Western Bulldogs defeated Melbourne by 4 points
Last week I questioned the Bulldogs mental toughness and I think its still safe to say that the question was not answered on the big stage, where they almost lost to a side who have struggled for the last few years. Melbourne started slow but then kicked nine of the next 14 goals and ended up in front with five minutes to go and then Lake & Griffen kicked them ahead and saved them from an Eade bake.
Kennedy has become one of the dominative forwards this year kicking 20+ goals so far
Port Adelaide defeated Essendon by 3 points
This was a great game with goals, the lead changing continuously and that little man with the bionic knee continuing to baffle medical science with his return to the game just months after his knee surgery. Gumbleton for the Bombers continues to improve game after game kicked three along with the smalls Davey & Monfries also kicking 3.
Port Adelaide won their second in a row and apart from their flogging by Geelong they have shown a lot more consistency and heart this year. Three of their wins (Essendon, Adelaide & St Kilda) have come against last years top 8 sides after there were down at 3/4 time. Ports Tredrea did a bad ankle but Port had several multiple goal kickers in Westhoff, Ebert and Motlop kicking three while Pearce (and 29 possessions) Gray kicked 2 each.
West Coast defeated Hawthorn by 8 points
Not the most visually appealing game with both West Coast and the Hawks struggling down the bottom of the ladder. The Hawks got a rocket up their behinds after playing some soft football in the last few weeks. They dropped Lewis then brought him back and he played some inspired football with 32 possessions along with Hodge and Roughead kicking 6 goals but apart from that, they again looked soft and uninterested.
Kennedy kicked 6 goals including a great bone crunching mark in the last five minutes, again they where over run in the second half of the game but a great second quarter where they kicked five helped set up the win. LeCras continues to shine up forward with four goals and some of the young guns in Stevenson, Ebert and Schofield showed promise.
Collingwood defeated Kangaroos by 66 points
It is the second week in a row that Collingwood have kicked over 150 points in a game, yet I am still scratching my head on how they managed to do it. In round 7, it was Sidebottom who kicked five goals and they had 13 individual goal scorers and without last years leading goal scorer in Jack Anthony.
Roos veterans Brady Rawlings and Brent Harvey battled hard, collecting 33 and 31 disposals respectively, while Lindsay Thomas finished with three goals.
Does the last two weeks make Collingwood the premiership fancy?
Fremantle defeated Brisbane by 13 points
Fortune follows the brave and Fremantle have been very brave on the back of a six day break and the biggest road trip and they defeated a team at a ground where they have never won before. Yes Brisbane suffered a heap of injuries pre (Maguire, Merrett, Patfull & Clarke) and during the match (Brennan & MacDonald) which forced Staker to be matched on Pavlich and if he could kick straight he would have kicked 5+ on him.
However the biggest surprise (apart from Fremantle actually looking like a top four side) was that they kept Fevola & Brown to four goals for the whole match. Simon Black with 36 disposals and two goals was his sides best while Hille for Fremantle was his sides best with his skillful field kicking.
Geelong defeated Sydney by 67 points
The biggest difference apart from the recent history of finals is the forward options. Sydney’s Bradshaw and Goodes were quiet along with Mooney & Stevie J yet iPod kicked 5 and Varcoe popped up with 3 and could have had 5 goals.
The day was so bad for Sydney that former Cat Shane Mumford, not only got 25 hit-outs but also lead his team with nine tackles and got five clearances, was describe by coach Roos, that he was the team’s best midfielder.
Adelaide defeated Richmond by 50 points
Again Richmond failed to play football for a period of time and they got smashed, it is the difference between inexperience teams with no confidence as Richmond like West Coast and Essendon have been in winning positions in numerous games but poor quarters see them fighting it out towards the bottom of the ladder.
Richmond did well but a 8 goal last quarter saw Adelaide cruise away for an easy win, with Tippett & the Porps kicking seven goals between them. Adelaide did suffer more injuries this time to McLeod & Johncock and again the issue is it was the old farts who kept them in the game. Marcic dominated the ruck with 37 hit outs.
Cotchin played one of his best games, while Edwards and Nahas tried hard.
Carlton defeated St Kilda by 61 points
Do you think the AFL gods have got the last laugh after the terrible boring game against the Dogs? If you want to beat St Kilda and their Sydney like style of ugly football, you must do what Carlton did what they did against Geelong two weeks ago and against St Kilda. You take the game on, sounds simple I know but you fail to risk the game, you will fail to win, just ask the Dogs.
St Kilda tried their hardest to play the game on their terms but they could not. I found the tactic of St Kilda’s Jones tagging Murphy instead of Judd interesting, Special Commentator Connolly mentioned the Jordan tactic where they targeted his team mates instead of him. Like most of the games, it did not help.
The forward line for Carlton functioned well with Gartlett, Betts & Yarren having 10 goals between them and key position players Waite & O’hAilpin getting 6 between them. On the other hand Kosi had less than 10 possessions and only managed to kick a behind.
Top 8 Ladder after Round 7
- Collingwood: 24 points – 146.39%
- Fremantle: 24 points – 130.18%
- Geelong: 20 points – 145.25%
- Sydney: 20 points – 123.98%
- St Kilda: 20 points – 117.76%
- Port Adelaide: 20 points – 89.53%
- Carlton: 16 points – 117.81%
- Western Bulldogs: 16 points – 114.57%
Round 7 Talking Points
- Why is the AFL more worried about betting than people taking illegal drugs?
- Must admit why does someone get named after one bet where someone doing something illegal only gets name after his third offence.
- Don’t you just love the AFL apologising for the hot pink stuff with the umpires and the Demons players?
- Oh I loved it but its hard not to apologise after a screw up like that. Good start for the idiots in charge though, maybe they can now apologise for changing the rules, trying to bring in a twenty/ 20 game, silly rules and the list goes on.
- Should the AFL guarantee direct flights for teams?
- I know the AFL does not have their own air fleet but surely after a team travels across the country and after a six day break with another six day break coming up. Surely they could give them a charter plane or something, bet it would not happen to a Victorian team like Collingwood etc.
- Will we see more teams play like Carlton by taking on St Kilda?
- I hope so as the way St Kilda played they deserve to get flogged by a team refusing to allow them to play on their terms. I just hope every other team follows what Carlton did.
- If Riewoldt was not injured would Kosi be dropped?
- Heck I reckon ship him off to the Gold Coast and get something for him, as they are not on the field, he is useless.
- Are Collingwood the premiership favourite?
- Still think the money is on Geelong.
- With an extra game in 2012, where will the game fit? On a Thursday or Monday night?
- I reckon add another game on Saturday day or maybe mid afternoon but not a Thursday or a Monday night. Its just to hard to watch them when you have work the next day.
May 11th, 2010 at 11:49 am
Bulldogs showed some real grit to grind out a win, something tells me that it was the beginning of a bit of a run.
Melbourne were very brave and good. They need to continue this form for the rest of the year
Port Adelaide were lucky to win and had it not been for some very dubious umpiring at the crucial stage of the game they would have lost.
Essendon should have won, a few mistakes by them and the umpires cost them the game
West Coast won but still were very average, the game was very boring i thought
Hawthorn are finished and they probably need to think about next year.
Collingwood were very good, but they were playing North, I expect the Pies to fade towards the end of the season
North are a yo-yo. One week they are good, the next they’re horrible.
Brisbane had a good start but are struggling. They do not have a lot of depth and need to address that.
Freo are on fire and have sent a real wakeup call to the rest of the competition.
Geelong were awesome. Enough said.
Sydney showed why they are not a genuine premiership contender. Another big test against the Dogs who have had the wood over them for a couple of years
Adelaide showed some good signs but they were playing Richmond so I’m not convinced they were that good.
Richmond are terrible. Enough said. Expect them to be down the bottom of the ladder for the next two years.
St Kilda are struggling without Riewoldt. Shouldn’t have won last week, got smacked this week. Won’t be surprised if they struggle for the rest of the year.
Carlton were amazing, but are another yo-yo team and need to find consistency.
May 11th, 2010 at 11:57 am
1. The AFL is just as worried about both. But betting scandals isn’t good because it brings in the whole assumption that players might throw games.
2. Bad blunder.
3. I think they should just be a little fairer and smarter with their fixtures.
4. Hopefully. The Dogs showed how not to play the Saints, and Carlton showed how to play them.
5. Kosi is useless, and has been for years.
6. Collingwood have had two difficult games. They beat the Dogs who were terrible and they lost to St Kilda. Don’t be surprised if they struggle for the next four weeks. They play Freo, Geelong, Brisbane and the Bulldogs again. It wouldn’t surprise me if they lost all four of those.
7. They cannot add another saturday game, maybe they should alternate between thursday night, sunday night, monday night or a second friday night game in a different state.
May 11th, 2010 at 12:20 pm
Why cant we have another game on Saturday? We usually one have or two on the day. We could have an afternoon game or a twilight game, this way we could have one or two at 12pm, then one starting at 2pm or 3pm and then the one or two at night starting at 5pm or 6pm.
Personally I would not want another game on the Friday night unless it meant we were guarenteed Live (or near live) football. Thursday ok but Monday night? Nah, I personally could not be bothered to watch the game last night, I listened to the first 3/4. A finish time at 11:30pm on a week day is just to late….
.-= Jermayn´s last blog ..2010 Round 7 Wrapup =-.
May 11th, 2010 at 1:29 pm
Great round of footy. the old order is crumbling- Melb, Coll, Carl, Freo are all exciting teams. WB, StK, Geel, Adel (yes they are overrated) are getting old and looking slow. Going to be a great second half of the season. A lot seems to change week to week though.
1.Need to worry about both, big money will cause problems. At the same time how about getting rid of the farcical priority draft rules. Its disgraceful teams like Melb and Carl get rewarded for not trying at seasons end.
2.Should have been foreseen, who are the idiots in the marketing department?
3.Yes, the draw as it is extremely unfair esp to the WA teams and Bris. Coll, Carl, Ess all get preferential treatment. Watch Freo and Bris suffer as the season goes on.
4.Not sure if many will be good enough. Carlton are obviously very good and very quick though.
5.Must be hard to play FF for StK at the moment. What if he played for Geelong?
6.Are undoubtedly the best team going around. Carl thrashed both Geel and STK and Coll took care of them. Would be premiers if finals played tomorrow (thankfully they aren’t).
7.Sat afternoon is the best time for footy. I’d play all the game bar 2 on Sat PM- like the NFL do every Sun.
May 11th, 2010 at 9:03 pm
Jermayn, do you really think the Bulldogs avoided a bake from Rocket after that performance? If so, would you please send me a picture of the fairies at the bottom of your garden? No mention of the colour clash perhaps being a contributing reason for the Demons’ loss?
Optimistic assessment of Gumbleton. Kicked two ‘gimme’ goals and took a couple of decent marks, otherwise not in the game very much. The big positive is he was still standing and running around when the final siren sounded. Pearce was sensational and, as you rightly note, Rodan continues to amaze (how did Richmond let this guy go?) and Brogan absolutely dominated his two more-fancied opponents. Overall, the Bombers maintained the intensity from the previous week against a better-credentialed opponent. Port did what they needed to to to stay in touch.
What is a “dominative forward”? .. as in “Kennedy has become one of the dominative forwards this year kicking 20+ goals so far”. Acknowledging that language isn’t your specialty, a quick proof read before posting wouldn’t hurt and would gain much credibility.
Richmond’s first three quarters demonstrated that they can be competitive.
Likewise, Carlton showed again they can compete with the big boys.
Talking points
1. People at the big end of town don’t bet on drug taking.
3. Despite your pathetic whinging, yes, but you already identified the AFL doesn’t have its own air fleet, so just how are they supposed to provide a guarantee?
4. Yep, but most will fail. The Blues’ disposal and one-per-centers were outstanding. Anything less will generate turnovers and St Kilda scores.
5. Indubitably. Is a hack. Has always been a hack.
6. Agree, the Pussies are still the ones to beat come September.
7. TV schedules will decide. Pretty poor effort not to put your body on the line to watch, even with the spectre of work the next day!
.-= aussierulesblog´s last blog ..NRL = Not Really Likely =-.
May 12th, 2010 at 12:39 pm
I said Gumbleton continues to improve game after game and I think you would have to be blind freddy to say otherwise…
#3 Like I said, I bet Collingwood or Essendon would never have to play on a six day break travelling to Brisbane and then another six day break after that.
#7: I have started a new job which requires a lot of extra work and attention and by the time I get home, I cannot wait til 8:30pm to start the game. On top of that, the radio commentatary usually gives me a better understanding of the game than Bbbbruce.
May 12th, 2010 at 11:38 pm
@Jermayn, But Jermayn Bruce’s commentary is so well…Delicious
haha…sarcasm by the way.
I agree that we should not have to wait sooooooooooo long to watch the games on free to air. I understand they probably can’t show all games live as much because think they prefer them to be delayed if its not a sellout. But is a half hour delay really too much to ask? Get rid of your precious Home & Away and Better Homes & Gardens and put on the Freakin footy!!!!
May 13th, 2010 at 8:31 pm
What doesn’t make sense is that Channel 7 has three channels…
May 13th, 2010 at 9:43 pm
@Jermayn, I’ll just make a correction here for you, we are flying to Perth on a six day break after another six day break.
Sunday vs Carlton, Sat vs North, Friday vs Freo.
It happens.
.-= the_tony´s last blog ..the_tony: @Heath_Evans I’m sure you’d rather have the real one following you rather than the fake one. =-.
May 13th, 2010 at 10:12 pm
Bet the magpies get a direct flight home though & if by some miracle they didn’t I bet the AFL would get in more trouble than they did with the pink mix up!!!
Thanks though for pointing it out Tony! Seriously I’m surprised…