Adelaide were competitive for a quarter tonight against the Western Bulldogs but got thrashed again. They are now 0-5 and no team has ever made the finals from that position.

Saw the game this morning. I'm going to assume it's tough to make the finals when all you can do is connect 3-4 hand passes in a row, much less miss every free kick from the arc.

#10 on Western Bulldogs is quite a player. I suppose any Aussie Rules team worth its salt needs that short baldheaded player who kicks tons of goals.

Did you see Neil Craig at three-quarter time, wandering aimlessly around, frowning at his clip-board, the players ignoring him? A real inspiration....

jason voorhees wrote:
Saw the game this morning. I'm going to assume it's tough to make the finals when all you can do is connect 3-4 hand passes in a row, much less miss every free kick from the arc.


Adelaide might do a bit better if someone explained to them that they are playing Australian FOOTball and you are allowed to kick it.

They had 227 handballs last night and just 165 kicks.

trimster wrote:
Did you see Neil Craig at three-quarter time, wandering aimlessly around, frowning at his clip-board, the players ignoring him? A real inspiration....

That frown is permanent now I think. It's the SA showdown next week with the Crows as the home team. If they lose that Craig will need a police escort off the ground.

Last year, there were 2 unbeaten teams going into round 14. This year, everybody has lost a game by round 5 after Brisbane and St Kilda’s defeats last night.

Brisbane, incredibly, were given a 50 point thrashing by Melbourne a team that were certain to finish second bottom before the start of the season. Melbourne have won 3 in a row and it would have been 4 but for a dropped mark in the goalsquare 2 seconds before the end of their 1 point defeat to Collingwood.

St Kilda turned in their worst performance in a long time (since 2008 at least) losing to Port at AAMI Stadium by 10 points. It would be easy to blame the absence of Nick Riewoldt for the defeat especially as Justin Koschitzke had an absolute nightmare of a game in the forward line. In fact, the injury during the week to Jason Gram was just as significant. He leads St Kilda’s stats for disposals inside 50 and his run from midfield was sorely missed last night. It was a bad game for St Kilda to lose because this Friday’s game against the Western Bulldogs is one game that can’t be won without Riewoldt.

The one highlight of the game was an extraordinary goal from Stephen Milne which was greeted by the commentators with a slightly over the top cry of “goal of the century!”

Port's desperation and physical commitment never allowed St Kilda to settle and play good football. The Saints' final score of six goals, eight behinds was a very poor effort considering they were playing an inconsistent, mid-table side like Port... they certainly do miss Riewoldt.

I've just realised that Port have the date "1870" on the back of their shirt collars. This refers to the fact that the Port Adelaide Magpies were founded in the year 1870, and that Port Power thus regard themselves as inheritors of that tradition. Whether this is true or not, is still the subject of intense debate in South Australia....

For the first time in years Port will go into the Showdown as redhot favourites.

trimster wrote:
I've just realised that Port have the date "1870" on the back of their shirt collars. This refers to the fact that the Port Adelaide Magpies were founded in the year 1870, and that Port Power thus regard themselves as inheritors of that tradition. Whether this is true or not, is still the subject of intense debate in South Australia.

Port have asked the AFL for permission to wear a magpie on their guernsey for the round 10 match with Richmond to mark the 140th anniversary of the club.

Not surprisingly, Eddie McGuire and Collingwood have reacted furiously.

The debate about who should play in the ANZAC Day blockbuster continues. Supporters of the staus quo will have been heartened by another 90,000 plus crowd for yesterday's Collingwood-Essendon game. Those who want change, however, will point to the fact that the game was over as a contest before quarter time. If the 2 best teams, rather than the 2 best supported, were playing we might get a match worthy of the occasion.

In an intriguing twist, the AFL revealed yesterday that the government of NSW had made a "substantial" offer to host the game. The prospect of 80,000 people watching 2 Melbourne clubs play in Sydney has an obvious appeal but it's hard to imagine the NRL and the NSW taxpayer being happy.

Who was that Geelong player convicted of having drugs on him and got off a trafficing charge.
I presume they ripped up his contract and kicked him out. No?

Mathew Stokes was suspended by Geelong for 7 matches. Had he been convicted of drug trafficking, he would have received a 4 year ban (and possibly a prison sentence). Out of season possession of a stimulant is not prohibited under the WADA code.

Ten minutes from the end of last night’s match at Etihad Stadium, I was thinking “no Riewoldt, no St Kilda.” Having kicked a miserable 6 goals against Port last week, St Kilda had managed just 4 in three and a half quarters. Remarkably, we were only 15 points down because the Western Bulldogs had only kicked 6. The match had been an almost constant arm wrestle with huge numbers of players around each stoppage and defensive zones making effective inside 50 entries almost impossible. St Kilda, in particular, just couldn’t take a mark inside 50.

On the back of this, the last 10 minutes was like a different match – the greatest 10 minute match I’ve ever seen. It started with a blunder by Bulldogs’ defender Tom Williams which allowed Stephen Milne to run clear and dribble a goal with the outside of his foot. It was about an inch away from hitting the post. I wouldn’t say it was game on at this point but there was a glimmer of hope. Then a long ball into the goalsquare dropped to the ground as a huge pack of players attempted to mark it. It fell at the feet of David Armitage who sidefooted a goal. The away end erupted, the Bulldogs fans fell into stunned silence and, as the Bulldogs players stood around looking bewildered, the Saints players were pumping their fists. It suddenly felt like something remarkable was about to happen. St Kilda edged forward again and there was a ball up deep in the forward 50. Adam Schneider emerged from the pack with the ball and flicked a handball to defender Sam Fisher. Fisher had no room to move in a congested forward line and no time to think. From a standing start, he kicked it goalwards very high in the air. Every St Kilda fan in the ground was standing up as the ball took an eternity to go through the sticks. Cue bedlam in the stands. You’d have thought it was a winning goal in September.

This was the lowest aggregate score ever for a match at Docklands and St Kilda’s lowest winning score (49) since 1960.

Adelaide are getting better - they were ahead for three quarters in the SA showdown yesterday but they are now 0-6. The good news is they play Richmond next week; the bad news is it's too late to start a run to the finals.

Another pre-season finals certainty are also in big trouble. Hawthorn are 1-5 after losing to Essendon. That 2008 premiership now looks like a complete fluke.

The Crows were actually in a winning position at three quarter time of the showdown, and had looked more likely winners for much of the game...but incredibly fell flat on their faces in the last quarter to lose by four goals.

Craig is now resisting cries from the fans to "axe the tired old legs..." Presumably of Tyson Edwards, Andrew MacLeod and Birdman Burton (I forget his christian name...)

The only reason McLeod, Goodwin and Edwards are playing this year is because Adelaide believed they could win the premiership. All 3 of them will be 34 before the end of the year. Burton is a couple of years younger.

Now that they can't make the finals, what's the point in playing them ahead of youngsters who could be picking up valuable experience? Neil Craig has argued that young players will benefit from playing alongside experienced players but can he really justify having all 3 of them in the team at the same time? On the other hand, can you dump 3 club legends 16 weeks before the end of the season after specifically asking them to play on? Goodwin and Edwards are 2 of the Crows' greatest ever players. As for Andrew McLeod, he is one of the greats of the modern era at any club and certainly the best Scottish/Indigenous player ever.

Western Bulldogs fans are the biggest whingers in the AFL (they remind me a lot of Hibs fans) and they've been moaning all week about being "robbed" by St Kilda last Friday. Well, tonight's hugely undeserved last gasp win over injury ravaged Melbourne should shut them up. It was a great game with a sickening finish especially as Melbourne appeared to have 2 goals awarded as behinds and lost by 4 points.

During the commentary, Tom Harley compared last week's game to a soccer match (St Kilda 7 goals, Western Bulldogs 6) and co-commentator Bruce McAveney displayed a remarkable knowledge of world sport by pointing out that a Scottish Premier League game between Motherwell and Hibs had finished 6-6 during the week. He even added that one team had been 6-2 up. Bruce has soared in my estimation. Nobody in the commentary box responded - they probably had no idea what a Motherwell or a Hibs actually is.

This was what happened before the game - the field of women, 14,000 people in pink standing on the MCG to raise awareness of breast cancer.

At the start of 2009, Hawthorn were reigning premiers and had the youngest list in the AFL - an precedented situation. They looked set to dominate for years. Since the 2008 grand final, they have won 10 of 29 games and only 2 against top 8 teams. Today's defeat by West Coast is their 6th in a row and, at 1-6, they will miss the finals again.

Adelaide legend Mark Ricciuto said during the week that Crows' supporters would burn down AAMI Stadium if they lost to Richmond. Early in the final quarter, the ground was in serious trouble with scores level but Adelaide pulled away for a 50 point win.

Meanwhile, Fremantle are 6-1. They only won 6 games in the whole of 2008 and 2009 but are now near certain finalists and possibly even top 4 contenders. They are home to the form team of the competition, Collingwood, in a hugely appetising game this Friday so we should get a good indication of where they are really at.

The AFL have apologised to Melbourne for the colour clash on Friday between the Melbourne tops and those worn by the umpires. At least 3 times during the game Melbourne players mistakenly handballed to the umpires.

I spent much of Sunday looking for the St Kilda vs Carlton result... only to finally learn this morning that it is being played tonight. What are the AFL trying to do, keep their fixtures secret, or something? What is the point of a Monday night game?

As for the Crows, for three quarters of yesterday's game they looked likely to lose to Richmond. The 50 point win after the Tigers' last quarter collapse really flattered the Crows.