Messages

Hopefully all the furore provides the lions an opening for a win at the Gabba tonight - see that Buckley has given O'Brien and Krakouer the option to play or not.

Still a long shot with the injury/suspension list,

The Lions are hard to catch - they are hot and cold. They will be better when Rich, Browny and Big Sauce are back. Hanley is probably leading the club F & B at the moment.

Subi end?

Yep, but you'll only see it briefly.  Still fekkin disgusted by that final free to the Cheat Selwood tonight.  Faaaaark.

Duckwood you mean - it runs in the family all that ducking for kicks. One day one of them will get seriously injured and I won't have any sympathy. I think Shuey is a Selwood as well.

Should have beaten Sydney despite the injury list. Can't see Tommy Walsh being in the AFL system next year - he was ordinary and Tippett isn't far away. Hanley was good yesterday.

Just watching Carlton v Port - very impressed with Tuohey's kicking skills - went onto to his left (non preferred foot) and hit big Kruser laces out 45 metres away while under pressure - I am old school and think AFL footballers should be able to kick both feet well - as you know a lot of players resort to kicking outside of the preferred foot rather than switching feet as they should.   

Heave-Ho, check out my flag behind the goals.

Subi end?

Round Seven

Geelong 113-85 Essendon
Friday night footy and we had a cracker.  Both teams went into this game with a winning season but in the end there was only ever going to be one winner.  Looking ominous for the rest of the teams in the league.

Richmond 114-73 Port Adelaide
The second straight defeat for Pt. Adelaide and one wonders if the early wins can only be attributed to the fact the opposing teams were shite.  Another stellar show from Jack Riewoldt. If there was a medal for the gurny-McGonigle of the AFL he would win it...consistently, but you've got to admit he's deadly in front of goals....errrrrrr, except when he was marked by Luke McPharlin!

West Coast 108-85 Brisbane
For three quarters of this game mini-me, myself and 40,000 Freo faithful were hoping that a mini-miracle would eventuate as it did last year.  Sadly it didn't.  And you'd think the WC eagles were the only team in the country now.   Grrrrr

North Melbourne 151-97 Western Bulldogs
The Majak Daw show continues.  He really is a spectacular athlete and I might just see if I can sneak into Subi on Friday night to see him play WC.  This result was never in doubt.

Hawthorn 110-82 Sydney
The repeat of last year's Grand Final but from the moment Buddy Franklin kicked a gem off his left from out on the touchline where it meets the 50m arc, the tone was set.  Admittedly Sydney were missing some big names but it looks like we are heading for a Hawthorn Geelong final.

Fremantle 100-73 Collingwood 
Well, sweet Jesus there is no need for me to do any kind of cardiac workout 'cos the lads give me plenty of highly stressful moments every fekkin two weeks.   This was a game that should have been over at half-time when Freo were ahead by a bagful.  Not helped by the ACL injury to Freo ruckman Jon Griffin, Collingwood managed to claw back into the game and actually led by 5 points at the first minute of the final quarter.  Cue the Zac Dawson-Michael Walters show.   This win showed the resolve that Freo now have.  Minus 6 of their recognised first team the lads knuckled down and what a sweet, sweet win that was.  On a sad note the two Irish lads got injured, but Mooney's goal was noteworthy.

Adelaide 187-52 Greater Western Sydney
Less than 6,000 went to watch this game.  Brave souls.  Shite from start to finish, save for the 10-goal haul from the Adelaide player.

Gold Coast 114-54 Melbourne
Thankfully we were spared from this garbage as Free-to-air chose to show a repeat of a repeat of something or other.  Whatever it was, it couldn't have been much worse than what the brave at the MCG were exposed to.  Melbourne FC is in serious strife. 

St. Kilda 77-68 Carlton
I found myself roaring at the TV hoping for a St. Kilda win, and I got it.  This was a great game with some great skills and footy on show.  Dunno about the St. Kilda commemorative jersey though.

I think Mooney came back on Aerlik. Like you say we shouldn't have let them back in but good to see the lads kick away in the final term. Walters looks like a monty for All Aust selection as a small forward.

I am looking forward to Friday - hopefully the big Sudanese lad and chums can give the WC Budgies a hiding. So be interesting watching the big Fijian square off with Daw - some athleticism in that pair.

Why is this race-based distinction fostered in Aussie Rules?

Novelty factor. I think most AFL fans would be happy for a such a team to be picked provided all the high profile lads made themselves available.

I'm glad they're sending an ingenious team.
The last crowd were useless.

"Indigenous" team. Should be a fair bit of genius on display if they get the best Aboriginal lads into the team. 

After reading views on Clarke here, I took a look around some of the aussie forums and they all seem to think his form this year is a massive leap forward from last year and he looks to be solidifying his place on the team. In saying that I haven't watched any of his games myself.

He is probably the only tagger of note that Collingwood have. Collingwood generally don't tag many opposition players but Clarke generally gets the job if a heavy tag is needed. Taggers follow a select player in the opposition and do all they can to stop him getting the ball often to the detriment of their own game.   

Only caught 2 minutes of todays Collingwood v St Kilda game, but Clarke seemed like a different player in those couple of minutes. Took a lovely catch and scored a goal on the run from about 40 yards. Collingwood won by 26 points.

Yep - he showed a bit last night. The commentators last night suggested he was in good form this year but I would disagree. That said I think he had his best game of the year last night.

Has Clarke long left on his contract. Would you see him coming back to Gaelic football if he fails at Collingwood? or would he still have enough class in AFL  to play for a smaller club. not writing him off, but would love to see him back in a Down jersey

If he were to be let go at the end of this season, there would only be two or three clubs that I'd imagine would be interested: Greater Western Sydney, Western Bulldogs and possibly Brisbane.  St. Kilda might be interested. 

Thanks, Heave Ho, for pointing out Hanley was suspended.  I thought he got a knock.  I'm still fekkin furious about the Nathan Fyfe decision.

Appealing that wasn't smart - we have Gold Coast this week and we should be winning. Fyfe would be handy against Collingwood.

I watched the Bombers v Pies game at the weekend, i think Aerlik is being very kind to Clarke, he looked lost. The Aussies don't seem to rate him at all.

he's been playing rightly this season. always starts well but cant seem to keep it going all season. Pearce Hanley is a star at the Lions. Great player.

Probably leading their F & B right now. Close to an elite player. Tuohey is better kick but doesn't have the same ability to read the play. 

I watched the Bombers v Pies game at the weekend, i think Aerlik is being very kind to Clarke, he looked lost. The Aussies don't seem to rate him at all.

Seems to have gone backwards since he came back - seems to have lost some zip. Would be surprised if he gets a game when they have a full list to choose from.

" Zac was the only Irish winning player this week."

Brisbane won so I am presuming Hanley was injured?

Hanley was suspended. Whacked someone the week before. Should be back this week.

So finally the first round has come to an end - it was split over two weekends.  Here's  a brief "analysis" of the games:

Adelaide  82 v. Essendon 117
BIG  surprise here, considering the turmoil at the Bombers with allegations of drug misuse.  It was a great game to watch I must admit and some Bombers fans are booking Grand Final tix already.  We'll wait and see.

Fremantle 108 v. West Coast 80
Guess who's happy with this one,    Nuff said.

Carlton 101 v. Richmond 106
As a neutral, what was interesting about this game was Richmond's ability to almost throw it away.  At one point the tigers were over 40 points ahead but some woeful finishing by Carlton ensured this neutral kept watching to see when the next comedy of errors would arise.  Not many complaining about a loss for the Blues.

Western Bulldogs 127 v. Brisbane 59
The second biggest shock of the round.  No one expected this trouncing to occur, especially Bulldogs fans, lol.  I didn't see the game as it was on Fox (spit spit). No reports of any Bulldogs fans buying Grand Finals tickets yet though.

Greater Western Sydney 76 v. Sydney 106
As expected the Swans won but it wasn't all easy going as the Giants pushed them to the last but the greater experience told.  The reigning premiers will need to be at a different level from here on.

Gold Coast 90 v. St. Kilda 77
The shock of the round.  If you can, take a look at Gary Ablett Jr's goal on the run on the left wing kicked with the outside of the right boot.  I listened to this on the wireless and it was enthralling stuff for this neutral.

Melbourne 54 v. Pt. Adelaide 133
I started watching a bit of this and turned it off.  Dear God, woeful... Jim Stynes will be turning in his grave. 

North Melbourne 87 v. Collingwood 103
Another great match for the neutral, apparently, (if such a thing exists when Collingwood plays) moreso for the fact that the Pies held on and dug deep considering the depth of the injuries they had.  I managed to see the last quarter and it was entertaining.  If that is an injury-depleted Collingwood, eeeeeeek

Hawthorn 86 v. Geelong 93
Where do I start?  Awesome stuff, hard, close, exciting, and proof that you can have all the no.1 draft picks you like but there is no substitute for experience.  Again I only caught the last quarter but what a great finish for the neutral. 

It would seem that there are several teams that will be making this a memorable season.  Too early to predict a winner but as a Freo fan...well, ya just never know.  You read it here first. (Ahem don't say you weren't warned!)

Made it to the Geelong and Hawks game on Monday at the G. Decent crowd of 76,300 saw a brilliant physical game. Geelong just too good under extreme pressure. I reckon we (Freo) might have the Hawks covered this year Aerlik especially at home. 

Freo beat the Eagles by 28 last night.  Great start to the season with some really exciting performances which augur well for the rest of the year.  40,000 squeezed into Subiaco and the atmosphere and noise were fantastic.  Even Ewan McGregor had a seat.  Got to feel sympathy for Eagles' Marc LeCras.  Spent all last season on the sideline with a knee injury, then in the third quarter broke his forearm. 

Magnificent team performance from Essendon to beat Adelaide by 36(?) points in Adelaide.  What makes the win more significant is the flak the Bombers got for the drugs-in-sport scandal during the pre-season.

Everyone's favourite is Hawthorn.  Freo play them in Round 4 in Tasmania.  Never easy to beat them and even harder to win in Tasmania.

It is difficult to comment on the rest of the teams having not seen them in action yet, so I'll reserve any comments for the end of this split first round.

G'waaaaan  Freo

Good start by the Purple army. Always good to beat those bastards.

Well Aerlik, as your the man on the ground, whats the expectations for Hawthorns this year?

I see its Hawthorns v Geelong on monday, should be a decent game.

Two other teams I like to keep an eye on are Adelaide Crows and Brissy Lions, any predictions for them?

Hawks have been very ordinary in the preseason but they are probably underdone but are likely top four finishers.

I have the Crows sliding this year (not just because of Friday night). They had the softest draw last year (played both expansion sides twice) and have lost big Kurt. Probably just sneak into the top eight.

The Lions should be a better side this year but probably will just miss the eight. There are probably fourteen teams that could realistically make the top eight this year and Brisbane is one of those. The Lions have some good youngsters are likely to be serious contenders in a couple of years time.