AFL Round 16: I love watching Roos and Tigers game, but I wish it were live

By Steve Healy

I was bored. No one was home. I planned to watch the Richmond v North Melbourne delayed telecast on Channel Seven at three o’clock. Port Adelaide v West Coast was on the radio, and when they mentioned the score I blocked my ears. Why can’t they always show live games? I wish the Beijing Olympics were still on.
Cotchin and Cousins were late withdrawals for the Tigers with flu-like symptoms, and into the side came Jordan McMahon and Mark Coughlan. I was looking forward to this game. Rawlings v Rawlings. A player on one team and a coach on the other. It hadn’t occurred for years. Both teams had some great young players, like Vickery, Post and Nahas for Richmond and Anthony, Adams and Grima along with injured Ziebell and Warren for the Roos.
It’s a great, sunny day at the MCG. Brent Harvey wins the toss and kicks to the city end. The Roos played in completely opposite conditions last week, at the rain-filled Aurora Stadium.
The Kangas look strong early on.  Leigh Adams kicks a ball that bounces over Tambling’s head, which finds Hansen in the square who bangs it through for the first goal of the game. I write down 0-6 on the score sheet. The ball isn’t bounced after the goal. Hansen gets a free and finds himself having a shot on goal from just inside 50. He hits the post. The Tigers press and get the ball down the other end and Robin Nahas snaps a clever goal from a pack.
Richmond starts to run ahead. Riewoldt kicks a goal and then Polo kicks another from forward pressure. Nahas receives a free kick against Brady Rawlings and then manoeuvres magnificently around him to get a great goal from 45. The Tigers are on. Jayden Post takes a strong mark inside 50 but fails to convert. He then takes a great mark at half-forward from the kick-in and then passes to Newman who narrowly misses. The Tigers miss another couple of chances. At quarter-time they lead 4.5 (29) to 1.3 (9), but could be winning by more. Richard Tambling owned the first quarter with 11 disposals and Harvey had the same amount for the Roos.
The second quarter starts and Richmond kick the ball quickly forward. Riewoldt miraculously gets his foot on the ball for his second, although Petrie claimed to have touched it. I was impressed by Richmond’s defence. Silvester was doing a great job on Hale, and Newman and McGuane were rebounding it quickly out of defensive 50. The Roos finally manage to play some attractive footy but don’t get reward for it. McIntosh gets their second to get the margin back to three goals.
The ball comes quickly into attack for Richmond with Newman kicking it into space for Coughlan to kick an easy goal. Hislop marks in front of the un-movable pigeon and kicks another major. Young Levi Greenwood kicks his first career goal to keep the Roos in it. The Tigers get goals through Riewoldt, White and Morton to ignite a seven-goal lead at half-time. The Tiger faithful clapped their team off. Richmond were playing like they haven’t before this year. They seemed to be twice as quick as the Roos.
The third quarter starts well for the Roos, however. Harding takes a screamer and goals from 30. Just when the Roos look to be improving Shane Edwards kicks a brilliant goal from a terrible mistake from North’s defence. The margin is 43 points. North Melbourne continue to waste chances. Firrito and Thomas kick behinds. Harding squeezes through his second for the quarter to give the Roos some hope. The game turned around from here. North Melbourne started repelling forward thrusts and get reward for effort. Hale kicks one, and a ferocious Corey Jones tackle on Silvester results in another goal. Swallow kicks another goal just before the siren, and at three quarter-time it’s 11.9 (75) to 8.11 (59), the Tigers leading. Bruce McAvaney says we are set for a big finish, and for once he is right.
The opening minutes of the last quarter are tight. Brent Harvey starts to have a huge impact on the game. He kicks two in a row to bring North Melbourne within two points. Richmond miss some chances through Hislop, Riewoldt, Nahas and Riewoldt again when he drops an easy mark at crucial stages. David Hale marks right afterwards and kicks a goal from 50 out directly in front.
Tambling marks inside 50 for the Tigers but brushes the inside of the post to level the scores. It was like Fevola all over again. But there is more time left. In a crucial contest, Coughlan slips over and Harding runs into open goal with still over a minute left on the clock. A North Melbourne victory looks likely.
But Richmond quickly get the clearance and Mitch Morton soccers through another. The siren goes with Brent Harvey holding the ball on the half-forward line. It’s a tie. The same score as the draw two years ago between Bulldogs and St Kilda.
I turn the TV off. What a great game to watch.

Richmond  4.5 10.6 11.9 12.13 (85)
North Melbourne 1.3 3.6 8.11 12.13 (85)
Goals
Richmond: Riewoldt 3, Morton 2, Nahas 2, White, Polo, Hislop, Edwards, Coughlan.
North Melbourne: Harding 3, Harvey 2, Hale 2, Swallow, McIntosh, Jones, Greenwood, Hansen.
Best
Richmond: Newman, Tambling, McMahon, Deledio, Morton, Silvester.
North Melbourne: Harvey, Harding, Thompson, McIntosh, Grima, Petrie, Adams.
My Votes: 3. Brent Harvey (NM), 2. Chris Newman (R), 1. Leigh Harding (NM).
Umpires: James, Margetts, Sully.           Crowd: 30,604 at the MCG.

About Steve Healy

Steve Healy is an entity of a Melbourne supporter.

Comments

  1. Damian Watson says

    Was a great game to watch especially in the final term.
    What was your view on David Hale not being paid the mark in the final 30 seconds? I thought it was a fair decision.
    Another flaw in Channel Sevens coverage is their inability to show the team singing their song at the end of the game. I don’t think they showed Hawthorn singing their song after the Grand Final last year.

  2. Steve Healy says

    Thanks for the comment Damo,
    I also think that Haley didn’t have a clean grab of the ball.
    The funny thing about Channel 7 is they always go straight to the news on sundays, about 30 seconds after the game has finished then on Friday nights they usually go on for too long after the game just mentioning other programs on 7.

  3. Danielle says

    David Hale not being paid the mark in the final 30 seconds was CRAP!!
    im sure some North supporters sorta know what it feels like to be a Collingwood fan with umpires being JERKS!!

    nice work Steve.:)
    Danni

  4. Josh Barnstable says

    Channel 7 is surely the most frustrating channel for footy, but they do get some good behind the scenes footage. I also get annoyed when 7 goes straight to an ad break after a goal is kicked, and not just a 15 second ad, an ad that lasts for about a minute.

    Channel 10 is alright but they rely too much on fancy technology like the Powerade Running Man and the Viara Tv awarded to the player adjudged b.o.g. BRING BACK BRYAN TAYLOR AND THE BOYS!!

    p.s. Hale marked it!!

  5. Damian Watson says

    I strongly agree with you Josh.
    I remember Channel 7 was a great channel to view the footy back in the late 90’s and early 2000’s where thay had programs such as Around The Grounds and every interstate game was shown live into Victoria and by the way less ads. Too bad I can only vaguely remember it as I was only 4,5,6 years old at the time.

    I think the current TV Rights deal in Victoria is crap and the FTA coverage isn’t as impressive as it used to be.

  6. Steve Healy says

    Yeah I agree with both of you. The late 90’s coverage on 7 is some of the best ever.
    I have an old tape of the 98 qualfying final between Melbourne and Adelaide on 7 and it’s as good as ever. I’m not sure about both of you but I liked the old score that was “clear” that kind of faded in with the action on TV.

  7. Josh Barnstable says

    I think Seven should return to the days when they didn’t show the score throughout the match, except for when a goal and behind is scored. It would make the close games much more interesting.

  8. Danielle says

    WELL boys i know for sure after recieving an email that Nathan Brown is: ‘okay’
    thats all i got, nothing about if hes playing but just that hes okay.
    they dont let much out from the Lexus center!!
    no word on Presti, as far as im concerned no news is good news?
    Danni

  9. Steve Healy says

    Was the Email from the club? That’s the sort of reply you’d expect to get. They never give away anything.

  10. Danielle says

    yes it was from the club. i wonder who is more annoyed:
    them from my constant “is Nathan Brown okay” emails OR
    me from their two word replies!!

  11. Josh Barnstable says

    Now that you realise it, Collingwood don’t have much depth in their backline. If Presti and Brown go out, who will take on Fev? Goldsack, Leigh Brown, even Chris Dawes maybe?

  12. well ive noticed Mick has faith in..TOOVEY
    checkout the collinwood site where fans had their say on which 22 should be played. the OUT: TOOVEY comments are like 100. dont forget to look for my comment!

  13. Josh Barnstable says

    Well i hope the Magpie faithful want Dawes in the side. He is a good player.

  14. OMG..thats what i put in my comment.
    scarey Joshy you picked the extact same player as me and i commented hours ago!
    Lol great minds think alike!

  15. Steve Healy says

    I think Nick Maxwell should take on Fev. It’s not like you need more than one strong defender against Carlton.

  16. Josh Barnstable says

    I remember Dawes’ first match. He kicked a goal in like the first minute. Then he kicked 4 i think against Adelaide in the Elimination final. Harry O’Brien will probably get some time on Fev.

  17. Steve Healy says

    I thought Dawes was over rated last year. He kicked 2 on debut but managed to play from Round 19-SF with only kicking goals in two games and averaging around 8-9 possessions. He kicked 3 against Adelaide. But now I think he is what the pies need in the forward line due to its inconsistency.

  18. You both have good points.
    but he would be my first choice only because Rusling is still not fit.
    well i better go, i have a History SAC tomorrow, i have no idea what im doing and i havent memorized anything yet!
    know the feeling?
    Cya Danni

  19. Josh Barnstable says

    The Pies should let go of Rusling. He is too injury-prone, and he would be snapped up for a good price in a second by another team.

  20. Steve Healy says

    Yea, Rusling has only played 17 games in 4 years.
    He looks like one of those players whose shoulders are hanging on a thread.

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