AFL Preliminary Finals


It's Essendon and, for the first time, the Brisbane Lions in the Big One
next week. After the upsets of last weekend the form held true this
time, although the Dons were pretty lucky to scrape past Hawthorn in
their prelim. Brisbane had no trouble with the Tigers, as many suspected
they wouldn't. They enter the Big One on the back of a fifteen-game
winning streak and one slight injury concern, a sore knee or calf for
forward Daniel Bradshaw. The Dons have more worries, they copped
injuries to James Hird and Mark Mercuri on Saturday and although Sheedy
reckons both will play, Mercuri (ankle) at least is very doubtful.
They've been the best two sides this year though, and it should be a
good game.


The collapse of Ansett prompted the AFL to re-think the fixture for next
year, they're proposing to scrap the pre-season competition and extend
the season-proper by two games to a total of 24, with an earlier start
and some officially-sanctioned practice matches beforehand. Not a bad
idea. St. Kilda surprised no-one by appointing Grant Thomas as coach,
with a three-year contract. Formerly the football manager with the
Saints until stepping in when Blight was sacked, Thomas played 72 games
between St. Kilda and North Melbourne (most with the Saints) and his
previous coaching experience is with rural Victorian side North
Warrnambool and a Melbourne Amateur side, Old Ivanhoe I think. As
mentioned in earlier reports, if the Saints don't improve rapidly the
board will look even more foolish. Thomas's reign hasn't started well
with forward Barry Hall announcing he wants to leave the club. In the
other coaching vacancies current Hawthorn assistant Chris Connolly is
allegedly strong favourite to take over at Fremantle, while West Coast
continue to pursue John Worsfold keenly.


Adelaide's Andrew McLeod is a warm favourite for tonight's Brownlow
Medal, ahead of Brisbane skipper and 1996 co-winner Michael Voss. Voss
isn't attending the count as the leg he broke in 1998 doesn't enjoy
flying. Carlton's Brett Ratten is third favourite at 7/1, he's been
heavily backed in recent days. Speaking of Carlton, two of their players
were involved in the first post-season 'incident' yet reported. Brendan
Fevola and Ryan Houlihan decided to try on some clothes in a North
Melbourne dry-cleaners on their way home from an all-nighter last
Tuesday, prompting the intervention of the constabulary. Fevola was
fined $8,000 by his club and Houlihan $3,000, it being Fevola's third
such 'incident' this season. Perhaps they can trade him to St. Kilda for
Hall...


At the MCG:
Essendon   4.2   8.7   8.8   11.10.76
Hawthorn   2.6   2.7   5.11   9.13.67


Essadun fell over the line against the luckless Hawks on a warm, humid
day at Headquarters. The Dons seemed home at half-time but stopped to a
walk, the Horks came only for some shonky disposal and injured forwards
to restrict them. With 5 minutes remaining a Trent Croad bomb glanced
off the post, a goal would've put the Horks in front. Two quick Don
goals sealed it. They'll have Lloyd back for the Big One but have injury
worries over Mark Mercuri and Jim Hird. Hawthorn improved by a step on
last season, when they went out at the semi-final stage against North.
The Hawks stumbled into the finals but the return of injured players
showed just how good they can be at full-strength - like the early part
of the year when they won the first eight. Later on they struggled when
key players were injured. Two excellent young Hawks emerged in Steven
Greene and Nathan Lonie. They should be up there again next season. In
initial selection the Dons plucked Sheedy love-child Dean Wallis from
VFL obscurity to replace the suspended Matthew Lloyd, only for Wallis to
withdraw the day before. Wallis's decision apparently, he's battled
hamstring and back complaints all season and last played in the seniors
in round 4. In the end Mark Bolton replaced Lloyd. Hawthorn were
unchanged from last weekend's win over Port.


A very warm and, as I mentioned, humid day greeted the players and
86,468 punters in the stands. Sans Lloyd, the Bummers started Jim Hird
and Scott Lucas in attack, they were opposed by Jon Hay and Jade
Rawlings respectively. The main talking-point of the first term was the
umpiring, there were 19 free-kicks awarded prior to quarter-time. They
split fairly evenly but the four frees given to Don forwards inside
their attacking 50m had the Hawk fans screaming in anger. With
justification. Hawthorn appeared to have a pace edge early, with Shane
Crawford busy, and managed a couple of attacks for rushed points. Don
defender Damien Hardwick was forced off when he toppled out of a pack
and met the ground head-first. Lucas received the first of those
within-range frees for the Bombers, on-the-shoulder against Rawlings,
but he missed. Moments later Don ruckman Steve Alessio grabbed a
throw-in and snapped the first goal. Another Don free-kick 30m out, to
Paul Barnard, also resulted in a point. Some justice, I suppose. The
Hawks kept running but Tony Woods and Shane Crawford missed shots, an
Angelo Lekkas snap postered as the Horks trudged along to 0.5 before the
Dons converted a free-kick, finally. It was Steve Alessio again, for a
push-out against Rawlings. Essadun by 9 points. The Hawks managed a goal
when Adrian Cox ran downfield to accept Crawford's pass and bang it home
from 50m. The Bommers replied through yet another free-kick, a technical
in-the-back to Chris Heffernan. And the umpires intervened on the Dons'
behalf again to hand them a 14-point lead, Hawk Luke McCabe adjudged to
have restrained Dean Rioli on the lead. Rioli kicked the goal. Three
crucial ankle injuries were suffered now, in the space of two minutes.
The first to depart was Bomber forward Mark Mercuri followed by Hawk
forwards Ben Dixon and John Barker. Only Dixon managed to return later.
In the shadow of quarter-time Don Dean Solomon roved a pack but
handpassed directly to Crawford, Crawford handballed for Nick Holland to
snap a goal.


Things went much more smoothly for the Bombers in the second term, they
slowed the pace of the game and Hawthorn's midfield disappeared, Mark
McVeigh silencing Crawford. Without Barker (especially) and Dixon the
Hawks had problems up forward. The umps put the whistles away too,
ignoring two rather obvious frees in the first minute. Consistency. Very
early Hawk big man Nathan Thompson ran into an open goal but his
left-foot dribbly-kick trickled wide. It proved to be the Hawks' only
score for the term. The Dons whipped the kick-in down to the other end,
only for Lucas to miss again. No mind, Blake Caracella took a good mark
from the kick-in and centred the ball for leading Justin Blumfield to
mark and convert. Lucas missed again before Adam Ramanauskas picked out
Caracella on the lead, he grabbed and goaled. The Dons cleared the
restart, through the excellent Dean Solomon, Caracella marked again but
kicked on-the-full. No mind, Ramanauskas flew for the Hawk free,
gathered the spillage and handballed for Sean Wellman, galloping down
from defence, to slot on the run. Dons by 27 points and in complete
control. Scott Lucas marked on the 50m-line and launched a long shot.
Hawk backman Adrian Cox soared for a big grab right on (or over) the
line, the goal-ump made to signal touched-through for a point before a
lengthy discussion with the field-ump saw a goal awarded, Lucas’s first
following four misses. Folks at the ground were certain Lucas's kick had
been touched off the boot, too. Anyway, the Dons led by 34 points now
and behinds from Solomon and Caracella made the margin exactly six goals
at the long break. James Hird limped gingerly from the field, carrying a
groin-strain. Despite barely being able to move he'd accumulated 8
touches in the centre for the quarter.


The Hawks re-discovered their running game for the third term, the
advent of Nathan Lonie from the bench a crucial factor. Horforn scored
an early sausage, Angelo Lekkas tumbled a kick forward and a couple of
quick handpasses had Tony Woods steering it through from close range.
The Hawks proceeded to dominate the next ten minutes but, as against
Port last week, failed to convert it into points. Nick Holland missed a
sitter and a long Daniel Chick effort was off-target. Finally the Hawks
scored a goal, Chick winning the ball well and setting a train of
handballs in motion, ending with Kris Barlow snapping truly from
point-blank. That cut the margin to 22 points. The Hawks continued to
waste chances with poor delivery, Trent Croad made a mess of an
opportunity that resulted in a rushed behind, misdirected passes from
Nathan Thompson and Richard Vandenberg allowed the Dons to clear the
backline. Bomber Blumfield postered from a rare Don attack. Late in the
term Hawk Ben Dixon returned to the field and immediately created a
chance for Steven Greene, who slotted a kick from the boundary-line. The
Hawks trailed by 15 points at the final change and they maintained the
momentum going into the final term, against the seemingly comatose
Bommers. Lekkas missed an early shot before Nathan Lonie gathered a
throw-in, ran quite a way without a bounce and launched a long kick.
Nathan Thompson seized a terrific pack-mark and goaled. A minute later
Nick Holland marked over Wellman and also converted, cutting the Dons'
lead to 2 points. The Bummers hadn't scored a goal since Lucas's
disputed second-quarter effort but now managed to stir. Their Jason
Johnson seized on an errant Lekkas handpass but kicked a behind only, as
did Wellman running down from defence again. Worried Sheedy pressed Jim
Hird back into the fray. It wasn't the Don skipper however, but Joe
Misiti who came to the rescue. Misiti roved a pack perfectly, played a
1-2 with Dean Solomon, ran on and kicked a superb goal to put the Dons
10 points ahead. The Hawks kept on, Essadun's Jason Johnson was caught
in possession by Lekkas, the free kick was marked behind the pack by a
surprised Ben Dixon and he converted. Back to 4 points the diff. Now
came what most regard as the defining moment, a string of Hawk short
passes ended with Vandenberg passing to Trent Croad 60m out from goal. A
noted long-kicker, Croad belted a huge drop-punt which started on-target
but drifted away and clipped the post (on the wrong side). A goal
would've put the Hawks in front, instead they trailed by 3 points. Thus
relieved the Dons attacked quickly, Paul Barnard grabbed a loose ball
and snapped, it appeared headed for a point but took a fortuitous
off-break bounce for a goal. Taken with Croad's poster, Hawk fans
must've sensed their fate. From the restart Hawthorn blew a chance, the
Don rebound was well-marked by Mark Bolton, he passed to Scott Lucas who
thumped a 55m sausage.  Essadun by 15 points and it was over. Nick
Holland booted a consolation goal for Hawthorn right on the siren.


Given the low scores in good conditions, it was a defenders' day. Dean
Solomon was terrific for the Don backline, playing on a variety of
opponents and pushing forward for 21 disposals (13 kicks) and 6 marks.
He's having a very good finals series. Damien Hardwick recovered from
his early tumble (and gashed head) to have 19 possessions and Dustin
Fletcher also rebounded very well with 10 kicks, while restricting
Thompson and Croad. Half-back Danny Jacobs (19 disposals, 9 marks) was
also pretty useful. In the centre Joe Misiti had a very good day,
gathering 27 possessions (13 kicks) and booting a crucial goal. The
maligned Scott Lucas performed well in attack with 7 marks and 12 kicks,
he booted 2.4 though which should've been better. Other Dons were
in-and-out, ruckman Steve Alessio started brilliantly with 7 touches and
2 goals in the first quarter, but was rarely sighted again. Similarly,
Blake Caracella had a big second term (5 marks, 7 disposals, a goal) but
just 5 more touches for the game. They'll need to improve next week. The
gallant Hawks provided a great team effort, very much liked the game of
fast, aggressive winger Adrian Cox (11 disposals, 5 marks, a goal) while
they also had many to praise in defence, such as Jonathan Hay who
slaughtered Hird early and went on to have 13 disposals with 5 marks.
Fellow All-Australian Joel Smith was tight on Caracella apart from that
second term. In the centre veteran Tony Woods was great again with 19
disposals (15 kicks) and a goal, he matched-up on Hird when the Bomber
skipper played in the centre. Angelo Lekkas was quite good with 17
disposals (12 kicks) although he booted 0.3, Daniel Harford worked hard
for 21 touches. Youngsters Nathan Lonie (12 kicks) and Steven Greene (12
disposals, a goal) confirmed their promise, even if they were in-and-out
a bit. The forwards were a problem, Nick Holland kicked 3 goals from 6
marks and 8 kicks but you wouldn't say he dominated.


Peter Schwab said "I thought we started well but in the second quarter
we just didn't use the ball well at all. I thought that was the telling
factor...I would have liked to have been closer at half-time, in the end
that may have been the difference...It was touch-and-go. Trent hit the
post and that may have put us in front, that might have given us that
little edge we needed...it gives you enormous confidence and momentum if
you can get to the front...We always knew if we were going to go as far
in the finals series as we have, we would have to play Essendon...So we
were always aware of that and looking forward to the opportunity and now
we've got some more confidence about ourselves playing them. We're
slowly eradicating the dominance they've had over us." Kevin Sheedy said
"I think we are pretty fortunate to be there. We showed a fair bit of
courage in coming back and not losing that game, because very rarely
would you have Hird and Mercuri and Lloyd off a forward line and still
win a preliminary final. It was a pretty courageous effort from that
point of view, but we have to play better next week...It's a shot across
your bow isn't it, a preliminary final? I think it's not bad to remind
your team of how hard it is to reach the Grand Final." Lloyd will return
of course, but Mercuri is doubtful and Hird about 70/30.


At the Gabba:
Brisbane   6.1   12.6   16.11   20.16.136
Richmond   4.1    6.4    7.5     10.8.68


It weren't nearly so close at the Gabba later in the evening, where the
Lisbon Brians reached their first-ever Grand Final by thumping a totally
outclassed Richmond side. Once again the terrific Brisbane midfield was
the key, their performance here (and the Bombers' lack-lustre one) moved
the Lions into flag favouritism in many people's eyes. The Tigers
might've over-achieved a little in reaching the prelim, if so they were
exposed here. Still, they had a good year, winning the crucial games
and, for a change, having a decent run with injury. And we put Carlton
out, that was good too. Brad Ottens emerged as a star of the future. In
selection the Lions made one change, calling up retiring defender
Matthew Kennedy to replace suspended forward Alistair Lynch. There was
much speculation over forward Daniel Bradshaw, who did little training
in the preceding week due to a calf injury, but he played. The Tigers
made two alterations, Nick Daffy was out with his dislocated shoulder
and David Bourke was dropped, in came young runners Aaron Fiora and Ezra
Poyas. Brisbane defender Darryl White played his 200th game.


With the airline system in turmoil thanks to Ansett's demise twelve
coach-loads of Tiger fans journeyed up from Melbourne, swelling the
Gabba crowd to a capacity 37,000. In perfect conditions the game started
ominously for the Tiggers, Lion skipper Michael Voss barged through a
couple of packs and forced the ball goalwards, Brad Scott seized the
loose ball and snapped a sausage. Voss also had a hand in the subsequent
centre-clearance, deep in defence Tiger Joel Bowden attempted a grubbed
kick out-of-bounds only to see the ball stay in. Lyin' Craig McRae
collected and centred the ball for team-mate Nigel Lappin to mark and
convert. Brisbun had two goals to nothing within a minute. Help! The
Tiges responded quickly - their first quarter was easily their best -
Matthew Richardson led out in front of opponent Justin Leppitsch to
gather a loose ball, wheel and deliver a good pass to Greg Tivendale, he
converted. Moments later Tivendale raced through the middle to collect a
handpass and blast a huge goal, placing Richmond in front, by a point.
Hurrah! Lion Daniel Bradshaw goaled from a free-kick against Darren
Gaspar. Richmond replied through a excellent running goal from the
rebounding Leon Cameron, capping off a string of handpasses. The Tiges'
best move of the night, unfortunately for them the Brisbane midfield was
winning already, Voss and Simon Black making light of tags from Duncan
Kellaway and Matthew Knights, respectively while Nigel Lappin was
terrific on his wing. Scores tied but Brisbane scored the next three
majors, ruckman Clark Keating marked for the first one, Voss booted one
from a too-easy pack mark in the teeth of goal and I must say I forget
who scored the other. Or I've blanked it out. Late in the term Tiger
Tivendale speared a pass onto the chest of leading skipper Wayne
Campbell, he kicked a very good goal to have the Tigers only a couple of
majors down at the first break.


That's about it for the competitive stage. In the second quarter Michael
Voss played out of a forward pocket with Bradshaw off, affected by a
knee problem. But it hardly mattered as Lappin and Simon Black ruled
across the centre, while Darryl White, Leppitsch and the nuggety Chris
Scott led a water-tight defence. "And Matty Richardson is yet to touch
the ball this quarter," became the mantra of annoying local commentator
Matthew Campbell. The Lion defence played well, but in truth the Tiger
talls were starved of opportunity to even compete, let alone win the
ball. A clinical string of passes set up an early goal for Lappin, then
some terrible Tiger turnovers helped the Lions on their way. Twice
Richmond's Jason Torney raced through the centre to set up attack, only
to kick the ball neatly to Darryl White. The first time the ball
rebounded swiftly to Michael Voss, who inexplicably muffed a simple
shot. The second Torney turnover resulted in an idiomatic running goal
for Jason Akermanis. When Leon Cameron made a very rare mistake, booting
the ball directly to Lyin' Tim Notting in the centre, the jig was up.
Notting kicked long where Voss sprinted out to mark and make no mistake
this time. Simon Black and Lappin again goaled as the Lions careered to
a 49-point lead. Tiger coach Frawley had been ringing the changes and
late in the term the Tiges were given a glimmer of hope, Ben Holland
marked at centre half-forward and booted a goal. Wayne Campbell cleared
the restart and Holland clutched another mark and kicked another goal.
The Richmun players seized upon the spark as they departed at half-time.


A false dawn it was. Brisbane had two goals within the first couple of
minutes of the second half, from Chris Scott who'd been moved to
full-forward now. The first came from a strong pack mark but the set-up
was instructional. Lion Luke Power and a Richmond player - forget who -
faced each other with the ball in-between, it was Power who hurled
himself at the pill, won possession and the kick to set up Scott's mark.
Chris Scott's second goal came from a free kick against Andrew Kellaway.
Thus momentum and the 50-point margin were restored. The Lions continued
to attack as Jason Akermanis shook off Steven Sziller to win some
possession and the excellent youngster Jonathan Brown began to mark
strongly about the forward-line. Their defence was still excellent. The
Lions flattered the Tigers by missing several shots, Akermanis a chief
offender, before Brown kicked a couple of goals. Late in the term Tiger
Richardson marked at CHF and, with a sheepish grin on his face as the
ironical cheers sounded, kicked a goal. Triumph! The last quarter was
little more than going-through-the-motions, for Brisbane Jon Brown added
to his goal tally (2) and Matthew Kennedy was allowed a farewell run.
They still missed some shots though, notably Criag McRae. Richardson,
Tivendale and Torney booted sausages for Richmond. Now Torney kicks
straight. Upon the siren retiring Tiger Paul Broderick was chaired off
by team-mates. Thanks for everything Brodders, you were a beauty.


This was Brisbane's fifteenth consecutive win and once again the
inspirational ruck-rover Michael Voss led the way, gathering 25
disposals (20 kicks), taking 9 marks and booting 3 goals from his stint
in attack. Duncan Kellaway was simply the first of several opponents he
mowed down. Wingman Nigel Lappin is often unsung but he was also very
good with 29 disposals (17 kicks), 13 marks and 3 goals. Rover Simon
Black was unobtrusive in collecting 27 touches (15 kicks) and a goal.
Probably the only member of the Big Four to be a little down was Jason
Akermanis, although he still ended with 21 possies and 2.4. In defence
they were very good, led by Darryl White (17 disposals, 6 marks) with
Justin Leppitsch on Richardson and Mal Michael against Brad Ottens,
spoiling regularly. Ottens was shifted into the ruck or back-line
eventually. Chris Scott, whose arms are larger than his legs, had 29
touches (20 kicks), 10 marks and 2 goals. Not a bad effort. Rebound man
Chris Johnson (19 disposals) was also good. In attack Jonathan Brown
finished with 4 goals from his 9 kicks and 5 marks, big test next week.
Richmond's best was probably All-Australian defender Darren Gaspar, who
took 6 good marks and had 13 disposals, although he was mis-matched a
bit when Bradshaw departed at quarter-time. Cunning coaching by Leigh.
Rebounding half-back Leon Cameron played well with 29 disposals (14
kicks) and a goal, winger Greg Tivendale bagged 3 goals from his 18
touches (12 kicks) even though he went missing in the middle quarters.
Matty Knights mopped up in defence for 28 possessions (18 handpasses)
and Wayne Campbell (24 touches, 8 marks, a goal) tried hard. Numbers
similar to their Brisbane opponents, but far less impact. That's
particularly true of Joel Bowden. I don't remember him having 27
touches. I thought it was about 7. Matty Richardson kicked 2 goals from
6 marks (3 in the last quarter) and 10 kicks, Ben Holland also kicked 2
goals. What else could Danny Frawley say? "(Brisbane) were tremendous,
too good, far too good, absolutely sensational the way they played, well
coached...their better players really gave us a hard time. I think
they've got a real good chance of winning (the Grand Final). At the
start of the year, I don't think anyone would've thought we'd be playing
off for a spot in the Grand Final. I would have definitely taken that.
But once you're in that situation...you've got to grab it with both
hands. If you look at the two sides that have beaten us consistently
this season, Essendon and Brisbane, they're a little bit superior to
us...There won't be much back-slapping over the summer, we just have to
make sure we get to where those two sides are next week." Lion coach
Leigh Matthews said "You get to the last line of our goals and you can't
win a premiership unless you make the Grand Final, so the guys are ready
to have crack at that last goal. The players have kept a lid on
celebrations after the win over Richmond. It's like the Olympic Games
100 metre sprinter, every four years he just has to get on the blocks
ready to explode and if he goes to quick he breaks and he's out of it."
The Lions are big chance, hopefully some old Fitzroy fans can get down
to the 'G and Roar Like Forty-Four.