Bluey
28th September 2001, 07:19
AFLTips.Com Preview News
Grand Final - 28 September 2001
w: http://www.afltips.com/
e: adrian@afltips.com
* Brought to you in conjunction with BigFooty.com -
http://www.bigfooty.com/
+----------+
INDEX
1) Prize Draw
2) "Out of Bounds" - Phil Doyle still won't shut up.
3) "Weekly Round-Up" - preview of the Big Match by Darky
4) Various info about AFLTips.Com
+----------+
1) Prize Draw
Prize winner drawn on Sunday and announced in Monday's issue.
Read about the prize draw here:
http://www.afltips.com/prizedraw.html
Until next time,
Adrian Appleyard
adrian@afltips.com
+----------+
2) Out of Bounds
- Phil Doyle's Bit
http://www.afltips.com/people/phildoyle.html
OUT OF BOUNDS #24 – Something For Everyone.
'Prizes, prizes, everyone must have prizes.'
-Lewis Carroll, 'Alice in Wonderland'
Jason Akermanis proves once again that having a weird haircut
will get you noticed by the umpies.
In other self-congratulatory news the annual Australian Football
Media Association awards were handed out last week.
Ever heard of the Australian Football Media Association? Neither
had I. It seems that it's an association set up to hand out
awards to each other.
Don't laugh, it's how some people get their sense of self.
And it sounds like a great work for the dole project, like
digging holes and filling them in, only not as useful.
The awards as judged by the media, led to some controversy, with
the Most Outstanding Club in Media Relations category being
jointly won by both the Fitzroy Bears and Footscray. This was
probably due to their constant re-branding of themselves leading
to plenty of work for otherwise unemployable hacks around the
shop.
Michael Voss took the Most Valuable Player award, which appears
to have been judged by a panel of NBL aficionados. Whatever
happened to Fairest and Best? Maybe nothing's fair anymore? It
wouldn't surprise me. Things certainly aren't the best.
Most Outstanding Special Comments section was won by Garry Lyon,
of 3AW, for his work in the Knights-Liberatore beat up.
A Special commendation went to Bruce McAvaney, of the Seven
Network, for now being given the opportunity to get a real job.
Talking Footy, also strangely enough from the Seven Network, won
the best TV show through the amount of funny emails the show
generated from bewildered punters.
On the industrial front the AFL was pleased to advise that
following discussions with the ACTU, Richmond's flight to
Brisbane went ahead. With the AFL now turning its hand to
industrial relations we can only prepare for long intractable
disputes in most industries.
"Everyone at the AFL understands the position of the Ansett
workers and their families." Said Peek.
And I'm sure they do. With Ansett's money falling out of the
pocket there may be more than a few bods from the AFL 'industry'
joining their brothers from Ansett down at Centrelink.
St Kilda Football Club has announced the appointment of Grant
Thomas to the position of Senior Coach for the next three years.
This was an optimistic move, as it assumes the saints will be
around in three years.
St Kilda President Rod Butterss welcomed the appointment. "Grant
is what St Kilda needs at this point in its history and his
appointment provides a fantastic platform to propel the Club into
2002 and beyond," he said, without elaborating in what form or in
which direction Mr. Thomas would propel the club.
Thomas, who has acted as caretaker coach since mid-July, will
relinquish his position as CEO of IT recruitment company ISES -
which has obviously given him many of the skills involved in
understanding how to kick more goals than the opposition. He also
brings strong credentials as a coach from that great AFL grooming
ground, the Hampden League, which is down Warnambool way. "Grant
combines outstanding coaching and management skills with the
ability to lead and inspire players. On top of that, he has a
passionate commitment to the St Kilda Football Club." Said
Sainters CEO Jim Watts.
So is Michael Thomas from the band Weddings Parties Anything, but
no one offered him the job.
"The task of selection was conducted by a sub-committee of the St
Kilda Board, chaired by executive search consultant John Kent,
alongside football great and former St Kilda coach Allan Jeans,
St Kilda CEO Jim Watts, St Kilda Director and senior business
figure Ray King, and former ALF player Jim Stynes." Read the
Saint Kilda press release.
Apart from the mystery as to what Jim Stynes is doing at Saint
Kilda, we were also mystified as to what constitutes an ALF
player.
Please forward any emails on this subject to the Herald-Sun, or
someone else who cares.
The other faceless men from the St Kilda selection committee are
mirrored at Carlton, where our sources have revealed that Uncle
Arthur is the recruitment officer.
The AFL's plans for world domination have receded with the AFL
advising that the London Exhibition match, scheduled to be played
at The Oval on Saturday October 13, 2001 between Essendon and
Richmond, has been cancelled. AFL Football Operations Manager
Andrew Demetriou said the AFL had consulted with the two clubs
and in light of the current travel situation across the world it
was felt it was best to cancel the game.
"The games in London over the past 15 years have been extremely
valuable for the AFL in promoting our game around the world," Mr.
Demetriou said.
"We are disappointed that we will not be able to go ahead with
this year's match but after talking to both Essendon and
Richmond, we felt it prudent the teams should not travel in the
current climate that exists after recent events in the United
States.
Mr. Demetriou said Essendon and Richmond would have first call on
the right to play in the match in London in 2002 and that the AFL
remained committed to a yearly game at The Oval.
Whilst Londoners are breathing a collective sigh of relief that
they don't have to put up with Richmond for at least another
twelve months, it is a body blow to Essendon, who planned to
award themselves the title of World Champions if they succeeded.
Phil Doyle – involved in an incident behind play.
An Out Of Bounds collection, complete with various and diverse
commentaries, match reviews, unsubstantiated allegations and
prurient diatribes will be being released at the end of the
season.
Email phildoyle@froggy.net.au to register your interest!
A racing newsletter, Weather Fine - Track Good, will be featuring
this spring, along with the return of the much unlamented cricket
missive Play Abandoned. Email phildoyle2000@yahoo.com.au to
secure your place amongst the elect for this sober off-season
reading.
And Don't Forget!
AFL GRAND FINAL TO BE CALLED LIVE FROM NEWCASTLE!
AFL Grand Final action comes to the heartland of Rugby League,
Newcastle on Saturday September 29 at the Delany Hotel in Derby
St, Cooks Hill with a LIVE CALL OF THE 2001 STONES GREEN GINGER
WINE AFL GRAND FINAL!
The boy from Broome, Shane Jesse Christmass, and the original
half back flanker, Phil Doyle, bring you an afternoon of Prizes,
Giveaways, Insults, Homegrown Halftime Entertainment, Tribalism,
Drinking, W.B Yeats, Strapping Young Men and Hopeless Teenage
Nostalgia.
There's the very sultry doyen-in-waiting of the Melbourne media,
ALICIA SOMETIMES; The writer, RICHARD WATTS, who is co-convenor
of the Official Collingwood Gay and Lesbian Supporters Group; and
what social occasion would be complete without the mad man from
Ballarat, SUTHO THE WONDER BOY.
The afternoon kicks off from 2pm and is brought to you in
conjunction with Conjunctivitis, Herpes Simplex and the Stephen
Michael Literary Salon! There will be some selling done.
((Hey Phil you better mention AFLTips.Com and BigFooty.com in
return for all these newsletter plugs!))
If you would like to receive the very irregular and factually
unreliable Out Of Bounds directly via email then send a message
to phildoyle@froggy.net.au . Out Of Bounds can also be seen at
the wonderful http://www.afltips.com/ website.
All of this is copyright Phil Doyle 2001, for whatever that's
worth. Any resemblance to persons living or dead I consider a
compliment.
+----------+
3) 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.)
**********
Essendon v. Brisbane
Saturday, September 28
MCG 2:30 PM
Bombers fans, talk about the match here:
http://www.bigfooty.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?s=&forumid=14
Lions fans, talk about the match here:
http://www.bigfooty.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?s=&forumid=18
So this is what it's come down to. After 6 months, 176 home and
away matches, and 8 finals, there are two teams left -
undisputably the best two teams in the competiton.
Brisbane take a 15 game winning streak into this week's Grand
Final, while Essendon are still "the hunted" despite a season
that was more solid than spectacular, but still good enough to
finish on top after 22 rounds. The winner on Saturday will quite
rightly be crowned the best team in the land, and the match
itself will serve the purpose of deciding which of these two
standout teams is THE best.
Both teams have their full-forwards returning from controversial
one match suspensions - Matthew Lloyd for headbutting and
Alastair Lynch for striking - ensuring that both teams will have
virtually full lists to choose from. Some doubts exist on the
ability of Mark Mercuri to come up after injuring an ankle in the
preliminary final last week, but he is expected to play.
Expect Bolton to be dropped for Lloyd, and Kennedy to be the
unlucky one to make way for Lynch, missing out on a Grand Final
swansong after more than 10 years of service to the Brisbane
Lions and Bears. Moorcroft should also come in for the injured
1993 Norm Smith Medallist Michael Long, whose career may now be
in doubt.
The game itself should be a hard fought encounter, with two of
the toughest teams in the competition being quite rightly the
last two remaining. Expect neither side to stop their hard
runnning games until the final siren, and the fittest team will
be the victor. At the AFL's request, Brisbane have stopped their
use of intravenous drips to rehydrate players, however are
considering the use of a type of cool room to combat the
potentially oppressive heat forecast on Saturday.
Both teams appear very evenly matched. Two very even and hard
midfields, two very potent forward lines, and two tough and
disciplined groups of defenders.
The key match ups loom as follows :
Fletcher (Ess) on Lynch (Bris) - Lynch has the edge in strength
and experience, but Fletcher is no slouch on either count.
Fletcher may use his advantage in mobility to run off Lynch, and
only needs to get a couple of metres clear to roost the ball 60-
70 metres upfield. Fletcher's reach may also trouble Lynch, with
Fletcher being able to spoil more marking opportunities than mot
full-backs.
Leppitsch (Bris) on Lloyd (Ess) - Lloyd has had a fine,
consistent season, playing very few bad games. His fast leading,
strong marking and accurate finishing have netted him 100 goals
at an average of 5 per game. Leppitsch is one of the best full
backs in the competition, but aided by some pin point delivery
from a classy midfield, Lloyd should have enough opportunities
and capitalise on them to kick 4 or 5 goals.
Heffernan (Ess) on Voss (Bris) - Chris Heffernan may be given the
job of nullifying the perennially in-form Brisbane skipper, who
picked up almost 30 touches against Richmond last week to again
play a pivotal role in setting up his team's win. Voss will get
20 touches in a bad game and could pick up almost 40 if he is on
fire, so the for Heffernan the key is to play a close and
disciplined game and limit the effectiveness of Voss's
possessions.
Akermanis (Bris) on J.Johnson (Ess) - Newly anointed Brownlow
Medallist Jason Akermanis may be assigned a close checking role
on Essendon's gun midfelder Jason Johnson. This shouldn't dull
Akermanis's creative flair, which often comes to the fore even in
defensive roles. Akermanis may try to tun off Johnson to use his
pace advantage, but the winne rof this contest is likely to be he
who attacks the ball harder and gets there first - and these two
are as hard as they come.
Barnes/Alessio (Ess) on Keating/McDonald (Bris) - Brisbane appear
to have an advantage in the ruck, with two mobile options who are
both exceptionally good centre bounce ruckmen. Keating is also
effective when used as a key forward, as his size and sure hands
are dificult to counter. Essendon has two creditable performers
in the ruck, however Barnes appears undersized in what will be
his last game of AFL football, and Alessio is a talented but
inconsistent performer who can be used up forward but probably
plays his best footy as a pure ruckman.
C.Scott (Bris) on Hird (Ess) - Arguably the toughest match up for
Leigh Matthews, is who he decides to put on Essendon champion
James Hird. Hird is close to the complete package as a footballer
- skilled, agile, strong, courageous and inspirational - an
absolute natural. Chris Scott has the aggression that may
unsettle Hird if unleashed early, and has the strength, football
smarts and ability to read play to run with Hird for the game.
Other options on hird may include Brad Scott, Mal Michael and
Darryl White.
Other key players include :
Nigel Lappin (Bris) - busy midfielder who kicks long and sets up
many forward moves for the Lions. Usually bobs up for a couple of
goals as well.
Joe Misiti (Ess) - strong close-in midfielder whose engine room
work will be crucial for Essendon to clear the ball out of ruck
contests. Quick hands and good vision allow him to feed many of
the more nimble midfielders, and his disposal by hand or foot
rarely fails to hit a target.
Jonathan Brown (Bris) - strong marking target who is already
establishing himself as one of the best emerging centre half
forwards in the game. Very difficult to beat one on one, a
booming kick, and plays hard and aggressive footy. Most likely to
be shadowed by Sean Wellman.
Sean Wellman (Ess) - attacking defender who usually minds a tall
forward from the centre half back position, but uses his mobility
and stamina to run off his bigger opponents all day, accumulating
possessions at half back and frequently drifting to the wing.
Will probably get the job on Brown, which may stifle his
effectiveness in reboundin gthe ball out of defence - something
players like Mark Johnson, Hardwick and Solomon may have to do
in his place.
Simon Black (Bris) - classy midfielder who gets a lot of the ball
and uses his quick and accurate disposal to feed Brisbane's vast
array of runners. Plays very few bad games, and his improvement
thi syear has played a large part in Brisbane's climb up the
ladder.
Dean Rioli - clever forward who only needs a few touches to be
very damaging. Deadly in front of goals, can kick goals in quick
bursts, and can manufacture extraordinary goals out of seemingly
nothing. Could be closely followed by Brad Scott for the
afternoon.
In what shapes as a very hard fought and tense battle, I expect
the Bombers to be ahead at the final siren. Most non-Bomber
supporters Australia-wide would be geeing the Lions up to get
over the line, but in a game where there is little discernable
difference in overall skill and fitness, Essendon's experience in
big games that matter, should see them win.
THE VERDICT : Essendon by 17 points.
- Dark Avenger
http://www.afltips.com/people/darkavenger.html
+----------+
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DailyJokes.com.au!
Go to:
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+----------+
4) Info about AFLTips.Com
Feel free to forward this newsletter on to your mates.
AFLTips.Com is not associated with the Australian Football League
in any way. We just talk about them. A lot.
The views expressed by the contributors are not necessarily those
of Adrian Appleyard. I recommend that you do your own independent
research before acting on ANY information found in this e-mail.
In fact I demand it - and let me know what you find out...
If you received this e-mail from a friend and wish to SUBSCRIBE,
go to http://www.afltips.com/ and fill out the form on the front
page.
Copyright (C) Adrian Appleyard, 2001
ENDS
************************************************************ *****
Grand Final - 28 September 2001
w: http://www.afltips.com/
e: adrian@afltips.com
* Brought to you in conjunction with BigFooty.com -
http://www.bigfooty.com/
+----------+
INDEX
1) Prize Draw
2) "Out of Bounds" - Phil Doyle still won't shut up.
3) "Weekly Round-Up" - preview of the Big Match by Darky
4) Various info about AFLTips.Com
+----------+
1) Prize Draw
Prize winner drawn on Sunday and announced in Monday's issue.
Read about the prize draw here:
http://www.afltips.com/prizedraw.html
Until next time,
Adrian Appleyard
adrian@afltips.com
+----------+
2) Out of Bounds
- Phil Doyle's Bit
http://www.afltips.com/people/phildoyle.html
OUT OF BOUNDS #24 – Something For Everyone.
'Prizes, prizes, everyone must have prizes.'
-Lewis Carroll, 'Alice in Wonderland'
Jason Akermanis proves once again that having a weird haircut
will get you noticed by the umpies.
In other self-congratulatory news the annual Australian Football
Media Association awards were handed out last week.
Ever heard of the Australian Football Media Association? Neither
had I. It seems that it's an association set up to hand out
awards to each other.
Don't laugh, it's how some people get their sense of self.
And it sounds like a great work for the dole project, like
digging holes and filling them in, only not as useful.
The awards as judged by the media, led to some controversy, with
the Most Outstanding Club in Media Relations category being
jointly won by both the Fitzroy Bears and Footscray. This was
probably due to their constant re-branding of themselves leading
to plenty of work for otherwise unemployable hacks around the
shop.
Michael Voss took the Most Valuable Player award, which appears
to have been judged by a panel of NBL aficionados. Whatever
happened to Fairest and Best? Maybe nothing's fair anymore? It
wouldn't surprise me. Things certainly aren't the best.
Most Outstanding Special Comments section was won by Garry Lyon,
of 3AW, for his work in the Knights-Liberatore beat up.
A Special commendation went to Bruce McAvaney, of the Seven
Network, for now being given the opportunity to get a real job.
Talking Footy, also strangely enough from the Seven Network, won
the best TV show through the amount of funny emails the show
generated from bewildered punters.
On the industrial front the AFL was pleased to advise that
following discussions with the ACTU, Richmond's flight to
Brisbane went ahead. With the AFL now turning its hand to
industrial relations we can only prepare for long intractable
disputes in most industries.
"Everyone at the AFL understands the position of the Ansett
workers and their families." Said Peek.
And I'm sure they do. With Ansett's money falling out of the
pocket there may be more than a few bods from the AFL 'industry'
joining their brothers from Ansett down at Centrelink.
St Kilda Football Club has announced the appointment of Grant
Thomas to the position of Senior Coach for the next three years.
This was an optimistic move, as it assumes the saints will be
around in three years.
St Kilda President Rod Butterss welcomed the appointment. "Grant
is what St Kilda needs at this point in its history and his
appointment provides a fantastic platform to propel the Club into
2002 and beyond," he said, without elaborating in what form or in
which direction Mr. Thomas would propel the club.
Thomas, who has acted as caretaker coach since mid-July, will
relinquish his position as CEO of IT recruitment company ISES -
which has obviously given him many of the skills involved in
understanding how to kick more goals than the opposition. He also
brings strong credentials as a coach from that great AFL grooming
ground, the Hampden League, which is down Warnambool way. "Grant
combines outstanding coaching and management skills with the
ability to lead and inspire players. On top of that, he has a
passionate commitment to the St Kilda Football Club." Said
Sainters CEO Jim Watts.
So is Michael Thomas from the band Weddings Parties Anything, but
no one offered him the job.
"The task of selection was conducted by a sub-committee of the St
Kilda Board, chaired by executive search consultant John Kent,
alongside football great and former St Kilda coach Allan Jeans,
St Kilda CEO Jim Watts, St Kilda Director and senior business
figure Ray King, and former ALF player Jim Stynes." Read the
Saint Kilda press release.
Apart from the mystery as to what Jim Stynes is doing at Saint
Kilda, we were also mystified as to what constitutes an ALF
player.
Please forward any emails on this subject to the Herald-Sun, or
someone else who cares.
The other faceless men from the St Kilda selection committee are
mirrored at Carlton, where our sources have revealed that Uncle
Arthur is the recruitment officer.
The AFL's plans for world domination have receded with the AFL
advising that the London Exhibition match, scheduled to be played
at The Oval on Saturday October 13, 2001 between Essendon and
Richmond, has been cancelled. AFL Football Operations Manager
Andrew Demetriou said the AFL had consulted with the two clubs
and in light of the current travel situation across the world it
was felt it was best to cancel the game.
"The games in London over the past 15 years have been extremely
valuable for the AFL in promoting our game around the world," Mr.
Demetriou said.
"We are disappointed that we will not be able to go ahead with
this year's match but after talking to both Essendon and
Richmond, we felt it prudent the teams should not travel in the
current climate that exists after recent events in the United
States.
Mr. Demetriou said Essendon and Richmond would have first call on
the right to play in the match in London in 2002 and that the AFL
remained committed to a yearly game at The Oval.
Whilst Londoners are breathing a collective sigh of relief that
they don't have to put up with Richmond for at least another
twelve months, it is a body blow to Essendon, who planned to
award themselves the title of World Champions if they succeeded.
Phil Doyle – involved in an incident behind play.
An Out Of Bounds collection, complete with various and diverse
commentaries, match reviews, unsubstantiated allegations and
prurient diatribes will be being released at the end of the
season.
Email phildoyle@froggy.net.au to register your interest!
A racing newsletter, Weather Fine - Track Good, will be featuring
this spring, along with the return of the much unlamented cricket
missive Play Abandoned. Email phildoyle2000@yahoo.com.au to
secure your place amongst the elect for this sober off-season
reading.
And Don't Forget!
AFL GRAND FINAL TO BE CALLED LIVE FROM NEWCASTLE!
AFL Grand Final action comes to the heartland of Rugby League,
Newcastle on Saturday September 29 at the Delany Hotel in Derby
St, Cooks Hill with a LIVE CALL OF THE 2001 STONES GREEN GINGER
WINE AFL GRAND FINAL!
The boy from Broome, Shane Jesse Christmass, and the original
half back flanker, Phil Doyle, bring you an afternoon of Prizes,
Giveaways, Insults, Homegrown Halftime Entertainment, Tribalism,
Drinking, W.B Yeats, Strapping Young Men and Hopeless Teenage
Nostalgia.
There's the very sultry doyen-in-waiting of the Melbourne media,
ALICIA SOMETIMES; The writer, RICHARD WATTS, who is co-convenor
of the Official Collingwood Gay and Lesbian Supporters Group; and
what social occasion would be complete without the mad man from
Ballarat, SUTHO THE WONDER BOY.
The afternoon kicks off from 2pm and is brought to you in
conjunction with Conjunctivitis, Herpes Simplex and the Stephen
Michael Literary Salon! There will be some selling done.
((Hey Phil you better mention AFLTips.Com and BigFooty.com in
return for all these newsletter plugs!))
If you would like to receive the very irregular and factually
unreliable Out Of Bounds directly via email then send a message
to phildoyle@froggy.net.au . Out Of Bounds can also be seen at
the wonderful http://www.afltips.com/ website.
All of this is copyright Phil Doyle 2001, for whatever that's
worth. Any resemblance to persons living or dead I consider a
compliment.
+----------+
3) 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.)
**********
Essendon v. Brisbane
Saturday, September 28
MCG 2:30 PM
Bombers fans, talk about the match here:
http://www.bigfooty.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?s=&forumid=14
Lions fans, talk about the match here:
http://www.bigfooty.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?s=&forumid=18
So this is what it's come down to. After 6 months, 176 home and
away matches, and 8 finals, there are two teams left -
undisputably the best two teams in the competiton.
Brisbane take a 15 game winning streak into this week's Grand
Final, while Essendon are still "the hunted" despite a season
that was more solid than spectacular, but still good enough to
finish on top after 22 rounds. The winner on Saturday will quite
rightly be crowned the best team in the land, and the match
itself will serve the purpose of deciding which of these two
standout teams is THE best.
Both teams have their full-forwards returning from controversial
one match suspensions - Matthew Lloyd for headbutting and
Alastair Lynch for striking - ensuring that both teams will have
virtually full lists to choose from. Some doubts exist on the
ability of Mark Mercuri to come up after injuring an ankle in the
preliminary final last week, but he is expected to play.
Expect Bolton to be dropped for Lloyd, and Kennedy to be the
unlucky one to make way for Lynch, missing out on a Grand Final
swansong after more than 10 years of service to the Brisbane
Lions and Bears. Moorcroft should also come in for the injured
1993 Norm Smith Medallist Michael Long, whose career may now be
in doubt.
The game itself should be a hard fought encounter, with two of
the toughest teams in the competition being quite rightly the
last two remaining. Expect neither side to stop their hard
runnning games until the final siren, and the fittest team will
be the victor. At the AFL's request, Brisbane have stopped their
use of intravenous drips to rehydrate players, however are
considering the use of a type of cool room to combat the
potentially oppressive heat forecast on Saturday.
Both teams appear very evenly matched. Two very even and hard
midfields, two very potent forward lines, and two tough and
disciplined groups of defenders.
The key match ups loom as follows :
Fletcher (Ess) on Lynch (Bris) - Lynch has the edge in strength
and experience, but Fletcher is no slouch on either count.
Fletcher may use his advantage in mobility to run off Lynch, and
only needs to get a couple of metres clear to roost the ball 60-
70 metres upfield. Fletcher's reach may also trouble Lynch, with
Fletcher being able to spoil more marking opportunities than mot
full-backs.
Leppitsch (Bris) on Lloyd (Ess) - Lloyd has had a fine,
consistent season, playing very few bad games. His fast leading,
strong marking and accurate finishing have netted him 100 goals
at an average of 5 per game. Leppitsch is one of the best full
backs in the competition, but aided by some pin point delivery
from a classy midfield, Lloyd should have enough opportunities
and capitalise on them to kick 4 or 5 goals.
Heffernan (Ess) on Voss (Bris) - Chris Heffernan may be given the
job of nullifying the perennially in-form Brisbane skipper, who
picked up almost 30 touches against Richmond last week to again
play a pivotal role in setting up his team's win. Voss will get
20 touches in a bad game and could pick up almost 40 if he is on
fire, so the for Heffernan the key is to play a close and
disciplined game and limit the effectiveness of Voss's
possessions.
Akermanis (Bris) on J.Johnson (Ess) - Newly anointed Brownlow
Medallist Jason Akermanis may be assigned a close checking role
on Essendon's gun midfelder Jason Johnson. This shouldn't dull
Akermanis's creative flair, which often comes to the fore even in
defensive roles. Akermanis may try to tun off Johnson to use his
pace advantage, but the winne rof this contest is likely to be he
who attacks the ball harder and gets there first - and these two
are as hard as they come.
Barnes/Alessio (Ess) on Keating/McDonald (Bris) - Brisbane appear
to have an advantage in the ruck, with two mobile options who are
both exceptionally good centre bounce ruckmen. Keating is also
effective when used as a key forward, as his size and sure hands
are dificult to counter. Essendon has two creditable performers
in the ruck, however Barnes appears undersized in what will be
his last game of AFL football, and Alessio is a talented but
inconsistent performer who can be used up forward but probably
plays his best footy as a pure ruckman.
C.Scott (Bris) on Hird (Ess) - Arguably the toughest match up for
Leigh Matthews, is who he decides to put on Essendon champion
James Hird. Hird is close to the complete package as a footballer
- skilled, agile, strong, courageous and inspirational - an
absolute natural. Chris Scott has the aggression that may
unsettle Hird if unleashed early, and has the strength, football
smarts and ability to read play to run with Hird for the game.
Other options on hird may include Brad Scott, Mal Michael and
Darryl White.
Other key players include :
Nigel Lappin (Bris) - busy midfielder who kicks long and sets up
many forward moves for the Lions. Usually bobs up for a couple of
goals as well.
Joe Misiti (Ess) - strong close-in midfielder whose engine room
work will be crucial for Essendon to clear the ball out of ruck
contests. Quick hands and good vision allow him to feed many of
the more nimble midfielders, and his disposal by hand or foot
rarely fails to hit a target.
Jonathan Brown (Bris) - strong marking target who is already
establishing himself as one of the best emerging centre half
forwards in the game. Very difficult to beat one on one, a
booming kick, and plays hard and aggressive footy. Most likely to
be shadowed by Sean Wellman.
Sean Wellman (Ess) - attacking defender who usually minds a tall
forward from the centre half back position, but uses his mobility
and stamina to run off his bigger opponents all day, accumulating
possessions at half back and frequently drifting to the wing.
Will probably get the job on Brown, which may stifle his
effectiveness in reboundin gthe ball out of defence - something
players like Mark Johnson, Hardwick and Solomon may have to do
in his place.
Simon Black (Bris) - classy midfielder who gets a lot of the ball
and uses his quick and accurate disposal to feed Brisbane's vast
array of runners. Plays very few bad games, and his improvement
thi syear has played a large part in Brisbane's climb up the
ladder.
Dean Rioli - clever forward who only needs a few touches to be
very damaging. Deadly in front of goals, can kick goals in quick
bursts, and can manufacture extraordinary goals out of seemingly
nothing. Could be closely followed by Brad Scott for the
afternoon.
In what shapes as a very hard fought and tense battle, I expect
the Bombers to be ahead at the final siren. Most non-Bomber
supporters Australia-wide would be geeing the Lions up to get
over the line, but in a game where there is little discernable
difference in overall skill and fitness, Essendon's experience in
big games that matter, should see them win.
THE VERDICT : Essendon by 17 points.
- Dark Avenger
http://www.afltips.com/people/darkavenger.html
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