A Bit of Argy Bargy!!!
Ah here we go, a bit of Argy Bargy happening through the media outlets between the Hawthorn Footy Club and the North Melbourne Footy Club after the Rivalry Round. If anyone saw the incident where Jordan Lewis, who had just come back from suspension, and Daniel Pratt will know that it was nothing more than a silly little love tap. Nevertheless Lewis has been booked and has accepted the 1 match ban. Now Daniel Pratt is considered on of the “hard men” of the AFL and was even in line to take the Number 11 guernsey vacated by “The Shinboner of the Century” Glenn Archer. If that little tap from Lewis needed the reaction that it did from him then what is the world of AFL Football coming too?
It drew a great response from rugged Hawthorn defender Campbell Brown
“For Daniel Pratt, being one of the hard men of the competition, to go down like that, I think, was pathetic,” Brown said.
Now “The Hard Man” Daniel Pratt returned fire, by saying
“I’ll definitely keep it saved up,” he said.
C’mon Daniel get serious!!!
Anyway it will make for an interesting encounter the next time they meat.
The Feathers Fly In The West And The Pies Flex Their Muscles
We had the Showdown in Adelaide and the Derby in Western Australia. Although it didn’t reach the heights of the Adelaide Showdown the Fremantle Dockers would be very pleased they have got their first win on the board. Fremantle Coach Mark Harvey is on fire in these Derby matches. He was won both games he has coached! He was aided by the exceptional performance of skipper Matthew Pavlich with 5 goals and showed all his class. As a coach you would be thanking the gods that you have a player like him in your team, he is simply a STAR.
The Dockers also unearthed first year player Rhys Palmer, who had big wraps on him when he got drafted and on the weekend showed that he deserves that praise. In a tough and torrid game for a first year player to gather 17 touches in the first half and be the reason, along with Pavlich that the Docker were in front was a brilliant effort. He is a player the the Dockers need to hang on to that is for sure. Read more
The South Australian Showdown
Another CRACKING game in AFL Round 3 – Rivalry Round. Adelaide knocked off home town rivals Port Adelaide by 6 points in a physical contest that we have become accustomed to in these games. Peter Burgoyne had a massive 41 Touches and the Cornes brothers were brilliant for the Power but it was not enough to get them over the line. Chad Cornes couldn’t resist the temptation of firing up the Crows crowd with un necessary celebrations after an intercept and long goal. As you would expect there is no love lost between these teams and the tackle from Port player Matt Thomas on Nathan Bassett that left him unconcious was sickening and Thiomas will most certainly gets weeks! Well he should anyway. Read more
That’s A Wrap – Rivalry Round Part 1
Well what a game this was! The Hawks knocked of the North Melbourne side by 16 points in a brilliant come rom behind victory which would now certainly put them at the front of everyones lips when talking about the 2008 Premiership. The Hawks kicked 6 goals to 1 in the final term to run out victors.
Brent Harvey found some form and was outstanding for the Roos and he was very well supported by Daniel Harris and the much maligned Daniel Wells found a bit of touch and was also very good. But is was the two big guns down in the forward line for the Hawks that caused the damage. Lance “Buddy” Franklin and his partner in crime Jarryd Roughead kicked nine goals between them. Maybe the St Kilda bigmen can take a leaf out of their book and watch them to see how they work together and not get in each others way.
Read more
AFL Round 3 Review – Happy 50th Rocket
The Saints started like a house on fire aided by a few handy umpiring decisions and left the 
Doggies shell shocked. The big forwards in Justin Koschitzke and Nick Rieowldt were dominant and to good for the Western Bulldog defenders. The tides turned in the second and the Doggies started to get the ball in the middle of the ground and ran the ball much better than the Saints, and the move of Robert Murphy into the forward half was a key move. Harbrow was lively when he came on and gave the Doggie forwards some enthusiasm. Brad Johnson found himself to far up the ground kick chasing and couldn’t get into the game at all. Which is actually a good sign for the Western Bulldogs.
After quarter time the Saints midfield were being well an truly beaten and their big forwards went missing, actually all their forwards went missing. They had no flow, no run and looked sluggish. The pressure the bulldogs put on in the middle was the key for the turnaround. Cooney, Cross, Gia, West, Hill, Griffen, Addison and White all got going and dominated. Will Minson, while not getting a lot of the pill just created some great contests up forward and on some occasions just hit the packs hard and caused the crumbs where Akermanis and the like were ready to pounce and capatalize. In what looked to be a huge worry for the Doggies before the game and during the first quarter was the Saints talls inside forward 50, but after quarter time it became an issue for the Saints as they just could not find different avenues to goal and that cost them the game. Coach Ross Lyons desperately needs to find different scoring options down there as opposition sides are going to look at this game and quickly work out how to handle their Power Forwards. They have a lot of work to do the Saints while the Bulldogs are on the up. Much was spoken about the hardness of the Western Bulldogs over the last few years but that was one of their best traits on Friday Night and are showing that they can match the in and under stuff with anyone.
A great win by Doggies and they now find themselves 3 – 0 and now they can sit back and get ready for the Bombers next week.
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AFL Round 3 – Adelaide v Port, Geelong v Melbourne, Richmond v Collingwood
This is one of the most lop sided games in AFL History, Geelong versus Melbourne at Skilled Stadium. The word from Demon Land is “competitive”, coach Dean Bailey wants them to be competitive. Well they haven’t been in the past two games and the motivation for the Demons as they drive down the Highway will be zero, although they will say they are in with a shot of winning the game.
Geelong will SMASH Melbourne and as I have said before their only hope is if the Mercy Rule can be applied. There is no part on the ground that Melbourne can win. Jmmy Bartel and Gary Ablett are in danger of breaking the world record for the number of possessions in a game and Steve Johnson is likely to kick a bag.
Good Luck Demons, you are going to need it. At the time of writing this the Cats are paying $1.02 for the win and the Demons $17 at SportsAcumen. Anyone willing to take a punt on the Demons? Read more
Daniel Kerr vs Josh Carr
Now this will be a contest to watch this weekend! These 2 are a couple of the toughest going around in the AFL at the minute and will lock horns again in the Derby this weekend. Carr has a lot of respect for Kerr and rates him above Ben Cousins and Chris Judd. Now that is a compliment. I don’t know I would go that far but he is certainly up there in the top couple of mid fielders in the game.
In Round 18 last year Josh Carr put on a massive hip and shoulder on Daniel Kerr that set the tone for their battle. I don’t know if you remember but Carr won the Ross Glendinning Medal for best afield and was booed by the crowd.
“I probably thought he was the engine room, when they needed someone to stand up he was always the one that got them going, he is always in there feeding it out to the other guys,” Carr said.
There is always some sort of punch up in these games, lets hope we see some good hard footy, maybe a few punch ups as well.
AFL Football Round 3 – Essendon vs Carlton, Brisbane vs Sydney
No matter where these 2 teams are on the ladder this game is always a game to remember. The Bombers were taught a footballing lesson last week and now well and truly know where the top level is at. While The Blues started well against the Saints last week before being over run. Brendan Fevola has given in and sworn off the alcohol, let’s see what game he brings to the MCG on Saturday night. Because he is the key as to whether the Blues can kick enough goals to win the game. Chris Judd has had a quiet start to the season and is still gaining his match fitness, while Nick Stevens, who was labeled “Overweight” by Essendon great Tim Watson on SEN Radio the other morning is going OK in m opinion. The Blues mid fielders are relishing the fact the Judd is commanding the best tagger and the likes of Stevens, Murphy, Simpson are gaining plenty of the ball. They match up pretty well these 2 teams and it will be a good test for the Blues to see if they can get a grip on the fast paced Bomber game plan. Read more
AFL Round 3 – North Melbourne vs Hawthorn and West Coast vs Fremantle
The Gimmick of Rivalry Round Continues on Saturday afternoon when the North Melbourne Football Club tackle the Hawthorn Football Club. Both teams had good wins in Round 2 with the Hawks probably the most impressive of the to in their win over the Fremantle Dockers at Subiaco Oval. The Hawks will be without Stuart Dew who looks set to miss a month with a hamstring. While the Kangaroos had good win over the battling Tigers. Corey Jones was in brilliant touch booting 7 goals. The Kangaroos small forwards were dominant as they kicked 16 of their 20 goals. That is an area that the Hawk defense will need to cover well. At the other end of the ground the Hawks forward line is extremely potent with Franklin, Roughead and Boyle leading the charge and with the inclusion of Cyril Rioli, well it is looking very very dangerous. The Kangaroo defenders will have their work cut out for them. They are really going to need some support further up the ground from the midfield so the delivery into the forward 50 is done under pressure. The midfield will see some great battles with Mitchell, Hodge, Sewell etc up against Harvey, Harris, Simpson and co. This is a real pivotal battle and will go a long way to determine who wins this battle. North Melbourne pride themselves on winning the stoppages and the Hawks have got the best in the business Sam Mitchell there so it will be a great tussle. Read more
AFL Round 3 – Rivalry Round
Well AFL Football Round 3 is Rivalry Round and it all gets underway on Friday Night between St Kilda and the Western Bulldogs. I am not quite sure where the rivalry is here but anyway, maybe someone can enlighten me. The Saints are not really in great form by their standards but continue to get the 4 points. Which is actually a really good sign for St Kilda fans.
They started slowly last week but were good enough to get over the top of the Carlton Football Club. The big boys down in the forward line were getting in each other way last week and I am sure Ross Lyon has been trying to work out a strategy so they can all work together down there. The G-Train was the pick of the big fellas last week, but I am positive that Justin Koschitzke and Nick Riewoldt will not be outdone this week. Stephen Milne I think can smell a bit of competition now with Adam Schneider being brought into the team as another small crumbing forward and Milne might just have to keep lifting his standards and consistency if he is to remain in the side. He did just that last week with 4 goals and Schneider was hot on his tail with 2 majors. That is good news for the coaching staff and fans as that sort of competition could be good for the teams; performance. The St Kilda midfield of Montagna, X Clarke, Hayes, Ball were great last week and will face a more experienced group this week. Read more
