The following information is provided by Tim Murphy - [t.murphy@rmit.edu.au], distributed via news groups and email and is updated here Monday evenings after the weekends games. All credit for this information goes to Tim and is being used with permission.
Just one finals spot up for grabs now and if Collingwood can conjure a win in Adelaide tonight there'll be five teams with a chance of grabbing eighth when round 22 starts [Darryl: They didn't]. Another possibility is that the four qualifying finals will all be played in Melbourne...this after weeks of taunting from non-Melburnians over the fact that the bottom six teams are all Melbourne-based.
Collingwood's Nathan Buckley was cleared by the tribunal after Barry Young admitted he'd "acted" in order to win a free kick, leaving the Magpie as Brownlow second-favourite (7/2) behind St. Kilda's Robert Harvey (5/2). They're well ahead of the others in single-figure odds, Peter Matera, Paul Salmon and Paul Kelly. Collingwood's Monkhorst and Geelong's Sanderson were both suspended, so was Melbourne's Andrew Obst...it was worse than I thouht. Obst said he'd retire.
The AFL decided to drop the link between TV rights for footy and the Docklands stadium, to much relief. Developers had been rather cool about investing in Docklands, hardly surprising when your nearest competitor for the entertainment dollar is a casino the size of a small European nation half-a-mile down the road. So the AFL dropped some TV viewers' blood into the water and sure enough the sharks (ie. Packer, Murdoch) circled closely. What eventuated, as David Sidwell explained, was not a battle for the TV rights themselves (Seven's contract expires at the end of 2000) but the right of "last refusal" of the rights. Channel Nine's bid revolved around their broadcast of international sport...let's hope for their sake that none of the AFL commissioners have been trying to watch the Ashes tour. Seven focussed on what they've done for footy in Sydney and Brisbane...and the mess messrs. Packer and Murdoch have made of rugby league. In the end the AFL were put off by the display of razor-sharp teeth put a decision on the backburner.
The "Western Sydney Bulldogs" rumour emerged in Sydney papers this week, to be loudly scotched by Bulldog president David Smorgon. The AFL, which is on the record as saying it wants a second Sydney team, relocated from Melbourne, were silent.
St. Kilda 7.1 9.6 13.8 17.12.114 Melbourne 1.2 3.6 6.8 8.14.62
Ordinary contest after quarter time. The Saints had their expected comfortable win taking them to the top of the ladder. Not bad for a team which won 1 of its' first 5. Usual Melbourne: had a go; poor goalkicking and disposal; Shaun Smith got injured. So did a number of other Dees, most early on which pretty much wrecked any chance they had. In addition to Obst, Melbourne lost Schwarz and Newton from last week with groin strains, leaving them lacking height. Replacements were Kowal, Matthew Febey and James McDonald. St. Kilda were without Winmar (calf) and Loewe (gastro) and Healy was dropped, in came Bardsley, Traianidis and Barry Hall, who'd finished serving a lengthy suspension in the reserves after breaking a North players' jaw.
The Saints romped out with a 7-goal quarter which ended it by the first break. Thompson won the ball well at the centre bounce and Jones was busy, a couple of blokes called Harvey and Burke - I think I've mentioned them before - were about. Burke kicked the first goal after Hall pressured Smith into a poor clearing kick. Then Saint full forward Jason Heatley booted five in a row. Three came after strong marks, including a couple of rare overhead grabs. Lappin and Smith collided heavily in mid-air as Lappin marked on 50m. Smith went off with more knee trouble and Lappin eventually went to hospital with bruised kidneys. Melbourne had already lost Lamprill (shoulder) and Farmer (hamstring). Heatley took Lappin's kick and converted, then got another from a free. Tony Brown booted accurately. The Dees' only joy came from Neitz. It was a pretty even and not-very-good slog after that. Stynes lurked for an early Melbourne goal in the second, then more Demons departed with injury. Ingerson was clobbered by Shane Wakelin and went off for stitches, Glen Lovett's season came to a premature end when his collarbone was broken in a heavy bump. Farmer came back on with his entire right leg wrapped in tape. Brown snapped a goal for St. Kilda and then Heatley bagged his sixth. Neitz got a late one for Melbourne.
Traianidis snapped an early goal for the Saints in the third term but they started to struggle in attack and Melbourne kicked 2 in a row, a close-in soccer by Farmer and a good kick from the impressive Robertson. St. Kilda responded when a textbook switch of play set up Burke, then Peckett and Keogh kicked nice running goals before Robertson bagged another. The Dees had Ingerson going well at the back and Hopgood and Yze busy, Woewodin managed to quieten Harvey who'd received a kick on the knee. St. Kilda hard men Keogh and Hall (at CHF) were going well. Heatley kicked the first goal of the final stanza, receiving a very soft downfield free after a "collision" between Stynes and Everitt. Robertson set up Neitz a couple of times, but he missed. Farmer and James McDonald kicked some nice goals as the match petered out, Hall kicked 2 in the final quarter for the Saints including one after the siren.
Nathan Burke was the Saints' best player again, working hard around packs for 29 disposals and 2 goals. Heatley finished with 7 goals in a fine effort, especially in the first quarter. Hall made an excellent CHF in Loewe's absence with 9 marks and 2 goals. His aggression was also handy. Cripps and Peckett were very good running from defence and Harvey and Brown (2 goals) were useful around the centre. For Melbourne Hopgood worked hard on the wing against Jones, Stynes more than held his own against Everitt and Vidovic. Robertson looks a good player, tall, quick and skilled on a forward flank and Ingerson played well in defence after returning. Neitz, Robertson and Farmer kicked 2 goals each (Neitz 2.4). Melbourne announced their coaching short-list: Hutchison and current assistant coaches Peter Schwab (Hawthorn), Neale Daniher (Fremantle) and Damian Drum (Sydney). Like Mick Malthouse last Friday night, Alves was unhappy that a good start wasn't converted into a bigger win, and exhorted his men to believe in themselves. "We're up there and we've earned that right", he said. "We've got to make sure we carry that through". A win at Foopall Park next Sunday could see the Saints finish top for the first time since 1965.
Footscray 4.3 6.8 8.12 12.14.86 West Coast 1.1 2.5 5.6 10.8.68
Slated as the last-ever game at the Whitten (nee Western) Oval and the emotion-charged Doggies duly recorded a win. A sad day for Footscray fans but I can't say I'm sorry to see it go...watching football from the exposed outer there was never a pleasant experience, journeying to Footscray seemed to take for ever and there was never anywhere to park the car. And it was impossible to win there. You wonder if this "last ever" thing will become a trend for Melbourne clubs needing crucial wins...Essendon's "last ever" game at Windy Hill, North's "last ever" game at Arden Street etc. The capacity crowd (26,704) saw a rather good statue of Ted Whitten unveiled outside the ground and a pre-game celebration of multi-culturalism, featuring South Pacific and south-east Asian folks shivering through the cold, bleak conditions. In selection the Dogs lost Mark West suspended and replaced him with Croft, back from injury. West Coast axed Sumich - again - and Marshall, in came Banfield and McIntosh.
Typical Whitten Oval weather greeted the combatants, a freezing cold sou'westerly whipped across the ground and it started raining as the banners were broken. The surface was OK, the Oval replanted over summer. Bit of action before the bounce. Bulldog defenders descended upon talented young Eagle ruckman/forward Michael Gardiner for a bit of "roughing up". Eagle forwards Gehrig and Ball came to Gardiners' assistance and fracas occurred which saw Ball reported for striking Dimattina and Dent depart with a bleeding mouth. When the game eventually started the Bulldogs seized the initiative. Smith, starting in a forward pocket, snapped the first goal and Darcy's volleyed soccer kick extended the lead. Banfield steered one through for the visitors (kicking to the Geelong Rd. end) but the Puppies got two more, from Cook and Kolyniuk. A handy lead given the conditions. Slogging second term before 3 goals very late in the quarter, Eagle Wooden bounced a snap through but Grant replied for the locals and Romero's miskick flopped into Smith's arms for another. Grant kicked another early in the third stanza and a walloping looked on the cards but West Coast fought back admirably. Lovell came off the bench (to replace the beaten Kemp) and had an impact and the Matera brothers started winning the ball. Goals from Gehrig, Turnbull and Heady cut the margin to less than 3 goals before Cook got an important late goal for Footscray. The Weegles kicked the first 2 goals of the final term, to Lovell and Phil Matera, to cut the margin to 12 points before the Bullies responded with a good goal from Montgomery, then an intelligent kick from Johnson set up Romero. Goal for goal until the end but the Dogs' day was sealed when Cook was allowed to push Turnbull under the ball and handpass to Grant, who threaded a shot through from a tight angle
Footscray midfielder Jose Romero had a great game, winning 28 touches and seeing off the dangerous Kemp in the first half. Dent (on Heady) and Liberatore (on Cousins) smothered their opponents and managed a fair bundle of touches themselves. Grant had an excellent first half, in particular, on the way to 8 marks and 3 goals against Jakovich. Scott West (25 touches), Dimattina and Cameron were good, Smith kicked 3 goals in a great first half and Cook got 2. Centreman Jarrod Schofield was good for the Weegles (21 touches, 1 goal) and Peter (17 kicks, mostly running torpedos) and Phil Matera (18 touches, 1 goal) were good, Phil especially in the last quarter. Symmons had a good game on his wing and Lovell had 14 disposals in the second half. West Coast had 10 goalkickers. Former Footscray and current Weagle coach Malthouse wasn't overly unhappy. "We kicked eight to their six after half time and I thought our blokes had a real crack...it would have been pretty easy to lie down and die with two goals to six at half-time and a very hostile environment." (see Collingwood v Fremantle, round 15). Wallace said "They've been the yardstick of the competition throughout the '90s so we were worried about them. Our blokes did a great job of getting out of the blocks and taking control of the game early." Much talk afterwards about more games at Whitten Oval, but it seems unlikely.
North Melbourne 1.7 5.10 7.17 10.21.81 Hawthorn 2.2 4.4 5.6 6.7.43
Ah, the true wintery conditions. It's been an unusually dry, warm winter in Melbourne but winter, freezing cold wind and rain, returned with a vengeance this weekend. North threatened to blow it in the first half with some woeful shooting but their superior skill told in the end. The Hawks were fifth a couple of months back but its' been a terrible seven straight losses since then. In selection North lost Rock with a knee strain and Roberts with a back injury, handy replacements were Archer and Laidley. Hawthorn axed Justin Crawford, Hay and Stevenson for Salmon, Hassall and Treleven.
The Hawks started brightly enough with Salmon winning in the ruck and Taylor and Harford driving forward. Early goals came from Lord and Kappler but North worked into it as Carey, at CHB again, dominated Robran and Groom was busy in attack, but inaccurate shooting and the Hawk defenders' willingness to rush the ball through contributed to a lop-sided scoreboard. Hawthorn stayed ahead in the second term, Langford bagged a rare goal after being shifted to the forward line. But North got their kicking boots on late in the quarter. Allison, moved to full forward after the conditions proved too difficult for big men Groom and Mellington, goaled after Simpson tapped the ball to him and North hit the lead when a succession of defensive errors led to a goal for Longmire. Allison goaled from the boundary with his "wrong" right foot to give North a handy half-time lead. Early in the third quarter Holland, well held by Carey, hit the post with a rare shot and the ball rebounded to the other end where Anthony Stevens goaled. That was pretty much it, North slogging to victory through the wind and rain. It couldıve been greater if not for the wastefulness of Sholl (0.4) and Allison (4.3).
Roo defender Pike had another good game with 20 disposals offf his flank and fellow defensive flanker Blakey was goos, Carey continues to thrive at CHB despite his inability to raise his left arm...be interesting to see if they play him on someone like Chris Grant or Stewie Loewe in the finals. Adam Simpson had 31 disposals and a goal in midfield and Anthony Stevens was busy as usual, Allison's 4 goals were very handy. Few decent players for the Hawkers, Mark Graham had 20 touches in defence and Salmon rucked well before being sent forward to try and add life there. Harford (28 touches) and Platten (21) battled midfield and Lord was useful in attack with 2 goals, Scott's good form continued. Ken Judge can't wait for the year to end. "We didn't have the skill level North had", he said. "They've probably got better personnel than we've got...we're physically undermanned at the moment...morale's pretty ordinary...we're leaving too much to too few." Pagan said "To come out in that sort of game in those sorts of conditions was certainly very pleasing."
Carlton 3.2 4.4 5.8 11.10.76 Sydney 0.0 0.6 4.8 5.11.41
The Swans created a largish problem for themselves, jeopardising a top-4 slot (and hence home finals) while Carlton restored a glimmer of finals hope in a battle in the elements at the Boutique Oval. Afterwards Swan coach Eade had the look of a man who'd bumped into Jeff Kennett at his mother's funeral (gotta thank Barry Dickins for that one). In selection Carlton continued to blood youngsters, this time 22-year-old Norwood big man Sam Smart debuted, Porter returned from injury and De Iulio from suspension. Clape and Whitehead missed with injury and Hanna was dropped. Sydney lost Bayes with a hammy and Roos with a groin strain, Lockett returned from suspension and Licuria played too.
Carlton kicked with the tide in the first and slotted 3 goals with Bradley and Ratten getting plenty of leather midfield, while Hamill did well off a defensive flank. But most folks reasoned that the Swans had done well to limit the damage, blocking up their defence in the usual manner with Warfe, McPherson and Dyson keeping stats men busy. That was before the second term. Lewis, Kelly and Cresswell pumped the ball forward but Sydney got nowhere against a tenacious Blue defence, History's Greatest Full Back smothering Lockett and Dean and Hamill doing well. Porter won the rucks and a rare Blue forward excursion resulted in a goal. More slog early in the third before Sydney managed a bundle of late goals. Lockett snapped accurately (to Bronx cheers) and Kelly, Mooney and Nicks added quick goals to cut the margin to 6 points at the final change. Parkin swung Allan into the ruck to replace Porter in the last stanza, Allan kicked an early goal and then Pearce booted 3 to kill the Swans off.
History's Greatest Full Back had a game which had the Carlton faithful in raptures (pity Dorotich wasn't about), setting up attacks, keeping Lockett to 1 kick (1 goal) and at one stage single-handedly defeating Lockett and three other Swans. Ratten was superb in the middle (20 kicks, 16 handballs) and Bradley (20 kicks) got better as the game progressed. Brad Pearce continued his much-awaited return to form with 5 goals. Hamill and veteran Dean were good at the back, Camporeale and rookie Hulme (24 touches) showed a bit. Murphy and Allan kicked 2 goals each. Runners Kelly and Maxfield worked hard for Sydney, Cresswell battled in the centre and defender McPherson wasn't bad. Brad Seymour did well at the back before being forced off with a hamstring. Cook, Warfe and Mooney also finished injured. The import of the loss wasn't lost on Eade, who responded to Peter McKenna's observation that "it was a bad day" with "you should go on Mastermind, special subject the bleeding obvious...Carlton were a lot harder at it and a lot more committed", Rocket continued. "Except for Kelly and Seymour, there wasn't anyone who had a fair-dinkum dip". Without the advantage of home finals it's hard to see Sydney achieving much. Parkin said "With a combination of no-one expecting us to win, conditions as they were and that freedom, we took a few more risks." They could sneak into eighth if results go their way next weekend.
Essendon 2.3 7.5 8.6 16.10.106 Brisbane 2.4 8.7 11.11 15.12.102
Oops. The Lions blew a 6-goal lead and, possibly, a finals berth with this horrendous squanderation. The Bombers were cheered all the way by fans of Port Adelaide, Fremantle, Carlton and Collingwood. Brisbane were without Keating (knee) and dropped Green for Clarke and Dion Scott. Essendon took the unusual step of "resting" Mark Harvey before his career swansong next weekend, Olarenshaw was a late withdrawal and O'Connor and Johnson were dumped for Berbakov, Mercuri and two new players, Matthew Watson from Prahran and Daniel McAllister from Smithton in Tasmania.
Tight first quarter, Akermanis and Chris Johnson were busy for the Lions and Clarke's tap from a throw-in to Johnson for a goal was an early highlight. In contrast the second quarter featured a bucket of goals. Brisbane kicked four consecutively, Scott and Ashcroft kicked snaggled majors and Johnson got one after a free for being held, Bradshaw added another. When Ashcroft missed a sitter the Lions led by 26 points. White looked to have kicked a magnificent goal from the boundary line but the goal ump ruled it'd been touched through. Essendon's Lucas reeled in a freak one-handed mark and goaled, the Dons surged back with consecutive goals to Lloyd on the back of some strong marks. Leppitsch replied for Brisbane but Lloyd got the ball to Caracella and the Dons were close again. Northey removed the hapless Champion from the young Bomber spearhead and introduced Alastair Lynch. Scott tapped cleverly for Johnson to kick his third goal but Caracella bobbed up for another sausage to keep the Dons handy at half-time.
Brisbane lost it in the third term. With Lynch blanketing Lloyd the Dons' only route to goal was sealed, but the Lions wasted their advantage. Leppitsch took a great grab early and goaled, but a similar effort moments later resulted in a behind and Lucas dribbled a goal from a tight angle. Champion returned to the Lions' forward line and snaggled an inspirational running goal. He later hit the post from point blank but redeemed himself with another goal late in the term. Any thoughts that the Lions had wasted their dominance were seemingly dispelled when Leppitsch goaled early in the last quarter from a doubtful free and speedy Bamford raised the twin calicoes to put Brisbane 34 points up with 17 minutes of playing time left. Sheedy threw Cransberg, Hardwick and Moorcroft into attack. Cransberg responded with a good mark and goal and Barry Young kicked accurately on the run, but after Bamford replied for Brisbane I switched across to The Oval. When I checked back, Essendon had won. Straight from the bounce after Bamford's goal, Moorcroft had majored for Essendon. Leppitsch took a speccie but kicked out on the full and Johnson hit the post before three consecutive Bomber goals, from Moorcroft, Lloyd and Prior cut the Lions' lead to 5 points. Brisbane's Clarke limped off with a groin strain but Akermanis snapped the supposed steadier. Don skipper O'Donnell bounced a kick through and Essendon led by 2 points after Lloyd marked and converted. Cransberg and Lloyd missed chances to seal it but it didn't matter as the Lions dropped their bundle.
Matthew Lloyd and Blake Caracella have been beacons of light in the Bombers' gloomy season, Lloyd kicked 5 goals and Caracella (28 disposals, 2 goals), both had very good first halves. Cockatoo-Collins played his best game in several weeks (he wants to move to Adelaide, supposedly), with 25 touches and a goal. Denham battled hard in the middle and Lucas was again handy about the ground. Moorcroft and Hardwick were crucial in the last quarter comeback. Brisbane defenders White and Dickfos were excellent, Bamford was great with his speed and delivery and Akermanis and Johnson (3 goals) were busy small forwards. But it seems as though an injury-dominated year has caught up with the Lions. They lacked a Voss, Lambert or Molloy to stand up when it counted. An angry Northey said "We've been up and down like yo-yos all year, we've been in good winning positions many times. The same thing's happened about 6 times and that's a worry...if you're hungry you've got to go where the food is and sometimes we didn't take that option." Brisbane must beat West Coast at the WACA next weekend. Sheedy continued his "forget this year, look at the future" theme. "This year has been very similar to 1977 when Bill Stephen put in a lot of blokes that went and played well for us in 1984, like Watson, Van Der Haar, Neagle, Clarke and Heard." So they won't do well 'til 2004?
Richmond 5.3 10.6 19.10 22.14.146 Port Adelaide 3.7 5.9 7.11 8.13.61
Got to love the Geish. Richmond have won 3 from 4 in his charge and here battered a fatigued and tactically naive Port who are now in real trouble regarding the finals, but we shouldn't bag 'em for that. But they did record their biggest win so far over Richmond, so we took some pleasure in SQUISHING THEM LIKE A BUG! Ahem. In selection Richmond lost Michael Gale with a hamstring but brother Brendon returned from suspension, Charles was a late withdrawal, replaced by Baldwin. Port dropped James for debutant Nathan Steinberner, a 20-year-old from Central Districts.
Geischen continued his audience-participation theme, inviting the Richmond cheer squad into the rooms before the game. Port won the toss and kicked with the stiff, swirling breeze. Some classical Wanganeen early, he felt slight contact to a shoulder so hurled himself backwards like a high jumper. Lade marked the free and goaled from close range. Richmond then kicked 3 straight, from Rogers, Richardson and Merenda. Merenda's came from a nice piece of acting, Primus being the unfortunate victim. Port then had a dominant spell with Brown winning in the centre and Lyle doing well too, Eagleton was about on half-forward. But Wilson, Eagleton and Cummings missed easy shots and the Tiges snaggled a couple more before Cummings finally kicked straight from close in and Francis lobbed a wind-assisted goal from outside 50m. Port began to struggle in the second quarter. Their 4-man forward line relied too heavily on Cummings and the Flowers fell down badly across half forward where Gaspar and Kellaway were dominant. Richmond played the regulation 6 defenders which left Harrison and Broderick, the loose men, picking up a bucket of touches each. Cummings did bag a pair of good goals late in the second quarter but Richmond bounced out in the third with 2 goals in a minute, Campbell followed a kick down and then Powell took a good mark and roosted it through from outside 50m. Brown responded for Port but an avalanche of Tiger majors followed, including 2 magnificent long left-footers from Bowden and some strong marks and accurate kicks from Richardson. Cahill belatedly tried to boost Port's forward line by sending Primus and Breuer there, but it was too late. The ineffective Wanganeen was dragged late in the quarter and for the last term Gieschen moved his opponent Kellaway to the forward line. The roof came down when Kellaway kicked his first AFL goal in 98 matches.
Matty Knights has been a key in Richmond's late season resurgence, he had 30 disposals in the centre and Campbell had 36 handlings off half back. Broderick had a mammoth 40 touches (20 of each) playing loose in defence and Harrison, the other loose man, 30 possessions with 9 marks. Richmond had 165 handpasses to Port's 93. Richardson kicked 5 goals in his best game for a while and Merenda was good again with 4 goals, Powell (3 goals) and Rogers were useful once more. For the visitors Brown (20 touches) and Lyle (21) battled hard, Breuer wasn't bad and Eagleton and Dickie, the free midfielders, worked OK. Cummings kicked 3 goals. Cahill said "It was a really bad performance today, the loose Richmond men that were around that weren't being picked up...we were just not switched on, we didn't give a yelp and that's disappointing for everyone." Perhaps a long season catching up with the youngsters. They face a difficult home game against St. Kilda next week for a spot in the eight. Gieschen said "Football isn't just about players and coaches and staff, it's about the people who watch and barrack...we've played Port three times this year and each time...the crowd was very involved and they virtually smashed us...I let our players know the boot would be on the other foot today." Actually there were quite a few Port supporteres amongst the 22,500, but they were pretty quiet after quarter time. Now if we can slam the finals door shut in Carlton's face next week...
Geelong 3.4 7.7 11.9 14.16.100 Fremantle 2.3 3.6 6.12 9.14.68
The headline in todayıs Age says "Cats lick interstate bogy" - how unhygienic. Results elsewhere went perfectly for Fremantle, but they lost an opportunity to climb into the eight as they were outplayed by the professional Cats. And picked up more injuries. In initial selection Fremantle picked Allan and Bandy but they didn't play, Harding was out with injury and Madigan and Burrows were dropped for Toia, O'Reilly and first game ruckman Martin Whitelaw. O'Reilly lasted 5 minutes before tearing his hamstring again. Geelong lost Sanderson suspended and Lynch with more hamstring trouble, Corrigan was dropped and in came Hocking, Hargreaves and Lowther.
Things didn't start well for the Dockers. Toia was clobbered early and needed stitches, then as O'Reilly departed Hocking goaled after an advantage decision. Mitchell and Toia did OK but Geelong's disposal was clinical and they galloped clear in the second term with some pinpoint delivery into the forward line. The Dockers didn't help themselves with some poor clearance, in one passage Black twice booted the ball to Milburn, then another poor kick from McGovern led to a goal for Mansfield. Freo tried to hit back in the third term as Waterhouse and Abraham got involved but McGovern went off with a broken leg. Geelong, with Riccardi, Kilpatrick and Pickering dominant in midfield, were too good in the end, Riccardi kicking 3 behinds in the last quarter to keep the margin reasonably close and prevent the Cats returning to the top of the ladder.
Riccardi had 29 disposals and kicked 2 goals from his forward flank and Kilpatrick (28 disposals), Pickering and Hocking (28 touches, 2 goals) were very good in the middle. McKinnon and Hall were handy marking forwards, they kicked 2 goals each and Mensch was useful. Simpson tagged Wills out of it, King rucked well and McGrath was good in defence. Abraham battled well for Fremantle with 14 kicks and 3 goals, Kickett, Jones and Dhurrkay worked hard at the back, Mitchell and Callaghan (24 touches) were about in the middle but poor disposal cost the Dockers again. Whitelaw was impressive in the ruck, he's got a fair spring. Waterhouse kicked 2 goals. Neesham said his side "weren't embarrassed" by the performance. "The side's shown some valiant performnaces but were very tired", he said. "You can't take 12 quality players out of the side and say we're going to power over the top. We need fresh players and we haven't got them available." He scoffed at suggestions that Fremantle didn't deserve to be in the finals. Freo can still make it if they beat Melbourne at the MCG next week, but need a number of other results to go their way. Ayres was pleased with Geelong's improved interstate form after an early season humiliation by Port Adelaide. They've got a tricky final encounter in Sydney which Ayres called "a challenge".
A quick note: West Coast's Jason Ball was suspended 2 weeks last night, meaning he'll miss the first week of the finals. The league refused any further investigation of the pre-game incidents at Whitten Oval, angering the Eagles even more than Ball's suspension did. They've got a point this time.
Adelaide 1.2 2.7 3.10 6.12.48 Collingwood 3.2 3.3 3.8 5.9.39
The Pies are finished for 97. This peformance summed them up...plenty willing with lots of passion but poor disposal and some stupid errors proved their downfall. The Crows would be happy keeping the prospect of a top-2 slot alive and winning against Collingwood for only the second time. In addition to Monkhorst the Pies didn't have Wright or Godden, both injured. In came Mahoney, Wild and former Roy Brad Cassidy for his first Collingwood game. The Camrys lost Ricciuto with a groin strain and dropped Collins for Rintoul and Caven.
It was a wet, windy, cold night and the tactics of both sides, to stack their defences, all combined to limit scoring and turn the match into a grinding battle. Sav Rocca kicked an early goal for the Pies after soaring over Chalmers and moments later Sav snapped another. Jarman kicked the Corollas' first but Sharkey added a major to give Collingwood a handy quarter-time lead. Collingwood attacked vigorously in the second quarter but ran up against the busy Smart, Caven and Johnson in the Camrys' back half. Adelaide's Rehn kicked the only goal of the quarter, he marked on 50m and was crashed into by McDonald, resulting in a 50m penalty and a tap-through. Amazingly, Magpie players rushed to congratulate McDonald for his "hardness".
Collingwood steamed out in the third term with Williams shaking off McLeod's tag and Buckley lifting his game, Schauble found space on half forward. But they missed a stream of chances, Sav Rocca had two bad misses including one from 20m directly in front. Schauble and Russell also missed shots, Cressida Kim Koster kicked the only goal of the term. Koster got another early in the final stanza and the Crows looked like they'd go on. But the Pies weren't gonna give in and after a long spell of pressure Liddell lobbed a long kick through to narrow the margin to a point. Then Williams showed tremendous team spirit...or took an insane risk, depending on your viewpoint...when he charged into an open goal but squared the ball to Sav. Big Sav didn't let him down, goaling to put Collingwood back in front. The match turned on mistakes from two of Collingwoods' stars. Buckley played on from a kick-in and blasted the ball deep into the centre square. And straight to four Crows. Rehn marked and chipped to Jarman, he passed to Connell on 50m. Crosisca needlessly smacked into Connell, resulting in a 50m penalty and an easy goal. Said Tony Shaw afterwards "For a bloke with his senior position at the club, he was a bit overzealous and turned a 55-metre kick into a 5-metre goal." Some great play from Koster set up a simple goal for Jameson to seal it.
Adelaide's defenders, Smart, Caven and Johnson were very good on a night made for backmen and Koster did some crucial things midfield besides his 2 goals. Rehn was very handy about the ground and Pittman was useful after half time, Rintoul played well. Collingwood defenders Brown (on Jarman) and Michael (on Modra) were very good, Buckley picked up his usual bucket of kicks running off half back but you worry about his effectiveness sometimes. Osborne and Russell did well in midfield and Crosisca was useful until his game-altering indiscretion. Sav Rocca kicked 3 goals. Shaw singled him out too. "A full-forward has got to kick those set shots from 25 metres, that's what you pay them for". Shawry went on to describe the match as "a moral victory...if you don't respect the commitment put in by these boys tonight, you don't know football...but that doesn't get you the four points." Mal Blight said "I don't think the game broke, it was just one of those games and it was hard to get goals...we controlled (the ball) a little bit better occasionally and perhaps hung in there a little longer."
Previous Weeks results and wrap-ups
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