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Geelong (11.19 - 85) d. Freo (7.2 - 44)

Slaughtered us on the inside 50s. In fact, the Cats slaughtered us in pretty much all the stats bar the tackles and the rebound 50s (and, let's face it: with the ball spending the majority of the time in Geelong's forward half, there's not much for them to rebound from!)

While I remain firm in my belief that the system of stats measurement currently in vogue in the AFL cannot adequately represent the Freo game, there's no doubting the numbers tonight. And at 30 scoring shots to 9, Geelong would've buried us if they had managed to kick straight. Then again, majors to Geelong probably would've helped the Dockers with their attack by virtue of at least getting the ball out of the Cats' forward 50 for the sake of the post-goal centre bounce.

While my recent optimism quickly turned dark when news broke that Barlow and Mundy were non-starters for this week, I'd hoped we would put on more of a show. Geelong's surprise loss to Port last week probably didn't help matters, but there are no coulda woulda shouldas when it comes to awarding the premiership points and ultimately Geelong were way too good tonight.

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I think there'd be few who watched the game who would've had trouble diagnosing the loss. Freo put on a bit of a show in the second quarter but Geelong killed us in the third. Something ridiculous like 19 inside 50s for Geelong to 1 for Freo. It was truly dire.
Positives to note: Taberner really stepped up, I think, and I expect he'll be picked ahead of Hannath from now on, who barely got a touch. Debutant Viv Michie announced himself with a fantastic tackle — against Hunt, I think [NB: it wasn't Hunt] — to earn himself the free for holding the ball.

With a relatively easy draw for the rest of the season, I expect our stay outside the top 4 (dropped to 5th on percentage after tonights loss) will be short-lived, and we're still in with a chance for 2nd by the end of the season, if Geelong go down to both Hawthorn and Sydney.

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one upside is that Crowley from all reports proved himself worthy of the title of Freo's fairest and best. Despite the scrutiny from the umpires, the commentators and more than a handful of Geelong players, Crowley at least matched if not got the better of Selwood without giving away any 50s (or even any frees, I think?).

I do think Richmond have pretty much got their finals berth locked up.

In fact, I think the 8 is pretty much i place, with only the order to be decided. While Collingwood have got a tough run of games (the Dons, the Hawks and the Swans still to come), and Port even tougher (the Dons, the Hawks, the Cats and Freo), I just can't see either of them dropping 2 more games than any of the sides outside the 8. The Eagles, for instance, still have Freo, Sydney and Essendon (again) to come, Carlton has Collingwood, Freo, Richmond and Essendon and Adelaide's form has been so up and down that it's hardly worth checking the home run (but I know there's still Freo, the Pies, Richmond and the Dons).

Zac Dawson gets away with a reprimand and 60 points for his coathanger on Sat night (phew!), and Fyfe gets away without even a comment on his high contact bump (double phew!). Geelong's Joel Corey gets the same penalty as Zac for kicking Danyle Pearce in the same game.

Lindsay Thomas scores 2 weeks for his Glasgow kiss (okay, it weren't that bad) to GWS's Townsend, and Norths will be feeling that given the tight-to-winnable games against Brisbane and Richmond coming up.

On the injury front: Goodes out for 6 weeks is a mixed blessing as far as I'm concerned. On the one hand, suck it Swans. On the other hand, I really want him to be back for Sydney's clash against Geelong in Round 22, because Freo need Geelong to go down twice across the home run if we're to have any chance of making No.2.

but feel free to bump the thread closer to the time

i doubt anyone really minds. personally, if i see a huge, rambling, nonsensical block of text in the football thread and the title suggests it's not mine i just usually skip right by it. you might encourage more proper/positive discussion in your own thread, though, but if you'd rather just annoy a couple of people carry on, it is quite amusing.

one thing i'd like to know is why you don't call it Aussie Rules? is it like an American thing, and if so do Aussies call their actual football 'soccer' like the yanks? for me, if you use your hands it ain't football. also not a fan of clubs using nicknames in their official titles like in SuperLeague.

might watcha a game, though to be honest i probably wouldn't support one of the established top level sides. what's the lowest division i could watch online, or who are the side in the AFL who've never, ever won anything, or who always snatch defeat from the jaws of victory, or who play in the oldest, most crumbly ground?

I've only just realised what's going on here - thought for weeks that this was just about the Oz Soccer leagues.

No idea why you clogged up the footie thread with it. Have you considered a blog?

Yeah, it's soccer over here too. Aussie rules as a term is more prevalent in contexts where you might be talking about different codes or where AFL isn't the dominant code (eg in the Northern states) but in Vic and WA, rugby (of whatever stripe) and soccer are definitely marginal codes, esp. rugby.

For underdog AFL teams, Freo actually fits your bill. We're having a great season this year, but that's after many years of slumming it down the bottom of the ladder, and being generally written off as a bit of a joke. St Kilda are are another candidate, having won only one flag in the 100 years (or thereabouts) the VFL/AFL comp has been running.

In terms of lower level competitions, the state comps are what you want, and I see no reason to look any further than the WAFL (go Souths!).

or appalled by the quality of the keepers.

Was a big weekend for the sport, with the Alouettes taking Winnipeg for 38-33. A pretty big game.

Edmonton Eskimo's Mike Reilly had to prove his good pre-season wasn't a fluke and didn't seem to manage it, with 1 touch down and 3 interceptions, a mild performance. Annoyingly the Rough Riders couldn't play Geroy Smith, as he was out with an injury from pre-season. Roughrider's posted a big win, with their QB managing 3 touchdowns and 171 yards.

The always interesting Toronto - Hamilton game (them being so close together) was a stormer on Friday night Footbal;, 39-34 against the Tiger Cats. The highlights are very impressive and worth watching.

The Stampeders came on top over the Lions 44-32. I didn't get to see the match, so I'll try and catch the highlights later today.

What do you call someone who hangs around with footballers?

A keeper.

and Dawson and Corey have both decided to wear their reprimands, so no kangaroo court tonight it seems.

Adelaide — the useless pricks — fed West Coast's delusions of somehow being a chance for the finals by failing to hammer the nail on Saturday night, letting the Eagles win by one goal.

Worse still, Hawthorne went from "team-to-beat" status to plain old "beaten", when they succumbed to "the Kennett curse" and went down to Geelong at the same time as Adelaide were capitulating to West Coast. Freo's Top 2 chances were riding on Geelong going down on two occasions across the second half of the season, and the game against Hawthorne was meant to be one of them. Barring some stunning upset, that's not likely to happen now, and the Top 2 are unlikely to be anything but Hawthorne and Geelong.

Worser still, Freo may now have to fight for a top 4 spot, with yesterday's game not only failing to result in the percentage boost we're needing to overtake Sydney on the ladder, but also seeing Luke McPharlin leave the field in the third term with calf tightness. Freo were taken by surprise, when the Saints came out strong and put on an aggressive display across the first half and beyond, completely out-tackling Freo and dominating the inside-50s. An embarrassing multitude of errors and turnovers on our part didn't help things, but ultimately it was Freo's (uncharacteristic) lack of effort and intensity that saw St Kilda leading by 7 points at half time, a margin that didn't really reflect fire the Saints had brought with them across the first 2 terms. The only thing keeping us in the game up to this point was a superb effort from best-on-ground Ballantyne, including 4 goals in the first half. While we came out stronger in the second half and — buoyed by two gaols in quick succession from Pav — eventually won the game, the final scoreline of F 15.10 (100) to SK 11.4 (70) in no way matched the result that everyone had expected of a team averaging 68 points conceded (only 40-something at Subi oval) and enjoying the return of our superstar forward and celebrated ruckman.

To add injury to chastening, Luke McPharlin's soreness will probably see him missing next week's derby. With the Eagles' egos inflated by their win against the Crows, and our key defender — and bedrock of defence — an almost certain out, what would have been a bankable 4 points is now looking more and more like a genuine contest. I can only hope that Sandi's form improves dramatically next week, and pray that Luke recovers in time for the following week's crucial game against Richmond at the MCG.

Speaking of Richmond, there was at least one positive to come out of this week's round, in the form of North Melbourne's thrashing of Richmond on Saturday. In a belated show of what might otherwise have been their premiership potential, Norths smashed the resurgent Tigers, monstering them in the second term with an 8.3 score count to Richmond's 0.5. Significantly, North Melbourne, having coughed up considerable leads a number of times this season, managed to play the full four quarters convincingly this time round, undoubtedly leaving Norths fans lamenting the season that could have been.

McPharlin is out with a calf tear for "up to 5 weeks", which history suggests means *at least* 5 weeks.

This is not what we need with the derby this week and Richmond the following week.

Silvani is in to replace McPharlin, but West Coast have their own injury and suspension woes, so I'm cautiously optimistic that we'll win this one. Hill's 100th game, and the second outing in a row for Pav and Sandi, who will hopefully have improved their form following their less than stellar performances (esp. Sandi's) last weekend.

No other important games this weekend, really. Would be great to see Adelaide beat Collingwood — partly because it's always great to see Collingwood lose, but also because it would help keep Collingwood's aspirations for a top 4 spot well and truly in check. Likewise, if Richmond go down to Gold Coast (not a completely fanciful proposition).

Unfortunately, the only top 4 side playing anything remotely resembling a competitive side this week is Hawthorne, who are fronting up to Adelaide to play Port. Port already surprised everyone a couple of rounds back by taking down Sydney, so here's hoping they do the same to Hawthorne this week (not holding my breath, though).

fucking football, fucking cricket. Way to fucking fuck up my Saturday night.

Gone, but for how long? He'd have a good record I presume. Actually does he? I seem to remember him getting done for something last year, or am I wrong?

Fucking MRP is a joke.

Welcome back, btw. My commiseration for Sat night. Painful. This has got to be a record for highest percentage with a 6 - 9 record. If the ladder were based on percentage along Norths'd be 7th right now.

I was thinking Freo by 5 or 6 goals, with slightly higher than season average conceded and won for Freo, owing to McPharlin's out and an expected return to form for Pav.

But I was anticipating a big opening from Freo, followed by 3 quarters of even scoring, not the hard slog followed by a runaway last quarter that the game ended up being. Was quite surprised by West Coast's tackling pressure, and their intercepts nearly killed us. But I think Lyon had a point about the tackle count being evidence of how much Freo was winning the ground ball, with tackling (and intercept marks, it seems) being the only way West Coast could get their hands on the leather.

As ever, the Freo mids were incredible. Glendinning-winner Barlow had a great game no doubt, but the medal could (should?) easily have gone to Mayne or Hill too. It felt at times like Mayne was at both ends of the paddock simultaneously, while Hill relished his freedom, tearing up the midfield and scoring himself a couple of fantastic majors. No idea why West Coast didn't opt for the hard tag, though I guess with their first choice tagger out, they figured it wasn't worth the loss of a player…. Certainly, Crowley sure looked like he was enjoying the rare opportunity for him to play the ball rather than the man.

Silvagni fared better than I expected, though while Kennedy was being controlled someone forgot to look after Darling, who did some damage.

Next up, Richmond, and I'm feeling a bit anxious. No Luke, and now no Pav. Looks like Barlow, Hill, Fyfe et al are going to have another brutal 4 quarters next Sunday.

However, I keep reassuring myself that it is going to click big time in 2014. To be honest, the team is actually playing ahead of my expectations, but that just makes the close losses a bitterer pill to swallow.

Having said that I wrote the season off after the Adelaide loss, and the wins I really wanted at that stage were Freo, Richmond, Carlton, Collingwood and Essendon. Nothing against Freo, just that I was at the ground for that game. So if we wallop the Bluebaggers on Friday night I will be a very happy man.

Yes, MRP is a joke. Game is soft as butter these days, been going that way for a few years now. That physicality will never come back into the game. They had the balance right in the 90s - they'd manged to stamp out 90% of the blatant king hits and shirtfronts, especially off the ball, but still there was room for a fierce contest for the ball, or a heavy shepherd.

Days gone by if you were playing the ball you were pretty much right. Then the head had to be protected. Then they feel the need to make rules to prevent other injuries. These days you're left with the absurd situation of pondering the question, "What happens if the sacrosanct head strikes below the sacrosanct knee?". Toss a fucking coin matey.

You beat them at the G last year, but they are much improved this year. And they'll be very happy to get back there, after their narrow win in Cairns and thumping at Etihad last week.

Either way it's good to be getting a game there before the finals. I see you have another one against Melbourne in a few weeks - pretty handy getting them this late in the year.

I'm a genuine believer in the "anywhere anytime" philosophy. Sure nothing beats playing at home in front of 40K loyal supporters, but I think the draw at the SCG is pretty good sign that the ground is not as significant a variable as all the hoodoo talk suggests.

The thing that keeps me optimistic is that we're almost twice the team we were when we snatched that 1-point win over Richmond earlier in the season. Our forwards have learned to create plays without Pav, and our back and mid have gone from strength to strength.

Having said that, if Clancee and Duffield turn out to be anything less than match fit, then they won't make the 22 and we'll be in real trouble.

Carlton used to be my VFL team. Obviously, once Freo entered the AFL, Carlton get demoted to "I don't mind if they win (against someone else)" status. With Malthouse on board, though, they're now dead to me.

Fuck fuck fuck.

But jeez, Lyon is the master at getting the best out of whoever's available.

There's a limit, though, as the Gerlong game proved.

Who are the best ever Irishmen to play Australian football?

1. Jim Stynes - one of the earliest imports in the so-called Irish experiment, having won the Brownlow medal - the highest individual award in football, he has to take the chocolates. A mobile ruckman who could run all day. In the age of the lumbering dinosaurs, he was amazingly good below his knees, great skills and tough. His durability was legendary, and he set a then record for the most consecutive games of an AFL/VFL player. A legend of the melbourne football club, his reputation has perhaps been tarnished by the tanking allegations during his presidency of the club. Difficult subject to broach though because of his early demise.

2. Tadgh Kennelly - is he the only Irishman to play in a premiership team? A fantastic half-back flanker with pace, skills and terrific attack on the footy. Went home to try to win an all-Ireland final with his GAA team, before returning to Sydney to play another season or two. Like Stynes before him had a long career where he became a leader at his club despite not playing the game as a junior.

3. Sean Wight - one of the first ever to play of the Irish experiment, and a good mate of Stynes. A dour full-back who effectively negated many of the best full-forwards of his era, which indeed was an era with some of the greatest ever (Dunstall, Lockett). Unlike others I believe he returned to Ireland after his playing days, where he sadly died of cancer a couple of years ago.

I don't think there are too many that come close to that trio. Marty Clarke has had a reasonable career but doesn't come close to the impact those guys had. Pearce Hanley for Brisbane though could be the next big thing, indeed he has already made quite a name for himself.

Is it the Kenny Hunter factor? North's best support outside Victoria is in WA, but we had Cable, Glendenning, the Krakeours (how I loved them!) and a few other West Aussies over the journey.

The second-most capped Irish soccer player, Nial Quinn, who played for Arsenal, Man City and Sunderland (where he made his name and later coached) was a gaelic footballer in his youth and came out to Australia as a 17 year old as part of the Irish experiment. He was actually the most highly rated player of the group and was offered a contract. I read an interview with him in the Footy Record at the North-West Coast game and he said that he would have taken up the offer to come and play football in Australia, but by the time the offer reached him in the mail he'd already accepted an offer to play with Arsenal.

You must have your head in a bucket of whisky right now. North Melbourne goes down to Carlton by 1 lousy point — about the 6th time this season that Norths have lost by less than a goal. At least this time you can take satisfaction from the fact that your guys clawed back from a 3/4 deficit rather giving up a significant lead late in the final term.

Meanwhile, Freo's woes look set to worsen, with Sandi having not made today's flight to Melbourne for the Sunday game. The official word is there's still a chance he'll fly over tomorrow, but I'm highly dubious. We're basically fucked right now, fielding probably our weakest 22 yet this season (barring, perhaps, the Geelong game). And Richmond are desperate for a win against a top 5 side.

If we somehow manage to win this one, it'll be on a par with the drawn result against Sydney.

Great if you win, fucks up your whole weekend if you don't. Well, it's not that bad any more, have to get on with my life and shit, but it does mean that I don't feel like watching many other games because SOMEONE WILL WIN and we LOST.
Yeah making a comeback was better, you can cheer and show some passion that you thought had been knocked out of you by the season to date, instead of the dread and hiding your face in your hands as a 6 goal lead evaporates.
Then turn it over to the Ashes and watch the frigging poms give us right royal reaming. What a fucking weekend! At least I got to see Disney Princesses on Ice.

Can't see Geelong letting their arrogance get the better of them again. Your boys could well be on their way towards the kind of hiding Freo got after Geelong's loss to Brisbane.

Poor old St Kilda get to face Geelong, at the Cattery.

We've won something like 10 in a row against Melbourne, but the way this year is going I wouldn't be surprised if somehow we managed to lose this one. Nah, surely not possible.

Then we do have the cats, our 3rd and final Friday night footy encounter for the year. I'll try not to let it spoil my weekend - at least I won't go in with high expectations like I did against the bluebaggers.

Your mob should account for the Camrys pretty easily this weekend I'd think?

They won the preseason cup, and there had been some talk last year that they might be a team on the rise (lots of good young midfielders).

They then proceeded to lose to bottom-of-the-ladder Bulldogs in round 1 and copped a few hidings away from the Gabba. However they pulled off an unexpected win against the drug cheats in Melbourne, in round 9 and seem to have got their season back on track. They pulled off a remarkable comeback from 52 points down to beat Geelong at home, and a few weeks later a less remarkable 33 point comeback against North (BOOOO!!!!). They have a soft draw in the final stretch and are a sneaky chance of making finals if other results go their way.

Michael Voss has gone from being odds-on favourite for the first coach to get the arse at year's end, to being considered now more likely to have his contract renewed.

Got some good young talent on the list, probably need a few key position players.

I was in Bris when they were in the top 8 a few years back and they won the first match but lost on the next (IIRC).

I think that final you're talking about was against Carlton and included Judd's infamous jujitsu move.

was looking at the wrong round.

Adelaide? I'm a little worried. We've got Suban and Sandi back, by all reports, and they're still missing Dangerfield, plus no Walker, so I guess we should be fine. But we just saw how they can still do some damage. At around the 7th or 8th round, I was one of the people talking up the easy run home, but with the absences we've got at the moment, I'm suddenly with Lyon: I can't see the soft draw anymore.

Roos 22.18 (150) to Dees 4.4 (28). That's a whopping 40 scoring shots to 8 to North Melbourne's advantage. Melbourne, the poor bastards didn't score at all from late in the third quarter. 10th on the ladder North Melbourne now has a percentage of 122.81, which is officially higher than 5th placed Freo's. This is surely some kind of record.

Freo had a satisfactory win over Adelaide this evening. It was cold and windy at the ground, but thankfully the rain was spent — it having pissed down off and on all day up to the bounce down. All up, while Adelaide had an early lead, and had a run or two later in the game, from about half way through the first quarter, it never really felt like Freo was in danger.

Fyfe was best on ground with an incredible 4.2 and 29 disposals. Hill enjoyed being free of the tag and earned himself 1.1 and 27. Maybe, as ever, put in a superb effort, as did Clarke. Sandilands clunked it again: while he fairly creamed the hit outs, he barely broke even on the measure of advantage. And he treated the ball like a hot potato, desperate to handball it to anyone (including opposition players) as soon as it touched his palms.

I'm happy we won, of course, but with the kinds of margins we're pulling, we'll need Sydney to lose bot just to Geelong but Hawthorne too if we're to have any hope of making top 4. Either that, or Essendon to lose one of their remaining tough, but hardly odds-against match-ups.

Cheating pricks. All these people, "Oh, I hope the players don't get suspended." If they've taken something they MUST be suspended. And then I hope they sue the fuck out of Essendon.

On Freo's win against Adelaide - was a good one. Seen a few people claim that Adelaide were in the game and poor kicking kept them out of it. I think the point is more that Freo did what they needed to do, and they were patient with their build-ups, hence winning with a record low number of I50s. Lyon himself stated after the game that Adelaide played with an extra man back all night so they had a deliberate strategy of working carefully into the forward 50 to make the most of their opportunities.

North win over the Dees - was good that they did it, but ultimately how much can you take away from it? Melbourne are just utterly shitful. Can't believe the winless GWS will actually start as favourites against them. Hope they (GWS) do win, because then when the Bummers are stripped of points they will be out and out bottom (otherwise % might keep them ahead of GWS).

I really don't know. Demetriou has been as strong as a wet tissue throughout the whole thing. If it were any of the non-Victorian sides, i'm sure they would've been deregistered by now, but with old-boys like Essendon, I think the AFL will be as weak as they can without inciting mass rioting in the streets.

Going to the Carlton game this weekend. Fuck it's going to be cold. Really excited, though. It's got all the hallmarks of being a repeat of the Collingwood game. Gonna be great to see Ballaz back on the ground.

So you just going to Melbourne for the weekend? Going to catch any other games?

as teams the AFL would be gleefully killing off if they were in Essendon's boots.

Finally North win on a Friday night instead of getting my weekend off on a sour note. Great game to watch too.
Now those dockers better do the right thing by me and knock off the bluebaggers.

There's too much to say about it, and too much work for me to do right now, but I did want to drop in just to say that.

Doubtlessly I'll return with a series of massive posts later today.

Freo went into the round in 4th position, with a chance to finish it in 2nd of results went our way. Unfortunately, Sydney couldn't break Geelong's formidable run of wins at their home ground, and so the Dockers' chance at top 2 is all but gone. Freo had a convincing win over Port Adelaide nevertheless to finish 3rd on the ladder and with the highest percentage in the competition (so much for Freo being offensively weak!)

My hope is for Sydney to beat Hawthorne next week, so that Geelong take top spot, leaving Freo to face Hawthorne in Melbourne for the first final.

Meanwhile, with the chance that Essendon might yet be stripped of Premiership points, the battle for 9th place is shaping up to be an interesting one. Presuming that Geelong beat Brisbane next week (all but a sure thing, the mid-season upset notwithstanding), Port beat Carlton (60-70% likelihood), and Norths beat Collingwood (40-50%), North Melbourne might yet end up in the final "8".

I completely get the logic — no point in risking injury to key players in a game that will have little effect on the finals rounds, particularly against the 3rd bottom team — but I'm a bit disappointed that McPharlin isn't going to get a run before the first final. It's not that he'd need a heap of game time to get back into the swing of things, but it would've been nice to see him have at least one outing before Freo take on either Hawthorne or (more likely?) Geelong in the qualifying final.

It's taken a long time, but finally Essendon have received their whack from the AFL for the drugs scandal, and (thankfully) it's a bigger whack than I was expecting: the club has been fined $2million and banned from playing the finals series, they will also lose their 1st and 2nd draft picks for 2013 AND 2014, and senior coach James (fucking arsehole) Hird has been banned for a year. Hopefully that will be enough to ruin his coaching career for good.

There are still some unanswered questions those, most notably, will Jobe Watson be stripped of his Brownlow medal?

Carlton pip Port by one point, Hawthorn beat Sydney by less than 2 goals, and Brisbane come within a fist of embarrassing not only Geelong's claims to dominance over the competition, but also Freo's gamble in resting 12 key players the week before the first final.

The Saints absolutely thumped Freo, who fielded a virtual Reserves team, featuring three AFL debutants and another 9 players with less than 20 games under their belts, as part of a plan to rest many of the side's highest performing players in anticipation of a second week of interstate travel, this time to meet Geelong in the qualifying final. St Kilda had added reason to win, with 3 of their veterans retiring from AFL at the end of the game, but, given their position on the third bottom rung of the ladder, only those factoring in Lyon's gamble would've tipped the Saints to win out on the day.

Even then, being a complete convert to Lyon's game plan and his uncompromising demand for effort from his players, I'd expected Freo to mount a far stronger challenge than what we saw in all bar the second quarter. What Saturday's game demonstrated convincingly, though, is that there's a world of difference between first-grade "national" AFL and the state-based competitions.

Now it's off to a suburban park to face Geelong in a game that I'm tipping will go down in the history books not only as the first final ever played at Kardinya Park, but also as the game which saw an end to Geelong's intimidating run of home ground success.

about a final being played at Kardinya Park in 1897 or something. So make the "first final played at Kardinya Park in over 100 years".

Dockers dockers dockers!!!!

Hope you get your tickets for the prelim. Mrs M is a Swans supporter and I said this morning, you know I think there's a good chance you'll be playing Freo here in a prelim.

She said That's nice, unfortunately I'll have just given birth or about to go into labour.

Anyway go the dockers. Oh how I'd laugh if you knocked off Hawks in the Granny, but let's not get ahead of ourselves.

Port ferals easily beat pie ferals. So good after Eddie Everywhere whinging about the game against Freo next week being on a Friday. Guess what Eddie, wrong on two counts.

What a fucking brilliant day of football!

So much for Geelong's dominance at Kardinia Park. Here's a fun stat for the tipsters who wrote Freo off before the start of the game: Geelong now have a 100% finals loss rate at Kardinia Park.

So many highlights: Spurr and Barlow were fucking magnificent the whol game! That amazing goal from Hill with 2 minutes to go! Sandilands reminding everyone why he's so highly rated! Flying Fyfe! Pav showing leadership at both ends of the ground! Dawson actually using BOTH HANDS and taking his share of the defensive marks!!!

I am so deliriously happy, and with the toughest competition we're likely to face in 2 weeks' time being Sydney or Richmond (my money's actually on the latter), we've pretty much booked ourselves a grand final appearance with today's "upset" (only upsetting for the Victorian commentators and fans) over Geelong.

I know. Today has been a cracking day for finals footy. Just amazing. Would love to see Port topple Geelong next week too.

The whole series is shaping up to be a belter.

First Freo beat Geelong (which, in truth, was well expected by Freo supporters, but took Thd rest of the football world by surprise), then Port Adelaide eliminate Collingwood (suck it!), and now Carlton -- the team that only made it into the final 8 due to Essendon's disqualification from the finals series -- knock Richmond out of the competition. I'll admit I was surprised by that one, having pegged Richmond to beat Sydney in the semi. Now it'll be Geelong facing Port and Carlton taking on Sydney in the semis with the winner of each moving on to a prelim against Hawthotn and Fremantle respectively.

Granted they seem to play Wet Toast more than the Dockers over here, but they have a good recent record at Subiaco. Just checked it 6 wins from their last 8 appearances (going back to 2006 QF), but only 2 games against Freo (a win to Sydney in 2010, loss in 2009).

Having said all that I do think Freo will win the game. I expect it will be Sydney, can't see the Blues troubling them too much this week.

My prediction now is a Freo v Geelong grandfinal. Geelong should account for Port, and I expect they will keep their ongoing good record against Hawks in the prelim. Could Freo (and Lyon) finally win a grandfinal?

Ninthmond succumbs to the first team to be promoted to the finals from ninth place!
While I thought Richmond would win, it was hardly a total shock. I think Richmond only had two players that had ever played finals - the two recent recruits of Azza Edwards and Troy Chaplin. Meanwhile Carlton, while on paper a lesser team, had played finals for what, 3 or 4 years?, before missing last year. Plus the game seemed like a repeat of 3 weeks ago - Tigers dominate early before the Blues reel them in.
Tiggers will come back hungrier and meaner next year and should get a chance to make amends.

Absolutely gobsmacked that the MRP actually delivered reasoned and reasonable assessments. This truly is a week of AFL upsets.

except insofar as it's a proxy for 1) supporter base, and 2) travel. Whether it were Subi or the WACA, I'd see no change in either team's chances.

Sydney/Carlton will be taking the longest trip bar Brisbane-Perth, and they'll be doing that off the back of a tough semi and will be fronting up against a team that has matched or bettered them once already this season, and with a weaker line-up to boot.

Sydney are hurting while Freo is almost full strength. Jetta and Rohan are underdone, and Goodes could be in the same boat. Our only injury concerns at the moment are Johnno and Ibbo, given that Pearce is out for the season, and Johnno is a very strong chance to come back into the side next week.

Now that Mayne and Dawson have been cleared, we're looking in fantastic shape.

The only thing preventing me from actively wishing for a Freo-Port GF is the fact that afterwards people will dismiss the win by saying it was against weak competition. Then again, people will find a way to dismiss Freo no matter what, so GO PORT!

I actually think it will be a Freo-Hawthorne final. The Hawks will break the curse for a game as important as a prelim, particularly seeing as they'll go into after the benefit of a week's rest. I'll be happy enough with that result too, since I don't see why they should be spared the "embarrassment" of being "upset" by Freo.

Mayne no worries, but I thought Dawson was deep in a steaming pile of shit on not just one but two counts.

But it must be said that the MRP has shown a distinct disinclination to suspend players during the finals series. (Generally Swans players it must be said).

Bit like the umpires, they spend all year blowing their whistles at every little infraction, real or imagined, then come the finals they tuck it away in their sock and everybody says "Why can't they do this all year long?"

but the opening one wasn't even worth the free kick, let alone the reporting. My main worry was the head high contact from the attempted smother, which I thought was clearly within bounds of the contest, but I expected MRP to ping him for it.

As others have done throughout the year. In his favour was the fact that Selwood is as a hard as a cat's head and got back up. I didn't realise the initial report was for an open-handed slap so that's fair enough to let go.
Hopefully we see a bit more of this sense from the MRP throughout the season next year.

Hawthorne into the GF, though only just.

Pretty happy with that. They're weaker defensively than Geelong, and, if tonight's game is anything to go by, sloppy as shit under pressure. If Freo win tomorrow, then they stand a chance come next week, despite the fact that Hawthorne will go in raging favourites.

Shame there weren't a few injuries, though.

Freo into the grand final!

Absolutely DOMINATED Sydney. The first half, Sydney barely got hold of the ball. First quarter saw (a wasteful) Freo score 2.9 to Sydney's 2.1, followed by a second quarter of Freo 5.2 to Sydney's 0.1. The Swans were lucky to have maybe 3 inside 50s in the second term, seeing Freo pull off an incredible half of football pressure.

Even in the so-called premiership quarter, Sydney struggled. They threw out their best, attacking the ball with a fire that one would expect of a premiership side, but still came out losers, with Freo scoring 4.1 to the Swan's 3.3. For the final quarter, Freo eased off, knowing the game was well under control, and saved themselves some possible injuries, finishing up 14.15 (99) to Sydney's 11.8 (74).

Freo had 7 of the top 10 ball disposers, with Mundy, Fyfe, Barlow and Pearce doing quality work in the midfield. Duffield was a champ in the back end (though Spurr and McPharlin did their bit as well), but the kudos has to go to Crowley and Hill: the former for not only tagging his opponent out of the game (Jack: 11 disposals) but forwarding the ball 22 times himself AND kicking a great goal; and the latter for shaking his tag to get himself 21 quality touches and to apply some incredible pressure.

Speaking of pressure: Chris Mayne. Thirteen — count them — 13 tackles. Unbelievable. How did he not make the All-Australian? Just what does a player have to do?

There was barely a player in the side who didn't pull their weight. Walters and Pav were magnificent goal scorers (Suban and Fyfe too!), Ballantyne came a respectable second to Mayne on the forward pressure and tackle count, while Sandi and Clarke did an admirable job on one of the few ruck teams in the competition who have a chance of taking them on.

For the Swans, McVeigh, Parker and Kennedy all performed admirably, but ultimately, the Sydney midfield was no match for the mighty Dockers!

And now on to the Hawks in the grand final at the MCG next Saturday. Hawthorne will start hot favourites, because the punters still believe that AFL is about bombing it long to the "power forwards". And I for one CANNOT WAIT to see that theory put to the test.

My kingdom (up to the total maximum value of $1600) for a flight!

Dockers looking very good. Good summary, but Hawthorn are not really a bomb it long to Roughy/Hale/Franklin team (don't think Buddy's taken a contested mark since 2008, can't seem to get his arms above his shoulders). Their strategy seems to rely on breaking apart the press and maintaining possession with precision passing, hence their recruitment of a dozen or so laser left-foots.
Hope it's a cracker of a game, I reckon it will be. Sadly though I think Hawthorn will take the chocolates, but I really hope I'm wrong!

had a ticket but couldn't get a flight — at least, not one at a reasonable price.

What's your read of the situation? You know: winner, margin, Norm Smith and all that?

And what did you think of the prelims? I'm wishing everyone would stop going on about Freo's pressure. I'd much prefer it be something like a secret weapon.

it's more that a significant percentage of your football following public have no understanding of the modern game and are yet to get past the 1970s football mentality.

Having said that, all the media/expert talk of Freo's pressure is perhaps doing its bit now to dislodge that view, it seems.

In terms of picking a winner: I just don't think there's any clear candidate. I could pick a side, but it would be almost for arbitrary reasons. If Hawthorne win, those who picked Hawthorne will feel vindicated, and likewise Dockers' tipsters if Freo win, but the truth is that these are two very evenly matched, if nevertheless completely polar, teams, and the outcome will come down to the bounce of the ball. Or perhaps several bounces of the ball.

Watching the GF with a bunch of Freo supporters.

Always had a soft spot for 'em since I saw them play in a close to 300 point clash at the Gabba during the first of the Lions' three premiership seasons/when Freo came dead last. Pavlich was great even then, mustn't have even been 20 at that point. Think I was about 10, was a pretty good introduction to live footy.

But yeah, can't wait for tomorrow. Love a good grand final.

in having a soft spot for Freo. Admittedly, most of the Hawthorne supporters will probably be at work, whereas the Freo travellers have nothing else to do but go to the parade, but Freo have also had a lot of past AFL greats from all kinds of teams coming out and tipping them for the win. (Can't say I'm entirely comfortable with this; I much prefer it when everyone's writing our chances off.)

It's gonna be a brilliant game either way.

My head leans to the Hawks, but not by much. I do think we've truly got the two best teams of the year playing off, although Geelong were not far off. Sydney were cooked a while ago in my opinion. They will both slide pretty heavily next year.

My heart says Freo, Barlow for Norm Smith by 11 points. My head says Hawks, Mitchell, similar margin.

The prelims were great, loved them both for different reasons. The attack and flair in the Hawks-Geelong game was great to watch, the intensity of the Freo-Sydney game was something to behold. From a pure spectacle point of view the final quarter of junk time marred it a bit, and I guess poor kicking for goal was a bit of a blight on both games, but it was great to watch Freo choke the life out of Sydney then put the foot down on the throat when Sydney got back into it in the third.

The prelims are usually the best games of the year. GF is often a let-down, although we've been blessed a few times recently (2012, 2010, 2009).

Nothing secret about Freo's pressure, and hasn't been since about Round 1!

Really looking forward to it tomorrow, what's the best I'm off watching a child be born at the time?

Already 3 days overdue, labour will probably start at quarter time.

Good luck!

Who managed to get a ticket and is luckily living in Melbourne so can actually make it.

Gonna be a crazy day.

But disappointing nonetheless.

Hopefully Freo are better for the experience and will get a chance for redemption next year (if North don't make it).

My god it was a dreadful game of football. In the end I think Hawthorn were simply less bad than Freo. If the dockers could have maintained some composure then I think they would have won easily, because Hawthorn were very ordinary IMO. Of course it's easier said than done when playing in your first grandfinal, but the good thing is that the first one is out of the way.

Would put that one down as one of the worst GFs in recent history. Even in the 119 point thrashing of Port you got to see Geelong turn it on. But this game was marred by mistakes, fumbles, turnovers and general mediocrity.

Not that the Hawks supporters would care, nor the Freo ones for that matter. But as a neutral it was a very forgettable non-event.

Otherwise how will rln get my commiserations and discuss the future of Gumby?

so the draft doesn't hold much interest for you either, eh? Trade period held a bit of excitement, if only to see how many more surplus midfielders and rucks Freo would splash its cash on. But I'm already sick of waiting for the season to start again.

Have to say that I didn't think the GF was quite as bad as you suggest, in terms of skills, game play, etc. Certainly, there were a lot of mistakes on Freo's part: goal-kicking (or goal-missing, as the case may be) from set shots, obviously; Ballas's attempts to put in not just 110% but 130% or more back-firing as he slipped and slid all over the ground; and the forward structure breaking down, allowing Lake to play loose in defence and earn himself an easy Norm Smith.

But otherwise, what you're calling mistakes, fumbles, turnovers, etc. I saw as being the direct product of pressure and contest, which, increasingly, is what the game is all about — particularly for Freo. The aforementioned "unforced errors" aside, I thought the GF was representative of Freo's best, or near-best at least. So, I agree that we would've won if key players didn't lose their nerve when it mattered the most.

And, of course, a Hawthorn supporter would probably be inclined to say that the Freo errors weren't unforced at all, but were rather the product of Hawthorne's scoreboard pressure, built on the back of their fast-moving style.

New DiS has changed me

Trent Dumont, who was spoke of as a potential 15-25 pick we got for 30. Dominated the first half of the SANFL grandfinal this year before copping a bad corky, but still played it out and picked up another 10 or so possies. Despite basically playing a half on one leg still finished second in the SANFL equivalent of the Norm Smith.

And of course we got the highest priced ever father-son in Luke McDonald with pick 8, but everybody says it's worth it because he's somewhere in the top 5. Was also the best player in Werribee's final campaign this year so good signs.

Obviously we got Dal Santo as a free agent as well, so things are looking pretty good for 2014 (fingers crossed, no jinx).

And today I see we picked up Kurt Tippet's little brother Joel. Key defender to fill in for Luke Delaney who we gave to the Saints for nothing with a wink and a nudge when they let NDS go as a free agent.

Who did the dockers pick up, I haven't been keeping track? Apart from Gumby, that'll be interesting. Number 4 (?) pick, crueled by injuries, but seemed to be getting it right at the bombers towards the end. Certainly meets a need for you guys.

On the GF, I see your point and I agree that it was a high-pressure game. But I feel that both teams have handled that sort of pressure better on other occasions. Interestingly, I think both teams showed their best football in the previous finals versus Geelong, and IF (big if) the Cats had managed to win one of those they might have pinched it on GF day. End of the day though the two best teams clearly played it out.

Can't see a "subscribe" or "Follow" link anywhere.

in the trade, and Michael Apeness (forward/ruck), plus two Tasmanians, Alex Pearce (Forward/back) and Brady Grey (mid/forward), in the draft — because what Freo really needs is more midfielders and ruckmen....

Disappointed to hear you guys got Tippet, because he's one I was hoping Freo would snare. Now we've got Gumbleton, plus Keplar and Griffin (and Morabito!) ready to return from knee recons, we need to build depth in our backline.

Only just checked the rookie draft now and it seems we've got Michael Wood (forward from Subi), Tom Vandeleur (defender from the mighty Bulldogs), and some guy from the VFL, Jacob Ballard, which is a name I heard bandied about beforehand so maybe worth more than the 47 pick we got him for.

I guess because I'm the OP I'm automatically following it. But what does that actually mean? Am I supposed to get an email or alert of some kind when someone posts in here? I really miss the "Topics you've posted in" or whatever it was called link.

the interesting thing about that is that next season Freo will effectively be adding former picks 2 (Morabito), 3 (Sylvia) and 4 (Gumbleton) to its grand finalist side.

but if you go into your Dashboard, it should show under "Followed threads", which will make it easier to find every time you come back after your two-week hiatuses.

And i tried to follow another thread with no success. But it may be something to do with the fact that we use explorer at work. I'll have a look on Chrome later.

Just seems like a fuckwit of the highest order, all the talent in the world, but lazy, turns it on about one week in seven. Should have been an important midfielder at Melbourne, but ends up lairising on the half forward line or having a sook when things don't go his way.

All the best to him at Freo of course.

Apeness was the highest rated ruck in the draft I think, might have been a case of best available at that pick. I'm still a little surprised at the selection though.

What's my best shot for buying tickets for the Saints Anzac Day game in Wellington?

Tickets to Home & Away games usually go on sale only a few weeks before the game. And normally you'd either get them through the club, if you're a member, or through Ticketek, but because it's an NZ ground, I'm not sure how it would work.

Your best bet is to check the Saints website , maybe even contact them at the start of the season for advice.

I'll be in NZ from the start of March. Will keep an eye on the Saints website then and go from there. Cheers bud.

Can't bloody wait!

Can't for the start of the season. Though even then, it's followed by another wait. Fucking split rounds suck.

That's soon isn't it

starts next week I think.

It's never really interested me in the past, but I've been paying a lot more attention to footy this off-season than I have in the past, so I'll probably take some notice — mostly just checking results, though.

I can't remember: do you have a team you support?

Lived in St Kilda for 6 months a few years ago. Bit hard to keep up with it back in England but I'll be in NZ all this year so hopefully it'll be a bit easier!
I'm not expecting great things from us though. Do you know much about our new coach?

just read that last season he was with Port Adelaide, who, under Hinkley, performed well above expectations, so maybe there's hope that Richardson can do something similar for the Saints.

I think one of the questions around the saints is why they went for Watters over him when Roscoe and Fremantle did the dirty on them (safety wink).

A bit like Ken Hinkley who got the job at Port last year, it seems to be surprising to most commentators that he's gone this long without getting a senior position. Be great for the Saints if he could replicate Hinkley's success, but I think the structure of the list is going to prevent that (with the exception of Jack Steven their best players are all very close to retirement). Nonetheless, it could be an exciting time to follow the saints as they've made the plunge on youth and it's always good to see a core group of young guys develop together, assuming it works out.