Young Ablett has dominated other awards for the last three years (inclusive). Gablett Jnr won easily with 30 votes from Chris Judd (22) and Sainter Lenny Hayes (20), not dispelling the idea it's a midfielder's medal. Ablett was accused of stat-collecting in a Brownlow bid during recent weeks and there's no doubt he does a bit of that, but it's a by-product of the way the Cats play and as The Age's Connolly pointed out, Ablett does the hard stuff too. But you could argue the most important player in the leeg at the minute is Nick Riewoldt and he finished equal ninth with Bloo pair Gibbs and Murphy. Hmm. But the best thing about the Brownlow was seeing the Hun's headine; 'Fev Booze Probe'. I suppose he'd be able to ingest it more quickly that way. 

At the MCG:
St. Kilda   0.2   3.6   7.6    9.6.60
Footscray   2.5   4.7   6.7   7.11.53

Another exemplary demonstration of 'Saints footy', as coach Ross Lyon likes to call it, a grinding, tackle-heavy performance and a strong reliance on Nick Riewoldt to do the scoring. Still, it works and the Sainters are more than deserving Grand Finalists. The frustration was galling for the Bulldogs, going out at the same stage as last year in almost identical fashion; controlling possession for lengthy periods but unable to make it count on the scoreboard. The meedya again will harp on about their need for a key forward, but it's not as simple as that. Maybe they're just not experienced and mentally tough enough, lack genuine match-winners like Riewoldt; okay, he's a key forward. But recruiting Barry Hall - they've already offered Bazza a two-year contract - may be a mistake. The Dogs have been busy drafting tall kids for the last coupla years, maybe one or two of them should be given an opportunity. In selection, neither side was changed from the previous game.

Tough opening term in which the Pups, as mentioned, did well, applying plenty of 'frontal pressure' but failed to make it count sufficiently. Six minutes passed before the Dogs scored the opening goal, their ruckman Will Minson juggled a throw-in to the ground and handballs from Mitch Hahn and Daniel Cross saw Liam Picken have a quick left-foot snap which bounced through. The Bullies won the ball from the subsequent centre-bounce, in a sequence typical of the period Sainter backman Sam Fisher collected the ball but his nothing-kick from half-back was recovered well by the Dogs - but Ryan Griffen sent a running shot bouncing out-of-bounds, and copped some admonishment from team-mates. Hahn missed a tight-angle shot and Daniel 'Guido' Giansiracusa sent a difficult snap on the full; inside-50s were 8-1 the Dogs' way at this stage. Justin Koschitzke missed with a long-range free-kick from the flank, Sinkilda's first score, and copped some abuse from his opponent, All-Australian Brian Lake. Dale Morris was on Riewoldt. Griffen missed again with a running chance before the Dogs managed a second goal, good work from Jason Akermanis got the ball to running Shaun Higgins, who exchanged handballs with Giansiracusa and Higgins dobbed a running sausage. The Dogs led by 14 points then and 15 at korter-time, not a true reflection of their territorial dominance. The pattern continued into the second term but the Saints scratched out some goals. Nick Dal Santo slotted noicely for their first, five minutes later Andrew McQualter booted a goal and the margin was back to 4 points. But Morris was doing very well on Riewoldt, who began to lead away up to the wings for a touch, while Koschitzke hardly saw the ball. Bully Hahn bagged consecutive goals, eluding Brendon Goddard, to have the Dogs 15 points ahead again but a bit later Stainer skipper Lenny Hayes snapped a good major and the gap was back to 9 points, and 7 by half-time.

The third Mario started controversially with Riewoldt plummeting to the ground dramatically following a forearmed bump from Lake. It was before the opening bounce and the resulting free awarded to Riewoldt was sent for a goal, a pretty farcical decision. The worst it warranted was a free in the centre. Now the Sainters were just a point down, despite having being out-played to date. The Stainers lifted now, with Dal Santo having a big quarter and Fisher providing some more effective running from defence. A bit later Koschitzke led up for a grab on the flank and stabbed a centering pass for Fisher to mark and convert, to put the Sainters in front. At the following centre-bounce Dal Santo gathered the ball, rode some tackles and handballed for Goddard to spear a pass for Riewoldt to mark and boot another; the Stainers led by 11 points, with the last four goals of the game. But the Dogs hung in, Brad Johnson, who'd been everywhere in the first half, snapped a goal from ball-up and then the Dogs displayed some cool, drawing handpassing to carve through the packed Stainer defence and set up a noice, snapped goal for Giansiracusa. The Dogs had panicked a bit, bombing the ball forward but now they were in front again, by a point. The Puppies attempted to milk the clock as the final change approached but late in the term their Ryan Hargrave hesitated as Goddard dived in to force the ball clear and the previously unseen Stephen Milne snaggled a major. Thus the Satiners led by 5 points at three-korter-time. A tense final term unfolded, the Bullies regained the lead early when the busy Griffen's long kick saw Johnson out-mark Sam Gilbert and Johnno played-on to slam it through. And for a long while, you could dare to dream that the Bullies may play in their first GF since - geez - sometime in the 50s I guess. But two goal-less Sainter korters were a bit much to hope for and with seven minutes to go a long punt sent Sinkilda forward and there was Riewoldt to clutch a big pack-grab and boot a goal. The Sainters led by a point and the Dogs pressed forward furiously, locking the ball inside their crowded attacking 50 for a few minutes. But Giansiracusa's snap on-the-full was their only shot and in the final minute Sainter Clint Jones's clearing effort allowed the Saints to go forward and Riewoldt soccered pack-spillage for the sealer.   

No doubt Nick Riewoldt (18 disposals, 11 marks, 4 goals) was the most important Sainter on the ground, but big lifts from Nick Dal Santo (31 touches, 5 marks, a goal) and Lenny Hayes (34 possessions, 6 marks, a goal) helped the Saints back into it after half-time, as did the running Sam Fisher (30 touches, 7 marks, a goal). Clint Jones (23 disposals) did a good job tagging Adam Cooney and also winning some of the ball himself, Brendon Goddard (21 touches, 7 marks) and Steven Baker (12 touches, 4 marks) were useful too. Bulldog Ryan Griffen (28 disposals) hopefully silenced some critics of his big-game temperament while Brad Johnson (19 touches, 6 marks, 2 goals) did everything he could to propel the Dogs into the big one. Brian Lake (18 handlings, 7 marks) held Koschitzke while half-back Ryan Hargrave (25 possessions, 7 marks) saw a bit of the ball, as did fellow rebound men Lindsay Gilbee (18 touches, 5 marks) and Jarrod Harbrow (23 touches, 9 marks). Matthew Boyd (26 disposals) was very good early. Mitch Hahn kicked 2 goals. "We had our opportunities to win, didn't we?" Rocket Eade said. "[We had] more scoring shots and I thought the game from us was full of character and full of courage. Everything we planned the players carried out for, I suppose, 95 per cent of the time, to the letter of the law . . . I think the players showed a lot of character and a lot of courage when St Kilda kicked those three goals (after half-time) and got a bit of a break. Just to absorb that for the next ten minutes and then to be able to jag a couple back as well just showed the character of the group. Unfortunately, you know, a point down with a minute to go showed the game could have gone either way . . . I think there's a lot of positives and a lot of positives going forward. We've matured from last year and I've got no doubt we'll get better again. I've got no doubt that this group will sting from tonight like they stung from last year. I don't think we're far away, to be honest. We proved tonight, I mean for all intents and purposes, we could've, should've won." Eade pre-empted the key forward question. "I think our defence is okay, midfield's okay," he said. "Everyone says, you know, [you need a] tall forward. Obviously you'd love to have one, but you're not going to have one just for the sake of having it. I mean we still get enough chances so it wasn't a lack of a tall forward tonight; it was a lack of ability to kick straight and we normally kick straight." But they've gone after Hall, eh? Ross Lyon said "There is still work to be done and we're not celebrating - we certainly didn't celebrate in the rooms. I pointed out where they needed to improve and we've got incredible focus to prepare again and bring an effort and a game plan that we think will give us our best chance, but there'll be no guarantees obviously . . . This group or this club has been to four [of] the last six years' prelims and they're really tough games to win. Obviously you get to a grand final and it's a roll of the dice now, isn't it? You can't win them if you're not there. Prelims are really incredibly hard to win and there is a whole lot of tiredness and at times both teams displayed a little bit of that. The fans were roaring and [with] the closeness of the contest, ultimately it's about putting on a big show for our fans and I think they'd be proud of our boys' efforts and the effort they've shown all year. After quarter time, I thought we really ground our way back into it a fair bit – I don't know about control - but we were certainly well in the game after quarter time, I thought."

At the MCG:
Geelong      3.6   7.7   11.13   17.18.120
Collingwood  2.2   5.8    6.9     6.11.47

The Cats gave 'emselves a chance to atone for 2008 with anuge second-half performance to dismiss the Maggies. Perhaps it'll shut Poi fans up about being the nearly men of 2007 and the Pu55ies' kryptonite, or catnip if you like. In fact, the game confirmed the fears of many Poi fans; their terrific comeback win against the Camrys the previous week proved the Pise' Grand Final. Part of the problem was the respective strength of the sides; the Pu55ies approaching full, the Poise not so. But really, the Cats were too good. Busted-legged Poi Scott Pendlebury was a late pull-out and Josh Fraser was also unavailable. Formless Paul 'Butter Knives' Medhurst was dropped and Dayne Beams ended up replacing him as Pendlebury withdrew. On the other hand, the Katz welcomed back Steve Johnson and Max Rooke while losing Mathew Stokes with groin soreness. Youngster Simon Hogan was dropped, as Bomber Thompson foreshadowed he would be.

Cold, windy and wet at the 'G to start with, another factor seen as favouring the Catters. But as Ablett started off in the forward-pocket, the Poise dominated the opening minutes. Brad Dick popped up to mark 50m out, Dick's effort was too short but roving Poi Ben Johnson snapped a major. Dick and John Anthony missed chances before Dane Swan's long kick was marked on the 50m line by defender Harry O'Brien, Ablett's opponent at this point, and O'Brien sank a long sausage to have the Poise up 14-0. The massed Poi nuffers were roaring but as Ablett shifted onto the ball, the momentum swung sharply. Cat Joel Selwood used a free-kick to find leading Brad Ottens marking 40m out on the flank, Ottens slotted a great kick for the Cyats' first major. A minute later some Maggie defender shanked a clearing kick on-the-full and Jahlong's Shannon Byrnes banana-ed the resulting free-kick for full points, the Cats led by a point. Suddenly the Catters were dominating pack-clearances and they streamed forward for the next few minutes, but scored mostly behinds with Cam Mooney a leading culprit of course. Late in the term Paul Chapman snapped truly after roving a pack and the Cats led by 10 points at the first break. The weather began to clear up into the second term but the pattern of the game didn't change much. From the opening bounce of the stanza Cameron 'Cling' Ling punted the Cats into attack and TomaHawkins tapped the ball down for Chapman to gather and bag his second major. The Pies had a coupla chances but Swan missed after Cat Enright clangered the ball to him and Leigh Brown missed with a softish free-kick. Hawkins then thundered a 55m sausage roll from the flank after out-marking Prestigiacomo and the Catters led by 20 points with the last five goals of the game. The Poise had a break when Leigh Brown marked 50m out and had Cat Darren Milburn slap the ball out of his hands, a clear 50m penalty despite Milburn's protestations and Brown was presented with a shot even he couldn't miss. Dale Thomas booted the Pies into attack from the restart and Brown marked again, he hit the post this time. Ominously the Scraggies' key forwards, Anthony, Cloke, Didak and Davis, had been very quiet to this point. Jahlong led by 13 points only, though. From the kick-in of that Brown behind the Cats built-up slowly until Joel Corey punted long towards Ablett was awarded a mark or free-kick against an upset O'Brien. Ablett converted and the Catters led by 19 points. As the weather improved the game began to open up a bit but the Poise wasted some chances, Swan postered and Steele Sidebottom missed a tough shot. The Cats had targeted the normally free-running Poi skipper Nick Maxwell and after Maxwell marked and played-on in defence he was mowed down with a very good tackle from Hawkins, who majored from the subsequent free-kick. The Pu55y Cats led by 24 points now as the Pies' ineffective forward-line saw them bombing the ball aimlessly forward. But the Magpiss hung in with a couple late sausages, Cat backman Matty Scarlett attempted a Barry Hall-like rampage through multiple tackles and was about as successful (i.e. he wasn't) and Tarkyn Lockyer had a free-kick for 'bawl', he goaled. A bit later Cat backman James Kelly clutched a decent saving mark but sliced a poor kick straight to Alan Didak, who also booted a goal. Dargeelong's lead was back to 12 points and Cloke had a flying snap from a throw-in fractionally before the half-time siren, it missed. Cats by 11 at orange time.

The Poise were still a chance then, but the Cats produced a big push to start the third Mario. Andrew Mackie roved a forward-pocket throw-in and handballed for Steve Johnson to snap a major. A bit later Mooney marked on the wing and received a 50m penalty for some off-ball incident involving Didak. Couldn't happen to a nicer bloke. Thankfully, Mooney produced a rare, straight kick and the Catters led by 24 points. They won the next centre-clearance and Johnson marked 20m out, but missed poorly. A runnin' move ended with Corey stabbing a pass to Mackie 60m out, Mackie assessed options before stabbing a pass back to Corey who thumped it home from 50m. A Johnson poster had the Cats 32 points up. Maxwell shifted forward for the Poise but missed with a free-kick from 50m. The Pies' ball-use was ragged with juniors like Sidebottom and Brent Macaffer saddled with responsibility for scoring (or not, as was the case). Byrnes whipped a kick through for a six-pointer after gathering a loose ball, behinds from Johnson and Jimmy Bartel saw the Catters 39 points up, double Collywood's score at this stage. It wasn't looking good and the Music of Magpoi Surrender soon came as a 'Neon' Leon Davis mark on the wing was greeted with Bronx cheering from the Maggie folk. Fifteen seconds before the penultimate siren Macaffer held a decent grab 15m out, right in front, and booted what would prove to be the Maggies' final goal of the night. Geelong led by 34 points at the last change, not quite insurmountable. But it was, with the way the Poise were playing. Early in the final term Didak marked 45 m out but elected to lob a kick to the top of the goal-square, which Cat Milburn marked. Prestigiacomo turned-over on the wing and Milburn set up a goal for Travis Varcoe, who'd been very good. The Cats led by 40 points and it was well-and-truly over. The Catters went on to kick the last five goals of the game, including three for Chapman and one hammered through from 60m by Ablett.

Gary Ablett (34 disposals, 4 marks, 2 goals (2.3)) presented his credentials as the leeg's best player while quality midfield performances also came from Cameron Ling (27 touches, 4 marks), tagging Dane Swan (17), Jimmy Bartel (32 disposals, 13 marks) and Joel Corey (34 touches, 10 marks, a goal). Paul Chapman (26 possessions, 7 marks, 5 goals) was always dangerous in attack while Matthew Scarlett (15 handlings, 3 marks) and Harry Taylor (23 touches, 12 marks) took care of Anthony and Cloke respectively. Travis Varcoe (15 possies, 2 goals) did some classy things as usual. Shannon Byrnes and Tom Hawkins kicked 2 goals each. Pie winners were few, veteran battler Shane O'Bree (26 disposals) worked hard against the tide and Ben Johnson (22 possies, 2 marks, a goal) was alright, Nick Maxwell (12 touches, 3 marks) and Leigh Brown (15 handlings, 6 marks, a goal (1.2)) did a bit. They had six goal-kickers. Malthouse said "It was terrible. Shocking. Big crowd . . . it's a shame to have to talk to a group of players about the last half of football after what I believe has been a fairly productive year. The thing I was most disappointed with - and I told the players I wasn't going to say it but it's that obvious - we needed players to take responsibility. Last week we did, but there seemed to be a lack of it; leadership accountability, in many respects. That's not Nick Maxwell. That's a group of players that have played a number of games that need to have addressed certain things. One of them was bizarre. To allow Steele Sidebottom, Dayne Beams and I think Brent Macaffer to walk into the middle for a ball up against Ablett, Corey, Bartel . . . and a fresh ruckman, that's not what I call good sense . . . We've fallen away badly in the last few weeks in regard to midfield pressure, and midfield clearances and midfield scoring. We have four or five players that have really just fallen right away, and that's a concern and we have to look at that to see what we need to do to help address that. Hopefully the experience to Sidebottom and Beams and Macaffer and so forth . . . it's a moment in their time they can say they played senior football against the best sides.  It won't make their bodies any bigger over 12 months, but at least it gives them a sighter." True, it's still a young side that Malthouse has coached well, although the rumbling about Buckley taking over early probably started after this game. Malthouse spun his history at the club. "Football never ceases to amaze," he said. "We came together, this football club and myself in 1999, on the bottom, and played in a grand final three years later. We have done a lot of hard yards with a lot of young kids who should be stronger. I can't remember a grand final being won by too many young players. Basically, most sides will have a lot of 25-year-olds to 30 and a history of playing a long time together. That's our goal. What we've achieved this year has been an opportunity for a lot of players to play finals footy, and you cannot underestimate that." Bomber Thompson said "Our guys tonight were probably back to some of their best footy that they've played in a long time especially in that third quarter. I think, in some part, we may have intimidated the Collingwood players a little bit in that third period and that helped set up that flow of goals that occurred . . . (Ablett) was outstanding. The thing about wet weather is sometimes you worry about the game being closer and messier, but it's amazing how the good players are still good players in the wet and sometimes become better players. He handled it outstandingly well . . . We did have some severe (injury) problems in round 18, 19, 20 but I think that since then we've just done a lot right as far as the medical fitness and making brave decisions to play people at the right times.Credit to all the staff at the club to get those decisions right because they certainly helped us be a better team and they all played pretty well tonight . . . We match up really well (with Sinkilda), we have a long rivalry, they're filled with talented players and so are we, they are a big, strong-bodied team, they play a physical game and so do we. As a form guide, I think it's very even, it can go either way. They should respect us and we certainly respect them."

Next week:
St. Kilda v Geelong, MCG, Saturday.

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