I was nervous but excited going into a Patersons stadium match with my beloved Saints taking on the loathed Dockers. I was skeptical about the fact Blake was starting in the ruck, McEvoy being an emergency, but then again the giant 7 foot Docker Sandilands was out with turf toe, an injury usually occurring in American Football. Sandilands was replaced by former Crow Jonathan Griffin, and I was confident that he would stand no chance even against Blake.
We hadn’t done well (stating the obvious?) in the early parts of the season but a win this round could boost our confidence majorly going into some tough games ahead.
The tips predicted Fremantle would win by around 3 goals mainly because of the Saints’ struggling form and how they play at Subiaco like Freo play at the MCG. I was hoping Riewoldt would keep up the form after a cracking game against the Dees last week, but I was worried at the fact Pavlich was starting in the middle alongside promising utility Nick Lower.
Both teams had a few young players, with the Dockers putting Roberton, Pearce, Crichton and the impressive Nat Fyfe in the team for round 10. For the Saints, Lynch, Winmar, and Siposs were included in the line-up.
I had a birthday party to attend, so I only got to see the last 3 quarters. I found out that McEvoy was actually playing, Kositchke pulling out due to an ankle injury. The Saints scored 21 points before the Dockers even managed a score. BJ was playing great but then—Nooo!! He was stretchered off after getting what looked like a nasty neck injury, late in the first quarter. At quarter time it was 4.4 (28) to 0.3 (3). We were on fire, and according to dad, Fremantle were looking lackluster and lazy.
Armitage, a fairly underrated player (especially by our selectors) scored the opening goal of the second quarter after a free kick from straight in front. Brett Peake scored an awesome goal from 50 and we were really getting away, to my shock and disbelief. Freo answered through a goal to Duffield. A free kick to the Saints from 10 metres out was reversed thanks to a bit of a scuffle in the goal square. This did not deplete our confidence and we kicked 2 late goals to cap off the quarter.
8 minutes into the third, a stupid mistake from Michael Johnson let Peake, the former Docker; score an easy goal from 30 out. Hill replied with a goal but Schneider restored our 50-point lead with a freakish from the tightest of angles. Schneider then scored an easy one, running 50 metres with no one in front of him to dribble the ball in to the goals. Ballantyne missed a sitter from 15 out to basically bury any chances of a Docker revival. This was, in the words of Luke Darcy, a ‘nightmare’ for Freo coach Mark Harvey. Schneider scored his third for the quarter but Bradley and Broughton gave the Dockers a small chance with a goal each late in the third.
That small chance was snuffed out when Schneider bagged his fourth after 19 seconds of the last term. The Dockers then scored 2 more goals, but really, that was just to put some respectability to their score. Milne scored his first, and then a great goal from Jack Steven resulted in members of the Purple Haze pouring out of the stadium. Pavlich did well to score a nice goal and sadly, late in the game a knee to the head of Sean Dempster got another player to get stretchered off.
The siren sounded and I was happy with our solid performance. The relentless Saints of 2009 were back, stretching their opponents until they cracked under the pressure. It was bad that Nick Riewoldt didn’t score any goals but it just showed how we can play well without our star forward kicking any score at all. As for Goddard, hopefully he’ll recover quickly and be fit to play soon. Freo Ruckman Griffin played great, with 38 hit-outs.
I had clearly underestimated him.
MY VOTES: Dal Santo (St K) 3, Broughton (Fre) 2, Steven (St K) 1.
Great review although I don’t reckon broughton deserved votes in front of Peake. Go Saints!!!!