So good to see brilliant Cats live. Yes, live!

By Peter Schumacher

If I were a Geelong supporter I wouldn’t know whether to laugh or cry. I mean, how did they ever manage to lose the grand final? On Saturday night they were magnificent. Even Neil Craig, who I reckon is really fair in his analysis of the way his side is playing, said that Ablett is the sort of player that people want to come and see. His handball to Stokes was so quick, so brilliant, no one could have stopped it.

The Crows did all right, I don’t think that any one seriously expected them to win as, like what might occur in a game of chess, when one player  is clearly superior to the other it is only a matter of time before the inferior player makes a mistake, no matter how well that person plays the game. On Saturday night the defining point to me was the errant Reilly handpass which resulted in the Mooney goal when the Crows had fought back so well to be only eleven points down. And how fantastic it was to have the game telecast live.

Unlike on Friday night when as usual we had to suffer the delayed telecast when the game was played interstate. This cosy arrangement arrived at when the TV deals were cast between the AFL and the TV networks does nothing for the AFL or the TV station concerned. In fact I think it is symptomatic of the corporate greed which has so buggered up our society. No, we won’t do what the public wants, they are pawns, we will stick to original programming.

Well, as a mad-keen Brisbane supporter, I can say that I lasted till half-time on the television and then changed over to the ABC. Frankly it was much more pleasant and rewarding to HEAR IT LIVE. Having said that, even though I love Aussie rules with a passion, I have rarely if ever in the last few years seen the Friday night telecast to its conclusion.

As to the game itself, it looked like the Lions of old for the first quarter but then one could sense a gradual momentum shift. This wasn’t helped by the injury to Charman, but I have to concede that the Pies went in undermanned with the absence of Maxwell, Shaw and Johnson. Medhurst once again got going, this time particularly in the third quarter.

The umpiring must have been OK as both sides were moaning about it. If I were the Collingwood brains trust I would forget about the umpiring and just celebrate a really good way win. As for me, people were asking at church on Sunday, why the black arm band? My reasoning that the Lions had been rolled by Collingwood at home having lead by 22 points seemed a bit trite to some.

What more can be said about Richmond and Freo? Nothing.

I thought that Essendon would beat North Melbourne after their win against Carlton. How wrong I was. Can’t think how Lloydy must have felt to have the ball stripped from him just as was moving in to kick that goal. We all know that football is  a game of passion and skill, that is why we one and all love the game so much but you do have to wonder how it is that professional, well-paid players manage to mess up themselves and their teams by giving away foolish free kicks.

I must say that one talkback caller got it right when commenting on the Carlton-Sydney game with words to the effect that he was sure that he had heard a “pop”.  Again glad that Sydney got up for a second week in a row. Not bad for a team that is not supposed to be able to play.

I think that the same comments would be relevant to the Bulldogs-West Coast Eagles game — that is, that the Bulldogs’ bubble has been pricked and that I was happy for the state of the game in the West that the Eagles got up. We don’t want Perth to have two hopeless teams.

Port Adelaide had a great win and Hawthorn, with so many players out, must still be wondering where last year’s form has gone. Port Adelaide could really be all right this year; thought that this wouldn’t be so after their effort against the West Coast.

St Kilda are looking great but let’s see how they go over the next few weeks.

Finally, I wholeheartedly agree with Jon Faine re-Wallace: get off the bloke’s back.