AFL Round 7 Part 1
A bit of housekeeping, our E-mail server exploded last weekend meaning
that a few of you mightn't have received last week's review, and if you
tried to mail me between last Friday and Monday midnight, I didn't get
it. Please mail again if you feel the need. Also, I'm away for the
remainder of the week and mightn't have the rest of round 7 available
'til Friday. See how we go.
The troubled Colonial Stadium was the subject of a 'summit' last
Wednesday with the AFL, the management and reps from Essendon, the
Bulldogs and St. Kilda queuing up to give Ticketmaster a good kicking.
It had the effect of actually making things worse come this long Easter
weekend. One Saints fan's tale was typical. Twenty minutes of muzak on
the phone waiting for a Ticketmaster rep. A very brief conversation with
a stressed-out wage slave, a five-dollar booking fee. Forty minutes
queuing at the ground to collect the ticket, at 26 bucks. And they
wonder why people won't go.
Four as yet un-named West Coast Eagles are to be interviewed by police
inquiring into a sexual assault at a party in Perth. The club promised
full co-operation.
At the MCG:
Hawthorn 4.4 9.5 13.8 19.9.123
Footscray 1.2 6.5 10.5 14.8.92
Back home and back to full strength, the Hawks accounted for the
Bulldogs who are now officially struggling with three consecutive
losses. They were badly exposed in the key positions here, Hork
spearhead Thompson thrashing Hunter while the Dog forwards took 4 marks
between them for the day. Given a decent run with injury, Hawthorn may
be able to fulfil some of the promise shown last year. Going in the
Hawks were much strengthened with the returns of Nick Holland, Jon Hay,
Tony Woods and Craig Treleven for his first game of the season. Lord
missed with a hammy, Collica, McPharlin and Joel Smith were dropped. The
Dogs made five initial changes and weren't helped by the late
withdrawals of ruckman Scott Wynd and speedy Paul Dimattina. Also
missing were Kretiuk (foot), Kolyniuk, Mahoney and Robbins all dropped.
Coming in were defenders Matthew Croft and Matthew Dent, forward Paul
Hudson and youngsters Mark Alvey and Christian Macri. Nuggety Hawthorn
rover Anthony Rock played his 200th game, most of which were with North.
Footy's capacity for flattering to deceive did that early as Bulldog
Grant marked and centered the ball for leading Southern to chest-mark
and boot the first goal. But the Hawks booted the next four, two of
which came from Bulldog errors. Smith's attempt to switch play went
straight to Thompson for his first goal, Crawford received a free kick
and gol courtesy Dent. Dixon booted a couple and the Hawks were on their
way. An even second term followed as Grant fired, kicking two excellent
goals, running majors from Johnson and Eagleton got them in the game.
But the Hawks answered every challenge to maintain their 3-goal lead at
the long break. A similar story for the third stanza, but it was the way
the teams scored. Hawthorn had Nathan Thompson boot all four of their
goals as he ripped a string of marks from the air, at one stage sending
the Horks 37 points clear. In contrast the Dogs had to work overtime
around packs and chipping it short to come back late, Hay putting Grant
outta business and Bartlett providing more evidence that his 5 goals
against Carlton might've been a fluke. He only played because of Wynd's
withdrawal. Johnson was switched to full forward again and he booted
some late goals to give 'em a chance, more sausages from last-quarter
specialist Paul Hudson narrowed the margin to 8 points midway through
that term. But Ben Dixon soared for a big grab and goal to steady to
Horkers, later Thompson iced the cake.
Big game for Thompson after being injured against Brisbane, he kicked 6
goals from 7 marks at the spearhead. Dixon proved a handy foil with 4
goals from 12 kicks, Holland ventured upfield for 20 touches, 8 marks
and a goal. Hay's 18 disposals were handy but more importantly he kept
Grant to 2 goals and 2 marks at CHB, Mark Graham was very effective with
17 kicks alongside him. Rawlings continued his good form of last week
with 16 kicks and 10 marks in a back pocket, in the middle McCabe (19
disposals, a goal) played well. Salmon dropped back to great effect and
it was a better game for Crawf with 16 possies and 3 goals against
Liberatore. Dogs' best was the classy Brad Johnson with 26 disposals and
3 goals. Gutsy small defender Adam Contessa had 23 disposals (15
handballs) and kicked a goal. Darcy, forced to ruck all day in Wynd's
absence, did well with 22 disposals, 31 hitouts and a goal. On the ball
the terrific Scott West (28 touches) drove the Dogs on all day, plenty
of touches too for Smith (31) and Romero (29). Lots of footy for the
Pups. Just no-one to kick goals. Grant and Hudson finished with 2 each.
"I thought we probably won the struggle around the ball more
regularly...it was just when they went into their end they looked likely
and when we went into our end we just didn't look likely. It's the
quality of your key position players that win games of football," was
Wallace's summation. Schwab urged consistency. "We have got to do that
every week. We just can't produce it when we've lost or been under
pressure. We have got to be a consistent footy side."
At the SCG:
Sydney 2.3 8.6 12.7 15.9.99
Geelong 3.3 7.3 15.3 17.6.108
Every Swan game resembles Groundhog Day at the minute. Not only did they
lose at home for the fourth week in a row, again by under 2 goals, but
the pattern of the game - even first quarter, breakaway in the second,
overrun in the third, ultimately futile comeback in the last - was
depressingly familiar. And it was deja vu for the Cats as well. They won
again, with an even, honest performance. This made it three from three
interstate, too. Should've been the easist to tip in the round. In
selection the Swans lost Brad Seymour, suspended 2 weeks for charging
Dragicevic last week (it was he, not Nicks as I said. Apologies).
Allison and Bennett were axed, incoming were Jasons Ball and Saddington
after injury and Brett Kirk. Geelong had Burns back from suspension,
ex-Swan Arnott made way. He was an Ayres regular, but on the outer in
Bomber's plan. Cat centreman Glen 'Oysters' Kilpatrick played his 100th.
Ball celebrated his return with 2 early goals against Graham, one from a
mark and the other when he trapped Harley hopelessly in possession. But
the Cats were industrious and got goals from Clarke, Kilpatrick and
teenage forward O'Brien. Goals were swapped in the early second term,
from the opening centre bounce - an important part of this game -
Geelong went forward for Bizzell to clutch a strong grab and goal.
Goodes replied in similar fashion for Siddey. Riccardi exchanged passes
with Houlihan and dobbed one for Geelong, Leo Barry roved a pack to snap
one for the Bloods. Then came Sydney's best spell as their midfield did
well, Ball postered from distance but then marked Cresswell's wobbly
kick closer in and six-pointered, putting Sydernee 2 points ahead.
Goodes held a nice mark and kicked his second, Schwass golled and it
were Swans by 15. Riccardi snapped a great goal after roving a throw-in
for Geelong, but the busy Jon Stevens restored the 15-point gap. Former
Swan Jason Mooney, vigorously booed by the locals, majored from a good
mark just before the main break.
Centre-square dominance helped the Cats to win the third quarter, King,
Clarke and Spriggs the prime movers. Sanderson was also very good across
half-back. However the Swans won the half-opening bounce, Ball marked
and received a 50m penalty when ridden to earth by Graham. A goal and
15-point Swan lead again. Cats Sholl and Clarke combined to find Mooney
on the lead, he punted it back to 9 points. From the next centre bounce
Stafford tapped perfectly for Cresswell to run clear and drop-punt the
archetypal SCG goal. But it was all Jeelong from there. Rahilly's quick
snap crawled over the line, Kilpatrick punted long for an excellent mark
and goal to Bizzell, Clarke sped away from Stafford and floated a
mongrel punt through. Geelong by 3 points. Houlihan displayed balletic
poise to mark Burns's miskick in his stride and kick perfectly for
Mooney, Cats by 9. Swans managed a goal on the rebound, Schwass marking
50m out and passing to Filandia who dobbed it. On went the Geelers
though, Mensch marked Kilpatrick's kick and converted, Hocking roved a
pack and slotted an excellent kick from 40m on the boundary. A tough
passage of play followed before Riccardi found King and he blasted it
through, Cats by 21 points. Schwass kicked the first behind of the
quarter before teammate Fitzgerald marked and goaled on the siren.
Sydney also got the first goal of the last quarter, Cresswell roving
after Fitzgerald spilled a mark. Geelong's lead was 8 points and Nicks
cut it to 3 after spearing Goodes's tap-on between the big posts. The
crowd were roaring, McAvaney excited at last. Geelong got a crucial
break when little Danny O'Brien was awarded a fanstastic mark in the
goalsquare, running with the flight of the ball and straight at a Swan.
He didn't control it down to the ground but it was paid, much to the
anger of your Swan folk. Goal and the Cats were 9 points up again. The
ball lobbed between the half-back lines for some time before Stoneham
marked a kick-in and dished off for Kilpatrick to snap truly, that
pretty much sealed it. The familiar Eulogy for The Swans from the Seven
folk commenced, a late mark and goal for impressive Swan Jude Bolton the
last scoring act.
Nice contributions all over the field for the Cats. In the centre speedy
David Clarke (24 disposals) won several clearances and also kicked 2
goals. Reliable Kilpatrick bobbed up for 23 disposals and 2 goals, ol'
Buddha Hocking battled 'round packs for 32 touches and a goal. Brenton
Sanderson swallowed wayward Swan thrusts for 18 touches, fellow backman
Graham did well in the second half after early trouble from Ball. The
skill of Houlihan (13 handlings) was important again and King nullified
Stafford as a force. Again the forwards did their bit, Mooney kicked 3
goals from 8 kicks, Bizzell, O'Brien and Riccardi punted 2 goals each.
The only downside was Paul Lynch doing a hammy yet again, he'll miss a
month. Swans' best was the hard-working Mick O'Loughlin, recovered from
last week he had 22 disposals with 11 marks, no goals though. Schwass
was better also but about 20 of his 32 touches were ineffective (at
best), he also kicked a goal. Stevens (22 handlings, a goal) played well
on a forward flank and Jason Ball was a handful for the Cats with 4
first-half goals from 6 marks. Luff (18 disposals, 7 marks) and Schauble
(21) played decent games in defence. Bolton is a real goer, he had 17
touches and kicked a goal after starting on the bench. Goodes and
Creswell kicked 2 goals each. "We've just got to win one of these tight
ones and the super confidence will re-emerge," said Eade. "We'll work on
the errors, maybe find players who won't make as many errors and keep
perservering." No quote from Bomber, but as former North flanker Leo
Tolstoy said, all happy coaches are the same.
At Colonial:
St. Kilda 4.3 9.5 12.5 18.9.117
North Melbourne 4.3 9.7 16.11 19.15.129
An improved performance from the Saints, but still no win. The Roos are
now going nicely after a slow start, five consecutive wins with some new
faces bolstering the team. St. Kilda lost Rob Harvey in selection with a
groin strain, Mitchell and Monkhorst were dropped and Plapp was a late
pullout. Replacements were full forward Jason Heatley for his first game
of the year after 8 goals in the VFL last week, Andy Thompson back from
injury and reprieved pair Barry Hall and Tim Elliott. North had McKernan
and Motlop back after injury, they replaced dropped Calthorpe and Glen
Archer who copped a 4-week suspension for biffing Magpie Watson last
week. Archer was also fined a heavy 20 grand by his own club for the
indiscretion. Makes you wonder about the $2000 fines the AFL tribunal
hands out.
The AFL's Colonial summit appeared to have achieved nothing as long
queues snaked away from the gates after the match started, despite a
modest crowd of 26,000. Jackson blamed the people for turning up too
late. North started Carey at CHB again and he played there all night.
Pagan looking forward to the Essendon game already, perhaps. Barry Hall
lined up on Carey, gave him some curry, gave away two early frees but
also kicked a goal as the Saints steamed out with four of the first five
majors. Everitt also started in the backline, but didn't stay long and
when he flipped the ball to a running Hudghton to slot one, the excited
Stains led by 18 points. The Kangas punted the next 7 goals as Carey
collected a bundle of touches at the back, McKernan and Harvey were very
good in the middle. The first three majors of the Roo run were all
blasted from outside 50m, an easy thing to do at the enclosed Colonial.
Blakey bagged two and the other came from Abraham. After quarter-time
McKernan dobbed the first one, Pickett weaved away from tacklers to
spear a great goal and Lange booted a long shot from a mark. Bell
cleared the restart and Lange marked and converted again, Roos by 25
points. Watson moved the ineffective Hall to defence and Elliott onto
Carey. Heatley had started on the bench and he made up for lost time
with 2 quick goals from leads, Everitt and Burke with the passes. A
rapid Delaney goal followed, Chad Davis missed but Thompson majored from
the kick-in and it was Roos by just a point. The conflagrating Saints
had Thompson race away from the next centre bounce and find Heatley
again, but he missed and it was level. Heatley had a hand in the next
Saint goal, handpassing for Fred Campbell to run on and thump 'em into a
6-point lead. Brent Harvey did very well to break the run, setting up
Lange for his third goal of the quarter. The half-time siren rang
milliseconds before the ball flopped into Heatley's arms. When you're
down...
A series of Stakilda errors handed Norf the initiative to start the
second half. Hall's terrible pass was swallowed and sent between the big
posts by McKernan. Lange missed but Peckett's kick-in went straight to
Martin Pike, the excellent Harvey (Brent, remember) whipetted away from
the restart and punted another sausage. Roos by 23 which became 29 when
Hall donged McCartney before the ball could be bounced again, the
plodding Kanga converted the free. Hall was benched to much jeering, a
fair proportion from Saint supporters. Burke handpassed for Heatley to
boot a goal, but Sierakowski crushed Grant in a terrible tackle and
there was another Roo major. Goals were swapped 'til the end of the
quarter but the Sydneyroos were still 5 goals up by the last rest. They
appeared to cruising in the last term, Abraham and McKernan twice
putting them 6 goals up. But the Saints mounted one last effort by
booting the last 5 goals of the game, Heatley with two of those, Loewe
another. Thompson's snap cut the Roo lead to 17 points with 8 minutes
left, a bit later Lenny Hayes had a shot touched through by Martyn. The
Kangas repelled professionally before Burke marked and kicked a great
goal from the pocket, but it was all too late.
As intimated Norf's hard-running small man Brent Harvey was outstanding
in the centre, driving the Roos forward with 31 kicks plus 10 handpasses
for a staggering 41 disposals. Also kicked 2 goals. Fellow midfielder
Adam Simpson had 20 disposals in a handy game and Peter Bell had 31
touches. Carey survived early ruffling from Hall for 28 touches and 14
marks across half-back, he was very good there. Corey McKernan spent
most of the game in the forward line for 9 marks and 3 goals as Burton
did most of the rucking. Adam Lange was useful with 3 goals from 5
kicks. Byron Pickett was excellent in the backline and 300-gamer John
Blakey was important early with 16 touches and 2 goals. Grant, Pike and
Abraham kicked 2 goals each. Saint ruckman Everitt, who spent most of
the game in that position once Heatley came on, played very well and
Burke again toiled at length for 30 dusposals and a goal. Midfielders
Delaney (26 touches, a goal) and Thompson (33 touches, 3 goals) played
well. Heatley kicked 6 goals from 12 kicks and Traianidis was good with
25 disposals and a goal. Watson benched Traianidis at one point. Hmm.
Defender Young (27 handlings) played alright. No coach's quotes in
today's paper, unfortunately.
At Football Park:
Port Adelaide 6.3 10.8 12.10 13.13.91
Adelaide 4.1 6.3 8.9 14.14.98
Showdown...um...I've lost count, was widely interpreted as The End for
the loser. The Camrys rattled home as the Power tired badly. Shoorly
nothing to do with Williams flogging Port mercilessly on the track after
the thrashing from Carlton last week, injuring Schofield and Murray in
the process. Williams also suggested the players shouldn't be paid after
their Princes Park efforts. More hysteria from Port folk unfamiliar with
life in The Big League. Nevertheless Port did play their best footy for
a while, the Cows' second win on the trot keeps them alive. Port
discarded Dew to join Schofield and Murray. They were replaced by Roger
James, Donald Dickie and Josh Francou both back from injury. The Camrys
lost ruckman Clarke with an ankle injury and dropped Gallagher, but they
had Kane Johnson back from the disabled list and called up young giant
Ben Marsh.
A close and entertaining start. Port's Kingsley kicked the first goal,
on the run, a mongrel punt shepherded through by French. They had
another before Ricciuto kicked the Camry's first two, the second after
roving a goalsquare pack and barging through Kingsley. French led for a
good grab and passed for Lyle to kick a goal, Port by 7 points. Port's
Chad Cornes had a clear goal disallowed for hitting the post by an
unsighted goal ump, at the other end Jarman's miskick took a flukey
bounce over Poulton to sit up for an easy goal to Beinke. Accursed
Camrys. From the centre bounce McLeod raced clear, his punt to the
goalsquare pack was roved and soccered through by Edwards, Corollas by 4
points. But the fired-up Power booted the next three goals, Harwood,
Montgomery from a doubtful free kick and good pressure from the Port
forwards saw a Crow clearing kick go straight to Wilson, he dobbed it.
Power by 14 points. Crow rookie Doughty missed a shot, got whacked
afterwards, had another shot and missed again. Pooer's Tredrea missed a
shot on the quarter-time siren. Didn't see much of the next two
quarters, but Port moved ahead with Francou, Burgoyne, Nick Stevens and
Lyle running (at last) the Camrys ragged. Primus pushed forward for a
few goals, the defence held firm with Mead in good form. Midway through
the third quarter the Power led by 42 points and seemed home.
But their big week started to catch up, Ayres actually Did Something and
Ricciuto played a blinder. Marsh came on to block up the backline,
Johnson lifted on a wing and McLeod did better. Vardy snapped a goal
late in the third which narrowed the gap to 25 points. Port got an early
goal in the last, but back came the Crows as Francou and Burgoyne slowed
to a walk. Vardy thumped a huge wind-assisted kick, cutting Port's lead
to 21 points. Vardy's third goal, a snap off the pack from 20m, made it
14. Ricciuto, swallowing every Port clearance, slotted on the run and it
was a straight kick the diff. A rushed Cressida point, Lyle spilled the
kick-in but Vardy couldn't make him pay, 4 points to the Flowers.
Ricciuto roved another Port kick-in and scored with a great snap, the
Crows led by 2 points. Port hadn't been into attack for 15 minutes but
they had a great chance when James picked out Harwood on the lead. He
missed. Behinds were swapped before McLeod twisted out of two tackles to
snap a fantastic goal and seal it for the visitors.
The Age man, clearly a big Crows supporter, goes into rapture over Mark
Ricciuto's game. But he was very good, with 38 disposals (12 in the last
quarter) and 4 goals. Andy McLeod had 25 disposals and his game-sealing
goal, small forward Edwards was handy with 21 touches and a goal.
Captain Mark Bickley was very good, 21 handlings but he threw himself
into packs time and again to win the hard ball. Nigel Smart played well
on the wing and Matty Robran had an excellent second half once moved to
CHB, finishing with 20 touches and 7 marks. Vardy's 3 goals came at an
important time and Beinke kicked 2 goals. Port's best were early runners
Francou (21 disposals), lithe and skilful Burgoyne (19, a goal) and the
tough winger Nick Stevens (23, a goal). Brayden Lyle had 27 touches
cruisng between the half-back lines and also kicked a goal. Wilson did a
good job on Jarman and kicked a goal himself, Paxman held Welsh to one
goal. Fabian Francis was handy with 15 touches. James and Primus kicked
2 goals each. They ran outta legs. Williams conceded the season, it
seemed. "Ricciuto almost single-handedly won the game. At half-time we
should have been seven or eight goals up. And even in the first ten
minutes of the third quarter...a few things went their way and they won.
But the fact we played competitive football was great...if we can keep
it up for four quarters, we'll beat a lot of teams." Ayres said
"Ricciuto was first-class...he really ignited the way we ended up going
into that last quarter. Now we've all got to apply ourselves for four
quarters." Saints away next could see 'em win three on the trot.
At Colonial:
Melbourne 4.6 8.8 14.13 20.18.138
West Coast 3.2 7.3 9.3 12.5.77
Big win for the Dees over the schizo-Eagles, Melbourne slaughtering the
Eegs in the centre. Perhaps if the Demons wore dresses the Eagles
would've gone in harder. West Coast were also Jeffed, the Wizard Farmer
going bezerk. Melbourne made one late change to last week's losing side,
Paul Wheatley replacing Seecamp. West Coast were without midfielder
Banfield (knee) and goalsneak Phil Matera (thigh), rookie Glass was
dropped. In came Jaxon Crabb, Andrew Williams and a debutant, lanky
20-year-old defender Scott Bennett from East Fremantle.
More entry problems at Colonial with Melbourne threatening to sue after
8,000 people were still waiting to get in after the game started. Many
didn't bother. Collins admitted a mea culpa, saying they didn't have a
strategy in place for smallish crowds with a large proportion of walk-up
patrons. Only a quarter of the ticket booths were open yesterday.
Anyway, Melbourne fired outta the blocks. Farmer, opposed by Wirrpunda,
kicked the first goal and Russ Robertson bagged a couple, Powell kicked
a nice goal too as he, Rigoni and Yze were very busy. Missed shots
looked a little costly with some late Eagle goals, two from Cummings
although big Scotty also missed a pair of easy ones. The Farmer Show
moved onto its main act in the second quarter, Wiz with the first goal,
great roving and a speared shot. Peter Matera golled for West Coast,
then Demon Robertson threw the ball to Beams, he hit Farmer on the lead
to punt Melbourne 18 points up. Farmer then ran down Wirrpunda, a very
rare sight, before Wheatley punted to the goalsquare where Farmer marked
after shoving Wirrpunda meatily in the back. No free and another goal
for the little Dee. Melbourne by 24. Morrison's tumbling kick was
fortuitously marked by Gehrig for an Eegull sausage, but Demon Walsh
roved a pack to snap the lead back to 4 goals. Two late Wiggle majors,
not shown by the TV, narrowed the margin at half time.
Melbourne's midfield, led by ruckman White and his on-ball minions,
ended it in the third. Yze found Leoncelli who goaled from 50m, from the
restart Yze cleared and passed to leading Farmer, again, Fuchsias by 26
points. Peter Matera snapped a six-pointer but from the restart
Melbourne cleared, Powell roved and handpassed for Green's goal. Farmer
out-spectaculared himself for the next goal, staying down at a pack to
half-volley-soccer it through from 25m. Arsey, unprofessional but
brilliant. Wheatley centered the ball for Powell to mark and convert,
Wheatley dobbed one himself from a mark and the Demons were 44 points
up. That was it and the Demons added percentage in the last quarter,
Cameron Bruce coming off the bench to kick 3 goals and Schwarz got
involved. West Coast thought about Easter Eggs.
Jeff Farmer, apparently a bit unfit early in the year, booted 7 goals
from 20 possessions. White dominated the rucks with 26 disposals and 11
marks, 23 hitouts. On the back of his efforts Yze (21 disposals),
Leoncelli (30, a goal) and Powell (26, 2 goals) enjoyed their days.
Honest running defender Peter Walsh was very good with 24 touches and a
goal, Neitz was very good on Cummings after the latter's promising
start, ending with 13 kicks and 10 marks. Rigoni had 30 disposals and
Robertson played well early for 13 kicks and 2 goals. Bruce kicked the 3
goals. For the Eagles Jakovich forced Schwarz to the bench and had 22
disposals himself, Fraser Gehrig added life in attack with 21 touches,
10 marks and 3 goals. Cousins was their only midfielder to get a regular
touch, 26 of them, and Rowan Jones produced a good tagging game on Demon
leader Woewodin. Ruckman Gardiner kicked 3 goals, Cummings and Matera
ended with 2 each. Judge said "It's a worry, I said when I took over at
this club, the club was at the crossroads. I'm not sure where we are
going, I'm not sure where we are at. A lot of people hang onto past
glories..." Daniher reckoned "I really rate the West Coast and our young
blokes are playing against the Kemps, the Jakovichs, Materas and
McIntoshes and these sorts of boys and it was a credit to them that they
mixed it with those players."
Cheers, Tim
e-mail: t.murphy@rmit.edu.au
A bit of housekeeping, our E-mail server exploded last weekend meaning
that a few of you mightn't have received last week's review, and if you
tried to mail me between last Friday and Monday midnight, I didn't get
it. Please mail again if you feel the need. Also, I'm away for the
remainder of the week and mightn't have the rest of round 7 available
'til Friday. See how we go.
The troubled Colonial Stadium was the subject of a 'summit' last
Wednesday with the AFL, the management and reps from Essendon, the
Bulldogs and St. Kilda queuing up to give Ticketmaster a good kicking.
It had the effect of actually making things worse come this long Easter
weekend. One Saints fan's tale was typical. Twenty minutes of muzak on
the phone waiting for a Ticketmaster rep. A very brief conversation with
a stressed-out wage slave, a five-dollar booking fee. Forty minutes
queuing at the ground to collect the ticket, at 26 bucks. And they
wonder why people won't go.
Four as yet un-named West Coast Eagles are to be interviewed by police
inquiring into a sexual assault at a party in Perth. The club promised
full co-operation.
At the MCG:
Hawthorn 4.4 9.5 13.8 19.9.123
Footscray 1.2 6.5 10.5 14.8.92
Back home and back to full strength, the Hawks accounted for the
Bulldogs who are now officially struggling with three consecutive
losses. They were badly exposed in the key positions here, Hork
spearhead Thompson thrashing Hunter while the Dog forwards took 4 marks
between them for the day. Given a decent run with injury, Hawthorn may
be able to fulfil some of the promise shown last year. Going in the
Hawks were much strengthened with the returns of Nick Holland, Jon Hay,
Tony Woods and Craig Treleven for his first game of the season. Lord
missed with a hammy, Collica, McPharlin and Joel Smith were dropped. The
Dogs made five initial changes and weren't helped by the late
withdrawals of ruckman Scott Wynd and speedy Paul Dimattina. Also
missing were Kretiuk (foot), Kolyniuk, Mahoney and Robbins all dropped.
Coming in were defenders Matthew Croft and Matthew Dent, forward Paul
Hudson and youngsters Mark Alvey and Christian Macri. Nuggety Hawthorn
rover Anthony Rock played his 200th game, most of which were with North.
Footy's capacity for flattering to deceive did that early as Bulldog
Grant marked and centered the ball for leading Southern to chest-mark
and boot the first goal. But the Hawks booted the next four, two of
which came from Bulldog errors. Smith's attempt to switch play went
straight to Thompson for his first goal, Crawford received a free kick
and gol courtesy Dent. Dixon booted a couple and the Hawks were on their
way. An even second term followed as Grant fired, kicking two excellent
goals, running majors from Johnson and Eagleton got them in the game.
But the Hawks answered every challenge to maintain their 3-goal lead at
the long break. A similar story for the third stanza, but it was the way
the teams scored. Hawthorn had Nathan Thompson boot all four of their
goals as he ripped a string of marks from the air, at one stage sending
the Horks 37 points clear. In contrast the Dogs had to work overtime
around packs and chipping it short to come back late, Hay putting Grant
outta business and Bartlett providing more evidence that his 5 goals
against Carlton might've been a fluke. He only played because of Wynd's
withdrawal. Johnson was switched to full forward again and he booted
some late goals to give 'em a chance, more sausages from last-quarter
specialist Paul Hudson narrowed the margin to 8 points midway through
that term. But Ben Dixon soared for a big grab and goal to steady to
Horkers, later Thompson iced the cake.
Big game for Thompson after being injured against Brisbane, he kicked 6
goals from 7 marks at the spearhead. Dixon proved a handy foil with 4
goals from 12 kicks, Holland ventured upfield for 20 touches, 8 marks
and a goal. Hay's 18 disposals were handy but more importantly he kept
Grant to 2 goals and 2 marks at CHB, Mark Graham was very effective with
17 kicks alongside him. Rawlings continued his good form of last week
with 16 kicks and 10 marks in a back pocket, in the middle McCabe (19
disposals, a goal) played well. Salmon dropped back to great effect and
it was a better game for Crawf with 16 possies and 3 goals against
Liberatore. Dogs' best was the classy Brad Johnson with 26 disposals and
3 goals. Gutsy small defender Adam Contessa had 23 disposals (15
handballs) and kicked a goal. Darcy, forced to ruck all day in Wynd's
absence, did well with 22 disposals, 31 hitouts and a goal. On the ball
the terrific Scott West (28 touches) drove the Dogs on all day, plenty
of touches too for Smith (31) and Romero (29). Lots of footy for the
Pups. Just no-one to kick goals. Grant and Hudson finished with 2 each.
"I thought we probably won the struggle around the ball more
regularly...it was just when they went into their end they looked likely
and when we went into our end we just didn't look likely. It's the
quality of your key position players that win games of football," was
Wallace's summation. Schwab urged consistency. "We have got to do that
every week. We just can't produce it when we've lost or been under
pressure. We have got to be a consistent footy side."
At the SCG:
Sydney 2.3 8.6 12.7 15.9.99
Geelong 3.3 7.3 15.3 17.6.108
Every Swan game resembles Groundhog Day at the minute. Not only did they
lose at home for the fourth week in a row, again by under 2 goals, but
the pattern of the game - even first quarter, breakaway in the second,
overrun in the third, ultimately futile comeback in the last - was
depressingly familiar. And it was deja vu for the Cats as well. They won
again, with an even, honest performance. This made it three from three
interstate, too. Should've been the easist to tip in the round. In
selection the Swans lost Brad Seymour, suspended 2 weeks for charging
Dragicevic last week (it was he, not Nicks as I said. Apologies).
Allison and Bennett were axed, incoming were Jasons Ball and Saddington
after injury and Brett Kirk. Geelong had Burns back from suspension,
ex-Swan Arnott made way. He was an Ayres regular, but on the outer in
Bomber's plan. Cat centreman Glen 'Oysters' Kilpatrick played his 100th.
Ball celebrated his return with 2 early goals against Graham, one from a
mark and the other when he trapped Harley hopelessly in possession. But
the Cats were industrious and got goals from Clarke, Kilpatrick and
teenage forward O'Brien. Goals were swapped in the early second term,
from the opening centre bounce - an important part of this game -
Geelong went forward for Bizzell to clutch a strong grab and goal.
Goodes replied in similar fashion for Siddey. Riccardi exchanged passes
with Houlihan and dobbed one for Geelong, Leo Barry roved a pack to snap
one for the Bloods. Then came Sydney's best spell as their midfield did
well, Ball postered from distance but then marked Cresswell's wobbly
kick closer in and six-pointered, putting Sydernee 2 points ahead.
Goodes held a nice mark and kicked his second, Schwass golled and it
were Swans by 15. Riccardi snapped a great goal after roving a throw-in
for Geelong, but the busy Jon Stevens restored the 15-point gap. Former
Swan Jason Mooney, vigorously booed by the locals, majored from a good
mark just before the main break.
Centre-square dominance helped the Cats to win the third quarter, King,
Clarke and Spriggs the prime movers. Sanderson was also very good across
half-back. However the Swans won the half-opening bounce, Ball marked
and received a 50m penalty when ridden to earth by Graham. A goal and
15-point Swan lead again. Cats Sholl and Clarke combined to find Mooney
on the lead, he punted it back to 9 points. From the next centre bounce
Stafford tapped perfectly for Cresswell to run clear and drop-punt the
archetypal SCG goal. But it was all Jeelong from there. Rahilly's quick
snap crawled over the line, Kilpatrick punted long for an excellent mark
and goal to Bizzell, Clarke sped away from Stafford and floated a
mongrel punt through. Geelong by 3 points. Houlihan displayed balletic
poise to mark Burns's miskick in his stride and kick perfectly for
Mooney, Cats by 9. Swans managed a goal on the rebound, Schwass marking
50m out and passing to Filandia who dobbed it. On went the Geelers
though, Mensch marked Kilpatrick's kick and converted, Hocking roved a
pack and slotted an excellent kick from 40m on the boundary. A tough
passage of play followed before Riccardi found King and he blasted it
through, Cats by 21 points. Schwass kicked the first behind of the
quarter before teammate Fitzgerald marked and goaled on the siren.
Sydney also got the first goal of the last quarter, Cresswell roving
after Fitzgerald spilled a mark. Geelong's lead was 8 points and Nicks
cut it to 3 after spearing Goodes's tap-on between the big posts. The
crowd were roaring, McAvaney excited at last. Geelong got a crucial
break when little Danny O'Brien was awarded a fanstastic mark in the
goalsquare, running with the flight of the ball and straight at a Swan.
He didn't control it down to the ground but it was paid, much to the
anger of your Swan folk. Goal and the Cats were 9 points up again. The
ball lobbed between the half-back lines for some time before Stoneham
marked a kick-in and dished off for Kilpatrick to snap truly, that
pretty much sealed it. The familiar Eulogy for The Swans from the Seven
folk commenced, a late mark and goal for impressive Swan Jude Bolton the
last scoring act.
Nice contributions all over the field for the Cats. In the centre speedy
David Clarke (24 disposals) won several clearances and also kicked 2
goals. Reliable Kilpatrick bobbed up for 23 disposals and 2 goals, ol'
Buddha Hocking battled 'round packs for 32 touches and a goal. Brenton
Sanderson swallowed wayward Swan thrusts for 18 touches, fellow backman
Graham did well in the second half after early trouble from Ball. The
skill of Houlihan (13 handlings) was important again and King nullified
Stafford as a force. Again the forwards did their bit, Mooney kicked 3
goals from 8 kicks, Bizzell, O'Brien and Riccardi punted 2 goals each.
The only downside was Paul Lynch doing a hammy yet again, he'll miss a
month. Swans' best was the hard-working Mick O'Loughlin, recovered from
last week he had 22 disposals with 11 marks, no goals though. Schwass
was better also but about 20 of his 32 touches were ineffective (at
best), he also kicked a goal. Stevens (22 handlings, a goal) played well
on a forward flank and Jason Ball was a handful for the Cats with 4
first-half goals from 6 marks. Luff (18 disposals, 7 marks) and Schauble
(21) played decent games in defence. Bolton is a real goer, he had 17
touches and kicked a goal after starting on the bench. Goodes and
Creswell kicked 2 goals each. "We've just got to win one of these tight
ones and the super confidence will re-emerge," said Eade. "We'll work on
the errors, maybe find players who won't make as many errors and keep
perservering." No quote from Bomber, but as former North flanker Leo
Tolstoy said, all happy coaches are the same.
At Colonial:
St. Kilda 4.3 9.5 12.5 18.9.117
North Melbourne 4.3 9.7 16.11 19.15.129
An improved performance from the Saints, but still no win. The Roos are
now going nicely after a slow start, five consecutive wins with some new
faces bolstering the team. St. Kilda lost Rob Harvey in selection with a
groin strain, Mitchell and Monkhorst were dropped and Plapp was a late
pullout. Replacements were full forward Jason Heatley for his first game
of the year after 8 goals in the VFL last week, Andy Thompson back from
injury and reprieved pair Barry Hall and Tim Elliott. North had McKernan
and Motlop back after injury, they replaced dropped Calthorpe and Glen
Archer who copped a 4-week suspension for biffing Magpie Watson last
week. Archer was also fined a heavy 20 grand by his own club for the
indiscretion. Makes you wonder about the $2000 fines the AFL tribunal
hands out.
The AFL's Colonial summit appeared to have achieved nothing as long
queues snaked away from the gates after the match started, despite a
modest crowd of 26,000. Jackson blamed the people for turning up too
late. North started Carey at CHB again and he played there all night.
Pagan looking forward to the Essendon game already, perhaps. Barry Hall
lined up on Carey, gave him some curry, gave away two early frees but
also kicked a goal as the Saints steamed out with four of the first five
majors. Everitt also started in the backline, but didn't stay long and
when he flipped the ball to a running Hudghton to slot one, the excited
Stains led by 18 points. The Kangas punted the next 7 goals as Carey
collected a bundle of touches at the back, McKernan and Harvey were very
good in the middle. The first three majors of the Roo run were all
blasted from outside 50m, an easy thing to do at the enclosed Colonial.
Blakey bagged two and the other came from Abraham. After quarter-time
McKernan dobbed the first one, Pickett weaved away from tacklers to
spear a great goal and Lange booted a long shot from a mark. Bell
cleared the restart and Lange marked and converted again, Roos by 25
points. Watson moved the ineffective Hall to defence and Elliott onto
Carey. Heatley had started on the bench and he made up for lost time
with 2 quick goals from leads, Everitt and Burke with the passes. A
rapid Delaney goal followed, Chad Davis missed but Thompson majored from
the kick-in and it was Roos by just a point. The conflagrating Saints
had Thompson race away from the next centre bounce and find Heatley
again, but he missed and it was level. Heatley had a hand in the next
Saint goal, handpassing for Fred Campbell to run on and thump 'em into a
6-point lead. Brent Harvey did very well to break the run, setting up
Lange for his third goal of the quarter. The half-time siren rang
milliseconds before the ball flopped into Heatley's arms. When you're
down...
A series of Stakilda errors handed Norf the initiative to start the
second half. Hall's terrible pass was swallowed and sent between the big
posts by McKernan. Lange missed but Peckett's kick-in went straight to
Martin Pike, the excellent Harvey (Brent, remember) whipetted away from
the restart and punted another sausage. Roos by 23 which became 29 when
Hall donged McCartney before the ball could be bounced again, the
plodding Kanga converted the free. Hall was benched to much jeering, a
fair proportion from Saint supporters. Burke handpassed for Heatley to
boot a goal, but Sierakowski crushed Grant in a terrible tackle and
there was another Roo major. Goals were swapped 'til the end of the
quarter but the Sydneyroos were still 5 goals up by the last rest. They
appeared to cruising in the last term, Abraham and McKernan twice
putting them 6 goals up. But the Saints mounted one last effort by
booting the last 5 goals of the game, Heatley with two of those, Loewe
another. Thompson's snap cut the Roo lead to 17 points with 8 minutes
left, a bit later Lenny Hayes had a shot touched through by Martyn. The
Kangas repelled professionally before Burke marked and kicked a great
goal from the pocket, but it was all too late.
As intimated Norf's hard-running small man Brent Harvey was outstanding
in the centre, driving the Roos forward with 31 kicks plus 10 handpasses
for a staggering 41 disposals. Also kicked 2 goals. Fellow midfielder
Adam Simpson had 20 disposals in a handy game and Peter Bell had 31
touches. Carey survived early ruffling from Hall for 28 touches and 14
marks across half-back, he was very good there. Corey McKernan spent
most of the game in the forward line for 9 marks and 3 goals as Burton
did most of the rucking. Adam Lange was useful with 3 goals from 5
kicks. Byron Pickett was excellent in the backline and 300-gamer John
Blakey was important early with 16 touches and 2 goals. Grant, Pike and
Abraham kicked 2 goals each. Saint ruckman Everitt, who spent most of
the game in that position once Heatley came on, played very well and
Burke again toiled at length for 30 dusposals and a goal. Midfielders
Delaney (26 touches, a goal) and Thompson (33 touches, 3 goals) played
well. Heatley kicked 6 goals from 12 kicks and Traianidis was good with
25 disposals and a goal. Watson benched Traianidis at one point. Hmm.
Defender Young (27 handlings) played alright. No coach's quotes in
today's paper, unfortunately.
At Football Park:
Port Adelaide 6.3 10.8 12.10 13.13.91
Adelaide 4.1 6.3 8.9 14.14.98
Showdown...um...I've lost count, was widely interpreted as The End for
the loser. The Camrys rattled home as the Power tired badly. Shoorly
nothing to do with Williams flogging Port mercilessly on the track after
the thrashing from Carlton last week, injuring Schofield and Murray in
the process. Williams also suggested the players shouldn't be paid after
their Princes Park efforts. More hysteria from Port folk unfamiliar with
life in The Big League. Nevertheless Port did play their best footy for
a while, the Cows' second win on the trot keeps them alive. Port
discarded Dew to join Schofield and Murray. They were replaced by Roger
James, Donald Dickie and Josh Francou both back from injury. The Camrys
lost ruckman Clarke with an ankle injury and dropped Gallagher, but they
had Kane Johnson back from the disabled list and called up young giant
Ben Marsh.
A close and entertaining start. Port's Kingsley kicked the first goal,
on the run, a mongrel punt shepherded through by French. They had
another before Ricciuto kicked the Camry's first two, the second after
roving a goalsquare pack and barging through Kingsley. French led for a
good grab and passed for Lyle to kick a goal, Port by 7 points. Port's
Chad Cornes had a clear goal disallowed for hitting the post by an
unsighted goal ump, at the other end Jarman's miskick took a flukey
bounce over Poulton to sit up for an easy goal to Beinke. Accursed
Camrys. From the centre bounce McLeod raced clear, his punt to the
goalsquare pack was roved and soccered through by Edwards, Corollas by 4
points. But the fired-up Power booted the next three goals, Harwood,
Montgomery from a doubtful free kick and good pressure from the Port
forwards saw a Crow clearing kick go straight to Wilson, he dobbed it.
Power by 14 points. Crow rookie Doughty missed a shot, got whacked
afterwards, had another shot and missed again. Pooer's Tredrea missed a
shot on the quarter-time siren. Didn't see much of the next two
quarters, but Port moved ahead with Francou, Burgoyne, Nick Stevens and
Lyle running (at last) the Camrys ragged. Primus pushed forward for a
few goals, the defence held firm with Mead in good form. Midway through
the third quarter the Power led by 42 points and seemed home.
But their big week started to catch up, Ayres actually Did Something and
Ricciuto played a blinder. Marsh came on to block up the backline,
Johnson lifted on a wing and McLeod did better. Vardy snapped a goal
late in the third which narrowed the gap to 25 points. Port got an early
goal in the last, but back came the Crows as Francou and Burgoyne slowed
to a walk. Vardy thumped a huge wind-assisted kick, cutting Port's lead
to 21 points. Vardy's third goal, a snap off the pack from 20m, made it
14. Ricciuto, swallowing every Port clearance, slotted on the run and it
was a straight kick the diff. A rushed Cressida point, Lyle spilled the
kick-in but Vardy couldn't make him pay, 4 points to the Flowers.
Ricciuto roved another Port kick-in and scored with a great snap, the
Crows led by 2 points. Port hadn't been into attack for 15 minutes but
they had a great chance when James picked out Harwood on the lead. He
missed. Behinds were swapped before McLeod twisted out of two tackles to
snap a fantastic goal and seal it for the visitors.
The Age man, clearly a big Crows supporter, goes into rapture over Mark
Ricciuto's game. But he was very good, with 38 disposals (12 in the last
quarter) and 4 goals. Andy McLeod had 25 disposals and his game-sealing
goal, small forward Edwards was handy with 21 touches and a goal.
Captain Mark Bickley was very good, 21 handlings but he threw himself
into packs time and again to win the hard ball. Nigel Smart played well
on the wing and Matty Robran had an excellent second half once moved to
CHB, finishing with 20 touches and 7 marks. Vardy's 3 goals came at an
important time and Beinke kicked 2 goals. Port's best were early runners
Francou (21 disposals), lithe and skilful Burgoyne (19, a goal) and the
tough winger Nick Stevens (23, a goal). Brayden Lyle had 27 touches
cruisng between the half-back lines and also kicked a goal. Wilson did a
good job on Jarman and kicked a goal himself, Paxman held Welsh to one
goal. Fabian Francis was handy with 15 touches. James and Primus kicked
2 goals each. They ran outta legs. Williams conceded the season, it
seemed. "Ricciuto almost single-handedly won the game. At half-time we
should have been seven or eight goals up. And even in the first ten
minutes of the third quarter...a few things went their way and they won.
But the fact we played competitive football was great...if we can keep
it up for four quarters, we'll beat a lot of teams." Ayres said
"Ricciuto was first-class...he really ignited the way we ended up going
into that last quarter. Now we've all got to apply ourselves for four
quarters." Saints away next could see 'em win three on the trot.
At Colonial:
Melbourne 4.6 8.8 14.13 20.18.138
West Coast 3.2 7.3 9.3 12.5.77
Big win for the Dees over the schizo-Eagles, Melbourne slaughtering the
Eegs in the centre. Perhaps if the Demons wore dresses the Eagles
would've gone in harder. West Coast were also Jeffed, the Wizard Farmer
going bezerk. Melbourne made one late change to last week's losing side,
Paul Wheatley replacing Seecamp. West Coast were without midfielder
Banfield (knee) and goalsneak Phil Matera (thigh), rookie Glass was
dropped. In came Jaxon Crabb, Andrew Williams and a debutant, lanky
20-year-old defender Scott Bennett from East Fremantle.
More entry problems at Colonial with Melbourne threatening to sue after
8,000 people were still waiting to get in after the game started. Many
didn't bother. Collins admitted a mea culpa, saying they didn't have a
strategy in place for smallish crowds with a large proportion of walk-up
patrons. Only a quarter of the ticket booths were open yesterday.
Anyway, Melbourne fired outta the blocks. Farmer, opposed by Wirrpunda,
kicked the first goal and Russ Robertson bagged a couple, Powell kicked
a nice goal too as he, Rigoni and Yze were very busy. Missed shots
looked a little costly with some late Eagle goals, two from Cummings
although big Scotty also missed a pair of easy ones. The Farmer Show
moved onto its main act in the second quarter, Wiz with the first goal,
great roving and a speared shot. Peter Matera golled for West Coast,
then Demon Robertson threw the ball to Beams, he hit Farmer on the lead
to punt Melbourne 18 points up. Farmer then ran down Wirrpunda, a very
rare sight, before Wheatley punted to the goalsquare where Farmer marked
after shoving Wirrpunda meatily in the back. No free and another goal
for the little Dee. Melbourne by 24. Morrison's tumbling kick was
fortuitously marked by Gehrig for an Eegull sausage, but Demon Walsh
roved a pack to snap the lead back to 4 goals. Two late Wiggle majors,
not shown by the TV, narrowed the margin at half time.
Melbourne's midfield, led by ruckman White and his on-ball minions,
ended it in the third. Yze found Leoncelli who goaled from 50m, from the
restart Yze cleared and passed to leading Farmer, again, Fuchsias by 26
points. Peter Matera snapped a six-pointer but from the restart
Melbourne cleared, Powell roved and handpassed for Green's goal. Farmer
out-spectaculared himself for the next goal, staying down at a pack to
half-volley-soccer it through from 25m. Arsey, unprofessional but
brilliant. Wheatley centered the ball for Powell to mark and convert,
Wheatley dobbed one himself from a mark and the Demons were 44 points
up. That was it and the Demons added percentage in the last quarter,
Cameron Bruce coming off the bench to kick 3 goals and Schwarz got
involved. West Coast thought about Easter Eggs.
Jeff Farmer, apparently a bit unfit early in the year, booted 7 goals
from 20 possessions. White dominated the rucks with 26 disposals and 11
marks, 23 hitouts. On the back of his efforts Yze (21 disposals),
Leoncelli (30, a goal) and Powell (26, 2 goals) enjoyed their days.
Honest running defender Peter Walsh was very good with 24 touches and a
goal, Neitz was very good on Cummings after the latter's promising
start, ending with 13 kicks and 10 marks. Rigoni had 30 disposals and
Robertson played well early for 13 kicks and 2 goals. Bruce kicked the 3
goals. For the Eagles Jakovich forced Schwarz to the bench and had 22
disposals himself, Fraser Gehrig added life in attack with 21 touches,
10 marks and 3 goals. Cousins was their only midfielder to get a regular
touch, 26 of them, and Rowan Jones produced a good tagging game on Demon
leader Woewodin. Ruckman Gardiner kicked 3 goals, Cummings and Matera
ended with 2 each. Judge said "It's a worry, I said when I took over at
this club, the club was at the crossroads. I'm not sure where we are
going, I'm not sure where we are at. A lot of people hang onto past
glories..." Daniher reckoned "I really rate the West Coast and our young
blokes are playing against the Kemps, the Jakovichs, Materas and
McIntoshes and these sorts of boys and it was a credit to them that they
mixed it with those players."
Cheers, Tim
e-mail: t.murphy@rmit.edu.au
