Bluey
7th August 2001, 07:21
AFLTips.Com Review News
Round 18 - 6 August 2001
w: http://www.afltips.com/
e: adrian@afltips.com
* Brought to you in conjunction with BigFooty.com -
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* Play the BigFooty Fantasy Footy game here -
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+----------+
READ:
I've got some sort of cold at the moment so no sparkling
commentary from me. Sorry this is late out. I'm off to dose
myself up with a drug concoction and then to bed.
- AA
+----------+
INDEX
1) Prize Draw
2) "Weekly Round-Up" - match reviews by our Regular Contributors
3) Various info about AFLTips.Com
+----------+
1) Prize Draw
This week's winner is someone by the name of Mozz Attack.
Contact me with your team preference please.
You can win a footy geurnsey stubby holder, just for being a
subscriber. Read about the prize draw here:
http://www.afltips.com/prizedraw.html
Until next time,
Adrian Appleyard
adrian@afltips.com
+----------+
2) Weekly Round-Up
from our Regular Contributors
http://www.afltips.com/people/
(E-mail adrian@afltips.com if you'd like to become a
contributor.)
**********
Richmond v. Collingwood
Friday, 3 August 2001 - MCG 7:40 PM
Richmond 10.11 (71) def Collingwood 6.15 (51)
Well after a scrappy, fairly boring contest, Richmond all but
secured only their second finals appearance for 19 years. The
only way Richmond will drop out of the eight is if they fail to
win another game for the year and all of Collingwood, Geelong,
Bulldogs and Adelaide win all of their remaining 4 games. This
will not happen.
Collingwood however have fallen in a heap since their inspiring
win against Adelaide. They have lost 4 of their last 5 games,
and only creeped across the line from the struggling Dockers. In
these 4 losses however they have been in the game up until half
time. The biggest deficit has been 4 points (against Hawthorn)
at halftime and they were 9 points up at halftime on Friday
night. Last half (especially third quarters) fadeouts have
riddled Collingwood in the last month. They could and probably
should be in Richmonds position at the moment as well.
The game failed to live up to any great standard. It was one of
the most error riddled boring games of the year. Collingwood had
the chance early on to break the game wide open, but failed to
put their opportunities onto the scoreboard, and with a late goal
to Richmond to put them up at ¼ time. Collingwood hit back hard
in the second quarter, and early in the third but still couldn't
put the game away. Collingwood failed to kick a goal after 10
minutes into the third quarter.
A few best players: Bowden had a fantastic game getting 26
touches and a goal, while keeping Buckley to only 20 touches.
Gale and Ottens clearly won the battle of the ruckman, with 37
hitouts to Collingwoods 18. Ottens also bopped up for 3 goals.
Campball was busy in the midfield along with Chaffey and Fiora
showed a few signs of why he was picked so early in the 99 draft.
Holland was great in defence for the Tigers. Richardson was his
normal great one quarter shocking the next player he is.
Collingwoods best players were few and far between. Licuria was
busy in the midfield along with O'bree. Molloy played ok up
forward without scoring though. Lockyear played an admirable
game while Nick Davis was Collingwoods best forward option with 3
goals. Davis has certainly been one of Collingwoods best
performers this year and has improved his game beyond sight. A
future star of the AFL.
Richmond fans will be ecstatic over the fact that they are almost
certain of playing in the finals for the first time since 1995.
Collingwood however rue another missed chance. They are kept in
the eight due to other games results, but the Pies certainly
cannot rely on that to creep them into the
eight. It was a gallant effort by the Pies this season, but I
think they will fall just short of the mark.
- Macca19
**********
Geelong v. Melbourne
Saturday, 4 August 2001 - MCG 2:10 PM
Phil Doyle has gone walkabout, so get the stats here:
http://www.afl.com.au/results/matchresults_10802.htm
And talk about the game here:
http://130.94.170.53/forum/forumdisplay.php?s=&forumid=26
or here:
http://130.94.170.53/forum/forumdisplay.php?s=&forumid=27
- AA
**********
Hawthorn v. Fremantle
Saturday, 4 August 2001 - Colonial Stadium 2:10 PM
It was bound to happen, the only question was when.
Fremantle had been threatening to finally put it all
together and manage a win in 2001. But at 10 minutes
into the 2nd quarter on Saturday at Colonial Stadium,
it didn't look like happening against Hawthorn.
The Hawks led by 41 points and had winners all over
the ground, with Barker dominating, Crawford amassing
an amazing 17 possessions in a quarter and a half, and
Rawlings marking anything that came down back.
But despite the ease at which the Hawks were winning,
there were problems that would come back to haunt them
in the form of a massive injury list. Chick was first
to go with a hamstring strain after kicking a goal at
the 5 minute mark of the 1st quarter. Tim Clarke was
then taken high off the ball in an incident that saw
Heath Black reported and Clarke in hospital with a
broken collarbone.
But the real turning point came after half time.
Although the Hawks were still 29 points up, all of a
sudden Rawlings was off with an ankle injury, and more
importantly, Crawford with a thigh strain.
The message went out to the Dockers players to run
like crazy, and they certainly did. Peter Bell, freed
from Crawford, was everywhere, playing one of the
games of the season with nearly 40 possessions and 2
goals. But other, younger Freo players stood up as
well. Stephen Koops snuck away to kick 3 goals, while
Longmuir was too good for a struggling John Hay,
kicking 5 goals, including the sealer in the final
quarter. Hadrill and McManus were also very good
early when many of their teammates were struggling.
But the Hawks simply ran out of legs. Only Nathan
Thompson and Angelo Lekkas can say they put in a 4
quarter performance, although Aaron Lord did well to
snare 4 goals. But the burden of having to play a
woefully unfit Sean Rehn at full-forward, along with a
struggling Tony Woods, meant the Hawks were always
going to be battling after half-time.
So for Freo, after 370 days, the drought was broken,
and the old heave ho rang out through the quickly
emptying Colonial, with only a few hundred Docker fans
there to savour one of the biggest upsets in the past
decade of AFL football.
- Dominic Milesi
Talk about the game here:
http://130.94.170.53/forum/forumdisplay.php?s=&forumid=19
or here:
http://130.94.170.53/forum/forumdisplay.php?s=&forumid=23
**********
Sydney v. Kangaroos
Saturday, 4 August 2001 - SCG 7:40 PM
I'm not too sure what was more painful last night, North's loss
or the commentary from channel 7. If we think of the loss as
this dirty great wound, a big open gash with flesh exposed and
blood pouring out, the type of thing that I've been told where
the initial shock of the injury causes the adrenaline to kick in
so that you don't actually feel it, then the commentary team can
be regarded as the huge lump of salt that's dumped onto the wound
that shocks you back into the true agony of it all.
At half-time, with the game well and truly over, my thoughts were
not of what Pagan would be saying to rouse up the troops, but I
was wondering what the producers would be saying to their
commentators. Could you imagine this?
"Plugger, stick another marble in your mouth when speaking will
ya? Your elocution is a bit too clear, didn't you learn anything
from the Stephen Kernahan school of public speaking?".
"Jason, can you please sound a little bit more smug….try and get
that patronising tone right will you?"
"Sandy, if you get lost for words trying to generate some
excitement over a game that's now over, here are a few choice
quotes that we've borrowed from the WWF"
It's an F-grade commentary team for an F-grade effort from my
beloved Kangaroos. The last time the Roos lost by over a hundred
points was to Essendon in last year's finals. It was a result
that we could cop on the chin as the 2000 Dons were one of the
finest football machines in history. But to lose in a similar
way against Sydney's mix of geriatrics (their midfield), cast-
offs (Schwass, Williams, etc.), and largely unfulfilled talents
(O'Loughlin, Goodes, Stafford), well, unless the Swans go on to
win the premiership (which they won't), it's hard to put any
positive spin on it.
Okay, I'm sounding like a sore loser. But dammit, here was one
game where I could not take any positive out of North's
performance, and thus, I'm in a very dirty mood. I should give
credit to the Swans for not only getting their tactics right, but
in executing them as per Eade's instructions. But such was the
lack of effort from the Roos (and it was so bad that I cannot
recall a single minute of the game where you could say that the
Roos had total control of the play), it's hard to put any true
value on the Swans victory (4 points and percentage boost
notwithstanding). Oh well, the Swans will be in the finals, but
my boys won't be, so I'd better ring up some Richmond and
Collingwood pals to get advice on what to do when your team isn't
playing during September.
Nonetheless, next week is another game. I will be out there
again, cheering on the Duck, and Corza, Mick, Arch, Blakes,
Jason, Shagga, Jess, Spider, Choppy, Sav, Boomer, Kingy, Motters,
and all their mates. It's the Cats and my bragging rights over
some very close friends are at stake. So come on you mighty
Rooboys!
- Shinboners
**********
Port Adelaide v. Adelaide
Sunday, 5 August 2001 - Football Park 1:40 PM (2:10 PM AEST)
Picture this: a match reviewer's dream clash. A sports-mad city
is at fever pitch, as a massive crowd builds up to await the
clash of the metropolis' two biggest sporting titans. A match
between bitter, traditional rivals which will not only determine
who has bragging and strutting rights over the city for the next
six months, but will go a long way to determining how the final
eight will be shaped come September.
But instead of watching Carlton and Essendon, I'm stuck reviewing
the bloody Port v Adelaide game, or "Snoredown 10" as it's known
in these parts.
In fairness, there was a fair bit riding on this game, and it was
a tough, tight and exciting contest. The Crows desperately
needed a win to keep in touch with the bottom half of the eight,
while the Power needed to keep winning to try and secure a double
chance.
The Throws came out firing early, aided by a slight breeze to the
Pie Floater Vendors' end of the stadium. Captain Mark Ricciuto
scored the opening two goals of the game to set the tone, and
when Peter Vardy used up his one good piece of play per week to
snap a great goal, Ayres' Assault-Rifles were four goals to the
good inside twenty minutes.
Port were not to be cowed, recovering from the early deficit on
the back of their own captain. After Fabian Francis had set the
Power Bandwagon rolling with two trademark goals, Matthew Primus
went to full forward and used his colossal backside to help him
snag three goals before the tractor had to drag him back to the
rooms for half time.
The Bomber-conquerors had turned a 23 point deficit into a seven
point game by the break, and continued to impose themselves on
the game by keeping the visitors goalless with the breeze in the
third term while scoring four themselves to set up the victory.
(Just an aside on the Showdown visitors. I propose that a new set
of change rooms is built at Football Park, for the exclusive use
of the "away" side in Adelaide/Port games. The rooms should be
designed on the same basis as the visitors' facilities at
Moorabbin, preferably with the same plumbers involved too. I
think it would add something to the occasion.)
The Crows looked dead after the Power had scored the first goal
of the final quarter, but Darren Jarman deigned to turn up and
kicked the goal to start the Crows' comeback. Andrew McLeod and
Mark Stevens joined in, and Adelaide were suddenly within two
goals. But the break proved too large, the Power winning by seven
points to consolidate their top four claims.
Best for the winners were former Fitzroy players Primus, with
three goals and a dominant ruck performance, and Stephen Paxman,
who blanketed Jarman. Francou, Nick Stevens and Roger James had
good games in the midfield. The Crows were led by skipper
Ricciuto, a busy Mark Bickley and Stevens.
Port can look forward to a soft four points against the woeful
Saints at the television studio next Saturday, while the Crows
are back on home turf to face another Bomber-conqueror, this time
Carlton.
- Mark O'Connor
**********
Brisbane v. Western Bulldogs
Sunday, 5 August 2001 - Gabba 2:10 PM
Bris. Lions 4.4 8.10 13.16 19.22 (136)
Bulldogs 3.4 5.7 12.10 15.13 (103)
A spot in the top eight was there for the taking, but the
Bulldogs in the end were just not good enough. Sure, they were in
control at stages in the game but what they failed to do in that
time was convert this onto the scoreboard. Meanwhile, Brisbane
were kicking goals from 60m out, with Akermanis being the main
culprit. You really wouldn't know who was playing on Akermanis
because he was by himself that often.
Bulldog Scott West was sitting on the bench when the game began.
There was no other possible reason other than him being sick or
injured. Finally channel 7 managed to find out why at three
quarter time! He was sick with a migraine. This was a huge loss
for the dogs considering the Lions strength in the midfield with
players such as Voss, Black and Lappin.
Something which is sure to come under scruitiny by the AFL this
week (not) is the fact that Libba came off the ground with a cut
below his eye and blood pooring down his face. Later on he had
the biggest lump under his eye but it's not like we haven't seen
it a million times before. But, don't be at all surprised if the
Bulldogs send another please explain letter to the umpires after
another woeful display. For starters, how inconsistent is the
interpretation of the deliberate out of bounds rule?
For the Lions, Akermanis was absolutely on fire kicking 4 goals
and running rampent through the midfield. Black, Voss and Lappin
with 27, 23 and 24 possessions respecively were very damaging. Up
forward Lynch and Headland were very good, both kicking 3 goals.
Bulldog small forward, Simon Garlick kicked 5 goals while skipper
Chris Grant booted 3. Darcy was great in the ruck and marked well
around the ground as usual, while Robbins returned to form after
a fair amount of bench time recently.
The Lions won the game basically with short bursts of really good
football where they would kick a few goals in a row quickly.
Turnovers, particularly across half forward also killed the
Bulldogs. The Lions look like they are likely to finish in 2nd
spot and are only a game behind Essendon. Meanwhile the Bulldogs
are pretty much in the same position as they were before the
start of the round. The good news is that there is still some
hope for a 5th consecutive finals birth.
Best
Brisbane Lions: Akermanis, Black, Headland, Voss, Lappin
Bulldogs: Darcy, Robbins, Garlick, Brown, Ellis, Grant
Goals
Brisbane Lions: J.Akermanis 4, D.Headland 3, A.Lynch 3, S.Black
2, J.Brown 2, M.Ashcroft 1, S.Hart 1, B.McDonald 1, T.Notting 1,
L.Power 1
Bulldogs: S.Garlick 5, C.Grant 3, T.Bartlett 2, B.Johnson 2,
NG.Brown 1,
L.Darcy 1, N.Eagleton 1
- HahnPremium8
**********
Essendon v. Carlton
Sunday, 5 August 2001 - MCG 2:10 PM
ESSENDON 4.0 9.1 11.8 14.11 ( 95)
CARLTON 7.1 10.3 12.4 16. 6 (102)
Goals:
Essendon: M Lloyd 4 P Barnard 2 M Mercuri J Hird A Ramanauskas M
McVeigh J
Johnson S Lucas C McGrath D Jacobs.
Carlton: M Lappin 5 A Franchina 3 S Camporeale 2 B Ratten L
Whitnall A
Hickmott M Porter R Houlihan A Koutoufides.
Best:
Essendon: J Hird M McVeigh B Caracella A Ramanauskas P Barnard J
Johnson.
Carlton: M Lappin B Ratten A Hickmott S Silvagni A Koutoufides A
Franchina.
Injuries: Essendon: J Hird (ankle). Carlton: Nil.
Reports: M Lloyd (Essendon) reported by field umpire S McBurney
for striking
S Fletcher (Carlton) during the third quarter.
Umpires: B Allen, B Sheehan, S McBurney.
Official crowd: 75,873 at MCG.
DONS ONCE BITTEN, TWICE LOST TO BLUES
Hands up who wants to see an Essendon versus Carlton Grand Final?
After defeating the reigning premiers and current league leaders
Essendon for the second time this year, The Blues again loom as
one of the chief contenders to challenge for the 2001
Premiership.
Before an attending crowd of over 75,000 in Melbourne's
frequently changing weather conditions, The Carlton Blues
(16.6.102) withheld the demands of Essendon's Bombers (14.11.95)
to win a close-knit contest by seven points. The Blues now sit in
sixth position, with the second highest percentage on the AFL
ladder and could return to as high as fourth place after next
round.
It was Craig Bradley's 350th match for Carlton, although the
Blues skipper was somewhat overshadowed by the match winning
efforts of fellow crumb gatherers including Matthew Lappin,
Adrian Hickmott and Anthony Franchina. Lappin gathered plenty of
possessions as well as heading the goal tally with five, while
Hickmott was busy with 20 first-half possessions and Franchina
booted three goals in a solid display for The Blues.
When Carlton defeated the Bombers earlier in the year, they did
so while many of their big guns were unavailable due to injuries.
On this occasion a full strength Carlton side was served
dutifully by team leaders Anthony Koutoufides, Brett Ratten,
Scott Camporeale, Andrew McKay and Stephen Silvagni. Lance
Whitnall also made a healthy return by taking nine marks, but it
was Lappin who was the standout. The former Saints opportunist
kicked the last two goals to steal and seal the victory in a
fitting end to his day's performance.
The Bombers had much less to cheer about. Full forward Matthew
Lloyd, whom recently admitted to Essendon's overall hunger to
succeed has dipped this year, kicked four goals to take his
current season tally to 83. However, Lloyd was reported on a
striking charge against Simon Fletcher, which may cause headaches
for The Bombers with captain James Hird suffering an ankle injury
that could keep him out for up to a month.
Although the Essendon stranglehold on the competition still
exists, it may not be quite as prevalent as once thought. Now
only one game ahead of the second placed and probably more
desperate Brisbane Lions, The Bombers chances of feeling the
pinch from an unlucky turn of events appears more apparent now
than at any other time in the last two years.
Not that anyone outside of the red and black is complaining. The
possibility of a Grand Final between two of Melbourne's most
powerful and evenly competitive AFL teams, in the largest stadium
in Australia, with a capacity crowd and massive public interest?
Who wouldn't like to see that...
- matto
**********
West Coast v. St Kilda
Sunday, 5 August 2001 - Subiaco 2:30 PM (4:30 PM AEST)
This is becoming a habit.
Unfortunately we had no-one who could take over from Mic when he
was called to work this week, so get the stats here:
http://www.afl.com.au/results/matchresults_10819.htm
And talk about the game here:
http://130.94.170.53/forum/forumdisplay.php?s=&forumid=17
or here:
http://130.94.170.53/forum/forumdisplay.php?s=&forumid=22
- AA
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Copyright (C) Adrian Appleyard, 2001
ENDS
************************************************************ *****
Round 18 - 6 August 2001
w: http://www.afltips.com/
e: adrian@afltips.com
* Brought to you in conjunction with BigFooty.com -
http://www.bigfooty.com/
* Play the BigFooty Fantasy Footy game here -
http://footy.virtualsports.com.au/?partner_id=1
+----------+
READ:
I've got some sort of cold at the moment so no sparkling
commentary from me. Sorry this is late out. I'm off to dose
myself up with a drug concoction and then to bed.
- AA
+----------+
INDEX
1) Prize Draw
2) "Weekly Round-Up" - match reviews by our Regular Contributors
3) Various info about AFLTips.Com
+----------+
1) Prize Draw
This week's winner is someone by the name of Mozz Attack.
Contact me with your team preference please.
You can win a footy geurnsey stubby holder, just for being a
subscriber. Read about the prize draw here:
http://www.afltips.com/prizedraw.html
Until next time,
Adrian Appleyard
adrian@afltips.com
+----------+
2) Weekly Round-Up
from our Regular Contributors
http://www.afltips.com/people/
(E-mail adrian@afltips.com if you'd like to become a
contributor.)
**********
Richmond v. Collingwood
Friday, 3 August 2001 - MCG 7:40 PM
Richmond 10.11 (71) def Collingwood 6.15 (51)
Well after a scrappy, fairly boring contest, Richmond all but
secured only their second finals appearance for 19 years. The
only way Richmond will drop out of the eight is if they fail to
win another game for the year and all of Collingwood, Geelong,
Bulldogs and Adelaide win all of their remaining 4 games. This
will not happen.
Collingwood however have fallen in a heap since their inspiring
win against Adelaide. They have lost 4 of their last 5 games,
and only creeped across the line from the struggling Dockers. In
these 4 losses however they have been in the game up until half
time. The biggest deficit has been 4 points (against Hawthorn)
at halftime and they were 9 points up at halftime on Friday
night. Last half (especially third quarters) fadeouts have
riddled Collingwood in the last month. They could and probably
should be in Richmonds position at the moment as well.
The game failed to live up to any great standard. It was one of
the most error riddled boring games of the year. Collingwood had
the chance early on to break the game wide open, but failed to
put their opportunities onto the scoreboard, and with a late goal
to Richmond to put them up at ¼ time. Collingwood hit back hard
in the second quarter, and early in the third but still couldn't
put the game away. Collingwood failed to kick a goal after 10
minutes into the third quarter.
A few best players: Bowden had a fantastic game getting 26
touches and a goal, while keeping Buckley to only 20 touches.
Gale and Ottens clearly won the battle of the ruckman, with 37
hitouts to Collingwoods 18. Ottens also bopped up for 3 goals.
Campball was busy in the midfield along with Chaffey and Fiora
showed a few signs of why he was picked so early in the 99 draft.
Holland was great in defence for the Tigers. Richardson was his
normal great one quarter shocking the next player he is.
Collingwoods best players were few and far between. Licuria was
busy in the midfield along with O'bree. Molloy played ok up
forward without scoring though. Lockyear played an admirable
game while Nick Davis was Collingwoods best forward option with 3
goals. Davis has certainly been one of Collingwoods best
performers this year and has improved his game beyond sight. A
future star of the AFL.
Richmond fans will be ecstatic over the fact that they are almost
certain of playing in the finals for the first time since 1995.
Collingwood however rue another missed chance. They are kept in
the eight due to other games results, but the Pies certainly
cannot rely on that to creep them into the
eight. It was a gallant effort by the Pies this season, but I
think they will fall just short of the mark.
- Macca19
**********
Geelong v. Melbourne
Saturday, 4 August 2001 - MCG 2:10 PM
Phil Doyle has gone walkabout, so get the stats here:
http://www.afl.com.au/results/matchresults_10802.htm
And talk about the game here:
http://130.94.170.53/forum/forumdisplay.php?s=&forumid=26
or here:
http://130.94.170.53/forum/forumdisplay.php?s=&forumid=27
- AA
**********
Hawthorn v. Fremantle
Saturday, 4 August 2001 - Colonial Stadium 2:10 PM
It was bound to happen, the only question was when.
Fremantle had been threatening to finally put it all
together and manage a win in 2001. But at 10 minutes
into the 2nd quarter on Saturday at Colonial Stadium,
it didn't look like happening against Hawthorn.
The Hawks led by 41 points and had winners all over
the ground, with Barker dominating, Crawford amassing
an amazing 17 possessions in a quarter and a half, and
Rawlings marking anything that came down back.
But despite the ease at which the Hawks were winning,
there were problems that would come back to haunt them
in the form of a massive injury list. Chick was first
to go with a hamstring strain after kicking a goal at
the 5 minute mark of the 1st quarter. Tim Clarke was
then taken high off the ball in an incident that saw
Heath Black reported and Clarke in hospital with a
broken collarbone.
But the real turning point came after half time.
Although the Hawks were still 29 points up, all of a
sudden Rawlings was off with an ankle injury, and more
importantly, Crawford with a thigh strain.
The message went out to the Dockers players to run
like crazy, and they certainly did. Peter Bell, freed
from Crawford, was everywhere, playing one of the
games of the season with nearly 40 possessions and 2
goals. But other, younger Freo players stood up as
well. Stephen Koops snuck away to kick 3 goals, while
Longmuir was too good for a struggling John Hay,
kicking 5 goals, including the sealer in the final
quarter. Hadrill and McManus were also very good
early when many of their teammates were struggling.
But the Hawks simply ran out of legs. Only Nathan
Thompson and Angelo Lekkas can say they put in a 4
quarter performance, although Aaron Lord did well to
snare 4 goals. But the burden of having to play a
woefully unfit Sean Rehn at full-forward, along with a
struggling Tony Woods, meant the Hawks were always
going to be battling after half-time.
So for Freo, after 370 days, the drought was broken,
and the old heave ho rang out through the quickly
emptying Colonial, with only a few hundred Docker fans
there to savour one of the biggest upsets in the past
decade of AFL football.
- Dominic Milesi
Talk about the game here:
http://130.94.170.53/forum/forumdisplay.php?s=&forumid=19
or here:
http://130.94.170.53/forum/forumdisplay.php?s=&forumid=23
**********
Sydney v. Kangaroos
Saturday, 4 August 2001 - SCG 7:40 PM
I'm not too sure what was more painful last night, North's loss
or the commentary from channel 7. If we think of the loss as
this dirty great wound, a big open gash with flesh exposed and
blood pouring out, the type of thing that I've been told where
the initial shock of the injury causes the adrenaline to kick in
so that you don't actually feel it, then the commentary team can
be regarded as the huge lump of salt that's dumped onto the wound
that shocks you back into the true agony of it all.
At half-time, with the game well and truly over, my thoughts were
not of what Pagan would be saying to rouse up the troops, but I
was wondering what the producers would be saying to their
commentators. Could you imagine this?
"Plugger, stick another marble in your mouth when speaking will
ya? Your elocution is a bit too clear, didn't you learn anything
from the Stephen Kernahan school of public speaking?".
"Jason, can you please sound a little bit more smug….try and get
that patronising tone right will you?"
"Sandy, if you get lost for words trying to generate some
excitement over a game that's now over, here are a few choice
quotes that we've borrowed from the WWF"
It's an F-grade commentary team for an F-grade effort from my
beloved Kangaroos. The last time the Roos lost by over a hundred
points was to Essendon in last year's finals. It was a result
that we could cop on the chin as the 2000 Dons were one of the
finest football machines in history. But to lose in a similar
way against Sydney's mix of geriatrics (their midfield), cast-
offs (Schwass, Williams, etc.), and largely unfulfilled talents
(O'Loughlin, Goodes, Stafford), well, unless the Swans go on to
win the premiership (which they won't), it's hard to put any
positive spin on it.
Okay, I'm sounding like a sore loser. But dammit, here was one
game where I could not take any positive out of North's
performance, and thus, I'm in a very dirty mood. I should give
credit to the Swans for not only getting their tactics right, but
in executing them as per Eade's instructions. But such was the
lack of effort from the Roos (and it was so bad that I cannot
recall a single minute of the game where you could say that the
Roos had total control of the play), it's hard to put any true
value on the Swans victory (4 points and percentage boost
notwithstanding). Oh well, the Swans will be in the finals, but
my boys won't be, so I'd better ring up some Richmond and
Collingwood pals to get advice on what to do when your team isn't
playing during September.
Nonetheless, next week is another game. I will be out there
again, cheering on the Duck, and Corza, Mick, Arch, Blakes,
Jason, Shagga, Jess, Spider, Choppy, Sav, Boomer, Kingy, Motters,
and all their mates. It's the Cats and my bragging rights over
some very close friends are at stake. So come on you mighty
Rooboys!
- Shinboners
**********
Port Adelaide v. Adelaide
Sunday, 5 August 2001 - Football Park 1:40 PM (2:10 PM AEST)
Picture this: a match reviewer's dream clash. A sports-mad city
is at fever pitch, as a massive crowd builds up to await the
clash of the metropolis' two biggest sporting titans. A match
between bitter, traditional rivals which will not only determine
who has bragging and strutting rights over the city for the next
six months, but will go a long way to determining how the final
eight will be shaped come September.
But instead of watching Carlton and Essendon, I'm stuck reviewing
the bloody Port v Adelaide game, or "Snoredown 10" as it's known
in these parts.
In fairness, there was a fair bit riding on this game, and it was
a tough, tight and exciting contest. The Crows desperately
needed a win to keep in touch with the bottom half of the eight,
while the Power needed to keep winning to try and secure a double
chance.
The Throws came out firing early, aided by a slight breeze to the
Pie Floater Vendors' end of the stadium. Captain Mark Ricciuto
scored the opening two goals of the game to set the tone, and
when Peter Vardy used up his one good piece of play per week to
snap a great goal, Ayres' Assault-Rifles were four goals to the
good inside twenty minutes.
Port were not to be cowed, recovering from the early deficit on
the back of their own captain. After Fabian Francis had set the
Power Bandwagon rolling with two trademark goals, Matthew Primus
went to full forward and used his colossal backside to help him
snag three goals before the tractor had to drag him back to the
rooms for half time.
The Bomber-conquerors had turned a 23 point deficit into a seven
point game by the break, and continued to impose themselves on
the game by keeping the visitors goalless with the breeze in the
third term while scoring four themselves to set up the victory.
(Just an aside on the Showdown visitors. I propose that a new set
of change rooms is built at Football Park, for the exclusive use
of the "away" side in Adelaide/Port games. The rooms should be
designed on the same basis as the visitors' facilities at
Moorabbin, preferably with the same plumbers involved too. I
think it would add something to the occasion.)
The Crows looked dead after the Power had scored the first goal
of the final quarter, but Darren Jarman deigned to turn up and
kicked the goal to start the Crows' comeback. Andrew McLeod and
Mark Stevens joined in, and Adelaide were suddenly within two
goals. But the break proved too large, the Power winning by seven
points to consolidate their top four claims.
Best for the winners were former Fitzroy players Primus, with
three goals and a dominant ruck performance, and Stephen Paxman,
who blanketed Jarman. Francou, Nick Stevens and Roger James had
good games in the midfield. The Crows were led by skipper
Ricciuto, a busy Mark Bickley and Stevens.
Port can look forward to a soft four points against the woeful
Saints at the television studio next Saturday, while the Crows
are back on home turf to face another Bomber-conqueror, this time
Carlton.
- Mark O'Connor
**********
Brisbane v. Western Bulldogs
Sunday, 5 August 2001 - Gabba 2:10 PM
Bris. Lions 4.4 8.10 13.16 19.22 (136)
Bulldogs 3.4 5.7 12.10 15.13 (103)
A spot in the top eight was there for the taking, but the
Bulldogs in the end were just not good enough. Sure, they were in
control at stages in the game but what they failed to do in that
time was convert this onto the scoreboard. Meanwhile, Brisbane
were kicking goals from 60m out, with Akermanis being the main
culprit. You really wouldn't know who was playing on Akermanis
because he was by himself that often.
Bulldog Scott West was sitting on the bench when the game began.
There was no other possible reason other than him being sick or
injured. Finally channel 7 managed to find out why at three
quarter time! He was sick with a migraine. This was a huge loss
for the dogs considering the Lions strength in the midfield with
players such as Voss, Black and Lappin.
Something which is sure to come under scruitiny by the AFL this
week (not) is the fact that Libba came off the ground with a cut
below his eye and blood pooring down his face. Later on he had
the biggest lump under his eye but it's not like we haven't seen
it a million times before. But, don't be at all surprised if the
Bulldogs send another please explain letter to the umpires after
another woeful display. For starters, how inconsistent is the
interpretation of the deliberate out of bounds rule?
For the Lions, Akermanis was absolutely on fire kicking 4 goals
and running rampent through the midfield. Black, Voss and Lappin
with 27, 23 and 24 possessions respecively were very damaging. Up
forward Lynch and Headland were very good, both kicking 3 goals.
Bulldog small forward, Simon Garlick kicked 5 goals while skipper
Chris Grant booted 3. Darcy was great in the ruck and marked well
around the ground as usual, while Robbins returned to form after
a fair amount of bench time recently.
The Lions won the game basically with short bursts of really good
football where they would kick a few goals in a row quickly.
Turnovers, particularly across half forward also killed the
Bulldogs. The Lions look like they are likely to finish in 2nd
spot and are only a game behind Essendon. Meanwhile the Bulldogs
are pretty much in the same position as they were before the
start of the round. The good news is that there is still some
hope for a 5th consecutive finals birth.
Best
Brisbane Lions: Akermanis, Black, Headland, Voss, Lappin
Bulldogs: Darcy, Robbins, Garlick, Brown, Ellis, Grant
Goals
Brisbane Lions: J.Akermanis 4, D.Headland 3, A.Lynch 3, S.Black
2, J.Brown 2, M.Ashcroft 1, S.Hart 1, B.McDonald 1, T.Notting 1,
L.Power 1
Bulldogs: S.Garlick 5, C.Grant 3, T.Bartlett 2, B.Johnson 2,
NG.Brown 1,
L.Darcy 1, N.Eagleton 1
- HahnPremium8
**********
Essendon v. Carlton
Sunday, 5 August 2001 - MCG 2:10 PM
ESSENDON 4.0 9.1 11.8 14.11 ( 95)
CARLTON 7.1 10.3 12.4 16. 6 (102)
Goals:
Essendon: M Lloyd 4 P Barnard 2 M Mercuri J Hird A Ramanauskas M
McVeigh J
Johnson S Lucas C McGrath D Jacobs.
Carlton: M Lappin 5 A Franchina 3 S Camporeale 2 B Ratten L
Whitnall A
Hickmott M Porter R Houlihan A Koutoufides.
Best:
Essendon: J Hird M McVeigh B Caracella A Ramanauskas P Barnard J
Johnson.
Carlton: M Lappin B Ratten A Hickmott S Silvagni A Koutoufides A
Franchina.
Injuries: Essendon: J Hird (ankle). Carlton: Nil.
Reports: M Lloyd (Essendon) reported by field umpire S McBurney
for striking
S Fletcher (Carlton) during the third quarter.
Umpires: B Allen, B Sheehan, S McBurney.
Official crowd: 75,873 at MCG.
DONS ONCE BITTEN, TWICE LOST TO BLUES
Hands up who wants to see an Essendon versus Carlton Grand Final?
After defeating the reigning premiers and current league leaders
Essendon for the second time this year, The Blues again loom as
one of the chief contenders to challenge for the 2001
Premiership.
Before an attending crowd of over 75,000 in Melbourne's
frequently changing weather conditions, The Carlton Blues
(16.6.102) withheld the demands of Essendon's Bombers (14.11.95)
to win a close-knit contest by seven points. The Blues now sit in
sixth position, with the second highest percentage on the AFL
ladder and could return to as high as fourth place after next
round.
It was Craig Bradley's 350th match for Carlton, although the
Blues skipper was somewhat overshadowed by the match winning
efforts of fellow crumb gatherers including Matthew Lappin,
Adrian Hickmott and Anthony Franchina. Lappin gathered plenty of
possessions as well as heading the goal tally with five, while
Hickmott was busy with 20 first-half possessions and Franchina
booted three goals in a solid display for The Blues.
When Carlton defeated the Bombers earlier in the year, they did
so while many of their big guns were unavailable due to injuries.
On this occasion a full strength Carlton side was served
dutifully by team leaders Anthony Koutoufides, Brett Ratten,
Scott Camporeale, Andrew McKay and Stephen Silvagni. Lance
Whitnall also made a healthy return by taking nine marks, but it
was Lappin who was the standout. The former Saints opportunist
kicked the last two goals to steal and seal the victory in a
fitting end to his day's performance.
The Bombers had much less to cheer about. Full forward Matthew
Lloyd, whom recently admitted to Essendon's overall hunger to
succeed has dipped this year, kicked four goals to take his
current season tally to 83. However, Lloyd was reported on a
striking charge against Simon Fletcher, which may cause headaches
for The Bombers with captain James Hird suffering an ankle injury
that could keep him out for up to a month.
Although the Essendon stranglehold on the competition still
exists, it may not be quite as prevalent as once thought. Now
only one game ahead of the second placed and probably more
desperate Brisbane Lions, The Bombers chances of feeling the
pinch from an unlucky turn of events appears more apparent now
than at any other time in the last two years.
Not that anyone outside of the red and black is complaining. The
possibility of a Grand Final between two of Melbourne's most
powerful and evenly competitive AFL teams, in the largest stadium
in Australia, with a capacity crowd and massive public interest?
Who wouldn't like to see that...
- matto
**********
West Coast v. St Kilda
Sunday, 5 August 2001 - Subiaco 2:30 PM (4:30 PM AEST)
This is becoming a habit.
Unfortunately we had no-one who could take over from Mic when he
was called to work this week, so get the stats here:
http://www.afl.com.au/results/matchresults_10819.htm
And talk about the game here:
http://130.94.170.53/forum/forumdisplay.php?s=&forumid=17
or here:
http://130.94.170.53/forum/forumdisplay.php?s=&forumid=22
- AA
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ENDS
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