Anthony Rocca takes a screamer in his return game & was important for Collingwood.
A few upsets with Collingwood, Port, Sydney, Melbourne and West Coast wining against higher fancied opponents. While Geelong and St Kilda look dangerous the rest of the sides look fairly even. We saw some big marks (Rocca, Logan, Motlop) that helps keep the old AFL fans happy as zoning continues to impact the game.
Collingwood defeated Brisbane by 17 points
Vossy is unhappy about the umpiring treatment his twin B’s got from the Collingwood defense? And for once I am sure Eddie is happy after he sooked to the umpires and his team got the win. I am sure many other clubs will now go down Eddie’s path of getting good umpire decisions.
No matter how bad the umpiring was, Voss should be focusing on his team instead, they have a team to play finals but they just go missing for too long. One goal in a half of football is even worse than Richmond, no matter how many injuries you had.
Collingwood on the other hand seemed to enjoy having Rocca provide a target which ensured Medhurst (four goals) and Davis (three)to feed off the big guys and not be the main marking targets. Again the Magpies have seemed to unveiled a new kid in Barham who shows plenty. This from the behind win could kick start their season.
Sydney defeated Carlton by 17 points
Carlton came out firing but after 20 odd minutes they went back home to Victoria and Sydney continued to show that if you under estimate them, you loose. Carlton or more importantly Fevola missed shots at goals and in the 2nd quarter alone they kicked 7 behinds while Sydney escaped to a 3 goal lead which they managed for the rest of the game.
Hall was out for Sydney but in reality it only helped Sydney as they had to rearrange their forward line and while one game is nothing to judge by it helps as they look forward to the future.
Port Power defeated Hawthorn by 30 points
This game was very topsy turvy with one team dominating 10 minutes and then the other dominating until Port came out and ended up winning by 4 odd goals on the back of their rucks and pace.
So is it official that Hawthorn are struggling? Yes injuries do not help but now they are getting beaten by their own game plan, the zone. Port had 12 long kicks in a half but in the last half they decided to kick the ball a bit longer and on the top of Tredrea kicking 6 goals and the marking ability of Chad Cornes they dominated the Hawks backline. Hodge was kept quite by Logan who took the mark of the season.
Logan kept Hodge quite & took the best mark of the year so far.
St Kilda defeated Fremantle by 83 points
We all by now know how bad Fremantle is with their poor disposal and decision making which was on display when they only scored 4 goals in a whole game including two goaless quarters. However lets focus more on St Kilda’s awesome start to the year than Fremantle who sit 16th.
What was good was that when Kosi went down injured (should only miss a week) captain Riewoldt kicked on and had his best game to the season with 5 goals. While St Kilda have yet played a top four side, they do look sharp and coach Ross Lyon has built a solid team in the Sydney mold (but with the ability to kick goals).
Geelong defeated Adelaide by 48 points
While Geelong look good all over with their stingy oiled defense and brilliant midfield lead by Ablett who surely is the best current player (sorry to Judd & Franklin) however it hides their one weakness which has NOT been fixed since their Grand Final loss. While it has been glossed over with their dominance Hawkins, Mooney (one goal), Gamble & Lonergan continue to show indifferent form.
While the final margin flattered Geelong’s dominance, Adelaide were far from embarrased. For the last 5-7 years Adelaide’s best players have always been the same players. Now the like of Porplyzia, Walker, Dangerfield, Tippet etc are now taking over from the older players off McLeod etc.
North Melbourne defeated Essendon by 12 points
Dumb footballers continue to cost their teams, last weekend it was Carlton backman Thorton and in this game it was an interchange mistake which a free kick to North Melbourne in the third quarter. It meant the ball was out of Matthew Lloyd’s hands when he was just 20 metres out from goals. The Roos then kicked three quick goals to close out the quarter and put the 3/4 time margin out to 20 points.
While Lloyd may be back, Ryder, Hille & Lucas need to improve. Hille was well beaten by McIntosh (who is back) & Petrie. Harvey also came back with 3 goals and 30 odd possessions.
Melbourne defeated Richmond by 8 points
I am sure most people are now betting on when Wallace will be sacked, it sucks at moments like these to be a coach but the team he put out on the park is his own team, he has had 4 years to build it. I felt sorry for N Brown on thursday night when drilled on 9′s Footy Show about his teams performance. It is not just one players or coach fault, the whole club needs to be looked at. Put them all on notice and go through the team/ club with a broom and start again.
However lets focus on Melbourne, coach Bailey said they will be more competitive this year and while Richmond is only in reality a bottom four side, you can only beat the side your playing. Davey, Jetta, Sylvia & Miller (3 goals) were great and the Demons won the game on top of a 8 goal 2nd quarter and held on as Richmond came home with a wet sail.
Brent Staker had 20 possessions and 6 clearences and played his best footy off the season.
West Coast defeated Bulldogs by 33 points
Will the real West Coast please stand up! Which is the real Eagles? The team that beat top 6 sides Port and Bulldogs or the team that got flogged by 15 goals by top side ST Kilda? From a fans pov, it is great to see young players like Schofield, LeCras (who must now be one the more dangerous mid-sized forwards) & Mackenzie improving but the real improvement in the side comes from players like Staker, Selwood, Priddis & Rosa.
While a loss sucks, coach Eade was correct that at least they do not have to go back to Perth this season. I am sure the Dogs were unhappy to be in Perth twice in a month and on the top of a 6 day break. Excuses aside, they simply were not good enough, they had no 2nd game plan (bomb it long to KPP – Key Position Player) and when under pressure (like finals).
Top 8 After Round 4
Sorry about leaving this out originally
- St Kilda
- Geelong
- Western Bulldogs
- Port Power
- Carlton
- Collingwood
- Sydney
- Brisbane
Round 4 Talking Points
- So if Wallace is under pressure keeping his position as Richmond’s coach why is Harvey not under the same pressure seeing Freo are ‘technically’ worse sitting at 16th.
- Harvey’s excuse is that “they are a young side and lost 1300 odd games worth of players last season”. Personally it does not wash with me as its the senior players (Pavlich, Bradley, Solomon, Crowley, Schammer etc) that is the problem and not the young ones.
- Can St Kilda continue this form and be a real top two side?
- I think they can but Kosi injured and playing a geniune top four side (Dogs, Hawks, Cats etc) will be a real test.
- Is it official that Hawthorn are now in a premiership hangover?
- Yes! You would be in denial not to say that. Injuries do not help but but they just do not seem hard enough like last year. Hodge needs to play midfield.
- Will Logan’s mark be under estimated due to his low player status?
- I hope not as it was awesome but with most Victorian commentators not even knowing Logan’s name, coach Williams may be right.
- How did you go with tipping this weekend? You pick any of the surprise wins this weekend?
- I only got four (St Kilda, Sydney, North & Geelong).
- Is there anything in the claim by Collingwood that an umpire touched a player?
- I do not think so. Think Collingwood and Eddie is a sook, get over it.
Please give us your thoughts in the comments section below. The questions will asked in bold and my response will be unbolded.
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April 20th, 2009 at 11:36 am
What a horrible round for tipping this week. I managed to get 3 right (the 2 on Saturday Night and I am not sure of the other). All I think this week has shown is that Geelong are definitely the team to beat this year for the flag, most likely over St Kilda. And that Freo may actually be worse then Richmond
Also I would post a personal highlight from my trip to the Sydney v Carlton game this weekend. While we (the blues) were absolutely horrible, this game will be forever memorable for me as I got to go out on the field and hold the banner as the players ran through.
Definitely up there as one of the best moments in my supporting career, especially living in Wagga and not getting to see the guys live that often (actually worked out on the weekend that I have only seen them win live 2 times in 27 years, once when I was about 6 and against Port Adelaide last year).
Now just to find a picture somewhere.
April 20th, 2009 at 12:50 pm
Agree that Richmond are not as bad as Freo. Richmond still have Cousins, Coughland, Polak & Cotchin to come in but Freo have a full strength (best 22) squad to choose from. I guess what does not help is that everyone has just given up on the Dockers, no one expects anything from them, unlike Richmond who many thought would be a top 8 side.
Man, that is awesome that you got to do that. Can I ask how come? Is it because no other members went up to Sydney? I would suggest (from a purely non Carlton pov) that you move to Melbourne and go to every one of their games
April 20th, 2009 at 1:09 pm
I think your right about Freo, nobody expected much from them, so when they haven’t performed nobody has really noticed. It will be interesting to see if Richmond can get any better when they get those players back.
Re: The Banner.
I am a member of the Wagga Wagga Carlton Supporters Group (1 of only 3 groups in the NSA/ACT that I am aware of, the others being Canberra & Sydney) and we took a bus up to Sydney for the game and pre-match function. The Sydney Group (I think + maybe a few from Melbourne) did the banner up and when they were setting it up, our group organiser asked them if they needed some help, they said sure and I was one of the first over the fence to join in. Only down point was the guy that usually takes all the photos for our group was outside the ground organising some more tickets so wasn’t there to capture it all.
And on the losses, the supporters group has threatened with a life ban on their trips if this keeps up (all in good fun, I just tell them that it’s their fault because the only win I saw last year was a game I went to without them). I think the next game I go to is against Richmond in July so fingers crossed.
April 20th, 2009 at 1:12 pm
If you loose against Richmond, I would suggest give up
especially if they continue in their form.
btw what do you think Carlton at the moment? You get ahead of yourself? and does Fevola need a week off with his bruised heal?
April 20th, 2009 at 1:38 pm
We may have got a little ahead of ourselves but I still think we should make the 8 this year. I will be dissapointed if we don’t.
Against Essendon we definitely did get ahead of ourselves after the easy first quarter and then laid back and let them run over us.
Against Sydney we were just horrible in front of goal, I don’t know if the wind caused problems at one end of the ground (the one we were kicking to in the 2nd, because Sydney also missed a few down that end in the 3rd) or something else but it is something we definitely need to look at. We also seemed to want to go wide and not up the guts. The few times we did go up the middle I think we looked all right.
As for Fev, you would hope he should be over his heel problem by now. And if not, maybe a week of would do him good. Mind you he kicked 4.5 against Essendon (I think) which is not too bad, probably needed to be more accurate. And against the Swans he kicked 1.3 (again I think) but he didn’t have a lot of opportunities either. His accuracy is definitely down at the moment but I think the only way to improve is to keep playing him. So to sum up, I am honestly not to sure.
April 21st, 2009 at 10:41 am
Only a little ahead of yourself Geaghs???
You guys won the Grand Final 26 odd weeks before it was even played.
btw it was 4.7 against Essendon that Fev kicked.
April 21st, 2009 at 1:44 pm
I think a lot of what was said was a beat up in the press and by the bookies though. Yes I celebrated our victories like we had won a Grand Final (in my defense, I do this with all my footy teams, Dragons, Mariners, Man U) but I never said we would be actually in the GF this year and I think most blues supporters were in the same boat. In the end though it does become hard to ignore when it is splattered all over the papers and maybe it did get into the players heads.
4.7. That is probably a lot more inaccurate then we want him to be, so maybe his heel is affecting him more then he wants let on. There was an interesting article online today that said a few of the players in the club are getting frustrated with him because he is lazy on the field and won’t help out the other forwards when they are trying to shut down the defenders. On reflection of the Sydney game, there may be some truth to this.
April 24th, 2009 at 2:37 pm
A trifle optimistic labelling Kepler Bradley a senior player.
Essendon’s interchange error was a real turning point. After looking like going to the front, the free kick plus 50 metres put the Kangaroos deep into their attacking 50. Who knows whether they would have rallied anyway had Lloyd kicked that goal. Perhaps the Dons would have begun believing. We’ll never know.
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April 24th, 2009 at 3:32 pm
Bradley has played 50+ games and been in the system for a number of years and so down at Freo I label him as a senior player, either way he needs to improve and help lead as Pavlich cannot carry the team for ever.