Richmond breaks the drought
On Thursday night, for the first time since Sydney hoisted the premiership aloft, football returned to the MCG. Similarly to the last Saturday in September, the winning fans shed tears of joy as Richmond held on to defeat Carlton for the first time in 10 attempts.
Trent Cotchin, in his first game as captain, was superb. Leading from the front, the 22-year-old racked up 33 disposals, 16 of which were contested. With Jack Riewoldt held goalless, the onus was on the maligned Tyrone Vickery to silence his critics. He ended the match with three goals in a promising performance.
Holding a six-goal lead at the final change, Tiger fans could barely watch as Carlton kicked five unanswered goals in the last quarter to bring the margin to within a kick. They looked on in anguish as Chris Yarran stormed into an open goal, only to slice it wide. The tension was too much for some, and as the final siren sounded a few of the Richmond faithful were even brought to tears. But after five years of round one heartache, didn’t they deserve it?
The ladder tips itself upside down
If you opened the paper on Sunday morning, looked at the ladder and thought you had spotted the biggest misprint in football history, you weren’t the only one. But no, the paper didn’t publish the ladder upside down – Port Adelaide and the Bulldogs are actually No.1 and 2 respectively in the competition after round one.
The Dogs, without skipper Matthew Boyd, produced a scintillating performance to down the NAB Cup champions and much-hyped Brisbane by 68 points on Saturday afternoon. It was a heroic effort, with 29-year-old debutant Brett Goodes terrific with 24 disposals.
Meanwhile Port Adelaide was equally as impressive, accounting for a lazy and undisciplined Melbourne side by 79 points. While the Demons’ incredibly poor showing stole the headlines, Port looked good in their first match under new coach Ken Hinkley. Travis Boak and Hamish Hartlett were brilliant, while youngster Ollie Wines was fantastic on debut.
Thomas’s ‘average’ bump divides opinion
It was a bump described as ‘average’ by Collingwood coach Nathan Buckley and one that left Pies defender Ben Reid unconscious, but was Lindsay Thomas’s big hit illegal? The Match Review Panel certainly didn’t think so.
The MRP had its first big decision to make when Thomas clattered into Reid midways through the third quarter of Collingwood’s 16-point win over North Melbourne. It may have been off the ball, but it looked fair. Only an accidental head clash between the two, left Reid dazed.
Overall, the MRP made the right decision, but continue to worry about the consistency of the ruling. Will a player be suspended for a similar incident in a fortnight’s time? Can the MRP explain the difference between this and Jack Ziebell’s bump last year that earned him a four-week ban? What happened to the ‘Duty of Care’ ruling?
I had no problems with what happened in the aftermath. Buckley was well within his rights to criticise the bump and he did so in a composed manner. Brad Scott had a dig back. Nothing malicious was said. Both move on.
‘The Kennett Curse’ strikes again
If there’s one team that lacks a bit of ‘mental strength’, it’s Hawthorn. 30 points up against an injury depleted Geelong, the Hawks choked again and ‘The Kennett Curse’ was extended to 10 matches.
Geelong’s seven-point win, their eighth by under nine points against Hawthorn since the 2008 grand final, proved there are still legs in the rejuvenated Cats. It also highlighted the psychological deficiencies Hawthorn continually suffers from.
Once Geelong got a wriggle on in the third quarter, you could sense the panic from the Hawthorn camp. There was a sense of inevitability about Geelong’s comeback. It was all too familiar.
To add salt into the wound, if doubt remained over the damage already inflicted Kennett, within hours of the final siren he was calling for coach Alistair Clarkson’s head. Butt out of it, Jeff.
Player of the Week – Gary Ablett
There’s not much you can say about Gary Ablett that hasn’t already been said.
His performance in Gold Coast’s 13-point win over St Kilda was inspirational. 34 disposals, 19 of which were contested, along with nine clearances, six inside 50s and four goals dragged the Suns back from a 19-point half-time deficit and into the lead.
A sublime 10-minute period in the last quarter saw him kick three goals and haul Gold Coast into the ascendency.
Gary Ablett….
That is all— Dane Swan (@swandane) March 30, 2013
A worthy winner of the first Player of the Week for the season.
Riley Beveridge is a second-year Bachelor of Sports Journalism student at La Trobe University. You can follow him on Twitter: @RileyBev.
