Carlton V Richmond

what a weekend - rehearsal friday night, and then two successful concerts on saturday night, and sunday afternoon. also hearing that carlton got thrashed made my mood even better. the concert finished at bmw edge about 4.00 and by the time i got into the car to head home, the game was about to start.
my mood soured considerably by the time i was driving past the shrine. richmond got the first goal, and jack riewoldt was on fire. by the time i got to the corner of glenhuntly road and the nepean hwy, they had another. we didn't look like scoring and riewoldt was killing blake - i yelled at the radio 'get blake off the ground - he is useless' (or words to that effect). by the time i got to bentleigh, poor old maxy was being carried off on a stretcher, we still hadn't scored a goal, and we didn't look like scring a goal.
anyhoo, got out of the car to get some fish and chips for tea. by the time i got back to the car and turned the radio back on (fearing the worst), the abc commentators were waffling on about how the mighty saints had got on top - well, yes, we were two goals up by then, but i certainly didnt feel comfortable. when kosi slotted one through late in the term, only then did i feel we were starting to get on top.
so i got home, and got out of the car with my staeak sandwich and dim sims, and rushed upstairs to turn the radio on. we had actually kept richmond scoreless in the second (serves the bastards right for keeping us goalless in the first), and even better maxy was up and about, and what initially looked like a broken anke was nowhere near as bad.
so the third term started, and we decided to play some real football. kosi started to dominate up forward, and goddard and gram were picking up possessions at will. by halfway through the quarter we had added another four majors, they hadnt got the ball into their forward fifty, and the game had the makings of a massacre. by three quarter time, richmond still hadnt bothered to trouble the scorers (their last score was a behind at the 13 minute mark of the first quarter), we had kicked 11 unanswered goals and led by an even 10 goals.
we did take the foot off the pedal in the last quarter however (and who could blame them). Richmond outscored us by a massive 4 points (ha ha), and though a 56 point margin sounds like an average sort of thrashing, to put it into context, the scoreline was 13.14.92 to 5.6.36. Fifth time this year we had kept a side to under 50 points in a match, tenth time we kept a side goalless in a quarter, and fifth time we kept a side SCORELESS in a quarter. to put some of our efforts this year into context::
There have only been five sides in 113 years of afl/vfl comp who have been unbeated by round 13. These were Collingwood in 1929, Geelong in 1953, Essendon in 2000, and St.Kilda and Geelong in 2009. Out of those sides st.kilda has had the best percentage at this stage of the year (177%). and of course there has never been a match in the history of the comp where two sides play each other who are unbeaten by round 13.
a friend of mine will acuse me of being smug - he barracks for carlton so he knows the meaning of the word. however, despite all these wonderful records, I still think the Cats are a five goal better side (please prove me wrong saints). what is known however, is that i have looked forward to this game all year - could very well be a record crowd at the Docklands, and i'll find out how good the beloved saints really are.

Sunday, June 28, 2009 Docklands, 4.40pm AEST; Roof: closed; crowd: 38,196 Conditions: Fair, some slip from humidity Weather: 14C outside
	1/4 time	1/2 time	3/4 time	Final
STK	0.3-3	5.5-35 (20)	11.9-75 (60)	13.14-92 (56)
RCH	2.3-15 (12)	2.3-15	2.3-15	5.6-36
Goals: St Kilda: Justin Koschitzke 5.1, Nick Riewoldt 2, Nick Dal Santo, Jason Ball, Brendon Goddard, Andrew McQualter, Jarryn Geary, Adam Schneider. Richmond: Mitch Morton 2, Jack Riewoldt, Ben Cousins, Tom Hislop. Best: St Kilda: Brendon Goddard, Nick Dal Santo, Jason Gram, Justin Koschitzke, Zac Dawson, Luke Ball, Lenny Hayes. Richmond: Nathan Foley, Shane Tuck. Umpires: Stefan Grun, Chris Kamolins, Michael Avon.

Carlton v St Kilda

11 nil. Its a great feelong for your side to be in that position, but it counts for nothing if we don't beat the Evil Empire tonight. So it was a great amount of trepidation when I took up my position next to the Doctor over at Strawbs house on Friday night.

The first quarter was absolutely amazing. Carlton looked to try and take out our play makers. Goddard got hammered in a bone crushing tackle, and minutes after, Montagna got hit as well. Not sure about the Blues tactics as we banged on five majors in 15 minutes. However once Carlton started to concentrate on the ball instead of the man, it paid dividends for them, and despite us getting another two, they kicked three, and though four goals was a good lead, I wasn't entirely comfortable.

The second quarter started with a Carlton goal. The next 15 minutes was an arm wrestle, but to me the signs were there. The Carlton midfield were getting on top, and Murphy and Simpson were having blinders. At the 20 minute mark I said to the gang, 'we're in trouble'. Strawbs called me smug, and the Tall One and the Doctor called me an idiot. Next thing you know, Carlton have piled on four majors to only be three points down at half time. I couldn't believe it in a way - the Baggers had kicked 9 goals against us by half time - something that most other clubs haven't been able to do against us in four quarters of football.

The third quarter was almost a repeat of the first. We kicked four big ones, mainly courtesy of Rooey. There is no doubt about it - the guy is a genuine superstar of the game. It was obvious that Carlton had the wobbles - but then Joey, Lenny, and somebody else (can't remember who) had chances to blow the game wide open - they missed crucial shots, and Carlton was able to clear defensive 50, and kick a goal against the run of play. Only three goals in it, and still feeling uncomfortable, and then the unthinkable happened. Luke Ball ran onto the ground with 20 seconds remaining in the third quarter, but he forgot to run within the interchange zone - stupid rule, but no doubt about it - we made a mistake, they ended up with a free and 50 metre penalty, which gave a gift goal to the bogan. Game back to just over a kick the diff, Carlton with their tails up, and our boys looking decidedly sick and sorry.

The last quarter was worthy of a Grand Final. The first 10 minutes was just sheer pressure from both sides. I haven't mentioned Chris Judd yet, and now I will. By this stage of the game, he looked like an advertisement for swine flu. He got cleaned up by his own teammate in the third quarter, and ended up with a badly broken nose. Would that stop the Juddster - hell no. He was bleeding from his nose and mouth, and the trainers couldn't stop the bleeding for long. It was obvious he was in alot of pain, but every time he came back on to the ground, he was at the bottom of packs feeding the ball out and just by force of will carrying the rest of his teammates along with him. Enough of praising a Carlton player however. We kicked the first of the last quarter, but the Blues got it back straight away. At the twenty minute mark we got another, and then they got it back straight away. When they got the next one, I thought we were gone. We still led by a few points, but when Houlihan took a mark on the 50 metre line, it was real heart in mouth stuff. Thank the Lord he missed. With only a few minutes left, and us defending for our lives, we got the ball through Gardiner up into our 50 where a St.Kilda player took the mark - about 35 metres out. I soon realised that it was Zac Dawson. Now let me say a few things about the kid - he was absolutely hopeless when he played for Hawthorn, and when we picked him up in the pre season draft at the start of the year, I wasn't the only St.Kilda supporter who groaned. anyhoo, poor old Maxy did his froin, and Zac haad to be our full back. Well, what a revelation he's been - hes hardly put a foot wrong, and hes become a cult hero. however, his disposal skills are poor, and to date he had only kicked one goal for his entire career (a helicopter kick against the Eagles from 30 metres out that somehow went sort of straight). So here he is 35 metres out on an acute angle - I was praying, but couldn't see him kicking it. Well the ball left his foot beautifully, and it went straight through the big sticks. I did the reverse chainsaw, the Doctor came up with the old Knock Knock joke - Owen - Owen who? owen the saints. The siren went about a minute later, us 9 points to the good in what was a magnificent display of footy by both sides, and the boys can have next week off, before they play the Tiges.

Best players for us were Rooey, Joey Montagna (who now has to be considered as one of the AFL's premium onballers) Dal Santo, Maxy Hudghton who again kept Fev down to only two goals (as he has done over the past decade) and also I'll put the Zac in for that goal. For the Evil Empire, Judd, Murphy, Simpson (who is so underrated its not funny), and Jamieson.

UNDERMANNED PIES UNDERWHELM SAINTS

As expected Collingwood came out hard early on. By halfway through the first quarter I was worried - they were matching our intensity, and they were ahead by three points. however towards the end of the first quarter, the signs were there. Joey and Dal were having absolute blinders, and rather than relying on Rooey and Kosi, Milne, and Scneids were kicking goals, and I was slightly confident at quarter time.

The second quarter was looking good, and we were getting on top. Even Stan Alves comment that St.Kilda had Collingwood right where they want them, had no effect on the way we were playing.Dawson was killing Rocca, nothing got past Gilbo, and some of the run from Goddard, and Lenny was exquisite. When Milney kicked his usual freak goal towards the end of the second, we were looking good.

Eight goals ahead at half time, but I was still worried. when the maggies kicked the first goal of the third, I was thinking 'oh no, comeback'. I was wrong though, the pressure and the tackling from our guys was enormous, and by half way through the quarter I was laughing and thinking ahead to the round 13 clash against geelong.

By the last quarter it was all over. I was onto my third beer, joey and dal had 38 possessions each, rooey got into the game a bit, and young mcevoy had a decent game in only his second appearance at this level. even mcqualter did some very nice things and kicked a couple. poor old collingwood were a rabble by night's end - they did try hard, but with their injuries, and having blonks like rocca, and cloke didnt help. best ever win by our boys against them, percentage of over 200, and our bottom six playing like stars (with the exception of gwilt) - bring on the dons next week I say

Final score

Collingwood 40 - St Kilda 128

Collingwood		St Kilda
1.4 (10)	Quarter Time	3.3 (21)
1.6 (12)	Half Time	9.7 (61)
3.7 (25)	Three Quarter Time	15.8 (98)
5.10 (40)	Full Time	20.8 (128)