AFL Round 12
Gregory Bond
[Archived at http://www.bby.com.au/~gnb/footy]
Special note: Next week is State Of Origin week. This means no
regular matches and no tips required. It also means no writeup will
be forthcoming next week (which is very convenient because I will be
on holiday anyway!) As a result, plenty of "name" players have
niggling injuries sustained in the last 10 minutes of this weekend's
games.
The big news during the week was Western's Brad Wira up before the
tribunal on a charge that has been paraphrased a million ways in the
last week. Let's try, um, "Manhandling the upper groin area" (ABC
Radio) of Geelong's Gary Hocking. (So the Handbagger got handbagged!)
Other entries in the euphemism of the week competition: Squirrel Grip,
Groin Grabbing, countless references to "Groin area", "upper Thigh",
etc. "Testicles" got a mention, "balls" got a couple but "Gonads"
missed out. The winner of the comp was doubtless Hocking himself, at
the tribunal: "He squeezed me in the balls, excuse the expression".
Hocking affirmed it was a hard grip and intentional, and Wira is out
for 2. Hocking was reported for clocking Wira after the incident, and
in light of the "extenuating circumstances" (which may have had
something to do with him dobbing Wira in in the first place) got off
with a 1 week suspension despite a pretty poor tribunal record.
Sydney 7.0 15.3 20. 3 26. 8 (164)
Richmond 3.3 7.8 12.11 16.14 (110)
SCG, Friday Night
Yowzers, 15.3 at half time is going to hurt. Even without the Fat
Boy, the Swannees had a field day in front of goals and racked up
their 13th straight at the SCG. Lewis got 5 for the Swans, and Richo
was the lone hand for the Tigers with 5.
Western 8.2 8.5 10.10 12.10 (82)
Port 1.4 5.7 8.10 14.10 (94)
Optus Oval, Saturday
You'd reckon after 8 goals to 1 in the first term that the Doggies
would be well on the way to a huge win. And you'd be wrong. The
Doggies obviously thought so, and after a round of congratulatory
back-slapping at quarter time they forgot to play the rest of the
match. The Power never gave up and second-gamer Nigel Fiegert came on
to CHF after the first break, got 15 touches for the rest of the game
and turned it around for Port. They get their first win away from
home and the Woofers miss a golden opportunity to seal up top spot.
Collingwood 4.1 4.8 6.12 7.13 (58)
West Coast 2.1 7.1 8. 3 11. 5 (71)
Victoria Park, Saturday
It was cold, it was wet, and your average observer would be happiest
with a nil-all draw. Alas, someone had to win and, after kicking the
first three goals, the Pies made too many mistakes in front of
goal. 0.7 for the second term killed them. Rocca Major and Rocca
Minor managed just 0.2 between them and, low on confidence and lacking
the Coach's trust, both spent a fair amount of time on the bench.
Geelong 3.1 7.3 11.5 12.10 (82)
Hawthorn 4.4 8.8 11.9 13.10 (88)
Kardinia Park, Saturday
For the third year in a row, the Hawks go to Geelong and win it by a
single kick late in the game. They led for most of the day, getting
out to as much as 4 goals in the third term, but the Cats never gave
up. Had the Pussies kicked a bit better in the last term, they might
have sealed it but several chances went wide, the Hawks steadied and
finished it late into time-on.
St. Kilda 5.1 8.8 13.15 16.20 (116)
Carlton 1.5 2.7 4.12 12.13 (85)
Waverley, Sunday
Too Old, Too Slow. For three quarters, the Saints ran rings around
the Blues who couldn't buy a goal even with all of Elliot's dough.
(Behinds, now, they had, and plenty of 'em.) But for the opening 15
minutes of the last quarter the Sainters went to sleep and the old
(and I do mean OLD) Carlton firm of Silvagni, Kernehan, Bradley and
Williams lead the M&Ms fightback - 8 quick goals closed the gap to 16
points before the Saints kicked a steadier, regrouped and ran away
with it. Braddles dragged his creaking old bones around the paddock
for another 30 touches in a badly beaten side and he leads plenty of
the media awards.
Adelaide 2.3 5.7 9.10 12.11 (83)
North 4.4 7.6 11. 7 16. 9 (105)
Footy Park, Sunday
The bookies had the Cows installed as flag favourites on the basis
that they have won a couple in Melbourne and play 37 of their last 12
games at home. And it looks like a fair bet, the 97 Heiffers are
playing with a lot more heart than the previous bunch. However the
arithmetic got a bit confused when North came to play. The champs
(minus Carey, to absolutely no-ones surprise, despite every possible
protestation and cross-your-heart "he'll play fer shure" from the
North camp) played hard and tough footy, never really breaking away
but never letting the Jerseys get in front. McKernan went off late in
the first half to protect him from accidentally having to play State
Of Origin.
Fremantle 5.6 11.8 18.10 24.13 (157)
Essendon 2.1 2.5 4. 5 9. 8 (60)
Subiaco, Sunday
Oh the pain. The course of this match was determined at the selection
table, where the Bombers (already missing plenty) lost another 7
through forced changes. This left just 6 of the senior-list 42 to
play in the reserves, so if you fancy a kick on Saturday morning, just
rock up to Windy Hill one night this week. BYO boots. The Dockers
were too fast, too classy and too experienced (!) all day and handed
out a huge thrashing (the Dockers biggest win ever), kicking 24 goals
despite not having a forward line. The Bombers need to win 8 from 10
to have any change of making the finals, although Sheeds (optimistic
fool that he is) has not given up hope.
Melbourne 1.2 4.4 6.5 7.8 (50)
Brisbane 5.1 10.4 17.8 21.9 (135)
MCG, Sunday
Ho hum, what can you say. The Demons looked threatening for, oh,
about 15 seconds. The Lions steamrolled from then on and won it by a
mile (but not, alas, by as much as Essendon lost by). Comeback kid
Schwartz, D. kicked 3.1 and didn't do his knee.
Round: 12
SYDNEY 164 defeated RICHMOND 110 The SCG (N)
W. BULLDOGS 82 lost to PORT ADELAIDE 94 Optus Oval
COLLINGWOOD 55 lost to WEST COAST 71 Victoria Park
GEELONG 82 lost to HAWTHORN 88 Kardinia Park
ST.KILDA 116 defeated CARLTON 85 Waverley Park
ADELAIDE 83 lost to NORTH MELBOURNE 105 Football Park
FREMANTLE 157 defeated ESSENDON 60 Subiaco
MELBOURNE 50 lost to BRISBANE 135 The MCG (N)
Round: 13
WEST COAST versus CARLTON Subiaco (N)
RICHMOND versus ESSENDON The MCG
ST.KILDA versus W. BULLDOGS Waverley Park
GEELONG versus ADELAIDE Kardinia Park
PORT ADELAIDE versus FREMANTLE Football Pk (N)
HAWTHORN versus MELBOURNE Waverley Park
SYDNEY versus NORTH MELBOURNE The SCG
BRISBANE versus COLLINGWOOD The Gabba (N)
Played Won Lost Drawn For Against % Pts
1 W. BULLDOGS 12 8 4 1177 1127 104.4 32
2 ADELAIDE 12 7 5 1245 1008 123.5 28
3 WEST COAST 12 7 5 1116 977 114.2 28
4 GEELONG 12 7 5 1105 994 111.2 28
5 NORTH MELBOURNE 12 7 5 1128 1034 109.1 28
6 ST.KILDA 12 7 5 1231 1138 108.2 28
7 PORT ADELAIDE 12 7 5 1021 1044 97.8 28
8 COLLINGWOOD 12 6 6 1209 1040 116.3 24
9 SYDNEY 12 6 6 1101 1059 104.0 24
10 FREMANTLE 12 6 6 1073 1067 100.6 24
11 HAWTHORN 12 6 6 1095 1091 100.4 24
12 CARLTON 12 6 6 1070 1109 96.5 24
13 BRISBANE 12 5 7 1145 1092 104.9 20
14 RICHMOND 12 5 7 1037 1263 82.1 20
15 ESSENDON 12 4 8 1094 1271 86.1 16
16 MELBOURNE 12 2 10 749 1282 58.4 8
--
Gregory Bond Burdett Buckeridge & Young Ltd, Melbourne, Australia
<mailto:g...@bby.com.au> <http://www.bby.com.au/~gnb>
Tim Murphy
AFL Round 12
The rationale of banning transfers and introducing the draft and
salary caps was to produce a more even competition and now it appears
to have eventuated. Anyone can beat anyone else and every game is
important. Overall, I'm not sure it's a good thing. I like it when the
league is less even, when there are clearly some good teams, a middle
bunch and some lower battlers. You can look forward to the True Test,
the Possible Upset, the Should Beat Them and the Percentage Booster.
At the moment every second win is described as an upset. Then there's
the question of whether the evenness has been accomplished by lowering
the standard of football...another effect of the draft and expansion
of the league has been to make many sides reliant on a handful of
stars and increase the impact of injuries. There's hours of argument
there.
Last week Geelong's Garry Hocking was reported for striking Brad Wira
of Footscray. Before the tribunal sat Wira was charged on video
evidence with "misconduct in that he squeezed the testicles of G.
Hocking." Wira became the first VFL/AFL player to be suspended for
squirrel-gripping (he got 2 weeks). Media folk competed to use as many
entendres involving ball/balls as possible. Hocking copped a week
after pleading provocation. Collingwood's Aaron James upheld a fine
recent tradition of Magpie players, being thrown out of a nightclub in
the wee hours of last Monday after allegedly urinating on patrons. The
club have suspended him indefinitely. Oh, and The Footy Show in London
is off after star Sam Newman had his leg broken in a car accident.
Yesterday Channel Seven set out to broadcast Fremantle and Essendon in
total and ignore the first half of Adelaide/North, the new premiership
favourites against the reigning premiers with Carey returning
(allegedly). At half time at Subiaco, with Freo thrashing the
hopelessly undermanned Dons, Seven wisely switched to Adelaide. But it
almost set a precedent. Hope that in future the best games aren't
passed over simply to pander to the biggest supporter base...the
Bombers have played a lot of interstate games the last 2 years...
Gary Ablett gave up trying to play with his ruptured knee ligament and
went for an operation, ending his year. Ablett, 36 in October, wants
to play one more season and is supposedly prepared to leave Geelong if
necessary. Melbourne's Lyon went for a back operation. Take any other
injury reports you hear with a grain of salt...remember it's State of
Origin games next weekend.
At the SCG:
Sydney 7.0 15.3 20.3 26.8.164
Richmond 3.3 7.8 12.11 16.14.110
Richmond tried hard but were simply outplayed by the Swans, who
dominated centre clearances, seized on every Tiger mistake, ran the
ball superbly and kicked with inconceivable accuracy. Richmond chipped
the ball around and entered their forward half as easily as a Hanson
supporter enters a meeting. It was the little things that bothered me.
Like the Sydney crowd's understandable but irritating lack of football
knowledge. And Channel Seven's Ian Robertson, easily the worst
commentator in football. Sydney made one change, discarding Direen for
Barry. Richmond played captain Matthew Knights for the first time this
year after he injured a knee in the Ansett Cup, Charles also returned
from suspension at the expense of Baldwin and the injured Bulluss.
Some excellent play from Chapman set the Swans going, he chased Bond
as the Tiger ran onto B. Gale's telegraphed handpass and tackled
perfectly, then arrived in the goalsquare to kick the first major.
Kelly roved a pack for the next before Richmond opened their account
with a kick off the ground from Merenda. Cresswell, Cook and Kelly
were winning the vital centre clearances on the small oval. Bayes
loped forward and scored with a typically superb left-footer,
O'Loughlin goaled and then Bayes got another as Richmond found every
failed move was punished in full. Bourke, Bayes's opponent, was
removed. (Over)zealous Swan officials spotted that Bourke didn't leave
the field through the designated interchange area (by about 20 cm) and
pointed this out to the "interchange steward". As a result, Bourke
wasn't allowed back on for the rest of the game. Somewhat aggrieved
Richmond officials got O'Loughlin under the same dopey rule in the
third quarter. Roos and Nicks drifted down from defence to complete
the first quarter scoring. In the second term Swan majors continued to
arrive regularly, Kelly kicked a wondergoal while running flat out and
Shannon Grant got involved for a couple, Mooney bagged a brace at full
forward and the excellent Cook got one. The Tiges actually managed 3
consecutive goals at one point, Richardson taking a strong grab and
Moore goaled from a free after being assaulted off the ball by Dunkley
and Seymour. Robbo thought it was "a bit soft". Two Richmond forward
thrusts saw 17 Swans within their defensive 50m.
The Tigers actually outplayed Sydney in the third but ended with
little to show for it. Prescott, Broderick and Chaffey started to win
in the centre, Kellaway went onto Kelly and Campbell tagged Roos,
Knights came on to stop Grant. Richardson, Prescott, Nichols and
Campbell goaled as the Tiges strained to maintain a 40-point deficit.
But the Bloods still capitalised on every chance, a wayward Richmond
pass on centre wing was collected by Grant and, with everyone packed
into Richmond's forward half, he ran all the way to score from point
blank. Dale Lewis, benched in the first half after being beaten by
Michael Gale, came back to good effect in attack. Eade tore into his
players at the final break while Walls told his mob to "just keep
going". Lewis ran amok in the last quarter and Cresswell kicked the
Swans' first behind after 15 straight goals. For Richmond, Richardson
added to his collection of huge marks and Broderick booted a great
goal, kicking in after a behind and running the length of the SCG to
receive a handpass and convert with a low kick. He looked knackered.
No real standout for the winners. Cook was very good again, Cresswell,
Maxfield (traitor), Jon Stevens and Chapman were all great in the
middle feeding off winning ruckman Stafford. Roos and Seymour were
solid at the back. The goals...Lewis finished with 5, Grant had 21
disposals and 4 goals, Kelly and Bayes got 3 each. For Richmond,
Richardson finished with 8 marks and 5 goals, Powell ran far and wide
to gather kicks, Broderick and Campbell tried hard, Harrison picked up
30 touches off half back. It may seem strange to say in a defence that
conceded 26 goals, but Gaspar and Kellaway were good. Rod Eade said
"People always say we're a one-man show with Tony (Lockett), but I
think it's shown we have a lot of talented players up forward." His
opposite number said "...we tried to play a similar type of game to
what Sydney plays up there, share it, run it, use it through the
middle corridor...our plan was OK, but our skill level let us down..."
Again. Oh well, no-one else will win up there.
At Princes Park:
Port Adelaide 1.4 5.7 8.10 14.10.94
Footscray 8.2 8.5 10.10 12.10.82
Who'd have believed it? Port broke through for their first away win,
in Melbourne, with a stirring performance after quarter time which
defied the odds. The Dogs can perhaps be accused of complacency,
certainly their coach thought so afterwards. Footscray replaced the
suspended Wira, injured Montgomery and dumped Mark West with Sir,
Brown and Kellett. Port lost Brown and Lockwood with injury and
dropped Cotton, recalled Burgoyne and Heaver and gave a first game to
Nigel Fiegert, who took over from Geelong's Houlihan as most
sensational debutant of 1997.
The first quarter was typical of Port's previous Melbourne outings.
After their Cummings got an early goal it was all Footscray. West,
Romero and Dimattina were everywhere, Grant and Cook marked in attack
and small forwards Hudson and Kolyniuk were busy. Even Libba lurked
down for a goal. Cahill used some fairly choice language at the first
break while the Dogs appeared to be carrying on like they'd already
won it. To go with his rhetoric Cahill made two crucial moves,
replacing beaten ruckman Primus with Brendon Lade and introducing
Fiegert at CHF. Fiegert had an immediate impact, going in hard and
marking in attack, while the midfielders tightened up on their
opponents. Footscray found goals hard to get with Paxman stopping
Minton-Connell, while for the Flowers Cummings was proving too good
for Sir. Smith broke the Puppies' goal drought in the third after
intercepting a handpass, but the visitors crept closer through
Cummings and James. Port had a sniff and went after it in the last.
Wilson kicked the opening goal of the term. Francou doggedly persued a
ball all the way from the centre, eventually getting it on the
boundary 30m out and goaling with a marvellous snap to level the
scores. Rohan Smith kicked an excellent running goal to put the
Puppies ahead but Eagleton put the Power on terms again, Fiegert roved
a goalsquare pack to put them in front and James kicked a miraculous
snap to extend the lead. Perhaps Bulldog supporters knew then it
wasn't to be. The siren was met with some emotion by Port officials,
including Mick Moylan who's patched up his differences with Cahill.
Fiegert was the key figure in the game, with 15 touches and 3 goals,
seeing off Ellis and Grant. Not a bad pair of scalps. Lade was
important in the ruck, Brayden Lyle was was excellent with 28 hard-won
touches in the middle. Paxman kept Minton-Connell goalless and young
forwards Eagleton and James were handy with 2 goals each. Cummings was
very good again with 5 goals. Bulldog Paul Dimattina had 23 kicks on
the wing as he was left alone by Wilson. Centremen West and Romero
fought hard and Cook was a useful forward with 3 goals, Rohan Smith (2
goals) tried hard to inspire his side. Lots of Bulldogs had good
stats, Footscray had 26 more kicks and 32 more handballs than Port but
they were horribly indirect. Wallace explained "Our guys all wanted to
get on the end of something and all wanted to be best on ground...I
thought our blokes went on holiday after quarter time...".
Nevertheless the Dogs have been granted a mid-season holiday from
training after starting full training last October. Cahill said "At
quarter time, we were worried (surely not?)...I felt the players
didn't deserve that. At half time we thought if we could win the third
quarter we were a sniff." He said Fiegert turned the game and claimed
the Melbourne monkey was off Port's back...we'll see.
At Kardinia Park:
Hawthorn 4.4 8.8 11.9 13.10.88
Geelong 3.1 7.3 11.5 12.10.82
Hawthorn confirmed their reputation as Kardinia Park specialists with
their third win there in 3 years, achieved in similar fashion to the
last two. Rain, a close finish with the Hawks clinging on and the Cats
blowing chances. Geelong picked Lynch and Snell to replace Hocking and
the dropped Simpson, Hawthorn replaced the injured Graham with
Kappler.
Hawthorn started very well with Platten and Treleven winning in the
middle and Taylor getting kicks, Holland, Chick and Gibson were busy
in attack although Chick missed a couple of relatively easy shots. The
Cats struggled in attack but got a couple of late goals, through King
and Sanderson, to get closer. Even second term. Stoneham was shifted
from CHF to combat Holland but Gibson continued to be elusive for the
Hawks with 2 goals for the quarter. Pickering, Colbert and Lynch were
busy for Geelong. The heavens opened in the third quarter and it was
rain of the horizontal, bloody freezing variety. Chick got a soft free
right in front for the Hawks, then Holland weaved and steered a superb
long kick for a goal to put the Hawks 24 points up. Riccardi,
struggling with a groin strain, banged a goal and Burns goaled with
his first kick after being given a bath by Shane Crawford. The Hawks
led by 15 points after goals in the last from Harford and Holland
after a superb mark, reminiscent of last year. The Cats embarked on a
comeback but wasted chances, Riccardi twice missing shots and King
spraying a good chance. Shane Crawford was working hard in the centre
now and Hassall did well in the Hawthorn defence in the last quarter.
Eventually Sholl sprinted down from half back to goal for Geelong and
make the difference 6 points. The Cats won the subsequent bounce and
Stoneham marked on the boundary and lobbed the ball into the square.
The umpire decided to bounce after players piled on...he bounced it
into the point post, twice, before the Hawks cleared from the
subsequent throw-in and the siren rang.
Richard Taylor, despite departing late in the third quarter with a
cork thigh, made light of Tanner's tag and was excellent for Hawthorn
with 25 touches on a wing. Holland was great again with 3 goals and
Chick a classical forward flanker with 2 goals although it'd be handy
if he could kick straight. Harford, Platten and Lord were all very
good and Salmon drifted across half back to good effect. Hassall and
Shane Crawford were important defenders. Shannon Gibson kicked 4
goals, all in the first half. Stoneham was a key figure for Geelong at
both ends and Ayres lamented that he couldn't find another decent big
man to help Barry out. Pickering and Colbert were good across the
middle, Sholl ran hard as per usual and youngsters Steinfort and
Corrigan were useful. McKinnon and Riccardi kicked 2 goals each. Judge
was happy with the way Hawthorn hung on in typically gritty fashion.
Said Ayres "we lacked a bit of polish and finish and someone to take
the game by the scruff of the neck. Then in the last quarter we kicked
1.5 to 2.1...".
At Victoria Park:
West Coast 2.1 7.1 8.3 11.5.71
Collingwood 4.1 4.8 6.12 7.13.55
For the first six weeks of the season, we wondered how good were
Collingwood. Now we're wondering how bad they might be. Losing to an
erratic and injury-affected interstate visitor in front of a packed
Victory Park, with neither Rocca kicking a goal, is pretty bad. Tony
Shaw said "I've gotta take the blame for a lot of this" as the Pies
lost their fourth in a row. Important win for the Eagles who've been
just going. Collingwood wielded the axe at selection, dropping
Liddell, Prestagiacomo, James and Crosisca for Ahmat, Sharkey, Michael
and kid Jason Mahoney. Michael replaced injured Burns in the selected
side, Shaw's standard nonsense pick. West Coast dropped Fewster and
Hart for Stone and Evans.
The Pies opened with the breeze and A. Rocca on the bench. Osborne was
too mobile for the lumbering Worsfold and kicked the first two goals,
then Russell got another for the Maggies as they looked like jumping
the Weagles. Then came a key moment as Worsfold crashed heavily into
Graeme Wright, knocking the Magpie out. Suddenly the Eagles started
boring in and the Pies lost momentum, West Coast closing the game down
in archetypal pack-bound style. Both sides won plenty of the ball in
midfield in the second quarter, but the five straight West Coast goals
to Collingwood's 7 behinds was kinda important. Buckley and Williams
were getting plenty of touches but no-one could take a grab in their
forward line, while Pete Matera fed the Eagle's more open forward line
which derived goals from running players like Symmons and Evans.
Winning Pie full back Michael twisted an ankle during the quarter and
was replaced by Schauble, Weegle full forward Gehrig immediately
kicked 2 goals. Ahmat sped onto a loose ball to goal early in the
third and later Russell got one, but Peter Matera marked a Collingwood
kick-in and kicked superbly into the wind and rain for an
inspirational goal. At the last change Malthouse, wearing a large
Drizabone, gave the umpires a spray as he walked past them. Gehrig
kicked the first goal of the last quarter and Phil Matera added
another from a mark after the big men missed the ball. That pretty
much ended it, although Ahmat got another and Gehrig finished the
match with a remarkable shot from the intersection of the boundary and
50m lines.
Another great performance from veteran Peter Matera with 27 touches
and a goal from half back, fellow old stager Worsfold was very good.
Evans and Kemp played well in the middle and Morrison looks a good
player. Gehrig kicked 4 goals and Heady 2. It's a measure of the Pies
that Buckley could have 30 disposals and Williams 37, but their team
only got 7 goals. Brown was good in defence, Russell and Watson were
handy too and Ahmat provided much needed movement on the forward line.
Mahoney, with 18 possessions on the wing, showed a bit. Russell kicked
3 goals, Osborne and Ahmat two each. Mr. Shaw, your special subject,
the bloody obvious. "We're not kicking enough goals...the players
aren't performing up to the level that's good enough, and that's my
job." You'd be worried about Sav Rocca's inconsistency. Mick said "Our
players kicked poorly, but I thought that there had been opportunities
for our forwards to kick a few more...the good thing about today is
that we hung in long enough..." Malthouse also pointed out that the
MCG was empty on Saturday and that "you always have to wear a raincoat
here" because of the spitting from Pie supporters.
At Subiaco:
Fremantle 5.6 11.8 18.10 24.13.157
Essendon 2.1 2.5 4.5 9.6.60
It'll take most of this report to detail the Bombers' team changes.
Essendon's sixth consecutive loss here, their worst losing streak
since Sheedy took over in 1981. It was Fremantle's biggest ever win. A
report during the week on the Dons' injury-riddled squad had manager
Danny Corcoran claiming the Bombers' management of injuries was as
good as any club. That's why Calthorpe can't jog down the race without
doing his hammy again. Out of last week's side went Calthorpe,
Barnard, Fletcher, Hardwick, O'Connor, Daniher and Young, all injured.
In came Berbakov, Wallis, Cransberg, Doolan, Fraser, Blumfield and a
first-gamer, teenager Andrew Ukovic from the VSFL. Fremantle lost Mann
suspended, Sinclair and Brown injured and dropped Madigan, replaced by
Harding, Mitchell, Abraham and Kingsley Hunter for his first game this
year.
Freo romped out and just kept on a'rompin'. The Junior Bombers
couldn't win in the centre, stop the Dockers' run from defence and
unsurprisingly showed little confidence. Clement passed to Bandy for
the first goal and then tackled Lucas and handpassed to Toia for the
second. Hunter led, marked and goaled. Wills, the acting captain in
his 100th game, missed a couple of shots but then snaggled a
six-pointer with a nice running shot and Chisholm, starting on a
forward flank, got one too. White fell awkwardly just before quarter
time and ruptured his spleen, he was rushed to hospital and will miss
6 weeks. Caracella and Ukovic got the Bombers' first term goals.
Callaghan kicked 3 goals from a forward pocket in the second quarter,
one after a nice mark running with the flight of the ball. The Dons'
plight was underlined when key defenders Cransberg and Berbakov were
outmarked by Bandy and Hunter for another Freo goal and Allan kicked
one. Burton tapped nicely for Wills to speed onto the ball and goal
again, a la Cloke and Bartlett circa 1980. Late in the quarter Bomber
Mark Harvey just missed attempting to clean up Kickett, then collapsed
with a twisted ankle. Channel Seven gave up covering the game at the
long break, to the disappointment of Essendon masochists who wanted to
see more slaughter of their innocents. Caracella finally marked and
goaled for them early in the third and Denham battled feverishly, but
the pacy Dockers continued on their merry way with Hunter doing well
at full forward and O'Reilly dominating in defence.
I'll trot out the stats for the dominant Dockers. Callaghan had 16
kicks and 4 goals, O'Reilly 24 disposals in defence, Allan 22 touches
and 2 goals, Hunter 9 marks and 5 goals 2 behinds, Wills 16 kicks and
2 goals on the wing. Dhurrkay "did a Chisholm" running from defence,
Leach and Clement were also handy, Bandy kicked 3 goals. Shane Parker
held Lloyd to 1 goal. Sean Denham, leading the AFL in centre
clearances, gave up tagging Wills early and went on to have 20 kicks
and 17 handpasses for Essendon. Caracella did well to kick 3 goals,
Cransberg battled hard, Doolan and Moorcroft tried. Sheedy had kind
words for Ukovic (13 disposals and a goal) but justifably blamed the
club's appalling injury run. He expects a number of key players back
after the two-week break. Neesham conceded "we fully realised this
wasn't the same Essendon which beat us by one point at the MCG (last
year)". But he'd be happy with the form of Hunter, I'd imagine.
At Football Park:
North Melbourne 4.4 7.6 11.7 16.9.105
Adelaide 2.3 5.7 9.10 12.11.83
These two have put on some pretty good games in recent years and this
was no exception, an entertaining contest in which the balance altered
throughout and featuring some great individual skill. North's win was
achieved through some superb running and handling and excellent
management from coach Pagan. All the more impressive considering
McKernan went off just before half time with a sprained ankle. The
Roos selected Carey despite his inabilty to raise his arm above
shoulder height at training. Pagan and Wayne himself went to ground
and assistant coach Norm Dare was left to try and convince a highly
skeptical media that Carey would definitely play. He didn't, but
Allison did in Freeborn's place. The Camrys lost defender Smart with a
groin strain and dropped James, bringing in Connell and Ellen.
Harvey continued from where he'd left off last week, poaching North's
first two goals as the Kangas jumped Adelaide. Stevens and Rock were
very busy early, Rock drifting forward and having 13 touches in the
first quarter. Modra, guarded by his old mate Mick Martyn, got the
home teams' first from a free but they were having problems in attack
with Longmire beating Robran. The Roos kicked the first 2 goals of the
second quarter, Sholl took a very good mark over Jameson and then Rock
found space again. Camry captain Bickley was working hard and his
left-foot snap got the Corollas going. Modra rode classically over
Martyn to take a screamer in the goalsquare and played on right on the
line, but he kicked off balance and the ball went straight up in the
air, came down and hit the top off the goalpost. But Modra made no
mistake minutes later after taking the mark of the season to date,
wrapping his knees around Martyn's jug head to haul down a ripper in
the square. Set shot this time. The Camrys kicked the first three
goals of the third term to grab the lead. Modra got two of them, one
after a good lead and another after the ball was clearly thrown to him
by Connell. Liptak marked and goaled for the other. Pagan sent Archer
to full back and moved Martyn out onto Robran. Sholl got a major to
put North back in front and a long midfield arm-wrestle followed
before David King kicked a brilliant running goal, followed in rapid
succession by Allison and a set shot from 50m by Stevens. Early goals
in the final stanza from Roberts, shifted to CHF, and Allison seemed
to make North pretty safe but the 1997 model Crows weren't done with.
Robran kicked a goal and Modra got yet another to narrow the margin to
10 points, but King burst powerfully through the centre again to pass
to Roberts for a running goal and moments later Allison sealed it.
North rovers Stevens and Rock took the glory with a stack of touches
(27 and 31, respectively) and 2 goals each, but it was the defensive
efforts of several players which were crucial. Bell tagged Darren
Jarman, Scott chased Ricciuto everywhere and Blakey was placed on
Tregenza, none of those croweaters had much influence. King was
sensational off half back with 18 kicks, Schwass played well, Martyn
was an effective defender despite the goals he conceded. Sholl and
Allison were both good with 3 goals each, Roberts was important in the
ruck after McKernan departed and with his last quarter goals. Mark
Bickley was the Camry's best with 26 posessions in the middle,
defenders McLeod, Hart and Johnson were very good and Liptak worked
hard. Modra kicked 6 goals and Vardy continues to improve, he had 24
touches and kicked 2 goals. Blight wasn't overly upset. "North are
probably the best drilled unit in the competition...North were
great...I learned more about our side today than in the previous 11
games...now we've got to pass that back to the players, about how they
take the next step". Pagan said it was the Roos' best win so far.
"...our guys were terrific. It was a real arm wrestle (stop quoting me
Den). Our midfielders did a pretty good job for the guys who had set
tasks. Jarman, Ricciuto and Tregenza did reasonable jobs for their
club, but had nowhere near as much of the ball as they'd had
previously."
At Waverley:
St. Kilda 5.1 8.8 13.15 16.20.116
Carlton 1.5 2.7 4.12 12.13.85
Another impressive St. Kilda performance somewhat marred but a last
quarter fadeout, but they deservedly got the points. The Blues knew
going in they lacked pace against the Saints on the big ground and
their errors continued from last week but St. Kilda are a bit better
than the Lions (that's why Brisbane beat the Saints by 105
points...er...). St. Kilda brought in Gray, Beveridge and Sierakowski
to replace Bardsley, Coghlan and Young, who missed with a hamstring
strain. Carlton raplaced Hamill with Hogg.
Carlton missed a few shots early before Jones set the Saints off,
kicking a typically exciting left foot shot from Lappin's handpass.
St. Kilda lined up with Heatley, Loewe and Hall in the full forward
line, opposed by History's Greatest Full Back, Sexton and Dean,
respectively. Breaths were drawn as Burke lined up on Koutoufides, who
won this fixture by himself last year. Burkey looked a little short.
Heatley led well and his wobbly torpedo was marked by Loewe, who
goaled, then Hall twice marked and goaled as the normally unbeatable
Blue defenders were caught out. Bradley went in for a hard ball and
was crunched by Everitt. Everitt, dominating in the ruck, kicked
another while Kernahan got the Blues' only major for the first
quarter. Loewe kicked 3 goals at the start of the second term, one
after a marking a clever soccer kick from Harvey. Carlton battled hard
to get back into it with Bradley winning kicks, but they let
themselves down with some poor shooting, Manton guilty of a criminal
miss. Sticks kicked their only goal of the second term too, and
memories were revived of the Blues' 3-goal effort in this game two
years ago. Things continued to follow the pattern in the third, Jones
started the half in identical fashion to the first except this time it
was a right-footer. HGFB went to full forward for Carlton but the Blue
midfielders preferred to bomb from 50m instead of looking for better
options. Sziller, Lappin and Everitt got more Saint goals.
Heatley kicked the first goal of the final quarter and the Saints led
by 64 points. Then the Blues conjured 8 successive goals. Williams
wrestled off the ball with Gray and converted after being awarded a
free, HGFB goaled after a terrific second effort, Kernahan was
rewarded after tackling Shanahan and Koutoufides goaled after a mark.
Smith missed a simple shot for the Saints and then Williams goaled
again after some neat Blue passing. Allan thumped a sausage roll from
the next centre bounce, a superb effort from Koutoufides ended with
his kick hitting the post but HGFB...ah bugger it, Silvagni...was
awarded a free at point blank range. Loewe missed from close in and
Whitehead's running shot narrowed the margin to 17 points. Loewe's
long kick was going through but Everitt, completely alone, tried to
mark and muffed it, spilling the ball through for a behind. At last
Joel Smith, after kicking 5 behinds for the day, steered one through
to steady the ship.
Loewe took 14 marks in attack and as a ruckman and kicked 4 goals to
give Sexton a rare hiding, Burke stopped Kouta superbly and had 32
touches himself, Cripps was very good at the back, Jones, Harvey,
Smith and Hall were all handy. Jones, Everitt, Heatley and Hall each
kicked 2 goals. Bradley and Ratten battled in the centre for Carlton,
Whitehead was good and McKay excellent in defence, a very courageous
player. Hogg did a reasonable tagging job on Harvey. Kernahan and
History's Greatest Full Back each kicked 3 goals. Alves called the
first 3 quarters "quite outstanding" but said the he was angry with
the last quarter. "I'm angry because they didn't enjoy the fruits of
those first three magnificent quarters." Parkin said the Saint fade
"was almost predictable in the circumstances" and said "when the game
was there to be won, they were fantastic" before bemoaning his teams'
lack of pace.
At the MCG:
Brisbane 5.1 10.4 17.8 21.9.135
Melbourne 1.2 4.4 6.5 7.8.50
Brisbane recorded their first win at the 'G since 1988 in front of a
paltry 13,392, thumping the hapless Demons. The Lions were
considerably strengthened by the return of Champion, Bews, Molloy and
Akermanis. Melbourne picked McHardy and Obst to replace the
'flu-striken S. Febey and injured Glen Lovett.
Melbourne started encouragingly but Farmer and Woewodin missed shots
they should have converted. Molloy, starting at full forward for
Brisbane, kicked a goal and it was a procession thereafter. Lambert
had 13 disposals in the first term and Voss was handy, Ashcroft very
good on his wing. Molloy marked powerfully which would have pleased
the Fitzroy supporters who've been turning up to Brisbane's Melbourne
games in reasonable numbers. Schwarz again came on in the second term
and booted 3 goals for the Demons before departing just before the
final break, Leppitsch bobbed up for 3 Lion goals in the third term as
Molloy departed late in the quarter with a rolled ankle. Not much else
to say, really. Ashcroft finished the match with 24 disposals and 2
goals, Molloy had 8 marks and 7 goals, Tristan Lynch was good with 17
kicks off his back flank and Dickfos was great at the back. Bews and
Lambert played well, Leppitsch kicked 4 goals and Bradshaw 3. For
Melbourne Viney battled hard with 28 touches and Hopgood wasn't bad.
Schwarz kicked 3 goals and Yze 2. Lion coach Northey said "Melbourne
probably could not have come to us at a better time. I coached
Melbourne when they were in a similar position and got belted like
that, so I know what they're going through...(they've) just got to
keep hanging in there and try and turn it around." Hutchison felt the
Dees missed the turning point, 10 minutes in after their two early
misses.
Next week: State-of-Origin
Allies v Western Australia (Subiaco, Friday night)
South Australia v Victoria (Football Park, Saturday night)
Ladder Pts. % Next round
Footscray 32 104.4 St. Kilda (Waverley)
Adelaide 28 123.5 Geelong (Kardinia Park)
West Coast 28 114.3 Carlton (Subiaco)
Geelong 28 111.2 Adelaide (Kardinia Park)
North Melbourne 28 109.1 Sydney (SCG)
St. Kilda 28 108.2 Footscray (Waverley)
Port Adelaide 28 97.8 Fremantle (Football Park)
Collingwood 24 116.3 Brisbane (Gabba)
----------------------------------------------------------------
Sydney 24 104.0 North Melbourne (SCG)
Fremantle 24 100.6 Port Adelaide (Football Park)
Hawthorn 24 100.3 Melbourne (Waverley)
Carlton 24 96.5 West Coast (Subiaco)
Brisbane 20 104.9 Collingwood (Gabba)
Richmond 20 82.1 Essendon (MCG)
Essendon 16 92.8 Richmond (MCG)
Melbourne 8 58.4 Hawthorn (Waverley)
Cheers, Tim.
E-mail: t.mu...@rmit.edu.au
Kathryn Linge
Gregory Bond (g...@bby.com.au) wrote:
: [Archived at http://www.bby.com.au/~gnb/footy]
:
:
: The big news during the week was Western's Brad Wira up before the
: tribunal on a charge that has been paraphrased a million ways in the
: last week. Let's try, um, "Manhandling the upper groin area" (ABC
: Radio) of Geelong's Gary Hocking. (So the Handbagger got handbagged!)
: Other entries in the euphemism of the week competition: Squirrel Grip,
: Groin Grabbing, countless references to "Groin area", "upper Thigh",
: etc. "Testicles" got a mention, "balls" got a couple but "Gonads"
: missed out. The winner of the comp was doubtless Hocking himself, at
: the tribunal: "He squeezed me in the balls, excuse the expression".
: Hocking affirmed it was a hard grip and intentional, and Wira is out
: for 2. Hocking was reported for clocking Wira after the incident, and
: in light of the "extenuating circumstances" (which may have had
: something to do with him dobbing Wira in in the first place) got off
: with a 1 week suspension despite a pretty poor tribunal record.
:
Sports tonight had Wira grabbing Hocking's "privates" - or something to
that effect!
GOCF
Kathryn
Tenille Hall
In article <wwhgezv...@nellie.bby.com.au>, g...@bby.com.au says...
>
<big snip>
>
>Fremantle 5.6 11.8 18.10 24.13 (157)
>Essendon 2.1 2.5 4. 5 9. 8 (60)
>Subiaco, Sunday
>
>Oh the pain. The course of this match was determined at the selection
>table, where the Bombers (already missing plenty) lost another 7
>through forced changes. This left just 6 of the senior-list 42 to
>play in the reserves, so if you fancy a kick on Saturday morning, just
>rock up to Windy Hill one night this week. BYO boots. The Dockers
>were too fast, too classy and too experienced (!)
This says it all doesn't it - now some people might realise just how
difficult it has been for us for the last couple of years!!!
Tenille Hall
Dockers Premiers 1997
Herbie
In article <wwhgezv...@nellie.bby.com.au>, Gregory Bond
<g...@bby.com.au> wrote:
{snip}
>Fremantle 5.6 11.8 18.10 24.13 (157)
>Essendon 2.1 2.5 4. 5 9. 8 (60)
>Subiaco, Sunday
>
>Oh the pain. The course of this match was determined at the selection
>table, where the Bombers (already missing plenty) lost another 7
>through forced changes. This left just 6 of the senior-list 42 to
>play in the reserves, so if you fancy a kick on Saturday morning, just
>rock up to Windy Hill one night this week. BYO boots. The Dockers
>were too fast, too classy and too experienced (!) all day and handed
>out a huge thrashing (the Dockers biggest win ever), kicking 24 goals
>despite not having a forward line.
Uh- Hunter kicked 5.1, Bandy 2.2 and Dirty Harry 4.0, although I'll
conceede that even though Dirty Harry was named as a forward pocket, he
spent much of his time as a rover. The fact was that Hunter and Bandy
gave some very stong leads, Hunter putting in his best performance yet, I
think. He also passed off a couple of shots and a couple of outside 50m
were touched on the line, so his tally could have been as high as 9. If
that's not a FF performing, I'll walk east without a waterbag. It seems
like he has fixed his kicking style, thank Christ!
>The Bombers need to win 8 from 10
>to have any change of making the finals, although Sheeds (optimistic
>fool that he is) has not given up hope.
>
Herbie
"They put a hotwire to my head 'cause of the things I did and said and made these feelings go away, model citizen in every way." - J Lydon
David J Richardson
>At half time at Subiaco, with Freo thrashing the
>hopelessly undermanned Dons, Seven wisely switched to Adelaide. But it
>almost set a precedent.
I wonder what the ratings were for the first half of the Adelaide/North
game were. I'm sure the advertisers would be interested too... Bet Channel
Seven doesn't release them!
--
David J Richardson
bo...@crafti.com.au & http://www.crafti.com.au/~borad/
SOPHIE ALDRED (ACE IN DR WHO) MELBOURNE NOV 21-23 - ASK ME ABOUT IT!
Richard Scott
Brad 'Cornelius Agrippa' Wira?
:)
Richard Scott (rsc...@hawaii.edu)
--You were spectacular, Bob. But not very effective.
South Melbourne official when the legendary Bob Pratt failed to win
South's 1934 best and fairest despite kicking a league record 150 goals.
Philip Dubbin
.........Bradley went in for a hard ball and was crunched by Everitt....
I'm sorry, but I didn't see Bradley go NEAR a hard ball on Sunday!!!
--
__________________________________________________
Philip Dubbin
Professional Officer
Department of Physiology
University of Melbourne
Grattan Street
Parkville, Victoria 3052
Australia.
Internet:
p.du...@physiology.unimelb.edu.au
Phone: +61 9344 5820
Fax: +61 9344 5818
___________________________________________________
Dettol
Philip Dubbin wrote:
>
> .........Bradley went in for a hard ball and was crunched by Everitt....
>
> I'm sorry, but I didn't see Bradley go NEAR a hard ball on Sunday!!!
>
and you wouldn't in any other game of his career either.
Mike
--
If we do not succeed we run the risk of failure.
-- Vice President Dan Quayle.