[AFL-Review] Round 3

AFL Review Round 3

 

St Kilda 10.9.69 Defeated Collingwood 4.17.41

 

This was a brutal encounter physically with some questionable strong arm stuff starting even before the siren blew to officially commence proceedings. Collingwood was handed a goal pre-game and after some push and shove after that the umpires thought they might as well even it all with a goal to the Saints. Crazy stuff. For the Pies it made no difference what they threw at the Saints they were up to it. A very tight first half of football saw the Magpies ahead by 3 points at the big break. Bad news just before half time for the Saints when Nick Reiwoldt limped off with what looked like a bad hamstring injury. News to hand is that Nick might be out for up to 3 months with the injury. It’s a shame to see a great footballer missing from any line up let alone for the Saints who really need their centre half forward fit and well to have another crack at a premiership. Collingwood’s 4 goals to half time appeared to be enough for them as they did not kick a goal for the rest of the game!! Kicking 9 behinds in the last two quarters was never going to be enough. The Saints ran out comfortable winners in the end minus Reiwoldt.

 

North Melbourne 17.14.116 Defeated West Coast 13.13.91

 

For tipsters these form reversals in which a team can turn around a 104 point thrashing in one week then kick 17 goals in the following week to win a game is a nightmare. At no stage did North look like they were going to lose this game leaving the Eagles with a zip three start to the season and not looking good. 4 of north’s first few goals were the result of woeful West Coast turnovers and it’s a facet of their game they really need to look at. Bring back Lynch too says the fans but nobody in the West Coast selection camp is listening. Boomer Harvey, after what was probably his poorest game last week, was unstoppable in this game and would have got the umpires votes for BOG. LeCras kicked 5 for the Eagles up forward but he played almost a lone hand. West Coast were talking finals this year but unless they can start winning a few games playing in September will be a pipe dream.

 

Brisbane 16.12.108 Defeated Port Adelaide 11.15.81

 

This game was over at half time when the Lions had kicked 10 goals to the Power’s 3. The forward combination of Brown and Fevola added another bag of 8 to their already impressive total of 18 for the first three rounds. It will be interesting to see how Brisbane performs against the top 4 teams who will be a lot more successful blanketing these two forwards than any of the teams to date have been. The final margin of 27 points flatters Port Adelaide a little because at stages during the game the margin was always between 7 – 9 goals. A Brisbane ease off in the second half would have contributed to that. Salopek and Cornes were good for Port while for the Lions Sherman in his 100^th game played well.

 

Sydney 16.15.111 Defeated Richmond 7.14.56

 

The Richmond woes continued with an ordinary first half against the Swans and by that time the game was over pretty much like the Port Adelaide versus Brisbane game. Bradshaw kicked his 500^th goal in AFL, Cousins had no impact on the game and Sydney marched on into the second half just doing enough to maintain the lead they had built in the first two quarters. The Swans play North next week and Richmond play Melbourne, a game I don’t think they will win. As the season progresses it would be nice if Richmond supporters can see some improvement.

 

Essendon 13.17.95 Defeated Carlton 10.15.75

 

The nightmare weekend for tipsters continued with Carlton, the favourite, going down to the Bombers who were convincingly beaten by the Dockers last week. It was close all day but in the last quarter Essendon drew away to increase their three quarter time margin from 12  points to 20 points at the final siren. This was one of those games the Blues missed Fevola up forward. For the Bombers their veteran Fletcher was among their best and Simpson tried hard all day for the Blues. Both teams now sit in the midfield of the ladder with a win and two losses. Seems that’s about where they will finish at the end of the season.

 

Melbourne 7.15.57 Defeated Adelaide 5.11.41

 

Finally the Demons cracked a win and that was after kicking just one goal in the first half! Lucky for Mlebourne that the Crows had only kicked four goals in that half. In the second half Adelaide kicked just the one goal and played the game out with just 19 fit players .In the last quarter the ball ricocheted between the two back lines for over 20 minutes during which time Melbourne had kicked a solitary point to lead by that margin. Continual attacks into the forward 50 finally paid dividends for the Demons when they kicked a goal at the 28 minute mark of the last quarter and sealed it when Jamar tapped to Jones in a forward stoppage about a minute later and Jones dashed into an open goal for the last score of the match. The Demons could be 2 – 2 after next week when they play the Tigers but I think every game from here on for the Crows will be a challenge to win. Trengrove, Grimes, Frawley and Green played particularly well for the Demons and Goodwin and Knights stood out for the Crows. Hopefully the Melbourne win will be a bit of a positive jab for Jim Stynes in his latest battle against cancer.

 

Western Bulldogs 14.16.100 Defeated Hawthorn 12.12.84

 

The game was close nearly all day but the Bulldogs proved a bit too strong in the last quarter. Injuries early in the game for the Hawks did not help leaving them with just 20 players although the Doggies  lost a player early as well. This was a telling factor in the last quarter especially when Western Bulldogs midfielders Cross, Cooney and Boyd kept pumping the ball forward into the waiting arms of Barry Hall who finished with 6. Another good tester for the Western Bulldogs next week when they play Brisbane while Hawthorn gets it tough again when they meet Collingwood. Worthy of a mention was that this game was not televised into the west, was not broadcast into the west on ABC and even Foxtel could not find a time slot to replay the game until 1.30am Monday!!

 I tell you........

 

Fremantle 18.17.125 Defeated Geelong 17.16.118

 

Yes you need to read that score line again. It’s not the fact that the Dockers beat the Cats in this game it’s the way in which Fremantle came back from being more than 3 goals down against the reigning premiers and found something extra to get back into the game and go on and win! It was a great game of football as well and it was a pleasure to watch Ablett and Pavlich turn it on for football lovers. Pav’s 26 possession 5 goal game certainly helped the Dockers win this one. Fremantle are second on the ladder, undefeated, and play the other grandfinalist from last year, St Kilda, also undefeated, at Etihad stadium next week. Dare they dream??!!