At this time of year tanking is a common discussion but normally it is about the teams battling it out at the bottom of the ladder and not the teams fighting out for a finals position. Last week we had Freo giving the game up by tanking and this week St Kilda tanked the last quarter against Adelaide as well as Geelong resting Selwood, Byrnes and Enright.
Ben Cousins had a brilliant career & while he only played 30 games at Richmond, I think his legacy will remain for a lot longer
Fremantle defeated Carlton by 6 points
I loved the banter between the two coaches during the week, it was great but it was a pity that channel 7 still refused to show the game earlier for the Perth viewers. It was almost the most important game in Fremantle’s 15+ year history and every Freo supporter has to wait even though the game was sold out? If Channel 7 want the next TV rights, they need to be smarter than only show one Friday night game live all year…
- Pavlich and Hill were outstanding.
- While Judd, Murphy and Gibbs got plenty of the ball, they only kicked the one goal between them.
- Betts and Yarren was held to the one goal
- Fremantle got out to a 29 point lead at 3/4 time.
- Sandilands had 40 hit outs and 13 clearances.
- Carlton had 6 players with less than 10 possessions which Equals way to many passengers and while 8th spot could be seen as a good season I wonder if they can actually improve to be a serious premiership team.
- Have Fremantle over achieved?
Geelong defeated West Coast Eagles by 44 points
Most expected this to be a 100+ point margin but West Coast showed something that has been missing all year and that was heart. It took a cameo apperance by Gary Ablett in the third quarter to shake the persistence Eagles.
- Hawkins kicked 3 and looked dangerous.
- Has Gary Ablett got another Brownlow Medal in him?
- Did Geelong do the right thing by Byrnes, Selwood and Enright?
- Beau Waters, Luke Shuey and Ashton Hams were the best for West Coast
- Chapman hurt his knee which could be a worry as he has been injury free so far in 2010.
- Wilson had 7 scoring shots against Scartlett and surely will see the end for Lynch’s career at West Coast.
- Do West Coast have any players who could be used as trade bait?
- In the third quarter Geelong changed their game plan from handball to football and it broke the game apart. Crazy how easy and simple the game can be…
Hawthorn defeated Collingwood by 3 points
We said it back in the pre season and we have said it again but Collingwoods inaccurate goal kicking will cost them dearly and they failed to get out goal against the dogged Hawks.
- This game failed to reach any great lengths until the Hawks surge in the last quarter.
- Franklin kicked 6 goals in a dominate display.
- Will Fraser stay in the team? While he had 28 hitouts will Browns flexibility see him play his last game for Collingwood?
- Will the Hawks be happy about playing Freo with their mammoth win against them in round21.
- Hawthorn had 6 final goals while Collingwood could only manage three goals and 5 behinds.
Adelaide defeated St Kilda by 28 points
Coach Lyon admitted the team did not try in the last quarter. Does the AFL need to stamp out this phase of tanking not from just the cellar dwellers but also the final 8 teams? Surely the public who pay their hard earned money at the stadium gates deserve the sides to play 110%.
- St Kilda only managed 5 goals for the whole game.
- Tippett and Walker kicked 5 between them.
- Will Adelaide miss Bock? Personally I doubt he is even in the sides best 22 and they get an extra draft pick in the mid 20′s were no other club would have traded for him.
- St Kilda had 70 extra odd possessions but struggled to put those possessions into goals, a HUGE worry coming into the finals.
Western Bulldogs defeated Essendon by 29 points
This game will be remembered for the Essendon board taking the easy option by sacking the coach. Yes the team under performed but should not the players be sacked as well as the other under performing people running the club?
- The Dogs won comfortable after kicking the last 6 goals of the first quarter
- Griffen injured himself. Is it just a cork or another injury that will rob the Dogs side?
- Grant kicked 6 goals and will he get the Rising Star award or will that go to Hannebery from the Swans?
- Did the Dogs find form or just do enough to win the game?
- Leroy Jetta had a fast finishing end of the year with 31 possessions
- What went wrong with the Bombers in season 2010? Was it the sacking of Lloyd etc or did they over perform last year? Is the Essendon board gutless?
- Boyd, Cross and Harbrow all had over 30 possessions.
Sydney defeated Brisbane by 38 points
Brisbane showed heart for the first half getting back into the game after Sydney threaten to pull away but this Brisbane side is very brittle and they could only play catch up football for so long.
- Are Sydney really the smoky side people are building up or are they just the emotional feel good side of 2010?
- In the 3rd quarter Sydney kicked 5.5 while Brisbane could only manage 2 behinds.
- Keiran Jack will be one of the players to watch in 2011 after a breakout 2010. He will be the new inspirational Kirk and will one day captain the side.
- Will Bradshaw play in 2011? If he does, the Sydney forward line will be even more dangerous after Dennis-Lane and Jetta have established themselves after a solid 2010.
- While Hall and Mumford would be the trades off the year, Staker would not be far behind.
- Sydney had 20 extra marks for the day.
- Luke Power had a year to forget, will 2011 be his last?
- Will Rischitelli and Brennan be at the Lions in 2o11?
- Could Aker be right about his concerns of Voss being a coach without any assistant experience and him ruining the club?
Port Adelaide defeated Richmond by 10 points
After a second quarter where Port kicked 10 goals it looked like a game to forget but then Richmond turned it on in the second half and kicked 6 goals in the 3rd quarter and 7 in the last.
- Does 2010 show that Wallace had no clue about coaching? Hardwick has made several position changes which have paid off in spades.
- Jack Riewoldt to FF/ CHF and kicked 78 goals for the season.
- Jack King to the forward line.
- Mitch Morton to the midfield.
- Connors to the backline and playing.
- Deledio to the backline and could almost be AA selection.
- Boak and Gray are the keys to the future for Port Adelaide.
- Daniel Stewart had a breakout game with four goals including two crucial final quarter goals. One 40+m out on the boundary and a classic contested mark in the goal square.
- Logan kicked two goals while playing as a defensive forward on Deledio and Newman.
- Schulz won the Ports leading goal kicker and only played 15 games.
- I think its safe to say Matthew Primus will coach Port in 2011 and beyond with 5 wins out of 7 games. Maybe he should have coached earlier…
- It is the first time in 10 years that no SA team has played in the finals.
North Melbourne defeated Melbourne by 10 points
This was called as the battle for the future clubs with people drawing a similar line as St Kilda and Geelong back in 2003. Where St Kilda built a team by draft picks and Geelong by smart recruiting (and luck with father/ sons picks), I am sure the Roos will hope history will repeat themselves.
- Will Brad Green be AA?
- Jurrah kicked 5 goals and will only get better as he develops a tank.
- Levi Greenwood flogged Sylvia, ended up with 39 possessions will only further improve after that match winning goal against Brisbane.
- Will Brent Harvey be the new Robert Harvey who just continues to play on and on?
- Will Melbourne rue the decision to push captain McDonald into retirement?
Ladder at the end of Round 22
- Collingwood: 70 points – 141.7%
- Geelong: 68 points – 147.9%
- St Kilda: 62 points – 121.6%
- Western Bulldogs: 56 points – 125.4%
- Sydney: 52 points – 108.3%
- Fremantle: 52 points – 103.9%
- Hawthorn: 50 points – 110.7%
- Carlton: 44 points – 108.1%
- North Melbourne: 44 points – 87.4%
- Port Adelaide: 40 points – 82.4%
- Adelaide: 36 points – 94.3%
- Melbourne: 34 points – 94.5%
- Brisbane: 28 points – 82.2%
- Essendon: 28 points – 80.3%
- Richmond: 24 points – 73.0%
- West Coast Eagles: 16 points – 77.1%
Other Talking Points from Round 22
- Did the floating round work? I feel it did and it was not that the Sunday games were duds with both games having margins of 10 points
- Who will win the Rising Star award? I think Hannebery will win it but Rocklift and Grant will not be far behind. Nic Nat will be 4th…
In the next few weeks, we will be doing our own All Australian team and also reviews of the teams starting from the 16th team, West Coast. If you would like to help, please let us know.
First Round of the 2010 Finals
Geelong verses St Kilda: Friday 3rd September MCG 7.45pm
Fremantle verses Hawthorn: Saturday 4th September Subiaco 1.20pm
Collingwood verses Western Bulldogs: 4th September MCG 7.20pm
Sydney verses Carlton: 5th September ANZ Stadium 2.40pm
Loading ...
August 31st, 2010 at 2:30 pm
Hi Jermayn,
Apart from the Fri night game and maybe Hawthorn’s comeback, i doubt anyone can take much out of this round as a future pointer. Teams like Ess and Bris provided virtually no opposition and St K didn’t really try for 1 1/2 quarters.
You make some good points
1. Freo have been fantastic this season. Shame they never got to top 4.
2. Carl have too many weak links.
3.No one will want to play Haw as they are so unpredictable. Could easily be a re-match will Coll in the PF if they can find a way to shark Sandilands 50 hit outs. Coll will be very nervous about what Franklin and Rioli might do.
4.St K will struggle against Geel- Fisher is a huge loss. If tehy have to play Haw who will play on Franklin?
5.WB will be concentrating on having to play Syd or Carl. By then Lake and Griffen should be back to full health. They will get better as the finals go on but will win 1 final at the most.
6. Rich, PA, Melb and NM have all done well this season. The next step will be a lot harder. NM and Melb will be losing some very senior players in the next season two.
7. Hate to say it but Coll are really looking good for the flag. They will be hoping Haw get taken out this week though as they really would not want to meet them if they get on a roll.
September 2nd, 2010 at 1:17 pm
I do not rate Hawthorn as much as others, while they have some brilliant players, it was Collingwood that lost and not Hawthorn who won. If they are to progress imo past the first week, they need Burgoyne, Skipper and a few other 2nd and 3rd tier players to have breakout final campaigns.
September 2nd, 2010 at 3:40 pm
@Jermayn,
Look at the Hawks second half of the season record against the top 4- 2 wins, 1 draw and a very unlucky loss to Geelong. Not sure anyone will be comfortable playing them.