AFL Round 21
Phew. What a weekend. Two games decided by a point, another won with a
kick after the siren, lots of non-ball related physicality (i.e. fights)
and the top three all lost. No wonder the Olympic people wanted the
season moved. They can't compete with footy.
Money makes footy go 'round. North Melbourne emulated Carlton's effort
of last year by changing their guernsey on Sunday for some dough. The
traditional royal blue stripes went to...orange. Yes, orange, which
looked fairly horrible. The Orangeroos. Sounds like a Dutch soccer team.
They eschewed the blue socks and shorts for black shorts and black socks
with orange tops. This garb enraged their opponents on Sunday,
Collingwood. North coach Denis Pagan recently picked up a personal
sponsorship from a betting agency, the Canberra-based Canbet. Elsewhere
Melbourne did a deal to play next years' home game against Brisbane at
the Gabba, while another Melbourne team, I've forgotten who, want to
play a home game in Adelaide next season. All for cash.
Now the reasons why they need the cash. At Carlton Anthony Koutoufides
signed a 5-year deal worth nearly $6 million, including endorsements and
a share of gate money. That's about a quarter of the salary cap per
year. Bomber Justin Blumfield signed a new 2-year contract, rejecting an
875K offer from Sydney because he wanted to stay with a successful team
(his words). Port Adelaide re-signed four players including Nick
Stevens. The big out-of-contract players remain Eagle Fraser Gehrig and
Hawthorn's Nick Holland. Holland's contract contains a clause releasing
the Hawk if they don't make the finals this season. I wonder how we
found that out. Holland is very strongly rumoured to be joining the
Camrys who, on the weekend's evidence, would welcome him with open arms.
West Coast expect to sign a new deal with Chad Morrison this week.
At Colonial:
Essendon 3.2 7.3 11.7 12.9.81
Footscray 4.1 7.3 9.4 14.8.92
This was a game. You might've predicted a Bomber let-down after their
huge Friday last week, but their streak ended as the Bulldogs employed
similar tactics to those which sank Carlton and succeeded again. It's
impossible to deny Footscray, a month ago folks were writing them off
but they beat the Bloos, now they've vanquished Essadun and a fourth
consecutive finals appearance is a reality. The loss probably means
nothing in the overall scheme for the Bommers, but they might meet the
Bulldogs again in the finals and down the line a couple of injuries and
possible tribunal action could worry them. The Dons went in without
James Hird, a back problem we're told. Michael Prior replaced him.
However they regained a couple of important regulars in Chris Heffernan
and Dustin Fletcher, out went young Aaron Henneman and older Paul
Barnard. One change for the Bulldogs, promising junior Luke Penney out
with an elbow injury, he was replaced by stopper Steven Kretiuk.
As against the Blues, Footscray flooded their backline heavily, chased
and tackled like zealots and made every possession count. The Dogs
started with Chris Grant up forward, but he was soon down back on
Fletcher. The Dogs kicked the first two majors, Brad Johnson with a good
dummy and handpass allowing Nathan Brown to snap truly, Steve Kolyniuk
converted a free kick against Damien Hardwick. "Gee, how long since the
Dons have had the first two goals kicked against them?" said McAvaney.
Fremantle did it a fortnight ago, Brooce. Switched to the radio after
that. Don ruckman Steve Alessio, reportedly set for trade at the
season's end, opened their account thanks to a soft 50m penalty against
Kretiuk. Tony Liberatore and Scott West combined to clear the centre
bounce for the Bulldogs and Nathan Eagleton won a free as his head was
crunched, Dogs back to 13 points ahead. The first of several blows for
the Dons as their defensive leader, Hardwick, limped off with an ankle
injury. He didn't return. A poor Doggy kick-in allowed Mick Long to send
Matt Lloyd in for a Bommer goal, but the Dogs were 12 points up again
when Liberatore roved Trent Bartlett's tap at a throw-in and converted.
Mark Mercuri tidied a goalsquare scramble and handballed for Lloyd to
stab another prior to the first break. Three quick Essadun goals opened
the second korter and the normal pattern seemed established. First
Dustin Fletcher clutched a strong grab from Long's kick and sausaged,
Blake Caracella's long punt spilled onto an Adam Ramanauskas boot for a
flukey major and Joe Misiti cleared the restart, Mercuri marked and
six-pointed. Dons by 13 and we settled back. But the Dog plan worked,
they stifled the Don run before Brown's good kick was marked and goaled
by Simon Garlick. Evil One's vision saw Fletcher keep the home team two
goals up with another high mark. Then came the first of several
'incidents' as Pup Kretiuk took a brave backpedalling mark and was
collected by Lloyd's elbow. A replay suggested Lloyd got Kretiuk on the
shoulder, so shouldn't be a problem. Liberatore had planted some great
tackles and he peaked by running down Scott Lucas, the turnover led to a
goal for Brad Johnson via Bartlett. Some good play from Paul Hudson,
another Bartlett handpass and Brad Johnson goal levelled the scores. We
had a game. Just before half-time Don ruckman John Barnes ran through
the Bulldog Johnson well away from the ball, it precipitated a big
fracas involving just about everyone - including the benches. Barnes is
one of a few, from both sides, who could be in trouble. Tempers remained
high as the players departed.
Brad Johnson didn't start the second half (he returned later, whacked
Barnes but was much less effective in general). After Essadun's
Moorcroft came up with two poor misses and a poster from Bulldog Hudson,
Rohan Smith did well in passing towards Garlick, he was clattered by
Ramanauskas and converted the free kick. The Bulldogs were playing the
soccer strategy of soaking up pressure and hitting on the break, so had
to make every attack count. And a skilful interchange between Hudson and
Jose Romero did just that in setting Bartlett free for a close-range
running sausage, the Pups led by 10 points. Michael Long went clear at
the restart and Fletcher leaped for another big grab, his third goal
ensued. More good Mick Long play resulted in a major to Evil One and the
Dons were back in front, then their Mark Johnson converted a goalsquare
grab - Long with the attacking kick again. Speculation that the Bullies'
highly physical style of play was taxing their limbs as the Bombers went
15 points ahead by the final change, Justin Blumfield with a soaring
mark amidst the heavily-populated Don forward line. Blumfield goaled
early in the final quarter too and the Footscray epitaphs were written.
Bulldog coach Wallace played his last card, sending Chris Grant forward
- he'd been very good at CHB - accompanied by Kolyniuk and Eagleton from
the bench. Grant came up with a Koutoufides-type goal, shoving the pack
aside at a throw-in and snapping it through. Dog Paul Dooley wobbled a
kick forward, Bartlett seized it strongly in the goalsquare and copped a
whack on the nose. It bled, he left, Kolyniuk kicked the goal and
suddenly the Dogs had a sniff at 10 points in arrears. Bommer Lucas
missed following a good grab before terrific play between Eagleton, West
and Grant with a head-on shepherd saw Kolyniuk mark and slot another.
Five points. The Dons seemed bereft of ideas as they lobbed aimless
kicks into the packed Pup backline or got caught dithering midfield. And
they lost Dean Rioli for the season, his collarbone broken in a solid
bump from Grant. Paul Hudson missed three good chances and Brad Johnson
postered, narrowing the gap to a point. Footscray went ahead with a bit
of luck, Bomber Fletcher roved a pack but his attempted dribbly kick
out-of-bounds lobbed on the full. Grant hooked the shot left-footed and
through. Jason Johnson hobbled off. Smith marked as the final siren
sounded, he goaled as the Pups celebrated. Brad Johnson sought out John
‘The Seagull' Barnes and communicated thoughts on the result, complete
with Sheedy-esque hand signals.
Many reckon the Bulldogs' best was coach Terry Wallace. No wonder the
Saints are so keen on him. On the field Chris Grant was superb, halting
many Essadun attacks at CHB before his match-winning effort in attack in
the final term. Grant had 29 disposals (26 kicks), took 10 marks and
kicked those 2 final-quarter goals. The other key Bullies were
on-ballers Jose Romero (32 disposals) and Scott West (30), they were
terrific at the centre bounce and around packs. West had about 6 touches
in the last minute. In defence Nathan Brown was very good with 31
handlings and a goal, Matthew Croft did a good job on Lloyd and Wallace
was full of praise for flanker Simon Cox (12 marks, 25 possessions). A
big first half from Brad Johnson, 16 disposals and 2 goals were handy
before Barnes's intervention, Johnson ended wih 22 touches. Steve
Kolyniuk poached 3 goals, Simon Garlick bagged 2. Liberatore effected 9
tackles, most of 'em on Scott Lucas and had 22 possies with a goal. For
the Dons Michael Long was excellent, his vision and ball-use finding a
way through the crowd with 22 disposals and 9 marks. Up front Dustin
Fletcher booted 3 goals from 9 marks and 12 kicks, providing a target as
Lloyd, Lucas and cohorts struggled again. Across the middle Jason
Johnson (27 disposals) and Mark Johnson (20, 1 goal) were effective.
Justin Blumfield showed a touch of class again with 2 goals from his 15
possies. Joe Misiti got the ball 33 times but had little influence.
Lloyd kicked 2 goals, both in the first quarter, to go to 90 for the
season. Sheedy said "It (the winning streak) is in the past now. We have
got two hours of home-and-away left and we have a second-chance final.
The players will re-look and re-assess where they were. I think the
Carlton game took a hell of a lot out of us." Wallace said "It was a
historic win but it was Essendon (sic) that made the history. The first
hour was tough and hard and very ferocious. We thought it was going to
be a night of frustration. You have got to do something to play in
finals games and we earned that with our own efforts." Too right. Please
thump the Hawks next week, Puppies...
At the MCG:
Hawthorn 4.1 9.3 12.6 15.8.98
Adelaide 3.4 4.9 6.10 9.13.67
The Hawks hopped back into the eight, by 0.7 of a percentage point, with
this comfortable win over the unmotivated Camrys and Richmond's loss
across town, which actually brought a bigger cheer from the Hork fans.
Nick Holland played a big part (in Hawthorn's win, that is). Hawthorn
went in without Trent Croad, suspended a week for head-butting Matt
Primus last Saturday, plus late withdrawals Shane Crawford (calf) and
Chance Bateman (ankle). Crawford was clearly injured last weekend and
Hawthorn have been the worst in the leeg for naming bogus line-ups on
Thursdays. Aaron Lord missed with a hammy. In came Barry Young -
remember him? - Angelo Lekkas, Craig Treleven and Brett Johnson. The
Corollas had five changes, Matt Robran and Nathan Bassett were out with
hamstring and shoulder injuries respectively while Kym Koster, David
Gallagher and Ricky O'Loughlin were axed. Replacements were Brian
Beinke, Justin Cicolella, Tyson Stenglein and two forgotten men in
Crowland, ruckman Matthew Clarke and winger James Thiessen.
Not the greatest game by all accounts, enlivened only by a couple of
great individual highlights. Chief amongst them were Nick Holland's six
first-half goals, including the first one of the game, 11 minutes in.
Camry Peter Vardy bombed a great set-shot from the intersection of 50m
and boundary lines, but they were struggling up front already. Vardy's
mark was the only one between he, Scott Welsh, Andrew Crowell and Ken
McGregor in the first quarter. Beinke did a groin in the warm-up and
hardly played. Hork full-back Jon Hay was forced off in the second term
with debilitating 'flu but Jade Rawlings filled in nicely, taking a big
speccie in the first quarter. Paul Salmon dropped back to help out.
Holland continued on his way in the second term, Caven and Ben Hart his
victims. Most of the Corollas' five points for the term were rushed
through. After half-time ruckman Rhett Biglands went onto Holland and
was quite effective, although Holland kept getting the ball he kicked
only one more goal for the match. Crow midfielders Ricciuto, McLeod and
Andrew Eccles were racking up touches but had no-one to benefit. Daniel
Chick speared a superb running goal for the Hawks. A fairly even last
quarter ensued, McLeod slotted a great running goal from the boundary
and Holland booted his seventh. Late in the game Camry Vardy was benched
and gave the jeering crowd (or possibly the coach's box?) a one-fingured
salute.
Nick Holland's total stats read 22 disposals, 15 marks and 7.3. Upped
the contract ante a bit. Thin defender Jade Rawlings was no less
impressive, 9 marks and 27 disposals. Rawlings has taken a long time to
mature but this season he's been very good. Salmon (10 marks, 21
touches) assisted down back, picking up Rehn. In midfield Daniel Chick
(17 disposals, a goal), Tony Woods (34 touches) and Daniel Harford (27
touches, 10 marks) matched the class of their opposition with effort and
tenacity, rover Anthony Rock was solid under packs. In attack the
opportunists John Barker (10 marks, 2 goals) and Ben Dixon (12 kicks, 7
marks, 2 goals) did their jobs. The Camrys received great service again
from Andrew McLeod (32 possessions, a goal), Mark Ricciuto (29, 2 goals)
and Simon Goodwin (18). They didn't get a lot of support though. Andrew
Eccles, whose season has been much curtailed by injury, showed his skill
with 29 touches, 12 marks including a pair of screamers and a goal.
Shaun Rehn pulled down 11 grabs and had 21 disposals, although he didn't
have more influence than Salmon. Ben Hart was alright, except when on
Holland. Ayres said "All year we've been able...to get enough of the
ball inside our 50. Again today it was I think 57-51 (63-52 according to
the stats) and then they win the game by six goals, so it really says
that we've got to unearth a key forward to give our on-ballers .and the
smaller ground players some ability to keep the ball in." Like Nick
Holland... "It was excellent, I was pleased," began Schwab. "It showed a
lot of character. We lost our skipper and Croad was out suspended and
then Jonathon Hay came off ill, so there's three pretty good players. So
the rest of the guys really held together and got us over the line."
They need to beat the Bulldogs next week to be certain of finals action,
although may stay in even if they lose.
At Colonial:
Richmond 2.4 6.6 10.8 12.11.83
Sydney 5.2 7.7 10.10 12.12.84
If history repeats itself as farce, what does it mean when something
happens four times? The quartissential farce. As in 1994, 96 and 98 the
Tigers must win their final game of the season, against a side above
them on the ladder, to participate in the finals. And have other results
go their way. Fuggit. It's hard to be bitter, the Swans never
trailed...But Matty Rogers...it's too depressing. In selection Richmond
were able to recall Rory Hilton from suspension and David Bourke after
injury, they replaced dropped pair Aaron James and Ben Haynes. The Swans
had skipper Andrew Dunkley and wingman Jon Stevens return from injury,
out went Jude Bolton and Simon Feast. No injuries listed in the paper
but Bolton hurt his shoulder against Norf and Feast was concussed. In
this game veteran Swan winger Wayne Schwass played his 250th game and
Andrew Schauble racked up 100.
First visit to Colonial for a while. The surface looks much better. The
new caterers are trying to make a buck through under-staffing. In the
Soviet-length food queue I spied raincoats for sale. In a stadium with a
roof. Hmm. Richmond's recent trend for tardy starts continued with the
Swans getting one directly from the opening bounce, Jason Saddington
intercepting Campbell's handpass and giving to Dan McPherson for the
sausage. Ben Holland marked for the Tiges and chipped to Wayne Campbell
for their first but thereon in the first quarter it was all Siddey. The
originators of the packed defence played it perfectly while McPherson,
Stuart Maxfield and a busy Jared Crouch ran the ball very well, lots of
quick short passing. Adam Goodes is very athletic. If he had any
football skill, he'd be dangerous. In fact he created a goal for Nic
Fosdike, Andrew Schauble converted a great mark and Mick O'Loughlin
kicked two goals, a mark and a free kick against Darren Gaspar for a
throw. The Tiges' injury woes continued as defenders Jason Torney and
Andrew Kellaway both did hamstrings. The visitors led by 23 points
before a late grab and Tiger goal from Ben Holland. Swan Matthew Nicks
booted the opening sausage of term two, a good tight-angle snap, but the
Tiges knuckled down. Campbell, Mark Chaffey and Nick Daffy won the ball,
Matthew Rogers provided the fire with three goals for the term and Greg
Tivendale slotted a tight-angle beauty. Richmun closed to a point before
Biddiscombe's poor kick created a turnover, Dale Lewis ran a long way
and bounced a shot through for Siddey.
The Bloods kicked the first goal of every quarter, in the third it was
Schwass with a long run and nicely-timed handpass to Maxfield who curled
it through. Richmond's big men had been well-held (literally) but now
they threatened, Brad Ottens booted a great goal from a long lead and
tough grab, Andrew Kellaway limped on to park in a forward pocket and
snap a goal. The Swans wheeled Dunkley on and his experience steadied
the backline with 3 marks and 6 disposals for the quarter. Troy Luff
pushed forward for a mark and goal, some steady handling under pressure
between Saddington and McPherson allowed Robbie AhMat to snap a good
sausage and the Bloods were 14 points up. Back came the Tiges, Brendon
Gale snapped a great left-footer after roving his own pack and from the
restart Knights and Tivendale sent Daffy clear for a speared 55m beauty.
The last quarter was ulcer-bleedingly tense, I shredded my empty hot-dog
wrapper and crushed the beer cup to a pulp. Sydney scored the first goal
again, a loose Tiger clearance passed by Stafford to Nicks and he punted
truly. Daffy found space in Richmond's forward line to steer through a
good shot from Biddiscombe's pass and there was less than a goal in it
again. As the ball pinged around midfield, mistakes from both sides,
tough tackling and little room kept it tight. And the stoopid bounce of
the oval ball. Merde. Into time-on a piece of Mick O'Loughlin artistry
gave Sydney the vital break, he gathered a loose ball in the pocket,
baulked twice and ripped it through on his left foot. They led by 7
points. But the Tiges copped a break, Mark Chaffey spied the empty
goalsquare and his low right-footer took a fortuitous bounce and
trickled through ahead of despairing Luff. A point the diff. The Tigres
had a chance to win when Bourke marked and dished off to Leon Cameron,
his pass found Rogers on the lead 45m out. Why the hell didn't he
steady? Rogers kicked immediately, his mis-hit punt tumbled short, the
Bloods cleared and the siren rang as Maxfield had a shot. I've never
cried at the footy but I went damn close.
The Swans were on the defensive for long periods so much credit is due
to their backmen, the much-improved Andrew Schauble (11 possies, a
goal), Rowan Warfe (14 touches), Dunkley and Luff. Last time Tigers Gale
and Ottens kicked 7 goals between them, this time the same pair kicked
one sausage each. Across the middle it was unheralded Dan McPherson (28
disposals, a goal) and Jared Crouch (20 touches) who did the job, Wayne
Schwass got the ball 30 times but his disposal is not very good these
days. Matthew Nicks had 19 disposals and kicked 2 goals after starting
on the bench for some reason, O'Loughlin was generally shackled by
Gaspar but still contributed 3 goals from 11 kicks. Robbie AhMat worked
hard from his forward pocket for 20 disposals and 1.4. For the Tigers
centreman Nick Daffy played his best game for a while with 27 disposals
and 2 goals, using the ball well for a change. Wayne Campbell, opposed
to Schwass, had 32 possessions with a goal and worked hard again,
improved winger Mark Chaffey got the pill 26 times and kicked a good
goal. Despite his soul-crushing late miss Matt Rogers was good with 3
goals from 11 kicks, Leon Cameron mopped up nicely in defence for 22
disposals, Tivendale and Biddiscombe were alright. Frawley said "It was
pretty disappointing. All the stats suggest we should have won the game.
To have the ball inside the forward 50m sixty-one to forty-seven
suggests that we were going to have a winning score but it just didn't
happen." In truth the Tiges fumbled and miskicked more than normal, a
point also raised by Frawley. Rod Eade said "Obviously we played
exceptionally well last week. I suppose we played better footy last week
but in the context of gutsing it out and showing a bit of spirit and
hanging in there, it was very pleasing." The Swans can still make the
finals if they beat Geelong at Kardinia Park next week, and Richmond and
Hawthorn both lose. Not impossible.
At the Gabba:
Brisbane 3.1 11.3 17.10 23.15.153
St. Kilda 4.5 6.8 8.9 8.15.63
Brisbane started slowly but from the mid-point of the second quarter
roused themselves to hand St. Kilda the expected belting. In doing so
the Lyin's all but confirmed a top-eight slot. One change going in for
Brisbane, ruckman Beau McDonald withdrawing with an ankle and being
replaced by the tubby Adam Heuskes, who clearly enjoyed his enforced
layoff. The Saints lost forward Barry Hall with a groin strain but had
dual Brownlow Medallist Robert Harvey return from a persistent calf
injury. Ben Walton and Damian Ryan were given chances. Discarded were
Joe McLaren and Gavin Mitchell.
St Kilda started with the same set-up from the final quarter against
Richmond, Stewie Loewe and Sean Charles in the forward line. Loewe took
five marks and kicked all of the Saints' first-term goals, Charles
kicked three of the five points although his pass created one of Loewe's
goals. Two of the majors came from terrible Chris Johnson kick-ins and
he was rapidly relieved of the duty. Rob Harvey and Andy Thompson worked
hard to send the ball forward. Brisbane ran about at half-pace and
lairized a fair bit, what good play they effected came from either
Michael Voss or Simon Black. Al Lynch kicked two goals, a close-range
soccer and a free against Max Hudghton. Luke Power kicked the other,
from Steve Lawrence's pass. The early part of the second term went
goal-for-goal, Power snaffled a Saint kick-in and passed to Lynch for
his third. Loewe missed a free-kick but from a ball-up David Sierakowski
tapped and Ryan wobbled a kick through, Saints by 10 points. Shaun
Hart's handpass sent Power in for a Lion major but the Saints cleared
the restart, Sierakowski marked and converted. He and Loewe were proving
such a worry that Matthews swung Lynch to defence, briefly. Stain big
man Peter Everitt was done for a throw and Burke's failure to return the
ball resulted in a 50m penalty, Hart cut the margin to 4 points again.
Dan Bradshaw snapped a ripper and Brisbane led, off they went. Loewe's
weak handball allowed Hart and Black to create a sausage for Brett Voss,
Hart's handpass sent Power in for a great tight-angle snap, Everitt's
scrappy kick under pressure saw Brett Voss pounce for another sausage.
From the next centre bounce Black found Lion Jonathon Brown, he punted
the Lions 25 points up at the long break.
All Brisbane in the second half. Steve Lawrence and Nigel Lappin joined
in the stat-fest, Ben Robbins came off the bench and enjoyed himself.
They missed a series of early chances before Lappin steered one through
from a tight angle. Jason Akermanis bagged a sausage and excellent
aggression from Lawrence forced the ball to Brett Voss, onto Heuskes for
a goal. Sam Cranage broke the run for Stinkilda with consecutive goals
as they lost promising junior Jason Blake with a rolled ankle, one of
several Saints to pick up injuries. But Lawrence soared over Nathan
Burke for a huge speccie, the ball travelled by foot from he to Power to
Mick Voss, sausage. Robbins and Akermanis snaggled rover's goals to
complete the korter. Still smarting from the Tiger loss I wasn't keen on
the last term, where Brisbane added even more percentage and the
miserable old Saints collected even more injuries.
Lots of good performers for the Lions, led by prolific on-ball duo
Michael Voss (36 disposals, 2 goals) and Simon Black (27 touches). Jason
Akermanis ran speedily from the back again to gather 26 possessions and
kick 2 goals. Some lesser Lions enjoyed their evening against the
cellar-dwellers, teenage forward Jonathon Brown (20 touches, 8 marks, a
goal), Brett The Younger Voss (18 disposals, 2 goals) and Ben Robbins,
16 disposals and 2 goals in a half. Elsewhere it was the usual suspects,
Nigel Lappin (22 touches, a goal), Luke Power (24, 3 goals) and Marcus
Ashcroft who had 30 handlings with a goal. As everyone chipped in there
were goals for Lynch (3), Dan Bradshaw (2) and Adam Heuskes (2). The
Saints' better players included the terrific Andrew Thompson (28
disposals) and hard-running Tony Delaney (27 touches). Loewe didn't kick
another goal after quarter-time but still played alright with 18 touches
and 8 marks, 4 goals of course. Winger Matthew Carr played well again
with 20 possessions and 7 marks, once again ruckman David Sierakowski
played his heart out for 19 touches, 8 marks and a goal. Harvey finished
with 19 possies but tired badly, hardly surprising. Cranage kicked 2
goals. Watson said "We sort of just lost our way for a little while, not
taking anything away from the Lions, but we probably had three blokes
that shouldn't have been on the ground in the second half." He's
referring to injured Delaney (ribs), Burke (knee) and Walton (ankle).
One game left in Tim's coaching career - for the time being, anyway -
North at Colonial next Saturday night. Lion coach Matthews said "We just
had to graft our way to the front and once we got four goals in front,
and five and six early in the third quarter, I guess the resistance was
finally broken then." They've Fremantle at home to finish and a win
could gain them a home final.
At Football Park:
Port Adelaide 5.5 8.8 9.12 12.16.88
Carlton 2.2 9.4 10.7 12.11.83
Port's lithe rover Peter Burgoyne joined the group of players to win a
game with a kick after the final siren, as the niggardly Power crawled
past a lethargic Carlton. I think Docker Quenton Leach was the last to
accomplish Burgoyne's feat. The Roos' simultaneous loss means that
Carlton will still finish second but three consecutive losses weren't
planned upon, I'd gather. Parkin said afterwards "Yeah, we dropped three
in a row once before and won the next thirteen, so I’m very excited
about the next thirteen weeks." In picking the Power got Adam Kingsley
back from ailment but lost full-back Stephen Paxman with a groin strain
and Nathan Steinberner (shoulder). Stephen Daniels was the other in.
Three damaged Blues - Bradley, Koutoufides and groin-strained Aaron
Hamill - were replaced by Justin Murphy, back for his first game since a
knee injury in last years' Grand Final, Kris Massie and Adam White. You
know the Blues are struggling when White gets a game.
Like most recent games at Foopall Park strong wind was a factor. Port
had it first and before long their Fabian Francis potted a very good
running goal. Stew Dew missed a shot and Chad Cornes postered. Justin
Murphy's handpass saw Simon Beaumont score Carlton's opening sausage,
Powerman Nick Stevens marked on the attacking side of the centre square
and received a 50m penalty when Andy McKay ran across the mark. A goal.
Stevens was opposed to Scott Camporeale but neither bothered much with
defensive skills, Campo had thirteen disposals and Stevens ten in the
first quarter. Blue Lance Whitnall's first shot was touched on the line.
Port are the least-accurate team in the AFL and Dew, Burgoyne and Roger
James continued this true Port Adelaide tradition, until Burgoyne's
sharp handpass created a simple tap-through for Bowen Lockwood.
Camporeale cleared the next centre bounce and passed for Ryan Houlihan
to grab and convert, but majors from Burgoyne and James with a lovely
bit of roving gave the Power a handy lead at the first break. Early in
the second stanza Power ruckman Matt Primus fired a handpass to passing
Francis, his low kick was marked in the goalsquare by Burgoyne to put
the locals 27 points up. But like Mr. Methane the Blues made use of
their wind. Fraser Brown snapped a goal from Trent Hotton's tap, Stephen
O'Reilly wrestled away from Brett Montgomery and handpassed to
Camporeale whose snap took a handy off-break bounce. Burgoyne missed a
shot - from about the same spot he kicked the match-winner two quarters
later - and the Bloos whipped the ball end-to-end for a major to Simon
Fletcher. The locals were enraged when a poor advantage decision allowed
Mark Porter to get the ball forward, Brown soccered the gap down to 3
points. The Pooer cleared the restart and great tap-on from Stevens sent
James in for an easy goal. On came the Bloos, Port's Jared Poulton
ploughed head-first into a tackle, the ball spilled for Brett Ratten to
convert. Francis's good pass allowed James to keep the locals two goals
up, but Ryan Houlihan played a great one-two with Beaumont and booted
truly, then Whitnall led, marked and chipped to Matt Lappin. His major
put the Bluebaggers two points up at piss 'n' fresh ale time.
Missed most of the third quarter due to an errand but apparently I
didn't miss much. In contrast to the first half it was tight, scrappy
and light-on for scoring chances. The main incidents of note were
Plougher ruckman Barnaby French having to be stretchered off with a knee
injury, although by three-quarter time he was up and walking around, and
Blue Dean Rice landing on his head after being up-ended in a marking
contest. Carlton were just in front as the final stanza commenced and
with the wind at their backs, it was assumed to be a good thing. But
Port attacked from the off, a rushed point levelled the scores before
Warren Tredrea finally outpaced Silvagni to mark and boot Port 6 points
up. The Bluesers did some attacking but Beaumont overran a half-volley,
Hotton missed and Camporeale had his head torn off by Daniels, no free.
The wind blew shots from Port's James, Montgomery and Stevens
off-course, a Derek Murray effort from 40m didn't even make it. Finally
a slick Murphy handpass allowed Camporeale to find space, weave around a
tackle and snap it through, scores level. The Blues went forward from
the restart, Brett Ratten marked and goaled, Blues by a goal into
time-on. Power's Josh Carr kicked on the full, Fraser Brown's long free
kick was punched through by Daniels, so the Blues led by 7 points. With
30 seconds to go Port were thrown a lifeline when Silvagni was penalised
for holding Tredrea, the Port forward goaled. Primus charged in at the
centre bounce and completely mis-timed his jump, handily O'Reilly tapped
it straight to him. Primus forged on, handpassed to Brayden Lyle, his
kick held up and Burgoyne raced out to juggle a two-grabber. The siren
sounded and Burgoyne was brave enough to aim left of the left-hand
goal-post, the breeze swung it perfectly. The Port folks were quite
happy.
Burgoyne didn't just kick the winning goal, he did a fair bit else
besides with 3 goals from 10 kicks and 6 marks. But the Power won it
with a winning midfield over the surprisingly sluggish Blues - Essadun
hangover - where Nick Stevens (33 disposals with 21 handpasses, a goal),
Josh Francou (33 touches, a goal) and the very good Roger James (20
handlings, 3 goals) were winners. Matt Primus rucked himself to a
standstill, his tigerish effort at the final bounce typical. He had 20
handballs in his total of 25 disposals. In defence Darren Mead did a
good job in keeping Whitnall to 4 marks and no goals, although the windy
conditions hardly suited forwards. Brett Montgomery (21 touches) and
Fabian Francis (24, a goal) were also solid backmen. Tredrea kicked 2
goals. Scott Camporeale was easily the Blues' best, covering a vast
amount of territory for 36 disposals (26 kicks) and 2 goals.
Unfortunately he received little support, Brett Ratten (20 disposals, 2
goals) was alright but not as brilliant as last Friday, Fraser Brown (19
touches, 2 goals) seems disinclined to bend down and pick the ball up.
Simon Fletcher was good with 25 possies and a goal, Steve Silvagni (15
touches, 6 marks) did a fine job on Tredrea and Andy McKay (23 possies)
was rock steady once again. Ryan Houlihan and Simon Beaumont kicked 2
goals each. Murphy made a decent comeback with 13 disposals. But the
spark wasn't there for the Blues. After his little joke Parkin said "The
better team won on the day, so we can't complain too much." Mark
Williams showed the Port Power trait of getting things all out of
proportion. "I could talk about each and every one of the players...If
we said it was a true Port Adelaide finish to the game, it would warm
the hearts of all the traditional people. I'm hoping it will (somebody
get a bucket)...We'll include Peter Burgoyne in our motivational video
in the future. That will certainly go down in the history of the club.
And what a tremendous thing to do to Carlton..." Well he got that last
bit right but somehow I feel the Tiges may pay for it next Sunday. Port
have the Showdown to end a disappointing season and a win will give 'em
something to work with.
At the MCG:
Melbourne 3.4 9.8 13.16 18.18.126
Geelong 4.0 11.4 13.5 17.6.108
Melbourne earned a double-chance in the finals with a dominating second
half against Geelong. The Cats can still miss out, if a fairly unlikely
sequence of events occurs next weekend. The Dees resurrected Paul
Hopgood to replace concussed Nathan Brown, the Cats had Barry Stoneham
withdraw late with a calf strain and replaced him with Marcus Baldwin, a
key forward making his AFL debut. He'd been elevated from the Cats'
rookie list with Pickering's retirement, after being delisted by
Hawthorn last year.
A big crowd of 75,000 packed in, attracted in part by the Olympic torch
on its way through. Ron Barassi was footy's representative bearer along
with Mark Taylor and former Socceroo captain Paul Wade. Ron Clarke lit
the ceremonial flame, just like 1956 and burnt himself again, also just
like 1956. Geelong ruckman Steven King had a big first half against
White, enabling skipper Garry Hocking and Glen Kilkpatrick much
influence. Darren Milburn and specialist forward Jason Snell were also
prominent. Up forward Ronnie Burns was dangerous with 9 kicks and 4
goals before half-time. Ben Graham played loose across half-back and
gathered 12 first-half touches, Brenton Sanderson kept a tight reign on
Jeff Farmer. Melbun were kept in it by the efforts of midfielders Shane
Woewodin, Adem Yze and Anthony McDonald. David Neitz provided a target
in attack. But the Cats held sway and should have been further than 20
points ahead midway through the second term. A couple of late
second-quarter events were, in hindsight, interpreted as beneficial to
Melbourne. A running Burns banana shot hit the post, Neitz kicked a goal
and as the players departed Cat Brad Sholl provoked Neitz, starting a
big melee in which Sholl copped a fair bit of attention.
Melbun dominated the opening minutes of the third term but missed
several times before Stephen Powell dobbed one, Travis Johnstone marked
and goaled and the Dees led by 9 points. Cat Graham continued to play
loose in defence, a factor exploited by Demon Cam Bruce. The Cats
responded quickly, Cameron Mooney marked and goaled and moments later
dished off a handpass for David Clarke to slot one. But the Dees
persisted, another major got them in front as their midfield took over.
Misses from Woewodin and Brad Green poked the lead out to 5 points
before a great late goal from Adem Yze. He collected the ball at
half-back, ran 40m with a couple of bounces and smacked it through from
50m. Dees by 11 points at the last change. They buried Geelong quickly,
Jeff White was payed a suspect mark at the opening bounce of quartier
quatre - the ball travelled about 5m - he punted forward where Neitz was
payed a free kick for Harley's holding. Goal, 17 points to the Dees.
Leoncelli punted 'em forward from the next restart, Green sprinted out
for a very good mark and punted truly. Goal, 23 points to the Dees. An
ambitious pass from Cat David Spriggs was intercepted by Johnstone, he
found Woewodin who surged through the middle and rammed it through. 29
points to the Dees. The Cats reshuffled, Graham went to attack as did
Cameron Ling off the bench. Buddha Hocking kicked a running goal but
almost immediately Guy Rigoni replied for the Demons, then Neitz marked
and goaled again and it was over. Except for a bizarre late cameo from
Cat first-gamer Baldwin, coming on for his first run in time-on he
booted three goals in as many minutes, each from a good lead and strong
grab. Could be starting next week.
The designated team leaders did the job for Melbourne, brilliant
centreman Shane Woewodin had 34 disposals and booted 4 goals, a very
handy effort. No less impressive was Adem Yze, a little quiet after half
time but still decent with 16 disposals and 3 goals. In attack captain
David Neitz ended with 5 goals from 9 marks and 12 kicks, Anthony
McDonald got the ball 23 times ands booted a goal. Jeff White was a big
part on the second-half Dee resurgence, he got over King and ended with
30 hitouts, 22 possessions, 7 marks. Running backmen Peter Walsh (22
disposals) and Matthew Collins (21) both played well, Walsh coming back
after being carved up by Burns early. Geelong's livewire forward Ronnie
Burns was their best although like many team-mates he faded badly after
half-time. Burns could've kicked a bit straighter too, ending with 4.4
from 14 kicks. Still, at least he got some goals. Brenton Sanderson kept
Farmer goal-less and almost kickless until the final term, when it was
over. Jason Snell had 27 possessions and worked hard around
half-forward, good half-games came from midfielders Garry Hocking (14
disposals in the first half, 17 in total and a goal) and Darren Milburn
(14 disposals in the first half, 19 in total). Steve King plugged way
for 30 hitouts, 20 disposals and 2 goals, Cameron Mooney kicked 2 goals
as did David Clarke and Adam Houlihan. Marcus Baldwin has 3 marks, 3
kicks and 3 goals to show for his 5 minutes of football. Cat coach Mark
Thompson said "Really pleased with the first half and really
disappointed with the second half...in the first ten minutes of the
third quarter I don't think we touched the ball." They still need to
beat Sydney at Kardinia Park next weekend to be certain of finals
participation. Daniher reckoned "After being 24 points down halfway
through the second quarter it was important the skipper kicked a goal on
half-time. We dominated the second half without hitting the scoreboard."
Away to West Coast next Sunday and a win will see the Dees finish third
and avoid Essadun first-up.
At Colonial:
North Melbourne 4.2 7.5 10.12 11.14.80
Collingwood 3.4 7.8 9.11 14.14.98
Oops. The Oranges got pulped at Colonial by a motivated Collingwood and
slipped down to fourth, still a double-chance but if they stay there
it'll be Essadun in the first week of the finals. Pagan called it the
Roos' worst performance in his time in charge, strong words. Collingwood
were unhappy with recent baiting from Roo executives Mark Dawson and
Greg Miller and celebrated their second win since round five. At
selection the Roos were able to recall first-choices Corey McKernan,
Matthew Capuano and Shannon Motlop, outgoing were Martin Pike, with an
actual injury (hamstring), Evan Hewitt and Craig Sholl (both dropped).
The Pies lost Gavin Crosisca and discarded Brent Tuckey and Mark Orchard
for Chris Tarrant, Mark Richardson and Tyson Lane. Sav Rocca injured a
knee in the reserves last week and yesterday Malthouse confirmed he'll
be delisted at the season's end. A sad end for a very good full forward,
his body just too heavy to take the stress.
The Citrus Fruits began well enough, with Wayne Carey at CHB and
frequently clashing with Nathan Buckley, who kicked the first goal of
the game. But the Kangas stacked on the next four, Bell with a couple
and Carey snuck forward to snap one and let Bucks know about it. But Pie
Nick Davis bobbed up with two late goals, then Chris Tarrant converted a
free against John Blakey to open the second quarter and the Maggies were
in front. Carey moved forward but had trouble with Mark Richardson,
Simon Prestigiacomo negated McKernan and the game was on.
Tight third term, early on Roo Winston Abraham was pinged for a throw
and Brent Harvey booted the ball away, a 50m penalty enabled Rupert
Betheras to extend the Pie lead to 9 points. The Roos scored a couple of
points before Shannon Motlop got away with a throw and Harvey snapped a
goal, making it point the diff. More points before the Citrus's Matt
Burton tapped the ball for Peter Bell to snap a superb sausage, putting
the Kangas ahead. A dull, scoreless period as both sides went on the
defensive. Collinwood worked the ball quickly to set up Paul Williams,
he kicked on the full. At the other end Norf finally managed to isolate
Carey against Richardson, Carey marked Bell's pass easily but missed the
shot. Tyson Lane held up play but did very well to find Scott Burns in
space, he played on and drilled it to cut the margin to a point. But a
late Abraham bomb sent the Roos 7 points ahead again at the last change.
It stayed tense and low-scoring into the last. The Maggies scored two
early goals to grab a 5-point lead, Buckley capitalised on some Roo
confusion to handball for a Gav Brown tap-through and Bucks' high hooked
kick into the goalsquare was roved expertly by Lockyer. Norf pinched the
lead back when young Brad Stephens caught Kinnear in a tackle, his free
was marked and converted by McKernan. Through fingernail-chewing minutes
behinds arrived from Pies Leon Davis and Mal Michael and Roo Matt
Capuano, Lockyer kicked on the full. Scores were level again when Nick
Davis reeled in a Williams kick and blasted it home from 55m. Time-on
had just started. Ben Johnson missed a shot but the Pies had the taste
now. Tarrant majored from a strong grab and Nick Davis confirmed the
result when he thumped another superb long kick home, a free kick
against over-zealous Glen Archer.
Magpie flanker Nick Davis was the hero of the hour, with his thin body
and peroxide tips he doesn't look much like Dad Craig, but 32 disposals,
a hefty 14 marks (6 in the last quarter) and 4 goals would've made any
Pie proud. Rover Paul Williams gathered the ball 20 times and took 10
marks in his best game for many a week. Nathan Buckley had the usual (28
disposals, 2 goals) although Roo Adam Simpson didn't do badly against
him, it may seem strange to say. Winger Andrew Dimattina earned a late
reprieve with Crosisca's withdrawal and had 19 disposals with 9 marks
and a goal, Tarkyn Lockyer was set free with no defensive match-up and
ended with 2 goals from his 20 kicks. Praise due to the stopping efforts
of Richardson and Presti. Chris Tarrant kicked 2 goals from his 8 marks
and Tyson Lane was handy on a wing. Not a proud day for the North
Melbourne Football Club, their better players were rover Peter Bell (28
disposals, 3 goals), midfielder Adam Simpson who had a good battle with
Buckley and ended with 16 touches himself, winger David King (22
disposals) and CHB Jason McCartney, who's stepped up since Martyn's
injury and played well. Defender Byron Pickett was his fast, fearless,
straight-ahead self and Matthew Capuano was the only Roo big man to take
a grab, 9 of them with a goal. Carey had 15 kicks - 7 in the first term
when he was in defence - but just 4 marks and one goal. Some suggestion
they went in top-heavy. Pagan just thought they were rubbish. "I've been
here eight years and...that was the most disappointing loss I've been
involved in. The game was lost between the ears...There's not a lot of
room at the top, that's why it's easier to get there than stay
there...All we want to find out is who wants to play and who doesn't."
He refused to comment on the orange-guernsey factor, but you can bet
something like it won't be happening again soon. St. Kilda at Colonial
next week to finish. Malthouse said "It was a very good win...What this
does is more than likely reinforce what we're trying to do." He then
railed against the Roos' black shorts and socks, the same below-waist
colours as Collingwood and the probable reason for several
direct-to-opposition disposals by the Pies during the game. It's the
both North's and the AFL's fault for allowing it. The Pies end the year
against Essendon at the 'G next Saturday, should be good.
At Subiaco:
Fremantle 1.3 4.4 9.8 15.11.101
West Coast 5.2 9.6 12.8 15.10.100
It must've been tremendously exciting, but with little interest outside
WA and no bearing on the finals, we saw and heard almost nothing over
here. Except the many fights. With 30 seconds left, Freo ahead by a
point and their James Clement about to kick in from an Eagle behind, the
ABC radio cut to the news. Eh? But Freo prevailed, climbed above the
Eagles and are now a real chance to finish above them for the first
time. In selection the Dockers lost Andrew Jones with an ankle while
Craig Callaghan and Daniel Schell were axed, in came Leigh Brown, Andrew
Shipp and Jess Sinclair. The Eagles lost Fraser Gehrig with a knee
injury and axed David Antonowicz, Josh Wooden and Andrew Donnelly.
Getting a run were Michael Gardiner, back from a lengthy injured spell,
plus Darren Glass, Phil Read and 18-year-old first-gamer Kane Munro from
Bendigo.
Whether the Eagles-Dockers rivalry is manufactured or real, there sure
was a lot of feeling on the ground. There were a number of big blues,
and real fights, not guernsey-tugging and non-violent wrestling but
actual cut-lunches. Weegle ruckman Gardiner was reported before the
opening bounce for punching Matthew Pavlich, Dale Kickett and Phil Read
were reported for wrestling, both biffed each other and anyone nearby in
one of several melees scattered throughout the first half. The Age has a
nice picture of a Docker - not sure if it's Brad Dodd or Andrew Shipp -
planting a textbook straight left on Read's jaw. Even the umpires got
into it, the tall Stephen Hanley taking out Philip Matera. Anyway. The
Eagles started very well with Peter Matera, Callum Chambers and Chad
Fletcher getting plenty of the ball, Jakovich was impassable at CHB.
Docker spearhead Tony Modra broke a hand five minutes in and his day
ended. Phil Matera, Andrew Embley and Mitchell White provided the
finishing skills in attack for West Ghost. Shocker Clive Waterhouse
fired in attack to kick a couple of goals and get them moving, Brad
Bootsma was playing a bit of a game across the centre along with Cook
and Hasleby. Nevertheless the Eagles had extended their lead by
half-time and when Phil Matera raced in to slot one early in the third,
the Eagles led by 42 points. More violence flared, Wiggle defender
Ashley McIntosh ended Pavlich's day with a violent bump but things
tilted Freo's way in this area when Troy Cook clobbered Mitchell White
and had him carted off, then umpire Hanley collided with leading Phil
Matera who also finished for the day. Waterhouse detonated with three
quick goals, Shipp came on for eight kicks and a goal in the quarter,
James Clement steadied the backline. The margin was cut to three goals
by the final change and the Shockers kept on comin'. Waterhouse put Freo
ahead for the first time three minutes into time-on, a close range
blast. Then Dodd snapped truly and Freo led by 8 points. When the Eagles
pegged a goal back, it was three points the diff. Their rookie Darren
Glass had two chances to win it, but a set shot went wide and when Peter
Matera hooked the ball back to Glass in the goalsquare, it took a cruel
bounce and slithered through for a point. Clement was safe with the
kick-in (apparently) and the Dokkers had won.
Clive Waterhouse has tried extraordinarily hard this season and deserved
some reward, he booted 7 goals from 8 marks and 14 kicks to be the Freo
match-winner. Brad Bootsma (17 disposals, 8 marks) has improved rapidly
in recent weeks and he did very well on a forward flank, especially in
the first half. In the middle the excellent trade-gain Troy Cook (18
disposals, a goal) and permed battler Shaun McManus (25 disposals, 8
marks) were very good and Heath Black had an excellent first half -
first quarter mainly - with 14 disposals and a goal, he ended with 16
touches. Ruckman Clem Michael won at the centre bounce and Shipp had 13
disposals and a goal in the second half. For the Weagles the veterans
stood tall, Glen Jakovich at CHB (19 disposals, 7 marks), Philip Matera
who booted 5 goals before the umpire's intervention and Peter Matera had
20 disposals and was in there at the very end trying to win it. Young
midfielders Chad Fletcher (23 disposals, a goal) and Andrew Williams (25
touches) played well, back-flank Chad Morrison continued his good season
with 15 touches and a goal. Embley and White kicked 2 goals each. The
only quotes our Eastern press have bothered with, again, relate to the
fighting. Judge said "The match was played between two teams who were
pretty hard at it...I'm not sure if the fighting got out of hand. I
didn't see everything that went on." Ahh...they've Melbourne at Subi to
finish an injury-riddled and disappointing season. Drum said "Our
players feel, rightly or wrongly, that they have been pushed around for
too long by the big boys up the road. For them to stand up and want to
do something about it is fantastic. And the big boys from up the
road...aren't going to lie down and let the upstarts from Fremantle come
and push them around. I think when you understand history, it is very
easy to understand the way the game was played." Off to Brisbane next
weekend and they'd be struggling, you'd reckon, but if the Dees do their
job then an above-Eagle finish will eventuate.
Ladder after Round Twenty-One:
Pts. % Next week
Essendon 80 160.7 Collingwood (MCG, Saturday)
Carlton 60 131.9 Richmond (MCG, Sunday)
Melbourne 52 115.9 West Coast (Subiaco, Sunday)
North Melbourne 52 104.5 St. Kilda (Colonial, Sat. night)
Footscray 48 104.4 Hawthorn (Colonial, Fri. night)
Geelong 46 96.5 Sydney (Kardinia Park, Saturday)
Brisbane 44 112.6 Fremantle (Gabba, Sat. night)
Hawthorn 44 96.9 Footscray (Colonial, Fri. night)
-------------------------------------
Richmond 44 96.2 Carlton (MCG, Sunday)
Sydney 40 101.9 Geelong (Kardinia Park, Saturday)
Adelaide 36 98.0 Port Adelaide (Football Park, Sunday)
Fremantle 32 74.6 Brisbane (Gabba, Sat. night)
West Coast 30 94.9 Melbourne (Subiaco, Sunday)
Collingwood 28 86.2 Essendon (MCG, Saturday)
Port Adelaide 26 81.2 Adelaide (Football Park, Sunday)
St. Kilda 10 70.8 North Melbourne (Colonial, Sat. night)
Cheers, Tim
e-mail: t.murphy@rmit.edu.au
Phew. What a weekend. Two games decided by a point, another won with a
kick after the siren, lots of non-ball related physicality (i.e. fights)
and the top three all lost. No wonder the Olympic people wanted the
season moved. They can't compete with footy.
Money makes footy go 'round. North Melbourne emulated Carlton's effort
of last year by changing their guernsey on Sunday for some dough. The
traditional royal blue stripes went to...orange. Yes, orange, which
looked fairly horrible. The Orangeroos. Sounds like a Dutch soccer team.
They eschewed the blue socks and shorts for black shorts and black socks
with orange tops. This garb enraged their opponents on Sunday,
Collingwood. North coach Denis Pagan recently picked up a personal
sponsorship from a betting agency, the Canberra-based Canbet. Elsewhere
Melbourne did a deal to play next years' home game against Brisbane at
the Gabba, while another Melbourne team, I've forgotten who, want to
play a home game in Adelaide next season. All for cash.
Now the reasons why they need the cash. At Carlton Anthony Koutoufides
signed a 5-year deal worth nearly $6 million, including endorsements and
a share of gate money. That's about a quarter of the salary cap per
year. Bomber Justin Blumfield signed a new 2-year contract, rejecting an
875K offer from Sydney because he wanted to stay with a successful team
(his words). Port Adelaide re-signed four players including Nick
Stevens. The big out-of-contract players remain Eagle Fraser Gehrig and
Hawthorn's Nick Holland. Holland's contract contains a clause releasing
the Hawk if they don't make the finals this season. I wonder how we
found that out. Holland is very strongly rumoured to be joining the
Camrys who, on the weekend's evidence, would welcome him with open arms.
West Coast expect to sign a new deal with Chad Morrison this week.
At Colonial:
Essendon 3.2 7.3 11.7 12.9.81
Footscray 4.1 7.3 9.4 14.8.92
This was a game. You might've predicted a Bomber let-down after their
huge Friday last week, but their streak ended as the Bulldogs employed
similar tactics to those which sank Carlton and succeeded again. It's
impossible to deny Footscray, a month ago folks were writing them off
but they beat the Bloos, now they've vanquished Essadun and a fourth
consecutive finals appearance is a reality. The loss probably means
nothing in the overall scheme for the Bommers, but they might meet the
Bulldogs again in the finals and down the line a couple of injuries and
possible tribunal action could worry them. The Dons went in without
James Hird, a back problem we're told. Michael Prior replaced him.
However they regained a couple of important regulars in Chris Heffernan
and Dustin Fletcher, out went young Aaron Henneman and older Paul
Barnard. One change for the Bulldogs, promising junior Luke Penney out
with an elbow injury, he was replaced by stopper Steven Kretiuk.
As against the Blues, Footscray flooded their backline heavily, chased
and tackled like zealots and made every possession count. The Dogs
started with Chris Grant up forward, but he was soon down back on
Fletcher. The Dogs kicked the first two majors, Brad Johnson with a good
dummy and handpass allowing Nathan Brown to snap truly, Steve Kolyniuk
converted a free kick against Damien Hardwick. "Gee, how long since the
Dons have had the first two goals kicked against them?" said McAvaney.
Fremantle did it a fortnight ago, Brooce. Switched to the radio after
that. Don ruckman Steve Alessio, reportedly set for trade at the
season's end, opened their account thanks to a soft 50m penalty against
Kretiuk. Tony Liberatore and Scott West combined to clear the centre
bounce for the Bulldogs and Nathan Eagleton won a free as his head was
crunched, Dogs back to 13 points ahead. The first of several blows for
the Dons as their defensive leader, Hardwick, limped off with an ankle
injury. He didn't return. A poor Doggy kick-in allowed Mick Long to send
Matt Lloyd in for a Bommer goal, but the Dogs were 12 points up again
when Liberatore roved Trent Bartlett's tap at a throw-in and converted.
Mark Mercuri tidied a goalsquare scramble and handballed for Lloyd to
stab another prior to the first break. Three quick Essadun goals opened
the second korter and the normal pattern seemed established. First
Dustin Fletcher clutched a strong grab from Long's kick and sausaged,
Blake Caracella's long punt spilled onto an Adam Ramanauskas boot for a
flukey major and Joe Misiti cleared the restart, Mercuri marked and
six-pointed. Dons by 13 and we settled back. But the Dog plan worked,
they stifled the Don run before Brown's good kick was marked and goaled
by Simon Garlick. Evil One's vision saw Fletcher keep the home team two
goals up with another high mark. Then came the first of several
'incidents' as Pup Kretiuk took a brave backpedalling mark and was
collected by Lloyd's elbow. A replay suggested Lloyd got Kretiuk on the
shoulder, so shouldn't be a problem. Liberatore had planted some great
tackles and he peaked by running down Scott Lucas, the turnover led to a
goal for Brad Johnson via Bartlett. Some good play from Paul Hudson,
another Bartlett handpass and Brad Johnson goal levelled the scores. We
had a game. Just before half-time Don ruckman John Barnes ran through
the Bulldog Johnson well away from the ball, it precipitated a big
fracas involving just about everyone - including the benches. Barnes is
one of a few, from both sides, who could be in trouble. Tempers remained
high as the players departed.
Brad Johnson didn't start the second half (he returned later, whacked
Barnes but was much less effective in general). After Essadun's
Moorcroft came up with two poor misses and a poster from Bulldog Hudson,
Rohan Smith did well in passing towards Garlick, he was clattered by
Ramanauskas and converted the free kick. The Bulldogs were playing the
soccer strategy of soaking up pressure and hitting on the break, so had
to make every attack count. And a skilful interchange between Hudson and
Jose Romero did just that in setting Bartlett free for a close-range
running sausage, the Pups led by 10 points. Michael Long went clear at
the restart and Fletcher leaped for another big grab, his third goal
ensued. More good Mick Long play resulted in a major to Evil One and the
Dons were back in front, then their Mark Johnson converted a goalsquare
grab - Long with the attacking kick again. Speculation that the Bullies'
highly physical style of play was taxing their limbs as the Bombers went
15 points ahead by the final change, Justin Blumfield with a soaring
mark amidst the heavily-populated Don forward line. Blumfield goaled
early in the final quarter too and the Footscray epitaphs were written.
Bulldog coach Wallace played his last card, sending Chris Grant forward
- he'd been very good at CHB - accompanied by Kolyniuk and Eagleton from
the bench. Grant came up with a Koutoufides-type goal, shoving the pack
aside at a throw-in and snapping it through. Dog Paul Dooley wobbled a
kick forward, Bartlett seized it strongly in the goalsquare and copped a
whack on the nose. It bled, he left, Kolyniuk kicked the goal and
suddenly the Dogs had a sniff at 10 points in arrears. Bommer Lucas
missed following a good grab before terrific play between Eagleton, West
and Grant with a head-on shepherd saw Kolyniuk mark and slot another.
Five points. The Dons seemed bereft of ideas as they lobbed aimless
kicks into the packed Pup backline or got caught dithering midfield. And
they lost Dean Rioli for the season, his collarbone broken in a solid
bump from Grant. Paul Hudson missed three good chances and Brad Johnson
postered, narrowing the gap to a point. Footscray went ahead with a bit
of luck, Bomber Fletcher roved a pack but his attempted dribbly kick
out-of-bounds lobbed on the full. Grant hooked the shot left-footed and
through. Jason Johnson hobbled off. Smith marked as the final siren
sounded, he goaled as the Pups celebrated. Brad Johnson sought out John
‘The Seagull' Barnes and communicated thoughts on the result, complete
with Sheedy-esque hand signals.
Many reckon the Bulldogs' best was coach Terry Wallace. No wonder the
Saints are so keen on him. On the field Chris Grant was superb, halting
many Essadun attacks at CHB before his match-winning effort in attack in
the final term. Grant had 29 disposals (26 kicks), took 10 marks and
kicked those 2 final-quarter goals. The other key Bullies were
on-ballers Jose Romero (32 disposals) and Scott West (30), they were
terrific at the centre bounce and around packs. West had about 6 touches
in the last minute. In defence Nathan Brown was very good with 31
handlings and a goal, Matthew Croft did a good job on Lloyd and Wallace
was full of praise for flanker Simon Cox (12 marks, 25 possessions). A
big first half from Brad Johnson, 16 disposals and 2 goals were handy
before Barnes's intervention, Johnson ended wih 22 touches. Steve
Kolyniuk poached 3 goals, Simon Garlick bagged 2. Liberatore effected 9
tackles, most of 'em on Scott Lucas and had 22 possies with a goal. For
the Dons Michael Long was excellent, his vision and ball-use finding a
way through the crowd with 22 disposals and 9 marks. Up front Dustin
Fletcher booted 3 goals from 9 marks and 12 kicks, providing a target as
Lloyd, Lucas and cohorts struggled again. Across the middle Jason
Johnson (27 disposals) and Mark Johnson (20, 1 goal) were effective.
Justin Blumfield showed a touch of class again with 2 goals from his 15
possies. Joe Misiti got the ball 33 times but had little influence.
Lloyd kicked 2 goals, both in the first quarter, to go to 90 for the
season. Sheedy said "It (the winning streak) is in the past now. We have
got two hours of home-and-away left and we have a second-chance final.
The players will re-look and re-assess where they were. I think the
Carlton game took a hell of a lot out of us." Wallace said "It was a
historic win but it was Essendon (sic) that made the history. The first
hour was tough and hard and very ferocious. We thought it was going to
be a night of frustration. You have got to do something to play in
finals games and we earned that with our own efforts." Too right. Please
thump the Hawks next week, Puppies...
At the MCG:
Hawthorn 4.1 9.3 12.6 15.8.98
Adelaide 3.4 4.9 6.10 9.13.67
The Hawks hopped back into the eight, by 0.7 of a percentage point, with
this comfortable win over the unmotivated Camrys and Richmond's loss
across town, which actually brought a bigger cheer from the Hork fans.
Nick Holland played a big part (in Hawthorn's win, that is). Hawthorn
went in without Trent Croad, suspended a week for head-butting Matt
Primus last Saturday, plus late withdrawals Shane Crawford (calf) and
Chance Bateman (ankle). Crawford was clearly injured last weekend and
Hawthorn have been the worst in the leeg for naming bogus line-ups on
Thursdays. Aaron Lord missed with a hammy. In came Barry Young -
remember him? - Angelo Lekkas, Craig Treleven and Brett Johnson. The
Corollas had five changes, Matt Robran and Nathan Bassett were out with
hamstring and shoulder injuries respectively while Kym Koster, David
Gallagher and Ricky O'Loughlin were axed. Replacements were Brian
Beinke, Justin Cicolella, Tyson Stenglein and two forgotten men in
Crowland, ruckman Matthew Clarke and winger James Thiessen.
Not the greatest game by all accounts, enlivened only by a couple of
great individual highlights. Chief amongst them were Nick Holland's six
first-half goals, including the first one of the game, 11 minutes in.
Camry Peter Vardy bombed a great set-shot from the intersection of 50m
and boundary lines, but they were struggling up front already. Vardy's
mark was the only one between he, Scott Welsh, Andrew Crowell and Ken
McGregor in the first quarter. Beinke did a groin in the warm-up and
hardly played. Hork full-back Jon Hay was forced off in the second term
with debilitating 'flu but Jade Rawlings filled in nicely, taking a big
speccie in the first quarter. Paul Salmon dropped back to help out.
Holland continued on his way in the second term, Caven and Ben Hart his
victims. Most of the Corollas' five points for the term were rushed
through. After half-time ruckman Rhett Biglands went onto Holland and
was quite effective, although Holland kept getting the ball he kicked
only one more goal for the match. Crow midfielders Ricciuto, McLeod and
Andrew Eccles were racking up touches but had no-one to benefit. Daniel
Chick speared a superb running goal for the Hawks. A fairly even last
quarter ensued, McLeod slotted a great running goal from the boundary
and Holland booted his seventh. Late in the game Camry Vardy was benched
and gave the jeering crowd (or possibly the coach's box?) a one-fingured
salute.
Nick Holland's total stats read 22 disposals, 15 marks and 7.3. Upped
the contract ante a bit. Thin defender Jade Rawlings was no less
impressive, 9 marks and 27 disposals. Rawlings has taken a long time to
mature but this season he's been very good. Salmon (10 marks, 21
touches) assisted down back, picking up Rehn. In midfield Daniel Chick
(17 disposals, a goal), Tony Woods (34 touches) and Daniel Harford (27
touches, 10 marks) matched the class of their opposition with effort and
tenacity, rover Anthony Rock was solid under packs. In attack the
opportunists John Barker (10 marks, 2 goals) and Ben Dixon (12 kicks, 7
marks, 2 goals) did their jobs. The Camrys received great service again
from Andrew McLeod (32 possessions, a goal), Mark Ricciuto (29, 2 goals)
and Simon Goodwin (18). They didn't get a lot of support though. Andrew
Eccles, whose season has been much curtailed by injury, showed his skill
with 29 touches, 12 marks including a pair of screamers and a goal.
Shaun Rehn pulled down 11 grabs and had 21 disposals, although he didn't
have more influence than Salmon. Ben Hart was alright, except when on
Holland. Ayres said "All year we've been able...to get enough of the
ball inside our 50. Again today it was I think 57-51 (63-52 according to
the stats) and then they win the game by six goals, so it really says
that we've got to unearth a key forward to give our on-ballers .and the
smaller ground players some ability to keep the ball in." Like Nick
Holland... "It was excellent, I was pleased," began Schwab. "It showed a
lot of character. We lost our skipper and Croad was out suspended and
then Jonathon Hay came off ill, so there's three pretty good players. So
the rest of the guys really held together and got us over the line."
They need to beat the Bulldogs next week to be certain of finals action,
although may stay in even if they lose.
At Colonial:
Richmond 2.4 6.6 10.8 12.11.83
Sydney 5.2 7.7 10.10 12.12.84
If history repeats itself as farce, what does it mean when something
happens four times? The quartissential farce. As in 1994, 96 and 98 the
Tigers must win their final game of the season, against a side above
them on the ladder, to participate in the finals. And have other results
go their way. Fuggit. It's hard to be bitter, the Swans never
trailed...But Matty Rogers...it's too depressing. In selection Richmond
were able to recall Rory Hilton from suspension and David Bourke after
injury, they replaced dropped pair Aaron James and Ben Haynes. The Swans
had skipper Andrew Dunkley and wingman Jon Stevens return from injury,
out went Jude Bolton and Simon Feast. No injuries listed in the paper
but Bolton hurt his shoulder against Norf and Feast was concussed. In
this game veteran Swan winger Wayne Schwass played his 250th game and
Andrew Schauble racked up 100.
First visit to Colonial for a while. The surface looks much better. The
new caterers are trying to make a buck through under-staffing. In the
Soviet-length food queue I spied raincoats for sale. In a stadium with a
roof. Hmm. Richmond's recent trend for tardy starts continued with the
Swans getting one directly from the opening bounce, Jason Saddington
intercepting Campbell's handpass and giving to Dan McPherson for the
sausage. Ben Holland marked for the Tiges and chipped to Wayne Campbell
for their first but thereon in the first quarter it was all Siddey. The
originators of the packed defence played it perfectly while McPherson,
Stuart Maxfield and a busy Jared Crouch ran the ball very well, lots of
quick short passing. Adam Goodes is very athletic. If he had any
football skill, he'd be dangerous. In fact he created a goal for Nic
Fosdike, Andrew Schauble converted a great mark and Mick O'Loughlin
kicked two goals, a mark and a free kick against Darren Gaspar for a
throw. The Tiges' injury woes continued as defenders Jason Torney and
Andrew Kellaway both did hamstrings. The visitors led by 23 points
before a late grab and Tiger goal from Ben Holland. Swan Matthew Nicks
booted the opening sausage of term two, a good tight-angle snap, but the
Tiges knuckled down. Campbell, Mark Chaffey and Nick Daffy won the ball,
Matthew Rogers provided the fire with three goals for the term and Greg
Tivendale slotted a tight-angle beauty. Richmun closed to a point before
Biddiscombe's poor kick created a turnover, Dale Lewis ran a long way
and bounced a shot through for Siddey.
The Bloods kicked the first goal of every quarter, in the third it was
Schwass with a long run and nicely-timed handpass to Maxfield who curled
it through. Richmond's big men had been well-held (literally) but now
they threatened, Brad Ottens booted a great goal from a long lead and
tough grab, Andrew Kellaway limped on to park in a forward pocket and
snap a goal. The Swans wheeled Dunkley on and his experience steadied
the backline with 3 marks and 6 disposals for the quarter. Troy Luff
pushed forward for a mark and goal, some steady handling under pressure
between Saddington and McPherson allowed Robbie AhMat to snap a good
sausage and the Bloods were 14 points up. Back came the Tiges, Brendon
Gale snapped a great left-footer after roving his own pack and from the
restart Knights and Tivendale sent Daffy clear for a speared 55m beauty.
The last quarter was ulcer-bleedingly tense, I shredded my empty hot-dog
wrapper and crushed the beer cup to a pulp. Sydney scored the first goal
again, a loose Tiger clearance passed by Stafford to Nicks and he punted
truly. Daffy found space in Richmond's forward line to steer through a
good shot from Biddiscombe's pass and there was less than a goal in it
again. As the ball pinged around midfield, mistakes from both sides,
tough tackling and little room kept it tight. And the stoopid bounce of
the oval ball. Merde. Into time-on a piece of Mick O'Loughlin artistry
gave Sydney the vital break, he gathered a loose ball in the pocket,
baulked twice and ripped it through on his left foot. They led by 7
points. But the Tiges copped a break, Mark Chaffey spied the empty
goalsquare and his low right-footer took a fortuitous bounce and
trickled through ahead of despairing Luff. A point the diff. The Tigres
had a chance to win when Bourke marked and dished off to Leon Cameron,
his pass found Rogers on the lead 45m out. Why the hell didn't he
steady? Rogers kicked immediately, his mis-hit punt tumbled short, the
Bloods cleared and the siren rang as Maxfield had a shot. I've never
cried at the footy but I went damn close.
The Swans were on the defensive for long periods so much credit is due
to their backmen, the much-improved Andrew Schauble (11 possies, a
goal), Rowan Warfe (14 touches), Dunkley and Luff. Last time Tigers Gale
and Ottens kicked 7 goals between them, this time the same pair kicked
one sausage each. Across the middle it was unheralded Dan McPherson (28
disposals, a goal) and Jared Crouch (20 touches) who did the job, Wayne
Schwass got the ball 30 times but his disposal is not very good these
days. Matthew Nicks had 19 disposals and kicked 2 goals after starting
on the bench for some reason, O'Loughlin was generally shackled by
Gaspar but still contributed 3 goals from 11 kicks. Robbie AhMat worked
hard from his forward pocket for 20 disposals and 1.4. For the Tigers
centreman Nick Daffy played his best game for a while with 27 disposals
and 2 goals, using the ball well for a change. Wayne Campbell, opposed
to Schwass, had 32 possessions with a goal and worked hard again,
improved winger Mark Chaffey got the pill 26 times and kicked a good
goal. Despite his soul-crushing late miss Matt Rogers was good with 3
goals from 11 kicks, Leon Cameron mopped up nicely in defence for 22
disposals, Tivendale and Biddiscombe were alright. Frawley said "It was
pretty disappointing. All the stats suggest we should have won the game.
To have the ball inside the forward 50m sixty-one to forty-seven
suggests that we were going to have a winning score but it just didn't
happen." In truth the Tiges fumbled and miskicked more than normal, a
point also raised by Frawley. Rod Eade said "Obviously we played
exceptionally well last week. I suppose we played better footy last week
but in the context of gutsing it out and showing a bit of spirit and
hanging in there, it was very pleasing." The Swans can still make the
finals if they beat Geelong at Kardinia Park next week, and Richmond and
Hawthorn both lose. Not impossible.
At the Gabba:
Brisbane 3.1 11.3 17.10 23.15.153
St. Kilda 4.5 6.8 8.9 8.15.63
Brisbane started slowly but from the mid-point of the second quarter
roused themselves to hand St. Kilda the expected belting. In doing so
the Lyin's all but confirmed a top-eight slot. One change going in for
Brisbane, ruckman Beau McDonald withdrawing with an ankle and being
replaced by the tubby Adam Heuskes, who clearly enjoyed his enforced
layoff. The Saints lost forward Barry Hall with a groin strain but had
dual Brownlow Medallist Robert Harvey return from a persistent calf
injury. Ben Walton and Damian Ryan were given chances. Discarded were
Joe McLaren and Gavin Mitchell.
St Kilda started with the same set-up from the final quarter against
Richmond, Stewie Loewe and Sean Charles in the forward line. Loewe took
five marks and kicked all of the Saints' first-term goals, Charles
kicked three of the five points although his pass created one of Loewe's
goals. Two of the majors came from terrible Chris Johnson kick-ins and
he was rapidly relieved of the duty. Rob Harvey and Andy Thompson worked
hard to send the ball forward. Brisbane ran about at half-pace and
lairized a fair bit, what good play they effected came from either
Michael Voss or Simon Black. Al Lynch kicked two goals, a close-range
soccer and a free against Max Hudghton. Luke Power kicked the other,
from Steve Lawrence's pass. The early part of the second term went
goal-for-goal, Power snaffled a Saint kick-in and passed to Lynch for
his third. Loewe missed a free-kick but from a ball-up David Sierakowski
tapped and Ryan wobbled a kick through, Saints by 10 points. Shaun
Hart's handpass sent Power in for a Lion major but the Saints cleared
the restart, Sierakowski marked and converted. He and Loewe were proving
such a worry that Matthews swung Lynch to defence, briefly. Stain big
man Peter Everitt was done for a throw and Burke's failure to return the
ball resulted in a 50m penalty, Hart cut the margin to 4 points again.
Dan Bradshaw snapped a ripper and Brisbane led, off they went. Loewe's
weak handball allowed Hart and Black to create a sausage for Brett Voss,
Hart's handpass sent Power in for a great tight-angle snap, Everitt's
scrappy kick under pressure saw Brett Voss pounce for another sausage.
From the next centre bounce Black found Lion Jonathon Brown, he punted
the Lions 25 points up at the long break.
All Brisbane in the second half. Steve Lawrence and Nigel Lappin joined
in the stat-fest, Ben Robbins came off the bench and enjoyed himself.
They missed a series of early chances before Lappin steered one through
from a tight angle. Jason Akermanis bagged a sausage and excellent
aggression from Lawrence forced the ball to Brett Voss, onto Heuskes for
a goal. Sam Cranage broke the run for Stinkilda with consecutive goals
as they lost promising junior Jason Blake with a rolled ankle, one of
several Saints to pick up injuries. But Lawrence soared over Nathan
Burke for a huge speccie, the ball travelled by foot from he to Power to
Mick Voss, sausage. Robbins and Akermanis snaggled rover's goals to
complete the korter. Still smarting from the Tiger loss I wasn't keen on
the last term, where Brisbane added even more percentage and the
miserable old Saints collected even more injuries.
Lots of good performers for the Lions, led by prolific on-ball duo
Michael Voss (36 disposals, 2 goals) and Simon Black (27 touches). Jason
Akermanis ran speedily from the back again to gather 26 possessions and
kick 2 goals. Some lesser Lions enjoyed their evening against the
cellar-dwellers, teenage forward Jonathon Brown (20 touches, 8 marks, a
goal), Brett The Younger Voss (18 disposals, 2 goals) and Ben Robbins,
16 disposals and 2 goals in a half. Elsewhere it was the usual suspects,
Nigel Lappin (22 touches, a goal), Luke Power (24, 3 goals) and Marcus
Ashcroft who had 30 handlings with a goal. As everyone chipped in there
were goals for Lynch (3), Dan Bradshaw (2) and Adam Heuskes (2). The
Saints' better players included the terrific Andrew Thompson (28
disposals) and hard-running Tony Delaney (27 touches). Loewe didn't kick
another goal after quarter-time but still played alright with 18 touches
and 8 marks, 4 goals of course. Winger Matthew Carr played well again
with 20 possessions and 7 marks, once again ruckman David Sierakowski
played his heart out for 19 touches, 8 marks and a goal. Harvey finished
with 19 possies but tired badly, hardly surprising. Cranage kicked 2
goals. Watson said "We sort of just lost our way for a little while, not
taking anything away from the Lions, but we probably had three blokes
that shouldn't have been on the ground in the second half." He's
referring to injured Delaney (ribs), Burke (knee) and Walton (ankle).
One game left in Tim's coaching career - for the time being, anyway -
North at Colonial next Saturday night. Lion coach Matthews said "We just
had to graft our way to the front and once we got four goals in front,
and five and six early in the third quarter, I guess the resistance was
finally broken then." They've Fremantle at home to finish and a win
could gain them a home final.
At Football Park:
Port Adelaide 5.5 8.8 9.12 12.16.88
Carlton 2.2 9.4 10.7 12.11.83
Port's lithe rover Peter Burgoyne joined the group of players to win a
game with a kick after the final siren, as the niggardly Power crawled
past a lethargic Carlton. I think Docker Quenton Leach was the last to
accomplish Burgoyne's feat. The Roos' simultaneous loss means that
Carlton will still finish second but three consecutive losses weren't
planned upon, I'd gather. Parkin said afterwards "Yeah, we dropped three
in a row once before and won the next thirteen, so I’m very excited
about the next thirteen weeks." In picking the Power got Adam Kingsley
back from ailment but lost full-back Stephen Paxman with a groin strain
and Nathan Steinberner (shoulder). Stephen Daniels was the other in.
Three damaged Blues - Bradley, Koutoufides and groin-strained Aaron
Hamill - were replaced by Justin Murphy, back for his first game since a
knee injury in last years' Grand Final, Kris Massie and Adam White. You
know the Blues are struggling when White gets a game.
Like most recent games at Foopall Park strong wind was a factor. Port
had it first and before long their Fabian Francis potted a very good
running goal. Stew Dew missed a shot and Chad Cornes postered. Justin
Murphy's handpass saw Simon Beaumont score Carlton's opening sausage,
Powerman Nick Stevens marked on the attacking side of the centre square
and received a 50m penalty when Andy McKay ran across the mark. A goal.
Stevens was opposed to Scott Camporeale but neither bothered much with
defensive skills, Campo had thirteen disposals and Stevens ten in the
first quarter. Blue Lance Whitnall's first shot was touched on the line.
Port are the least-accurate team in the AFL and Dew, Burgoyne and Roger
James continued this true Port Adelaide tradition, until Burgoyne's
sharp handpass created a simple tap-through for Bowen Lockwood.
Camporeale cleared the next centre bounce and passed for Ryan Houlihan
to grab and convert, but majors from Burgoyne and James with a lovely
bit of roving gave the Power a handy lead at the first break. Early in
the second stanza Power ruckman Matt Primus fired a handpass to passing
Francis, his low kick was marked in the goalsquare by Burgoyne to put
the locals 27 points up. But like Mr. Methane the Blues made use of
their wind. Fraser Brown snapped a goal from Trent Hotton's tap, Stephen
O'Reilly wrestled away from Brett Montgomery and handpassed to
Camporeale whose snap took a handy off-break bounce. Burgoyne missed a
shot - from about the same spot he kicked the match-winner two quarters
later - and the Bloos whipped the ball end-to-end for a major to Simon
Fletcher. The locals were enraged when a poor advantage decision allowed
Mark Porter to get the ball forward, Brown soccered the gap down to 3
points. The Pooer cleared the restart and great tap-on from Stevens sent
James in for an easy goal. On came the Bloos, Port's Jared Poulton
ploughed head-first into a tackle, the ball spilled for Brett Ratten to
convert. Francis's good pass allowed James to keep the locals two goals
up, but Ryan Houlihan played a great one-two with Beaumont and booted
truly, then Whitnall led, marked and chipped to Matt Lappin. His major
put the Bluebaggers two points up at piss 'n' fresh ale time.
Missed most of the third quarter due to an errand but apparently I
didn't miss much. In contrast to the first half it was tight, scrappy
and light-on for scoring chances. The main incidents of note were
Plougher ruckman Barnaby French having to be stretchered off with a knee
injury, although by three-quarter time he was up and walking around, and
Blue Dean Rice landing on his head after being up-ended in a marking
contest. Carlton were just in front as the final stanza commenced and
with the wind at their backs, it was assumed to be a good thing. But
Port attacked from the off, a rushed point levelled the scores before
Warren Tredrea finally outpaced Silvagni to mark and boot Port 6 points
up. The Bluesers did some attacking but Beaumont overran a half-volley,
Hotton missed and Camporeale had his head torn off by Daniels, no free.
The wind blew shots from Port's James, Montgomery and Stevens
off-course, a Derek Murray effort from 40m didn't even make it. Finally
a slick Murphy handpass allowed Camporeale to find space, weave around a
tackle and snap it through, scores level. The Blues went forward from
the restart, Brett Ratten marked and goaled, Blues by a goal into
time-on. Power's Josh Carr kicked on the full, Fraser Brown's long free
kick was punched through by Daniels, so the Blues led by 7 points. With
30 seconds to go Port were thrown a lifeline when Silvagni was penalised
for holding Tredrea, the Port forward goaled. Primus charged in at the
centre bounce and completely mis-timed his jump, handily O'Reilly tapped
it straight to him. Primus forged on, handpassed to Brayden Lyle, his
kick held up and Burgoyne raced out to juggle a two-grabber. The siren
sounded and Burgoyne was brave enough to aim left of the left-hand
goal-post, the breeze swung it perfectly. The Port folks were quite
happy.
Burgoyne didn't just kick the winning goal, he did a fair bit else
besides with 3 goals from 10 kicks and 6 marks. But the Power won it
with a winning midfield over the surprisingly sluggish Blues - Essadun
hangover - where Nick Stevens (33 disposals with 21 handpasses, a goal),
Josh Francou (33 touches, a goal) and the very good Roger James (20
handlings, 3 goals) were winners. Matt Primus rucked himself to a
standstill, his tigerish effort at the final bounce typical. He had 20
handballs in his total of 25 disposals. In defence Darren Mead did a
good job in keeping Whitnall to 4 marks and no goals, although the windy
conditions hardly suited forwards. Brett Montgomery (21 touches) and
Fabian Francis (24, a goal) were also solid backmen. Tredrea kicked 2
goals. Scott Camporeale was easily the Blues' best, covering a vast
amount of territory for 36 disposals (26 kicks) and 2 goals.
Unfortunately he received little support, Brett Ratten (20 disposals, 2
goals) was alright but not as brilliant as last Friday, Fraser Brown (19
touches, 2 goals) seems disinclined to bend down and pick the ball up.
Simon Fletcher was good with 25 possies and a goal, Steve Silvagni (15
touches, 6 marks) did a fine job on Tredrea and Andy McKay (23 possies)
was rock steady once again. Ryan Houlihan and Simon Beaumont kicked 2
goals each. Murphy made a decent comeback with 13 disposals. But the
spark wasn't there for the Blues. After his little joke Parkin said "The
better team won on the day, so we can't complain too much." Mark
Williams showed the Port Power trait of getting things all out of
proportion. "I could talk about each and every one of the players...If
we said it was a true Port Adelaide finish to the game, it would warm
the hearts of all the traditional people. I'm hoping it will (somebody
get a bucket)...We'll include Peter Burgoyne in our motivational video
in the future. That will certainly go down in the history of the club.
And what a tremendous thing to do to Carlton..." Well he got that last
bit right but somehow I feel the Tiges may pay for it next Sunday. Port
have the Showdown to end a disappointing season and a win will give 'em
something to work with.
At the MCG:
Melbourne 3.4 9.8 13.16 18.18.126
Geelong 4.0 11.4 13.5 17.6.108
Melbourne earned a double-chance in the finals with a dominating second
half against Geelong. The Cats can still miss out, if a fairly unlikely
sequence of events occurs next weekend. The Dees resurrected Paul
Hopgood to replace concussed Nathan Brown, the Cats had Barry Stoneham
withdraw late with a calf strain and replaced him with Marcus Baldwin, a
key forward making his AFL debut. He'd been elevated from the Cats'
rookie list with Pickering's retirement, after being delisted by
Hawthorn last year.
A big crowd of 75,000 packed in, attracted in part by the Olympic torch
on its way through. Ron Barassi was footy's representative bearer along
with Mark Taylor and former Socceroo captain Paul Wade. Ron Clarke lit
the ceremonial flame, just like 1956 and burnt himself again, also just
like 1956. Geelong ruckman Steven King had a big first half against
White, enabling skipper Garry Hocking and Glen Kilkpatrick much
influence. Darren Milburn and specialist forward Jason Snell were also
prominent. Up forward Ronnie Burns was dangerous with 9 kicks and 4
goals before half-time. Ben Graham played loose across half-back and
gathered 12 first-half touches, Brenton Sanderson kept a tight reign on
Jeff Farmer. Melbun were kept in it by the efforts of midfielders Shane
Woewodin, Adem Yze and Anthony McDonald. David Neitz provided a target
in attack. But the Cats held sway and should have been further than 20
points ahead midway through the second term. A couple of late
second-quarter events were, in hindsight, interpreted as beneficial to
Melbourne. A running Burns banana shot hit the post, Neitz kicked a goal
and as the players departed Cat Brad Sholl provoked Neitz, starting a
big melee in which Sholl copped a fair bit of attention.
Melbun dominated the opening minutes of the third term but missed
several times before Stephen Powell dobbed one, Travis Johnstone marked
and goaled and the Dees led by 9 points. Cat Graham continued to play
loose in defence, a factor exploited by Demon Cam Bruce. The Cats
responded quickly, Cameron Mooney marked and goaled and moments later
dished off a handpass for David Clarke to slot one. But the Dees
persisted, another major got them in front as their midfield took over.
Misses from Woewodin and Brad Green poked the lead out to 5 points
before a great late goal from Adem Yze. He collected the ball at
half-back, ran 40m with a couple of bounces and smacked it through from
50m. Dees by 11 points at the last change. They buried Geelong quickly,
Jeff White was payed a suspect mark at the opening bounce of quartier
quatre - the ball travelled about 5m - he punted forward where Neitz was
payed a free kick for Harley's holding. Goal, 17 points to the Dees.
Leoncelli punted 'em forward from the next restart, Green sprinted out
for a very good mark and punted truly. Goal, 23 points to the Dees. An
ambitious pass from Cat David Spriggs was intercepted by Johnstone, he
found Woewodin who surged through the middle and rammed it through. 29
points to the Dees. The Cats reshuffled, Graham went to attack as did
Cameron Ling off the bench. Buddha Hocking kicked a running goal but
almost immediately Guy Rigoni replied for the Demons, then Neitz marked
and goaled again and it was over. Except for a bizarre late cameo from
Cat first-gamer Baldwin, coming on for his first run in time-on he
booted three goals in as many minutes, each from a good lead and strong
grab. Could be starting next week.
The designated team leaders did the job for Melbourne, brilliant
centreman Shane Woewodin had 34 disposals and booted 4 goals, a very
handy effort. No less impressive was Adem Yze, a little quiet after half
time but still decent with 16 disposals and 3 goals. In attack captain
David Neitz ended with 5 goals from 9 marks and 12 kicks, Anthony
McDonald got the ball 23 times ands booted a goal. Jeff White was a big
part on the second-half Dee resurgence, he got over King and ended with
30 hitouts, 22 possessions, 7 marks. Running backmen Peter Walsh (22
disposals) and Matthew Collins (21) both played well, Walsh coming back
after being carved up by Burns early. Geelong's livewire forward Ronnie
Burns was their best although like many team-mates he faded badly after
half-time. Burns could've kicked a bit straighter too, ending with 4.4
from 14 kicks. Still, at least he got some goals. Brenton Sanderson kept
Farmer goal-less and almost kickless until the final term, when it was
over. Jason Snell had 27 possessions and worked hard around
half-forward, good half-games came from midfielders Garry Hocking (14
disposals in the first half, 17 in total and a goal) and Darren Milburn
(14 disposals in the first half, 19 in total). Steve King plugged way
for 30 hitouts, 20 disposals and 2 goals, Cameron Mooney kicked 2 goals
as did David Clarke and Adam Houlihan. Marcus Baldwin has 3 marks, 3
kicks and 3 goals to show for his 5 minutes of football. Cat coach Mark
Thompson said "Really pleased with the first half and really
disappointed with the second half...in the first ten minutes of the
third quarter I don't think we touched the ball." They still need to
beat Sydney at Kardinia Park next weekend to be certain of finals
participation. Daniher reckoned "After being 24 points down halfway
through the second quarter it was important the skipper kicked a goal on
half-time. We dominated the second half without hitting the scoreboard."
Away to West Coast next Sunday and a win will see the Dees finish third
and avoid Essadun first-up.
At Colonial:
North Melbourne 4.2 7.5 10.12 11.14.80
Collingwood 3.4 7.8 9.11 14.14.98
Oops. The Oranges got pulped at Colonial by a motivated Collingwood and
slipped down to fourth, still a double-chance but if they stay there
it'll be Essadun in the first week of the finals. Pagan called it the
Roos' worst performance in his time in charge, strong words. Collingwood
were unhappy with recent baiting from Roo executives Mark Dawson and
Greg Miller and celebrated their second win since round five. At
selection the Roos were able to recall first-choices Corey McKernan,
Matthew Capuano and Shannon Motlop, outgoing were Martin Pike, with an
actual injury (hamstring), Evan Hewitt and Craig Sholl (both dropped).
The Pies lost Gavin Crosisca and discarded Brent Tuckey and Mark Orchard
for Chris Tarrant, Mark Richardson and Tyson Lane. Sav Rocca injured a
knee in the reserves last week and yesterday Malthouse confirmed he'll
be delisted at the season's end. A sad end for a very good full forward,
his body just too heavy to take the stress.
The Citrus Fruits began well enough, with Wayne Carey at CHB and
frequently clashing with Nathan Buckley, who kicked the first goal of
the game. But the Kangas stacked on the next four, Bell with a couple
and Carey snuck forward to snap one and let Bucks know about it. But Pie
Nick Davis bobbed up with two late goals, then Chris Tarrant converted a
free against John Blakey to open the second quarter and the Maggies were
in front. Carey moved forward but had trouble with Mark Richardson,
Simon Prestigiacomo negated McKernan and the game was on.
Tight third term, early on Roo Winston Abraham was pinged for a throw
and Brent Harvey booted the ball away, a 50m penalty enabled Rupert
Betheras to extend the Pie lead to 9 points. The Roos scored a couple of
points before Shannon Motlop got away with a throw and Harvey snapped a
goal, making it point the diff. More points before the Citrus's Matt
Burton tapped the ball for Peter Bell to snap a superb sausage, putting
the Kangas ahead. A dull, scoreless period as both sides went on the
defensive. Collinwood worked the ball quickly to set up Paul Williams,
he kicked on the full. At the other end Norf finally managed to isolate
Carey against Richardson, Carey marked Bell's pass easily but missed the
shot. Tyson Lane held up play but did very well to find Scott Burns in
space, he played on and drilled it to cut the margin to a point. But a
late Abraham bomb sent the Roos 7 points ahead again at the last change.
It stayed tense and low-scoring into the last. The Maggies scored two
early goals to grab a 5-point lead, Buckley capitalised on some Roo
confusion to handball for a Gav Brown tap-through and Bucks' high hooked
kick into the goalsquare was roved expertly by Lockyer. Norf pinched the
lead back when young Brad Stephens caught Kinnear in a tackle, his free
was marked and converted by McKernan. Through fingernail-chewing minutes
behinds arrived from Pies Leon Davis and Mal Michael and Roo Matt
Capuano, Lockyer kicked on the full. Scores were level again when Nick
Davis reeled in a Williams kick and blasted it home from 55m. Time-on
had just started. Ben Johnson missed a shot but the Pies had the taste
now. Tarrant majored from a strong grab and Nick Davis confirmed the
result when he thumped another superb long kick home, a free kick
against over-zealous Glen Archer.
Magpie flanker Nick Davis was the hero of the hour, with his thin body
and peroxide tips he doesn't look much like Dad Craig, but 32 disposals,
a hefty 14 marks (6 in the last quarter) and 4 goals would've made any
Pie proud. Rover Paul Williams gathered the ball 20 times and took 10
marks in his best game for many a week. Nathan Buckley had the usual (28
disposals, 2 goals) although Roo Adam Simpson didn't do badly against
him, it may seem strange to say. Winger Andrew Dimattina earned a late
reprieve with Crosisca's withdrawal and had 19 disposals with 9 marks
and a goal, Tarkyn Lockyer was set free with no defensive match-up and
ended with 2 goals from his 20 kicks. Praise due to the stopping efforts
of Richardson and Presti. Chris Tarrant kicked 2 goals from his 8 marks
and Tyson Lane was handy on a wing. Not a proud day for the North
Melbourne Football Club, their better players were rover Peter Bell (28
disposals, 3 goals), midfielder Adam Simpson who had a good battle with
Buckley and ended with 16 touches himself, winger David King (22
disposals) and CHB Jason McCartney, who's stepped up since Martyn's
injury and played well. Defender Byron Pickett was his fast, fearless,
straight-ahead self and Matthew Capuano was the only Roo big man to take
a grab, 9 of them with a goal. Carey had 15 kicks - 7 in the first term
when he was in defence - but just 4 marks and one goal. Some suggestion
they went in top-heavy. Pagan just thought they were rubbish. "I've been
here eight years and...that was the most disappointing loss I've been
involved in. The game was lost between the ears...There's not a lot of
room at the top, that's why it's easier to get there than stay
there...All we want to find out is who wants to play and who doesn't."
He refused to comment on the orange-guernsey factor, but you can bet
something like it won't be happening again soon. St. Kilda at Colonial
next week to finish. Malthouse said "It was a very good win...What this
does is more than likely reinforce what we're trying to do." He then
railed against the Roos' black shorts and socks, the same below-waist
colours as Collingwood and the probable reason for several
direct-to-opposition disposals by the Pies during the game. It's the
both North's and the AFL's fault for allowing it. The Pies end the year
against Essendon at the 'G next Saturday, should be good.
At Subiaco:
Fremantle 1.3 4.4 9.8 15.11.101
West Coast 5.2 9.6 12.8 15.10.100
It must've been tremendously exciting, but with little interest outside
WA and no bearing on the finals, we saw and heard almost nothing over
here. Except the many fights. With 30 seconds left, Freo ahead by a
point and their James Clement about to kick in from an Eagle behind, the
ABC radio cut to the news. Eh? But Freo prevailed, climbed above the
Eagles and are now a real chance to finish above them for the first
time. In selection the Dockers lost Andrew Jones with an ankle while
Craig Callaghan and Daniel Schell were axed, in came Leigh Brown, Andrew
Shipp and Jess Sinclair. The Eagles lost Fraser Gehrig with a knee
injury and axed David Antonowicz, Josh Wooden and Andrew Donnelly.
Getting a run were Michael Gardiner, back from a lengthy injured spell,
plus Darren Glass, Phil Read and 18-year-old first-gamer Kane Munro from
Bendigo.
Whether the Eagles-Dockers rivalry is manufactured or real, there sure
was a lot of feeling on the ground. There were a number of big blues,
and real fights, not guernsey-tugging and non-violent wrestling but
actual cut-lunches. Weegle ruckman Gardiner was reported before the
opening bounce for punching Matthew Pavlich, Dale Kickett and Phil Read
were reported for wrestling, both biffed each other and anyone nearby in
one of several melees scattered throughout the first half. The Age has a
nice picture of a Docker - not sure if it's Brad Dodd or Andrew Shipp -
planting a textbook straight left on Read's jaw. Even the umpires got
into it, the tall Stephen Hanley taking out Philip Matera. Anyway. The
Eagles started very well with Peter Matera, Callum Chambers and Chad
Fletcher getting plenty of the ball, Jakovich was impassable at CHB.
Docker spearhead Tony Modra broke a hand five minutes in and his day
ended. Phil Matera, Andrew Embley and Mitchell White provided the
finishing skills in attack for West Ghost. Shocker Clive Waterhouse
fired in attack to kick a couple of goals and get them moving, Brad
Bootsma was playing a bit of a game across the centre along with Cook
and Hasleby. Nevertheless the Eagles had extended their lead by
half-time and when Phil Matera raced in to slot one early in the third,
the Eagles led by 42 points. More violence flared, Wiggle defender
Ashley McIntosh ended Pavlich's day with a violent bump but things
tilted Freo's way in this area when Troy Cook clobbered Mitchell White
and had him carted off, then umpire Hanley collided with leading Phil
Matera who also finished for the day. Waterhouse detonated with three
quick goals, Shipp came on for eight kicks and a goal in the quarter,
James Clement steadied the backline. The margin was cut to three goals
by the final change and the Shockers kept on comin'. Waterhouse put Freo
ahead for the first time three minutes into time-on, a close range
blast. Then Dodd snapped truly and Freo led by 8 points. When the Eagles
pegged a goal back, it was three points the diff. Their rookie Darren
Glass had two chances to win it, but a set shot went wide and when Peter
Matera hooked the ball back to Glass in the goalsquare, it took a cruel
bounce and slithered through for a point. Clement was safe with the
kick-in (apparently) and the Dokkers had won.
Clive Waterhouse has tried extraordinarily hard this season and deserved
some reward, he booted 7 goals from 8 marks and 14 kicks to be the Freo
match-winner. Brad Bootsma (17 disposals, 8 marks) has improved rapidly
in recent weeks and he did very well on a forward flank, especially in
the first half. In the middle the excellent trade-gain Troy Cook (18
disposals, a goal) and permed battler Shaun McManus (25 disposals, 8
marks) were very good and Heath Black had an excellent first half -
first quarter mainly - with 14 disposals and a goal, he ended with 16
touches. Ruckman Clem Michael won at the centre bounce and Shipp had 13
disposals and a goal in the second half. For the Weagles the veterans
stood tall, Glen Jakovich at CHB (19 disposals, 7 marks), Philip Matera
who booted 5 goals before the umpire's intervention and Peter Matera had
20 disposals and was in there at the very end trying to win it. Young
midfielders Chad Fletcher (23 disposals, a goal) and Andrew Williams (25
touches) played well, back-flank Chad Morrison continued his good season
with 15 touches and a goal. Embley and White kicked 2 goals each. The
only quotes our Eastern press have bothered with, again, relate to the
fighting. Judge said "The match was played between two teams who were
pretty hard at it...I'm not sure if the fighting got out of hand. I
didn't see everything that went on." Ahh...they've Melbourne at Subi to
finish an injury-riddled and disappointing season. Drum said "Our
players feel, rightly or wrongly, that they have been pushed around for
too long by the big boys up the road. For them to stand up and want to
do something about it is fantastic. And the big boys from up the
road...aren't going to lie down and let the upstarts from Fremantle come
and push them around. I think when you understand history, it is very
easy to understand the way the game was played." Off to Brisbane next
weekend and they'd be struggling, you'd reckon, but if the Dees do their
job then an above-Eagle finish will eventuate.
Ladder after Round Twenty-One:
Pts. % Next week
Essendon 80 160.7 Collingwood (MCG, Saturday)
Carlton 60 131.9 Richmond (MCG, Sunday)
Melbourne 52 115.9 West Coast (Subiaco, Sunday)
North Melbourne 52 104.5 St. Kilda (Colonial, Sat. night)
Footscray 48 104.4 Hawthorn (Colonial, Fri. night)
Geelong 46 96.5 Sydney (Kardinia Park, Saturday)
Brisbane 44 112.6 Fremantle (Gabba, Sat. night)
Hawthorn 44 96.9 Footscray (Colonial, Fri. night)
-------------------------------------
Richmond 44 96.2 Carlton (MCG, Sunday)
Sydney 40 101.9 Geelong (Kardinia Park, Saturday)
Adelaide 36 98.0 Port Adelaide (Football Park, Sunday)
Fremantle 32 74.6 Brisbane (Gabba, Sat. night)
West Coast 30 94.9 Melbourne (Subiaco, Sunday)
Collingwood 28 86.2 Essendon (MCG, Saturday)
Port Adelaide 26 81.2 Adelaide (Football Park, Sunday)
St. Kilda 10 70.8 North Melbourne (Colonial, Sat. night)
Cheers, Tim
e-mail: t.murphy@rmit.edu.au
