AFL Round 9

What about a pickige? I got maself a pickige. If I ever get that cab
driver he'll cop a pickige all right. Sorry, just a TV ad nauseam footy
addicts had to sit through on Sunday.

Let's just pause to appreciate the all-Victorian top eight.

The AFL investigated the incident in WA last Saturday night where umpire
Sheehan was donged by Fraser Gehrig. Gehrig was called before the
tribunal, but the charge was thrown out after Sheehan and two other
umpires said it was a complete accident. The imbroglio was started by
Bulldogs Tony Liberatore and Nathan Brown calling Gehrig a "rapist", in
reference to the un-named Eagles under police investigation for sexual
assault (Gehrig's not one of them, we've been told since). Libber
apologised before the end of the game, the tribunal fined he and Brown
two grand each for their verbal abuse.

At Colonial:
Footscray   3.5    9.5   10.7   16.9.105
St. Kilda   4.1    7.5   15.8   16.8.104

The Saints find ever more ways to torment their supporters, here blowing
a 5-goal lead in the final quarter to go down by a point. Credit to the
Dogs though for manufacturing a comeback when staring at five straight
losses. The Bulldogs went in unchanged from their trip to WA. Stakilda
axed four after their miserable effort against the Camrys last weekend,
Sierakowski, Ryan, Brown and Campbell. They had Robert Harvey back at
last from his calf injury, Barry Hall and Aussi Jones were recalled from
the twos and there was a debutant, lanky 19-y-o Jason Blake from the
Prahran Dragons.

The Bullies, together with the folks in charge at Colonial, used some
sponsor's money to provide free tickets for all in a badly-needed PR
move. But the official crowd was only 35,500, some 16,000 below
capacity, leading The Age to claim "Footy at Docklands. You can't give
it away." A bit harsh given the day-long rain leading up the the game
and the delayed telecast, but with the roof closed it's dry and
reasonably warm inside. Especially if you're up amongst the Medallion
Club members, which is where I found myself thanks to a mate's
hospitality connections. Not too cluey, your corporate types. "Twenny
five - that's Barry Standfield, innit?" suggested one when Kingsley
Hunter came close. Anyway, didn't see much of an even first half,
including Bulldog Simon Cox breaking his arm. Harvey was straight back
into it for the Stains and Stewie Loewe played well at CHF with 6 marks
and a goal in the first half. Hudson and Garlick were especially busy
for the Dogs and Jose Romero kicked a few goals. Saint defender Hudghton
kept Grant quiet and the Pups lacked an effective marking forward. But
just before half time, with scores level, Romero booted a miraculous
running torpedo 60m for a goal, straight from the bounce Eagleton got
the ball and smacked an equally lengthy drop-punt for a major to give
the Bullies a handy 2-goal lead at the long break.

Hudson kicked the first goal of term three and the Pups were in the
driver's seat. But the Saints set off on a spirited 8-goal run. Barry
Hall fired up forward while Harvey, Burke and Knowles were excellent in
the middle. Hall marked and booted truly from 50m to start things
rolling, Hayes and Harvey slotted on the run to level the scores.
Sziller drillered one from 30m to put Stakilda in front, a Knowles snap
bounced through, Hall doubled back for another mark - he took five in
the quarter - and goal. Thompson roved for a great spearing major and
Loewe sausaged from a mark, the Saints seemed set to break their long
winless streak at the final rest. But the Pup midfielders roused
themselves. Chris Grant had spent the third quarter at CHB on Loewe, but
now returned to the forward line while Darcy and Wynd won the rucks
against Loewe, exhausted Everitt parked at full-forward for the final
stanza. Two rapid Footscray goals to open the term, Grant a great
left-foot snap and Nathan Brown roving in the goalsquare, started the
Saint jitters. Grant's vision picked out Dimattina for a mark and goal.
Dimattina and fellow winger Johnson had huge final terms. Hudson led and
marked 40m out. "Bloody Hudson never misses," said my gloomy Saint pal.
Huddo duly kicked on the full, but a bit later Garlick speared a running
sausage, cutting the Stakilda lead to 7 points. St. Kilda knuckled down
and a tight, pack-bound spell ensued before they finally managed an
attack, Everitt marked and converted to relieve the pressure. But direct
from the restart the Dogs attacked, Grant recovered first from a marking
contest and banged the gap back to 7 points. The Pups were exactly a
goal down when Darcy swung his free kick into space for Grant to lead,
mark and kick the pressure goal from 35m. Scores level, Dimattina found
Grant on the lead again and he clutched a sliding chest mark. A tougher
shot than his previous one, it missed but the Dogs were in front. St.
Kilda got a late chance but Everitt spilled a mark on the lead. He
mightn't have made the distance anyway. Siren and the Dogs rejoiced
while Saint backman Max Hudghton burst into tears, a picture plastered
all over the Saturday morning press.

The Bulldogs received terrific service from tough Scotty West all night,
he had 39 disposals this time with 21 handpasses. Hudson worked hard,
booting 3 goals from 12 kicks and Jose Romero kicked 3 first-half goals
with 24 disposals altogether. The sound of rain on the roof was enough
to inspire Tony Liberatore, he played well on Jones early and Davis
later for 24 touches. His partner in fines Nathan Brown also had 24
possies and a goal. Brad Johnson got 11 kicks in the last quarter for a
total of 22, 30 disposals altogether. Chris Grant's 3 final-quarter
goals won the game. Smith kicked 2 goals during a spell at full-forward
in the second quarter. Rob Harvey celebrated his return for the Saints
with 28 disposals and a goal, although he tired badly towards the
finish. Nathan Burke worked hard again for 28 touches and a goal also,
Brett Knowles had 25 touches, 10 marks and a goal. Loewe showed his best
form for a while with 9 marks and 2 goals, the wonderfully cool Thompson
(19 touches, 2 goals) was a handy contributor. Hudghton had a good game
in defence. Blake made a decent debut with 14 disposals and a goal.
Everitt and Hall kicked 2 goals each. Watson was much better in this
week's press conference. "There were some pleasing things about our
performance, but we can't be happy with the performance overall because
we lost a game we had within our hands." Wallace said "We only had one
weapon left...if we just did gain a little bit of momentum early. We
believed St. Kilda would have gone into their huddle thinking they'd
done enough and the game was over." That's what happened.

At the MCG:
Hawthorn   3.3    8.7   10.12   14.14.98
Geelong    1.5    3.7    6.10   10.13.73

Thoughts of last year's horrendous mid-season slump returned for Cat
fans as they were well-beaten by the keen young Hawkers. Problems
Thompson dismissed as "a bad day" last week were there again; the Cats
entered their forward 50m 70 times to Hawthorn's 48, but the lumbering
inadequacy of Mooney and Stoneham in particular, Mensch too (to a lesser
degree) was exposed by the excellent Hawk backmen. The absence of
injured Ronnie Burns didn't help the Cats either. A sharp contrast with
the athletic young Hawk fowards, led by Nick Holland. Going in the Horks
lost Shane Crawford with a hamstring injury, Craig Treleven replaced
him. For Geelong Burns missed with a hamstring and so did Matt Scarlett
with an ankle injury, Paul Corrigan was dropped. However Glen Kilpatrick
was back from injury and Simon Arnott recalled, there was also a Cat
debutant in Daniel Foster, a tall teenage defender from Port Adelaide
Magpies.

After Hork Barlow's running goal in the first minute the Cats did plenty
of attacking for no scoreboard result. In steady rain Harford swept up a
loose ball for another Hawthorn gol. Geelong's Dave Clarke wasted a
golden opportunity, marking Hocking's pass 30m out right in front he
played on and hooked on the full. Trent Croad, playing in attack to
start, recovered first from marking contest and punted Horforn 19 points
up. Geelong's first goal came when Hawk Holland turned over possession
with a poor handpass, David Mensch marked and booted it through from
50m. The rain ceased and two quick Hawthorn goals opened the second
term, Holland finding Croad on the lead, then Croad's handpass sent
Harford in to blast from point blank. Hawks by 22 points. The Cats
received a lifeline when Paul Salmon was reported for the first time in
his career (charge withdrawn since), a clumsy shepherd as the Hawks
cleared their defence. Mooney had the free kick and 50m penalty which he
converted. But Holland juggled a one-handed mark in front of McGrath and
goaled, John Barker marked and sausaged as the Hawks retained control.
Kilpatrick roved to Mensch and slotted, but Hocking gave away a 50m
penalty when crashing late into a marking contest. Holland converted it
into six points to give the Hawks a hefty 5-goal lead at the long break.

The Hawk dominance continued in the opening minutes of the third term,
Barker missed a shot and Holland postered. But Geelong had a dip at
last. Tristan Lynch made a difference, he roved a pack and weaved nicely
for a long shot which bounced through. Barker replied for Hawthorn,
leading and marking. Foster gave Barker a gentle push in frustration
which sent Barker sprawling, a 50m penalty and easy major the result.
But the Cats pressed on, Simon Arnott roved to Mensch for a nice pick-up
and goal. Ben Graham, moved to full-forward now, led, marked and
sausaged to cap off a good build-up and Geelong trailed by 18 points. A
controversial mark/free kick to Hawk Glen Bowyer handed them a 4-goal
lead at the final rest. Cats booted two quick goals to open the final
term, Arnott with a rover's special and a smothered kick led to Houlihan
snapping truly. Now Geelers were 14 points behind. Hawthorn again found
something, Harford roved brilliantly at CHF and snapped towards goal,
Lekkas arrived to scuff it through with a scrape of the studs. Very
tight for some time, but still the Cats' inability to take a mark proved
costly. Eventually Riccardi did that and pumped a goal from 50m, the
difference 13 points and it was 2 straight goals when the Hawk forwards
showed how to take a grab. Nathan Thompson clutched a good one, his shot
fell into the goalsquare where Holland marked strongly and converted. A
minute later Thompson again marked on 50m, from his kick Ben Dixon rode
the pack for a chest-marked screamer in the teeth of goal. He kicked
truly and when Croad goaled a little later it was over.

Big game for Hawks' CHF Nick Holland who took 13 grabs, 6 in a contested
situation as they're called when an opponent's nearby, and had 19 kicks
for 3 goals. At the back another tall Hawk, Jon Hay, dealt with a number
of opponents and often pushed forward. On the ball Dan Harford had 23
disposals and kicked 2 goals, half-forward Kris Barlow took 7 marks and
kicked a goal. Tony Woods tagged Hocking and had 27 touches, Rock had
22. Trent Croad booted 3 goals and John Barker was useful with 2 goals.
Geelong's better players were on-ballers and midfielders Glen Kilpatrick
(27 disposals, a goal), ruckman Steven King (25 hitouts, 17 kicks) and
Simon Arnott made a difference after half-time, finishing with 24
disposals and 3 goals. Winger Pete Riccardi had 19 touches with a goal
and took 8 marks, rover Spriggs and Brad Sholl in defence were alright,
but in attack they struggled. Mooney, Mensch and Stoneham took 8 marks
between them for a combined 2 goals, one of those from a free kick. As
Thompson noted "We went inside 50 a lot more times than them, but we
never converted it into goals or took marks and that was disappointing."
Schwabby said "I was worried (midway through the last quarter). I
thought maybe momentum was going with them, so that's why from our point
of view it's a good win because that's the first time we have had a
challenge when we've led and stood up."

At Football Park:
Adelaide         4.2    7.6   11.9   19.11.125
North Melbourne  7.3   12.6   16.9   19.14.128

The restoration of Wayne Carey to the Roo line-up was a big part of
their narrow win over the Camrys, who stormed home after appearing
headed for a thrashing midway through the game. One change for the Cows,
James Byrne dropped for Brett Burton's return. The Kangas also had Glen
Archer back from suspension and picked David Calthorpe, outgoing were
discarded trio Anderson, Watt and Hewitt.

After an even start Sydneyroo coach Pagan pulled the move, bringing
Spider Burton on to ruck and pushing McKernan forward. With Burton
feeding the Roo small men, McKernan immediately booted 2 goals and Carey
bagged 3 in-a-row after quarter time as part of an eight-goal Norf run.
Quick rover Brent Harvey was kicking sausages too and the Kangars led by
47 points midway through the third quarter. McLeod and the Corollas'
Brett Burton led the third-term fightback and into the final quarter
Ricciuto, Johnson, Edwards and ruckman Biglands joined in as the Roos
slowed to a walk. Carey had gone off with cramp, officially, but returnd
as the Camrys booted the last 5 goals on the match. Peter Vardy kicked 3
of those. At Docklands we were shown the (eventual) final score and told
there were 40 seconds remaining. Then they switched the TVs off. Handy.

Carey booted 6 goals in his comeback, from 9 marks and 18 kicks. Matthew
Burton relieved some of the red faces in the Roo recruiting department
with his best game to date, 35 hitouts on top of 12 disposals and a
goal. He allowed McKernan to play as a permanent forward and boot 4
goals from 7 marks. Rover Brent Harvey also bagged 4 goals and had 28
possessions, fellow midfielders Bell (34 disposals, 17 of each) and Adam
Simpson (31 touches) were also very good. Wingers David King (26
touches) and Shane Clayton (24) played well. The Cows' best was probably
Mark Ricciuto again, 31 disposals spread evenly across the game. Runner
Kane Johnson got the ball a hefty 37 times with 8 marks and back-flanker
Simon Goodwin had 20 kicks and also took 8 grabs. Vardy booted 5 goals
from 9 kicks, forward-flanker Tyson Edwards had 20 touches (11 in the
last quarter) and kicked a goal. Ben Hart had 7 kicks in the final term
for a total of 17. Darren Jarman, who's made noises about retiring after
a few poor games, booted 4 goals in the first 3 quarters. Scott Welsh
punted 3 goals and Ian Perrie 2. Can't find a quote from Ayres - no bad
thing - but Pagan said "We probably went into hold mode or
self-preservation mode, and we made a couple of silly mistakes.
Momentum's a wonderful thing and the Crows (sic) could easily have
stolen it."

At Colonial:
Richmond    3.4    9.7   11.10   11.13.79
West Coast  2.6    3.8    6.14    9.16.70

A scrappy game of attrition in which the Tiges outlasted the
not-so-quickly finishing Eagles, both teams depleted by injury. Still,
it meant four wins from five for the Tiges while the Eagles again
struggled at Docklands. The Tigers went in without defender Darren
Gaspar, out for a month with a fractured eye-socket and ruckman Brendon
Gale with a back injury. Leon Cameron returned from a broken wrist and
tall defender Royce Vardy was drafted in from the rookie list for his
first game, he's from Gippsland club Devon-Welshpool-Wron Wron Woodside
via St. Kilda reserves. The Eagles had Peter Matera return from injury
but lost brilliant All-Australian back pocket David Wirrpunda, a
recurrence of foot stress-fractures which plagued his early career. They
also lost Guy McKenna with what's thought to be a serious back problem.
Josh Wooden got a run.

Roof open on a cool night and the Eagles started well, their tall
forwards threatening with Cummings, Gehrig and Gardiner marking early.
Unfortunately for them only Gardiner could kick straight, Cummings with
two misses. Later the Weegels abandoned delivering the ball and bombed
it in, which helped Richmond a lot. Holland booted Richmond's first
sausage, an excellent set shot from 50m, Daffy converted a free kick for
being held. Vardy punted forward where Rogers spilled the mark but
wheeled and soccered it through from 25m. Phil Matera got one for the
West Coast before kwarter time. Richmond won the game in the second
term. Ottens thrashed Gardiner in the ruck and roving half-backs Hilton
and Biddiscombe were very good. Ottens, who went to full-forward after
each centre bounce, led and marked for the first goal, Dragicevic roved
and hooked a left-footer through on the first bounce. An Eagle turnover
in the middle saw Knights pick out Holland's lead, Nick's brother booted
another 50m special. The Tiggers led by 22 points. Cummings missed again
before Phil Matera kicked a great goal, gathering a loose ball and
baulking around a tackle, then snapping perfectly. Tiges by 16 points
but they kicked 3 goals in the last 4 minutes of the half. A series of
rapid handballs saw Daffy steer it through from a narrow angle, Holland
roved Ottens's tap from a throw-in and grubbed a snap for six, from the
restart (won by Ottens again) Broderick booted to the goalsquare where
Rogers wrestled with Metropolis and soccer-volleyed spectacularly. Handy
35-point lead at half-time although Richmond lost Harrison with a
hamstring.

Eagle coach Judge made a few telling changes to start the second half.
Turnbull went into the ruck, McIntosh moved to CHF, Symmons went down
back and Wooden came on to tag Knights, although Wooden ended up with
plenty of touches himself. Peter Matera marked well over Chaffey and
kicked just as skilfully for an early goal. Holland almost messed up the
Tiger reply, running in he fired off a panicky handpass to Broderick and
received one back unexpectedly, but snapped accurately on the left. A
moment later Rogers copped a high one from Rintoul as he marked in the
centre, Rintoul was reported (stiff) and Rogers converted with the aid
of the 50m penalty. Tiges by an impregnable 43 points. However the Eagle
midfield was winning now and they kept coming. And missing shots, four
in a row with Gardiner and McIntosh the worst before reliable Phil
Matera intervened, his chase forced a poor clearance by Bourke, Phil
marked the return pass and converted. Phil also had a hand, literally,
in the next Eagle goal with a great tap-on allowing Gehrig to speed
forward, exchange handpasses with McIntosh and dribble it through from
point-blank. Gap down to 27 points and if Jones hadn't missed woefully
from very close it could've been closer at the final break. The Eagles
went into the final term without Peter Matera, injured (or maybe he saw
the ghost of Nathan Bower) and Gardiner was hobbling. Vardy did well to
spoil early but his hurried kick went to Cousins, he found Wooden to
boot a lovely long goal. Cousins found Cummings on the lead, big
Scotty's kick was a shocker but Embley soared for a huge grab and
banana-ed it for a sausage, Tiges by 16 points. Now Richmond lost Ottens
with an ankle, leaving Holland their only recognised 'tall'. Phil Matera
majored again, a fantastic half-volley roving the pack and it were 10
points the diff. Tiger Dunc Kellaway kicked on the full in his backline
but Embley missed the difficult shot, that was the last score. Phew.

Young ruckman/forward Brad Ottens was very good for Richmond with 18
hitouts, 11 disposals and a goal. Roaming half-backs Rory Hilton (23
disposals) and Craig Biddiscombe (21) played well. Captain Matty Knights
had 28 disposals as he worked hard on the ball and the Kellaways were to
the fore again, Andrew had 21 disposals with 11 marks and Duncan tagged
Cousins effectively for 26 touches. In attack Ben Holland did well to
boot 4 goals and have 22 handlings, Matthew Rogers snaggled 3 goals from
6 kicks. Daffy kicked 2 goals. Vardy's debut was a decent one with 12
touches and 4 marks. For the Eagles Phillip Matera was very good, their
only effective forward with 4 goals from 17 possessions with 6 marks.
Rowan Jones did a great job on Tiger Joel Bowden, 18 touches being one
more than his in-form oppoenent. Experienced midfielders Dean Kemp (30
disposals) and Peter Matera (21, a goal) played well and Chad Morrison's
bursts from the backline were eye-catching, although he was a chief
offender in the 'bombing' category. He had 24 disposals and took 11
marks. Forward Andrew Embley looks a likely type, he had 11 disposals
and kicked a goal. Cummings kicked 0.4 and Gehrig, after his unusual
week, managed only 6 kicks and one goal. No words available from the
coaches.

At the Gabba:
Brisbane     7.2    8.6   14.8   22.14.146
Collingwood  6.0   10.1   15.5    18.9.117

TV's Drew Morphett called it "an absolute rip-tickler", whatever that
means. I enjoyed it but didn't laugh 'til my sides split and Mick
Malthouse didn't either. In the press conference he abandoned his
'genial genius' persona for the surly, journo-hating Mick we've all come
to know as the game Pies were overrun in the final minutes, giving 'em a
Shaw-like run of four losses on the back of five consecutive wins. In
selection the Lions welcomed back big men Justin Leppitsch after
suspension, Alistair Lynch and Dick Champion. Rover Marcus Ashcroft
missed with a cork thigh, ending his streak of 170 consecutive games.
That's the longest of any current player, dating back to late 1992.
Other Lions out were youngster Brown and forward Bradshaw, both dropped.
The Maggies lost talls, Sav Rocca with a hammy and teenage ruckman Josh
Fraser "rested", Adkins was out with concussion and Gav Brown copped the
axe. Replacements were Ben Kinnear, James Wasley, Brent Tuckey and Heath
Scotland.

Drew was trying to imply that there were a lot of goals equally
distributed and he was right. Lions Mick Voss and Luke Power booted the
first two, from a mark and ruckman McDonald's handpass respectively. The
Pies got a pair, Freeborn pouncing on Heuskes's errant handpass, then
Buckley picking out Tuckey on the lead. Bucks had 15 disposals (13
kicks) in the first term. Goals alternated and it was 4.0 each before
the Lions pinched a break. Al Lynch advented after starting on the bench
and immediately took a strong grab and converted, Magpie Johnson's poor
handball allowed Lynch to send Power in for his third major of the
quarter, Kennedy landed a long shot and the Lions led by 20 points, the
biggest lead until the final part of the match. Buckley dragged the Pies
back at the first break with a nice roving snap, then he cleared the
restart (he did that a lot) and the ball ended with Tony Rocca via
Tarrant for a goal after the siren. Pies had the better of the second
term with a good open forward line featuring Tarrant as the key, Burns
did that in the centre. In contrast the Lion attack was far too crowded.
Brizzy's Power kicked the first goal, a free for bawl against Williams.
The Pie Plan was evident a bit later, their version of soccer's Route
One as a huge Buckley kick-in was marked in the middle by Burns, a quick
long kick and Tarrant marked, goal. Another long Burns kick and Ukovic
marked and golled, Tarrant's long punt and Mark Richardson grabbed and
converted, Pies in front by 4 points. Lion captain Voss limped off with
a rolled ankle and their McDonald missed a couple of shots before
Scragpie Lockyer held a tough grab and found unmarked Tony Rocca all too
easily for the half-ending score.

Continued tightness into the third. Early Brisbane goals from Lynch and
Akermanis, Lambert with a good handpass to create that one, were
answered by Ukovic and Tuckey with Tarrant having an important hand in
both. From the bounce after Tuckey's major Scotland booted the Maggies
forward and Tuckey clutched a spectacular grab, almost killing himself.
He missed, Collingwood led by 9 points. Brisbane surged, they went
end-to-end from the kick-in and Black, hitherto well-tagged by Orchard,
sausaged. Black had another when Orchard tackled him 'round the head,
Brisbane led by 3 points. Voss returned with a heavily strapped ankle
and Lynch led to Akermanis's pass, marked and punted truly. Brisbane by
8. The see sawed and back came the Poies, too many Lions in the square
at the restart and Tuckey grabbed and converted. The excellent Tarrant
passed to Tony Rocca and he booted the Maggies back in front, by 3
points. They stayed there when Rocca again goaled late, after McRae got
one for the Kings Of The Jungle. But the Lions romped away in the final
term, the Pies tired badly and a problem they'd had in the ruck all day
became terminal. Heuskes opened the last stanza with a running goal from
50m, Brisbane led by 2. Behinds from McRae, Hart and Lynch (a shocker)
delayed the knockout before Voss was paid a dubious mark and smashed his
kick 60m for the full six. Straight from the bounce Power gathered and
slotted it from 50, Brisbane by 17 points. The Maggies weren't done,
Freeborn booted the next major and then wasted a good build-up with a
woeful banana-kick. Later a great Burns goal narrowed the margin to 9
points, but Brisbane ended the contest with the next four sausages.
Black roved, Lynch soccered from a tight angle, Chris Scott punished a
tired Lockyer kick and Picken snapped a good one. A 5-goal lead.

A very even team performance by the Lions, but coach Matthews singled
out Voss (25 disposals, 2 goals) for coming back injured and having 13
disposals including the huge goal in the final term. Luke Power lurked
about for a career-best 6 goals from 14 kicks and the running of
Akermanis (19 disposals, a goal) was useful. Goalsneak Craig McRae
played on the ball for 22 disposals and a goal. Chris Scott played on
Buckley and wasn't too effective in stopping the Pie skipper, but did
get the ball 28 times himself and kicked a goal. Heuskes was good with
20 disposals and a goal, Al Lynch booted 4 goals and Simon Black booted
3 goals in the last 40 minutes of the game. Buckley had 39 disposals
this time, not bad considering he played the second quarter at
full-forward, kicking one goal. Very impressed by Chris Tarrant, who
covered a lot of territory in booting 3 goals and had a hand in numerous
others with 11 marks and 23 possessions. Other big Pie forwards Tony
Rocca (9 marks, 4 goals) and Brent Tuckey (7 marks, 3 goals) were
prominent and in the middle Scott Burns (29 touches, 2 goals) was very
good too. Freeborn poached 2 goals but you'd struggle to find a Pie
winnner outside those, although Lockyer (22 touches) was handy once
more. Perhaps Orchard on Black. "You can say what you like about the
game as a spectacle , as far as I'm concerned along with the rest of the
match committee and players, I'm very disappointed with the way we
played the last quarter. Very disappointed. We broke a lot of our team
rules. Blame experience or what you like, we allowed them to kick too
many goals," growled Malthouse. Then he snarled at a dopey question
about the ruck. Matthews said "Our tackling effort numbers were very
high and our effective tackles were high too. I thought our forwards
made it hard for them to bring the ball out." With plenty of home games
to come they could climb rapidly.

At Subiaco:
Fremantle  3.2    7.4    10.4     13.4.82
Carlton    5.7   10.12   18.18   21.21.147

Much as the Dockers fire at Colonial, or 'Dockerlands', so the Blues
enjoy visiting Subiaco. They outplayed Fremantle from start to finish,
never looking under serious threat. In selection the Dockers lost Adrian
Fletcher with a fractured cheekbone, Jess Sinclair replaced him. The
Blues lost Matthew Lappin with the 'flu and dropped Brett Backwell for
Ang Christou and Ben Nelson.

The Blues bounced out to a 3-goal lead, helped by some Freo errors, and
never looked back. Allan converted a soft ruck free, Docker Parker's
kick-in went down Freeborn's throat for a goal and Fevola soccered one
after Walker was harshly pinged for bawl. Waterhouse snapped Freo's
first but another poor Parker kick-in allowed Bradley to snap a sausage.
Waterhouse and Koops, the Freo forward line, bagged a goal each before
quarter time, sandwiching one by Hulme. The Blues were terrific in-close
and in the centre, Allan and Ratten very good while the other
midfielders handled with surety under pressure and tackled fiercely
whenever a Docker happened upon the ball. Hamill marked and converted to
open the second, a series of Blue misses followed before Fremantle's
only decent spell. Luke Toia blasted a long kick home and the Shockers
fired up a bit, Shipp marked by the behind post and centred for Bandy to
convert, Koops chipped a very short pass to leading Waterhouse who
punted the gap down to 8 points. But Franchina wobbled a kick through
for Carlton's reply, Koutoufides went to full-forward and goaled, then
handballed for Hulme to do likewise. From the restart Bradley and Hulme
sent the ball forward for a sausage to Freeborn, Blues by 33 points.
Fremantle lost a potential chance just before half time when, after
Bootsma had snapped a goal, Waterhouse missed on the siren. A goal
would've made it 21 points the diff.

The third stanza of any Carlton game is now the Kouta Quarta. Still at
full-forward he nudged young Leigh Brown under the ball and doubled back
for the first gol of the term. After Hamill snaggled a sausage Kouta
bagged two more, on the lead to Camporeale's pass, then a free kick for
a push from Brown. The Bluebaggers led by 52 points and were more than
double Fremantle's score. Bandy went back onto Koutoufides. Freeborn and
Adrian Hickmott added to the gathering massacre before Freo managed
consecutive goals, a good snap from Brad Dodd and nice combination
between Pavlich and Waterhouse. Freo's Hasleby inspired that burst but
he was forced to the bench and Carlton booted two more goals, Simon
Fletcher and Hickmott. Didn't pay much attention to the last term - who
wants to see Carlton booting heaps of goals? - but Fremantle at least
maintained parity before Allan goaled in the final 30 seconds thanks to
a 50m penalty. Waterhouse bagged another one to finish with six.

Koutoufides booted 4 goals and racked up another hefty total of
possessions, 32 with 8 marks. Brett Ratten was fantastic on the ball,
the major contributor to a dominant Blue midfield with 36 disposals.
Kicked 4 behinds though. Camporeale ran about for 31 touches and a goal
and backman Andy McKay played well again with 21 touches. Forward Adrian
Hamill covered much ground in getting 24 disposals, 7 marks and 2 goals,
lardy Lance Whitnall took 9 marks and had 20 disposals. No goals though.
Craig Bradley had 27 disposals and kicked a goal. For a while he was
opposed by Hasleby, at 18 exactly half Braddles's age. Scott Freeborn
bagged 3 goals from 22 possies and there were two goals each for Hulme,
Fevola, Allan and Hickmott. Enigmatic Docker Clive Waterhouse booted 6.1
from 9 kicks, his pace and strength a worry for Glenn Manton. The
Dockers just couldn't get it down to him enough. Paul Hasleby (30
disposals) was their best midfielder and Luke Toia (27, a goal) wasn't
bad either, but the rest struggled. Dan Bandy played alright in defence
with 20 touches and 9 marks (and a gol), Brad Bootsma attacked the ball
hard for 15 touches and a goal, ruckman Justin Longmuir was an
improvement on struggling Michael. But Drum summed it up. "They
(Carlton) were pretty comprehensive. Our blokes never threw it in which
was good but we certainly learned a lot today about where we are and
where we want to be." Parkin praised his proxy. "Tactically Wayne
Brittain produced a pretty good game plan for today. Our match-ups were
pretty much right and our work rate was the best we've had for the
year."

At the MCG:
Melbourne  2.6    5.11   9.14   13.15.93
Essendon   3.3    8.5   12.11   15.16.106

Melbourne came closer than anyone so far to derailing the runaway
Essendon train, but in the end even the enthusiastic Dees couldn't stop
the Bummers' Jurassic collection of monsters in the forward line. The
Bombers complained of tiredness with this being their third game in 12
days. Melbourne teased by picking Farmer but he wasn't fit, they dropped
Stephen Pitt for Nathan Brown. Essendon lost full-back Fletcher with a
groin strain and forward Blumfield with a corked hip, replacements were
Dean Wallis and Danny Jacobs.

Folks heeded Demon coach Daniher's urgings and 62,606 turned up to see
the game. Beforehand Demon president Joe Gutnick launched an attack on
the AFL Commission and in particular its chairman, Ron Evans. Evans owns
the catering company who do the food and drink at Colonial, although a
conflict of interest seems a pre-requisite rather than a hinderance to
being on the commission. Anyway, Joe's team were fired up and attacked
incessantly in the early stages with Woewodin and Leoncelli doing the
prompting. Their Powell thumped the opening goal, Heffernan landed a
long shot in reply but the Dee crowd was roaring when Jeff White held a
huge grab at CHF. White, carrying an injury, played most of the game in
the forward line with Troy Simmonds rucking. Missed shots proved costly
for the Dees and Essendon had the lead at quarter-time. Melbourne booted
a couple of early goals in the second stanza to grab the lead but Lloyd
fixed that, responding with 3 quick goals of his own to keep the Dons
ahead at the long break. Again melbourne had plenty of the ball but
failed to convert, White and Schwarz the offenders. Lloyd kicked another
goal early in the third and Daniher shifted his man, Neitz, to full
forward. Neita responded with 2 goals to bring the Dees within 9 points,
but Lloyd was awarded a controversial mark right on the third-quarter
siren - not sure if he got it before or after - and converted to send
the Bombers in 15 points up at the last change. The Demons lost White
for the last term and two early bombs, from Lucas and Hird, extended the
Bommer lead to 5 goals. Melbourne pressed all the way home from there,
but couldn't make it.

Big game again from Bomber captain James Hird, 33 disposals (24 kicks),
12 marks and 2 goals as he cruised about. Matt Lloyd managed 6 goals in
the first 3 quarters, from 7 marks and 13 kicks. The rest of the kudos
belong to the Fletcher-less backline, led by tough Hardwick (21
touches), reliable Paul Barnard (18) and Wallis who played alright on
Schwarz with 18 disposals and 6 marks. Mercuri and Moorcroft bagged 2
goals each. The Demons had good service midfield from Andrew Leoncelli
(26 touches), although he was on Hird for a while, and Shane Woewodin
(23 touches). Anthony Ingerson kept Lucas quiet for most of the game and
spent the last quarter-and-a-half on Lloyd, holding him to 1 goal.
Hard-running backman Peter Walsh (20 disposals) played well and lanky
Brent Grgic showed some form with 22 possies and 8 marks. Russ Robertson
kicked 3 goals, two in the last quarter and there were two majors each
for Schwarz, Neitz and White. But the were unable to exploit Fletcher's
absence effectively. Daniher said "Our endeavour was really good...we
overused the ball through the middle without getting it down forward
quickly enough." Sheedy seemed to appreciate a relatively close one.
"That game will be really good for us. It will test our strength and how
deep desire goes when you are tired."

At the SCG:
Sydney         5.5    9.8   12.11   16.15.111
Port Adelaide  6.1    7.5    9.10   11.19.85

Sydney ended their losing run and no doubt initiated another bout of
teeth-gnashing and shirt-ripping at Alberton. The Swans needed some good
news after learning during the week that skipper Paul Kelly won't play
this season, his fractured kneecap failing to heal quickly enough. The
Bloods made two changes in selection, dropping rookies Fitzgerald and
Kirk for veterans Brett Allison and Brad Seymour, the latter back after
suspension. Seymour was playing his 100th game. Port hoped to have
Wanganeen back but he wasn't, however defenders Darren Mead and Jared
Poulton were included, they replaced injured Wilson and dropped Bishop.

Not the greatest contest, by all accounts. Port capitalised on some
sloppy Swan errors in the first quarter for some of their goals. Roger
James skipped through a couple of tackles for one and no-one bothered to
try and touch a long shot from Harwood, Cresswell turned over possession
for a goal to Burgoyne. But the Swans had some decent forwards
themselves, Adam Goodes took a series of strong grabs and kicked 4 goals
in the first half, small man Robbie AhMat got some kicks at last and
found the sticks - both varieties, unfortunately for Siddey. After
quarter time Port kicked themselves out of the game, a woeful 5.18. Once
again they lacked a decent target in attack, Swan full-back Dunkley
proving impassable. Third quarters have been miserable recently for the
Swans, this one was better in that they stretched their lead, even
though the standard of footy was not great. Power coach Williams moved
Chad Cornes to full-forward for the final stanza and he fired, his
running goal cut the Swan lead to 7 points. But a long Cresswell shot
steadied the home team and they went on from there.

Andrew Dunkley clutched a terrific 15 marks at full-back for the Swans
and conceded just 2 goals in an outstanding leader's game, something
they've been missing in Coathanger City. The Age describes his game as
'King Canute-like'. Goodes finished with 4 goals from 7 marks and 16
possessions, Robbie AhMat snaggled 5.5 from 14 kicks. The other key Swan
contributors were on-ballers Jude Bolton, a goer with 14 hard-won
touches and a goal, and veteran Cresswell who had 35 disposals and
kicked a goal. Port's better players were speedy midfielders Peter
Burgoyne (20 disposals, 2.3) and Nick Stevens (27 disposals, 1.2), Adam
Kingsley picked up 23 touches and kicked a goal off the back of the
centre square. Brett Montgomery played well in defence again for 19
disposals with 10 marks and back-pocket Poulton had 18 touches with 8
marks. Schofield kicked 2 goals. Chief offenders in front of the sticks
were Burgoyne, although at least he kicked straight twice, Stevens,
Primus and of course Warren Tredrea (0.2). Williams didn't try to use
babies as an excuse this time. "At the ten-minute mark of the last
quarter we had opportunities to win the game and we didn't take them.
It's been a bit of a continual saga for us. After quarter-time we kicked
5.18, which is diabolical in the conditions." Eade sensed a turnaround.
"I don't think it was the greatest game on earth. But I think the fact
we won every quarter (except the first, Rocket), the fact they got back
within a goal in the last quarter and we were able to kick away and win
by a bit over four goals is a good sign."