Round 14 answers

After a massive week of football, here are the answers from the questions asked before the round started.

Collingwood vs. Essendon

match review
How will Essendon go after losing two of their better players in McVeigh and Watson?
Not too well apart from the 1st quarter when they started very well. It would have been damn handy for Essendon if one of them were playing.
How will Scott Pendlebury go after looking like he was out for a while when he injured his knee in Sydney?
He was pretty ineffective. He probably could have had another week off to be honest, despite his amazing recovery abilities.
Who will Andrew Welsh tag this week?
Dane Swan; who absolutely smashed him, although he’s not the first and wont be the last to be beaten by Swan.
How will Didak perform after a "pretty good" few weeks?
Killed it again. This is uncharted territory here for him.
Will Alwyn Davey continue his form or will his injured knee restrict him?
Harry O’Brien made the most of his knee issues giving him a fair bath, whilst also providing a heap of run form the backline.
How will Cloke go on McPhee after the Essendon defender beat him comprehensively on ANZAC day?
It was an interesting battle but the scoreboard told the story with Cloke kicking most of his goals from being given too much space from McPhee.


Melbourne vs. West Coast

match review
How will Melbourne react after a tough week off-field?
With a lot of passion….
How will Naitanui go after a week of massive hype?
Shocker! No possessions in the first-half and only 8’ thereafter. We know what he can do though.
Can West Coast finally win one on the road?
That’ll be 18 in a row now. (lost that is)
Will this game have one of the worst skills on display for the year?
It was a pretty good game considering the low-ladder positions and the wind at the ground.


Port Adelaide vs. Brisbane

match review
Can Port regain some form?
I wouldn’t really call it form, but Port would take anything and now they can build on this with Melbourne next week.
Will Brisbane’s poor form (despite the win) from last week carry on to this week?
Yep. Now they are back in the pack with a game against Geelong who are also coming off a loss. Should be interesting to see how the Lions respond.
Will Luke Power continue on from his excellent form?
He was good. Definitely not excellent though.


Richmond vs. Adelaide

match review
Will Adelaide continue their dominant form against the Tigers?
I wouldn’t call it dominant. Winning form is more like it.
Can Richmond improve from their last 3 quarters that they played against the Saints?
A 15 point loss isn’t too bad against Adelaide in my opinion.
Can Jason Porplyzia continue on from his excellent form from his past two games?
No where near as good as those games but did you see that goal he kicked?!?!?!


Western Bulldogs vs. Hawthorn

match review
Can Hawthorn finally get their year on track?
No. Yet with teams like Carlton, Essendon, Brisbane and even Collingwood with their run above them, they still can rely on a loosing streak from one or two of them to sneak into the finals.
The Bulldogs to me have only beaten poor teams in their good run this year; will the Hawks show them up?
Nope. The Bulldogs were amazing. You can only beat what is put in front of you and the Bulldogs massacred the Hawks.
Will the loss of Daniel Giansiracusa up forward show this week?
Murphy, Welsh and Johnsons performance more than made up for Gia’s loss.
Can Lance Franklin finally show the form of last year?
He was smashed in every one-on-one contest by Lake. He needs to start getting on his bike and using his pace on a lead.
Will other players apart from the usual Sam Mitchell and Brad Sewell, show the way for Hawthorn this week?
Luke Hodge joined the party this week and that’s about it.



Sydney vs. North Melbourne

match review
Will Sydney continue to be good but not good enough like, their past 3 games?
They managed to out-run and out-last North in the last quarter, as opposed to the past 3 games when it was the other way around.
Will North carry it on from last week with their attacking style?
Yes. If thier fitness was better, they probably would have two wins on the board. I’m liking the style of football Crocker has implemented.
How will Liam Anthony go after a very good first up game?
Found space pretty well on a small ground. Used it well enough. Another good game.
Where will Sydney's goals come from?
It was a nice spread of 10 different goal-kickers. The main move was with Jude Bolton up forward which worked very well.


St Kilda vs. Geelong

Extended match review
Will the game live up to the hype?
Yep. In my eyes it did at least considering that it wasn’t a blow-out.
Will the hatred between be on show?
Not really. It was no different to any other game you would have seen on the weekend.
How many melees’s and reports will we see?
One mini-melee at the start and no reports. How boring eh?
How will all the anticipated match ups go?
No major thrashings. All of then were tightly contested. Of them all, Riewoldt probably had the most edge over their opponent in Harry Taylor.
Will the Saints employ the zone or try something different?
It was the zone coupled with some bouts of flooding.
If they do, will Geelong beat it as I expect?
Nope. The added fanatical’ pressure that the Saints bring to their game forced Geelong to use ineffective options in the first quarter which went a long way in giving them the victory. Geelong found their feet, but it was too late.
Who will Clinton Jones tag?
Ablett was his opponent and he did a pretty good job in reducing his usual high-effectiveness.
How will Ling go tagging Dal Santo?
Dal Santo was pressured with a lot of his possessions with a far few uncharacteristic poor kicks. Ling’s game wasn’t too flash either however with a lot of attention coming his way.
Will it be the in-form Geelong smalls that will impact on the result?
Oh boy did they miss Steve Johnson……


Fremantle vs. Carlton

match review
Brett Ratten sent a signal to all of his players by dropping Heath Scotland and Nick Stevens, will the loss of experience impact them?
It looked liked it did in the first quarter for the worse however. Luckilym, they managed to get dragged over the line by Chris Judd.
Will Fev' be alright after his surgery on his finger on last Saturday?
Not dominant, not bad either.
Apart from the first and last quarters, Freo were pretty good against the Pies, what performance will we see from them against the Blues?
If it wasn’t for more injuries and Chris Judd, it would have been a good performance. Due to those issues’; the best way describe the performance is spirited’.
Will Aaron Sandilands dominate as he usually does in the ruck against Carlton?
Not as much as usual. He only had 26 hitouts, the equal to the Carlton ruckman.

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Sydney vs North Melbourne - Round 14 match review

Sydney - 15.10 (100)
North Melbourne- 13.7 (85)

Sydney has finally overcome their losing streak in their past four matches, to overcome North Melbourne by 15 points at home at the SCG on Sunday.



Big Moment
The lead changed constantly throughout the match and it took until late in the last for the game to be sealed for the Swans. It was sealed when Michael O’Loughlin kicked a goal deep into time on in the last quarter.

Key Players for Sydney
Ryan O’Keefe – Was absolutely outstanding in the midfield for the Swans. He was tagged by Firrito, but dominated him and finished with 37 possessions (including 21 handballs) and kicked 1 goal.

Brett Kirk – Had a fantastic midfield game especially in the last quarter, when the game was there to be won. He collected 37 possessions and took 5 marks.

Rhyce Shaw – Collected 30 touches in another consistent game (including 21 kicks), and kicked a goal.

Darren Jolly – A solid and strong performance by the ruckman. He worked against four ruck man, with limited assistance. He had 36 hit outs, 4 tackles and 13 disposals.


Key Players for North Melbourne
Josh Gibson – The Kangaroos best player and dominated and held Adam Goodes, to minimal impact. He collected 26 disposals, 10 marks and 3 tackles.

Adam Simpson – Had a solid performance, collected 26 possessions (including 15 handballs), and took 8 marks.

Andrew Swallow – Kicked 2 goals and was influential and important around the clearances. He had 18 disposals and kicked 2 goals.

Musing from the Match
• Kieren Jack held Brent Harvey and Lewis Roberts-Thomson were too good for Drew Petrie .
• The Kangaroos dominated the early exchanges, but their inability to kick goals from set shots may have lost them the game.
• The Roos did however have a higher goal accuracy percentage than the Swans by about 11%.
• The Roos had 4 more kicks and 13 more marks.
• The Swans had 82 more handballs and overall 78 more disposals.
• The Swans had 67 more un contested possessions, and 18 more contested possessions.
• The Swans only had 1 more mark inside 50 than the Roos.
• The Swans won in the inside 50s, by 18, but lost in the rebound 50s by 15.
• The Swans seemed to run more with the ball in possession for longer distances, taking 23 bounces to the Roos 9.


SuperCoach News
Jarred McVeigh collected 31 disposals and was important for the Swans, but pulled his hamstring late in the fourth quarter, so if you have him, expect him to be out for at least 2 weeks.

Liam Anthony played his second AFL match this week and improved on his performance from last week, scoring 86 points. Could be a good young midfield pick up, if you wanted to gain more money in your bank and is likely to play more games.

If you have O’Keefe in your team, you would be grinning from ear to ear :D!! He had another solid 143 points performance.

7 Sydney players scored 100+ points (O’Keefe, Kirk, Shaw, Jolly, McVeigh, Grundy, Bird ).
5 North Melbourne players scored 100+ points (Gibson, Swallow, Firrito, Rawlings, McMahon ).

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Fremantle vs Carlton - Round 14 match review

Fremantle - 15.10 (100)
Carlton - 16.19 (115)

Whilst Carlton had a relatively poor start to the match kicking 1.4 to Fremantle 's 6.2, in the first quarter, The Blues managed to fight back in the second quarter and maintain their efforts in the second half to beat Fremantle by 15 points.


Big Moment
The home side leads 9.7 (61) to 7.8 (50) at the long break, with the Blues coming back hard in the second term, kicking six goals to Fremantle’s three.

The Blues were behind by 11 points at the main break. They trailed at the end of every quarter, but were able to kick 4 consecutive goals in the last quarter (3 in the opening five minutes), which saw them overrun the home team by kicking a total of seven goals to two in the final term.

Key Players for Fremantle
Antoni Grover – Had 17 possessions in the first half and zoned off O’hAilpin easily for most of the match. He ended with 26 possessions and took game high 16 marks.

Greg Broughton – Had a solid and consistent match and ended with 31 possessions, whilst running off Sam Fisher. He also took 8 marks.

Byron Schammer – He played the entire match going head to head with Marc Murphy and it was an even match. Had 17 first half possessions and finished with 28 including 8 marks.

Key Players for Carlton
Bryce Gibbs – Had a great match, collecting 17 disposals in the first half and finishing with a total of 33 possessions and additionally took 11 marks and kicked 2 goals.

Chris Judd - Led his team like a captain should. He was tagged by Ibbotson and absolutely dominated him. Judd collected 16 first half touches and ended the day with 35 possessions and 9 tackles.

Andrew Carrazzo – Played a great match collecting 33 possessions, including game high 21 kicks and had 8 inside 50s.

Musing from the Match
• Fremantle have now lost seven straight matches.
• The Blues took the lead for the first time in the match at the five-minute mark of the last quarter, after Gibbs’ second goal.
• It was David Mundy ’s 100th game.
• Fremantle were leading by 34 points early in the second quarter.
• If you watched the game and were wondering why Carlton were wearing yellow coloured Guernseys, shorts and socks it was to raise funds in support of the Lance Armstrong Foundation (Cancer Research).
• Fremantle had overall more kicks (218-189), handballs (169-168) and overall disposals (387-357).
• Fremantle had more hit outs, obviously thanks to Sandilands hands (with 26 individually to him).
• Carlton dominated the tackles 55 – 32.
• Carlton had 19 more inside 50s than Fremantle, but the Dockers had 18 more rebound 50s.
• The Dockers had more contested and uncontested possessions.


SuperCoach News
I said in the Preview for this match that you would LOVE having Aaron Sandilands in your team because of the amount of hit outs he has been and high scores, but he seemed to be struggling after half time with hamstring/groin problems, so keep an eye on him.

Bryce Gibbs (139 points) and Chris Judd (165 points) both had another outstanding game.

Fremantle youngster Greg Broughton had a great game for the Dockers scoring 159 points and is constantly building his game and price.

Hayden Ballantyne kicked 3 goals for the Dockers and scored 72 points.

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St Kilda vs Geelong – Round 14 match review

St Kilda - 14.7 (91)

Geelong – 13.7 (85)

A record breaking crowd at Etihad Stadium for an AFL game in 54,444 people were in attendance for this game. The Saints had the first victory in winning the toss. It was time to see who the best in the competition was. The Saints had clearly come to play and kicked the first five goals of the game, but slowly the Cats clawed their way back into it. To summarise the game I will use the words of Ross Lyon and say it was an “armwrestle”. The game was not decided until the last minute of the game when scores were level and birthday boy Michael Gardiner marked in a pack and kicked his fourth of the day to put the Saints up by 6. The siren went not long after and the Saints had emerged as the “best team in the competition”. We can only hope that these teams meet again in the grand final so we can see a rematch.

The biggest game of the home and away season deserves a bigger review than we normally do. As such I have deicded to write a quarter by quarter review of what played out. Please find this review below.

Big Moment

With just 1 minute and 30 seconds left on the clock the ball flew into the Saints goal square, a pack went up, the pack came down, and Michael Gardiner had taken a miraculous mark. Harry Taylor didn’t get up, a stretcher was called, and Gardiner lined up for his fourth to win the game. He slotted it and with a minute and five left on the clock if St Kilda got the ball in the middle it was all over.

Key Players for St Kilda

Michael Gardiner – On his 30^th birthday Gardiner played a stunner. He only had 13 possessions but he kicked 4 very important goals, including the match winner with 65 seconds to go in the game, to be the highest goal scorer in the game.

Lenny Hayes – Was fantastic all day and collected 32 disposals with a massive 11 clearances. He laid 8 tackles and was 78% effective when the ball was in his hands.

Sam Gilbert – Was solid in defence and often the reason that Geelong didn’t score or St Kilda got a run out of defence. 27 disposals, 6 tackles and 81% effectiveness for the day is a great effort.

Key Players for Geelong

Jimmy Bartel – Was fantasic all day and seemed to be everywhere. He collected 37 disposals, 6 tackles, 6 clearances, and 6 marks (2 very nice contested).

Joel Selwood – Collected 30 disposals of his own and was in the thick of it all day. 6 clearances and a goal were also instrumental in the Cats revival.

Paul Chapman – 40 possessions collected throughout the day. He was instrumental in getting the Cats back into the game with 5 clearances, and a thumping goal late in the final term.

Musings from the match

· Steve Johnson was a late withdrawal, Simon Hogan was his replacement.

· The Saints defence was phenominal in the first quarter ad this was highlighted by the Cats 12 inside 50s for just 2.2.

· Steven Baker copped a blow to the eye in the first and was bleeding down his face.

· Sam Fisher had 12 possessions in the first, while Jimmy Bartel had 11 for the Cats.

· Fisher was quieter in the second reaching just 16 by half time, while Bartel continued to be busy and made it to 21 at the main break.

· Andrew Mackie was fantastic in the third quarter.

· Geelong struggled to get a set shot inside 50 all day.

· Geelong didn’t lead all day, they levelled scores but never got in front.

Supercoach news

There were some big scores today.

For the Cats: Paul Chapman (139), Jimmy Bartel (149), Gary Ablett (148), Joel Selwood (111), Andrew Mackie (111), and Joel Corey (112) all made triple figures.

For the Saints: Lenny Hayes (174) top scored, Michael Gardiner (131), Nick Reiwoldt (107), Sam Gilbert (127) and Jason Blake (114) all scored triple figures also.

Very Detailed Match Review

First Quarter

Clinton Jones went straight to Gary Ablett, while Cameron Ling got the job on Nick Dal Santo. The first goal came inside the first 3 minutes of the game when Gary Ablett ran into trouble and handballed to Harley, who was then tackled by Milne and the ball fell out to Ablett’s man in Jones who kicked it through the big posts. Less than a minute later big Nick Reiwoldt took a fantastic contested mark running back with the flight of the ball and converted truly and the Saints were off the a flyer.

30 seconds later Kosi kicked from 50 meters out and the ball dropped on the line, replays showed it hit the post, and Gardiner collected the ball and kicked the Saints third and suddenly it was 18-0. A goal to Kosi and the Saints were 25 points without reply and Geelong looked rattled. The Cats first goal came at the 18 minute mark of the first quarter from a controversial 50 meter penalty to Gary Ablett against Clinton Jones, 33-8 was the score. Their second came from an unfortunate high contact call for Travis Varcoe with 45 seconds left on the clock and the Cats started somewhat of a comeback.

Second Quarter

The Saints got the first goal of the second through Reiwoldt again, and the margin was back to 25 points. The Cats wasted some opportunities early, and in the context of the quarter they were costly. The armwrestle had started and neither team was finding it particularly easy to score, but Andrew McQualter found space, Stephen Milne kicked it to him and McQualter kicked truly. Geelong suddenly executed their game perfectly and the ball was moved quickly forward and Darren Milburn marked inside 50 and goaled conseqently. The score was 45-22 and the first quarter was starting to look definitive.

A fantastic chase down tackle by Varcoe lead to a turnover and an Ablett mark 15 meters out, he played on and goaled to close the margin but the quickest of replies from St Kilda through Adam Schneider extended it again. Darren Milburn rolled his ankle trying to stop the ball getting to Schneider and came off for treatment. Bartel ran back with the flight of the ball to take a great contested mark in St Kilda’s forward 50, kicked the ball quickly to Ling who then kicked to Joel Corey who, after dodging a tackle, snapped truly to once again close the gap. The ball spent the last minute and a half in St Kilda’s forward 50 and Luke Ball nearly snapped a goal with 6 seconds left on the clock but the ball went across the face and out of bounds on the full. The Saints going into the main break with a 17 point lead.

Third Quarter

The Cats came out firing after the break but only managed two points in the opening minutes, both from Paul Chapman kicks. The Saints punished the Cats when quick ball movement saw Reiwoldt kick into the 50 and Gardiner took a strong mark almost directly in front. A goal followed and the margin was back out to 21. The ball sailed through the big posts for the Cats finally when they executed their hand ball game brilliantly through the centre and Mackie ended up with a mark on the 50. The kick was true and the gap was back to 15. A quick clearance followed from the centre and big Cameron Mooney took the mark and kicked a thumping goal. The margin 9, game on.

The Cats went onto repeat and another quick clearance saw the ball go forward yet again and some slick handballing and a rolling kick from Selwood saw the ball go through again and the margin was just 3. The Saints sensing they needed to settle moved the ball from a throw in inside the Cats 50 right down to Kosi who marked inside 50. A must kick goal was sprayed to the left and before you knew it the ball was back down the other end of the field. A goal for the Cats didn’t follow but Hayes got pinged for holding the ball when he thought it had gone out of bounds and the Cats almost punished their opponents.

Gilbert marked in the goal square not long later and the ball moved to the other end only for Reiwoldt to miss a gettable goal. He didn’t miss twice though and when the ball came back to him he took a good contested mark outside 50, ran round around Harry Taylor and kicked the ball to the open goals square to put 6 points on the board for the Saints. It was an intense quarter that probably should have seen the Cats closer than the 10 point margin, possibly even in front.

Fourth Quarter

The Saints got the first goal of the last term through Kosi extending the margin to 16 points, and it was going to be a hard fight for the Cats to win it. A stray handball went into a Geelong’s teammate’s leg and it went out on the full at St Kilda’s end, Montagna got the free kick and it went straight to a lone Gardiner 10 meters out and he kicked his third. Suddenly the Saints were 23 points up again and Geelong looked out of it.

Shannon Byrnes had the opportunity to claw it back a little bit but sprayed the kick and didn’t even manage a behind. Some great pressure from the Cats just minutes later saw Max Rooke kick a snap goal and get one back and the Cats were not out of it just yet. Schneider had the opportunity to bury the Cats but sprayed the kicked out on the full. A tussle followed in the Saints forward 50 and the Cats cleared it. The ball came back but Bartel intercepted the ball and got a 50 meter penalty after he disposed of the ball. His handpass went to Chapman who booted it from 60 meters and by the time it had reached the goal square Gardiner had slipped over and it rolled through for a goal. A quick clearance went forward to Mooney who marked on 50 and kicked the quick goal the Cats needed. The margin back to just 5 pointes with eight and a half minutes left.

Milne got a quick reply after he marked a clever kick from Reiwoldt and kicked truly. It was just what the Cats didn’t need and suddenly the margin was back to 11. Another quick clearance, this time in favour of the Saints saw Dal Santo run into goal and shank the kick right. The resulting kickout eventually ended up in the hands of Milburn, from a beautiful Bartel kick, just 10 meters out. Margin back to a goal once he converted. A free kick to Chapman and with advantage being played the Cats moved the ball through the corridor and saw the ball into the hands of Cameron Stokes who steadied and kicked the leveller. 5 minutes left in the game and the scores were level at 85 a piece.

With just 1 minute and 30 seconds left on the clock the ball flew into the Saints goal square, a pack went up, the pack came down, and Gardiner had taken a miraculous mark. Harry Taylor didn’t get up, a stretcher was called, and Gardiner lined up for his fourth to win the game. He slotted it and with a minute and five left on the clock if St Kilda got the ball in the middle it was all over. A Dal Santo clearance went to Milne and he was pinged for holding the ball. The ball went to the other end and Mooney used his body illegally, the ball was kicked to Gardiner from the free kick and he marked. The siren went as he kicked the ball and the Saints were victorious by 6 points.

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Adelaide vs. Richmond – Round 14 match review

Adelaide 15.12.(102)
Richmond 13.7.(85)

The Adelaide Football Club has defeated a much improved Richmond team on the Gold Coast. The margin at three quarter time was 40 points but the Tigers were able to finish strong and reduce the margin. In what is turning out to be a hotly contested top-4', the Crows may look back at this squandered opportunity to give their percentage a much needed boost.

Big Moment
Tippets four goals in the first-half cannot be overlooked as the biggest moment in the match.

The Tigers threatened on a number of occasions, but Tippet was able to kick goals at crucial times in the first-half for the crows.

Key Players for Adelaide
Kurt Tippet – Only had 13 disposals for the match, but kicked 5 goals and 3 behinds for the game. He also had 2 inside-50s and 3 scoring assists. The dominant forward of the evening.
Scott Thompson – Fantastic game for Thompson who had 27 touches which included ten contested possessions, 8 clearances and 5 inside-50s. The most impressive aspect of his game was his ten tackles; the most of any Adelaide player.
Graham Johncock – Played well in defense for the Crows having 29 touches for the evening. 11 of these were contested; the most for the team.

Key Players for Richmond
Robin Nahas – Great game from the young star. Kicked four goals and had 4 inside-50s. Adds some much needed spark to the Richmond team who are still lacking a dominant forward.
Shane Tuck – 33 disposals in a great game for Tuck. Is having a real impact in his last month of football. 10 clearances and 5 inside-50s. Of his 33 touches, 14 were contested and also chipped in with 6 tackles.
Richard Tambling – Have to mention this mans game after being criticized heavily earlier in the year. 31 possessions for the night and is showing the potential this guy has.

Musings from the Match
* Kurt Tippet was clearly the best forward for the match.
* The Tigers despite looking down and out at stages, continued to come at the Crows throughout the evening.
* Nathan Foley looks to have a calf injury which will hurt the Tigers.
* Ben Cousins is starting to show his class having another good game for the Tigers.
* Crowd of 11,174 at the Gold Coast, good crowd considering the two teams that were playing.
* Could Kurt Tippet be one of the franchise players for the Gold Coast, from Queensland and may look to go home.


SuperCoach
The injury to Nathan Foley would have hurt many with him only having 32 points.

Cousins continues to lift with another solid point scoring game of 114.

All of the likely suspects played and scored well in this game for both teams.

Tippet scored 118 which is up on his average whilst Scott Thompson was the highest scoring player in the match with 135 points.

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Western Bulldogs vs. Hawthorn – Round 14 match review

Western Bulldogs – 19.19 (133)
Hawthorn – 6.9 (45)

A dominant Bulldogs outfit slaughtered a second-rate Hawks outfit who much like most of this year, are a shadow of the premiership team from last year.
The first half was as good for the Bulldogs as it was bad for the Hawks with the amazing score line of 88 points to a meagre 4 points.


Big moment
It was a rare calamitous forward-50 entry from the Bulldogs with a lot of over possession between Scott Welsh and Jason Akermanis in the first quarter in which their best to not score a goal. In the end , it was a toe-poke that went through the goals by Akermanis in a way that showed how the night was going to continue for the Bulldogs.


Key Players for the Western Bulldogs
Adam Cooney – The Brownlow medallist had an excellent game, with most of his disposals behind the ball setting up the play.
Matthew Boyd – Killed it' in the midfield with 35 possessions to be the most dominant player in the middle of the ground.
Ryan Hargrave – Picked up possessions at will, not only in the backline, but all over the ground whilst continuing his excellent attacking form.
Ryan Griffin – An excellent smother to save a sure goal when the Bulldogs were 80 points up’ typified his work-rate in the game, finishing with 31 polished possessions.
Brian Lake – Absolutely dominated Franklin whilst providing his typical set-ups from the backline that allowed the Bulldogs to go from end-to-end so easily.

Key Players for Hawthorn
Luke Hodge – A one man show and probably the only player that deserves to be included in the Hawks best players.
He was put in the middle in the start of the 2nd term (when the score line was 60 to 2) and was clearly the Hawks only effective midfielder. Easily his best game of the year.
Daylight…..
Sam Mitchell – Tried, tried and tried again to no avail. Not his best game but as usual, it wasn’t through a lack of effort. More due to a lack of help.
Brad Sewell – Same old story. Exactly the same as Mitchells game.


Musings from the match
• The likes of Brad Johnson, Jarrod Harbrow, Lindsey Gilbee and Scott Welsh were also excellent for the Bulldogs.
• Western Bulldogs were unbelievable in the first-half. Probably the best football anyone has played all year.
• Their skills, marking, running and pressure made them untouchable as you can see by the scoreboard.
• Their movement of the ball from the backline to the forward line was awesome to watch at times.
• A heap of the Bulldogs goals came from kicks and marks to leading players as opposed to Hawthorn who kept kicking to a stationary one-on-one contest.
• Surprisingly, the Hawks only had 7 less inside-50s than the Bulldogs.
• The Bulldogs had an amazing 15 scoring shots from 15 inside-50s in the first quarter.
• The Bulldogs pressure was sensational, forcing the Hawthorn players to take the shorter option whilst selling themselves into trouble.
• Due to that pressure, the Hawks couldn’t use the longer option up the field which for most of the time was available.
• At one time in the 2nd quarter, it took 4 risky-kicks for the Hawks to get the ball out of their backline.
• To say that the Hawks are missing Cyril Rioli and Clinton Young is a massive understatement.
• Not much pace there; their midfield is the slowest in the AFL.
• Lance Franklin had a shocker, having no impact up forward only to be sent to the backline as the free-player to get his hands on the ball.


SuperCoach news
The Bulldogs scored well as you would expect with 11 players with 100+ scores as opposed to the Hawks who only had Luke Hodge.
Brad Johnson was the highest scorer on the ground with 153pt’s thanks to 11 marks, 23 possession, 3 goals and 4 assists.

SuperCoach scores and game stats from the SuperFooty match center

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Port Adelaide vs. Brisbane Lions – Round 14 match review

Port Adelaide 19.14.(128)
Brisbane Lions 11.14.(80)

Port Adelaide has kept its finals hopes alive in 2009 with an impressive victory over a disappointing Brisbane Lions who were looking to cement their ladder position. Port Adelaide now sit 8th on the ladder after this win; their only concern will be their percentage which is only 92.10. Brisbane on the other hand now sit 5th one game out of the top four and will look back on this game with regret on not taking an opportunity to push for the top four.


Big Moment
A sloppy 50m penalty against Ryan Hooper gifted Steven Salopek a goal; then to add to the Lions woes the Power won the next clearance and Brett Ebert (aka Might Mouse) kicked his fourth for the afternoon.

Key Players for Port Adelaide

Brett Ebert– The Powers number one forward line player of the day kicking 4 goals and 1 behind. Ebert had 17 touches which included 6 inside 50s.

Domenic Cassisi– Well rounded game from Cassisi racking up 25 possessions, 11 of which were contested. He also laid 5 tackles and had 4 clearances for the match.

David Rodan– had a wonderful day in the midfield with 30 possessions, of these 12 were clearances. Rodan also had 10 contested possessions with four inside 50s.

Key Players for Brisbane

Jed Adcock- A stand out for the Lions with his 8 tackles showing his team mates how it is done. Adcock also accumulated 29 disposals.

Mitch Clark- Struggled against the Power ruckmen but worked hard all day to finish with 20 touches and 19 hit outs.

Musings from the Match

• Jared Brennan is in trouble for a headbutt on Carr
• Daniel Rich hurt his shoulder in the third quarter
• Troy Chaplin caused Rich’s problems through a late bump that saw him reported
• Port Adelaide smashed Brisbane in the clearances 45-19
• Brisbane have missed a huge chance
• Amazingly this win keeps the Power’s top 8 aspirations alive

SuperCoach

Port Adelaide players provided the goods this week with 7 players scoring over 100 SuperCoach Points; Ebert and Pearce in particular posting an impressive 126 and 127 SuperCoach Points respectively.

The Lions struggled with only two players topping the 100 point mark; Jed Adcock was a stand out with 134 SuperCoach Points .

The injury to Daniel Rich will worry many of you and perhaps it is time to cash him in.

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