AFLTips.Com Review News
Round 5 - 30 April 2001
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INDEX
1) Prize Draw
2) "Weekly Round-Up" - previews of all matches from our Regular
3) Various info about AFLTips.Com
+----------+
1) Prize Draw
Not ONE entry for this week's competition, so I'll do another
random draw. The winner will be notified shortly.
Until next time,
Adrian Groves
adrian@afltips.com
+----------+
2) Weekly Round-Up
from our Regular Contributors http://www.afltips.com/people/
(E-mail adrian@afltips.com if you'd like to become a
contributor.)
This week's round-up contains the first ever review by SMS!
AFLTips.Com - Constantly pushing back the boundaries of sport
reporting.
**********
Essendon v. Collingwood
Wednesday, 25 April 2001 - MCG 2:10 PM
Now five days old, much of the story on this Anzac Day clash has
been well and truly covered. Briefly, Essendon displaying
flagging potential were still 8 points better than Collingwood,
with Hird's flexibility around the ground, Barnard's four goals
and the Mercuri factor outshining O'Bree's 27 possessions,
Tarrant's five goals and the Buckley factor.
For the rare Melbournian who wasn't at the ground and indeed all
others who want to know more, only a handful of quintessential
yet uncovered details remain. For instance Collingwood are
photosynthetic, meaning they grow a bit every time the sun
appears. Also, some guy with a dodgy p.a can never compete with
The Australian Defence Force playing Choplifter inside the 'G.
The very first row at the top back of The Great Southern Stand is
Row B. What the...? To this day, no one knows what really
happened to Row A.
The ever-haunting "The Last Post" bugle tribute is not ideal
listening for the recently dropped in a relationship, or so I'm
told.
The Bombers cheer squad were funny - first they let go of the
huge pre match banner during an impromptu gale force, then with
artwork recovered, the players struggled to break through it and
you know how embarrassing that can get.
Sharing bets on your team as next goal scorer in a tight contest
can improve spectator participation, especially if someone goes
double or nothing five times (and loses the fifth).
Basic seats cost around $27.50 for this game and makes The Footy
Record look like a real bargain. In fashion news, face painting
is coming back among the younger 5-9 set, while in the little
league the Tom Alvin Ponytail features on many of today's up and
coming stars of the future, many of which are in fact girls.
Not that there's anything wrong with that. Nor the fact that The
Magpies lost, because people say they went down fighting and its
better to try hard and lose than it is to lose and not try doing
it.
As tipsters at the end of the day we all know the importance of
the safe Essendon tip, as it allows us to start the weekend with
a perfect 1/1 record and enjoy that while it bloody lasts. And
speaking of enjoyment - Kevin Sheedy. He can happily usher in
Dean Rioli for next week's meeting with The West Coast Cooler at
Coronial, perhaps at the expense of Scott Lucas who took the
sadness of the day into much of his game.
For The Pies, A.Rocca went A.W.O.L.*(obligatory Anzac Day pun)
and could face the axe with Steve McKee ready for battle* with
The Blues.
Both Anzac Day combatants* will be well rested with eleven days
until their next round, which may help provide a slight edge on
their respective opponents.
So apart from film award nominations - war - what is it good for?
Absolutely nothing, but these Essendon v Collingwood clashes do
rock.
Cheers Diggers.
- matto http://www.afltips.com/people/matto.html
**********
West Coast v. Richmond
Friday, 27 April 2001 - Subiaco 6:40 PM (8:40 PM AEST)
Ever had the feeling that just nothing was going to go right?
West Coast coach Ken Judge must have had just that feeling on
Friday night when his team went up against the Tigers. Already
the Eagles have an injury list that is of concern, then to make
matters worse for his team, Ashley McIntosh, one of the Eagles
very best tall defenders, is ruled out prior to the first bounce.
This means going against one of the tallest attacks in the AFL
with an undersize defence, Trent Carroll is moved to the ever
dangerous Matthew Richardson, with another former Docker, Greg
Harding, coming into the team on the interchange bench. Judge
must be thinking that no other injury problems can occur on the
night, WRONG, half way through the first quarter full forward,
Scott Cummings injures his ankle, not to be seen again for the
remainder of the game.
Tiger Joel Bowden started the first quarter like he brought his
own ball, such was his early dominance, along with his skipper
Wayne Campbell, they continually provided quality supply to the
Richmond attack. They were not let down by the Tiger forwards who
made to most of their opportunities, ending up with six straight
goals for the quarter. The Eagles could only respond with one
goal 2 behinds by the quarter time break.
Matthew Richardson was standing very tall for Richmond,
unfortunately for the Eagles they could not try to double team
him, as the Tigers also had Brad Ottens, Benny Gale, Ray Hall and
Ben Holland also taking many marks around the ground. The second
quarter proved to be more even on the scoreboard, with Richmond
scoring four goals to the Coasters 3 goals, this was a little
misleading, because Richmond seemed to have control of the
contest. Philip Matera was proving to be the main thorn for the
Tiger defence, whilst strong man Troy Wilson has an undeniable
presence.
During the second quarter I saw Eagle forward, Mark Merenda, pull
out of a marking contest, to avoid making a contest, this was a
very poor effort, WC coach obviously also though so benching this
player for the remainder of the game, perhaps he really did have
a corked thigh, I would love to be a fly on the wall when Merenda
is confronted by the coaching staff about this incident.
West Coast had been given a strong message at half time, they
responded by making a contest of the game during the third
quarter. Philip Matera continued to lead and mark strongly,
whilst young Andrew Williams showed his talent by taking several
contested marks around the forward line and midfield. Campbell,
Bowden and Mark Chaffey were all prominent for the Tigers. The
Eagles were starting to apply scoreboard pressure in this quarter
by scoring six straight goals to the Tigers effort of two goals
one behind, thus narrowing the three quarter time margin to 13
points. Perhaps we could have a strong contest after all?
Any thoughts of a Tiger loss were quickly extinguished by
Richardson and Matthew Rogers up forward, they finished the game
with 6 goals and 5 goals respectively. Rogers had David Wirrpunda
as his opponent for the entire game, and led him a merry dance
throughout. The Eagle coaching staff should explain to their
talented youngster that a defender's main task is to stop his
opponent, not to try and look flashy, or maybe he is being played
in the wrong position, whichever is the case, they need to get it
sorted out because all teams will take note of how to play this
young man out of the play.
Richmond obviously came to Perth with a mission of scoring their
first ever win against West Coast in WA, they executed their
plans with efficiency and skill. The Eagles were made to look
second rate, another long season at the wrong end of the table
beckons for them unless they find some form and drive against the
more talented teams in the league. As an aside, it was
interesting to see that Tiger coach was not worried by who he
would enforce team rules to, as he benched Richardson after he
gave away his third 50 metre penalty. Just another sign that this
Tiger outfit is a professional outfit looking to make certain of
a finals berth this year.
Best players
Richmond:- Richardson, Chaffey, Campbell, Bowden, Rogers,
Holland, Gaspar
West Coast:- Phil Matera, Williams, Fletcher, Gardiner
Goals
Richmond:- Richardson 6, Rogers 5, Bowden 3, Tivendale, Chaffey,
Hilton 1
West Coast:- Ph Matera 4, Morrison, Wilson 2, Gardiner, Fletcher,
Merenda 1
RICHMOND: 6.0, 10.4, 12.5, 17.7 (109)
WEST COAST: 1.2, 4.4, 10.4, 11.4 (70)
- Asgardian http://www.afltips.com/people/asgardian.html
**********
Carlton v. St Kilda
Saturday, 28 April 2001 - Optus Oval 2:10 PM
This one will go down as a most ordinary game of football at
Optus Oval in which Carlton took three quarters to hold of a
determined St Kilda side.
St Kilda are gone. Their massive money splurge will not show any
results whatsoever in season 2001 which goes to show that clubs
who bravely decide to stick with a youth policy are more likely
to find success on a football paddock.
Hamill was disappointing but you couldn't really expect him to be
St Kilda's match winner yesterday. His big named team mate Gehrig
wasn't much better but it's worth remembering he has just come
back from an injury and may need a few more weeks to get to his
best.
Blight's dream of bringing a resurgent St Kilda football club
into this years finals are all but gone and so with it all the
hype that surrounded this club only 10 weeks ago.
Carlton are however not much better they have nothing to
celebrate it took them nearly a whole game to conclusively beat
St Kilda on there home ground at Optus Oval.
In fact one has to wonder about the future of the Carlton
football club. To be fair it probably will make this years finals
but it will only be a numbers making exercise, it has just simply
ran out of good match winning players and desperately needs to go
back to the recruiting side of things. Although Plunkett showed
yesterday that he will be most serviceable. St Kilda; well one
has to wonder where this club is going and how quickly because it
is in trouble.
To be fair to St Kilda if all their new recruits had fired
yesterday it would be fair to assume they just might of got the
four points.
On yesterday's form it will be hard to see St Kilda beat the
Swans at Colonial and it will be a lot harder to see Carlton
troubling the Maggies in the blockbuster at the MCG but then
again footy is a strange game.
- JoffaMagpie http://www.afltips.com/people/joffamagpie.html
**********
Footscray v. Hawthorn
Saturday, 28 April 2001 - Colonial Stadium, 2:10 PM
Final Scores
4.2 10.3 15.9 24.11 (126)
6.5 14.7 17.9 19.12 (155)
Hawthorn have continued on their winning form with a 29 point win
over the Bulldogs on Saturday. They have now won their first five
games and are clear on top of the ladder. The game was played
under the closed roof, which provided the perfect conditions for
a shoot-out, and what a classic shoot-out it was. It must have
been one of the games of the year so far.
Probably the most interesting contest for the day was Shaun Rehn
against Luke Darcy in the ruck. They gave away at least 10 free
kicks combined against each other at the ruck contests. Some
people might call this over-umpiring! Meanwhile Rehn had about 6
shots on goal ending up with 3 goals to his name. Both were in
the best players of their respective sides.
The first quarter was pretty even with the Hawks leading by 2
goals at the end. Hawthorn definitely made the most of their
opportunities getting 3 goals from the same spot, about 50m out
close to the boundary. Croad's goal was the pick of them. The
highlights for the Bulldogs was when Darcy rode a tackle after
the centre bounce and handballed to Nathan Brown who ran to 50
and kicked a great goal. Also a goal to 150 gamer Brad Johnson
was another highlight.
It was anything but even in the second term with the Hawks piling
on the goals. They were virtually unstoppable going out to a 46-
point lead at one stage. Goals to Hudson and Curley and 2 goals
to Brown closed the margin to four goals at half time.
Unfortunately for the Hawks Nathan Thompson was knocked
unconscious accidentally by teammate John Barker. This caused the
quarter to go on forever. It went for 40 mins 39 seconds to be
exact, which was the longest quarter ever at VFL-AFL level.
The Hawks got the first two goals of the third quarter but this
didn't stop the inevitable Bulldogs comeback.
The Bulldogs kicked five straight goals and were playing
outstanding football. They had the momentum but lost it after a
controversial free kick against Curley for running into the
umpire. This is a rule that has been introduced this season. The
Hawks managed to get another goal before the end of the quarter
and led by 12 points at the change. I feel this is where the
Bulldogs lost the game.
Both teams came out fired up at the start of the final quarter.
But for the Bulldogs all the effort was for nothing as the ball
was turned over and the Hawks scored the first goal. You could
see the Dogs players drop their heads. The game was over. Full
credit to Hawthorn, they certainly deserve their position on the
ladder. The Hawks clearly out marked the Dogs and their run out
of defence and through the midfield was excellent.
Best
Hawthorn: Rawlings, Rehn, Croad, Lord, Hay.
Western Bulldogs: Brown, West, Bartlett, Hudson, Darcy.
Goals
Hawthorn: Lord 6, Barker 5, Croad 4, Rawlings, Rehn 3, Thompson
2, Chick 1.
Western Bulldogs: Hudson 4, Brown, Hunter 3, Bartlett, Johnson,
Smith 2, Darcy, Curley, Harrison 1.
Crowd: about 35000
- HahnPremium8 http://www.afltips.com/people/hahnpremium8.html
**********
Adelaide v. Kangaroos
Saturday, 28 April 2001 - Football Park 7:10 PM (7:40 PM AEST)
You can now consider yourself a part of history. Due to a
friend's birthday, I was nowhere near a television or radio
during the game, and since I have a deadline to meet, I have yet
to watch a video of the match. However, due to the love and
affection that is part and parcel of the North Melbourne family,
I was kept informed of events via the magic of SMS. So, here you
have it, the world's first match report written up on the basis
of about two dozen SMS messages. I have chosen a selection of
messages (written in LARGE CAPS) and added the thoughts that went
through my head as I received them throughout the evening.
LOOKING BAD. CROWS UP BY 4 GOALS. MCLEOD ON FIRE. There was
the hope that McLeod was literally rather than metaphorically on
fire, but with a four goal margin, it hardly mattered. Still,
it's much better to be ripped apart by Andrew McLeod than say,
Bryan Beinke. The former can be understood. The latter would be
just plain embarrassing. Still, I secretly hope that I
programmed the VCR wrongly so that I'll have a legitimate excuse
not to sit through a 15 goal thrashing.
BLOODY SAV. FOUR SHOTS AND FOUR MISSES. There goes the
percentage, but hey, it isn't going to matter as long as the four
points head over to Arden Street. I mean, at least he's marking
the ball, that's half the battle, although I admit that the
spoils of the battle are in the second half of the mission (i.e.
kick the damn pill straight will ya????). I also thought I heard
Joffa laughing in the background, but maybe I was mistaken.
CAREY WILL GO ON TRIAL BY VIDEO. Uh, oh, how bad can things be
going? I wonder what he's done now, but I'm afraid to ask. I
also think I hear Caroline Wilson shriek in delight as she now
has a new idea for her next piece of journalism (sic).
ON A ROLL. MARGIN ONLY 2 GOALS. Now this is the stuff. Better
ring home and make sure the VCR is taping channel 7. I allow
myself a bit of hope. It's the second quarter and the momentum
is going our way. Obviously King, Harvey, and Stevens must be
ripping them apart in the midfield.
IN LEAD. Okaaaayyyyyy. We're going to win now. It's bloody
obvious, the Crows got their so-called match winning lead and
have blown it. The momentum is with us and I can picture Neil
Kerley making off screen hand signals to the auto-cue operator to
slip in the list of excuses. Onya Rooboys..glory beckons.
CROWS BACK IN FRONT. Now, this isn't supposed to be in the
script. My wine suddenly tastes a little bit too sour. Ah, no
wonder...it's a South Australian wine... bastards.
RICKY'S INJURED. HAMSTRING. I could cry. I really could. I
think of Ricky and all the work that he has put in to get back
into AFL football and I feel for him. I also think of my pal
Spidey, and she'd be feeling just as shattered. I just hope it's
only a minor one, but with Ricky's history, you can only feel
pessimistic.
I WISH BRUCE WOULD STOP BARRACKING. After the trip back from
Geelong where I listened to their local radio station post-match
analysis, anything that McAveney, Cornes, or Kerley could say
would be purely objective in comparison to the pro-Geelong drivel
on their local station.
WHO THE HELL IS BEINKE? Pre-game, I visited the Adelaide message
board and posted my best wishes for ex-Roo players, Mark Stevens,
Evan Hewitt, and Scott Welsh. I forgot about Bryan Bienke who
was a Roos supplementary list player. A combination of the
message and my pessimism, I get the feeling he's just kicked 3 or
4 quick goals to bury us.
FINAL MARGIN 15 POINTS. Is that all it was? In the final wash
up, I can't wait to get home to watch the video. Take out the
two games in 1999 and most Kangaroos vs Adelaide games are good
value for money as they are often close games, played with grit
and skill. So Adelaide won this time, but I'm looking forward to
seeing how that result was achieved.
- Shinboners http://www.afltips.com/people/shinboners.html
**********
Brisbane v. Fremantle
Sunday, 29 April 2001 - Gabba 2:10 PM
Well if you had bought a ticket for the school end of the Gabba,
you could be feeling a little ripped off. The city side of the
ground was by far the end to which most of the goals were kicked.
This was not due to any significant breeze, but rather when the
sides decided to really fight hard. In the end the final score
does not clearly portray the way the match was played.
The game could fairly be described as very ugly until the last
quarter. There was a considerable lack of manning up or clever
play. In the first quarter the GABBA was shell-shocked due to
some big standout performances from Shaun McManus and Pavlich.
The Lions midfield were standing around really looking as if they
had no control over the free Dockers players that were appearing
everywhere.
The second quarter belonged to the Lions who reversed the quarter
time deficit within minutes. This was partly due to the change
of Michael Voss onto McManus. It seemed a different side and that
they would run away with the game already. But the Fremantle did
bounce back in the third quarter to go into the last quarter-time
huddle nine points up.
But there was nothing that was going to stop the onslaught that
happened in the final term. The Lions kicked goals from 40, 50,
60 and an amazing 75m goal from Tim Notting. Finally the GABBA
crowd came to life as the lions kicked 13 goals in the final term
to run away 49 point winners.
Best on ground for the Lions was Tim Notting who played a very
skilful match. Other good players for the Lions were: Jason
Akermanis for his inspirational final quarter efforts, Voss,
Power, both Scott's and Nigel Lappin (who has been under pressure
to perform so far this year).
Whereas for the Dockers: P.Bell, M.Pavlich, M.Carr, D.Bandy,
J.Longmuir all had respectable games and put their side in with a
good chance of winning this one.
Neither side will be happy with the entirety of their games, but
there were some good signs for both teams at time through the
day.
Final scores:
Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Final Score
Brisbane 3.4 9.9 12.15 25.21 25.21 171
Fremantle 6.2 8.4 15.6 19.8 19.8 122
I scored 8 from 8 this week!
- Josh Hemelaar http://www.afltips.com/people/joshhemelaar.html
**********
Geelong v. Port Adelaide
Sunday, 29 April 2001 - Shell Stadium 2:10 PM
C A T S P L A T ! ! !
Port Adelaide today recorded their first ever win at the Shell
Stadium and their first win in Victoria since 2 July 1999 (Round
14) against Collingwood where they won by 1 point.
With three of the next five games interstate, it was an extra
special game for Geelong who were smarting from their last round
loss to the Kangaroos at their home ground. However as important
as this game may have been they were not able to control the
unbelievable form of this Port Adelaide side.
The first quarter was a tight scrappy game where not only the
players but also the men in white made many basic mistakes. Two
goals were disallowed to the Port Adelaide side, one from the
boot of Wanganeen which didn't appear to touch be touched by the
Geelong player on the line and one by Tredrea (second quarter)
which was called touched from 40 metres out but once again this
was too close to call and did not appear to deviate. No matter
the result though Port were soon to push on into the second
quarter.
After a tight first twelve minutes between the sides, Matthew
Primus soon gained ascendancy in the ruck, punching the ball
forward on many occasions to classy Port small players like
Schofield (5 goals, 30 possessions) and Dew (6 goals) who
finished the fine work with goals. This would continue on for
the second and third quarters with Port finishing with eights
goals in each quarter, Geelong were left shell shocked.
Early into the last quarter Port Adelaide continued to stamp
their authority onto the game, pushing the lead out to eighty
points. At this point with the game well won, Port Adelaide
started to use their bench, resting many of their more classy
players before next week's game against the Western Bulldogs and
were outscored seven goals to four.
Probably for the first time this year, Port Adelaide's talls in
Tredrea and Cornes were able to stand up and play a good game.
Tredrea finished with four goals and Cornes who may have only
finished with one goal but was able to take fifteen marks making
him the best tall man on the ground.
Next week Geelong go to the Gabba to play Brisbane which should
be a tough game particularly when Geelong are not noted for
winning interstate. Coach Mark Thompson may have a couple of
worries at the tribunal this week as well. The report of
Scarlett for striking Ackland and the possibility of a report
against Hocking for kicking Paxman in the head after being felled
should make an interesting week.
Perhaps before Mark Thompson bags the umpires about their
decisions on the ground he should actually get his players to
play for the ball and not the man. Port were able to gain 63
more possessions throughout the game and I think it is fair to
say if you have more of the ball you should expect more free
kicks not the other way around.
Port Adelaide 3.4 11.5 19.10 23.10 (148)
Geelong 3.5 6.7 8.8 15.12 (102)
Best - Port: Schofield, Dew, Primus, Carr, Montgomery, Wilson,
Tredrea, Cornes, Francou; Geelong: Murphy, Milburn, King; Goals
- Port: Dew 6, Schofield 5, Tredrea 4, Wanganeen, Cockatoo-
Collins 2, Cornes, Wilson, Carr, Guerra 1; Geelong: Murphy 3,
Hocking, Burns, Graham 2, Clarke, Harley, Mensch, Bizzell, Mooney
1;
Scott's Tips
Round 5 - 7/8
Total - 27/40
- Scott http://www.afltips.com/people/scott.html
**********
Melbourne v. Sydney
Sunday, 29 April 2001 - MCG 2:10 PM
Weather: fine and sunny. Top 19.
Melbourne 4.3 10.7 13.9 18.11 119
Sydney 5.4 6.9 10.12 15.14 104
Melbourne : goals: Neitz 6, Robertson 4, farmer 3, yze 2,
wheatley 2, Schwarz.
Best: Neitz, Schwarz, Robertson, Febey, Yze
Sydney: Goals: Goodes 2, Stevens 2, Nicks 2, Ball, Ahmat,
Mcpherson, Bolton, Maxfield, Williams, O'Loughlin, Cresswell,
Kirk.
Best:Nicks, Crouch, Schwass, Goodes,
In front of a reasonable crowd of some 31,000 fans, Melbourne
claimed valuable four valuable premiership points with a gutsy
and inspired performance against the swans after being swamped
halfway through the last quarter and appearing gone.
The match took place in perfect conditions for a change.
Melbourne turned on a fine and mild day, perfect for high scoring
football and that's how things turned out. After a fairly even
first quarter in which David Neitz kicked four of Melbourne 5
goals, Melbourne appeared to take complete control of this
contest. They kicked a dominant 6 goals to 1 for the quarter, 3
from the mercurial Jeff Farmer, before he left the ground with a
hamstring injury. Melbourne went into the half time break
leading comfortably by 22 points and seemed in complete control
of the contest.
After a relatively even third quarter nothing would have changed
the view that Melbourne would come away from this game with
nothing but a relatively comfortable victory. To this stage the
contest would have to be described as fairly scrappy with plenty
of mistakes made by both side and to the neutral supporter a
relatively uninteresting contest. But as we know football is a
funny game and thank god for that.
The last quarter began with Joseph Gutnick playing politics and
sitting with the Melbourne supporters for the whole last quarter,
he probably brought the largest cheer of the day when he sat with
the cheer squad.
In what was a seesawing last quarter, Melbourne scored the first
goal and appeared headed for a comfortable victory. From this
point the momentum was completely with the swans as they reeled
off five unanswered goals to lead by 9 points midway thru and the
demons appeared gone...
Enter Russell Robertson, who to this point had been very well
held. He kicked 4 goals for the quarter to single handedly pull
off a remarkable victory to the demons... This included a patch
of 3 in about 3 minutes, a couple from absolute sceamers. By the
time David Neitz had kicked his 6th for the game the contest was
as good as over in a contest that ended up an absolute
thriller...
For the losers, they can take little solace from the fact that
they had at least put in a competitive effort after losing their
main ruckman, Stafford who pulled out before the game with an
injury and their replacement Feast who played throughout with an
injured a/c joint.
For the winners though they can take great heart and use this 15-
point victory as a springboard to the rest of their season.
- Andrew Teres http://www.afltips.com/people/andrewteres.html
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Copyright (C) Adrian Groves, 2001
ENDS
*****************************************************************
[This message has been edited by Bluey (edited 30 April 2001).]
Round 5 - 30 April 2001
w: http://www.afltips.com/
e: adrian@afltips.com
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INDEX
1) Prize Draw
2) "Weekly Round-Up" - previews of all matches from our Regular
3) Various info about AFLTips.Com
+----------+
1) Prize Draw
Not ONE entry for this week's competition, so I'll do another
random draw. The winner will be notified shortly.
Until next time,
Adrian Groves
adrian@afltips.com
+----------+
2) Weekly Round-Up
from our Regular Contributors http://www.afltips.com/people/
(E-mail adrian@afltips.com if you'd like to become a
contributor.)
This week's round-up contains the first ever review by SMS!
AFLTips.Com - Constantly pushing back the boundaries of sport
reporting.
**********
Essendon v. Collingwood
Wednesday, 25 April 2001 - MCG 2:10 PM
Now five days old, much of the story on this Anzac Day clash has
been well and truly covered. Briefly, Essendon displaying
flagging potential were still 8 points better than Collingwood,
with Hird's flexibility around the ground, Barnard's four goals
and the Mercuri factor outshining O'Bree's 27 possessions,
Tarrant's five goals and the Buckley factor.
For the rare Melbournian who wasn't at the ground and indeed all
others who want to know more, only a handful of quintessential
yet uncovered details remain. For instance Collingwood are
photosynthetic, meaning they grow a bit every time the sun
appears. Also, some guy with a dodgy p.a can never compete with
The Australian Defence Force playing Choplifter inside the 'G.
The very first row at the top back of The Great Southern Stand is
Row B. What the...? To this day, no one knows what really
happened to Row A.
The ever-haunting "The Last Post" bugle tribute is not ideal
listening for the recently dropped in a relationship, or so I'm
told.
The Bombers cheer squad were funny - first they let go of the
huge pre match banner during an impromptu gale force, then with
artwork recovered, the players struggled to break through it and
you know how embarrassing that can get.
Sharing bets on your team as next goal scorer in a tight contest
can improve spectator participation, especially if someone goes
double or nothing five times (and loses the fifth).
Basic seats cost around $27.50 for this game and makes The Footy
Record look like a real bargain. In fashion news, face painting
is coming back among the younger 5-9 set, while in the little
league the Tom Alvin Ponytail features on many of today's up and
coming stars of the future, many of which are in fact girls.
Not that there's anything wrong with that. Nor the fact that The
Magpies lost, because people say they went down fighting and its
better to try hard and lose than it is to lose and not try doing
it.
As tipsters at the end of the day we all know the importance of
the safe Essendon tip, as it allows us to start the weekend with
a perfect 1/1 record and enjoy that while it bloody lasts. And
speaking of enjoyment - Kevin Sheedy. He can happily usher in
Dean Rioli for next week's meeting with The West Coast Cooler at
Coronial, perhaps at the expense of Scott Lucas who took the
sadness of the day into much of his game.
For The Pies, A.Rocca went A.W.O.L.*(obligatory Anzac Day pun)
and could face the axe with Steve McKee ready for battle* with
The Blues.
Both Anzac Day combatants* will be well rested with eleven days
until their next round, which may help provide a slight edge on
their respective opponents.
So apart from film award nominations - war - what is it good for?
Absolutely nothing, but these Essendon v Collingwood clashes do
rock.
Cheers Diggers.
- matto http://www.afltips.com/people/matto.html
**********
West Coast v. Richmond
Friday, 27 April 2001 - Subiaco 6:40 PM (8:40 PM AEST)
Ever had the feeling that just nothing was going to go right?
West Coast coach Ken Judge must have had just that feeling on
Friday night when his team went up against the Tigers. Already
the Eagles have an injury list that is of concern, then to make
matters worse for his team, Ashley McIntosh, one of the Eagles
very best tall defenders, is ruled out prior to the first bounce.
This means going against one of the tallest attacks in the AFL
with an undersize defence, Trent Carroll is moved to the ever
dangerous Matthew Richardson, with another former Docker, Greg
Harding, coming into the team on the interchange bench. Judge
must be thinking that no other injury problems can occur on the
night, WRONG, half way through the first quarter full forward,
Scott Cummings injures his ankle, not to be seen again for the
remainder of the game.
Tiger Joel Bowden started the first quarter like he brought his
own ball, such was his early dominance, along with his skipper
Wayne Campbell, they continually provided quality supply to the
Richmond attack. They were not let down by the Tiger forwards who
made to most of their opportunities, ending up with six straight
goals for the quarter. The Eagles could only respond with one
goal 2 behinds by the quarter time break.
Matthew Richardson was standing very tall for Richmond,
unfortunately for the Eagles they could not try to double team
him, as the Tigers also had Brad Ottens, Benny Gale, Ray Hall and
Ben Holland also taking many marks around the ground. The second
quarter proved to be more even on the scoreboard, with Richmond
scoring four goals to the Coasters 3 goals, this was a little
misleading, because Richmond seemed to have control of the
contest. Philip Matera was proving to be the main thorn for the
Tiger defence, whilst strong man Troy Wilson has an undeniable
presence.
During the second quarter I saw Eagle forward, Mark Merenda, pull
out of a marking contest, to avoid making a contest, this was a
very poor effort, WC coach obviously also though so benching this
player for the remainder of the game, perhaps he really did have
a corked thigh, I would love to be a fly on the wall when Merenda
is confronted by the coaching staff about this incident.
West Coast had been given a strong message at half time, they
responded by making a contest of the game during the third
quarter. Philip Matera continued to lead and mark strongly,
whilst young Andrew Williams showed his talent by taking several
contested marks around the forward line and midfield. Campbell,
Bowden and Mark Chaffey were all prominent for the Tigers. The
Eagles were starting to apply scoreboard pressure in this quarter
by scoring six straight goals to the Tigers effort of two goals
one behind, thus narrowing the three quarter time margin to 13
points. Perhaps we could have a strong contest after all?
Any thoughts of a Tiger loss were quickly extinguished by
Richardson and Matthew Rogers up forward, they finished the game
with 6 goals and 5 goals respectively. Rogers had David Wirrpunda
as his opponent for the entire game, and led him a merry dance
throughout. The Eagle coaching staff should explain to their
talented youngster that a defender's main task is to stop his
opponent, not to try and look flashy, or maybe he is being played
in the wrong position, whichever is the case, they need to get it
sorted out because all teams will take note of how to play this
young man out of the play.
Richmond obviously came to Perth with a mission of scoring their
first ever win against West Coast in WA, they executed their
plans with efficiency and skill. The Eagles were made to look
second rate, another long season at the wrong end of the table
beckons for them unless they find some form and drive against the
more talented teams in the league. As an aside, it was
interesting to see that Tiger coach was not worried by who he
would enforce team rules to, as he benched Richardson after he
gave away his third 50 metre penalty. Just another sign that this
Tiger outfit is a professional outfit looking to make certain of
a finals berth this year.
Best players
Richmond:- Richardson, Chaffey, Campbell, Bowden, Rogers,
Holland, Gaspar
West Coast:- Phil Matera, Williams, Fletcher, Gardiner
Goals
Richmond:- Richardson 6, Rogers 5, Bowden 3, Tivendale, Chaffey,
Hilton 1
West Coast:- Ph Matera 4, Morrison, Wilson 2, Gardiner, Fletcher,
Merenda 1
RICHMOND: 6.0, 10.4, 12.5, 17.7 (109)
WEST COAST: 1.2, 4.4, 10.4, 11.4 (70)
- Asgardian http://www.afltips.com/people/asgardian.html
**********
Carlton v. St Kilda
Saturday, 28 April 2001 - Optus Oval 2:10 PM
This one will go down as a most ordinary game of football at
Optus Oval in which Carlton took three quarters to hold of a
determined St Kilda side.
St Kilda are gone. Their massive money splurge will not show any
results whatsoever in season 2001 which goes to show that clubs
who bravely decide to stick with a youth policy are more likely
to find success on a football paddock.
Hamill was disappointing but you couldn't really expect him to be
St Kilda's match winner yesterday. His big named team mate Gehrig
wasn't much better but it's worth remembering he has just come
back from an injury and may need a few more weeks to get to his
best.
Blight's dream of bringing a resurgent St Kilda football club
into this years finals are all but gone and so with it all the
hype that surrounded this club only 10 weeks ago.
Carlton are however not much better they have nothing to
celebrate it took them nearly a whole game to conclusively beat
St Kilda on there home ground at Optus Oval.
In fact one has to wonder about the future of the Carlton
football club. To be fair it probably will make this years finals
but it will only be a numbers making exercise, it has just simply
ran out of good match winning players and desperately needs to go
back to the recruiting side of things. Although Plunkett showed
yesterday that he will be most serviceable. St Kilda; well one
has to wonder where this club is going and how quickly because it
is in trouble.
To be fair to St Kilda if all their new recruits had fired
yesterday it would be fair to assume they just might of got the
four points.
On yesterday's form it will be hard to see St Kilda beat the
Swans at Colonial and it will be a lot harder to see Carlton
troubling the Maggies in the blockbuster at the MCG but then
again footy is a strange game.
- JoffaMagpie http://www.afltips.com/people/joffamagpie.html
**********
Footscray v. Hawthorn
Saturday, 28 April 2001 - Colonial Stadium, 2:10 PM
Final Scores
4.2 10.3 15.9 24.11 (126)
6.5 14.7 17.9 19.12 (155)
Hawthorn have continued on their winning form with a 29 point win
over the Bulldogs on Saturday. They have now won their first five
games and are clear on top of the ladder. The game was played
under the closed roof, which provided the perfect conditions for
a shoot-out, and what a classic shoot-out it was. It must have
been one of the games of the year so far.
Probably the most interesting contest for the day was Shaun Rehn
against Luke Darcy in the ruck. They gave away at least 10 free
kicks combined against each other at the ruck contests. Some
people might call this over-umpiring! Meanwhile Rehn had about 6
shots on goal ending up with 3 goals to his name. Both were in
the best players of their respective sides.
The first quarter was pretty even with the Hawks leading by 2
goals at the end. Hawthorn definitely made the most of their
opportunities getting 3 goals from the same spot, about 50m out
close to the boundary. Croad's goal was the pick of them. The
highlights for the Bulldogs was when Darcy rode a tackle after
the centre bounce and handballed to Nathan Brown who ran to 50
and kicked a great goal. Also a goal to 150 gamer Brad Johnson
was another highlight.
It was anything but even in the second term with the Hawks piling
on the goals. They were virtually unstoppable going out to a 46-
point lead at one stage. Goals to Hudson and Curley and 2 goals
to Brown closed the margin to four goals at half time.
Unfortunately for the Hawks Nathan Thompson was knocked
unconscious accidentally by teammate John Barker. This caused the
quarter to go on forever. It went for 40 mins 39 seconds to be
exact, which was the longest quarter ever at VFL-AFL level.
The Hawks got the first two goals of the third quarter but this
didn't stop the inevitable Bulldogs comeback.
The Bulldogs kicked five straight goals and were playing
outstanding football. They had the momentum but lost it after a
controversial free kick against Curley for running into the
umpire. This is a rule that has been introduced this season. The
Hawks managed to get another goal before the end of the quarter
and led by 12 points at the change. I feel this is where the
Bulldogs lost the game.
Both teams came out fired up at the start of the final quarter.
But for the Bulldogs all the effort was for nothing as the ball
was turned over and the Hawks scored the first goal. You could
see the Dogs players drop their heads. The game was over. Full
credit to Hawthorn, they certainly deserve their position on the
ladder. The Hawks clearly out marked the Dogs and their run out
of defence and through the midfield was excellent.
Best
Hawthorn: Rawlings, Rehn, Croad, Lord, Hay.
Western Bulldogs: Brown, West, Bartlett, Hudson, Darcy.
Goals
Hawthorn: Lord 6, Barker 5, Croad 4, Rawlings, Rehn 3, Thompson
2, Chick 1.
Western Bulldogs: Hudson 4, Brown, Hunter 3, Bartlett, Johnson,
Smith 2, Darcy, Curley, Harrison 1.
Crowd: about 35000
- HahnPremium8 http://www.afltips.com/people/hahnpremium8.html
**********
Adelaide v. Kangaroos
Saturday, 28 April 2001 - Football Park 7:10 PM (7:40 PM AEST)
You can now consider yourself a part of history. Due to a
friend's birthday, I was nowhere near a television or radio
during the game, and since I have a deadline to meet, I have yet
to watch a video of the match. However, due to the love and
affection that is part and parcel of the North Melbourne family,
I was kept informed of events via the magic of SMS. So, here you
have it, the world's first match report written up on the basis
of about two dozen SMS messages. I have chosen a selection of
messages (written in LARGE CAPS) and added the thoughts that went
through my head as I received them throughout the evening.
LOOKING BAD. CROWS UP BY 4 GOALS. MCLEOD ON FIRE. There was
the hope that McLeod was literally rather than metaphorically on
fire, but with a four goal margin, it hardly mattered. Still,
it's much better to be ripped apart by Andrew McLeod than say,
Bryan Beinke. The former can be understood. The latter would be
just plain embarrassing. Still, I secretly hope that I
programmed the VCR wrongly so that I'll have a legitimate excuse
not to sit through a 15 goal thrashing.
BLOODY SAV. FOUR SHOTS AND FOUR MISSES. There goes the
percentage, but hey, it isn't going to matter as long as the four
points head over to Arden Street. I mean, at least he's marking
the ball, that's half the battle, although I admit that the
spoils of the battle are in the second half of the mission (i.e.
kick the damn pill straight will ya????). I also thought I heard
Joffa laughing in the background, but maybe I was mistaken.
CAREY WILL GO ON TRIAL BY VIDEO. Uh, oh, how bad can things be
going? I wonder what he's done now, but I'm afraid to ask. I
also think I hear Caroline Wilson shriek in delight as she now
has a new idea for her next piece of journalism (sic).
ON A ROLL. MARGIN ONLY 2 GOALS. Now this is the stuff. Better
ring home and make sure the VCR is taping channel 7. I allow
myself a bit of hope. It's the second quarter and the momentum
is going our way. Obviously King, Harvey, and Stevens must be
ripping them apart in the midfield.
IN LEAD. Okaaaayyyyyy. We're going to win now. It's bloody
obvious, the Crows got their so-called match winning lead and
have blown it. The momentum is with us and I can picture Neil
Kerley making off screen hand signals to the auto-cue operator to
slip in the list of excuses. Onya Rooboys..glory beckons.
CROWS BACK IN FRONT. Now, this isn't supposed to be in the
script. My wine suddenly tastes a little bit too sour. Ah, no
wonder...it's a South Australian wine... bastards.
RICKY'S INJURED. HAMSTRING. I could cry. I really could. I
think of Ricky and all the work that he has put in to get back
into AFL football and I feel for him. I also think of my pal
Spidey, and she'd be feeling just as shattered. I just hope it's
only a minor one, but with Ricky's history, you can only feel
pessimistic.
I WISH BRUCE WOULD STOP BARRACKING. After the trip back from
Geelong where I listened to their local radio station post-match
analysis, anything that McAveney, Cornes, or Kerley could say
would be purely objective in comparison to the pro-Geelong drivel
on their local station.
WHO THE HELL IS BEINKE? Pre-game, I visited the Adelaide message
board and posted my best wishes for ex-Roo players, Mark Stevens,
Evan Hewitt, and Scott Welsh. I forgot about Bryan Bienke who
was a Roos supplementary list player. A combination of the
message and my pessimism, I get the feeling he's just kicked 3 or
4 quick goals to bury us.
FINAL MARGIN 15 POINTS. Is that all it was? In the final wash
up, I can't wait to get home to watch the video. Take out the
two games in 1999 and most Kangaroos vs Adelaide games are good
value for money as they are often close games, played with grit
and skill. So Adelaide won this time, but I'm looking forward to
seeing how that result was achieved.
- Shinboners http://www.afltips.com/people/shinboners.html
**********
Brisbane v. Fremantle
Sunday, 29 April 2001 - Gabba 2:10 PM
Well if you had bought a ticket for the school end of the Gabba,
you could be feeling a little ripped off. The city side of the
ground was by far the end to which most of the goals were kicked.
This was not due to any significant breeze, but rather when the
sides decided to really fight hard. In the end the final score
does not clearly portray the way the match was played.
The game could fairly be described as very ugly until the last
quarter. There was a considerable lack of manning up or clever
play. In the first quarter the GABBA was shell-shocked due to
some big standout performances from Shaun McManus and Pavlich.
The Lions midfield were standing around really looking as if they
had no control over the free Dockers players that were appearing
everywhere.
The second quarter belonged to the Lions who reversed the quarter
time deficit within minutes. This was partly due to the change
of Michael Voss onto McManus. It seemed a different side and that
they would run away with the game already. But the Fremantle did
bounce back in the third quarter to go into the last quarter-time
huddle nine points up.
But there was nothing that was going to stop the onslaught that
happened in the final term. The Lions kicked goals from 40, 50,
60 and an amazing 75m goal from Tim Notting. Finally the GABBA
crowd came to life as the lions kicked 13 goals in the final term
to run away 49 point winners.
Best on ground for the Lions was Tim Notting who played a very
skilful match. Other good players for the Lions were: Jason
Akermanis for his inspirational final quarter efforts, Voss,
Power, both Scott's and Nigel Lappin (who has been under pressure
to perform so far this year).
Whereas for the Dockers: P.Bell, M.Pavlich, M.Carr, D.Bandy,
J.Longmuir all had respectable games and put their side in with a
good chance of winning this one.
Neither side will be happy with the entirety of their games, but
there were some good signs for both teams at time through the
day.
Final scores:
Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Final Score
Brisbane 3.4 9.9 12.15 25.21 25.21 171
Fremantle 6.2 8.4 15.6 19.8 19.8 122
I scored 8 from 8 this week!
- Josh Hemelaar http://www.afltips.com/people/joshhemelaar.html
**********
Geelong v. Port Adelaide
Sunday, 29 April 2001 - Shell Stadium 2:10 PM
C A T S P L A T ! ! !
Port Adelaide today recorded their first ever win at the Shell
Stadium and their first win in Victoria since 2 July 1999 (Round
14) against Collingwood where they won by 1 point.
With three of the next five games interstate, it was an extra
special game for Geelong who were smarting from their last round
loss to the Kangaroos at their home ground. However as important
as this game may have been they were not able to control the
unbelievable form of this Port Adelaide side.
The first quarter was a tight scrappy game where not only the
players but also the men in white made many basic mistakes. Two
goals were disallowed to the Port Adelaide side, one from the
boot of Wanganeen which didn't appear to touch be touched by the
Geelong player on the line and one by Tredrea (second quarter)
which was called touched from 40 metres out but once again this
was too close to call and did not appear to deviate. No matter
the result though Port were soon to push on into the second
quarter.
After a tight first twelve minutes between the sides, Matthew
Primus soon gained ascendancy in the ruck, punching the ball
forward on many occasions to classy Port small players like
Schofield (5 goals, 30 possessions) and Dew (6 goals) who
finished the fine work with goals. This would continue on for
the second and third quarters with Port finishing with eights
goals in each quarter, Geelong were left shell shocked.
Early into the last quarter Port Adelaide continued to stamp
their authority onto the game, pushing the lead out to eighty
points. At this point with the game well won, Port Adelaide
started to use their bench, resting many of their more classy
players before next week's game against the Western Bulldogs and
were outscored seven goals to four.
Probably for the first time this year, Port Adelaide's talls in
Tredrea and Cornes were able to stand up and play a good game.
Tredrea finished with four goals and Cornes who may have only
finished with one goal but was able to take fifteen marks making
him the best tall man on the ground.
Next week Geelong go to the Gabba to play Brisbane which should
be a tough game particularly when Geelong are not noted for
winning interstate. Coach Mark Thompson may have a couple of
worries at the tribunal this week as well. The report of
Scarlett for striking Ackland and the possibility of a report
against Hocking for kicking Paxman in the head after being felled
should make an interesting week.
Perhaps before Mark Thompson bags the umpires about their
decisions on the ground he should actually get his players to
play for the ball and not the man. Port were able to gain 63
more possessions throughout the game and I think it is fair to
say if you have more of the ball you should expect more free
kicks not the other way around.
Port Adelaide 3.4 11.5 19.10 23.10 (148)
Geelong 3.5 6.7 8.8 15.12 (102)
Best - Port: Schofield, Dew, Primus, Carr, Montgomery, Wilson,
Tredrea, Cornes, Francou; Geelong: Murphy, Milburn, King; Goals
- Port: Dew 6, Schofield 5, Tredrea 4, Wanganeen, Cockatoo-
Collins 2, Cornes, Wilson, Carr, Guerra 1; Geelong: Murphy 3,
Hocking, Burns, Graham 2, Clarke, Harley, Mensch, Bizzell, Mooney
1;
Scott's Tips
Round 5 - 7/8
Total - 27/40
- Scott http://www.afltips.com/people/scott.html
**********
Melbourne v. Sydney
Sunday, 29 April 2001 - MCG 2:10 PM
Weather: fine and sunny. Top 19.
Melbourne 4.3 10.7 13.9 18.11 119
Sydney 5.4 6.9 10.12 15.14 104
Melbourne : goals: Neitz 6, Robertson 4, farmer 3, yze 2,
wheatley 2, Schwarz.
Best: Neitz, Schwarz, Robertson, Febey, Yze
Sydney: Goals: Goodes 2, Stevens 2, Nicks 2, Ball, Ahmat,
Mcpherson, Bolton, Maxfield, Williams, O'Loughlin, Cresswell,
Kirk.
Best:Nicks, Crouch, Schwass, Goodes,
In front of a reasonable crowd of some 31,000 fans, Melbourne
claimed valuable four valuable premiership points with a gutsy
and inspired performance against the swans after being swamped
halfway through the last quarter and appearing gone.
The match took place in perfect conditions for a change.
Melbourne turned on a fine and mild day, perfect for high scoring
football and that's how things turned out. After a fairly even
first quarter in which David Neitz kicked four of Melbourne 5
goals, Melbourne appeared to take complete control of this
contest. They kicked a dominant 6 goals to 1 for the quarter, 3
from the mercurial Jeff Farmer, before he left the ground with a
hamstring injury. Melbourne went into the half time break
leading comfortably by 22 points and seemed in complete control
of the contest.
After a relatively even third quarter nothing would have changed
the view that Melbourne would come away from this game with
nothing but a relatively comfortable victory. To this stage the
contest would have to be described as fairly scrappy with plenty
of mistakes made by both side and to the neutral supporter a
relatively uninteresting contest. But as we know football is a
funny game and thank god for that.
The last quarter began with Joseph Gutnick playing politics and
sitting with the Melbourne supporters for the whole last quarter,
he probably brought the largest cheer of the day when he sat with
the cheer squad.
In what was a seesawing last quarter, Melbourne scored the first
goal and appeared headed for a comfortable victory. From this
point the momentum was completely with the swans as they reeled
off five unanswered goals to lead by 9 points midway thru and the
demons appeared gone...
Enter Russell Robertson, who to this point had been very well
held. He kicked 4 goals for the quarter to single handedly pull
off a remarkable victory to the demons... This included a patch
of 3 in about 3 minutes, a couple from absolute sceamers. By the
time David Neitz had kicked his 6th for the game the contest was
as good as over in a contest that ended up an absolute
thriller...
For the losers, they can take little solace from the fact that
they had at least put in a competitive effort after losing their
main ruckman, Stafford who pulled out before the game with an
injury and their replacement Feast who played throughout with an
injured a/c joint.
For the winners though they can take great heart and use this 15-
point victory as a springboard to the rest of their season.
- Andrew Teres http://www.afltips.com/people/andrewteres.html
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ENDS
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[This message has been edited by Bluey (edited 30 April 2001).]
