A few floggings this weekend but it did help shake the ladder a bit which will be most likely be the talking points for the week.
The Umpires are happy this week as they get the limelight with their ridiculous rules ruining our great game.
St Kilda draw with Hawthorn
Lets face it, umpires suck! It is the second interchange screw up in recent weeks which has robbed two teams which will have consequences on the top four. I said it when Freo was robbed by the idiots and I will say it again this could well see Hawthorn loose their late charge for fourth spot and its time the AFL takes a serious look at this ridiculous rule.
Only twice did the margin go over two goals through out the whole game and it was one of the classics of the season. Kosi started the game of brilliantly with 3 first quarter goals and then like the whole season, went missing. Schneider, Milne also kicked three and for the Hawks they got 8 goals out of Franklin and Roughead.
Collingwood defeated Richmond by 82 points
A six goal first term saw the game beyond doubt and it was a case of men playing against boys, with Collingwood looking to stitch up top spot while Richmond are trying to stay ahead of West Coast off the bottom of the ladder.
Collingwood again had a spread of 11 individual goal kickers with Didak kicking goal of the week with 3 along with Macaffer and Brown also kicking three. Davis came back to form with four goals and Swan had another 30+ possession game with 37.
Geelong defeated Brisbane by 63 points
Selwood continues his good recent form with 41 disposals including 4 clearances, 10 tackles, 7 inside 50′s and 7 scoring assists, what a team when you can afford Ablett to struggling and have the luxury to play him forward and he kicks five goals. Ablett jnr was part of a three pronged small forward attack with Steve Johno and Varoce kicking four each. At the other end Brown and Fevola could only kick 5 goals between them.
Brisbane really are struggling at the moment and the question must be asked about the leadership of the club and if Voss was indeed the right call. Yes they played brilliant football for the first four weeks but a month of good football does make a season and since the they have only won one game against Geelong it took them almost a half before they could kick a team goal.
Carlton defeated West Coast by 26 points
This win could be a season defying match for the Blues as they look to return to some form after some insipid football in the last month. The first half saw some brilliant gut running from West Coast and LeCras continuing his good form up forward, even their disposal looked clean and they went into the second half with a 26 point lead.
The second half however saw Carlton do the gut running, with Betts, Gartlett and Yarren turn to life up forward and their disposal become clean while West Coast ran out of steam and let slip a handy half time lead to a disappointing loss. Carlton kicked 11 second half goals while West Coast only could kick 3.8. While in round 16 LeCras could not miss, he was very goal hungry and while he 3.5 for the night, I wonder how much better it could have been if he looked to pass a few of those 5 behinds to team mates who were in a better position.
Essendon defeated North Melbourne by 3 points
Big miss here for the Kangaroos who should have won and kept themselves in with a chance for the top 8 and while pre game injuries did not help you think with their poor percentage they wont make the finals in 2010.
Knights has had a good week, first with Aker gaining all the media attention, then the AFL being a pain in the neck with their strict emergency player rules and then the Bombers managing to hold on for the final 35 minutes with the ball in the Kangaroos forward line.
Kangaroos had to play with 21 players as they could not afford to pay $20,000 for O’Keefe to play for the first half of the first quarter. Edwards kicked 4.4 and had two great high flying marks and I cannot understand why he does not play more often. Hardingham kicked four goals along with Watson gathering 17 contested disposals and 38 overall.
Western Bulldogs defeated Fremantle by 82 points
Forget the claims from Aker about the team during the week, this game showed that the do work as a team with a flogging over the hapless uninspiring Dockers. The Dogs forward line functioned very similar as Geelongs where they always gave the ball off to a team mate in a better position which saw over 10 individual goal kickers including Lake kicking 3 from full back.
Not only did they have a better spread of goal kickers with 38 scoring shots to only 16, their stronger bodied midfielders was were they won the game as they had over 100 more contested possessions and twice as many clearances than the Dockers. Pavlich kicked some cheap last quarter goals but he and Sandilands are really struggling with Barlow missing and if they are to get a home final at 5th or 6th, they need to find some form.
Melbourne defeated Sydney by 73 points
A goal in the first 21 seconds saw Melbourne set up a great first term of 8 goals and stopped their run of slow starts. In the first quarter the ball hits the post and gets named as a goal as well as marking a ball on the field and called as out on the form, its hard to win a game when you get calls like this against you.
Sydney have always been labeled slow but when you have players like Wonaemirri burning off Kennelly you know they are just way to fast for their style of stop and go football. Goodes tried hard with 4 goals and 26 possessions but Melbourne is a team on the rise and pushed aside Sydney and kicked 22 goals for the afternoon with Green kicking 5 goals (including 3 in the first quarter) and Dunn three. Sylvia returned to form with 28 possessions and Frawley was amazing with 12 marks and 22 kicks and Davey got handed the ball plenty to end up with 25 possessions.
Port Adelaide defeated Adelaide by 19 points
Again like Sydney and North this was a match they could not afford to loose and they could not kick a goal to save their life I mean their season….
The win sees Port saved from the wooden spoon and the first for Matthew Primus. Westhoff returned to some goal kicking form with 4 goals and it was the usual suspects with Cassisi (28 possessions), Cornes (28) and Pearce (27).
The battle for the finals after Round 17
As the finals come along we will list the teams who are within a chance of making the finals.
- Collingwood: 54 points – 140.14%
- Geelong: 52 points – 145.44%
- St Kilda: 50 points – 119.77%
- Western Bulldogs: 44 points – 137.98%
- Fremantle: 44 points – 111.62%
- Hawthorn: 38 points – 107.71%
- Carlton: 36 points – 105.97%
- Sydney: 36 points – 105.04%
- North Melbourne: 32 points – 86.05%
- Adelaide: 28 points – 92.70%
Round 16 Talking points
- Is it time the AFL takes the slippery Dome serious?
- It is time but they wont until someone dies on the ground or a club strikes and refuse to play on the surface. I do not normally agree with Kennett but he has a point that the big names/ captains/ clubs need to be more vocal.
- Will the Hawthorn captain be donating to the AFL this week with his outburst against the slippery Dome?
- Yes
- Everyone has an opinion on the Aker decision. Whats yours?
- To be honest I am still undecided either way. I can see the pros and cons of the decision but I think if hey win the Grand Final it will be a good decision but if they fall short?
- To be honest I am still undecided either way. I can see the pros and cons of the decision but I think if hey win the Grand Final it will be a good decision but if they fall short?
- Can Fraser or Medhurst get back in the Collingwood best 22?
- Fraser no, he will go elsewhere next year but I think Medhurst can still get back in. Its amazing but I think from 2009 onwards Fremantle are the winners of the Tarrent/ Medhurst trade.
- Are the AFL too touchy with their handling of the pre match injuries and substitutes for North Melbourne?
- The AFL has been too touchy for way to long but seriously surely Nathan O’Keefe would have played better than a tired Hale who had already played earlier on in the year. Even if it cost them $20,000 surely a finals spot would pay off that debt.
- Is the top four spot finalised now?
- Yes
- Am I the only one who thinks Sheedy’s outburst on Essendon and Malthouse was just sour grapes?
- Yes and I liked Malthouse’s response were he said Knights has been more successful than Sheedy in the last 9 years, classic!
- Will Hams (West Coast) get off his report after Armfield got cleared of serious injury?
- Lets face it, if they are injured, you get a harsher penalty.
- Will Sydney miss out on the finals after their big loss?
- Sydney play Geelong, Hawthorn, Fremantle, Western Bulldogs and Brisbane and I cannot see them winning more than the Brisbane match.
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July 26th, 2010 at 9:02 am
Hi Jermayn,
If you think this week had lots of blow outs, have a look at next weeks draw! Top 5 teams will win easily. Match of the round could be Freo v WCE- playing 2 in a row at home this time of year is a real bonus for the Eagles.
Talkin Points
1.Yes- AFL has different requirements to other sports. interesting to see how the Wallabies and ABs cope with the surface.
2.Who knows
3.Don’t think we can win the flag (Geel, SK and Coll small forwards always give us trouble and need a second marking forward), so look forward to Aker claiming he would have been the difference. All I can say is that he was pretty useless in last years PF.
4. No who would you drop?
5. NM should be more organised. You have emergencies for a reason.
6. Haw can still do it. The draw was as good as a win for them. Will need to beat Coll (R22) and hope WB lose to Syd or Adel. Not totally fanciful. Freo have no chance.
7. He’s allowed to have an opinion. Ess have severely underperformed under Knights.
8. Dont know.
9. Your analysis is correct. Why is nobody mentioning Melbourne. My Predictor has them making the finals on 42 points.
July 26th, 2010 at 8:59 pm
Interchange
It’s hardly the umpires’ fault that a group of grown men can’t manage the pathetically simple concept of “one off, one on”. Whether a 50-metre penalty is an appropriate punishment is a whole other question, but the umpires work within the framework of the rules and interpretations on the day.
Defying the season?
It’s season defining.
Kangaroos
North did not play with 21 men. Hale, who was named as an emergency, arrived on the ground a mere 12 minutes after the commencement of the game. He had already played a VFL game during the day, so was clearly not at his best, but your statement is wrong.
In addition, the ball was not in the Kangaroos forward line for the last 35 minutes. I think you probably mean 35 seconds. Proof reading before hitting the “Publish” button would be a really useful exercise.
Had Daniel Wells played, there’s not much doubt that North would have been stronger and might have been expected to win. As it was, a behind awarded to North probably should have been a goal, which may have given them a three point win (all others factors being equal).
Impenetrable
“Sydney have always been labeled slow but when you have players like Wonaemirri burning off Kennelly you know they are just way to fast for their style of stop and go football.”
?????????????????
Talking points
1. Only those with a vested interest in the Docklands stadium could claim the surface is appropriate for elite Aussie rules. But the solution is. . .?
3. It only takes one bad apple to ruin the barrell. Akermanis’ divisive and provocative presence must have taken some key eyes off the real task at hand. Akermanis is only interested in his own view. He has never been a team player.
4. Fraser is probably gone — I can’t imagine who would take him in a trade or draft. Medhurst can be very dangerous in a team that is dominating IF his head is in the right space. Who’s to say that Davis doesn’t fall into a form slump and Medhurst fills the gap?
5. Clubs name emergencies in the teams they submit. Surely North took a calculated risk in playing Hale in the VFL (and he played earlier in the day, not earlier in the year). If you expect the AFL to be more flexible in allowing pre-game substitutions, what will stop clubs manipulating the scenario for their own benefit?
6. It looks to be.
7. The comment was: “Matthew Knights has been the most successful Essendon coach of the last six years.”. Knights’ win-loss ratio for his (almost) three-year reign is (already) better than Sheedy’s for his final three years. Checking before typing? It took me all of 15 seconds to find the quote.
9. North and Adelaide (and Melbourne) still need to win games to bridge the margin to Sydney. Sydney’s percentage is superior to both North and Adelaide at present and they (Sydney) aren’t likely play as badly as they did against Melbourne. I think they have the inside running, without being dead-set certs.
aussierulesblog´s last [type]: misInterpretation rules
July 26th, 2010 at 9:33 pm
@aussierulesblog, Bit grouchy today?? Essendon won a game, you should be happy and sticking up for the umpires? Must be a first…
Maybe you should re-read what I said
Maybe it could have been written better but I ony said they played with 21 men for half a quarter…
July 26th, 2010 at 10:27 pm
@Jermayn,
Grouchy? Moi? Just back from a week’s R&R and got more and more frustrated the further I read.
Sticking up for the umpires? No, I’m happy to take pot shots at them — such as Umpires’ intuition or x-ray vision? — but the interchange rule isn’t their fault. Take aim at the Rules Committee on that one.
??? O’Keefe would have played the whole game, not just half a quarter. You’re right, I didn’t read it properly, and probably a good thing too!
And anyway, let’s face it, if you’re going to have a 12-minute period where you’re one down on the bench, you’d take the first 12 minutes of the game, wouldn’t you? It’s not those 12 minutes that hurt North.
aussierulesblog´s last [type]: misInterpretation rules