Going to do the rounds wrap up a little different this week so please let us know if you like it or prefer how I have done the wrap ups for the last few years.
Scott Pendlebury and his Magpies demolished the Blues and are sitting pretty on top of the ladder and a win in round 19 will see them two games clear on the top of the ladder
In the tips for the weekend a few of the tipsters complained that we would sees lot of blow outs and we did see that but we also saw two upsets which will keep the tipsters happy. What also is interesting is that no one seems to want the 7th and 8th spot with Sydney, Carlton, Adelaide and North all loosing their opportunity to cement a top 8 spot..
Essendon defeated St Kilda by 33 points
Essendon started the game off with a 7 goal first quarter and if it was not for St Kilda’s 6 goal final quarter it would have been an even uglier score line. Essendon played well but the coaching from Lyon was terrible, everyone knows that you do not allow Essendon play on their terms, you close the game up & Lyon did NOT do that.
Musings and Talking Points from the match
- St Kilda in the last month are 14th for contested ball and tackles.
- St Kilda have only had 2 premiership points (draw) since Riewoldt has come back from his injury. Have they forgotten how to play with him?
- Monfries kicked 4 goals to be the most dangerous forward on the ground.
- Again Ryder and Hille dominated the ruck contest with four goals, 23 possessions, 13 marks and 33 hitouts between them compared to Gardiner and McEvoy’s 0 goals, 5 marks, 17 possessions and 37 hitouts.
- Riewoldt kicked 4 behinds for the night
- Gumbleton may have finished his season with a punctured lung but his season should be seen as a success.
- Unless St Kilda find their hardness they are no longer a serious threat to end their premiership drought.
- Again we saw the Dome unfit for football.
Collingwood defeated Carlton by 48 points
No Judd, no Carlton and if he cannot lift the side no one can and with him injured and the team only kicking three goals in three quarters it is a surprise the margin did not end off uglier than it did.
Musings and Talking Points from the match
- Carlton kicked the first two goals and then Collingwood kicked 10 unanswered goals.
- Travis Cloke had 13 contested possessions
- Collingwood had 90 more possessions than Carlton and had 151 contested possessions for the game.
- Swan, Didak and Pendlebury all had over 30 possessions and only five Carlton players had more than 20 possessions.
- Will Carlton only get into the finals because everyone else around them is loosing?
- Do we have to finally admit that Collingwood are the real deal?
Port Adelaide defeated Hawthorn by 8 points
Port where always in the game but the Hawks always seemed to have their measure and while Clarkson may think his teams list is better, the result says that the Hawks have a mental problem about letting games slip.
Musings and Talking Points from the match
- Does Clarkson the Hawks coach have tickets on himself after a loss saying his sides list is better?
- Do the Hawks have a mental problem with letting two winnable games go that could cost them a serious chance of making a fight for the premiership?
- Has the trade of Schulz and Farmer been a win/ win for Richmond and Port?
- Has the trade for Burgoyne been a win or a loss for Hawthorn?
Geelong defeated Sydney by 53 points
Sydney got flogged by almost 10 goals but if you look at the scoring shots Sydney had 2 more scoring shots than Geelong but bad kicking is bad football and you cannot afford to have a 33% goal kicking accuracy rate against the reigning premiers.
Musings and Talking Points from the match
- Leory Jetta still has not kicked a goal for his side. Has he the record for the most behinds before kicking a goal?
- Should Goodes be playing CHF or midfield?
- Are Geelong coasting?
- With Gary Ablett jnr playing more forward in the last few weeks, is this to rest him or to develop the Geelong midfield minus Ablett in 2011?
- Corey, Ling and Chapman have niggles, will they also be rested before the end of the season?
Melbourne defeated Brisbane by 10 points
Melbourne had a brilliant first half with 9 goals and Brisbane looked like a wooden spoon contender with sloppy disposal and then in the second half Brisbane kicked 5.5 while Melbourne could only kick 2.3.
Musings and Talking Points from the match
- Brisbane risked everything for a shot at the finals to win some last minute sponsorship and members with some trades. Did they do the right thing?
- Watts had 27 possessions and played midfield. Is this to teach him the game or have they given up on him playing forward?
- Sylvia was BOG with 31 possessions, 9 marks and two goals.
- If Brisbane can get back into the game with only two on the bench why should we have emergencies who can replace injured players?
- Will Rockliff win the NAB rising star this year? Or will he be over looked because he plays for a non-Victoran club?
- Has the recruit of Brent Staker been the best pick up for Brisbane this year?
- Can Melbourne slip into the finals?
Richmond defeated Adelaide by 20 points
Last week Adelaide’s coach said they lacked the killer aspect which we always knew but they had the Tigers on toast at half time after a 4.9 second quarter. Richmond then kicked 6.3 in the third quarter and reclaimed the lead as Adelaide faltered
Musings and Talking Points from the match
- Richmond wont win the Wooden Spoon and is that better than 9th spot for them?
- Is it fair to say that Adelaide will never win a premiership under Neil Craig?
- Will the 13 individual goal kickers for Richmond be the most impressive factor to come out of the game?
Western Bulldogs defeated North Melbourne by 71 points
The Kangaroos stayed with the Dogs for the first 3 quarters and then the Dogs went into over drive and kicked 9 goals including 7 from the Sydney reject who may well win his first Coleman Medal at his third side.
Musings and Talking Points from the match
- Is Barry Hall the recruit of the season?
- Why does no one play on Brian Lake?
- Is Matthew Boyd one of the most under rated midfielders in the competition?
- Did the chewing up of Aker help the Dogs find their bite after some recent average form?
- Can the Dogs slip into third spot with St Kilda struggling at the wrong end of the season?
- Again it was left for Rawlings and Harvey the Kangaroos best.
- Do North have too many passengers and not enough players in the 24-27 age group?
- Should North trade Daniel Wells?
Fremantle defeated West Coast by 75 points
For only the second time this year West Coast went goalless in a quarter while Fremantle pumped 7 goals and from that moment it was just a matter of how many records they would smash?
Musings and Talking Points from the match
- Fremantle kicked their highest score for the year and against the Eagles.
- Fremantle also had their biggest winning margin against the Eagles ever.
- In the third quarter Kennedy ran into an umpire, does this show that maybe we need less umpires on the ground rather than more?
- Was the goal umpire in the fourth quarter an Eagles supporter with him denying Pavlich a goal of the year contender?
- Was Ballantyne BOG with 6 goals?
- Will LeCras be All Australian after another breakout season?
- Can this big win see Fremantle find some much needed form?
The Battle for the Finals after Round 18
- Collingwood: 58 points 141.99%
- Geelong: 56 points 146.90%
- St Kilda: 50 points 115.63%
- Western Bulldogs: 48 points 141.27%
- Fremantle: 48 points 115.62%
- Hawthorn: 38 points 106.71%
- Carlton: 36 points 102.64%
- Sydney: 36 points 101.22%
- North Melbourne: 32 points 83.25%
- Melbourne: 30 points 95.09%
Other Talking Points from Round 18
- Who will win the Coleman medal this year? Barry Hall, Jack Riewoldt or maybe even Mark LeCras who has kicked 20 goals in the last 3 weeks
- Can St Kilda stay in the top four?
- Who will win the Wooden Spoon? The Eagles? Or could they defeat Brisbane?
- Was Luke Darcy’s outburst about Wallace out of character? In character or sour grapes from a frustrating end to his career?
August 1st, 2010 at 10:16 pm
Credit where credit’s due: Knights’ coaching was spot on, sowing confusion amongst the Saints’ defence and nullifying it as an attacking springboard, along with the Bombers’ new-found intensity and eagerness for the contested ball.
No mention of Fletcher? A sensational game from the old man: BoG, daylight second.
For the Saints, having taken a few weeks to work out how to play without Riewoldt, it seems to be taking them longer to learn how to play with him again. Defence is going to be a headache for them. All upcoming opponents will be studying how Collingwood and the Bombers took the attacking sting out of Fisher and Gilbert.
Nothing terribly wrong with the Docklands surface on Friday night.
North and the Bombers are fielding the least experienced teams in the competition at present with around thirteen or fourteen players with fewer than 50 games experience. Getting consistency out of inexperienced groups is always difficult, especially against quality opponents like the Bulldogs (who are clearly building toward September).
In not too many years, North, Richmond, Melbourne and the Bombers will be the power teams of the competition.
All the hallmarks of Robert Walls in that piece. Darcy is spending a lot of Channel Ten time partnering Walls and the carping negativity is rubbing off.
New format
Undecided. The writing has stepped up!
aussierulesblog´s last [type]: Will a quick game of kick-to-kick suffice
August 2nd, 2010 at 12:32 pm
@aussierulesblog, Have to agree regarding Darcy spending too much time around Walls. First he had a go at Akermanis and now Wallace, very poor imo.
btw who played on Riewoldt? Hooker right? To me he should get the notice and not Fletcher, yes he played well for an old man but it was Hooker who managed to keep Riewoldts influence limited which allows Fletcher to play on someone else and provide the drive etc.
Side question, who is the oldest player to be selected as AA? Surely Fletcher will be selected in 2010.
Really? I would have thought West Coast would be up there…
Jermayn´s last [type]: 2010 Round 18 Wrapup
August 2nd, 2010 at 7:12 pm
@Jermayn,
There were a number of people on the Essendon board at BigFooty who thought like you on Hooker. I know you won’t be surprised to read that I take a different view!
I’m interested that you think Fletcher will be AA. Not too many weeks ago you had a battalion of other defenders ahead of him. What position would he get in the AA squad do you think? Frankly, I’ll be surprised if he gets a look in. People perennially underestimate his influence and his abilities. He’s a pretty shy bloke, so I don’t think it will worry him. His teammates say he’s as good as anyone they’ve seen and I’m sure that means more to Fletch than an AA spot.
August 2nd, 2010 at 10:00 pm
@aussierulesblog, the argument we where having a few weeks ago was about Fletcher being the best FB in the last 20 years. To me that is a no argument but him being in the AA? I can only think of Lake who would beat him for a spot but if you look at Scarlett, Tarrent, Glass and other previous AA, they have all been injured for large parts of the season unlike Fletcher who has only missed a few.
August 2nd, 2010 at 6:18 am
Hi Jermayn,
So many talking points- most have been discussed before, the St kilda defeat by Ess shows that they are in trouble if their midfield don’t dominate their undersized defence and Milne/Schneider dependent forwards seem to struggle.
I’d excuse the Hawks for one bad game- though I feel they are a bit too reliant on Hodge, Rioli, Franklin, Mitchell to challenge Geel and Coll.
Other points
1. Coll could have won by 100 points IMO, especially if Travis Cloke (who is becoming their most important player) could kick straight. They must be flag favourites and I’m tipping them to defeat Geelong easily. Geelong have a major problem with their rucks and tall forwards (why did they keep Blake and ditch Mumford?), though their small forwards and midfielders make up for this to some degree
2. Young teams are inconsistent and seem to play on confidence- this applies to a lot of teams in the 9-16th positions.
3.Hall will win Coleman medal. He should play at least 2 finals.
4.St Kilda will finish 3rd or 4th thanks to a charitable draw. My tip is that the dogs may even get to second. depends upon our game with Geel in 2 weeks.
5.WCE or Bris for spoon- who knows. I suspect Bris are the favourites now.
6.Has Darcy forgotten how bad we were in 1996 before Wallace took over? He did a miraculous job IMO to lift a club that was in danger of bankruptcy. Sure, he may not have got on with the guy but you can’t complain about the results in 97-99. Bulldogs supporters probably need to let go and get over it.
August 2nd, 2010 at 12:34 pm
@Bob, But the Hawks have had two bad games in a row not just the one against Port Adelaide…
Coleman only includes home and away so Riewoldt is still within a chance.
Jermayn´s last [type]: 2010 Round 18 Wrapup
August 2nd, 2010 at 4:09 pm
@Jermayn,
If it weren’t for the busy body interchange steward, Hawks would have beaten the third on the ladder last week- hardly a shocker.
All the good teams have an off week for whatever reason- Coll lost to Bris, Geel to Adel, WB to Ess. Haw were due for an off week.
Surprised the Coleman doesn’t include finals- If Riewoldt finishes top -the leading goalkicker doesn’t win the medal???
August 2nd, 2010 at 10:01 pm
@Bob, They should have still won that game even with the busy body interchange steward…
August 2nd, 2010 at 8:59 am
I dont know if it is correct to use the word ‘defeated’ the eagles it should be more like totally annihilated the eagles by.
I also think that they are putting too much emphasis on Lecras hogging the ball..he cant help it if he is in a team of people that arent that good at kicking goals or even getting the ball up their end. Commentators need to give the guy a break!
August 2nd, 2010 at 12:35 pm
@Princess of the Cats, Last week against Carlton he was imo a bit goal hungry but against Freo I do not think so, he gave off a few who were in a better position.
Thanks for your comment
Jermayn´s last [type]: 2010 Round 18 Wrapup
August 2nd, 2010 at 7:26 pm
@Jermayn, I actually didnt see the game last week so I wouldnt know. But I think that they need to not be so hard on him as he isnt that bad and I think that he is the only one in the Eagles atm that is really carrying the load and I doubt they would have had any wins without him this season… And this is coming from a person that isnt even an Eagles fan
It was a rather disappointing match to watch and I was hoping it was going to be a little closer. Nic Nat is barely making an impression lately which is a little disappointing too
August 2nd, 2010 at 5:34 pm
ok i have to put my two cents in on the big fella Darcy and defend our former skipper.
firstly he is as honest and forthright as they come. He will give the Dogs a bake if they need it…both back when he was skipper and now as a commentator.
On the Aker thing…isn’t he qualified to talk on the matter given he played with the guy? Darce was a very popular player around the club and played a lot of footy and captained a lot of the guys that are still playing now. I have no doubt he still talks to them and this alone probably makes him the MOST qualified to put his opinion in on the situation. Robert Walls…hardly…wallsy makes assumptions…darce doesn’t simple as that.
On the Wallace issue surely he has the right to come out and be honest and say what happened. If you don’t think individual selfishness cost the Dogs the GF in 97 then get yourself a copy of the game. Romero having a ping from 50 when he had a player running into an unmanned open square. Paul Hudson refusing to sheperd for Chris Grant late in the last quarter when grant would have slotted a certain goal…Darce is/was spot on. Wallace did a fantastic job and no one can deny that, however if Darce says the players went to him with the idea of creating a more team orientated environment and it was rejected then I believe him.
Terry Wallace was a media hog who always valued image above substance. That is why he has a fake tan and drives ferrari’s and never coached a team to a grand final.
August 2nd, 2010 at 10:10 pm
@Deano, I am with you that Wallace is an over rated coach and regarding the fake tan and ferrari driving, is that not just a carry on from the Hawthorn culture and not his personality?
The question I have is “Why Would Darcy Bring Up The Team Aspect Now After 10+ Years?”
August 3rd, 2010 at 5:57 am
@Jermayn, are you serious? because Aker bought up the validity of the leading teams concept. It was a massive media issue last week so Darcy put his 2 cents in.
August 3rd, 2010 at 12:16 pm
@Deano, But was Darcy’s comments in response to Aker or dragging up sour grapes? Personally I doubt the team ethos would have changed anything and it was not a factor for the Kangaroos of the mid to late 90s or even West Coast in 2005-06.
Jermayn´s last [type]: 2010 Round 18 Wrapup
August 3rd, 2010 at 3:28 pm
@Jermayn,
And what happened to both those sides??? North self destructed due to Carey’s ego and his arrogance tore that club to shreds for a long time…(i still don’t think they have recovered)
And the Eagles had a shocking culture which lead to their skipper and best player in the comp (at the time) jumping ship, their darling pin up boy of the previous decade become addicted to an illegal substance and having to leave and the demise of a promising 250 game ruckman, number 1 draft pick who subsequently also had to leave.
That the Eagles only got one premiership out of an outstandingly talented group of players and have hit rock bottom some 3 and a half years later is an embarrassment for everyone involved in your beloved club.
Poor choice of argument Jerm…
August 3rd, 2010 at 9:02 pm
West Coast demise has nothing to do with their culture, more their poor recruitment…
I think it also is harsh to say the Kangaroos should have won more Grand Finals in the 90′s. You need luck to win a grand final.
1994: Kangaroos were at best the 3rd best team in the comp
1995: Carlton was miles ahead of everyone else
1996: They won
1997: Should have won
1998: There was a few good sides including the Bullies.
1999: Lucky to win with Essendon colli-wobblying
2000: Essendon was miles ahead of everyone else
August 3rd, 2010 at 6:34 pm
@Jermayn,
Deano- have you seen ‘Year of the Dog’. It follows the FFC about when Wallace first took over the dis-spirited (and almost bankrupt) club. Not sure it casts Terry in the best light, but it certainly shows that he didn’t mind a bit of confrontation. I can certainly see why some players would not have liked his style!
August 3rd, 2010 at 7:34 pm
@BOB, yeah i have seen it mate, i even think i have a vhs copy of it somewhere in the garage.
I liked plough when he was coach, he was innovative and daring and exposed our brand in ways it had never been done before. However, he ran out of tricks pretty quick and as i mentioned in another post, he didn’t learn from his glaring errors.
look, nobody is perfect, that is why i like the leading teams concept. It takes the power out of one or two peoples hands and into the group who are actually competing out on the ground. I only know from watching my team play over the last three years how much they have improved and taken ownership of not only the performance of the team on the ground but off the ground as well…
August 4th, 2010 at 8:18 pm
@Jermayn, get your head out of the sand mate!!!
West Coast’s demise had nothing to do with culture??? You are blind my man…
Kerr, arrested and convicted of assault on a teenager in 2007, arrested and convicted of assault on a taxi driver and implicated in drug dealing.
Cousins, self confessed drug addict who had involvements with underworld figures. Visited Mainwairing twice on the night he died of a drug overdose.
Gardiner, also involved with underworld figures, involved in suspicious car accident in 2006.
Fletcher, had a brush with death on an end of season trip after an alleged drink/drug binge in Las Vegas.
Does anything else need to be said???
August 3rd, 2010 at 11:28 am
@Deano,
I’m not a Wallace apologist, but it’s interesting that Rohan Smith (anecdotally) and Tony Liberatore (on the record) both seem at a loss to understand Darcy’s comments. Darcy didn’t help his cause when he dragged Nth Melb and Carey into the discussion, making any number of (Walls-like) grand assumptions which were subsequently comprehensively demolished.
aussierulesblog´s last [type]: Will a quick game of kick-to-kick suffice
August 3rd, 2010 at 3:21 pm
@aussierulesblog, Perhaps Libba and Smith were not a part of the group that went to Wallace. Darcy re-iterated last night on one week at a time that 12 players went to Wallace with the idea of taking more ownership of the group and were shut down. I believe him.
As for the North thing…again Darcy is as qualified as anyone to talk about their situation. North went on a magical run in the mid-late 90′s that saw them make 7 consecutive preliminary finals from ’94-’00. The Doggies made finals every year that the Kangas did bar 1996 and although we never faced them in a final, we played (and beat) them a number of times in this period. Darcy would have seen first hand, up close and personal the way the Kangaroos on-field heirarchy was run. It is no secret that Captain Carey was also the leader off the field and the Kangas had a ‘drinking as mates and stick together off the field’ culture.
So did Darce make an assumption or was it an educated guess? (they are significantly different). 2 Premierships from 7 Prelim finals, led by arguably the greatest player in the modern era is severely underachieving in anyone’s language. The way Carey (over)reacted to Darcy’s piece just strengthens big Luke’s case in my book. Like most uber-ego’s Carey thinks he is above constructive criticism and rather then take it on board he deflected and then counter-attacked, sound familiar to a little blonde haired, black goateed pest who used to play for the red, white and blues???
August 3rd, 2010 at 3:32 pm
@deano,
Wayne Schwass, on SEN, was similarly dismissive of Darcy’s comments on North, while agreeing with the general proposition that Carey could have been reigned in. Schwass said he thought they simply weren’t good enough to win more than two flags and were actually lucky to win the second when Essendon were the best side going around.
Perhaps it comes down to our individual assessments of the people involved? I haven’t been over-impressed with Darcy’s work on Ten, although the association with Walls does colour my perceptions I suspect. On the other hand, while Wallace’s voice annoys me, I think he has some very cogent points to make on the game.
Horses for courses, I guess.
aussierulesblog´s last [type]: Will a quick game of kick-to-kick suffice
August 3rd, 2010 at 4:42 pm
@aussierulesblog, and therein lies the problem. Perhaps if someone had the kahonies to stand up to the North Melbourne establishment and say ‘look, we are winning heaps of games and Carey is an absolute gun, but do we have to kick it to him everytime? The good teams find us too predictable and I reckon if we try this…’ then North could have won five flags like Darce intimated.
I find it very hard to believe that a team that had forward line players such as Carey, Longmire, McKernan, Sholl, Allison…a midfield with the likes of Stevens, Bell, Schwass, Simpson,Grant…and a defense led by Archer, Martyn, King, Blakey, Pickett did not have enough talent to better a conversion rate of only 2 from 7.
To me it again (imo) reflects of a poor culture at North that led them to internally combust. Of course any player who played during that era will defend what they did because they won 2 flags…but do not believe for a second that they were not capable of more.
As for the Wallace and Darcy observation you may be right…I hold Darcy in the same regard as i hold Matthew Lloyd. Both passionate, both highly moral and skilled leaders who are honest and forthright in their views. I struggle to find Wallace anything more than a bit simple. What is the old saying about a fooled man can’t be fooled twice( i think George Bush said it best!)…well plough certainly didn’t learn from the mistakes he made at the Doggies and that is for sure.
August 4th, 2010 at 11:06 am
@Deano,
ROFLMAO
aussierulesblog´s last [type]: Will a quick game of kick-to-kick suffice
August 2nd, 2010 at 7:26 pm
Has there been any more noise about Ablett?
August 3rd, 2010 at 3:59 pm
@Princess of the Cats, My gut feeling is that he signed in the window of opportunity the Suns had last year, word is they are going after only 8 uncontracted players out of a possible 16 and seven of those blokes have already signed.
Given Jarrod Harbrow had his brother come down to Melbourne recently to help him with his decision, it is my guess that Harbrow is the only one who hasn’t signed…making the Ablett signature a done thing.
August 5th, 2010 at 9:02 am
I am not saying they have a bad culture, that is obvious but does a bad culture directly interfere with their demise? NO it does not. They won a grand final and played in another and if not for some serious injuries (Cousins a hammy, Judd his groin and Kerr his finger) they would have most likely played in another. This all with a bad culture…
Where the demise came from was the mass exodus off Cousins and Judd, not the culture. Yes the culture had some direct influence with them leaving but you cannot say it WAS THE ONLY REASON.
The REAL reason is that Kerr floundered with injuries and has not been able to get onto the park. Embley, Braun, Fletcher, Hunter, Lynch, Hansen, Selwood etc struggled to take the next step up and they picked up some kids who have yet taken the step up from a promising career to kids playing to their potential.
Jermayn´s last [type]: The AFLPA’s Response to my Fat Couch Potatoes Rant
August 25th, 2010 at 8:20 am
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