AFL Semi-Finals

The 2003 All-Australian team was announced on Tuesday:
B: Gavin Wanganeen (PA) Matthew Scarlett (Geel) Joel Smith (Haw)
HB: Rohan Smith (Foot) Justin Leppitsch (Bris) Nigel Lappin (Bris)
C: Paul Williams (Syd) Michael Voss (Bris, Capt.) Lenny Hayes (StK)
HF: Matthew Pavlich (Frem) Warren Tredrea (PA) Mark Ricciuto (Adel)
F: Phil Matera (WC) Matthew Lloyd (Ess) Chris Tarrant (Coll)
Foll: Adam Goodes (Syd) Nathan Buckley (Coll, V-C) Peter Bell (Frem)
Inter: James Hird (Ess) Robert Harvey (StK) Michael Gardiner (WC) Paul
Hasleby (Frem)

Every year there's a ridiculous selection, possibly deliberate just to
stir up discussion and coverage. Last year the selection of Pavlich at
full-back, this year it's Joel Smith, the decent but hardly brilliant
Hawk backman with the third-highest turnover rate in the leeg. Smith's
team-mate Shane Crawford was seen as unlucky to miss, along with
Sydney tagger Brett Kirk, Weegle skipper Ben Cousins and a handful of
other on-ballers - if the press had their way the team would be
comprised of 22 ruck-rovers. Eight players were selected for the first
time, including 30-year-old, 250-game veteran Paul Williams and Phil
Matera gained overdue recognition. Some other selections raised
eyebrows - Lappin on a back-flank (Matthews: "He might have played two
or three quarters there this season."); Goodes as first ruck with
Gardiner on the bench; Hasleby at all. Bommer fans whined about Hird's
selection on the bench only, forgetting he missed six games. Some Pie
fans thought Buckley should be captain. Of course they would. Overall
it's not bad.

At the same ceremony Magpie Chris Tarrant was awarded Mark of the Year
for his round 18 grab against the Cats - but he missed the subsequent
shot for goal, it should count. Eagle Daniel Kerr collected Goal of
the Year for his four-bounce run and 48m slot in the round 22 Derby, a
top sausage it was too. Incidentally the Weegs don't want a round 22
Derby in the future - takes too much out of 'em, they reckon.
Elsewhere the Sydney TAB Sportsbet suspended betting on the Brownlow
Medal following a massive plunge on Stakilda's Robert Harvey. Hawthorn
want their players to take an across-the-board pay-cut, Geelong sacked
their two assistant coaches and trade rumours have started surrounding
Richmond's Joel Bowden, Port man Nick Stevens and Bulldog Nathan
Brown.

Second Semi-Final at the Gabba:
Brisbane   3.3   6.9   11.12   18.16.124
Adelaide   3.2   4.4   10.7    12.10.82

The dream is still alive for the Lyin's as they coasted in following a
three close quarters against the Camrys. Brisbane have never been
beaten in a final at the Gabba and have an average winning margin of
nine goals in those games. Uncanny. Meanwhile the Aderlayed progress
graph remains a stubbornly horizontal line. The last three years the
Camrys have reached the final six or four but there's something
missing in this team, perhaps indicated by their failure to win a
Showdown during that time. The build-up to this game was dominated by
speculation over the fitness of Brisbane and All-Australian captain
Michael Voss. Voss ricked a knee last week and last Monday it was
"Voss probably won't play", according to Leigh Matthews. Yet Voss was
selected on Thursday and played following local anaesthetic injection
into the knee. The Lyin's did have some players missing though, Chris
Scott out with a thigh strain while Tim Notting was suspended 2 games
for charging Heath Scotland last Saturday. Replacements were Craig
McRae, returning from a hamstring problem, and Richard Hadley called
up for his first game of this season and the second of his career. In
contrast the Camrys were seen as being near full-strength as Graham
'Stiffy' Johncock and Ken McGregor returned from injury, they replaced
the unfortunate Scott Welsh (rolled ankle) and dropped Brent Reilly.
As things eventuated this was the final game for well-respected Camry
midfielder Mark Bickley, nice-guy Bicks retired after 272 games over
thirteen seasons with the Crows including the captaincy in both their
premiership years of 1997 and 98. A decent record to take with you.

The other pre-game talking point was the weather, a warm 28 degrees as
the players appeared on a Brisbane spring night. Ayres publicly
dismissed the heat as a factor, but still ordered in plenty of
ice-vests and electric fans. Voss started the game on the bench.
Justin Leppitsch picked up Carey and the Camrys sent regular
full-forward Ian Perrie to full-back where he opposed Alastair Lynch -
the Lisbon spearhead had booted 7 goals against the Cows in each of
his previous two games against them. So when Lynch shoved Perrie aside
to mark McRae's pass and boot the game's first goal, Ayresey must've
been worried. But the visitors settled quickly and did a bit of
attacking, Brett Burton and Mark Stevens missed with hurried snaps and
Mark Ricciuto dropped an uncontested mark 20m out before Mark
Bickley's clever interception and pass saw Stevens marking 20m out, on
a very tight angle. He threaded it through for a sausage. Two rapid
Camry centre-clearances followed and from both Mark Stevens managed to
collect the ball and kick goals, sending the Corollas to an early
13-point lead. Michael Voss entered the fray at this point and
assisted the Lyin's in winning the next centre-clearance, Jonathan
Brown smothered the kick of opponent McGregor and stabbed a low goal.
A few minutes later Chris Johnson delivered to Lynch on a long lead,
Lynch's kick was marked in juggling fashion by Brown in the
goal-square. Brown's goal levelled the scores. Lynch missed a set-shot
to nudge Brisbun ahead at the first break. Opening minutes of the
second term and some cool handpassing under pressure and confident
running by Jason Akermanis ended with a hooked pass to Ashley McGrath,
he converted. At the other end Wayne Carey had done little to date,
his first kick scored a behind but the Camrys won possession from the
kick-in allowing Andrew McLeod to spear a goal. Martin Pike set the
tone for some terrible Lisbon goal-shooting with a poster from 25m,
before Blake Caracella's long kick cleared the pack allowing Lynch to
double-back and kick a goal. Lyin's by 8 points, they were playing
very well through the midfield and rebounding strongly from defence as
Daniel Bradshaw came on to silence Mark Stevens. But missed shots for
goal hurt, two poor efforts from Simon Black and Blake Caracella's
close-range poster had 'em creep to an 11-point lead before Luke Power
surged along the wing with a two-bounce run and passed for leading
Lynch, Big Gay Al thumped it home to give the Brians a 17-point lead
at the long break.

Although just three goals down the Camrys had done nothing in the
second term to suggest they might win. For the third stanza Ayres
shifted Rhett Biglands into the ruck, with Ricciuto and McLeod to do
the roving. In the opening minute Brett Burton stabbed a running goal,
soon afterwards McLeod roved a throw-in and did very well to keep his
feet under pressure, then sprint clear and drill an excellent goal
from 40m. Biglands thumped the ball forward at the following
centre-bounce, Burton collected and gave a handpass for Matthew Bode
to snap a left-foot major. About four minutes into the quarter and the
Camrys were in front, by 2 points. Brisbun responded as their Voss and
Black combined to win the subsequent centre-clearance, Jason Akermanis
snapped a terrific left-foot sausage to put Brizzi in front again.
Shaun Hart held a tough mark and handballed to Akermanis, Aker's kick
was nicely weighted for Lynch to hold off Perrie again and clutch a
comfortable mark. Lynchy's resulting major had the Lyin's 10 points
ahead. Back came the Cressidas again as McLeod ran away from a
throw-in and punted for Burton to hold a decent grab, assisted by some
shepherding from Carey. Burton goaled, Biglands gave the ball an
almighty fist at the following restart and Kris Massie's handpass sent
Robert Shirley in for a running major. The Cows led again, by 2
points. Behinds came now from Simon Goodwin and Ronnie Burns as the
Camrys enjoyed a good spell. But as they did all night the Lisbon
Brians countered when necessary, Akermanis sped away from a throw-in
and released Luke Power for another lengthy attacking run, Power
picked out marauding Chris Johnson who marked and converted to have
Brizzy ahead once more. A coupla behinds followed, from the kick-in of
the second the Brians won the ball, Al Lynch held a goal-square
chest-mark and toe-poked it through. The Lyin's cleared the following
centre-bounce, Daniel Bradshaw did well to gather the ball on the
half-volley and handpass to Craig McRae who bombed a long shot home
through an empty 'square. Brisbane appeared to have survived the
challenge as they led by 17 points. Yet with thirty seconds remaining
in the stanza McLeod roved expertly and passed for leading Brett
Burton, 'Birdman' majored after the siren to keep the Cows within two
goals at the final change. The Coronas were looking kinda frazzled
though and the traditional Lyin' kick-clear-in-the-last seemed
inevitable. Duly, the Lions scored the first two goals of the final
stanza. Robert Copeland, who'd been opposing Burton, collected Brown's
pass and thundered a massive 60m kick for the first. A minute later
Ashley McGrath delivered to Al Lynch again, Lynchy's sixth goal saw
the Brians to a 24-point lead, the greatest either side had enjoyed to
that point. Akermanis embarked on a three-bounce run but failed with
the final shot as the crowd sensed the result, chanting 'Lions' and
'Carey is a wanker' with equal volume and gusto. The Camrys gave
themselves a brief hope when Burton roved a goal-square pack to soccer
a goal, reducing the gap to 19 points. However Brisbane won the next
two centre-clearances with Nigel Lappin and Mick Voss heavily
involved, Luke Power potted a deserved goal from the first and Voss's
rapid handpass saw the previously off-target Black bag a major from
the second. Brisbane led by a decisive 31 points now. Carey missed a
shot at goal, to the delight of the local supporters, before majors to
Akermanis and Lappin stretched the Brians' lead. His work complete,
Voss departed for the evening. Aderlayed's Mark Stevens and Lions
Brown and McRae kicked goals in 'junk time'. Following the final siren
Bickley was chaired off by McLeod and Ricciuto.
In a game decided in the midfield, Brisbane's was faster, more
consistent and better. Simon Black (29 disposals) was terrific all
night if a little wayward in front of goal (1.3). He received
excellent support from Michael Voss (22 disposals), little sign of his
knee problem, and Nigel Lappin (29 possessions, a goal). Luke Power
(22 disposals, a goal) played very well early and his speed was
useful, Jason Akermanis (18 disposals, 2 goals) provided some moments
of inspiration. To cap it off, Alastair Lynch continued to torment the
Camrys with 6 goals from 7 marks and 9 kicks. Justin Leppitsch (13
disposals) and later Daniel Bradshaw did a comprehensive job on Carey,
who appeared remarkably immobile. Ruckman Clark 'Crackers' Keating and
small speedster Ashley McGrath (16 touches, a goal) were both handy.
Jonathan Brown started brilliantly with 2 first-term goals but was
well-held by Ken McGregor after that, Brown finished with 3 goals. The
Camrys had three stand-outs in their sole All-Australian Mark Ricciuto
(26 possessions), the pacy but inconsistent Andrew McLeod (22
possessions, 2 goals) and forward Brett Burton with 4 goals from 5
marks and 22 possessions (19 kicks). Other than them you're scratching
to find a consistent performer, Mark Stevens bagged 3 goals in the
first quarter but managed two more touches for the game (one for
another goal to finish with 4 sausages). Rhett Biglands powered that
third-quarter spell, Ken McGregor (5 marks, 15 disposals) did well on
Brown after quarter-time and running half-back Simon Goodwin (21
disposals) wasn't bad. Kris Massie managed a bit of possession (19
handlings) at CHF and defender Ben Hart (18 touches with 15 kicks) was
alright. Some players who'd been good this year like Graham Johncock,
Matthew Bode, Carey (5 disposals, 1 mark, 0.2) and Tyson Edwards were
very quiet, Edwards spending lengthy periods on the bench for some
reason. He wasn't reported as injured afterwards. The gamble to
recruit Carey hasn't really paid off this season, presumably he'll go
around again next year but that'd be it. "You've got to assess it over
the year and it (the recruitment of Carey) has been what I call a
reasonable exercise. Not great, but not a disaster either," said Gary
Ayres. He suggested a future focus on youth, with the Camrys having
the oldest list (on average age) in the comp. "We've got some pretty
good young kids who've had a taste this year.and I think there's some
good kids who will definitely get a go over summer. What's probably
impacted a fair bit over the year is a lot of those guys we'd
earmarked for opportunities to improve our forward-line just haven't
been able to do it, more so through injury and lack of game-time."
Ayresey's referring not just to Carey, but also Mark Stevens and Scott
Welsh who missed large chunks of the season. Lethal Leigh Matthews was
fairly quiet, Michael Voss is quoted in the paper. He said "Right now
there are four sides who are in the exact same position, on level
pegging. We are level pegging with the two sides that had the week
off. If anything, it's probably helped us playing another week because
we've had a few guys who've missed a lot of football.we've got a
little bit fitter and the fact we've got an eight-day break and are
only travelling to Sydney is going to be a massive bonus."

First Semi Final at Football Park:
Port Adelaide  5.2   7.1   10.7   12.11.83
Essendon       3.1   4.6    5.7     6.8.44

Déjà vu for your Powder as they beat Essadun in week two of the
finals. Port had endured a week of extraordinary abuse at home and
away, particularly from their own fans. Said fans at least turned up
this year, 36,600 turning out on a miserable, wet night for footy
compared to just 27,000 for the same game in 2002. Essadun coach Kev
Sheedy had been in modest and slightly un-inspired form, again calling
on the non-committed for support (in this case the population of
western Victoria, given the Camrys were still engaged), but curiously
Kev didn't use the word "choke" to describe Port as every other
football fan in Australia had done. Or even make reference to Port's
abysmal finals record. The Power made one change to the side that
choked, Brent Guerra dropped (he was far from their worst player last
week) for recalled forward (and former Bomber) Che Cockatoo-Collins.
Roger James was selected but didn't play, allowing Stuart Cochrane a
reprieve. Cochrane used the opportunity. The Bombouts made one
compulsory change, Dustin Fletcher was suspended 2 games for biffing
Freo's Roger Hayden, upheld on appeal. Fletcher was also suspended
following last year's elimination final, for tripping Chris Judd. It
was Fletcher's eleventh career visit to the tribunal. The Bommers
wheeled Paul Barnard out of alleged retirement to replace Fletcher.
Bommer defender Sean Wellman played his 200th game.

'Twas a wet night at Foopall Park, with steady rain enduring for the
first quarter. Port were a bit more pro-active this week and also
afforded their opposition more respect, flooding the back-line and
double-teaming Matthew Lloyd where Swans Barry Hall and Nick Davis
were allowed to roam free last week. 'Hard men' Damien Hardwick and
Michael Wilson started in the centre square and Stuart Cochrane was
assigned the task of tagging James Hird. The Bommers had Mark Bolton
line up on Warren Tredrea, the Port and All-Australian CHF had endured
a bout of 'flu during the week and was having 'Vicks' rubbed into his
face prior to the start. Essadun attempted a similar game-plan to that
employed by Siddey, a man-on-man game designed to force contests, but
with some problems: whereas Sydney had Adam Goodes, the Dons were
thrashed in the ruck; they can't run like Sydney; they're not as
disciplined as the Swans either. Predictably, Paul Barnard started a
fight before the opening bounce, which took place with six Port
players in the centre-square. No free to the Dons, though. A bit later
Michael Wilson roved a throw-in and slotted a very good goal from the
boundary-line to set Port moving. Port attacked again, Stuart Dew
roved Brendon Lade's contest in classical fashion and snapped a
left-foot goal. Port by 13 points. Essadun's first goal came from a
ruck contest, unusual as their Hille and Henneman were belted in those
by Port's Brogan and Lade. Joe Misiti roved Lade's tap and kicked for
Damian Cupido to mark and convert. A minute later Bommer Marc Bullen
won a soft free-kick for in-the-back and dished off a handpass, Mark
McVeigh kicked a nice goal. Scores level. Hardwick, playing very well
as a ruck-rover, won the following centre-clearance and the ball took
a flukey bounce over Bolton's head allowing Tredrea to double back and
soccer a goal. The Powder extended their lead with another
soccer-goal, this time Peter Burgoyne from a throw-in. A minute later
Chad Cornes tapped-on cleverly for Peter Burgoyne to gather, his long
kick saw Shaun Burgoyne running on to stab yet another close-range,
soccered sausage. Port led by 18 points, useful in the teeming rain.
Late in the opening stanza Bullen did very well to gather a loose ball
and pass for leading Matty Lloyd, the Don spearhead marked and
converted. That was a rare occasion on which Lloyd found space and
just the one opponent. Meanwhile Jim Hird failed to record a
first-term disposal against the tight-marking Cochrane and also copped
a deliberate knee to the rib-cage from Lade. The rain stopped at
quarter-time, early in the second term Cupido booted a very good 50m
goal to reduce the Port lead to 6 points, but the Flowers restored
their margin quickly after a Stu Dew snap from 60m rolled, bounced and
tumbled through for full points. Things became a little willing, the
Dons' Dean Rioli was reported after clouting Gavin Wanganeen with a
Fletcher-esque forearm, a bit later Wanganeen flattened Lloyd as the
Don spearhead attempted to out-mark about five Port players. There
were poor set-shot misses from Bommers Dean Solomon and David Hille,
wasting a decent period for the visitors. Wanganeen and Rioli engaged
in some sign-language: Wanganeen patted his forearm; Rioli responded
with a one-fingered gesture. The Dons paid for their missed
opportunities late in the term, Hird's soccer effort from defence went
straight to Michael Wilson, Wilson found Tredrea with a smart kick.
'Tredders' goaled to put Port 17 points ahead just prior to half-time.
Essadun runner John Barnes was shown talking to the lads at
half-time.teaching them how to make a post-football career behaving
like a goose on television, no doubt.

The third term started poorly for the battling Bombouts, following a
few minutes of pressure Port rebounded from defence, Tredrea marked on
the wing and kicked long into an open forward-line where Shaun
Burgoyne ran onto the ball for a tap-through. Port led by 22 points
now. Nothing happened for a while as the Dons tried hard but got
nowhere, moving the ball too slowly and too short to worry Port's
packed back-line. Eventually one of the Dons' better players on the
night, Scott Lucas, set up a goal. Lucas marked on the wing, played-on
and kicked long towards leading Cupido, he couldn't mark but did
gather the ball and centre it for Adam McPhee to grab and convert.
Port cleared the restart and should have responded immediately, but
Peter Burgoyne missed the shot. No mind, a few minutes later Byron
Pickett was set running from a throw-in and slotted a major. At the
subsequent centre-bounce the Dons' Barnard clobbered Pickett, the Port
man's free kick went towards Warren Tredrea who was placed in a
head-lock by desperate opponent Bolton. The game in microcosm as
Tredrea scored a goal from the mandatory free-kick. Port led by 30
points, five goals at the final change and bookmakers shouldn't have
been taking money on a Bummer victory. Lloyd commenced the final
stanza on the bench with some sort of leg problem, Mark Bolton was
relieved of Tredrea-duty and went forward. Danny Jacobs stood the Port
captain now. From the opening bounce of the final stanza Josh Carr
punted Port forward, Bommer defender Wellman slipped over allowing
Chad Cornes to collect the ball and score an easy goal. Port led by 36
points now. Bolton missed a set-shot for Essadun before a symbolic
moment occurred. James Hird was bottom-of-the-pile as the ump whistled
for a ball-up. Hird swung a back-hander which collected Carr in the
face, conceding a free-kick. Hardwick arrived to stir Hird about it,
Hirdy pushed Hardwick in the throat. Hardwick went down like Linda
Lovelace, earning a 50m-penalty against Hird and easy goal for Carr.
Saint James never does stuff like that. The Dons had thrown in the
towel. Their Ben Haynes booted a decent running goal before the game
wound down, Wanganeen was benched following a knock on the shoulder,
followed shortly afterwards by Tredrea - nothing wrong with him.

Very even performance from the Flowers. The early on-ball influence of
Damien Hardwick (19 disposals, 10 in the first quarter) was important,
ruckmen Dean Brogan and Brendon Lade combined for 50 hit-outs to the
Bomber pairing's 16. The Port back-line was impassable, led by Gavin
Wanganeen (19 disposals with 16 kicks) and Stephen Paxman (18 touches,
6 marks) with Darryl Wakelin leading the anti-Lloyd team. Stuart
Cochrane (7 possies, 8 tackles) gave James Hird (12 touches including
at least three 'clangers') one of the baths of his career. In the Port
midfield Josh Carr (24 touches, a goal) and Peter Burgoyne (15
touches, a goal) were very good and Warren Tredrea was fine at CHF,
booting 3 goals from his 6 marks and 19 disposals. Stuart Dew and
Shaun Burgoyne bagged 2 goals each. Few worth mentioning for the
Bombouts, clearly their best were half-back Dean Rioli (23 disposals
with 14 handpasses) and CHB Scott Lucas (23 disposals including 20
kicks, 9 marks). They were about the only two Dons who didn't slip
over and/or fumble constantly. Jason Johnson (19 touches) and Mark
Johnson (18 touches) battled hard and Adam McPhee (18 possessions, a
goal) and Joe Misiti (17 disposals) were reasonably effective. Damian
Cupido kicked 2 goals, Matty Lloyd kicked one to finish the season
with 93 majors and the Coleman Medal. Kev Sheedy was reasonably
upbeat, he'd hedged his bets most of the season by claiming the Dons
are a 'developing' side. Certainly the team featured a number of new,
young faces this year in McPhee, Cupido, Bullen and Haynes, Andrew
Welsh and Cory McGrath were given further opportunities. Meanwhile
oldies like Alessio, Mercuri and Misiti are definitely on-the-outer,
along with retiree Barnard. "The weather perhaps suited Port a little
bit," began Sheeds. "At the start of the year, people probably thought
we weren't going to go very far. I don't think we're that far away
from being a really top side again. I think we've come a fair way this
year but just not far enough. I would have liked to at least have got
a chance for a preliminary final.We probably changed our team around
enormously from what it was last year. We got beaten here last season
but we've probably got two young ruckmen in Hille and Henneman out
there at the moment, we've put Mark Johnson into the midfield along
with Rioli and Solomon and all these guys are going to get better next
year.and we think we've improved McPhee and Cupido as players." Mark
Williams recovered his bluster rapidly. He stared down the camera and
said "We are coming over there (Melbourne) and we're coming for a big
game. We owe Collingwood without any doubt. They've been in situations
like this before. Collingwood's record in finals probably matches ours
(eh?), so we'd like to take them one on one.I was at Collingwood a lot
longer than Mick Malthouse and I know how they react when you lose a
final..." Then Choke-o became all conciliatory. "Tonight it was a very
tough game, it was all credit to Essendon, they came out and really
tried to take it to us. We handled the pressure particularly well and
finished it off to double their score basically, which was an
outstanding effort to do it in a final."

Next week - Preliminary Finals:
Collingwood v Port Adelaide, MCG, Saturday.
Sydney v Brisbane, Stadium Australia, Saturday night.