AFLTips.Com Review News
Round 1 - 1 April 2001
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1) Let's get right into it:
Kangaroos vs. Essendon
Friday 30 March, 2001 - MCG
In tribute to the recent practice of re-writing history by the
victors ("We won the '96 and '99 flags for the Roos" and "We were
the real champions in '99"), I will now indulge in a little bit
of the same in regards to last night's result. While the
official margin was 85 points, after you adjust for the scabby
off the ground goals by Lloyd and the dodgy free kicks and 50
metre penalties that resulted in another few soft goals to the
Dons, the margin between the teams closes to 50 points. When you
further adjust for the absence of Carey, Harvey, King, and
Martyn, the margin further reduces a mere two goals, and if you
make one last adjustment for the damage in morale to the club by
having David Calthorpe instead of Mark Hilton on our list, we
actually finished in front. Or in other words, we had a moral
victory.
Fifteen minutes into the third quarter, and North fans could
indulge in a little bit of hope. The margin at the time was a
mere four goals, and two goals to us could see us make a go of
it, while two goals to them and that, would be that. Our defence
and midfield were holding their own, the Essendon players
actually had to fight for the ball, and it was starting to feel
like the traditional North-Essendon arm wrestles that always
happened pre-2000. Two goals to them. And herein lies a hint of
what has changed at Arden Street. It was only a few years ago
where Roo fans would sit back and wait for the inevitable
onslaught by our team. These days, we hope for something to
happen. Pagan will have to get the forward line sorted out if we
are going to get a top four spot this season. Pressure all over
the ground is fine, but the ultimate pressure you can put on an
opponent in on the scoreboard, and it's been a while since the
Roos have even looked like stringing four or five goals together
game in game out.
I don't want to scare off any opposition fans, but Essendon is as
near to a perfect football team there is. Noah may have had two
of every animal, but Sheedy has three of every type of player,
except, perhaps ruckmen, and all three are very good at their
jobs. A few are even multi-skilled. Three tall forwards (Lloyd,
Hird, Lucas), three creative types (Mercuri, Rioli, Long), three
hard workers (Johnson, Johnson, Misiti), three hard nuts (Wallis,
Barnard, Moorcroft), three players who always manage to sneak
away from their markers (Ramanauskas, Solomon, Caracella), three
kids looking to prove themselves (McVeigh, Jacobs, Bolton)….do
you start to understand the problems facing opposition coaching
panels? Most teams can cover two options, very few can cover
three, no one can cover everyone, and no other team has such
quality in all areas of the game. I am not going to discuss
their tactical superiority otherwise you all might start chucking
in your memberships and waiting until, say the 2003 season,
before following the game again.
But football is nothing without hope, and everyone has that.
Even a Kangaroo side after an 85 point belting. I liked the
efforts of some of the kids like Makepeace and Harris. It was
good to see Stevens, Grant, Archer, McCartney and Colbert do
their bits. A loss is only really a loss if the team fails to
learn anything from it. If kids like Harris, Sinclair,
Makepeace, Clayton, Cochrane, Rawlings, Motlop, Smith, and Petrie
(and if he wasn't nearly strangled by Lloyd), Watt, learned from
their Essendon counterparts what is required to be the best, then
it won't be a wasted effort. It wasn't so long ago, 1999 in
fact, that a side played the Eagles in Perth and lost by 13 or so
goals. The losing side was Essendon.
- Shinboners http://www.afltips.com/people/shinboners.html
**********
Port Adelaide vs. Brisbane Lions
Friday March 30, 2001 - Football Park
Final Scores: Port Adelaide 14.15.99 d. Brisbane Lions 14.9.93
Port Adelaide went some way to confirming their status as the
league's big improver with a spirited win over the Brisbane Lions
on Saturday night at Football Park. Although outscored in three
of the four quarters, the Power did enough in the third quarter
to outscore the Lions with a ten goal burst, continuing their
unbeaten run from the Ansett Cup.
The Lions took charge early scoring all three goals in the first
term, but could have been further in front, such was the
dominance of the midfield and the rebounding of their defenders.
Lappin, Black and Ashcroft appeared to have the ball on a string
as Brisbane racked up 20 more possessions for the quarter than
Port.
Brisbane's quarter time lead of 18 points was extended to 22
points at half time after a more even second quarter, where the
Power started playing a little more cohesively and tightened up
on Brisbane's legion of runners. It appeared though, as if the
damage had already been done, and there was little indication
that Port were playing well enough to bridge the gap.
But bridge the gap they did. A sterling third quarter from
Matthew Primus in the ruck gave Port's midfielders almost
exclusive use of the ball and gave the side the impetus to claw
back the lead, and subsequently hit the front with a five goal
burst in the opening ten minutes of the quarter.
Goals to Keating and Bradshaw appeared to stem the flow a little,
and put the Lions back in front, but Brisbane led only
momentarily as Francou, Schofield, Stevens and Carr crumbed their
skipper's ruckwork immaculately, and pumped the ball forward with
precision as the Ansett Cup Premiers piled on ten goals in an
awesome quarter of football.
Cornes presented himself well and was rewarded with a goal, and
youngster Brent Guerra showed he had a future at the elite level
with three goals for the term.
Port Adelaide had turned a 22 point deficit into a 19 point lead
by lemon time, and looked ready to run away with the game.
Brisbane coach Leigh Matthews swung defender Justin Leppitsch
into attack and the move paid off as Leppitsch kicked two goals
for the quarter. Lynch was the Lions only other contributor for
the term, as Damian Cupido, who had kicked four goals earlier
drifted out of the game. Brisbane clawed their way back to within
a point, but in the end outscoring the opposition for three
quarters was not enough, as Wanganeen kicked the sealer late in
the last quarter with a left foot snap, Port Adelaide running out
winners by seven points.
- Dark Avenger
darkavstoney@hotmail.com
**********
Fremantle vs. Carlton
Saturday 31 March - Subiaco
Long-suffering Dockers fans witnessed an agonising one point loss
Carlton on Saturday night, after their side had appeared to be in
control at half-time. After a tight first quarter, the Dockers
kicked away in the second thanks to a stunning effort from Troy
Cook, who had possessions and two goals for the quarter. Hasleby,
Fletcher, Bootsma and Black also provided plenty of drive, and a
lack of tall options for the Dockers was made up by the efforts
of their small forwards, who dominated the Carlton backline.
After half-time, however, the Blues began to get on top, with
Ratten, Bradley and Camporeale getting on top Koutoufides and
Whitnall beginning to provide the forward options the Blues
missed in the opening half. The Dockers continued to kick goals,
stretching the gap after Carlton had closed to within seven
points, but they could not hold back the Carlton stars. A superb
last quarter from Bradley and Ratten, plus a long goal from
Silvagni late in the game, sealed up a nail-biting win for
Carlton.
Despite the loss, there is plenty for Fremantle to be optimistic
about. The improved form of Fletcher after an indifferent 2000,
the potential for Hasleby, the brilliance of Cook, and the
efforts of Brown, Jones and Bandy in the backline. With Michael
and Waterhouse to come back later in the year, and Bell unlikely
to miss any more games, there is still the potential for
improvement.
For Carlton, while they might have liked to win by more, they
will be happy with the solid performance of Koutoufides, and the
continued brilliance of their midfield. Also encouraging was the
performance of 19 year old Ryan Houlihan, who was very strong on
the half-forward flank. However, their second tier of players
will have to improve with tough games against Hawthorn and
Essendon in the next two rounds.
One thing to be learned from this game, and other results during
the round, is that the gap between all the clubs after Essendon
is very small.
- Tom FC http://www.afltips.com/people/tomfc.html
**********
Western Bulldogs v Saint Kilda.
Saturday March 31, 2001 – Colonial Stadium
Western Bulldogs: 2.4 10.6 14.9 16.11 107
St Kilda: 5.5 9.6 15.11 16.16 112
Western Bulldogs: Goals: C.Grant 4, K.Hunter 4, Johnson 3,
P.Dimattina 2, L.Darcy, S.Garlick, R.Murphy Best: C.Grant,
R.Smith, L.Darcy, T.Liberatore, K.Hunter Injuries: None
Saint Kilda: Goals: P.Everitt 5, N.Burke 2, L.Hayes 2,
J.Traianidis 2, C.Beetham, C.Callaghan, M.Capuano, R.Harvey,
S.Loewe Best: P.Everitt, C.Callaghan, R.Harvey, N.Burke,
C.Beetham, J.Plapp Injuries: M.Gale (bruised knee), S.Baker
(cramp)
"Western Bulldogs coach Terry Wallace's heart pumped hard as he
and wife Keryn watched in awe as American rock superhero Jon Bon
Jovi rocked a crowd of 35,000 at Colonial last Saturday night.
And Wallace is confident his Bulldogs can 'do a Bon Jovi' and
rock the million-dollar St Kilda in the much anticipated season
opener at the same venue this Saturday night."
-Steven Milne, the Altona-Laverton Mail and Williamstown
Advertiser.
This atrocious piece of copy comes from Another Quality Fairfax
Paper.
Footscray may have set out to be Jon Bon Jovi but they ended up
being more like Joey Peroni and David Smorgon lost his bet with
Saint Kilda. It was the battle of the safe injecting rooms, an
epic that spanned two suburbs. Football doesn't get more suburban
than this.
Smorgon had bet his St Kilda counterpart that Footscray would
produce more supporters than their opponents from the mystical
east, but as per usual people were still streaming into the
Source Of All Our Misery well into the first quarter, where a
star studded Saints outfit had the jump on the unfashionable
Saltwater Creek team.
The surface was again a talking point and it won't be too long
before the hydroponics experts will be brought in to get the
grass growing at football's home away from home.
Two of the AFL's battling Melbourne clubs showed that it is the
support players that make the difference. Grant did good things,
along with the usual suspects at Footscray, but it was the Saint
Kilda rookies (Beetham in particular was impressive) that gave
the Moorabbinites that initial spark.
This proved important as a barnstorming finish from the Doggies
demanded a different result had the game gone into a fifth
quarter.
Blight's line up was pretty impressive, but they still don't look
like a top flight outfit, while Wallace's boys will be
competitive this year, despite being a bit slow out of the
blocks.
Smorgon is to be admired for rattling the tin. In plugging
Footscray Smorgon made mention that the Western Bulldogs had only
been in the "marketplace" for four or five years, and were still
finding their feet, which must be good news to those that have
followed the Tricolours for longer than that.
The Western Bulldogs will be a good team this year, but Footscray
is stuffed.
- Phil Doyle. http://www.afltips.com/people/phildoyle.html
**********
Sydney vs. Adelaide
Sunday April 1, 2001 - SCG
The Sydney Swans celebrated their 20 year anniversary in Sydney
in style by dominating a hapless Adelaide outfit in front of a
parochial Sydney crowd today.
Both teams started positively however Adelaide was not able to
keep pace with Sydney after midway through the second quarter.
Sydney through the likes of Schwass, Cresswell and Maxfield were
able to dominate the center square by absorbing the pressure and
crashing packs setting up many opportunities for players in their
forward line. If it were not for Edwards and Bickley the score
could quite have easily blown out to a 100-point loss.
Cresswell and Schwass were amazing, taking the ball from the back
pocket only to also be finding it up the forward line, Cresswell
especially showed this by finishing with four goals. McLeod and
Ricciuto who would normally dominate a game were only able to get
18 and 19 possession respectively, Ricciuto started up forward
only managing one goal while McLeod was well negated by Crouch.
As if the Adelaide forwards were not struggling enough, poor
delivery of the ball to the forwards made easy pickings for the
Sydney defence lead by Andrew Dunkley. Up forward for the Swans
was a different story, O'Loughlin, Goodes, AhMat were able to
find plenty of the ball while Paul Williams in his first game for
the Swans was able to run off the half forward flank with ease
not to mention Stafford being able to take marks at will.
At games end it was easy to see why Sydney won. All their
players were able to give an even performance with all of them
chipping in, 11 Sydney players were able to get over 15
possessions to Adelaide's 5. Sydney's 328 possessions to
Adelaide's 276 possessions and Sydney's marking dominance 105
to 70 just shows how far the Crows were behind.
Sydney will now go into next weeks game against West Coast in
Perth confidently after their big win while Adelaide will have to
get back to basics before meeting Melbourne at Football Park.
SYDNEY 4.3 9.4 16.9 19.12 (126)
ADELAIDE 4.1 6.4 7.6 10.14 (74)
BEST - Sydney: Schwass, Cresswell, Maxfield, O'Loughlin,
Stafford, Matthews, McPherson, Bolton, Ball, Crouch; Adelaide:
Edwards, Bickley, Crowell, Goodwin.
GOALS - Sydney: Cresswell 4, Ball, Goodes 3, AhMat , O'Loughlin
2, Bolton, Crouch, Kirk, Schauble, Williams 1; Adelaide:
Perrie, Stenglein, Welsh 2, Edwards, Hewitt, McLeod, Ricciuto 1.
Just for the record my tips were:
Essendon
Hawthorn
Carlton
Western Bulldogs
Port Adelaide
Geelong
Richmond
Sydney
7/8, not too bad!
- Scott http://www.afltips.com/people/scott.html
**********
Melbourne vs. Richmond
Sunday April 1, 2001 - MCG
Melbourne 3.3 6.6 10.12 15.13 103
Richmond 7.1 12.815.10 20.14 134
Melbourne: Goals: D.Schwarz 4, A.Yze 3, B.Green 2, B.Beams,
C.Bruce, A.Leoncelli, A.McDonald, D.Neitz, P.Walsh
Best: D.Schwarz, C.Bruce, A.Leoncelli, A.Yze, B.Beams
Injuries: None
Richmond: Goals: M.Richardson 5, W.Campbell 3, B.Ottens 3,
N.Daffy 2, R.Hilton 2, M.Rogers 2, J.Bowden, B.Gale, M.Knights
Best: W.Campbell, M.Knights, R.Hilton, M.Richardson, N.Daffy,
B.Ottens, J.Bowden
Injuries: C.King (strained foot)
The most ominous sign for Melbourne came when some wag at the MCG
played the Hawthorn theme Song as the Melbourne banner was being
raised.
From there it was all downhill. There was a certain sense of
deja-vu about a Coburg-Richmond Tigers outfit that repeated a
dose of what they'd given the Dees in the equivalent game last
year, only with more conviction this time.
Richardson kicked five and will be essential in any success that
Richmond muster this year.
Melbourne missed their game makers, lacked fluency and, apart
from a brief rally, were never in the hunt. Poor option taking
and a lack of use of opportunities marked their play. Woewoedin
was quiet and it's doubtful that any footage from this game will
make its way onto any highlights package of his career. The Dees
also failed to take advantage of their effectiveness in winning
initial possession in the ruck duels.
Richmond was dominant in the midfield and dictated the style of
play in what was, by and large, an entertaining encounter.
Some unorthodox decisions from Neil Daniher, starting Yze in the
half-forward pocket and Schwarz down the back, didn't work.
Schwarz played Melbourne back into the game when he was shifted
forward, but the unlikely recovery was nipped in the bud with two
late third-quarter goals that steadied the Tigers.
These both stemmed from controversial umpiring decisions. The
umpiring in this first round has caused much frustration for
fans. There appears a reluctance to protect the man going for the
ball in preference for the spoiling tactics that lead to too many
stoppages.
Ottens contributed well and new recruit Stephen Sziller showed
his worth for the victors, but Melbourne did enough to show that
they will improve once they switch on.
Richmond didn't look particularly innovative but need to keep
this momentum going for several weeks in succession and develop
some much anticipated consistency.
A better than average game of footy. Both clubs should be
thereabouts this year.
- Phil Doyle http://www.afltips.com/people/phildoyle.html
**********
Hawthorn vs. Collingwood
Saturday 31 March, 2001 - MCG
If any one wanted to see a game of Aussie rules for the first
time surely this game had to be the one it simply had everything
on a rather warm day at the MCG in front of 55.000 fans craving
for a fix of winter religion.
Enter Hawthorn the first team onto the arena a team billed as the
all time improvers of the comp and rightfully so considering
there finals campaign last year and it's excellent Ansett Cup
form.
Then enter the Collingwood team a club who has seen more bad
times recently than it wishes to remember somehow you got the
feeling that we were going to be in for a bit of a match and boy
we were not dissapointed.
The game had everything,tough men doing rough stuff as they
should although I'm sure it didn't impress our basketball loving
community but this is a game for men and should be allowed to be
played by men.
Even the umpires wanted to stamp their lack of authority upon us
all so early in the year with some very doubtful 'play on
decisions' but heck who's complaining?
The excitement of the game seem to take shape in the second half
when both sides went deep into there foward line and attacked the
ball with guts. Hawthorn allways seemed in control the scribes
maybe right this Hawthorn side has improved but one has to admire
Collingwood for they were equally as tough and agressive and
maybe they to have bragging rights on there improvement as well.
Joel smith was damaging for Hawthorn along side daniel chick as
with Collingwood's jarrod malloy who showed some agression which
has been missing on Collingwood's foward line for some years
now.Ryan lonie for Collingwood was impressive.
In the end Hawthorn's senior player experience got it over the
line take nothing away from Hawthorn they were good, just as
Collingwood was in defeat. Hawthorn was the winner today and so
was football and Collingwood the team everyone tipped to finish
last just maybe issued a warning not to take it lightly.
HAWTHORN...85
C'WOOD ...81
BEST HAWTHORN Smith, Harford, Chick, Rawlings.
BEST COLLINGWOOD Malloy, Lockyer, Buckley, Rintoull, Lonie.
- JoffaMagpie http://www.afltips.com/people/joffamagpie.html
**********
Geelong vs. West Coast
Sunday April 1, 2001 - Shell Stadium
How things have changed. Let's go back to 1992, when West Coast
Eagles were mighty and dominant. Steamrolling Geelong in the '92
Grand Final was the icing on the cake to anyone that cared to
notice - this mob were too darn good. To most Victorians, the
state where Aussie Rules had been conceived, weaned, taught to
walk, taught to ignore the insults from the bully foreign kids,
strengthened, matured, even changed its name and identity yet
still adored by all and sundry, the day when little Footy's heart
packed up and eloped to Western Australia was one we couldn't
forget. "They stole our soul!" screamed the new traditionalists.
Naturally, the new Premiers couldn't care less. The VFL was now
The AFL and the claim of best club could come from almost
anywhere. Besides, they were terrific and had earned it (even if
their coach was Victorian).
Two years later, the Cats had another chance to make up for their
earlier poop on the rug. Facing the Weagles in the big one again
the Cats managed to lose, although another lazy 80 points to
Geelong and we'd have had a draw. From there the basic home state
support turned to embarrassment and eventually pity for all
Geelong fans.
Which brings us to today and my point of how much things have
changed. Have you ever seen those old "DRUGS DID THIS" posters?
Before drugs: the '90s Eagles. After drugs: Today's. Of course
this is simply a familiarisation, even if West Coast are looking
pasty, suffering malnutrition and begging for loose change. Of
course the season is young, so perhaps they can turn it around.
They had a great performance from Chad Morrison who racked up 31
possessions, some glimmers of talent in the form of Braun, Chad
Fletcher, Gardiner and new recruits Richard Taylor (ex-Hawthorn)
and 18 year old draftee Daniel Kerr. Scotty Cummings even popped
in for a cuppa, had some nice shots at goals and then a bit of a
lie down.
But how good were Geelong? Their classy on-baller Peter Riccardi
to quarter time had more possessions than an Exorcist series,
Ronnie Burns had a pleasant Sunday arvo with two goals whilst
Clint Bizzell dobbed three and ex-Blue Justin Murphy excelled
with 25 touches and one goal (although he and Steven King were
both reported for striking). In general the Cats played as a more
cohesive unit, with twice the amount of goal kickers than West
Coast who could only manage a sad total of 49 points, their
lowest ever score against Geelong and a demoralising 66 point
defeat.
The moderate home crowd spent the day sipping from a collective
blue and white thermos, cheering at appropriate times and shaking
off thoughts of another Grand Final. When the siren sounded,
everybody yawned, stretched and ambled away. Another day, another
cat biscuit (this time Eagle flavoured) until next week, away
from home and all the creature comforts it can provide.
- matto http://www.afltips.com/people/matto.html
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Copyright (C) Adrian Groves, 2001
ENDS
Round 1 - 1 April 2001
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e: adrian@afltips.com
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1) Let's get right into it:
Kangaroos vs. Essendon
Friday 30 March, 2001 - MCG
In tribute to the recent practice of re-writing history by the
victors ("We won the '96 and '99 flags for the Roos" and "We were
the real champions in '99"), I will now indulge in a little bit
of the same in regards to last night's result. While the
official margin was 85 points, after you adjust for the scabby
off the ground goals by Lloyd and the dodgy free kicks and 50
metre penalties that resulted in another few soft goals to the
Dons, the margin between the teams closes to 50 points. When you
further adjust for the absence of Carey, Harvey, King, and
Martyn, the margin further reduces a mere two goals, and if you
make one last adjustment for the damage in morale to the club by
having David Calthorpe instead of Mark Hilton on our list, we
actually finished in front. Or in other words, we had a moral
victory.
Fifteen minutes into the third quarter, and North fans could
indulge in a little bit of hope. The margin at the time was a
mere four goals, and two goals to us could see us make a go of
it, while two goals to them and that, would be that. Our defence
and midfield were holding their own, the Essendon players
actually had to fight for the ball, and it was starting to feel
like the traditional North-Essendon arm wrestles that always
happened pre-2000. Two goals to them. And herein lies a hint of
what has changed at Arden Street. It was only a few years ago
where Roo fans would sit back and wait for the inevitable
onslaught by our team. These days, we hope for something to
happen. Pagan will have to get the forward line sorted out if we
are going to get a top four spot this season. Pressure all over
the ground is fine, but the ultimate pressure you can put on an
opponent in on the scoreboard, and it's been a while since the
Roos have even looked like stringing four or five goals together
game in game out.
I don't want to scare off any opposition fans, but Essendon is as
near to a perfect football team there is. Noah may have had two
of every animal, but Sheedy has three of every type of player,
except, perhaps ruckmen, and all three are very good at their
jobs. A few are even multi-skilled. Three tall forwards (Lloyd,
Hird, Lucas), three creative types (Mercuri, Rioli, Long), three
hard workers (Johnson, Johnson, Misiti), three hard nuts (Wallis,
Barnard, Moorcroft), three players who always manage to sneak
away from their markers (Ramanauskas, Solomon, Caracella), three
kids looking to prove themselves (McVeigh, Jacobs, Bolton)….do
you start to understand the problems facing opposition coaching
panels? Most teams can cover two options, very few can cover
three, no one can cover everyone, and no other team has such
quality in all areas of the game. I am not going to discuss
their tactical superiority otherwise you all might start chucking
in your memberships and waiting until, say the 2003 season,
before following the game again.
But football is nothing without hope, and everyone has that.
Even a Kangaroo side after an 85 point belting. I liked the
efforts of some of the kids like Makepeace and Harris. It was
good to see Stevens, Grant, Archer, McCartney and Colbert do
their bits. A loss is only really a loss if the team fails to
learn anything from it. If kids like Harris, Sinclair,
Makepeace, Clayton, Cochrane, Rawlings, Motlop, Smith, and Petrie
(and if he wasn't nearly strangled by Lloyd), Watt, learned from
their Essendon counterparts what is required to be the best, then
it won't be a wasted effort. It wasn't so long ago, 1999 in
fact, that a side played the Eagles in Perth and lost by 13 or so
goals. The losing side was Essendon.
- Shinboners http://www.afltips.com/people/shinboners.html
**********
Port Adelaide vs. Brisbane Lions
Friday March 30, 2001 - Football Park
Final Scores: Port Adelaide 14.15.99 d. Brisbane Lions 14.9.93
Port Adelaide went some way to confirming their status as the
league's big improver with a spirited win over the Brisbane Lions
on Saturday night at Football Park. Although outscored in three
of the four quarters, the Power did enough in the third quarter
to outscore the Lions with a ten goal burst, continuing their
unbeaten run from the Ansett Cup.
The Lions took charge early scoring all three goals in the first
term, but could have been further in front, such was the
dominance of the midfield and the rebounding of their defenders.
Lappin, Black and Ashcroft appeared to have the ball on a string
as Brisbane racked up 20 more possessions for the quarter than
Port.
Brisbane's quarter time lead of 18 points was extended to 22
points at half time after a more even second quarter, where the
Power started playing a little more cohesively and tightened up
on Brisbane's legion of runners. It appeared though, as if the
damage had already been done, and there was little indication
that Port were playing well enough to bridge the gap.
But bridge the gap they did. A sterling third quarter from
Matthew Primus in the ruck gave Port's midfielders almost
exclusive use of the ball and gave the side the impetus to claw
back the lead, and subsequently hit the front with a five goal
burst in the opening ten minutes of the quarter.
Goals to Keating and Bradshaw appeared to stem the flow a little,
and put the Lions back in front, but Brisbane led only
momentarily as Francou, Schofield, Stevens and Carr crumbed their
skipper's ruckwork immaculately, and pumped the ball forward with
precision as the Ansett Cup Premiers piled on ten goals in an
awesome quarter of football.
Cornes presented himself well and was rewarded with a goal, and
youngster Brent Guerra showed he had a future at the elite level
with three goals for the term.
Port Adelaide had turned a 22 point deficit into a 19 point lead
by lemon time, and looked ready to run away with the game.
Brisbane coach Leigh Matthews swung defender Justin Leppitsch
into attack and the move paid off as Leppitsch kicked two goals
for the quarter. Lynch was the Lions only other contributor for
the term, as Damian Cupido, who had kicked four goals earlier
drifted out of the game. Brisbane clawed their way back to within
a point, but in the end outscoring the opposition for three
quarters was not enough, as Wanganeen kicked the sealer late in
the last quarter with a left foot snap, Port Adelaide running out
winners by seven points.
- Dark Avenger
darkavstoney@hotmail.com
**********
Fremantle vs. Carlton
Saturday 31 March - Subiaco
Long-suffering Dockers fans witnessed an agonising one point loss
Carlton on Saturday night, after their side had appeared to be in
control at half-time. After a tight first quarter, the Dockers
kicked away in the second thanks to a stunning effort from Troy
Cook, who had possessions and two goals for the quarter. Hasleby,
Fletcher, Bootsma and Black also provided plenty of drive, and a
lack of tall options for the Dockers was made up by the efforts
of their small forwards, who dominated the Carlton backline.
After half-time, however, the Blues began to get on top, with
Ratten, Bradley and Camporeale getting on top Koutoufides and
Whitnall beginning to provide the forward options the Blues
missed in the opening half. The Dockers continued to kick goals,
stretching the gap after Carlton had closed to within seven
points, but they could not hold back the Carlton stars. A superb
last quarter from Bradley and Ratten, plus a long goal from
Silvagni late in the game, sealed up a nail-biting win for
Carlton.
Despite the loss, there is plenty for Fremantle to be optimistic
about. The improved form of Fletcher after an indifferent 2000,
the potential for Hasleby, the brilliance of Cook, and the
efforts of Brown, Jones and Bandy in the backline. With Michael
and Waterhouse to come back later in the year, and Bell unlikely
to miss any more games, there is still the potential for
improvement.
For Carlton, while they might have liked to win by more, they
will be happy with the solid performance of Koutoufides, and the
continued brilliance of their midfield. Also encouraging was the
performance of 19 year old Ryan Houlihan, who was very strong on
the half-forward flank. However, their second tier of players
will have to improve with tough games against Hawthorn and
Essendon in the next two rounds.
One thing to be learned from this game, and other results during
the round, is that the gap between all the clubs after Essendon
is very small.
- Tom FC http://www.afltips.com/people/tomfc.html
**********
Western Bulldogs v Saint Kilda.
Saturday March 31, 2001 – Colonial Stadium
Western Bulldogs: 2.4 10.6 14.9 16.11 107
St Kilda: 5.5 9.6 15.11 16.16 112
Western Bulldogs: Goals: C.Grant 4, K.Hunter 4, Johnson 3,
P.Dimattina 2, L.Darcy, S.Garlick, R.Murphy Best: C.Grant,
R.Smith, L.Darcy, T.Liberatore, K.Hunter Injuries: None
Saint Kilda: Goals: P.Everitt 5, N.Burke 2, L.Hayes 2,
J.Traianidis 2, C.Beetham, C.Callaghan, M.Capuano, R.Harvey,
S.Loewe Best: P.Everitt, C.Callaghan, R.Harvey, N.Burke,
C.Beetham, J.Plapp Injuries: M.Gale (bruised knee), S.Baker
(cramp)
"Western Bulldogs coach Terry Wallace's heart pumped hard as he
and wife Keryn watched in awe as American rock superhero Jon Bon
Jovi rocked a crowd of 35,000 at Colonial last Saturday night.
And Wallace is confident his Bulldogs can 'do a Bon Jovi' and
rock the million-dollar St Kilda in the much anticipated season
opener at the same venue this Saturday night."
-Steven Milne, the Altona-Laverton Mail and Williamstown
Advertiser.
This atrocious piece of copy comes from Another Quality Fairfax
Paper.
Footscray may have set out to be Jon Bon Jovi but they ended up
being more like Joey Peroni and David Smorgon lost his bet with
Saint Kilda. It was the battle of the safe injecting rooms, an
epic that spanned two suburbs. Football doesn't get more suburban
than this.
Smorgon had bet his St Kilda counterpart that Footscray would
produce more supporters than their opponents from the mystical
east, but as per usual people were still streaming into the
Source Of All Our Misery well into the first quarter, where a
star studded Saints outfit had the jump on the unfashionable
Saltwater Creek team.
The surface was again a talking point and it won't be too long
before the hydroponics experts will be brought in to get the
grass growing at football's home away from home.
Two of the AFL's battling Melbourne clubs showed that it is the
support players that make the difference. Grant did good things,
along with the usual suspects at Footscray, but it was the Saint
Kilda rookies (Beetham in particular was impressive) that gave
the Moorabbinites that initial spark.
This proved important as a barnstorming finish from the Doggies
demanded a different result had the game gone into a fifth
quarter.
Blight's line up was pretty impressive, but they still don't look
like a top flight outfit, while Wallace's boys will be
competitive this year, despite being a bit slow out of the
blocks.
Smorgon is to be admired for rattling the tin. In plugging
Footscray Smorgon made mention that the Western Bulldogs had only
been in the "marketplace" for four or five years, and were still
finding their feet, which must be good news to those that have
followed the Tricolours for longer than that.
The Western Bulldogs will be a good team this year, but Footscray
is stuffed.
- Phil Doyle. http://www.afltips.com/people/phildoyle.html
**********
Sydney vs. Adelaide
Sunday April 1, 2001 - SCG
The Sydney Swans celebrated their 20 year anniversary in Sydney
in style by dominating a hapless Adelaide outfit in front of a
parochial Sydney crowd today.
Both teams started positively however Adelaide was not able to
keep pace with Sydney after midway through the second quarter.
Sydney through the likes of Schwass, Cresswell and Maxfield were
able to dominate the center square by absorbing the pressure and
crashing packs setting up many opportunities for players in their
forward line. If it were not for Edwards and Bickley the score
could quite have easily blown out to a 100-point loss.
Cresswell and Schwass were amazing, taking the ball from the back
pocket only to also be finding it up the forward line, Cresswell
especially showed this by finishing with four goals. McLeod and
Ricciuto who would normally dominate a game were only able to get
18 and 19 possession respectively, Ricciuto started up forward
only managing one goal while McLeod was well negated by Crouch.
As if the Adelaide forwards were not struggling enough, poor
delivery of the ball to the forwards made easy pickings for the
Sydney defence lead by Andrew Dunkley. Up forward for the Swans
was a different story, O'Loughlin, Goodes, AhMat were able to
find plenty of the ball while Paul Williams in his first game for
the Swans was able to run off the half forward flank with ease
not to mention Stafford being able to take marks at will.
At games end it was easy to see why Sydney won. All their
players were able to give an even performance with all of them
chipping in, 11 Sydney players were able to get over 15
possessions to Adelaide's 5. Sydney's 328 possessions to
Adelaide's 276 possessions and Sydney's marking dominance 105
to 70 just shows how far the Crows were behind.
Sydney will now go into next weeks game against West Coast in
Perth confidently after their big win while Adelaide will have to
get back to basics before meeting Melbourne at Football Park.
SYDNEY 4.3 9.4 16.9 19.12 (126)
ADELAIDE 4.1 6.4 7.6 10.14 (74)
BEST - Sydney: Schwass, Cresswell, Maxfield, O'Loughlin,
Stafford, Matthews, McPherson, Bolton, Ball, Crouch; Adelaide:
Edwards, Bickley, Crowell, Goodwin.
GOALS - Sydney: Cresswell 4, Ball, Goodes 3, AhMat , O'Loughlin
2, Bolton, Crouch, Kirk, Schauble, Williams 1; Adelaide:
Perrie, Stenglein, Welsh 2, Edwards, Hewitt, McLeod, Ricciuto 1.
Just for the record my tips were:
Essendon
Hawthorn
Carlton
Western Bulldogs
Port Adelaide
Geelong
Richmond
Sydney
7/8, not too bad!
- Scott http://www.afltips.com/people/scott.html
**********
Melbourne vs. Richmond
Sunday April 1, 2001 - MCG
Melbourne 3.3 6.6 10.12 15.13 103
Richmond 7.1 12.815.10 20.14 134
Melbourne: Goals: D.Schwarz 4, A.Yze 3, B.Green 2, B.Beams,
C.Bruce, A.Leoncelli, A.McDonald, D.Neitz, P.Walsh
Best: D.Schwarz, C.Bruce, A.Leoncelli, A.Yze, B.Beams
Injuries: None
Richmond: Goals: M.Richardson 5, W.Campbell 3, B.Ottens 3,
N.Daffy 2, R.Hilton 2, M.Rogers 2, J.Bowden, B.Gale, M.Knights
Best: W.Campbell, M.Knights, R.Hilton, M.Richardson, N.Daffy,
B.Ottens, J.Bowden
Injuries: C.King (strained foot)
The most ominous sign for Melbourne came when some wag at the MCG
played the Hawthorn theme Song as the Melbourne banner was being
raised.
From there it was all downhill. There was a certain sense of
deja-vu about a Coburg-Richmond Tigers outfit that repeated a
dose of what they'd given the Dees in the equivalent game last
year, only with more conviction this time.
Richardson kicked five and will be essential in any success that
Richmond muster this year.
Melbourne missed their game makers, lacked fluency and, apart
from a brief rally, were never in the hunt. Poor option taking
and a lack of use of opportunities marked their play. Woewoedin
was quiet and it's doubtful that any footage from this game will
make its way onto any highlights package of his career. The Dees
also failed to take advantage of their effectiveness in winning
initial possession in the ruck duels.
Richmond was dominant in the midfield and dictated the style of
play in what was, by and large, an entertaining encounter.
Some unorthodox decisions from Neil Daniher, starting Yze in the
half-forward pocket and Schwarz down the back, didn't work.
Schwarz played Melbourne back into the game when he was shifted
forward, but the unlikely recovery was nipped in the bud with two
late third-quarter goals that steadied the Tigers.
These both stemmed from controversial umpiring decisions. The
umpiring in this first round has caused much frustration for
fans. There appears a reluctance to protect the man going for the
ball in preference for the spoiling tactics that lead to too many
stoppages.
Ottens contributed well and new recruit Stephen Sziller showed
his worth for the victors, but Melbourne did enough to show that
they will improve once they switch on.
Richmond didn't look particularly innovative but need to keep
this momentum going for several weeks in succession and develop
some much anticipated consistency.
A better than average game of footy. Both clubs should be
thereabouts this year.
- Phil Doyle http://www.afltips.com/people/phildoyle.html
**********
Hawthorn vs. Collingwood
Saturday 31 March, 2001 - MCG
If any one wanted to see a game of Aussie rules for the first
time surely this game had to be the one it simply had everything
on a rather warm day at the MCG in front of 55.000 fans craving
for a fix of winter religion.
Enter Hawthorn the first team onto the arena a team billed as the
all time improvers of the comp and rightfully so considering
there finals campaign last year and it's excellent Ansett Cup
form.
Then enter the Collingwood team a club who has seen more bad
times recently than it wishes to remember somehow you got the
feeling that we were going to be in for a bit of a match and boy
we were not dissapointed.
The game had everything,tough men doing rough stuff as they
should although I'm sure it didn't impress our basketball loving
community but this is a game for men and should be allowed to be
played by men.
Even the umpires wanted to stamp their lack of authority upon us
all so early in the year with some very doubtful 'play on
decisions' but heck who's complaining?
The excitement of the game seem to take shape in the second half
when both sides went deep into there foward line and attacked the
ball with guts. Hawthorn allways seemed in control the scribes
maybe right this Hawthorn side has improved but one has to admire
Collingwood for they were equally as tough and agressive and
maybe they to have bragging rights on there improvement as well.
Joel smith was damaging for Hawthorn along side daniel chick as
with Collingwood's jarrod malloy who showed some agression which
has been missing on Collingwood's foward line for some years
now.Ryan lonie for Collingwood was impressive.
In the end Hawthorn's senior player experience got it over the
line take nothing away from Hawthorn they were good, just as
Collingwood was in defeat. Hawthorn was the winner today and so
was football and Collingwood the team everyone tipped to finish
last just maybe issued a warning not to take it lightly.
HAWTHORN...85
C'WOOD ...81
BEST HAWTHORN Smith, Harford, Chick, Rawlings.
BEST COLLINGWOOD Malloy, Lockyer, Buckley, Rintoull, Lonie.
- JoffaMagpie http://www.afltips.com/people/joffamagpie.html
**********
Geelong vs. West Coast
Sunday April 1, 2001 - Shell Stadium
How things have changed. Let's go back to 1992, when West Coast
Eagles were mighty and dominant. Steamrolling Geelong in the '92
Grand Final was the icing on the cake to anyone that cared to
notice - this mob were too darn good. To most Victorians, the
state where Aussie Rules had been conceived, weaned, taught to
walk, taught to ignore the insults from the bully foreign kids,
strengthened, matured, even changed its name and identity yet
still adored by all and sundry, the day when little Footy's heart
packed up and eloped to Western Australia was one we couldn't
forget. "They stole our soul!" screamed the new traditionalists.
Naturally, the new Premiers couldn't care less. The VFL was now
The AFL and the claim of best club could come from almost
anywhere. Besides, they were terrific and had earned it (even if
their coach was Victorian).
Two years later, the Cats had another chance to make up for their
earlier poop on the rug. Facing the Weagles in the big one again
the Cats managed to lose, although another lazy 80 points to
Geelong and we'd have had a draw. From there the basic home state
support turned to embarrassment and eventually pity for all
Geelong fans.
Which brings us to today and my point of how much things have
changed. Have you ever seen those old "DRUGS DID THIS" posters?
Before drugs: the '90s Eagles. After drugs: Today's. Of course
this is simply a familiarisation, even if West Coast are looking
pasty, suffering malnutrition and begging for loose change. Of
course the season is young, so perhaps they can turn it around.
They had a great performance from Chad Morrison who racked up 31
possessions, some glimmers of talent in the form of Braun, Chad
Fletcher, Gardiner and new recruits Richard Taylor (ex-Hawthorn)
and 18 year old draftee Daniel Kerr. Scotty Cummings even popped
in for a cuppa, had some nice shots at goals and then a bit of a
lie down.
But how good were Geelong? Their classy on-baller Peter Riccardi
to quarter time had more possessions than an Exorcist series,
Ronnie Burns had a pleasant Sunday arvo with two goals whilst
Clint Bizzell dobbed three and ex-Blue Justin Murphy excelled
with 25 touches and one goal (although he and Steven King were
both reported for striking). In general the Cats played as a more
cohesive unit, with twice the amount of goal kickers than West
Coast who could only manage a sad total of 49 points, their
lowest ever score against Geelong and a demoralising 66 point
defeat.
The moderate home crowd spent the day sipping from a collective
blue and white thermos, cheering at appropriate times and shaking
off thoughts of another Grand Final. When the siren sounded,
everybody yawned, stretched and ambled away. Another day, another
cat biscuit (this time Eagle flavoured) until next week, away
from home and all the creature comforts it can provide.
- matto http://www.afltips.com/people/matto.html
+----------+
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