Thursday, May 10, 2012
Eagles down North to stay perfect
West Coast remains the only unbeaten team in the AFL after running out 25-point victors in a Sunday afternoon struggle against a dogged North Melbourne outfit at Subiaco.
A week after somehow beating Richmond, John Worsfold's men won 17.18 (120) to 15.5 (95) and overcame the loss of more big names and big bodies to take their record to 6-0 in 2012, a game ahead of Sydney, Carlton, Adelaide and Essendon.
Young Eagle Scott Selwood led his team with a brilliant all-round display, while Josh Hill kicked four goals.
Andrew Swallow and Ben Cunnington were similarly impressive for the visitors, who battled bravely but could not generate enough pressure to puncture West Coast's perfect start.
"We gave ourselves a chance at three-quarter time and we were right in the mix and just couldn't get the job done at the end," a dejected Swallow told Grandstand.
"We turned the footy over a little bit too much and gave them a couple of easy goals and that was the result in the end."
But he said his side could take heart in being able to keep up with competition front-runner West Coast.
"The boys are pretty positive, we know where we are and we're a lot fitter than we've been in the last couple of years," Swallow said.
"We've got a lot of run behind us so we know we can run out games really well.
"We've been doing that all year, we just gave them too many soft goals which resulted in four, five goals of the result in the end."
Following the Swans' shock loss to Adelaide on Saturday night, the Eagles had the chance to open up an early-season buffer at the top of the ladder.
But they were forced to do without Nic Naitanui, who withdrew late with a sore hamstring.
That left their normally giant line-up cut down to size and perhaps left Brad Scott regretting not reinstating ruckman Todd Goldstein into his 22.
In his 50th game as a senior coach, Scott had formulated a counter-attacking plan which consistently caught out the forward-thinking Eagles early, leading to seven goals from their first seven scoring shots all coming from turnovers.
Scott's men led with seconds to go in the first term until a free kick for high tackle - rapidly becoming an Eagles trademark - allowed Luke Shuey to give the home side a narrow lead at the first change.
Ex-Bulldog Hill was further enhancing his reputation with a lively display, while Jamie Macmillan was doing his best to negate the influence of Andrew Gaff while inflicting damage himself with two goals.
As North's shooting accuracy grew, so did belief with Daniel Wells streaking away for the visitors sixth and Lindsay Thomas following it with another deadly finish from another Eagles turnover.
But with North Melbourne spending increasing time in defence, the screws were being tightened by the league leaders and, after a succession of misses, Shannon Hurn and the ever-improving Selwood finally found reward for effort.
Ashton Hams flying bump on Swallow provided a contentious end to the first half and the Eagles made a move early in the second with successive goals.
But North hit back with three of its own as momentum continued to swing.
As Adam Selwood left the ground with an agonising hand injury, the Eagles replied through Hurn, Hill and Matt Rosa, setting up an intriguing finish.
With the gap at 13 points to the start the final term, the Eagles finally squeezed the life out of the Kangaroos with Hill's fourth and Dean Cox's first, the win setting up a blockbuster with high-flying Essendon next Saturday.
West Coast: 17.18 (120) - J Hill 4, S Hurn 2, L Shuey 2, D Cox, Q Lynch, M Rosa, C Masten, S Selwood, B Sheppard, A Hams, J Darling, S Lycett.
North Melbourne: 15.5 (95) - B Cunnington 3, B Harvey 2, J MacMillan 2, D Petrie, D Wells, A Edwards, L Thomas, J Ziebell, S Wright, K Harper, C Pedersen.
ABC/AAP
Tags: australian-football-league, sport, perth-6000, wa, australia First posted May 06, 2012 19:24:39Thursday, March 15, 2012
Cooney says knee not perfect, but better
Western Bulldogs midfield star Adam Cooney admits his troublesome right knee will never be 100 per cent, but he still believes he can play a key role for the AFL club.
The 2008 Brownlow Medallist had an inconsistent season last year, as soreness stemming from the knee cap fracture he sustained in 2008 meant he was unable to sustain his best form.
Off-season surgery has helped, but the 26-year-old said he was not expecting to go out and dominate matches on a weekly basis.
"It's probably not going to be 100 per cent," he told reporters on Friday.
"In saying that, what I had done in the off-season has taken a little bit of the pressure off the knee cap, it seems to have worked pretty well.
"It's just a management thing.
"I'm not the only guy who's played with injuries, a lot of guys have done it in the past."
Cooney said he would have to assess how he was feeling throughout the season to determine how many matches he played and how much of each he spent in the midfield.
He acknowledged his frustrations last season had a negative effect on his mood, which affected his team-mates.
But he said new coach Brendan McCartney had assured him that as long as he was contributing, the Dogs did not need him to be best afield every week.
"I don't think I'm worried about it," Cooney said.
"I've had a lot of chats with Macca.
"I know what to expect from him and he knows what to expect from me.
"As long as I'm playing my role for the team, I'm going to be happy with that and he's going to be happy with that."
Cooney said he did not expect to play in the opening round of the preseason competition, but hoped to play at least two pre-season games to build match fitness for the start of the home -and-away season.
AAP
Tags: australian-football-league, sport, footscray-3011, vic, australia First posted February 10, 2012 11:36:04Saturday, June 18, 2011
Monday, June 6, 2011
Perfect Cats make meal of Dogs
The Cats racked up their 26th consecutive victory at their Geelong fortress after an eight-goals-to-two second term opened up a 50-point lead by half-time which translated into a 23.10 (148) to 13.9 (87) triumph.
The margin was 76 points at its highest point early in the last term as the second half resembled more of an afternoon training run than a clash between two sides who have finished in the top four for the last three seasons.
Despite the convincing result, Cats defender Josh Hunt, who put on a massive bump which saw Jarrod Grant substituted, said the Cats have been lucky to be 10-0.
"We are under no illusions. We aren't playing great footy at all," he told Grandstand.
"We haven't played a great four-quarter game and there is plenty of stuff we need to work on.
"Our tackles and stuff have been down this year and the last quarter was a bit disappointing for them to double their score almost."
Geelong ruckman Brad Ottens booted 5.0 and James Podsiadly 3.1 as the Cats continued their undefeated start while condemning the Bulldogs to their seventh loss of the season.
The Cats boasted 12 goal-kickers and nine players who finished with 20-plus possessions; Jimmy Bartel, Steve Johnson, Andrew Mackie and Joel Selwood rounding out the game's top ball-getters.
Podsiadly said his side's versatility around the ground and focus on the doing the little things right has been the recipe to success.
"We pressured them really well, and set up really well in our defence and when we do that we usually win and we usually get rewarded going the other way," he told Grandstand.
"The media and other people look at stats and other stuff, but we pride ourselves on those one percenters that get people in the game.
"Nathan Vardy and Josh Cowan today were fantastic, and to help them along and get them in the game is something we tried to do too."
Ryan Griffen's 24 touches and two goals and Daniel Giansiracusa's five majors represented the only shining lights for the Dogs, who delivered another lacklustre display.
Out of form Dogs defender Brian Lake had a day to forget down back, but was moved forward in the last quarter and kicked three goals with the contest over.
The Geelong victory also saw Chris Scott equal the record for consecutive wins by a rookie coach, level with South Melbourne's Johnny Leonard in 1932.
Hunt said when Scott came to the club from Fremantle, he noticed a few defensive things the side could improve on.
"It takes a lot of team stuff to defend the way we do and if one person doesn't do their job then it all breaks down," Hunt said.
"He has put a lot of onus on us to make sure we look after each other and don't let each other down.
"That's probably what he has brought the most, like the way he played, that ruthless defensive attitude."
The Cats now look ahead to a tantalising battle with Hawthorn at the MCG next Saturday while Rodney Eade's men face a round 12 challenge in the form of a rejuvenated St Kilda.
Geelong: 23.10 (148) - B Ottens 5, J Podsiadly 3, D Menzel 2, J Selwood 2, M Duncan 2, M Stokes 2, S Johnson 2, C Ling, J Bartel, M Scarlett, N Vardy, T Varcoe.
Bulldogs: 13.9 (87) - D Giansiracusa 5, B Lake 3, R Griffen 2, S Higgins 2, J Sherman.
Tags: sport, australian-football-league, australia, vic, geelong-3220 First posted June 4, 2011 17:03:00Thursday, April 21, 2011
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