AFL Review Round 5
Western Bulldogs 18.13.121 Defeated Adelaide 10.12.72
The match was fairly tight in the first half and the Bulldogs led by just 3 goals at the big break. After half time the Bullies came out in the third and kicked 5 goals to one set up a match winning break. Giansiracusa with 35 touches was a dominant player for the Western Bulldogs and he was ably assisted by Ryan Griffen, a really classy player, who controlled the midfield. Barry Hall was a great focus at full forward and finished with 5 goals. Bulldogs captain Brad Johnson finally got his season underway and finished with a healthy 24 possessions. The Crows continue to over handle the ball and good teams can apply the pressure to them causing turnovers. Thompson and McLeod did okay for Adelaide and Tippett kicked 3 at full forward. Coach Craig admits that his team has a fair bit to do to resurrect the season and it’s going to be all uphill from here.
Sydney 17.13.115 Defeated West Coast 9.9.63
The Sydney Swans ensured that tips went as planned by easily beating the Eagles at the SCG. These two teams usually have close games but West Coast were out played and outclassed in nearly every position on the ground. West Coast and their coach promised a lot for the 2010 season but they are a long way from delivering. They continue to have problems up forward and I am sure every Eagles fan is dying to hear why Lynch continues to be ignored at the selection table. On the other hand the Swans are flying high with 4 very emphatic wins in the last 4 games and they now sit on top of the AFL ladder. Bradshaw toweled up West Coast captain Glass and kicked 6 good goals while Goodes, Jack and Malceski played well for the Swans along with Roberts-Thomson who was almost impassable in defence. Such a great start to the season will have Sydney fans betting on a finals appearance but the West Coast fans wished they hadn’t been so confident at the season start with their betting money. The Eagles will struggle to make the finals playing this style of football.
Melbourne 15.13.103 Defeated Brisbane 7.11.53
Tipsters who selected Melbourne to win this game obviously know nothing about the game….or do they? The Demons took the Lions on and just kept pushing the football through the centre corridor and they ran and they tackled and took risks and played on at all costs. Brisbane must have been plumb tuckered out after last week’s great win against The Bulldogs because they didn’t show a lot in this game. Brown was well held but Fevola chipped in with 4. Black, returning from injury, was his usual skilful self with heaps of possessions, most effective. Demons young guns Trengrove, Petterd, Sylvia and Jones all played well. When you think that this Melbourne team has some serious young talent in their side and they are all 19 or 20 years old (Sylvia is 23) it gives the Demons fans a fair bit of hope in the years to come. Three in a row to the Dees!
Port Adelaide 7.12.54 Defeated St Kilda 6.8.44
While the Lions were being thrashed across the border which brought their undefeated run to an end, Port didn’t read the script before this game and decided to play hard and tough and bring an end to the unbeaten run by the Saints as well!! A $100 bet on this double would have seen you with enough money to almost retire. All credit to the Power who looked like they were going to suffer another ignominious belting after the first quarter but came out all guns blazing and took it right up to the Saints playing them at their own style of hard football at close quarters. Rodan for Port was back after one of those miracle knee reconstructions and was just about best on ground. Cassisi and Chaplin were big possession earners for the Power and Schneider kicked 3 for the Saints, almost a lone hand up forward. Goddard couldn’t repeat his performance of last week against the Dockers and Koschitzke was rarely sighted. Most tipsters were looking at 2 – 2 after this game.
Collingwood 18.12.120 Defeated Essendon 8.7.55
When the Germans did a bit of land grabbing at the start of the 2nd World War it was referred to as a “blitzkrieg”. The Pies performed one of these assaults on the Bombers in the first quarter. They kept the Dons goalless and kicked 7 themselves virtually ending the game there and then for the 90,000 spectators. With a handy 44 point lead Collingwood kept up the pressure and the lead was 70 points by the start of the last quarter. Bomber fans went home sometime during the third quarter but every Collingwood fan stuck it out to the glorious end. Cloke kicked 4 for the game, 3 in the first quarter, Pendlebury gathered 30 plus possessions and won the VC, Beams was unbeatable and Didak and Fraser contributed in the forward line with Josh kicking 3 goals himself. Dempsey, Gumbleton and Fletcher did okay for the Bombers but they were outclassed all day. Collingwood have a full head of steam at this stage of the season but it doesn’t look like Essendon will climb to the dizzying heights they did last year.
North Melbourne 12.10.825 Defeated Hawthorn 10.10.70
Well if you thought the tipping weekend was bad already then this game was going to make it worse. It must have something to do with the ANZACS because the underdogs were putting up great fights and going on to win. This was no different which saw an unlikely, well not predicted, win to North Melbourne. The Hawks lost Renouf at the start of the game so they were virtually without a ruck all day and that makes it difficult at the stoppages. The game was close all day and it was only the last two goals of the game to North that gave them the win. Even a 5 goal haul from Buddy could not get a win for Hawthorn who have now lost their last 4 games and will need a major form reversal to climb into the 8. Hodge was the best for the Hawks and Roughead, thrust unexpectedly into the ruck did a reasonable job. Rawlings was the best for North and the 3 great goals by Wells in the third quarter were enough to inspire North to go on and win the game.
Fremantle 15.22.112 Defeated Richmond 11.7.73
My tips were sitting 3 from 6 and at the end of the first quarter in this match I was thinking 3 from 7. The Tigers came out cranking and kicked 6 goals to the 1 in the first. Were we looking at another upset? It all turned out okay as the Dockers applied themselves in the next 3 quarters to eventually win the game in a canter. Fremantle won the game by 39 points but with a score line including 22 behinds you would have to think the Tigers were lucky it wasn’t a 10 goal hiding. Sandilands dominated around the ground and that man Barlow bobbed up with another 30 plus possession game. Pav kicked 4 and Ballantyne kicked 3 as the major contributors for Freo and Nahas and Rance both kicked 3 for the Tigers. The loss keeps the Tigers rooted to the bottom of the ladder while the win puts the Dockers into the top 4. Melbourne and Fremantle?? The mind boggles.
Carlton 15.14.104 Defeated Geelong 9.14.68
It was great that Fremantle battled us out of a disastrous tipping weekend only to see Geelong go from 95 point winners one week to 36 point losers the following week and leave most tipsters with a 4 from 8 score board. The Blues were only 5 points up at quarter time but a 6 goal second quarter won them the game against a very ordinary looking Cats side. Judd and Ablett played great games with the points going to Judd for being more effective with less possessions. Johnson and Mooney were well held by the Carlton backs and at the other end of the ground Betts, Garland and Yarran created havoc with their speed and creativity in the forward line. Carlton kicked enough goals to win the game without Fevola and it will be interesting to see how they will go against Collingwood next week. Geelong face Richmond so they might go again from 36 point losers to 100 point winners.
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