AFL Round 20

Given recent results, I think I can solve the fixture problem. Simply abandon the first two-thirds of the season. It appears to have little relevence.

Brisbane chairman Noel Gordon announced he'd step down next February to be replaced by Alan Piper, who quit after the Northey sacking. Gordon admitted sacking Northey mid-year was a mistake. Footscray were embarrassed by the leaking of a trading document which ranked all the clubs' players from 1 to 42 - Brownlow medallist Wynd was no. 16 - said blokes like Cameron, Southern and Scott West were tradeable and targets included Bomber Mercuri, Lion Lappin and injured Tiger David Bourke. No news to the players involved, but embarrassing all the same. At least the Dogs had time to warn their men of the leak and there was no public kerfuffle. Crow Tony Modra demanded an exorbitant salary and life membership of the Cows for his new contract, threatening to leave the club if he doesn't get them.

And we have to have the weekly mention of Docklands, the "corporate launch" occurred last Monday and the AFL were a little embarrassed by the fact that cashed-up business and hospitality-industry types will have access to 40% of the seats or something while only 5,000 ordinary punters (not including club members) will be able to get in. So did they promise to alter the imbalance? Of course not. AFL members will be shafted instead, they won't have any reserve seating at all.

At the MCG:

North Melbourne  2.5   7.12   14.17   22.19.151
Fremantle        2.2   5.3     7.4      7.5.47

During the ritual post-lunch kick-to-kick at the Christmas BBQ it's common to see the older blokes of the family toying with the young kids, conceding them the odd kick to keep them interested. Fremantle were those kiddies and North the old, hard men as the Roos extended their winning sequence to seven, led by bully-in-chief Carey. In selection the Roos had two casualties from last Friday night, Allison will miss several weeks with his broken thumb and Archer was rested with strained knee ligaments, in came Crocker and Rock. Fremantle lost Chisholm, Leach and Mann to injury, replacements were Godden, Clucas and Dan Parker.

The early going featured two recent motifs of North's play, missed shots at goal and head-high "shepherds". Fremantle began with O’Reilly on Carey, Hunter at CHF and Michael at full forward and as the Roos wasted chances Michael kicked the first goal. North got their first when Grant capitalised on a poor kick-in. King grabbed Freo's Walker by the foot 45m from goal, a free but there was no 50m penalty or report and no goal resulted. Abraham planted a shoulder into Bond's head, the Roo ended up with the ball though after the Dockers retaliated on behalf of their semi-conscious teammate. Carey missed a simple shot, then King slammed his shoulder into Callaghan's cranium. At last a report, Kingy went into the book and Michael goaled from the downfield free. Roo McKernan marked and goaled right on the siren. North got down to business in the second term, their superior strength and experience too much for the Dockers. Rock was allowed to play on and goal after Carey was shoved under the ball, Crocker passed to Carey for the next sausage, then Carey was awarded a juggling non-mark on a tight angle, played on and hooked it through. O'Reilly was shifted forward and Dan Parker went onto Wayne who ventured up field and North got a goal without him, a lightening Rock handpass set up Harvey and North led by 30 points. Freo rallied with three consecutive goals as Burton and Norrish won some centre clearances. Sinclair got one, Norrish raced clear of the next bounce and planted on Hunter's chest, he converted and Dodd kicked accurately after McCartney caught him high. The gap was down to 14 points but Carey arrived to goal again just before the main break, an extremely soft free against Gale for shepherding.

The second act of The Carey Show was quite spectacular. He kicked off the third term with a big mark and goal. The Dockers clung on, Hunter was ripped off when the goal ump decided Pickett got a fingernail on his off-breaking snap, then Shane Parker kicked a nice running goal. However Rock streaked away from the subsequent centre bounce and speared a long, low punt through, then Carey kicked three straight: a bustling mark against Parker; a soccer after Parker dropped a chest mark; a rubbish free when Wayney held the ball under Norrish and the blind-side umpire paid bawl. It's fun doing that to kids. O'Reilly got another go on Carey as Rock majored and Grant slotted after a mark and 50m penalty against the frustrated visitors, the margin blew out to 10 goals. Docker Holland booted a nice long goal right on the third-quarter siren. But they'd had enough. North rained goals in the last term, there was a nice team goal for Bell, Carey got two more as he accepted passes from Pike and Harvey, midfielders like Pike and Capuano queued up for their majors. Sholl pushed the winning margin into three figures when he was allowed to shove Carroll under the ball, mark and convert.

Carey has often enjoyed these night-time 'G encounters late in the season, here he had 20 kicks, 8 marks and 8 goals. Rover Rock, who's spent a fair slab of the year in the reserves, made a case for his finals spot with 24 touches and 4 goals. Pike played in the centre and had 31 disposals and a goal, King, Bell and Simpson were also good on the ground. McKernan is getting back to his best now, 16 kicks and more importantly 9 marks and Pickett was good at the back. Grant kicked 3 goals. Freo had few winners, as usual small runners Callaghan (25 disposals), Sinclair (21) and Norrish tried hard, Shane Parker was decent in defence and Bond did OK on Abraham, Walker impressed again with 20 touches. Michael was their only multiple scorer with his 2 first-quarter goals. "We did as well as we could have until half time and just saw the best side in the country in action after that, " said Neesham. "It was the most seriously depleted team playing against them...it's hard to coach under these circumstances and stay positive..." Pagan almost smiled. "We finessed too much early but we were slick in the end. Picking up almost five percentage points is going to be helpful to us. We really came home with a wet sail."

At the MCG:

Essendon      6.6   10.8   13.13   16.13.109
Collingwood   3.0    9.3   13.6    14.15.99

The inept versus the incompetent as the Bombers tried hard to lose it after a good start, except the Pies weren't gracious enough to accept the gift booting 1.9 in the final term. That stoopid possession game'll be the death of the Dons. Two changes for the Bombers, Caracella dropped and Blumfield withdrew with a thigh, Denham returned with Olarenshaw. Pie coach Shaw may have had an inkling of his future as he dumped the kids for oldies, Wright, Osborne, Russell and Tony Francis were recalled along with Matt Francis and Buckley returning from injury. Dropped were Mahoney, Tuckey, Mangin and Fuller, Prestigiacomo was out with an ankle injury and Monkhorst's season came to an early end as he copped 4 weeks for whacking Richardson last week. Harsh, but he didn't seem to care at the tribunal. Amazingly, Crow the Mongrel got off.

In the opening quarter James Hird reminded folks that he can actually play footy, kicking 4 goals against the hapless Crosisca ( the first two) and Gav Brown. Lloyd set up two of them and two were blasted through from well outside 50m. Lucas lurked for the other pair. Sav Rocca, often the Bombers' nemesis, kicked two for the Pies. The Magpies rallied in the second term, Michael went onto Hird and Schauble to full forward, Sav in the ruck. Schauble did well and created an early goal for the busy Burns, Tony Francis got another and the gap was down to 12 points. Sheedy honoured tradition (his own) by moving Hird to the backline. Essendon goaled before Tarrant snapped accurately and Crow the Thug set up Richardson, the gap was down to 6 points. Cockatoo-Collins came off the bench and manufactured a steadier for the Dons, Sav got another but the Dons replied with a brace of majors from Fletcher and Cockatoo-Collins again. Brown moved forward and goaled right on half time.

The Pies again drew close in the third until consecutive goals from Dons Denham and Bewick kept them ahead, but it was all set for a big last quarter as the Pies enjoyed the majority of possession. They fairly dominated the opening exchanges, but booted three consecutive behinds. Burns missed from a tight angle, the kick-in was marked by Sav who blasted a massive torp - for a point, then Tarrant won a free 20m out right in front and missed also. With their first attack of the stanza Essendon goaled, Mercuri threading through a superb running kick. They led by 10 points but the Scraggies persisted. Tony Francis set up Buckley, who missed, Wasley's long shot was rushed through, Wasley had another go which curled the wrong side of the post, Rocca had an inaccurate snap when he coulda passed to the unattended Buckley. Sheesh. Sav compounded the error with two horrendous misses after good marks, it was back to 4 points again and the Pies had kicked 0.9 for the quarter. They had another chance when Tarrant was flattened on the wing and the Maggies won a downfield free, however Wright retaliated, the decision was reversed, O'Donnell got the ball to Lloyd - goal. The Pies responded immediately as Brown found Russell in the pocket and he kicked straight at last but Lloyd sealed it with a good grab and conversion.

No standout for the Bombers whose best players contributed in spurts. Wellman was generally very good at CHB though, Hird set the win up and finished with 26 touches, 9 marks and 5 goals. Not a bad afternoon. Calthorpe worked hard for 31 disposals although as the game wore on most of his kicks were sideways passes of 20m or less and he had plenty of mates. Fraser (20 touches) wasn't bad and Hardwick the reliable in defence. Lloyd won it at the end and kicked 3 goals from 8 marks. Cockatoo-Collins was handy with 2 goals and Lucas also got 2. Half-back Jamie Tape was very good for the Pies with 19 disposals and 7 marks and Buckley scarcely missed a beat with 29 possessions and a goal. Burns was good again with identical stats to Buckley's, Sav Rocca drove the Pie supporters insane with his 4 goals and a good performance before three ridiculous misses in the final term. Wright had Bewick benched and Watson played well, spending the last quarter in the ruck which Sheedy later admitted threw them off. Shaw refused to blame the goalshooting, for some reason. "1.9 isn't good but I didn't think that was the problem. There were a couple of other things which were inexcusable from senior players, from players who played well on the day (ie. Wright's reversed free). They gall you more than the missed goals." Hmm. Sheeds wasn't so obtuse. "We were very lucky today, there's no doubt about that. But maybe we should have put them away after our first quarter and buried them early."

At Waverley:

Footscray  6.0    6.3   11.6   15.9.99
Sydney     3.2    7.5   13.6   15.7.97

Facing a mini-finals series in the last three games the Dogs willed themselves to victory over Sydney. Footscray reacted to their recent patchy form by axing Powell, Cox and Dimattina, Wynd returned from injury, spearhead Cook got another go and muscly midfielder Mark West returned for his first game in ages. Sydney dropped Ahmat and lost Schwass before the game with back spasms, in came McPherson and Licuria.

Beginning with the breeze Footscray did well, Scott West welcomed Wynd's return as he gathered 12 touches in the first quarter and Kolyniuk continued his fine form with 2 early goals, Cook got a couple of early majors too. Lockett played a one-man band with 3 excellent first-term goals for the Swans. With the wind the Swans improved, Luff was beating Grant and Cresswell, O'Loughlin and Nicks got running, Lockett bagged another, further majors for Luff, McPherson and Lockett again gave 'em a half-time lead. The Bullies struggled to hold on as the Swans moved two goals clear midway through the third term, Cresswell and McPherson right on top in the middle while O'Loughlin got it in attack. But as in last year's finals Mark West came off the bench to rally the Puppies, he combined with Montgomery to set up Kolyniuk, Saddington snapped truly for the Sydneysiders before Hudson assisted for Kolyniuk again, the gap was down to 6 points. But then Stafford baulked unbelieveably well for a gangling giraffe and snapped truly, Licuria worked hard to set up a tap-through for Lockett and it was Sydney by 18. Romero goaled from a free right on the PENULTIMATE siren, the ones ending the quarter being the only important blasts. The Dogs stared down the barrel of a deficit and the wind. But they were determined. Hudson majored early in the last stanza, O'Loughlin replied after seizing the ball in a goalsquare muddle. Grant roused himself to mark and pass to Cook, a sausage and the Swans led by 5 points. Lockett soccered against a post before Hudson found leading Cook again, his shot swung Irish through the posts and the Dogs led by a point. Grant kicked on the full before Lockett bagged his seventh, scrambling the ball through and the Swans led by 5 points. However Grant took another key grab 65m from goal and bombed long, Hudson stayed down and the ball spilled perfectly for him. Dogs by a point, Cook missed a shot and the siren rang as Kolyniuk lined up. He didn't take the shot, strangely. It wouldn't be a Footscray/Sydney game without the Swans whinging about some Doggy violence, this time Eade claimed Kretiuk had whacked O'Loughlin in the mouth in the dying stages.

Paul Hudson had 18 disposals and 3 goals for the Dogs, he was a major winning factor. The maligned Cook booted 5 goals from 8 marks, Kolyniuk was very good again with 18 touches and 4 goals. Scott West handled 40 times in the centre and Cameron swept perfectly across half-back again - we'll have him. Kretuik was good at the back, Grant's last quarter was that of a leader. For the Swans Lockett pocketed 7 goals, he's on 98 for the year now and should get the ton next Monday night at the 'G. The silky O'Loughlin had 18 touches and 2 goals, Cresswell (27 disposals), Licuria and McPherson (2 goals) were good midfield. Luff dominated Grant for 3 quarters. The Swans missed Schwatta. Eade said "We hit the front with a few minutes to go and should have won from there. But I thought the effort was very courageous, coming off a six-day break, a very hard contest, losing a key player before the game, we stood up very well against the top team..." Wallace reckoned "Hudson's a quality player (that's what the Hawthorn folk always thought) and before the game I mentioned to him that he was at the club for these types of games. He's a senior player and cool in a crisis." Essendon and North to go for the Dogs, the Swans have to win the last couple to claim a top-2 spot.

At Kardinia Park:

Geelong   1.1    3.2    4.5    6.8.44
Adelaide  2.1    4.5    9.8   18.10.118

Adelaide's first-ever win at KP was also Geelong's fifth consecutive home loss. Only two weeks to go for their depleted battlers. After three straight 12-goal wins the Cows are officially obnoxious. Oh I'm sorry, "ominous". When I was a kid Geelong was the most feared away trip in football. Now it's as scary as an away trip to Brisbane. In selection the Cats dumped Biddiscombe for Corrigan while Adelaide replaced the injured Bassett and Liptak with Shane Ellen and Ormond-Allen.

Typically tight, dull opening enlivened by some violence. Cat Kilpatrick was thumped into the concrete dugout by Caven, giving the Geelong man knee and thigh injuries. Mansfield roosted the first wind-assisted goal before having his nose broken. Ricciuto played on Hocking, potentially a WWF contest, except that the Camry slaughtered Bhudda with his footballing skills. Marsh and Ricciuto kicked the Corolla's first-term goals. Tight still in the second term, Burns and Steinfort managed goals for the Cats while the visiting supporters became excited when Modra, restored to full forward, rode Simpson for a big speccie and goal. The game shifted when Blight moved McLeod into the centre for the third term, Rehn lifted and the Cressidas moved ahead. Two quick goals put them 20 points clear before Hall marked and goaled for the Cats, Modra answered after a diving mark. The Cats had a reasonable spell characterised by their usual inability to score, Milburn passed badly when coming forward and Riccardi kicked a long point. Some terrific play by Tyson Edwards got the ball to Connell, he found Vardy 20m out directly in front, Hiaces by 26 points. Ricciuto kicked long and Modra rode upon Simpson for another photogenic screamer, Crows by 5 goals. McLeod charged out of the next centre bounce, Modra marked again and missed but you could sense the coming belting. Modra bagged another three in the final term, Vardy got a couple more as the Cows piled up the percentage. Spinks got some late Cat consolation.

Ricciuto ruled for the Adelaideians, 38 disposals, a goal and Hocking's scalp into the bargain. McLeod was brilliant after half time, continually clearing the centre and finishing with 18 kicks - no handpasses. Modra upped his contract ante with 6.3 from 9 marks and 11 kicks, Vardy's good form continued with 4 goals, Tim Cook and Robran got 2 majors each. Koster was busy with 21 handlings, Smart accelerated away from defence for 18 kicks. Just a mention for Edwards and Brett James, who contribute a lotta 1-percenters. Cat's best player was Sanderson, who had 20 disposals while keeping Jarman to 6 touches before the Crow was benched in the third quarter. Jars's probably waiting for the finals now. Sholl was his usual professional self with 23 disposals, youngsters Wood and Milburn showed a bit again and ruckman King wasn't bad. Spinks kicked 2 late goals. "We came up against the best side we've played this year," said Ayres. "They're a very good outfit and they'll probably go close to winning it again." Doesn't he realise it's illegal to say that east of Bordertown? "It took a half for them to shake us off," continued Conan, "I thought we had some reasonable match-ups and we were getting a little bit of the ball...but in the second half they completely blew us away." Blight said "Not much in it at half time, we did OK against the breeze in the first and Geelong's second quarter was good. The boys were very good in the middle. You've got to say that Geelong had a very, very young team, they've got a lot of injuries and the kids'll learn, that's not being condescending." On the flag he said "perhaps we'll have a better idea after North next week, they seem in pretty good nick." Should be a decent game.

At the Gabba:

Brisbane  3.3    3.10   5.12    7.17.59
Hawthorn  4.5    4.9    8.13   13.16.94

Brisbane secured the spoon as the in-form Hawks chalked up their third consecutive win. With home games against Geelong and Fremantle to finish Hawthorn could climb the ladder a bit more. Here Lions Hart and Gowers missed with a hamstring and a torn pectoral muscle respectively, it's the end of the year for Gowers who played a total of one-and-a-bit quarters last week. Replacements were rookies O'Bree, Notting and Picken. No change for the revitalised Hawks. Liked Shane Crawford's comment on The Footy Show: "We had a big pre-season and now it's showing..."

Hawthorn completely dominated the opening 15 minutes, Shane Crawford and Hassall won a stack of kicks across the middle and Dixon kept getting it across half-forward. Rawlings kicked the first goal, Dixon assisted on the next for Chick, then Crawford, S., set up Hassall. But the Lions ground back into it before the first break, Boyd's snap took some fortuitous zigzag bounces, Lord responded with a nice roving goal before two more classic rovers' goals for Lions Leppitsch and Ashcroft. Both teams had The Collingwood Last-Quarter Disease in the second term, firstly the Hawks missed a few chances, the worst being Justin Crawford's failed marking attempt on a shot which was going through. Then Brisbane controlled the game for a while but Clarke hit the post, Bradshaw, White and Boyd missed set shots. Hawk Lord kicked on the full and ex-Lion Barker also missed to finish the half. The drought was broken early in the third stanza, Krummel goaled for Hawkthorn and Brisbane replied immediately through Chris Scott, some more misses by both teams before the Mayblooms eased clear with a soccer shot from Chick and an excellent snap from Shane Crawford. The Hawks led by 4 goals before Lawrence's late lead, mark and goal kept the Lions in it. For the last quarter Lion stalwart Richard Champion was moved to CHF in attempt to get something happening in their static attack, he kicked a good early goal and the locals trailed by 11 points. The Hawks answered instantly when Krummel's good tap laid on an easy goal for Dixon, then the Fitzroy connection saw another Brisbane goal with Boyd setting up Bamford. However the Hawks rolled home from there with four consecutive sausages, Barker's long set shot, two for Chick on the run and finally the very good Dixon.

The Hawks used the ball better midfield with the unlikely Hassall (32 disposals, 20 handpasses, a goal), the more likely Shane Crawford (31 touches, a goal) and Harford the standouts, Treleven and Lekkas mopped up in defence where Graham was also very good, Barker and Rawlings played well further afield. Chick bagged 4 goals and Dixon got 2, assisted on a few and coulda had more himself with straighter kicking. For the Lions Ashcroft (25 touches), Tristan Lynch (25), Boyd and Lappin (16 kicks) battled away but often wasted their possession, Kennedy did well on Holland. White, Dickfos and Champion tried hard, Lawrence was useful again. They had seven goalkickers. No quote here from Merrett, Judge said "I've been happy with our commitment for most of the year and they're getting rewards for the effort they've put in...we finished last season poorly and needed to finish this season better, so I'm happy we're putting a few wins together."

At Football Park:

Port Adelaide  3.5    4.10   6.10   10.11.71
Melbourne      1.2    3.5    9.7    14.10.94

My brother-in-law, a big Saint man, and I were barracking vociferously for Port, for whom a win would've helped our teams. The Pooer teased us by dominating the first half for a measly 2-goal lead before being overrun by the Demons, who climbed into the eight. In selection Port lost Wanganeen with his recurrent hamstring injury and Naish with a groin strain, Heuskes was dropped again. Into the side came Burgoyne, Harwood and Heaver. The Demons are clearly angling for sponsorship from Quit! as they discarded Smoker and Gaspar. Initially Grgic was selected together with Glen Lovett, but they both withdrew beforehand along with Lyon (calf), so in came Robertson, Ward and Seecamp. Steven Febey played his 200th game for the Dees.

Port completely controlled the first half, Primus beat White in the ruck, they tackled fiercely in the middle and Lyle, Bond and Burgoyne pumped it forward for the enigmatic Warren Tredrea. He marked everything that went near him in the first two quarters but do you think he could kick straight? He managed a couple of behinds early and there were woeful misses from Lade and Primus too before Tredrea at last got on target with two virtually unmissable shots. Melbourne couldn't get the ball but their only attack of the opening stanza saw Viney kick a goal. Much the same for most of the second term, Tredrea continued to mark the ball continually against the hapless Bishop, then Seecamp. He missed his first shot of the quarter but luckily Steve Febey's kick-in was swallowed by Stevens, who goaled. Then Tredrea stopped kicking points - he started kicking it out on the full. WHY CAN'T YOU KICK IT EFFING STRAIGHT YOU EFFING SOUTH AUSTRALIAN EFFWIT? I yelled at the TV, while my in-law mumbled darkly under his breath. Melbourne couldn't go on struggling and they didn't. Stynes came on to compete with Primus in the ruck, Tingay started to get it on the wing while Viney and Leoncelli got kicks midfield. Schwarz showed Tredrea how to do it, kicking two goals from 50m, one on the run and another set shot.

At half time Tredrea had 10 marks, 13 kicks, 2.4 and 2 on-the-full. But he didn't see much of it after that as Melbourne's midfield took over. Schwarz kicked another excellent goal to start the half and then Kowal got one, he'd replaced Farmer in the forward line. Schwarz spun superbly away from Paxman and centred the ball for Viney to goal and Melbourne led, Viney kicked another and Schwarz's smother led to a goal for Rigoni. Port fired briefly as Dickie kicked two very good goals, but Schwarz took the Dees into three quarter time as he stayed down in a contest and the ball lobbed precisely off Paxman's hands and into his arms. Melbourne started the final term well when Tingay sprinted away from two chasers with a 5-bounce run down the wing and passed to Kowal, he dobbed it. Port desperately threw Mead and Chalmers into attack, Chalmers got a goal but Woewodin wobbled one through in reply. Mead marked and handpassed for Tredrea who majored on the run from 45m - the bastard - and then Mead soccered one himself. But Steven Febey killed them off with two storming running goals, capping off his 200th nicely. Un-nicely, Schwarz did his hamstring.

Melbourne's lithe and clever midfielders won the day, Viney (who's not that lithe, I guess) had 33 disposals and kicked 3 goals, S. Febey galloped forward for 32 touches and 2 goals, his brother, Anthony McDonald, Rigoni and Tingay were all ball magnets after half time. Special mention for Leoncelli who was very good early when the Dees were struggling. Schwarz was excellent, 4 goals from 6 kicks, Kowal did well to kick 3 goals, Stynes help turn things around in the ruck. For Port Mead was a winner again in thrashing Neitz and he also kicked a goal at the end, Shane Bond did very well on Farmer while having 18 touches himself. Tredrea finished with 11 marks and 3.4, Dickie was OK with 2 goals. Lyle (23 disposals), Wilson and Stevens played well. "In the first half we had a chance to be 8, 9, 10 goals in front and a lot of the shots weren't hard," said Cahill. Tell us about it. "We dominated the first half and it didn't show on the scoreboard. Then they dominated the third quarter, especially with players around the ball, we had players who couldn't hit the mark. That's a loss of confidence..." Daniher said "I thought we were fairly disappointing today. We are under no illusions that we need to play a lot better than that if we want to go further this season. We started very lethargically, possibly Port's poor kicking kept us in it then..." Possibly?

At the MCG:

Carlton     4.9   7.14   14.16   19.20.134
St. Kilda   2.4   6.8    10.14   15.14.104

The Saints plunged deeper into the mire as Nicky Winmar had a brain explosion. During the week the Saints imposed a media ban on their players, simultaneously four newspaper articles appeared detailing the problems of their young winger Austinn Jones and celebrity Saint supporter Molly Meldrum wrote to the Hun with stories of players out nightclubbing and boozing throughout the week. It was the first of many rumours of Sainters spending their free time throwing their wages around at the casino and downing vats of bourbon and coke. Here Blue Lock missed with a groin strain and Anstey was dropped, Koutoufides and Franchina returned from suspension. The Saints were considerably strengthened with Loewe back after his suspension, Jones was dragged from the pub for a game and Traianidis and Ben Thompson were given chances, Heatley was out with a thigh strain and Beveridge with a hammy, Cranage and Elliott were dropped.

Carlton began well but missed stream of shots, History's Greatest Full Back the most culpable as he commenced at full-forward. Loewe kicked 2 early goals for St. Kilda. Winmar had been jostling with and swearing at his opponent, Franchina, right from the start. Carlton were winning in the middle with ruckman Allan, Brown and Ratten doing well, Brown got their first goal and soon Whitnall and Franchina had them on their way. The Saints rallied in the second term, Harvey weaved away from a pack and kicked what should've been an inspirational goal, McLaren and Knowles got goals but Carlton stayed ahead as their midfield continued to win the ball, Ratten snapped a miraculous goal and Rice and Camporeale majored. The Winmar/Franchina battle came to a head late in the term, Winmar threw Franchina to the ground bringing umpires and runners streaking to the scene. As the players departed for half-time, Winmar shoved Loewe away and warned football manager Gary Colling to stay clear. He started the second half on the bench and Carlton got the first goal, but Loewe did well to kick an answer and some superb play from Mitchell created a running goal for Andy Thompson, the Saints trailed by 10 points. With Sziller, Cook and Shane Wakelin off injured, Alves was forced to reintroduce Winmar. He was greeted by Hogg who crashed him to the ground, Winmar retaliated and Hogg won a free 50m off the ball as Young drove the Saints forward. Winmar was benched again and the Blues dobbed the next three goals, HGFB prominent and that was pretty much that. The Saints fought on at the end with Jones kicking two belated goals, one set up by Winmar who had another go, also giving away another free in a blue with Justin Murphy.

Unfortunately Winmar's troubles overshadowed a fine effort by Carlton. Brown, opposed to his St. Kilda namesake, finished with 38 disposals and 2 goals, Bradley beat Harvey and had 33 touches while Ratten was also good with 25 touches and 2 goals. Allan beat Cook and Everitt in the ruck, taking 12 marks, HGFB booted 5 goals after a wayward start and White kicked 3 goals, McKay and Murphy were very good across half back. Manton did well at full back. Loewe tried manfully to lift his side with 6 marks and 4 goals, he had Koutoufides as his opponent, Burke was their only winning midfielder with 29 disposals and Everitt boxed on despite lowering his colours to Allan. Peckett, Young and Sierakowski had a go, Jones tried hard and got two goals but only had 4 kicks. That's their problem, the mid-range players like Peckett, Young, Jones, Sziller etc. just can't get the ball. Alves said "At this stage we've got to keep a cool head. That's what I said after the game. We've got to work our way through this. We're not playing - individually and collectively - anywhere near what we can." On Winmar he said "We were bitterly disappointed. When you're a champion, you're going to encounter all methods to try and put you off your game. You've got to be better than that...now's not the time to speak to him, I'll do it later in the week." Parkin seemed to confirm they'd set out to rattle Winmar, saying "Franchina is one of the less enjoyable players to play on." On the game he reckoned "We allowed them a reasonable start, we should have murdered them at the beginning...that was sad. You always worry that all that effort may go for nought." But it didn't.

At Subiaco:

West Coast  1.6   8.10   14.13   16.16.112
Richmond    2.2   5.4     8.5     11.7.73

Straightforward win for the Eagles over a woefully depleted Richmond. In selection the Eagles recalled premiership winger Chris Mainwaring for his first game since doing a knee in round 2, 1997, also in were Donnelly and Heady. They replaced injured pair Metropolis and Schofield and axed Phil Matera. The Tigers were decimated. Richardson will miss 3 weeks with a fractured cheekbone and Gaspar was out with concussion, Plapp was suspended a week for biffing Brown last Sundy and Powell did a hamstring, McKee was dropped. In came Ryan, Ottens, James, Bower for his annual tagging job on Pete Matera and a new player from the rookie list, Gippsland's Greg Tivendale. By the end of this game Campbell was lying on the sideline with icepacks all over his legs and Rogers and Torney were nursing injuries too. Oh footballing gods, how have we offended thee?

Richmond's tactics of playing 11 half-backs worked well enough early, helped by some terrible Eagle goalshooting. Harrison and Prescott managed to lurk goals for the Tiges before Cousins smacked a superb long kick through for the home team. But the Eagles jumped out with the first three goals of the second term, Morrison roved a pack and Fewster and Ball got one each from strong marks. Dennis Commetti confounded us by insisting that Benny Gale was one of Richmond's best when it was quite obvious Ball was giving him a bath. Weegle monolith Jakovich was forced off with a recurrence of his ankle/calf problem and Gehrig went to CHB, Mainwaring came on to huge roars. Richmond narrowed the gap to 4 points with a lovely running shot from Bowden and a goal for James. Two horrendous disposal errors from Turner and Rogers in Richmond's defence gifted a goal to Braun, Ryan responded with a nice snap as the Tiges clung on. But then Lewis and White kicked superb goals from set shots, Fewster got another as the margin expanded. Into the third and Richmond got a couple of early goals from Evans and James before the Eagles put on a goalkicking clinic. Symmons got two, an exemplary blind-turn to snap truly from close range and a running banana, White set up Donnelly and Fewster smashed a huge kick through. Symmons was actually tagging Campbell but was doing so well that Tiger coach Gieschen moved Campbell to the forward pocket to get Symmons away from the action. The margin blew to 52 points. It was all Richmond could do to save percentage, a feat they managed reasonably in the last term as Chaffey kicked couple of goals and Daffy got one too while the Weegs coasted. Mainwaring's comeback might be interrupted as he fore-armed Evans in the face.

Hardly a poor player for the West Coast, liked Cousins (27 disposals, a goal), Braun (24, a goal) and Morrison (27, a goal), Read confirmed his ability. Ball won handsomely in the ruck with 19 touches and 7 marks. In attack Fewster showed promise again with 3 goals and Symmons was very good with 20 kicks and 2 goals, Heady, Lewis and Donnelly also kicked 2 goals each. McIntosh was good at full back. For the Tiges Matty Knights ran and battled furiously for 31 disposals, Daffy had 28 kicks although it seemed he got half that many. Broderick was in everything for 21 touches, Harrison and Bowden got a few kicks. Andy Kellaway continually backed into oncoming packs to good effect. Either tremendous bravery or stupidity. James and Chaffey kicked 2 goals each, with Evans they formed the immensely threatening 3-man forward line. Gieschen had already conceded this one. "We gave it our best crack, but over four quarters we weren't good enough. The players hung in there and fought it out under a fair bit of pressure." Winning the last two will give the Tiges a spot. Malthouse reckoned "We had a lot of players who did the job we asked; it was a game we had to win and the work ethic was fairly high. Our young players were particularly good."