The Aussie Rules Football Thread - The Greatest Game On Earth

[RichieH]

That was rubbish. The Dockers could have taken that. Round 8 and three teams without a loss. Can't remember ever seeing that!!

[Crow Boy]

That was rubbish. The Dockers could have taken that. Round 8 and three teams without a loss. Can't remember ever seeing that!!

Wonder if they will do a Saint's trick of getting that far and then exploding

(we can only hope with the Crows on fourth slot)

CB

[RichieH]

Yep classic coaching error that - 10 wins without loss and noobie coach - Grant Thomas decides to let the boys skip training one night and head to the cinema instead. Press galore! Lost the next four fames on the trot from memory.

Good to see Geelong get knocked off finally and they didn't just get beat they got FLOGGED and by the pies too! Micky Malthouse is a genius in my books. As much as I can't stand Collingwood!

[RichieH]

Bloody Saints - Arguably the best lineup on paper and they just play a rubbish brand of football. Started the season as second favorites for the flag and we are plain useless..... Hate Football sometimes.

[RichieH]

See the Dogs got beat after the siren! Heartbreaking stuff for Bully supporters.

Means the Hawks are the only unbeaten team and at Rd9 that is incredible!

[Crow Boy]

Round wrap: round nine

By Ben Broad and Jason Phelan 12:44 PM Mon 26 May, 2008

Round wrap: The Pies kicked off a week of upsets on Friday night

What a cracker … Western Bulldogs v North Melbourne

The Bulldogs looked to have the edge for a large portion of this contest, but you just can’t count out the Roos in a milestone match. Brent Harvey means a lot to this club and his teammates worked their fingers to the bone to give ‘Boomer’ a win in his 250th game.

The man himself won’t remember a great deal of it after he was concussed in the first quarter, but there were plenty of eyewitnesses who can fill him in on his teammates’ heroics during the highly-entertaining match.

Sure Brad Johnson could have won it for the Dogs, but the football gods revealed a soft spot for the Shinboners when they eased his shot after the final siren wide.

Player of the round … David Neitz

He didn’t actually kick a ball in anger, but we couldn’t resist doffing the cap in the Melbourne champ’s direction in the week he announced his retirement from the game he’s served with such distinction.

‘Neita’ was very much a part of the Demons’ steely display against the unbeaten Hawks on Sunday with his impassioned address to the players before they broke through the banner inspiring his teammates to play with a hard edge that very nearly caused the upset of the season in a round of upsets.

Rest up now, big fella; you’ve earned it.

Coach of the Round … Mick Malthouse

Bringing down the seemingly unbeatable is an almighty achievement. But pulling their pants down?

Collingwood was left a little red-faced itself just a few weeks back when the Hawks belted the Pies at the MCG. But three weeks later Mick Malthouse’s team, usually so competitive, smashed Geelong by 86 points.

The win turned the competition on its head and showed that by playing sustained, relentless pressure footy no team is unbeatable.

It takes a special man to instill the kind of belief in his team to belt the reigning premiers by 14 goals. The kind of man who sprouts things like: "The ox is slow but the earth is patient."

Now who can argue with that?

What we learned … or perhaps already suspected

The Saints, it seems, probably aren’t all they’re cracked up to be.

Ross Lyon has lambasted his team for being soft in the wake of its 46-point loss to the Brisbane Lions, its second straight defeat. But the Saints’ record isn’t all that surprising, despite their promising pre-season form.

They have much the same list as 2007 (when they missed the finals) but have thrown in a couple of promising types and one or two discards. It seems, however, that this much-vaunted playing list has been over-hyped for too long and while they may make the eight, going all the way certainly looks beyond them.

One for the vault … Dale Thomas’ big goal

He only kicked one on the night and it sure didn’t make any difference to the outcome of the match, but ‘Daisy’s’ goal late in the game would have made Peter Daicos proud.

Not content to just do an effective job on Brownlow Medallist Jimmy Bartel, Thomas injected a bit of wizardry into proceedings when he scooped up a loose ball deep in the pocket and bounced it through the big sticks with the outside of his boot under close attention.

How's stat … ‘one’

… is the number of goals resulting from interchange infringements in the first round when the new rules came into effect. It took until Saturday night, but it was only a matter of time until someone made history with the dubious ‘honour’ going to West Coast debutant Tim Houlihan.

The young Eagle didn’t quite time his change with second-gamer Ryan Davis right, leading to Adelaide’s Ivan Maric booting his side’s only goal in the final term.

Happily for all concerned it made no difference to the end result.

The Mighty Hath Fallen

First the Cats on Friday night and then the Bulldogs on Sunday – two of the AFL’s three undefeated sides heading into round nine fell by the wayside and it was very nearly three from three.

After the Dees gave Hawthorn one heck of a fright, Alastair Clarkson’s men scraped home to leave them sitting pretty atop the table with nine straight wins.

All the attention will turn to the men in brown and gold now, and how long they can maintain their winning run. And they don’t have to wait long for a stern test, with a round-10 meeting with the Doggies sure to create plenty of interest.

Ingenious Round

We’re sure those at AFL House are grinning from ear to ear this week after Indigenous Round was again a huge hit.

Was it just here at afl.com.au, or did it seem that the themed round brought out the best in many of our game’s Indigenous stars?

Several appeared to find something extra at different stages to inspire their sides; Goodes, O’Loughlin, Bateman, Rioli, Mark Williams, Aaron Davey.

Actually, come to think of it, is there ever a round when the game's Indigenous talent isn't putting on a show?

So, how’d we go everyone?

Well, it sure was a tough one for the tipsters.

In fact we suggest that anyone who says they got eight from eight is straight out lying. If you managed to put $1 on TAB Sportsbet’s AFL Tip 8, you would have received a nice little return of $414!

It was a nightmare round on the tipping front, but it sure did help sort out a few office comps. But relax everyone, round 10 does look a little easier … perhaps.

There's always next round for … Adelaide

The Crows have impressed so far this season, but they put in a performance that had cartoon stink lines coming off it against West Coast. Everything that could go wrong did go wrong for them with turnovers and skill errors aplenty in a display worthy of the Washington Generals.

The Eagles, of course, had a large hand in this, but it’s a fair bet Adelaide’s players will come out breathing fire against the Bombers at AAMI Stadium on Friday night.

The views in this story are those of the author and not necessarily those of the club.

Exclusive to AFL BigPond Network

[Crow Boy]

It has been written and said before but this was a weekend of upsets. Some very good football (Dogs v Roos), a controversial call (penalty against the Eagles for interchange infringement), a big upset (Pies v Cats) and a truly crap game (Crows v Eagles). Good to see the Tigers come up against the Bombers.

Congratulations to the teams that won, commiserations to the losers and the bombers had better watch out because Adelaide will be coming out with a vengeance after the humiliating and deservedly scathing press they got during the week.

CB

[RichieH]

Some really great games on the weekend. Such a brutal rounds and so many upsets. Bring on the next round i say!

[Crow Boy]

Some really great games on the weekend. Such a brutal rounds and so many upsets. Bring on the next round i say!

Certainly made tipping the round difficult except for the people who tip with their heart and not their head. Not a bad payout of $414 on a $1 bet.

CB

[ozzydom]

A joke for the Aussie rules supporters.

Three football fans were on their way to a game when one noticed a foot

> sticking out of the bushes by the side of the road.

> They stopped and discovered a nud_e female dead.

>

> Out of respect and propriety, the Carlton fan took off his cap and placed it

> over her right breast.

>

> The Richmond fan took off his cap and placed it over her left breast.

> Following their lead, the Collingwood fan took off his cap and placed it

> over her crotch.

>

> The police were called and when the officer arrived, he conducted his

> inspection.

>

> First, he lifted up the Carlton cap, replaced it and wrote down some notes.

>

> Next, he lifted the Richmond cap, replaced it and wrote down some more

> notes.

>

> The officer then lifted the Collingwood cap, replaced it, then lifted it

> again, replaced it, lifted it a third time, and replaced it one last

> time.

>

> The Collingwood fan was getting upset and finally asked, 'What are

> you, a pervert or something? Why do you keep lifting and looking, lifting

> and looking?'

>

> 'Well,' said the officer. 'I am simply surprised; normally when I look under

> a Collingwood hat, I find an a*#ehole.....

[Crow Boy]

A joke for the Aussie rules supporters.

> 'Well,' said the officer. 'I am simply surprised; normally when I look under

> a Collingwood hat, I find an a*#ehole.....

Could be worse - he could be a Demon's supported

CB

(Gaaaarn the Crows)

[Crow Boy]

The Crows managed (struggled) to get a win over the Dons

Adelaide 1.6 4.7 7.16 9.20 (74)

Essendon 3.3 5.5 7.6 10.9 (69)

CB

(who will accept any win we can get )

[ozzydom]

The Crows managed (struggled) to get a win over the Dons

Adelaide 1.6 4.7 7.16 9.20 (74)

Essendon 3.3 5.5 7.6 10.9 (69)

CB

(who will accept any win we can get )

So will I ,(if we get one).

[Crow Boy]

AFL Inspirational posters

[Crow Boy]

More like "makes living in Melbourne bearable" - needs a lot more to make Adelaide bearable

CB

[Crow Boy]

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[Crow Boy]

Watching the Swans v Tigers game - looking good if you like Red and White - pretty horrible if your team is dressed in Black and Gold

CB

[Crow Boy]

Big win for the Crows against the Tigers. Adelaide went into the game as red hot favourite but were outplayed by the Tigers especially in the first quarter. After half time they came out with a lot more focus and their superior skill level came to the front.

Also good to see that big girl Richards make a compete prat of himself for a set shot. Wonder who he blamed for that

CB

[ozzydom]

Big win for the Crows against the Tigers. Adelaide went into the game as red hot favourite but were outplayed by the Tigers especially in the first quarter. After half time they came out with a lot more focus and their superior skill level came to the front.

Also good to see that big girl Richards make a compete prat of himself for a set shot. Wonder who he blamed for that

CB

Richards plays for the Swans CB , or are you referring to " Son of Bull '" Richmonds best player on the day.?

[Crow Boy]

Big win for the Crows against the Tigers. Adelaide went into the game as red hot favourite but were outplayed by the Tigers especially in the first quarter. After half time they came out with a lot more focus and their superior skill level came to the front.

Also good to see that big girl Richards make a compete prat of himself for a set shot. Wonder who he blamed for that

CB

Richards plays for the Swans CB , or are you referring to " Son of Bull '" Richmonds best player on the day.?

Correction - should have been Richardson not Richards

Adelaide 5.3 7.5 15.11 22.14 (146)

Richmond 6.2 9.7 11.9 14.12 (96)

GOALS

Adelaide: Thompson 6, Jericho 5, Porplyzia 3, Vince 3, Edwards 2, Douglas, Knights, Tippett

Richmond: Richardson 3, Simmonds 2, Bowden 2, Pettifer, Polak, Deledio, Cotchin, Edwards, Pattison, Foley

BEST

Adelaide: Thompson, Shirley, Edwards, Jericho, Vince, Porplyzia

Richmond: Brown, Cotchin, Deledio, Richardson, Newman

Must saw that while you think that Richo was there best on ground there were other players who did more including one Scott Thompson from Adelaide.

btw - I invited a mate to join us here on the thread - he is a Tiger fan but apart from that a thoroughly decent guy. You will recognise him by his nickname if/when he fronts

CB

[ozzydom]

[ quote ]

Must saw that while you think that Richo was there best on ground there were other players who did more including one Scott Thompson from Adelaide.

[/ quote ]

NO No CB ,I said Richmonds best player, not B.O.G.

Yep, Scotty had a great game , shame he isnt still with the Demons.

[Crow Boy]

[ quote ]

Must saw that while you think that Richo was there best on ground there were other players who did more including one Scott Thompson from Adelaide.

[/ quote ]

NO No CB ,I said Richmonds best player, not B.O.G.

Yep, Scotty had a great game , shame he isnt still with the Demons.

I am one who is happy that he is with the crows. Just wait until the day the demons move to Launceston and become the Tassie Devils. Half of the Melbourne teams will lose some of their best players who became released from contract if they choose to go back home and play.

Couple of interesting games this weekend

Bulldogs gave the power a lesson in football but to be fair to power they gave a bunch of young and inexperienced players a chance to learn the difference between the SANFL and the AFL on centre stage. I hope the lesson in the difference between occupying a space in the forward 50m arc and manning up was well and truly learned.

CB