AFL Round 1

Once again it.s time to:
Grab your coat and your rug
And your thermos and mug
Let it rain, let it shine
Tho. your team.s far behind
Because it.s football season
And that.s the reason
It.s the time of the year that we loooooooooooove!

Apologies, damn actual work.

At the MCG:
Richmond     2.5   6.7   11.9   14.13.97
Collingwood  1.2   3.3    5.6     8.9.57

This was good. Yes, there.s still a long way to go and the Tiges started last season like a steam train only to run off the rails halfway through and the Poise are slow starters traditionally etc etc., but it sure felt good to pump .em. The Tigers. lead-up to the game had been less than ideal with five club directors either resigning or being sacked in the preceding fortnight, amid rumours Richmond are up to their eyeballs in debt (denied by president Clinton Casey). Departing football director Tony Jewell publicly bagged coach Danny Frawley, who didn.t help his cause with a jittery pre-game press conference. The Pies endured a quiet pre-season marked by a woeful effort in the Wizard Cup amongst generally terrible pre-season form, although such contests usually count for little in the Malthouse world. The Magpies had no new players to unveil here and fielded 21 of the 22 that capitulated against Brisbane last September, Ben Kinnear the only one missing I think. Several Pies came in with questionable fitness, however. Anthony Rocca was absent, still under suspension from last year.s preliminary final. The Tiges selected three new players, their recruiting prize in ex-Bulldog Nathan Brown, ex-Brisbane forward Shane Morrison and first-gamer Brent Hartigan, an 18-year-old from the Calder Cannons whose father, Dean, played for Essadun. Mark Chaffey was missing, suspended, while Matthew Rogers, Duncan Kellaway and Justin Blumfield were injured.

Nippy autumn evening at the .G, with the new Western Stand hulking over the city end but a new .gap. on the northern side where the Members. Stand has been demolished. Pie icon Nathan Buckley won a free-kick at the opening centre-bounce of 2004, handballed off, ran afield to receive it back and smack a superb, angled goal from 55m. The Tiges had opted not to tag Buckley, a risky strategy given Bucks had slaughtered .em in recent fixtures. Bucks had plenty of touches early, but soon the Tigga midfield started to take control where Brown, Mark Coughlan and Kane Johnson were very good, with the speed of David Rodan and Andy Krakouer valuable. The only thing Tiges didn.t do was kick straight, with Brad Ottens, Chris Newman and Nathan Brown all missing easy set shots before Brown collected a handpass to snap his first Tiger goal. Late in the term Tiger defender Ray Hall won a free-kick and a dubious 50m penalty to bring him within range, he booted a good major. The second term opened with over-maligned Tiger spearhead Matthew Richardson marking 10m out and drilling his first goal. Richo stacked on 8 kg of muscle over summer and has been instructed to play out of the goal-square, ala Alastair Lynch for the Lyin.s. Richmond.s midfield was well on top now with some hard tackling to complement their ball-winning. Coughlan booted a goal, answered at the other end when Pie forward Chris Tarrant led along the boundary, marked and centered the ball to Ben Johnson, he converted. Tiges led by 15 points, Richardson extended it to 21 with his second sausage. The Maggies answered again with an Alan Didak goal, but just prior to the long break Tiger half-back Greg Tivendale collected Brown.s short pass and booted a terrific 55m set-shot for full points. Tiges by 22 points at half-time, they probably should have led by more on the balance of play.

The third stanza commenced with a bit of a Pie effort, Tarrant missed with a free-kick but baldy Pie wingman Matthew Lokan marked the Tiges. kick-in and set up Shane Woewodin for a major. The Poise clung on for a bit before the Tiges kicked away. A great set-play at throw-in saw Ottens tap the ball perfectly to Krakouer, who sold a dummy and snapped truly. Coughlan and Brown combined to find Richardson on the lead, Richo booted a very good goal from 45m. Richardson booted the next two goals too, both from marks set up by excellent kicks from Nathan Brown and Wayne Campbell respectively. Campbell was wearing the no. 17 guernsey as opposed to his usual 9, as decreed by the board Richmond captains will wear 17 from now on. The Tigers had cleared out to a 40-point lead. The Poise had a much-needed major after Josh Fraser.s clever steal and hooked pass created a second six-pointer for Woewodin, but the quarter ended in typical fashion with RICHO drifting into the goalsquare for another big grab and unselfishly dishing off for Brown to blast it through from point-blank. The Maggies roused themselves for a final-term effort, Chris Tarrant booted an early goal and Buckley won the following centre-clearance to set up a goal for .Sharpie. Didak. A minute later Didak had a set-shot 40m out directly in front, but missed poorly. The Tiges had a bit of steadier after Ty Zantuck roved Richo.s contest and dribbled it through for major, but the Pies answered quickly with .Neon. Leon Davis marking and converting. Again Didak caused Pie frustration with a quick snap which hooked wide, the Poise trailed by 26 points at this stage. Tarrant was bearing down on a loose ball only to have it bounce awkwardly away. The Scragpie momentum was lost, Tiggers Andrew Kellaway and David Rodan booted set-shot sausage rolls to see the Tiges home to a warmly-celebrated 40-point win.

Tiger fans and officials alike were quite excited about the performance of the team.s midfield, where Nathan Brown slotted in beautifully for 29 possessions and 2 goals (although his Bulldog inaccuracy continued, Brown kicked 2.5). Kane Johnson (31 disposals, 10 marks) and Mark Coughlan (22 touches, a goal) were excellent in their head-to-head battle with Buckley and co., all the other midfield players were good but Andrew Krakouer deserves special mention for his tackling and chasing as much as ball-winning (19 disposals plus a goal). Up forward Matty Richardson took 13 marks against Simon Prestitooslow and booted 5 goals - no behinds but two on-the-full. A sharp contrast to this game last year, when Richo was jeered off the field after contributing 1.6. Ruckman Brad Ottens, who.s also stacked on some beef, played very well and Shane Morrison (8 marks, 16 possies) was useful at CHF. The Pies. regular leaders were their best, Nathan Buckley (31 touches, a goal) won the ball continually, Shane Woewodin (19 disposals, 2 goals) proved dangerous and defenders James .Arnaud. Clement (17 touches) and Shane Wakelin (10 touches, 5 marks) weren.t bad. Alan .Sharpie. Didak managed 2.4 from his 14 possies, Josh Fraser (11 disposals) again proved useful around the ground but ineffective as a ruckman. As a supporter of the opposition, I.m quite happy to see either Richard Cole or Rhyce Shaw with the ball. They turn it over. A lot. Five Pie players came into this game with question-marks over their fitness, including Woewodin, Prestitooslow, James Clement who was nearly blinded in a practice-game collision, Didak and Shaw. As mentioned the Pies do tend to start the season slowly, so although Malthouse delivered the mandatory behind-closed-doors tirade after the match, he didn.t seem overly concerned. .We had very little support through the midfield. Our forwards I generally think didn.t work hard enough until we put Cloke and Cole down there. They weren.t big possession-getters but at least they opened it up for some other players to kick goals. But their midfield was dominant, even though I thought Nathan Buckley played a terrific game but he almost played a lone hand except for Paul Licuria at times. I thought we were going to be better prepared than that today (sic). I think if you walk away from here saying we were under-prepared you.re really doing an injustice to Richmond.. Frawley was understandably happy. .I thought our tackling and pressure against last year.s Grand Finalists was sensational.I suppose where the game is won and lost is in the midfield and it.s the first time we.ve been able to put that together. I.m really excited, I know I was excited going into the game, and the players were when you.ve got that type of midfield against a really good midfield in Collingwood. We were rapt..

Folks seem to rate the Hawks with many pundits having .em in the top four. Looking at their list, it.s the same bunch of confused battlers they had last year, although it.s fair to concede a decent run with injury would help them. Certainly they came out and smashed the poor old Dees here. Melbourne spent the summer begging for supporters and sponsors to sign up, following a staggering loss of over $2 million last season. Coach Neale Daniher was enlisted in the promotional drive. The Hawks entertained folks during the off-season with some fine comedy, coach Peter Schwab had .em rolling in the aisles with his .We will win the premiership. routine a week before his lads were thumped by Brisbane in the first round of the Wizard Cup. Club director Don Scott didn.t take to Schwabby.s absurdist shtick - he quit. In selection here the Hawks again appeared bedevilled by injury problems, with Jonathan Hay, Kris Barlow and Steven Greene all absent due to knee injuries, Nick Holland out with a shoulder problem while forward John Barker passed a late fitness test. The Hawks had three new players on display, former Carlton utility-man Simon Beaumont, the prodigal Trent Croad and ex-Don backman Danny Jacobs. Melbourne had two new players, former Richmond big man Ben Holland and debutant Aaron Davey, a speedy small forward from Port Melbourne. The Demons were almost full-strength, Peter Walsh the only regular absent.

On a warm, sunny day I adjourned down the pub, saw a bit of this in between cursing John Hawkes and it wasn.t a good game. Hawthorn were okay, with a winning midfield and two good forwards to complete the work in Nathan .The Big Arab. Thompson and Mark Williams. The Dees, sadly for them, looked dreadful and their performance was in complete contrast to generally decent pre-season form. Their key problem areas last season, an inability to win the hard ball from the ruck and around packs, was exposed yet again and their under-pressure backmen struggled once more because of it. Even worse, Melbun.s skill-level and disposal were dire. The first few minutes were relatively even before some superb ruck-work from the Hawks. Peter .Spider. Everitt began to give his rovers the whip-hand, especially Sam Mitchell and Richie Vandenberg. Tim Clarke and burgeoning media performer Shane Crawford were also fairly prominent, and Thompson announced himself with a huge grab to boot his first goal. Williams roved to snaggle the other, while the Dees. main .highlight. was Daniel Ward earning a report for KO-ing Hawk Nick Ries off-the-ball. Hawthorn should.ve ended the game in the second but for Thompson.s inaccurate kicking. At the other end Dee captain and spearhead David Neitz become frustrated by the rare, low-quality service from his midfield and the close attention of his opponent, Jacobs. A rare Melbun goal, resulting from a rare Ben Holland mark, led to Everitt and Neitz altercating for no obvious reason, although the unclever Everitt started it, so Holland ended with a 50m-penalty. When the standard Neitz-to-defence panic move came, the Dees began to improve. Brad Miller plucked some marks in attack and converted one for a goal, the lively Aaron Davey snaggled one. Ten minutes into the third quarter Paul Wheatley majored and the Dees trailed by 14 points. It wasn.t a confident-looking charge though, and when Demon Simon Godfrey marked 30m out, played on inexplicably and lost the ball, you sensed the Hawks had weathered it. Their Campbell Brown booted a goal following a typically gutsy pack-mark, Everitt landed a fantastic 55m-bomb from the boundary-line and Jacobs ran off Neitz (now returned to full-forward) to mark uncontested and kick a major he clearly enjoyed (Jacobs, that is). The Hawks cruised away in the final term with Williams, Ben Dixon and Adrian Cox getting on the score-sheet, while the Dees got some goals in what is commonly referred to as .junk time.. Melbun.s Clint Bizzell didn.t play in the final stanza due to bruised ribs.

Promising start for the Horks with chunky rover Sam Mitchell continuing his fine form of last season, wearing a new guernsey no. (5) Mitchell had 33 disposals, carving the Dees up around packs. Richie Vandenberg (22 kicks, a goal) and Shane Crawford (32 touches, a goal) were equally busy around contests, all three riding on a superb game from Spider Everitt (39 hitouts, 10 possies, 2 goals). Danny Jacobs made a fine debut at full-back, not his preferred position, holding Neitz goal-less while managing 21 disposals, 9 marks and a goal himself. Rebounding defenders Joel Smith (22 disposals) and Simon Beaumont (21 touches) were handy. Small forward Mark Williams belayed the hype about Hawk youngster Harry Miller by booting 4 goals from 4 marks and 6 kicks, Nathan Thompson kicked 3.4 from 6 marks and 9 kicks. Campbell Brown kicked 2 goals. Not much to excite Dee fans apart from the promising debut of Aaron Davey (13 possies, a goal). The usual stat-gatherers in Nathan Brown (15 disposals) and Adem Yze (32 touches with 25 kicks) were alright, young defender Jared Rivers started well and finished with 12 touches, Brad Miller showed a bit across half-forward with 7 marks, 14 disposals and a goal. Last year.s Best and Fairest winner Russell Robertson got a bit of the ball (19 touches, 7 marks) but generally nowhere near goal, as mentioned David Neitz went goal-less with just 2 marks although he was playing with a bad back, reportedly. .I thought we got thrashed out of the ruck, I thought we were thrashed around the scrums and to lose nineteen-eight out of the centre just really puts you on the back foot. We weren.t able to get our hands on the ball,. said Daniher. Peter Schwab referred to his club.s rocky, injury- and loss-strewn pre-season. .I always felt they could come out and lift when the real points were up for grabs; there was always that feeling we would be okay once the season started, so I was really pleased..

At Subiaco:
Fremantle  5.3   9.9   13.12   15.17.107
Carlton    3.3   5.6    8.9     8.12.60

Playing interstate first-up is a tough assignment, even if you.re a good team, so perhaps Bloo fans ought not place too much attention to their new-look side being outclassed by the Shockers in a warm, windy Perth. Then again, that unknown quantity could have tripped the Dokkas, who won like a good team and favourite should. In Melbun we don.t hear much about Freo, so I presume they were all happy over summer. Expectation is high over in Dokkaland following last year.s first-ever finals appearance. Freo had two new players here, both making their AFL debuts: teenage half-back Ryley Dunn from Shepparton in Victoria and the older (21) local Daniel Gilmore, a solid forward from South Fremantle. Fremantle were pretty-much full strength. The Bluesers, without draft picks and money, went to the Football Op-Shop and grabbed as many .bargains. as they could although they did collect one handy off-cut, Nick Stevens falling into their lap in the pre-season draft after Port failed to make a deal with Collingwood. Unfortunately for the Blooze Stevens didn.t play here, still under suspension from biffing Pie tagger Brodie Holland last year. Also missing was captain Anthony Koutoufides, suffering a hamstring tear. Nine of Denis Pagan.s nineteen new players did make their Carlton debut, however: Jordan Bannister from Essadun; David Clarke (Geelong); Daniel Harford and Brett Johnson (both Hawthorn); Digby Morrell and David Teague (both North Melbourne); Heath Scotland (Collingwood); and two blokes making their AFL debuts, ruckman Adrian Deluca from Port Melbourne and very small forward Stephen Kenna from Queensland via Box Hill. The youngest amongst that lot were 21-year-olds Deluca and Bannister, the oldest Harford at 27. Docker forward Clive Waterhouse, who debuted in 1995, played his 100th game.

The game started well for Carlton with acting captain Scott Camporeale displaying his ability to kick early goals - one after 2 minutes here. The reborn but still unshorn Brendan Fevola also bagged a first-term major but soon the Kouta-less, Stevens-less Bloo midfield was being over-run by the likes of Peter Bell, Paul Hasleby and Matthew Carr, with gigantic Freo ruckman Aaron Sandilands dominating hit-outs. The Blooze clung on gamely. Dokka small men Bell, Jeff Farmer and Paul Medhurst all kicked early goals, Medhurst benefiting from his opponent David Teague being donged early in a collision. The equally midget Carlton man Stephen Kenna was prominent early, his chase and tackle on Dokka debutant Dunn created a goal for Digby Morrell, later Kenna bagged a perfect rover.s goal. At half-time the Dokkas led by 27 points, with Medhurst and Farmer having kicked five of Freo.s nine goals between them. Plus ca change, as a Frenchman who barracked for Fremantle might say. Of the few .old. Blues Matthew Lappin had been reported for a pretty ordinary, late hit on unprotected Docker Byron Schammer, while lumbering Lance Whitnall was being well-controlled by talented Luke McPharlin. Freo scored an early goal in the third stanza to go six goals up, before a Fevola brace brought the Bluies within 22 points. From there Fremantle cruised away, adding five goals to one as the Blues tired in the final stanza.

The experienced, ever-running Docker captain Peter Bell led the way with 38 disposals (20 kicks) and 2 goals, assisted midfield by Paul Hasleby (33 touches, 7 marks, a goal). When your rover and ruck-rover are getting the ball 70 times between them, your mob should win. Ruckman Aaron Sandilands provided plenty of first-use as he and Troy Simmonds belted the Blue pairing of Barnaby French and Adrian Deluca, hitouts 42-16 in favour of the Dockers. Defenders Luke McPharlin (12 marks, 18 disposals) and Roger Hayden (13 touches) were very good, Hayden outpointing a very quiet Harford. In attack Paul Medhurst booted 4 goals from 9 kicks, 8 marks and Jeff Farmer managed 3 goals from 14 touches amid some blundering fumbles and turnovers. Veteran Shaun McManus played well with 26 possies, young rover Byron Schammer kicked 2 goals. The tall-forward thing was a problem again, although Clive Waterhouse and Justin Longmuir took 8 marks between them neither kicked a goal. Best for the Blues was Scott Camporeale (19 touches, a goal) with new boy Jordan Bannister (15 touches) doing a reasonable stopping job on Docker star Matthew Pavlich. Despite being reported, Matthew Lappin was otherwise useful with 22 possessions and a goal, Brendan Fevola (5 marks, 8 kicks, 3.3) continues to work hard. Stephen Kenna impressed with his work-rate and managed a goal from his 7 kicks, Heath Scotland (16 touches, a goal) played alright although his opponent, McManus, did too. Receiver Ryan Houlihan managed 26 touches with little impact, David Clarke had 17 touches - half as many as his opponent, Bell. .Look, they tried very hard,. began Pagan, .We just couldn.t contain Bell and Hasleby. They had seventy possessions between them, as Murph pointed out earlier in the paragraph (Pagan mightn.t have said that last bit). The Dockers also had two good forwards on the day in Paul Medhurst and Jeff Farmer, they were really on-song. That was probably it in a nutshell. We couldn.t sustain our efforts and when we got further into the game, just that little bit of class started to tell.It might be five or six rounds before we can evaluate the new guys properly, by then we should have a fair idea of where we.re at and where we are going. When we get them (Stevens, Kouta) on deck we.ll probably be able to answer that question by then. At the end of the day, if your midfield is on top it can cover a whole host of inefficiencies.. Chris Connolly said .We looked a bit rusty at times, but overall I.m pleased with the effort.. Actually I.m paraphrasing, there is no direct quote.

At the Gabba:
Brisbane  1.3   5.6   8.12   11.14.80
Sydney    4.3   8.7   8.11   11.12.78

Swan ruckman Jason Ball missed a shot at goal with about one minute remaining that might.ve given the Bloods a handy upset win in round one. On the brighter side for the Swans, this was a very good game, the best of the opening round from what I saw and suggested that these two sides, preliminary final opponents last season, will be leading contenders again this year. The Lyin.s are expected to roll to a fourth consecutive flag, one thing that might impede the Gabbanaut is injury. Iconic skipper Michael Voss made one fleeting appearance during the pre-season due to a degenerative knee condition and sent the tabloidy press into overdrive (VOSS: I MIGHT RETIRE etc.). Voss did play here, but power forwards Jonathan Brown and Alastair Lynch both missed due to knee and hamstring injuries respectively. No new players for the Brians. The Swans. success last season surprised many and their young side is expected to go well again, although they won.t be such a surprise to opponents this year, you.d reckon. The Bloods were missing defender Andrew Schauble, Irish wingman Tadhg Kennelly and forwards Matthew Nicks and Adam Schneider, they had two new players and AFL first-gamers in Sydney locals Paul Bevan and Jarrad McVeigh, the latter the younger brother of Essadun.s Mark.

In the absence of Brown and Lynch, Lisbon coach .Lethal. Leigh Matthews started Daniel Bradshaw at full-forward and tried several other options through the night, including Justin Leppitsch, Voss, ruckmen Clark Keating and Jamie Charman. But it was old stager Martin Pike who ended up doing the job. Sydney employed now-standard tactics against Brisbane, the slow keepings-off game with lots of sideways and occasionally backwards short-passing. It worked through the first half, due mainly to the excellent performance of Siddey half-forward Nick Davis. Davis kicked three goals in the first 15 minutes, all from marks near 50m out against the hapless Rob Copeland. Ashley McGrath soon replaced Copeland but the Lyin.s struggled all over, Swan ruckman and Brownlow medallist Adam Goodes was in peak form, Paul Williams, Mick O.Loughlin and Swan captain Stuart Maxfield also going well. To cap things off for the Lyin.s, Luke Power injured a knee late in the first term and departed. The Pies supporters around me cheered Swan Jared Crouch.s close checking of Jason Akermanis, Pie fans hate most Brisbun players but none more than the .Mouth of the North.. Akermanis had just four touches to half-time. Swan Davis kicked a fourth goal in the second stanza to have Siddey 20 points up, but suffered a corked hip and his night ended - the game mighta turned right there. About the same time Martin Pike moved to CHF for Brisbun and things looked up for the Lyins..

In the third term the Bloods struggled in attack with Davis gone, Lyin. full-back Mal Michael doing an excellent job on Barry Hall while Daryl White had quietened the initially busy O.Loughlin. Simon Black, who.d been playing a lone hand in the Brisbun midfield, started top receive some help from Chris Johnson, Nigel Lappin and Akermanis. .Aker. slotted a superb running goal from the forward-pocket, Craig McRae and ol. Pikey dobbed goals as the somewhat inaccurate Lyin.s grabbed the lead by three-quarter time. Goodes booted an excellent running goal early in the final stanza to have the Swans back in front, but Pike replied for the Brians and they led again. Jude Bolton.s brilliant major had the Siddeysiders in front again, before McRae collected Akermanis.s short shot and snapped truly. The lead changed again when O.Loughlin converted a dubious free-kick against White, but as time ticked down Brizzy.s Blake Caracella kicked long, Pike collected the pack spillage and handballed for the continuing Caracella to collect and slot it through. That gave the Lyin.s a 3-point lead, with 1:10 on the clock the Swans attacked and their Jason Ball plucked an excellent grab over the pack to give himself a shot of 35m, no real angle. But Ball sliced his kick for a point and the Lyin.s survived.

The Lyin.s can thank three key players, ruck-rover Simon Black (27 touches, a goal) was very good again, as in last year.s Grand Final. Martin Pike booted 3 goals and set up a couple of others from his 7 marks and 15 disposals at CHF. And full back Mal Michael restricted Hall to one goal from 7 marks, while having 18 disposals and 8 marks himself. Elsewhere rebounding defender Chris Johnson (14 disposals, 6 marks), ruckman Clark Keating (9 touches, a goal) and defender Daryl White (18 possies) all played well, Jason Akermanis finished with 14 disposals and a goal. Craig McRae kicked 2 goals. The Swans received terrific efforts from Paul Williams (27 disposals with 20 kicks, a goal) and Adam Goodes (24 touches, 12 marks, a goal) although Goodes.s influence tended to wane as the game progressed. Stuart Maxfield (18 touches, 7 marks) played well again, he.s responded admirably since being made captain. The makeshift defence held up pretty well, led by Leapin. Leo Barry (19 touches, 7 marks). In the midfield Brett Kirk (21 touches) and Jude Bolton (18 touches, a goal) confirmed their improvement of last year. Nick Davis took 4 marks, had 9 disposals and kicked 4 goals in a quarter-and-a-half. What might have been, eh?

At Docklands:
St. Kilda  3.0   8.2   16.4   19.8.122
Geelong    4.1   5.4    6.7    9.7.61

Going back to about round 15 last year, the young Saints have dished out all manner of hidings to just about everyone (no snide pun intended, given recent off-field events which I.ll come to in a moment). They even managed a close but deserved win over the eventual premiers, Brisbane. The only team St. Kilda have been troubled by in that time is Geelong, who beat the Saints in the final game last year and again proved tough opponents in a spiteful Wizard Cup Final a fortnight back. So it would.ve given the young Saints plenty of heart to come out and thrash the Cats here, coming off two weeks in which Saints Stephen Milne and Leigh Montagna have been at the centre of rape allegations. Milne played in this game, Montagna didn.t although the latter isn.t a regular. The Saints came into this game without full-back Max Hudghton (shoulder), new man Brent Guerra (suspended) and ruckman Barry Brooks, they had no new players. The Cats also expect a finals berth, with natural improvement from their similarly youthful side so they would.ve been pretty disappointed with this effort. In the Wizard Cup Final, the Cats led most of the night before the Saints ran away in the last quarter thanks to some friendly umpiring and a tiring Cat midfield. No such excuses here, though. The Cats enter the season without skipper Steven King, he.s had more knee problems and back-up ruckman David Loats was also unavailable, leaving nominal third-choice Paul Chambers to carry the load. They also suffered the late withdrawal of Gary Ablett Jnr. Geelong had one new player in ex-West Coast forward David Haynes.

Before the above-mentioned Wizard Cup Final, Geelong coach Mark .Bomber. Thompson and his lads had been unusually bullish, declaring Stakilda.s Aaron Hamill a .sniper. and the Saints in general to be suspect under pressure. Even after they lost the game, Cat centreman Paul Chapman claimed Geelong were a better side than St. Kilda. The Cats did start brightly, scoring the first three goals of the game. Carrotty Cameron Ling was very busy in the middle as Joel Corey quelled Saint hero Robert Harvey, who.d destroyed .em in the WCF. David Haynes was industrious in attack and with Kent Kingsley and pals getting on the scoresheet, things looked good for Geelagong. Milne roved a loose ball to snaggle the Saints. first but the Saints were struggling in attack as the very good Cat full-back Matthew Scarlett held Fraser Gehrig and Cam Mooney restricted Hamill. The Cats scored the first two goals of the second term to take a 15-point lead which probably wasn.t a fair reflection, the Catters were going very well. Then the game was turned on its. head. Sainter coach Grant Thomas replaced ineffective Harvey with Andrew Thompson and the Stains piled on five unanswered goals in fifteen minutes. Thompson and Nick Riewoldt, the latter one of the few Saint winners to that point, kicked the first two before Gehrig broke away from Scarlett to boot the next three sausages, with some strong body-work and marking. Gehrig bagged three more goals in the third stanza as the Sainter rampage continued. Thompson and Aussi Jones led an orgy of midfield possession to supply the forwards, as Milne and Hamill now joined in the scoring. From that point in the mid-second term to three-quarter-time the Saints kicked thirteen goals to one and the game was well-over by the final change. Milne dribbled a goal with the outside of his boot and Gehrig added a seventh major as the Strainers cruised home. Upon the final siren Milne was given a public display of support from his team-mates. The Sainters are a very good side, they may have a suspect backline but most opponents are discovering it.s hard to test that theory, because you can.t get the ball off .em.

With the regular Saint midfield struggling a bit early it was left to running half-back Austinn .Aussi. Jones (27 disposals, a goal) and interchange ruck-rover Andrew Thompson (26 disposals, 8 marks, a goal) to provide the spark. Fraser Gehrig produced the flame and finished with 7 goals from 8 marks and 10 kicks. He.s quite good. Blonde CHF Nick Riewoldt (9 marks, 12 kicks, 3 goals) played well all night and rover Luke Ball was a leather-magnet early, he had 9 touches in the first term and finished with 17. As the game progressed Aaron Hamill (6 marks, 11 kicks, 3 goals) came alive, as did Stephen Milne who finished with the hyper-efficient stats of 4 goals from 4 kicks. The reliable Brett Voss (13 touches) and massive Matt Maguire (7 marks, 12 touches) held the defence together, Maguire having the odd run in the ruck. The Cats were best served by Cameron Ling (20 touches, 9 marks) and Matthew Scarlett (17 touches, 8 marks, a goal) who kept Gehrig quiet for a while and played well when moved forward. Joel Corey (20 disposals, a goal) had the better of Rob Harvey and rover David Spriggs (17 possessions) played okay. Kent Kingsley and Henry Playfair kicked 2 goals each, Playfair coming in as a replacement for Ablett. Battling Ben Graham injured a shoulder in the third term while acting captain Brenton Sanderson did a calf muscle about the same time - funny, that. Thompson wasn.t so bullish this time. .I.d wondered whether I.d gone back a year in time; the same thing happened last year. I know that we started well and St. Kilda applied tremendous pressure. They run extremely hard and are very good at stoppages.. Grant Thomas reckoned .From a club perspective we.re proud of how the players performed. They persevered early, stuck to their guns and eventually wore them down.. They.re not a bad side at all.

At Football Park:
Port Adelaide  2.6   7.13   15.16   23.20.158
Essendon       1.5   2.6     6.12    8.14.62

Boy did the Bombers cop an absolute kicking from Port on Sunday. Students of the front-running Dons will be gratified to learn the shemozzle was accompanied by the undisciplined punchiness that often adorns Bommer losses, with ruckman David Hille reported and Mark Bolton and (gasp) James Hird involved in dubious incidents towards the end of the debacle. Don fans might splutter about their team.s injuries, and true enough, this was a very under-strength Essadun. Absent were Dustin Fletcher (suspended, of course), Sean Wellman, Mark Johnson, Mark Mercuri, Mark McVeigh, Dean Solomon and Damian Cupido, all injured. You could probably add in Ben Haynes and Aaron Henneman, if you like. Bit of hole, then. Port Adelaide entered the season at a crossroads, with the King Kong-like monkey of consecutive finals chokes to deal with, plus the loss of key midfielders in Nick Stevens and Josh Francou, the latter re-injuring his knee again in pre-season training - he.ll miss all of 2004, poor b*stard. .Laidback. Mark Williams has decided to tinker with the organisation, opting for a simpler, hopefully more choke-proof plan of long-kicking to Warren Tredrea with Chad Cornes moved to defence. Port came in without captain and ruckman Matthew Primus (side strain), back-up Brendon Lade and full-back Daryl Wakelin. They had three new players, Brett Ebert made his long-anticipated AFL debut along with draftees Michael Pettigrew, a 19-year-old from West Perth and 18-year-old Jacob Surjan, another sandgroper from South Fremantle. The Dons. absentee list saw them produce six new players, ex-Blues Matthew Allan and Justin Murphy, former Bulldog Mark Alvey and three first-gamers, ruckman Kepler Bradley of West Perth, half-back Brent Stanton from the Northern Knights and recently-elevated rookie Nathan Lovett-Murray. 

Conditions were tricky in Adelaide. The game started in a hot, northerly wind but later it swung around to cool and southerly, accompanied by rain. The Dons were good early, with Jim Hird giving opponent Gavin Wanganeen the run-around. But the wind made kicking a lottery and twenty minutes elapsed before the first goal, Don spearhead Matty Lloyd with a free-kick after being dragged down by Port.s uncertain Matthew Bishop. That was Lloydy.s 600th career goal, by the way. Within a minute Justin Murphy missed poorly and Bishop infringed on Lloyd again, but Lloyd.s windblown shot shanked on-the-full to general delight amongst Port.s cultured fans. Late in the term Port forward Byron Pickett snaggled two opportunistic goals, both created by good upfield work from Adam Kingsley. That was the tale as Port.s more experienced, stronger midfield began to assert itself. Their Josh Carr majored early in the second term then Wozza Tredrea, never the most reliable of kicks, bagged consecutive sausages including one thundered from 55m. The Flowers had jumped to a 5-goal lead. Joggin. Joe Misiti responded for the Dons before Stuart Dew (pronounced .Stew Jew. if you.re Australian) dribbled a stupendous Daicosian goal for Port. The Power led by 37 points at the long break. The Bummers kicked briefly at the start of the third, consecutive goals from Hird and Lloyd reduced the margin to four goals before majors to Tredrea and Wanganeen restored the balance. Tredrea was on to his third opponent by now, the unfortunate debutant Kepler Bradley, both Tredders and Stu Dew continued to slot goals as the margin opened out to ten goals by the final change. And they kept the hammer down, running away from a fairly insipid Bommers to record a near triple-figure winning margin. That.s gotta hurt the Dons, but prove pretty nice for the locals.

Port.s dominance began in the centre where rover Peter Burgoyne (29 touches, 2 goals) and ruck-rover Josh Carr (29 disposals, a goal) were very good, as usual a winning ruckman in Dean Brogan (18 possies, 6 marks, a goal) assisted their performance. With the regular supply, the forwards completed the work. Warren Tredrea not only booted 6 goals but managed 22 possessions with 9 marks, Stu Dew also bagged 6 goals from his 17 touches. In defence Chad Cornes (10 marks, 22 handlings, a goal) played very well while brother Kane Cornes (23 touches, 8 marks) was fairly useful too. Byron Pickett bagged three goals before suffering what may be a serious shoulder injury. The young Bombers were led by the usual names, James Hird gathered 31 possessions and kicked a goal, Jason Johnson (22 touches) was okay and Justin Murphy (25 disposals, a goal) has always been able to find the ball. Matty Lloyd did well under the circumstances to kick 4 goals and ruckman Matthew Allan (13 dispoals) was serviceable. Kev Sheedy tried not to use the injuries as an excuse. .It.s got nothing to do with who.s out of the team, it.s got everything to do with how you play footy and how you compete in this game and that performance is just not acceptable as far as I.m concerned, and I.ve just told them that. The percentage loss is enormous and the performance and pride, we.ll have to search for it. We.re starting last, literally on the bottom, and it.s going to be a long crawl back up that ladder from sixteenth.. We can only hope. Mark Williams reckoned .To beat a side as good as Essendon that way is great. We only kicked two goals in the first quarter, so to kick twenty-one after quarter-time is an outstanding effort. I know Sheeds is a man of history and we certainly remember back when they absolutely demolished us in that first game at Telstra Dome.. He.s as gracious as ever.

At the MCG:
North Melbourne  2.3   8.5   17.7    23.11.149
Adelaide         4.7   4.11   9.13   10.14.74

Probably the surprise of the round. You.ll find plenty of experts who reckon this under-achieving Camry side have had their day and may slip down the table this year, but few reckoned on the honest-but-average Roos dishing out a pasting. Norf continue to battle along without a surfeit of cash, their biggest news in the off-season concerned the return of Corey McKernan and a near-disastrous back injury to coach Dean Laidley. He.s alright now. The Ruse came in here with a reasonably strong side, Glenn Archer the most notable absentee. The Kangaroos had two new players, if McKernan can be called new, plus a debuting South Australian backman in Eddie Sansbury from Central District, about whom the Roos are quite excited. The Camrys were missing injured forward Mark Stevens and Ronnie Burns, involved in a car accident or something. They didn.t have any new players.

On a very warm Melbourne afternoon the Cows started well, with Wayne Carey particularly prominent early. Of course previous off-field history featured again, with a TV comic dubbing this game the .Wife-Swappers Cup.. Carey drilled an excellent goal from the boundary-line in the first quarter but missed a couple of shots too, as did team-mate Scott Welsh. The Ruse had left Sav Rocca out of the side and used ruckman/defender Leigh Brown at full-forward, Brown marked to kick their first goal of the season. The momentum shifted in the second quarter as the Roo midfield gained the ascendency, led by new captain Adam Simpson with old stagers Anthony Stevens and Brent Harvey also good. Laidley had also placed a couple of effective tags with junior Michael Firrito on Camry captain Mark Ricciuto and Brady Rawlings against Andrew McLeod. Norf forward Drew Petrie kicked the first goal of the second term, then Corey Jones scored full points with a great left-foot snap. Leigh Brown began to torment opponent Ben Hart with consecutive marks and goals. Carey played pantomime villain again, choosing a poor target in Shannon .Autumn Leaves. Grant. Grant duly fell as if shot when lightly shoved by Carey, milking a 50m penalty and goal. Later (or earlier, I dunno) Carey had clobbered Troy Makepeace for no clear reason. By half-time North had turned a 16-point deficit into a 22-point lead and the goals started to flow for both sides in the third stanza. The Corollas managed more inaccuracy before Graham .Stiffy. Johncock majored to have the visitors 14 points down, but the Ruse proceeded to pop through five majors in seven minutes, the last a terrific snap from Simpson. The Cows got moving then with four goals to the end of the term but each was answered by Norf, who continued to score heavily in the final term and record an outstanding victory. Meanwhile Cressida ruckman Rhett Biglands was reported for biffing Petrie.

Those experienced North Premiership men from the 1990s just keep rolling along. Tubby wingman Shannon Grant managed 29 possessions and kicked 2 goals, experienced on-ballers Anthony Stevens (22 disposals), Adam Simpson (24 touches, a goal) and Brent Harvey (23 possies, 2 goals) were all very good. Leigh Brown proved a revelation in attack, booting 6 goals from 6 marks and 14 disposals. Handy defensive efforts came from Leigh Colbert (17 disposals) on Carey and Michael Firrito (7 touches) on Ricciuto. The very good Daniel Wells (18 touches, 2 goals) played excellently. Corey Jones booted 3 goals while Daniel Motlop kicked 2 goals. The Camry resistance was led by running man Simon Goodwin (24 disposals) while backman Tyson Edwards (20 disposals) and rover Matthew Bode (15 handlings, a goal) weren.t bad. Small forward Graham Johncock was their best attacker with 2 goals from 14 touches, Michael Doughty and Mark Ricciuto also kicked 2 goals each. CHB Kris Massie was okay with 9 marks and 17 disposals against Petrie. Carey kicked 1.3 from 5 marks, 8 kicks while Scott Welsh contributed 0.3. Gary Ayres monotoned the following as though reading from an autocue. .After the first ten minutes of the second quarter, from there on in, I thought it was, to use three words that always come to mind when you play poorly, disgraceful, pathetic and embarrassing. The energy and intensity levels really dropped off in that latter part of the second quarter and it just seemed to be that we became shell-shocked and went into our shells (eh?).. Deanley Laidley was a bit happier, of course. .Our blokes played very well to instruction today, that probably earned the result. Our structures were just a little fraction off early in the game, we actually got them spot on. We were able to get on a roll and put on some scoreboard pressure and once you do that, you get some confidence..

At Docklands:
Footscray   7.2   11.6   16.11   20.17.137   
West Coast  5.5   11.8   15.10   22.12.144

The bloody work. I.m having to give this game short shrift, but I promise to give the Weevils and Pups a better run next week. This game was another in the recent series of high-scoring belters between these two, with a remarkably similar ending to that draw in Perth last year: Weegal Ashley Sampi booted the decisive goal. The Pups had been active enough in the summer to collect some decent new players, and had five on display here in ex-Hawk Jade Rawlings, two ruckmen in Peter Street from Geelong and Adam Morgan, a Victorian via Port Adelaide, former Docker Steven Koops who asked to wear guernsey no. 51, the number carried by Michael McLean when he was a Bulldog and one debutant in the no. 1 draft pick, Adam Cooney from West Adelaide. And captain Chris Grant returned from his knee reconstruction. No new players for the Eegs, who were full-strength.

The Doggies charged outta the blocks and with Jade Rawlings proving an excellent acquisition at full-forward, they led by six goals midway through first term. Things turned for the Eegs with the introduction of Michael Gardiner from the bench, he booted a coupla goals as did Chris Judd, one gifted by an embarrassing .here, mate. handpass from Grant. Rawlings marked and majored to start the second stanza - his fourth goal - to give the Dogs a 15-point lead. The Weevils dominated the next quarter-hour with tall men Gardiner and Andrew McDougall proving a real handful for the Pups. defence, Judd and Phil Matera also kicked some goals. A great running sausage from Michael Braun sent the Weegs 13 points ahead, before yet another goal from Rawlings stemmed the flow. Now it was the Dogs on the run, their Robert Murphy and Pat Bowden bagged goals to have to Bulldogs in front again. Just before half-time West Coast.s Andrew Embley majored to give West Coast a slender lead at that stage. Phew. The bizarre switching in fortune continued into the third term, the Eegs jumping to a 20-point lead with the first three goals of the stanza. The Dogs worked back steadily though, and when Ben Harrison majored halfway through the final term the Dogs led by 10 points. Again the Eegs surged, with four goals in five minutes, two from Phil Matera and another from Sampi. Up bobbed Rawlings again with a mark and goal, then big Pete Street did likewise and the Dogs trailed by just two points. Bullie fans were screaming when Steven Koops was clearly restrained without the ball, 30m from goal, but the ump waved play-on. Bulldog ruckman Luke Darcy kicked the ball into Eagle Chad Morrison, who proceeded to handpass to Sampi. The classy Weevil forward ran on to thunder it home from 50m and give the Eegs enough of a lead to hang on.

The Eegs. midfield men stood up when it counted, led by Ben Cousins (33 disposals) and Chad Fletcher (25 touches, a goal). Cousins had 10 disposals in the final quarter. Michael Gardiner was very good with 9 marks, 112 disposals and 3 goals, Chris Judd capped off his 23 disposals with 4 goals and the ever-dangerous Phil Matera bagged 5 goals from his 10 kicks. Nice to see Chad Morrison (20 possies) play a decent game after nearly three years of knee problems. Ashley Sampi kicked 2 goals. The Dogs were gutted but can take heart. Jade Rawlings kicked 7.4 from 12 marks and 13 kicks, rover Scot West managed 26 disposals and also was prominent, but wayward in attack with 1.4. Running defenders Rohan Smith (24 touches) and Matthew Robbins (14 possies) were very good, Robert Murphy (17 touches, 2 goals) and Brad Johnson (23 disposals, 10 marks, a goal), the latter used in midfield, were good. Mitch Hahn kicked 3 goals, Luke Darcy 2. Peter Rohde was asked about the Koops non-decision. .We made enough errors, when one of your players kicks it the wrong way from the centre-bounce (that.d be Eagleton), it.s pretty hard to be critical of an umpire.s decision in changing the game.It.s just the way the game goes.. John Worsfold said .It.s always tough playing the wooden-spooners from the previous year. You always know they want to start their season well. It was disappointing to be jumped like that at the start but because they got those goals so quickly, there was a lot of game-time left. We knew if we could just keep pegging away and tighten it up a bit, we could get back..

Ladder after Round One
                  Pts      %       Next week
Port Adelaide       4    254.8    West Coast (Subiaco, Sat. evening)
North Melbourne     4    201.4    Hawthorn (MCG, Sunday)
St. Kilda           4    200.0    Essendon (Docklands, Sat. night)
Fremantle           4    178.3    Sydney (SCG, Sunday)
Richmond            4    170.2    Melbourne (MCG, Friday night)
Hawthorn            4    170.0    North Melbourne (MCG, Sunday)
West Coast          4    105.1    Port Adelaide (Subiaco, Sat. evening)
Brisbane            4    102.6    Adelaide (Football Park, Saturday)
--------------------------
Sydney              0     97.5    Fremantle (SCG, Sunday)        
Footscray           0     95.1    Collingwood (MCG, Saturday)
Melbourne           0     58.8    Richmond (MCG, Friday night)
Collingwood         0     58.8    Footscray (MCG, Saturday) 
Carlton             0     56.1    Geelong (Princes Park, Sunday)
Geelong             0     50.0    Carlton (Princes Park, Sunday)
Adelaide            0     49.7    Brisbane (Football Park, Saturday)
Essendon            0     39.2    St. Kilda (Docklands, Sat. night)