Eagles unconcerned by poor MCG record

Updated September 14, 2012 14:26:42

West Coast assistant coach Scott Burns says the AFL club's record at the MCG is not as bad as bare statistics suggest.

The Eagles head into Saturday night's semi-final against Collingwood having lost 10 of their past 11 games at the grand final venue.

That includes their past six games, three of which were against Collingwood.

But Burns says the Eagles are steadily improving and have come close against class opposition in the past 12 months.

"Going back a few years we weren't a great team, so that didn't help us," he told reporters after West Coast trained at the MCG on Friday.

"Last year we played Collingwood twice and Geelong and they were the two grand final teams.

"We got closer to Collingwood in that first final and bar our first quarter against Hawthorn (two weeks ago) we thought we were quite competitive.

"So I think when you get 70-80,000 people here for a final and the boys are a lot further ahead than what they were 12 months ago, they're looking forward to turning things around."

Midfielder Matt Rosa will make his return just three weeks after breaking his collarbone, but Burns said he survived a searching fitness test untroubled this week.

"If he gets targeted he gets targeted," the former Magpies captain said.

"If he's not ready to go then we wouldn't play him."

The loss of tough defender Beau Waters to injury will hit hard, but Burns said that was effectively countered by Collingwood's loss of skipper Nick Maxwell to suspension.

While Collingwood plan to test the Eagles with a physical approach, as they did against Hawthorn in last weekend's qualifying final, Burns said while that was expected, West Coast would not spend much time planning for it.

"No, we don't talk about those sorts of things too much," he said.

"We're really keen here just to get to the `G, we're rapt with the experience we got last year here in two finals games and we just want to attack the ball and body as hard as we possibly can."

He said West Coast's wealth of tall forwards was likely to grow as a weapon as the match went on.

"Hopefully with that extra height, I don't think there's going to be too much drizzle around tomorrow night, that as the game progresses the big fellas can take a few marks like they did last week in the last quarters."

AAP

Tags: sport, australian-football-league, perth-6000, wa, melbourne-3000, vic, australia

First posted September 14, 2012 14:06:59

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Demons survive to record Bombers boilover

Updated June 02, 2012 22:49:15

Melbourne produced the upset of the season, taking advantage of a wasteful Essendon to win by a goal at the MCG on Saturday night to give coach Mark Neeld the first victory of his reign.

Another loss would have given the embattled club its first 0-10 start since 1919.

But the Demons, who faced an avalanche of criticism after copping a 101-point hiding from Sydney just two weeks ago, won 8.10 (58) to 6.16 (52) in front of 42,987 fans.

The win lifted them off the bottom of the ladder, leaving winless Gold Coast in the wooden spoon berth.

Melbourne players literally jumped for joy and gathered in groups to hug each other as the siren sounded.

They had trailed for much of the night, but surged clear with three goals to one in the final quarter to hand the second-placed Bombers just their second defeat of the season.

The much-maligned Jack Watts continued his strong recent form in defence, leading a valiant Demons set-up at the back which kept the Bombers to a meagre score despite their constant attacking thrusts.

Jared Rivers, Daniel Nicholson and Tom McDonald were also good in defence, while Brent Moloney, Nathan Jones and Jack Grimes provided drive from the midfield, with Moloney and Jones also kicking a goal each.

Essendon captain Jobe Watson was clearly his side's best with 32 disposals and two goals.

His work helped the Bombers have the lion's share of attacking moves for most of the game.

But, while Melbourne defended desperately to stay in touch throughout the night, Essendon was largely to blame for its own defeat.

The Bombers' kicking for goal was atrocious. Key forwards Stewart Crameri, with 0.3, Paddy Ryder, with 0.2, and Michael Hurley, with 0.3 and another shot out on the full, all wasted straightforward chances, but were not the only culprits.

The Bombers also produced sloppy disposals and fumbled to ruin many promising attacking moves, with Hurley heading towards an open goal in the last term but over-running a ground ball, when a goal would have put his side ahead.

After Melbourne moved 11 points clear through a Colin Garland goal, Watson produced a nice snap to cut the margin to less than a kick and pumped his fist to try to rev up his team, but to no avail as the Demons closed out the game.

Melbourne: 8.10 (58) - Garland 2, Clark, Howe, Jones, Moloney, Morton, Sylvia

Essendon: 6.16 (52) - Watson 2, Colyer, Davey, Hocking, Melksham

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Tags: australian-football-league, sport, melbourne-3000, essendon-3040, vic, australia

First posted June 02, 2012 22:14:56

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Power record another loss

Updated December 13, 2011 07:54:22

Port Adelaide has recorded another loss of more than $3 million as the club continues to struggle on and off the field.

The Power reported a consolidated operating profit of $887,981, but that was after financial assistance from the SANFL worth more than $4 million.

Their loss was $3.16 million, which was an improvement on last year's $3.69 million result in the red.

Power president Brett Duncanson says the club needs more improvement in match day and sponsorship revenues.

"We suffered in 2011 through lower-than-expected AFL home ground crowds, which were impacted on by some scheduling issues together with our teams on-field results," he said in a statement.

"It highlights the need for our members and supporters to get along to our home games and support the team and at the same time help our clubs bottom line."

The SANFL help included a $2.05 million grant, held over from last year, and $2 million made available through a loan to the SA Football Commission from the AFL.

AAP

Tags: australian-football-league, sport, port-adelaide-5015

First posted December 12, 2011 17:52:05

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