It's A Grand Old Flag: [FFX]

[OffCutters]

Yeah i know. Last career game i played, Pettifer kicked 125 goals. Quite hard to believe : Just imagine him winning the Coleman Medal in real-life.

 

[Roofrom50]

Im very surprised not to see Ablett's name in the disposals. It's hidious not being able to see it, i guess Jimmy Bartel has stolen his thunder.

 

[blake]

Wednesday 2 April, 2009​

Jared Rivers has been cleared from the tribunal in stunning circumstances with his 3-week ban completely lifted after Anthony Corrie revealed in a second hearing to the tribunal that he had in fact provoked Rivers by making childish remarks about Rivers' mother. Corrie stood up to the tribunal earlier tonight and spoke out about his acts, which he now felt 'foolish and embarrassed' about.

Jared Rivers was obviously happy to be cleared from his suspension and he will now be able to take part in Melbourne's upcoming clash against Port Adelaide at AAMI Stadium. After the hearing from the tribunal, a few from the media were able to catch Jared Rivers on his way back to his car.
"Yeah, I'm pleased to be cleared obviously. I'm looking forward to keeping a spot in the team. We have a tough match now against Port Adelaide and we will be travelling down to Adelaide, which will be a tough assignment."

Blake has named a 24-man squad to travel, with Wonaeamirri and Grimes included. However, with Jared Rivers being cleared from his previous suspension it seems that Wonaeamirri will not get a spot in the team yet, and the two are most likely to sit out as emergencies.

Jared Rivers has been cleared from his rough play ban and will play against Port Adelaide at AAMI Stadium.​

 

[Covvy]

LOL no fat mumma jokes Corrie!

 

[Covvy]

LOL no fat mumma jokes Corrie!

 

[blake]

Thursday 3 April, 2009​

With the Melbourne Demons now down in Adelaide preparing to take on the struggling Power, we go back to recap a few of the matches in the second round, alongside the injuries list and the teams that have been selected for the upcoming match at AAMI Stadium. Perhaps one of the bigger upsets of the round was the Adelaide Crows destroying a woeful St. Kilda at AAMI, or Richmond prevailing over a star-studded Geelong lineup at Skilled Stadium. It was an exciting round of football, with the featured game a 5-point win for Fremantle over Essendon in a slog-out. The ladder hadn't really started to materialise yet, but perhaps that would occur a few more weeks into the season. For now, Collingwood and West Coast were looking strong and sitting in the top two positions but there were other teams who had not yet lost who would be knocking on the door.

Round 2 - Match Reports

Adelaide 14.10.94 def St. Kilda 5.5.35
Crowd: 32,338

St. Kilda continued their poor start to the season with a big loss against Adelaide at AAMI Stadium. Not even a 41-disposal effort from Jason Gram could get the Saints in the match, and they never looked in the game with Adelaide racing to an early lead. For the Crows, veteran Simon Goodwin was brilliant, picking up a casual 35 disposals and kicking 3 majors to set an excited home crowd alight. The Birdman was also on form, kicking 4.4 and laying 6 tackles to put the pressure on. It was a big win for Adelaide and they would have to be pleased to get their season back on track after they were thumped by the Magpies in round 1. Adelaide's dominance around the field, alongside their combination of star midfielders and backmen showed, with 5 players picking up more than 34 possessions in their team Perhaps the only disappointment was Kurt Tippett, who was held to 5 possessions and remained goalless.

Geelong 13.16.94 def by Richmond 17.15.117
Crowd: 36,541

Despite having more disposals than Richmond, Geelong slumped to a 23 point loss which saw them drop to 12th position, and without a win after two rounds. Geelong fought hard but they threw away the match in the third quarter as Richmond kicked 5 goals to 1. Geelong never fully recovered after that position and despite a late fightback weren't good enough to topple the impressive Tigers who moved to third place behind the Magpies and Eagles. For Geelong, Jimmy Bartel was in his form that saw him pick up the Brownlow Medal in 2007, winning 40 touches around the ground and helping his team with 7 rebound and 6 inside 50s. For the Tigers, they played a far more team-based game, with nobody winning over 30 possessions. Kayne Pettifer was superb with 24 disposals and 4.3, whilst young star Daniel Connors was exciting kicking 3 goals.

Carlton 9.17.71 def by Brisbane 14.14.98
Crowd: 21,034

Carlton's inaccuracy was their curse as they succumbed to a 27 point loss at the hands of the Lions in a disappointing display. Carlton in the end had just two less scoring shots than Brisbane, but failed to take their chances, blazing away with a poor 9.17. Brendan Fevola was the main culprit, kicking 5 points, although he did chip in with 3 goals himself. One major disappointment for the Blues was Eddie Betts. Despite having not much gametime, Betts picked up just the one possession in a woeful effort. On the other hand, Bradd Dalziell, Mitch Clark and Luke Power were all superb for their team, winning a lot of ball through the middle and forward line. Mitch Clark played the whole match out at full-forward with Jamie Charman taking the ruck, and he was excellent with 31 disposals and a goal. Jonathan Brown was solid with 2.3 and 24 disposals, whilst his partner-in-crime Daniel Bradshaw kicked 4 for the Lions off the forward flank in a good display.

Sydney 10.19.79 def by Hawthorn 15.7.97
Crowd: 19,972

A stunning performance from midfielder Clinton Young ended up sinking Sydney's hopes in front of a hostile Sydney crowd at the SCG. Young was dominant, picking up 39 disposald and kicking 4.2 in a Best on Ground effort. Grant Birchall almost rivalled him with the honours, picking up a staggering 41 disposals, and Lance Franklin was excellent up forward with 4 goals and 20 kicks to his name. Sydney would've been very disappointed to throw the game away, after having 7 more scoring shots than Hawthorn. Many teams had failed to kick straight in this weekend of football, with a lack of skills showing clear at the start of the season and Sydney were no exception. Ryan O'Keefe, Barry Hall and Adam Goodes were the main offenders, kicking 3.10 between them. It was hard to find Sydney's best player, but in the end it would have to go to Brett Kirk who worked extremely hard with 34 possessions.

Essendon 8.13.61 def by Fremantle 9.12.66
Crowd: 24,745

In a slog-out at Etihad Stadium, Fremantle ended up coming out on top in an exciting affair. Not even a vintage display from captain Matthew Lloyd could save the Bombers as they went down narrowly to Fremantle. Lloyd was inspirational to his young side, kicking 5.1 when the rest of his team failed to convert their chances and winning 25 possessions. The Man of the Match honours however went to backman Luke McPharlin, who was undoubtedly the best. McPharlin was simply brilliant in the backline, dominating Scott Lucas. In the end, Lucas had just 12 touches and 1 goal, whilst McPharlin picked up 40 disposals and an incredible 17 rebound 50's, over half of his team's combined total. It was only fitting McPharlin would come up with the winning play. Essendon were threatening to score with just 11 seconds left, and Matthew Lloyd had the chance to snap a goal from twenty metres out. However, McPharlin wasn't going to say die and he dived over Lloyd's boot, just managing to trap the ball, and in the end he won the rebound, allowing Fremantle to take a thrilling 4 points.

Western Bulldogs 13.10.88 def Kangaroos 7.6.48
Crowd: 34,920

The Kangaroos dropped to 15th after a convincing loss to the Western Bulldogs who looked hot on form. Brent Harvey was inspirational, proving to be the perfect captain for his side with 42 disposals to lead the overall tally in the AFL so far, but his team wasn't p to the task at hand and in the end the Bulldogs recorded a comfortable 40 point victory. The Kangaroos struggled throughout the match and never really seemed involved in the play, with their one percenters count terribly low as they didn't put the effort in behind the ball. For the Western Bulldogs, Brian Lake was excellent in the backline with 10 rebounds, and 31 disposals. Nobody kicked more than two goals for them, but their whole team chipped in to record a 40 point win over the Kangaroos. The Bulldogs were now sitting mid-table alongside Melbourne and quite a few other teams with one win to their name.

West Coast 15.14.104 def Port Adelaide 11.11.77
Crowd: 29,271

In a closer game Quinten Lynch's inaccuracy might have hurt the Eagles, but as it is they escaped unscathed with a comfortable win over Port Adelaide. West Coast led by 31 points at halftime and Port Adelaide never got back into the match, despite drawing within 3 goals at three quarter time. Josh Kennedy was the leading goalkicker for West Coast, kicking 4.1 to steady his side, whilst Quinten Lynch blazeed away with 3.6, missing a number of shots that he definitely should have converted. For the Power, young midfielder Danyle Pearce worked hard and kicked 3 goals alongside his 22 disposals, but nobody amassed more than 30 disposals for Port Adelaide with the closest Chad Cornes. Warren Tredrea and Tony Thurstons both booted 2 majors, but they went to waste as West Coast came out victors over Port, who would take on Melbourne next week. Despite the Demons being forced to make an away trip to AAMI Stadium, Port had just come from Perth and would no doubt be fatigued from their loss and their travel.

That sums up round 2. Melbourne were defeated at the MCG by Collingwood in a 68-point thrashing, the biggest margin of the round, and will they have it in them to topple the winless Port Adelaide at AAMI?

Let's take a look at the injury list after round 2.

(COLL) Steele Sidebottom (season), osteitis pubis
(WB) Jason Akermanis (season), right acl knee
(COLL) Leon Davis (season), osteitis pubis
(CARL) Shaun Hampson (season), osteitis pubis
(BRIS) Joel Tippett (season), osteitis pubis
(GEEL) Brad Ottens (season), osteitis pubis
(BRIS) Josh Drummond (season), osteitis pubis
(KANG) Daniel Pratt (season), osteitis pubis
(HAW) Robert Campbell (round 21), osteitis pubis
(WCE) Eric MacKenzie (round 11), left ac joint
(KANG) Lachlan Hansen (round 10), right knee cartilage
(BRIS) Todd Banfield (round 7), right hamstring
(CARL) Brad Fisher (round 7), left calf
(BRIS) Daniel Merrett (round 6), left hamstring
(ST.K) Aaron Fiora (round 5), left hamstring
(WB), John Shaw (round 5), back
(ST.K) Luke Ball (round 4), right hamstring
(WB) Daniel Giansiracusa (round 4), right hamstring
(PORT) Matthew Broadbent (round 4), left groin

Quite a list there, thankfully Melbourne are one of the 5 clubs with no players injured and that should hopefully bolster their stocks.

For all our fans of betting out there, let's go to FFX Betting where you can check out the odds for this round.

Geelong vs Collingwood (SS)
Geelong: $1.40
Collingwood: $2.70

St. Kilda vs West Coast (MCG)
St. Kilda: $2.00
West Coast: $1.70

Brisbane vs Sydney (G)
Brisbane: $2.70
Sydney: $1.40

Carlton vs Essendon (ES)
Carlton: $1.80
Essendon: $1.80

Port Adelaide vs Melbourne (AAMI)
Port Adelaide: $1.50
Melbourne: $2.20

Kangaroos vs Hawthorn (GC)
Kangaroos: $3.30
Hawthorn: $1.30

Fremantle vs Adelaide (S)
Fremantle: $1.70
Adelaide: $2.00

Western Bulldogs vs Richmond (ES)
Bulldogs: $2.70
Richmond: $1.40
​

Let's have a look at the teams selected to compete on this Saturday night clash at AAMI Stadium.

Round 3: Port Adelaide Power vs Melbourne Demons

F David Rodan - Brendon Lade - Robert Gray
B Matthew Warnock - Colin Garland - James Frawley

HF Josh Carr - Warren Tredrea - Toby Thurstans
HB Kyle Cheney - Jared Rivers -Matthew Whelan

C Domenic Cassisi - Shaun Burgoyne - Steven Salopek
C Colin Sylvia - Cameron Bruce - James McDonald

HB Travis Boak - Michael Pettigrew - Peter Burgoyne
HF Brad Green - Matthew Bate - Aaron Davey

B Jackson Trengrove - Troy Chaplin - Mitchell Farmer
F Jack Watts - Paul Johnson - Russell Robertson

R Dean Brogan - Kane Cornes - Chad Cornes
R Mark Jamar - Nathan Jones - Brock McLean

Interchange: Danyle Pearce - Nick Lower - Jacob Surjan - Matt Thomas
Interchange: Brent Moloney - Cale Morton - Clint Bartram - Ricky Petterd

Port Adelaide
In: Mitchell Farmer, Jacob Surjan
Out: Matthew Lobbe (dropped), Matthew Broadbent (left groin)

Melbourne
In: No changes
Out: No changes

 

[OffCutters]

wtf your joking st.kilda and geelong havent had a win yet, pretty unbelievable. Just proves how strange FFX can be.

 

[Covvy]

LOL the Eagles are the favourites against Saints next week

Interesting that you've had no changes to team.

 

[OffCutters]

████, i just realized that. Strange about the odds, Collingwood are sitting first on the ladder with 2 wins whilst Geelong has 2 losses ( including against a shithouse team ( Richmond) ) yet the Cats are still favourites. But the Saints need a win against the Eagles.:cool:

 

[blake]

Friday 4 April, 2009​

In the leadup to Melbourne's clash with Port Adelaide at AAMI Stadium tomorrow night, Dean Brogan fuelled the fire burning between the two teams after stating Aaron Davey 'couldn't play', and that Melbourne 'should expect a big loss' as Port warmed into the season. Brogan told the Demons exactly what he thought of them, and he warned them that Port would come to play. Cameron Bruce hit back at the accusations telling Brogan to shut his mouth and claiming that Brogan is a coward after the incident in which he bullied Andrew Lovett from Essendon throughout the match. Bruce spoke to the media after Brogan's comments, saying that Brogan should 'pick on somebody his own size,' and that Jamar would be ready for a fight in the ruck.

Coach of the Melbourne Demons, Blake, wasn't too fussed by the words exchanged between the two teams. Blake had acknowledged it was going to be a tough match with both sides very hungry for a win, and stated there was no harm in building a rivalry before a match. Some officials are concerned with Blake's pro-sledging mindset, but he insisted that he thought an occasional sledge was good for the game and would only encourage his team to play even better.

It should be a very exciting game tomorrow night and these words will have only made the clash even more intense. With Melbourne 1-1 and Port Adelaide 0-2, they both will be looking for a win to establish themselves on the ladder. Port Adelaide are returning home after a tough road trip which saw them go down to the Eagles, whilst Melbourne were thumped by the high-flying Magpies at their home ground in Melbourne.

The two teams never have liked each other. The last time they met was a rather calm affair, but on the 29th of July, 2007 multiple brawls erupted around the ground when these two teams competed last.

That's all the AFL news for now - our next show will feature the game live, Melbourne against Port Adelaide, at AAMI Stadium.

Here are some images from that game in 2007.

Troy Chaplin fighting with Michael Newton in 2007​

Port Adelaide hardman Dean Brogan jostles with ex-player Jeff White in a heated affair in 2007​

 

[Covvy]

Hmmm big brawl might happen, I remember this game in real life when somebody ran away from Brogan

 

[Hooper]

Yeah, that was hilarious. Instead it was Lade, not Brogan.

 

[Roofrom50]

Will be a interesting tussle between these two sides. I think that Port will have the advantage, being in Adelaide. So a win on the board, for the Power is looming.

 

[blake]

Covvy mate - if you watch that video you most likely came to the stupid assumption that everybody comes to. Just from looking at the 'Cale Morton runs away from Lade' video you will think he is running. However, I was actually watching the game and Morton ended up receiving a pass. He was leading for the ball, not running away. You just can't see it, I remember it clearly.

He wasn't running from Lade because he was scared (although he might've been scared) but he was still going for the ball and that was his intention.

 

[Covvy]

LOL I think everybody knows that, it just looked pretty funny thats all.