Mid-season review: from Josh Barnstable

by Josh Barnstable

So, after Round 11 and approaching the mid-season break, just how does each club stand in the Premiership race that is hotting up by the round? And what about the very close Coleman Medal?

Ladder:

1st St Kilda

Played=11

Won=11

Lost=0

Points for=1160

Points against=633

%=183.25

Points=44

2nd Geelong

Played=11

Won=11

Lost=0

Points for=1293

Points against=845

%=153.02

Points=44

3rd Western Bulldogs

Played=11

Won=7

Lost=4

Points for=1206

Points against=1040

%=115.96

Points=28

4th Carlton

Played=11

Won=6

Lost=5

Points for=1151

Points against=984

%=116.97

Points=24

5th Collingwood

Played=11

Won=6

Lost=5

Points for=1024

Points against=951

%=107.68

Points=24

6th Brisbane Lions

Played=11

Won=6

Lost=5

Points for=1014

Points against=1000

%=101.40

Points=24

7th Hawthorn

Played=11

Won=6

Lost=5

Points for=1034

Points against=1050

%=98.48

Points=24

8th Port Adelaide

Played=11

Won=6

Lost=5

Points for=1045

Points against=1078

%=96.94

Points=24

9th Adelaide

Played=11

Won=6

Lost=5

Points for=988

Points against=1030

%=95.92

Points=24

10th Sydney

Played=11

Won=5

Lost=6

Points for=999

Points against=1036

%=96.43

Points=20

11th Essendon

Played=11

Won=5

Lost=6

Points for=1005

Points against=1069

%=94.01

Points=20

12th North Melbourne

Played=11

Won=4

Lost=7

Points for=847

Points against=1074

%=78.86

Points=16

13th West Coast

Played=11

Won=3

Lost=8

Points for=925

Points against=1061

%=87.18

Points=12

14th Fremantle

Played=11

Won=3

Lost=8

Points for=901

Points against=1130

%=79.73

Points=12

15th Richmond

Played=11

Won=2

Lost=9

Points for=935

Points against=1210

%=77.27

Points=8

16th Melbourne

Played=11

Won=1

Lost=10

Points for=800

Points against=1136

%=70.42

Points=4

And to make it a bit simpler, here’s another way of looking at it:

1st St Kilda

2nd Geelong

3rd Western Bulldogs

4th Carlton

5th Collingwood

6th Brisbane Lions

7th Hawthorn

8th Port Adelaide

9th Adelaide

10th Sydney

11th Essendon

12th North Melbourne

13th West Coast

14th Fremantle

15th Richmond

16th Melbourne

After a year of Goalkicking stars which saw Lance Franklin kick 113 goals for the season including finals, his counterpart Jarryd Roughead kicking 70+, the Brisbane pair Jonathon Brown and Daniel Bradshaw kicking 140+ between them both and Brendan Fevola famously being stuck on 99 goals, the Goalkicking has dried up considerably this year. Here is the leader board:

1st Brendan Fevola (39.30)

2nd Lance Franklin (37.20)

3rd Jonathon Brown (35.20)

4th Nick Riewoldt (35.20)

5th Jarryd Roughead (34.15)

6th Steve Johnson (33.26)

7th Warren Tredrea (31.15)

8th Daniel Bradshaw (30.8)

9th Jack Anthony (27.12)

10th Mark LeCras (27.14)

11th Justin Koschitzke (27.11)

12th Barry Hall (25.9)

13th Eddie Betts (25.13)

14th Jason Porplyzia (23.5)

15th Taylor Walker (22.17)

16th Cameron Mooney (22.20)

17th Matthew Lloyd (21.18)

18th Chris Knights (20.3)

19th Jason Akermanis (20.13)

20th Adam Goodes (20.8)

21st Stephen Milne (20.9)

22nd Kurt Tippett (19.8)

23rd Ben McKinley (19.17)

24th Mitch Morton (19.13)

25th Daniel Motlop (19.22)

26th Matthew Pavlich (19.11)

27th Mathew Stokes (18.13)

28th Tarkyn Lockyer (18.8)

29th Brad Johnson (18.12)

30th David Hale (18.7)

So it’s not likely that anyone will be topping the ton this year unless the likes of Fevola, Franklin, Brown and Riewoldt can average over 6 goals a game for the remainder of the season. Some of the brilliant Goalkicking performances this year have been:

Jarryd Roughead (8 vs. Carlton, Round 6)

Brendan Fevola (8 vs. Hawthorn, Round 6)

Brendan Fevola (8 vs. Brisbane Lions, Round 11)

Kurt Tippett (7 vs. Essendon, Round 11)

Warren Tredrea (7 vs. Richmond, Round 8)

Warren Tredrea (6 vs. Melbourne, Round 3)

Warren Tredrea (6 vs. Hawthorn, Round 4)

Justin Koschitzke (6 vs. North Melbourne, Round 11)

Brendan Fevola (6 vs. West Coast, Round 10)

Mark LeCras (6 vs. Carlton, Round 10)

Barry Hall (6 vs. Western Bulldogs, Round 10)

Daniel Bradshaw (6 vs. Carlton, Round 2)

Steve Johnson (6 vs. Essendon, Round 10)

Mark LeCras (6 vs. Brisbane Lions, Round 1)

Lance Franklin (5 vs. Geelong, Round 1)

Taylor Walker (5 vs. Hawthorn, Round 10)

Brad Dick (5 vs. Melbourne, Round 11)

Lance Franklin (5 vs. Essendon, Round 7)

Jonathon Brown (5 vs. Essendon, Round 6)

Nick Riewoldt (5 vs. Collingwood, Round 7)

Adam Schneider (5 vs. Collingwood, Round 7)

Nick Riewoldt (5 vs. Fremantle, Round 4)

Eddie Betts (5 vs. Richmond, Round 1)

David Hale (5 vs. Fremantle, Round 9)

Barry Hall (5 vs. West Coast, Round 8)

Daniel Bradshaw (5 vs. Adelaide, Round 8)

Chris Knights (5 vs. Carlton, Round 9)

Steve Johnson (5 vs. Western Bulldogs, Round 9)

Jarryd Roughead (5 vs. North Melbourne, Round 3)

Matthew Lloyd (5 vs. Carlton, Round 3)

Chris Knights (5 vs. Essendon, Round 11)

Mitch Hahn (5 vs. Fremantle, Round 1)

So far in 2009, their have been some classic matches. These are just a few:

Round 1:

Hawthorn 3.2-8.4-10.6-16.7.103

Geelong 4.8-8.16-14.19-15.21.111

In the Grand Final rematch of 2008, the Cats held off the fast finishing Hawks by 8 points in a thrilling contest at the MCG on a Friday night. The Cats, leading by 43 points early in the final quarter, kicked just another 2 behinds while the Hawks banged on 6.1 to creep within 8 points before the siren sounded. Buddy Franklin kicked 5 goals for Hawthorn while Jarryd Roughead booted 4. Their were many multiple goalkickers for Geelong on the night, including Ryan Gamble, Steve Johnson, Max Rooke and Cameron Mooney. Sam Mitchell was the best player for the Hawks while Gary Ablett picked up from where he left off in the 08 Grand Final, putting in a fine display.

Round 2:

Sydney 3.4-8.7-16.9-22.11.143

Hawthorn 5.4-8.9-12.12-15.15.105

The Hawks were looking to atone for their close loss at the hands of Geelong and came up against a Sydney outfit that failed to kick a goal in two quarters of football the week before against the Saints. The game started in Hawthorn’s favour, grabbing a 2 point lead by half time. The Swans exploded into form in the second half though, kicking 8.2 to 4.3 in the third quarter and then finishing the game with 6.2 to the Hawks’ 3.3, running out winners by 38 points in a rare high scoring match for Sydney and especially at ANZ Stadium. Barry Hall and Adam Goodes kicked 4 goals for the Swans while Darren Jolly and Nick Malceski kicked 3 apiece. For the Hawks, Mark Williams and Jarryd Roughead kicked 3 each, with Lance Franklin being held to just 2 goals by Craig Bolton. Best players were Goodes, C. Bolton, Jarrad McVeigh and Jolly for Sydney while Xavier Ellis, Roughead and Williams impressed for Hawthorn.

Round 3:

Carlton 4.6-7.10-13.13-16.16.112

Essendon 1.4-8.6-15.7-17.14.116

The Blues had topped the AFL ladder for the first time since 1995 while the Bombers were one of the many teams with 1 win and 1 loss in 2009. The Blues, heavy favourites for this match, took a 20 point lead into quarter time before the Bombers sparked to life, kicking 7.2 to 3.4 to take the lead by 2 points at half time. A further 7 goals in the third quarter to the Blues’ 6 took the margin out to 6 points at the last break. A tight struggle ensued in the final quarter, with the Bombers emerging from the battle with the 4 points, winning by that margin. Matthew Lloyd, heavily criticized for his poor start to the year, kicked 5 goals for Essendon while Brendan Fevola kicked 4 for the Blues. Chris Judd and Marc Murphy were best players for Carlton while Brent Stanton and Lloyd played brilliant for the Bombers.

Round 5:

Essendon 1.5-6.6-9.13-13.15.93

Collingwood 4.2-6.6-8.10-12.16.88

ANZAC Day. The Bombers, coming off a bad loss to North Melbourne and the Pies, after a hard fought win against Brisbane from the Gabba, battled it out in grey conditions at the MCG on a Saturday Afternoon. As soon as they crashed through that huge banner that was represented both teams, the game was on. The Pies led by 15 points at quarter time before it was level at half time. Essendon took a 9 point lead into the last break but the Pies came out hard in the last quarter, leading by 14 points at the 25th minute mark of the final term with rain pouring down from the heavens. Goals to Leroy Jetta and Ricky Dyson from the boundary line reduced the margin to 1 point and the Bombers were surging. Young draftee David Zaharakis, playing just his 4th game of AFL, received the ball on the 50m line. He played on, side-stepped a Collingwood player but was tackled. He got boot to ball though, and with just seconds on the clock, the ball sailed through the goals as half of the 84,829 that were still left at the G roared into life: the Bombers were in front as the siren sounded at the restart in the middle. The players rejoiced in the mud and rain as they had come from behind in disastrous weather to get up and win in perhaps the Bombers’ most gutsy match played in decades. Jack Anthony kicked 4 goals for the Pies while Dyson and Andrew Lovett kicked 2 for Essendon. Paddy Ryder won the ANZAC Day Medal with his outstanding performance in the Ruck after David Hille went down early with an ACL injury. Dane Swan and Anthony were the Magpies’ best players.

Round 6:

Hawthorn 5.0-9.2-11.9-16.10.106

Carlton 3.2-7.5-11.8-15.12.102

With the reigning premiers sitting below the eight with a 2-3 win-loss ratio, they came up against a strong Carlton outfit that had won 3 games out of 5. The game was always going to be destined for strong power forwards. The Hawks started the better, leading by 10 points at quarter time before it being reduced to 9 at half time. It was reduced even further to 1 point at the last change and the stage for a blockbuster final quarter was set. The Hawks got out to a 25 point lead in the final term and looked set for a win before the Blues came storming home. A late mark to Brendan Fevola saw him shooting for his 9th goal and to win the game for the Blues. A routine shot from just 25m out on a slight angle looked set to sail through the goals before a late swing saw it hit the post and Carlton had failed to win, falling short by 4 points. Jarryd Roughead was a star for the Hawks, kicking 8 goals while Fevola booted 8 for Carlton, a battle reminiscent of the Ablett-Salmon contest between Geelong and Essendon in 1993. Roughead, Jordan Lewis and Sam Mitchell were the best players for the victorious Hawks while Chris Judd, Fevola and Marc Murphy were the better players for Carlton.

Round 7:

North Melbourne 5.1-12.1-15.3-20.5.125

Port Adelaide 4.1-6.6-12.8-18.12.120

The Roos, with just 2 wins from 6 attempts so far in 2009, came up against Port Adelaide which had a 4-2 win-loss record. The Roos started well despite being the underdogs, gaining a 6 point lead at quarter time. This blew out to 31 points at half time but was reduced thanks to a 6.2 to 3.2 quarter by the Power in the third quarter, North Melbourne leading by 13 points at the last change. The Roos led by 5 goals with little time remaining on the clock before a withering 4-goal burst from Port Adelaide cut the margin to just 5 points with 1:49 remaining on the clock. The Roos flooded the Port Adelaide attack, getting every player behind the ball and it paid off in the end, with the siren sounding just 40m out from the Power goals, North winning by 5 points. Aaron Edwards and Matt Campbell kicked 3 goals each for the Roos while Warren Tredrea kicked 3 for Port. Daniel Wells, Andrew Swallow and youngster Jack Ziebell played starring roles; roles which saw Ziebell gain the Round 7 NAB Rising Star nomination award. Travis Boak, Kane Cornes and Dom Cassisi were Port Adelaide’s best players.

Round 9:

Geelong 6.4-9.10-14.12-17.14.116

Western Bulldogs 3.2-8.3-11.8-17.12.114

The rematch of the 2008 Preliminary Final was played at Etihad Stadium on a Friday night and the match did not disappoint. The Cats, looking to win their 9th game of the year and maintain their unbeaten start to the year, led by 20 points at quarter time. This was reduced to 13 points at half time but a 5.2 to 3.5 quarter saw them lead by 22 points at three quarter time despite leading by 37 points during the third term. The last quarter swayed each way, with the Cats booting 3.2 while the Dogs came home hard with 6.4, a reverse of the first quarter. The Dogs were coming strong, with goals to Jason Akermanis twice in his 300th and a snap goal from Liam Picken reducing the margin to 3 points with under a minute to go. The ball spent the final minute in the Bulldogs’ forward line and, after a snap at goal from a desperate Mitch Hahn from the boundary line, Brad Johnson took a spectacular mark on the behind line with just 10 seconds to go. As the clock ticked down, Johnson played on to snap the winning goal but was called back with 1 second left on the clock. He went ahead with his attempted check-side shot at goal and missed as the siren sounded when he made contact with the ball, the second time he had missed a shot to win the game in exactly a year. Steve Johnson kicked 5 goals for Geelong while Mathew Stokes kicked 4. For the Bulldogs, Akermanis and Johnson kicked 4 each. Johnson and Ablett were the best players for the Cats while Akermanis and Johnson were in the Doggies’ best along with Matthew Boyd.

Round 11:

Brisbane 2.2-5.5-9.7-16.10.106

Carlton 3.6-7.10-13.13-16.16.112

With the Lions sitting pretty with a 6-4 record so far in 2009, they came up against a young Carlton side looking to do some damage on the road, something they couldn’t do against the Adelaide Crows just a couple of weeks ago, failing by 44 points. The Lions looked the goods at the Gabba but that didn’t stop the Blues from taking a 10 point lead into quarter time. This became 17 points at half time and then a 6.3 to 4.2 quarter saw Carlton take the lead out to 30 points at the final break. The Lions came back strongly with goals to Luke Power twice, Jonathon Brown and Justin Sherman; the Lions had managed to reduce the margin to 6 points. The Blues kicked the next two through Andrew Carrazzo and Brendan Fevola, his 8th, taking the margin back out to 3 goals. The Lions kicked the next two before Chris Judd nailed a goal from near the boundary, extending the lead to 13 points. A late goal from Brown cut it to 7 points before the siren went, cutting short the Lions’ comeback and falling short by 6 points. Fevola was magnificent with 8 goals for Carlton while Brown and Jared Brennan kicked 4 for Brisbane. Fevola and Judd were the best for the Blues while Brennan and Black had superb games for Brisbane.

Round 11:

Essendon 5.3-10.4-16.4-18.6.114

Adelaide 3.0-9.0-15.2-21.4.130

An enthralling contest was set at Etihad Stadium on a dark and grey Sunday afternoon and, despite threats of rain, the roof was left open for this clash between the Bombers and Crows. Both teams were sitting on a 5-5 but you couldn’t tell early with the Bombers getting out to a 15 point lead at quarter time before it being reduced to 10 at the main break. A 6.0 to 6.2 quarter in favour of Adelaide cut the margin to 8 points at the last change, with both teams making the most of their opportunities in front of goal. The last quarter was set to be a thriller and with the Crows kicking two ripping goals through Richard Douglas and Jason Porplyzia, they were never headed as they won by 16 points in a brilliant game of football. Both sides combined to kick 39.10 in a outstanding performance in front of goal, the Crows especially. Kurt Tippett played the game of his life, kicking 7 goals while Chris Knights continued his amazing transformation from a gun on-baller to a midfielder roaming the forward line, he kicked 5 goals. For the Bombers, Scott Lucas kicked 4 goals in his first match in a month while Jobe Watson kicked 3. Best players for the Crows were Tyson Edwards in his 300th match, Bernie Vince, Tippett and Knights while Brent Stanton, Andrew Lovett and Watson were outstanding all day for Essendon.

Out of all those games, these are my favourites:

1st Essendon vs. Collingwood (Round 5)

2nd Geelong vs. Western Bulldogs (Round 9)

3rd North Melbourne vs. Port Adelaide (Round 7)

4th Brisbane Lions vs. Carlton (Round 11)

5th Hawthorn vs. Carlton (Round 6)

6th Hawthorn vs. Geelong (Round 1)

7th Essendon vs. Adelaide (Round 11)

8th Sydney vs. Hawthorn (Round 2)

9th Carlton vs. Essendon (Round 3)

Yet, for all those great games, their were games that were equally bad. These are some of the games that some people may have found painful to watch:

Round 4:

St Kilda 5.3-8.5-13.8-17.9.111

Fremantle 0.1-3.2-3.3-4.4.28

When you think of all those times Fremantle have disappointed on a Football field, this tops it all. 4 goals in AFL football is just not acceptable, and in a way, the Saints booted 17 goals when they should have kicked a lot more given by the indication they were much superior. The Saints led by 32 points at quarter time but the Dockers came to life in the second quarter with a 3.1 to 3.2 quarter, still trailing by 33 points at the main break. This became 65 points after a 5.3 to 0.1 quarter in favour of St Kilda and the Saints finished with 4.1 to 1.1 to win by 83 points. Nick Riewoldt kicked 5 goals while his blonde counterpart Clinton Jones kicked 3. The Dockers failed to have a multiple goalkicker. Riewoldt, Nick Dal Santo and Brendan Goddard where the best players for the Saints while Byron Schammer and Paul Duffield stood out on a bleak night for the Purple Haze.

Round 4:

North Melbourne 3.3-5.5-9.7-10.9.69

Essendon 1.3-3.7-5.11-7.15.57

It must have something to do with Etihad Stadium. The poor Stadium just can’t escape the shocking, error-ridden games of AFL. And that what this game was about: errors and mistakes. The Roos opened the game with a 12 point lead at quarter time before it being reduced to 10 at half time. A 4.2 to 2.4 quarter saw the Roos lead by 20 points at the last break but a fast finishing Essendon pressured North into mistakes, especially Daniel Pratt. After being called to play on from a kick-in after an Essendon point, Pratt looked for where to kick to but saw nothing and was rushed over the goal line by Matthew Lloyd and was deemed a deliberate rushed behind and Lloyd took the free kick, kicking the goal. The Roos steadied though and hung on to win by 12 points in a match that will not be for replay at the next team meeting. David Hale kicked 4 goals for the Roos while Brent Harvey kicked 3. For the Bombers, Lloyd was the only multiple goalkicker with 3. Harvey starred for the Roos in a needed return to form while Alwyn Davey’s pressure was a highlight for Essendon.

Round 5:

Melbourne 0.1-0.3-1.6-4.10.34

Adelaide 2.4-4.6-5.7-7.9.51

I think the score speaks for itself. Anyone that has watched this game, I bet all my money that they would have dozed off or turned off the TV. A rough wind blew around the MCG as the night set in on a Sunday. The Crows led by 15 points at quarter time then extended it to 27 at half time as the Dees failed to kick a goal in the first half. They finally scrounged a goal through Lynden Dunn but that would be their only goal of the quarter, Adelaide leading by 25 points at the last change. The Demons came to life in the last quarter though, kicking 3 goals in a row to reduce the margin to 15 points and amazingly they were still in the hunt. The Crows played possession footy for the remainder of the game and won by an eventual 17 points. Kurt Tippett kicked 2 for the Crows while Dunn kicked 2 for Melbourne. Simon Goodwin, Bernie Vince and Scott Thompson were the better players for the Crows while Brock McLean and Aaron Davey shined for Melbourne. The following headlines and comments on this game said it all: “Comedy with no punchline” and “In a game where a side has kicked just 1 goal for the match up until the last quarter and is still a chance of winning speaks for itself”

Thankfully their were not too many bad games of football, well at least so far in 2009. But lets all hope for some more thrilling, high-scoring games of football on the way in the second half of the season.

Some performances this season have been outstanding and here are, in my opinion, the two best games of a player so far this season:

Round 4:

Geelong vs. Adelaide

Gary Ablett:

Playing his 150th match, Ablett played perhaps the best game of any player in the history of AFL/VFL. On a night for slick footballers at AAMI Stadium, Ablett gathered a staggering 46 possessions, equaling the record set by Nathan Buckley. He set a new record for handballs in match, with 33 for the night and he had 13 kicks. He also took 7 marks and kicked 3 goals. Just a week later, he had 42 disposals, 3 marks, 6 tackles and kicked 2 goals against Brisbane. Just before the mid-season break for Geelong, he collected 43 possessions and kicked a goal against West Coast

Round 10:

Collingwood vs. Port Adelaide

Dane Swan:

On a cold evening at the MCG, Dane Swan set the new record for AFL disposals in a match. He collected a mammoth 48 possessions at a rate of 12 per quarter; he had 22 kicks, 26 handballs and kicked a goal. He leads the AFL in disposals and in kicks. He has amassed plenty of 30+ touch games but this performance was something else. Port coach Mark Williams decided not to tag Swan as he didn’t rate his kicking while Mick Malthouse thought his game was “Ok”. It was outstanding Mick.

So, that is a review of the first 11 rounds of the season, and this is what I expect of the next 11:

Team to improve: Hawthorn

Player to improve: Scott Lucas, Lance Franklin

Rising Star top 3: Daniel Rich, Jack Ziebell, Taylor Walker

Coleman Medal: Lance Franklin

Brownlow Medal: 4-way tie- Dane Swan, Joel Selwood, Gary Ablett, Steve Johnson

UPCOMING BLOCKBUSTERS:

Geelong vs. St Kilda: Geelong

Western Bulldogs vs. Hawthorn: Hawthorn

Ladder after Round 22:

1st Geelong

2nd St Kilda

3rd Western Bulldogs

4th Hawthorn

5th Collingwood

6th Brisbane Lions

7th Carlton

8th Adelaide

9th Sydney

10th Port Adelaide

11th Essendon

12th West Coast

13th North Melbourne

14th Fremantle

15th Richmond

16th Melbourne

Grand Final:

Geelong vs. Western Bulldogs

Winner:

Geelong (Norm Smith Medalist: Gary Ablett)

Coaches to be sacked:

-Mark Williams (replacement Nathan Buckley)

-Dean Laidley (replacement John Longmire)

-John Worsfold (replacement Dean Laidley)

So, with 11 rounds already been thrown at us, we’ve some spectacular things like Daniel Motlop’s video of his freakish ability to kick goals but we’ve also seen some bad things, like the North Melbuorne/Chickengate incident, the Fremantle/Ku Klux Klan incident and the recent discovery of gambling problems amongst our AFL stars. With another 11 rounds to go, it’s gonna be a wild wave to ride.

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