What another round of football it was…let’s start with the positives.
Oh Yes!
Despite Adelaide’s 26-point loss to the Cats, the Adelaide supporters took the chocolates for the highest crowd numbers for round 8 – 53,141. South Australian football is alive and well.
Carlton have won four games in a row, even after losing forward, Levi Casboult early on, the ground out a tough win against Port Adelaide. No doubt, Brendan Bolton is a strong contender for Coach of the Year.
Collingwood’s American Pie, Mason Cox, kicks four goals, then apologises on Twitter for hitting someone in the crowd with the ball, saying, “Sorry to the person I hit kicking my first goal from the goal square. I forgot they take the net down…#stilllearning #my bad” – I like it. Humble pie.
Richmond’s Sam Lloyd kicked the match-winning, dream goal. Every kid in Australia has commentated “that moment.” Mark the ball on the 50m line. Just seconds left in the game. The final siren sounds. A goal wins it. A point loses it. The kick is by no means easy. He kicks. He scores! Sam Lloyd is a hero! The Tigers win by a single point and the jubilation shown by teammates and supporters was akin to a grand final victory. Great scenes.
Because of a NAB Challenge suspension, Jeremy Cameron missed the first five weeks of the season. With 7 goals this week, Cameron’s bag was the highest player goal haul of the round. After just four games, he’s now sitting on 16 goals for the season. Lance ‘Buddy’ Franklin kicked five goals against Richmond. He’s leading the Coleman Medal tally on 34. Can he kick 100?
The Bulldogs crossed town and played their first game “away” from Etihad Stadium. They still won, beating Melbourne by 32 points. Tom Liberatore had a blinder of a game, equalling the AFL tackle record of 19. He joins retired Swan, Jude Bolton and North Melbourne’s Jack Ziebell with the same honour. Not a bad return after missing the entire 2015 season with a knee injury.
Jacob Hopper played his first game for GWS. With 32 disposals (13 kicks and 19 handballs) and 5 marks in GWS’s 91-point pounding of the Gold Coast Suns, it was a debut to remember. Hopper started round 9 at $101 in the Rising Star betting. He’s now $11!
Reigning three-peat premiers, Hawthorn, are still the team to beat. They’re quietly grinding out the wins, even with some big names on the sidelines. That’s all they need to do.
The umpiring, across all matches, was much more consistent this week.
After round 9, Mrs. Scott’s boys, Chris and Brad, coach the top two teams on the AFL ladder. That has to be some sort of “mother of an AFL coach” record, right? North Melbourne are still unbeaten and sitting in the #1 spot. Geelong are a close second, one game behind, but with a much higher percentage.
Highest scoring team of Round 9 – GWS (149)
Oh No!
Carlton’s, Levi Casboult will be out for 6-8 weeks with a leg fracture and bone bruising. Strange as it sounds, it’s a better result than the initial first thoughts of it being a knee injury, which could have been season ending. No surgery needed.
Collingwood’s, Travis Cloke continues to struggle in the VFL…kicking four points and missing a goal directly in front, just a few metres out.
West Coast Eagles power forward, Josh Kennedy, kicks five goals in the first quarter. It was a 103-point mauling (highest margin of the round) by the Eagles, and Kennedy didn’t kick another 6-pointer for the entire match. Oh yes, he played out the entire game. He just didn’t kick another goal. What are the odds?
The Brisbane Lions and Gold Coast Suns are in serious trouble. Brisbane were scoreless until the 14-minute mark of the second quarter. Yep, scoreless! They made Collingwood look like finals contenders! Enough said! Queensland football is in serious trouble. Heads need to be plucked out of the sand now. Action must be taken. Merge the two clubs and a decent team will come of it. Gold Coast have talent, they’re just decimated with injuries. On the other hand, Brisbane have no one. They’re too small and too slow. There’s no axe to swing amongst the playing group because they have their current best available team on the field, and frankly, that’s troubling. So, will it be Justin Leppitsch’s head be on the chopping block? It should be. He’s well past his use-by-date. That old adage is proven once again. A great player does not necessarily make a great coach. Brendan Bolton has proven that playing the game matters not. He can coach, yet he’s never played the game. Go figure!
From the outset, North Melbourne were in complete control of their game against Essendon. It was no surprise. Essendon were goalless to half time and the Roos went in to the half time break with a lead of 50 points. They were cruising. The Roos were certainties to get the four points, and a nice percentage boost at that. Instead, they played the second half like the four points were already clocked up and a massive lesson was learned. The plucky Bombers didn’t give up, chipping away at a lead that looked as safe as houses, they kept on coming. The momentum shifted and North Melbourne won the game by a lowly 14 points! It was as good as a loss for North. The Roos remain the only unbeaten team, but Essendon fans reacted like the Bombers won the game. Dish up that type of lazy footy in the second half of the season, especially against better sides than Essendon, and North Melbourne’s perfect start will mean diddily-squat! Big heads? I think so. Time to put on those concrete boots and float down to the ground where the rest of us are strolling, Roo boys. That type of cocky complacency will bite them on the behinds if they don’t reign it in right now!
Collingwood may have won, and won well, but they aren’t out of the woods (no pun intended). Buckley and his players are strutting after that 78-point mauling of the hapless (and hopeless) Lions. It was akin to their Essendon win on ANZAC Day. A lowly team will make a mediocre team look real good. That’s what happened – again. Collingwood play Geelong this week. Let’s just wait and see how that one plays out.
After a lengthy stint on the sidelines with nagging injuries, two games back and Brisbane’s, Dayne Beams, has a season-ending knee injury. How much bleaker can it get for Brisbane?
Sydney’s 1-point loss and Port Adelaide’s 2-point loss are tough pills to swallow. It could mean the difference between playing finals…or not. They’re the ones that got away. We’re yet to see a draw. Will we get one before the season’s over?
Fremantle are still sitting on the bottom of the ladder – winless. Star mid-fielder, Nathan Fyfe won’t play again this year. With no hope of playing finals, Fremantle aren’t taking any chances with their Brownlow Medalist. A second break on the same leg, this time above the plate that was inserted last time, he’ll be allowed the extended time off to heal properly.
Lowest Scoring Team of Round 9 – St. Kilda (29).
