AFL Round 9 Wrap-up

AFL Round 9 Wrap

 

Well, Round 9, what a week it has been in football. We have seen Richmond finally knock off a ‘top team’, we saw the Western Bulldogs really push the Cats on Friday night in a game which some say should have been a Bulldogs win. Gold Coast were also a big surprise in some ways, they managed to stay within reach of Port Adelaide right up until half time.

Western Bulldogs v Geelong

Geelong were expected to come out of the blocks firing and looking to stamp their authority on the game early, they did so but the Bulldogs didn’t allow them to gain the upper hand. What ever Geelong threw at the Doggies, the Doggies matched it. Geelong still haven’t won more contested ball than their opponent this year, which would shock many after they have set the standard so high over the previous few seasons. Steve Johnson was a driving force on Friday night, steering Geelong home to a 20 point win. Johnson showed what he is capable of – just in case some people had forgotten. He managed 36 disposals and 14 marks, he wasn’t the only one who showed what they can do, Paul Chapman put his hand up when the Cats needed him with 27 disposals and 2 goals. In the end, the Bulldogs can be happy with what they saw on Friday night, their young kids have shown alot of potential and could be something special in a few years time. On this occasion it was the Cats by 20 points.

Geelong                     3.5    6.9    9.9    14.11 (95)
Western Bulldogs     1.1    6.2    8.5    11.9 (75)

GOALS
Geelong: Hawkins 3, Motlop 3, Chapman 2, Mackie, Selwood, West, T.Hunt, Bartel, Podsiadly
Western Bulldogs: Giansiracusa 3, Higgins 3, Dickson, Jones, Wallis, Liberatore, Skinner

BEST
Geelong: Johnson, Chapman, Corey, Enright, Scarlett, Selwood, Motlop, Mackie
Western Bulldogs: Boyd, Griffen, Liberatore, Murphy, Hargrave, Minson, Austin

Richmond v Hawthorn

All week it had been in the news how Richmond managed 4 ‘honourable losses’ in 8 games this season. That wasn’t good enough for Richmond though, they wanted to prove to the competition they are capable of knocking off a ‘top team’, and that is exactly what happened. Hawks fans know that when Buddy Franklin is goalless at half-time, things aren’t going all too well and this was the case. The Hawks were being dominated at stoppages, and dominated in contested possessions. As well all now know, in order to win a game of football, you need to win the contested possessions. Jumpin’ Jack Reiwoldt silenced his critics and kicked 6.2, Ivan Maric continued his brilliant form with 18 disposals, 27 hitouts and one goal. For the Hawks, well there weren’t too many shining lights on this cold Saturday afternoon. Richmond ran out convincing 62 point winners.

“I thought the way we hunted the ball was really impressive,” Hardwick said.
“We were playing against a side that’s very, very good in that area; I think they were No.3 overall in contested possession differential.
“To win against a side like that in that sort of manner when I thought we hunted the ball really well, especially inside 50, I thought was good also.
“That was probably the most pleasing thing.”

RICHMOND        4.4  8.8  13.9  21.11 (137)
HAWTHORN       1.3  4.9  8.10  10.15 (75)      

GOALS
Richmond: Riewoldt 6, King 3, Edwards 2, Martin 2, Jackson 2, Morris, Cotchin, Tuck, I. Maric, Nahas, Deledio
Hawthorn: Breust 3, Rioli 2, Roughead 2, Young, Smith, Franklin

BEST
Richmond: I. Maric, Tuck, Cotchin, Morris, Foley, Rance, Griffiths, King
Hawthorn: Burgoyne, Lewis, Roughead, Breust, Gibson

Gold Coast v Port Adelaide

Gold Coast impressed early, they were able to win their own ball and when they had it they were using it well. They were able to stick with Port right up until half-time, it was a one point ball game leading into half-time. The third quarter was a different story, Port Adelaide came out of the change rooms with something to prove, they knew they had to attack and put the game beyond doubt, they structured up, won the hard ball and all systems were firing, Port kicked 7.7 to 0.2 in the third quarter. Of the 7 goals that were kicked in the third term, 5 goals were kicked in 6 minutes, destroying all belief that the Gold Coast players had remaining. After a 7 goal haul last week, Jay Schulz was looking to do the same this week, the only problem being that he couldn’t kick straight he managed 1.5, it was a bad day for Port in front of goal kicking 17.18.

PORT ADELAIDE     4.4    7.7    14.14    17.16 (118)
GOLD COAST           2.5    7.6      7.8      10.10 (70)

GOALS
Port Adelaide: Boak 3, Broadbent 2, Brad Ebert 2, Brett Ebert 2, McCarthy, Pearce, Schulz, D.Stewart, Trengove, Westhoff
Gold Coast: Day 3, McQualter 2, Ablett, Brown, Horsley, Rischitelli, Sexton

BEST
Port Adelaide: Boak, Pearce, Cornes, Brad Ebert, Broadbent, Renouf
Gold Coast: Day, McQualter, Lynch, Stanley, Iles

St.Kilda v Sydney

The Saints were determined to cap off Lenny Hayes’ 250th game with a win, while the Swans were trying to spoil Lenny’s party. In what has traditionally been a low scoring game, there were no signs of this one being low scoring. As the Swans would try to slow down the game, the Saints wouldn’t allow it, they managed to find the ball and continually run, carry and kick long. The Saints only required 22.6 disposals per goal, whereas the Swans were using the ball more and saw them get caught out more often. The Swans were having an average of 15.3 possessions per scoring shot compared to St.Kilda’s 11.3 possessions. In the past the Saints have struggled in the ruck department but credit has to be given to Jason Blake who managed to come out even against Sydney’s Mike Pyke – the Rugby convert. Despite Sydney’s best efforts they were never really a genuine chance after conceding 5.6 in the second quarter, while only scoring 1 goal themselves. St. Kilda managed a 28 point victory.

ST KILDA                   3.1   8.7    14.14   16.15   (111)          
SYDNEY SWANS       4.4   5.4     8.6      12.11   (83)    

GOALS
St Kilda: Milne 3, Dal Santo 2, Riewoldt 2, Saad 2, Steven 2, Blake, Cripps, Siposs, Montagna, Milera
Sydney Swans: Jetta 3, Jack 2, McGlynn 2, Reid 2, Bolton, Kennedy, Roberts-Thomson

BEST
St Kilda: Armitage, Hayes, Steven, Blake, Dal Santo, Saad, Milne
Sydney Swans: Kennedy, McVeigh, Jack, O’Keefe, McGlynn

Adelaide v Collingwood

Both teams had something to prove coming into this game, Adelaide were needing a win to cement their position as a force in the competion this season. Collingwood on the other hand had to prove they still had what it takes to play at the level so many fans are used to. Question marks were hanging over the Collingwood defence all week when Ben Reid was set to miss a few weeks with a quad injury, which would leave Lachlan Keeffe to play on Kurt Tippett. In what was a ferocious first quarter, Collngwood were able to take a one-point lead into quarter time. Players didn’t have time to think, it was a scrappy game where there were a combined 152 tackles. The style of play was typical of a wet weather game, and when the rain did hit in Adelaide, the game style didn’t change and it continued to be scrappy and sluggish contest. The pies were able to take a 7 point lead into the main break. Adelaide looked determined after half-time, they had a point to prove and were keen to gain the ascendancy in the early stages of the third quarter, they were able to keep Collingwood goalless the entire quarter and headed into the final quarter with a 6 point lead. A goal within the first three minutes to Scott Pendlebury set the tone early, Collingwood weren’t going to let this one slip. The majority of the final term was played inside Adelaide’s half but they couldn’t capitalize on their opportunities. A serious knee injury to Collingwood Key Defender Lachlan Keeffe gave Collingwood fans reason to worry with no-one being able to match the physical presence of Kurt Tippett down back., minutes earlier Nathan Buckley activated the substitute leaving Collingwood a man down on the bench with 10 minutes to go. Somehow the Magpies managed to find a second wind and finish the game off. Dayne Beams was dominant throughout the entire match with a season high 36 disposals.

ADELAIDE              3.1    4.5    6.10     6.13   (49)
COLLINGWOOD    3.2    5.6    5.10   10.15  (75)

GOALS
Adelaide: Tippett 2, Smith, Wright, Petrenko, Henderson
Collingwood: Goldsack, Beams, Sidebottom 2, Shaw, Didak, Pendlebury, Wellingham

BEST
Adelaide: Reilly, van Berlo, Rutten, Sloane, Tippett, Dangerfield, Jaensch
Collingwood: Beams, Pendlebury, Sidebottom, Thomas, O’Brien, Blair

North Melbourne v Brisbane Lions

North Melbourne were determined to prove to their fans they were better than what they showed last weekend against Port Adelaide in what was an abysmal last 10 minutes. Todd Goldstein was unstoppable on Sunday racking up 28 possessions and 47 hitouts. The Lions only managed 40 hitouts as a team, safe to say that Brisbane were handed a lesson in ruckwork. Brent Harvey has shown that if you don’t tag him, he will hurt you, he did exactly that. Harvey managed 27 disposals and one goal to go with it. At the half it looked like game over, North Melbourne were up by a comfortable 52-points and looked certainties to win. They would have known that they can’t afford a repeat of the previous week and drop off, giving Brisbane a chance to fight back. Brisbane managed a 10 goals to only 2 in the second half, completely shutting out all avenues to goal for the Kangas’. In the end, it wasn’t enough as North Melbourne recorded a 16 point win in what was a less than encouraging performance.

NORTH MELBOURNE      6.4    13.8    15.8    17.10 (112)
BRISBANE LIONS      3.2    5.4    11.6   15.6 (96)

GOALS
North Melbourne: Wright 4, Petrie 3, Black 3, Harper 3, Ziebell, Swallow, Harvey, Greenwood
Brisbane Lions: Cornelius 4, Redden 2, Green 2, Brown 2, Bewick, Rich, Rockliff, Merrett, Zorko

BEST
North Melbourne: Goldstein, Greenwood, Swallow, Wright, Petrie, Black, L. Delaney
Brisbane Lions: Redden, Golby, Cornelius, Green, Hanley, Rockliff

Carlton v Melbourne

It’s fair to say Melbourne shocked thousands of people when they went into quarter time with a one-point lead. Carlton had lost their passed two games in what has been a difficult fortnight for them, after being touted as premiership favourites they struggled to beat Adelaide at the MCG and St.Kilda in a one-off Monday night fixture. They found themselves in a spot of bother when they were behind at the first change but it wasn’t panic stations in the Blues huddle, they knew what was needed to counter the performance of the Dees. As time went on, the Blue found momentum and began to dominate the contest. After leading at half-time they would have been very confident that they would be able to run out the contest and get the points. It was abit like a training drill for the Blues as they managed to hold Melbourne to only one goal in the second half. There is no doubt that the Blues midfield was the reason they took the ascendancy in that second half. 7 goals 3 behinds to 3 behinds blew the margin out to 58-points.

“I thought the four players (Mitch Robinson, Brock McLean, David Ellard and Chris Judd) that played around the ball were outstanding all day. I thought their contested ball and their clearance work was really good,” Ratten said.

CARLTON         3.3   7.8    8.14   15.17   (107)
MELBOURNE     3.4   5.7   6.10   6.13   (49)

GOALS
Carlton: Betts 5, Robinson 3, Hampson 2, Walker 2, Armfield, Kreuzer, Tuohy
Melbourne: Clark 3, Blease, Howe, Jones

BEST
Carlton: Robinson, Simpson, Gibbs, Jamison, Walker, McLean
Melbourne: Grimes, Rivers, Watts, McKenzie, McDonald

West Coast v Fremantle

The first quarter was a tussle, West Coast only managing 4 behinds and Fremantle only managing 1.1 in what was a scrappy quarter of football. Despite what the scoreline said Matt Rosa was certain on one thing, he was there to win the Ross Glendinning medal. The game continued to be a tussle throughout the second quarter as only 5 goals were scored up until half-time. Most people would have thought this would be a tight contest after only 5 goals being scored in a half of football, well, they were wrong. The game opened up in the second half and with that, so did the Eagles chances of winning. The eagles piled on 5 goals in the third term while keeping Fremantle to only 1 behind and took a 35 point lead into the three-quarter time break. With a lead that looked hard to lose, the eagles didn’t stop attacking as they registered 8 scoring shots in the final term converting 4 majors. The Dockers showed little resistance and got two of their own goals cutting the margin slightly. Matt Rosa picked up the Ross Glendinning medal with 43 disposals, 13 marks and 9 Inside 50′s. The Eagles won comfortable in the end, 48 points.

WEST COAST   0.4   2.8   7.14   11.18 (84)
FREMANTLE    1.1    3.2   3.3    5.6 (36)

GOALS
West Coast: Hill 3, Darling 2, Priddis, Naitanui, Schofield, Lynch, Rosa, Shuey
Fremantle: Ballantyne, Clarke, Mayne, de Boer, Dawson

BEST
West Coast: Rosa, Glass, Shuey, Gaff, Waters, Hurn, Hill
Fremantle: Johnson, Broughton, Pavlich, McPharlin, Barlow