AFL Round 1 - Saints, Pies and Eagles Take the 4 Points
I thought Anthony Rocca may play a bit of a decoy role this year as Travis Cloke took over the mantle. But Rocca showed on the weekend that there is still some footy left in him as he still can be a damaging forward. He was outstanding with 6 goals and a Best on Ground Performance in the Pies hard fought win over the Dockers at the MCG and gave the Pies a great start to their 2008 campaign. At the other end of the scale youngster Nathan Brown was superb in defence and proved to the footballing world that he is ready to fill the void left by James Clemment. He forced Matthew Pavlich up the ground to get a touch and Pavlich’s influence on the game was next to nothing. Heath Shaw gave the Pies great run from the back half and Dale Thomas stood up when needed after a slow start. Cloke and Rooca will have to carry the burden in the forward line alone with Sean Rusling going down with a shoulder injury and looks like he may miss a while. Fremantle were disappointing and Mark Harvey went with a more experienced line up to try and get the 4 points, but may have cost him in the end as the Dockers looked to run out of legs when it counted. Their reliance on Pavlich to kick goals was evident and they must find different avenues to goal if they are to compete with the best this year. David Mundy was my best for the Dockers he gave good drive and knocked up getting the footy and ended the day with 26 touches. McPharlin was the best in the forward half finishing with 3 goals.
AFL Footballs Best Negators
It’s official, the Swans are the best negative sides in AFL Football. Any side that comes up against them this year can expect a low scoring ugly battle I reckon. Their ability to stop the opposition from playing their own game and reduce the scoring opportunities is second to none but creates an ugly specticle in my opinion. The fact that the game was close was the only reason that it kept my interest up and I think that Adam Schneider now know how good they are at it. The game was error riddled and I wouldn’t imagine the coaches would be that happy with the way wither side played. Steven King and Michael Clarke were good in the ruck for the Saints and gave the midfield first use. It was fantastic to see Luke Ball running around injury free and dominating the stoppages in the first quarter. Clinton Jones earnt the respect of his teammates with his outstanding mark running with the flight of the ball and being collected by Marty Mattner. Jarryn Geary was another St Kilda youngster than showed he is up tot he standard. Speaking of youngster the Swans also had a couple that caught my eye, Kieran Jack and Jarryd Moore showed they deserve a spot in the Swans lineup. I thought Ryan O’keefe was the best by far for the Swans gathering 18 touches but more importantly negated the dangerous run of Jason Gram from Half Back. Kennely also had a great game gathering 25 touches, 10 of which came in the last quarter and 20 of them were uncontested, showing he was running hard from the backline.
New Look Eagles Midfield
First let me start by saying that there was 2 things that I got out of this game. Jonathon Brown is a superstar and Dean Cox is 
the best modern day ruck man in the AFL. As a ruck man Cox had 22 hit outs of his teams 35 but he gathered 29 touches as well!!! Outstanding, While Brown, well what more needs to be said about this man, he is the most valuable player in Australian Football. He is so imposing and ended the day with 6 goals. The new look Eagles midfield was on display and they did not disappoint. Minus Chris Judd and Ben Cousins, Daniel Kerr and Matt Priddis stepped up to the plate and racked em up with 27 and 29 touches respectively. Kerr looked a bit underdone and looked to run out of legs towards the end and can only get fitter form here (bad news for other on ballers). Simon Black got 30 touches and was great for the Lions while Bradshaw is going to cause some headaches for defenders and ended the game with 3 goals. The Eagles jumped out of the blocks with a 6 goal to 1 first quarter which was probably the difference in the end. Watch out for the Lions though this year, that was a tough ask and they put up a good showing.
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Eagles looked good. Kerr will only get better and then add some of the up and coming midfielders (Masten, Selwood and Ebert) and their midfield dominance will continue..
Collingwood and Fremantle played horrible. Collingwood played less worse and won.
Eagles looked good early but the Lions gave them a scare. Not a great performance from the Eagles. They will need to bring on some youngsters as guys like Fletcher aren’t getting any younger.
Kerr is a legitimate superstar. If he keeps out of trouble on the field this year he will win the Brownlow.
Selwood is a worker but he isn’t go to tear a side apart. And he’s no Cousins or Judd.
Brissy with Brown and Bradshaw firing could surprise a few teams this year. The big fella Leunberger looks promising also.
How long do you have your football? I love football in American and find it so interesting to see what you do in your country.