AFL Round 15: Blues invent Fevolutionary goals on a windy day at the MCG

By Damian Watson

Don’t you just love Saturday afternoons!

It is a day where the weekend dawns and the smell of footy is in the air all around Victoria with the prospect of local footy,VFL and AFL matches to look forward too. As a teenager I will treasure these moments for a long time to come.

Not on this particular Saturday however as I am confined to the couch recovering from another lethal dose of the flu and seething on the fact I will miss heading to the MCG to see the Blues play an important game against the Tigers. As I look out the window I realise my parents may have a point as it is a very chilly, windy and cloudy atmosphere outside. Could those factors have an effect on the game?

As I witness the first quarter on TV it is an obvious problem on the ground with many kicks not hitting targets and a high mark seemed impossible to take (the pie wrappers were also a problem). The Blues start the match in blistering fashion with the underrated Brad Fisher kicking the opener in less than 20 seconds. At this stage I am thinking surely this should be a clinical day for Carlton. However it appears that Richmond own the scoring end of the ground (Punt Road end) when Brett Deledio’s 60m kick sails through the big sticks with ease. The Blues hit back however as the Tigers once again crumble under pressure in defence allowing an easy goal to the excitement machine Eddie Betts. Tiger forward Jack Riewoldt proved a lively target and converted a couple of goals to keep the Tigers noses in front at quarter time however I felt the Blues had the advantage as they kicked well against the wind and made the most of their opportunities. Chris Judd is surely the best player in the competition with his ability to break packs open and create passages of play that astound every supporter. The midfielders Shaun Grigg, Bryce Gibbs and Andrew Carazzo were picking up plenty of touches and delivering well. On the other side of the coin Ben Cousins was having a field day picking up plenty of possessions in the midfield. Fev on the other hand barely felt the leather in the opening term, dropping marks and becoming frustrated.

“Here we go again”, I thought to myself expecting another poor performance from the angry Fev. How wrong I would be!

The Blues and Fev in particular were on fire in the second quarter kicking 6 goals to 3 for the term. Fevola returned to form kicking four for the quarter and for the first time in a long while everything bounced his way, he was certainly in the zone. Young Greg Bentley in the 47 guernsey gained some confidence kicking a long range goal to give the Blues a handy lead.  As much as it has been a miserable year for the Tigers a couple of young guns showed glimpses of a bright future. Young Jayden Post looked a likely type taking a huge mark on the members wing and taking providing a target on the half forward line, and ruckman Tyrone Vickery is a very tall and strong player that can transfer into the forward line and kick a couple of goals. However the Richmond team lacked polish as they moved the ball forward, leaving them trailing by 20 points at the main break.

The story of the third term was certainly the Tigers inaccuracy kicking 1.8 for the quarter while dominating possession. Mitch Morton and Jack Riewoldt were the worst of the offenders kicking 2 behinds each from relatively easy shots with the aid of the wind. At the other end of the ground Brendan Fevola made this game look ridiculously easy kicking three unbelievable goals for the term. He started the quarter kicking a major from 50m against the wind for his 5th. Fevola then had to contend with new opponent Luke McGuane who did his best to control a fiery Fevola defeating him in one on one contests. McGuane’s confidence would falter as Fev kicked a ridiculous overhead volley goal that would make even Christiano Ronaldo look with envy. For the first time in the afternoon I came to my feet and made a loud croaky cheer. The four goals that Carlton manufactured for the term really hurt the Tigers who were kicking with the wind and the Blues held a commanding 31 point lead at the last change.

Fev equalled his personal best of 8 goals early in the final term to make the margin a comfortable 39 points. With the game seemingly over I was keenly waiting for Fev’s 9th to break his duck. However the Blues had other worries as the Tigers clawed their way back and with 5 minutes remaining I was worried as a loss looked a possibility. Jack Riewoldt had the chance to reduce the margin to 9 points however he hooked the kick out on the full to sum up another disappointing day for the Tigers. Ruckman Matthew Kreuzer kicked his first to seal the game and Fev added his 9th with a defiant little fist pump and thumped the ball into Row 136 of the Great Southern Stand.

I now feel unwell but equally relieved as the mighty Blues outlasted the Tigers by 20 points to establish a comfortable top 8 spot. As I swallow my 100th cough lolly for the day I reflect on another victorious Saturday and hope I am well enough to enjoy next Saturday.

Carlton 3.3  9.8  13.9  16.13 (109)
Richmond 3.4  6.6  7.14  12.17 (89)

GOALS
Carlton: Fevola 9, Fisher, Betts, Gibbs, Murphy, Bentley, Carrazzo, Kreuzer
Richmond: Riewoldt 3, Nahas 2, Deledio 2, Vickery 2, Morton, Newman, King

My Votes: 3. B. Fevola               2. C.Judd                          1. S.Grigg

Crowd: 50,784 at the MCG

About Damian Watson

Hey,my name is Damian Watson and I am 14 years old. My ambition is to become an AFL broadcaster/journalist in the future. I am a keen blues supporter and I live in the Eastern suburbs of Melbourne. I play and write for the Knox Falcons U/16's.

Comments

  1. Steve Healy says

    Gee, bad luck Damian, missing two games from sickness. I hate being sick and not being able to go to the footy.

    Do you usually go to see the Blues play?

    Fev was brilliant, but I think he was going a bit over the top when he kicked that one from the boundary and hi-fived the crowd though. Vickery looks brilliant for the Tigers, he was out marking Thornton at full forward.

  2. Damian Watson says

    Thanks Steve,

    I usually attend every Blues game that is played in Melbourne and hopefully I will be fine next week to see our clash against the Swannies.

    To be honest I am not a huge fan of Fev and I think Sam Newman was right when he mentioned that Fev has the attention span of a whip fly! But when Fev is red hot he is unstoppable.

    Tyrone Vickery should be a great player for the tigers in the future, when he came to my school he was unbelievably tall and if he gets stronger he might become the next Paul Salmon.

  3. Steve Healy says

    Yeah, Vickery’s 200cm and could grow another couple at his age.

    Even though it’s only Round 15, I think Fev will almost definitley win the Coleman medal.

    What school do you go to?

  4. Damian Watson says

    Emmaus College, its not really a footy dominated school the only AFL player that was a student here was Kieran McGuiness a former Bulldogs player.
    What About you?

  5. Steve Healy says

    De La Salle,

    Only two players I know of who went there- Andrew Carrazzo and Trent Croad.

  6. Josh Barnstable says

    I know what you mean about the flu. I recently had it and it’s probably the worst week i’ve suffered through. I took a lot of medication after the first couple of days and probably a dozen cough lollies a day. But after i felt even worse after all the yucky medicine, I went on a personal strike that i would refuse any cough lollies, aspro drinks or plain cough mixture as it didn’t help and i had to just accept that the flu is something you need to get over naturally.

Leave a Comment

*