It was the round of small forwards with Thomas, Betts, Rioli, Varcoe and Milne all kicking bags for their teams along with Riewoldt back in town. No not the hamstrung one for St Kilda but his cousin who has done something his cousin has yet to do and that is kick 10 goals in a game.

Buddy was able to get through a game without bumping anyone & the Hawks are marching on with five wins in a row

North Melbourne defeated Carlton by 29 points

Channel 7 did a half time special on the Krakouer brothers for North Melbourne and it was fitting with Lindsey Thomas kicking 7 goals in a dominate display and Eddie Betts from the other end kicking five.

While Betts tried hard and won his spot on the field, the same cannot be said about his team mates, last year they got labeled as down hill skiers and games like this only seem to strengthen the argument. While Gibbs and Murphy got plenty of the ball (32 and 25 possessions) and Carlton had more clearances they did not make the most of the dominance and only played in patches with two goals in the first quarter and only four behinds in the last.

What I find interesting with the Kangaroos is that their midfielders do not get much of the ball, there full back in Thompson had 29 possessions with Swallow their best midfielder having 19 possessions.

Hawthorn defeated Adelaide by 47 points

Hawthorn jumped out of the gun with 7 first quarter goals and while Adelaide managed to get within two goals at various times, Hawthorn did enough to keep them out of range and then again they flexed their muscles and kicked 6 goals in the last quarter to blow the margin out.

Franklin, Roughead, Hodge & Rioli all kicked 3 goals each and in a battle for BOG Hodge had 32 possessions while Rioli had 27 with some great 2008 type highlights. They have now won 5 games in a row and are becoming a real smoky for the finals as we run into the second half of the season.

Tippett kicked 4 goals while Van Berlo had 28 and Douglas had another good day with 25 possessions.

Geelong defeated Essendon by 71 points

This game saw Essendon loose around 5 percent and with a game against Hawthorn next week, it is starting to become season defying for the Bombers.

7 players from Geelongs best 22 were missing and Essendon thought they where a chance? They even managed to match them for a half after Geelong kicked 6 of the first 7 goals but then it was game over with Geelong kicking five goals in the third quarter. JPod kicked 5 along with Varcoe (his best game ever) and Stevie J kicked 4 and Bartel had a BOG game with 3 goals and 28 possessions.

Essendon was really monstered in the midfield and Geelong not noted for their pace looked faster than Essendon with their midfield really struggling. Stanton only had 15 possessions, while Zaharakis had 15, Welsh 13 and Winderlich 17.

Sydney defeated Port Adelaide by 38 points

I’ve given up tipping Port Adelaide…

Port Adelaide kicked four first quarter goals and they struggled to kick four for the next three. Sydney real broke the game apart with a 7 goal third quarter and then it was a real slog for the rest of the match with only four multiple goal kickers for the match with Goodes leading with three goals and 17 possessions with Malceski had 35 possessions and O’Keefe had 28.

Kane Cornes had 32 possessions in a normal display for his team and Hartlett improves his impressive start of his career with 25 possessions.

Richmond defeated West Coast by points

I said it a few weeks ago but I like how Hardwick is making Richmond play simple football, its the best way to teach kids how to play the game. If you look at the improvement in established players like Tuck, Riewoldt, Deledio & Newman it obviously is working. Riewoldt has stepped out of his cousins shadow and is now one of the form key forwards of the competition who takes a contested mark and has more tackles inside 50m than anyone else.

I will refrain from commenting about the Eagles as a disgruntled fan but I have to question their recruiting of slow kids who cannot kick the football, if you cant kick you cant play!

Bulldogs defeated Brisbane by 65 points

Voss went for a risk with recruiting seasoned players and half way through the season, injuries have ruined the dream of getting some fans before the Gold Coast enter into the competition in 2011. While one dream has almost finished, another has been sparked back to life. For the Dogs, Boyd, Cross and Cooney all had 30 plus possessions and Hall kicked 6 goals on Merrett.

Bulldogs have recently started slowly but not against the injury ravanged Brisbane, after half time they finished the game off with 10 goals to the Lions three. Black tried hard with 28 possessions and with Brown resting, Fevola could only manage two goals and it was left to Buchanan who kicked three.

St Kilda defeated Fremantle by 18 points

St Kilda have now won four in a row (included twice at Subiaco in the same year for the first time) while Fremantle have lost two in a row. With both sides playing potential top 4 sides next week (Geelong & Carlton), this game was a must win and St Kilda jumped out of the gun with quick goals and that allowed St Kilda to play on their terms.

Milne (in his 200th game) kicked four and while Freo kept Montagna & Hayes quiet, Dal Santo and Goddard were brilliant. Pavlich on the other hand was quiet.

Cracks are starting to appear for Fremantle with limited depth and playing Zac Clarke makes me wonder why? Why play him if you wont play him in the ruck where he can develop.

Melbourne drew with Collingwood

Personally I think a draw is fitting, Collingwood did not deserve to win and neither did Melbourne. Collingwood were wasteful and for the second time this year, it has cost them a win. This week they kicked 22 behinds and after quarter time they kicked 5 goals 14 behinds while Melbourne only had 16 scoring shots.

For Collingwood Swan tried hard with 38 possessions but kicked 0.3, while Dick was the difference with four goals after playing for the reserves sides with Didak being rested with a hip injury on Saturday.

For Melbourne only Bate and Miller managed to kick multiple goals and Moloney continues his great season with 38 possessions as well. Mark Jamar played one of the games of his life in the ruck with 25 touches, eight marks and 33 hit-outs.

Top Ladder after Round 11

1. Geelong: 40 points – 155.41%
2. St Kilda: 36 points – 125.33
3. Collingwood: 34 points – 125.80%
4. Fremantle: 32 points – 119.00%
5. Western Bulldogs: 28 points – 125.00%
6. Carlton: 28 points – 112.03%
7. Sydney: 28 points – 110.74%
8. Hawthorn: 24 points – 101.64%

Round 11 Talking points

1. What was the biggest result on the weekend for you?
   • I have to think the biggest news was Australia loosing 4 nil in the soccer, big losses like this will make sure we do not get invaded by this stupid game.
2. Will Carlton ever be taken serious after beating sides like Geelong and then losing to North Melbourne?
   • No
3. Can Essendon get back into the top 8?
   • No, they will play some good football and challenge some top sides but are still to inconsistent.
4. Will Geelongs Wojo get suspended for his love tap to Davey’s gut?
   • No, just a love tap. Last week we saw some common sense by the Match Review people, lets hope they make it two weeks in a row.
5. Is Mumford the recruit of the season?
   • I really like the ruck work of Mumford and I reckon the Swans have come out better with the trade of Jolly, an extra first round draft pick and 10 years from Mumford.
6. Was Karmichael’s game in the VFL a pre-curser on what is to come or will he get better?
   • Reminds me of someone like Nit Nat, can do something amazing but will be flashy at best.
7. Has the AFL gone stupid with players getting free kicks against you for throwing an opponents shoe away?
   • What happened to do whatever is needed to get the edge? I remember someone from North did the same and he did not get a free kick against him, was this when the rule came in?
8. Is Worsfold the biggest optimist in thinking West Coast are three years away from playing finals?
   • I think everyone else knew they where not even 5 years away and I find it bemusing that after being smashed by Richmond he finally is starting to think along the same lines with the rest of us.

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