Magpies season always fell short: Buckley

Updated September 22, 2012 14:14:57

Collingwood coach Nathan Buckley says his side's preliminary final loss reflects their season - full of character but never reaching the heights the team wanted.

The Magpies were never seriously in the hunt in Friday night's 13.18 (96) to 10.10 (70) loss to Sydney at the Olympic stadium, after the Swans dominated most of the first three quarters.

Collingwood rallied either side of the last change to cut the margin from 42 points to 20 and briefly pose a threat, but the Swans steadied and won comfortably.

The Magpies' season followed a similar pattern, recovering from a heap of early-season long-term injuries and some worrying defeats to manufacture a run of 10 straight wins, only to lose momentum late.

"We were just behind the eight ball from the beginning, we were pushing the proverbial up hill and we just weren't able to get there," Buckley said, initially talking about Friday night's loss.

"But we just didn't give up. We had blokes that still believed that there was a chance.

"For the most part, that's what our season was like.

"We had a patch of wins through the middle there where we were beating sides but we still weren't playing at our best.

"We came into the finals losing two of our last three games to top-eight sides ... if we'd have gone any further we would have been flicking a (form) switch and personally I don't really believe in that.

"We need to be better and find momentum earlier in the home and away to be able to give ourselves the best chance coming into September."

The Magpies' preliminary final exit meant they missed the grand final for the first time in three years.

Despite the large number of long-term injuries they copped, Buckley said the Magpies had to improve and work out why their depth, player development and tactical planning was not good enough to cope slightly better.

But he said their character was not in question, particularly during the finals, when they were also rocked by the death of former teammate John McCarthy.

"I've got great pride in the playing group and the leaders within it," Buckley said.

"All of our players have got great character, great competitiveness and I've got no doubt that we can achieve great things in the future because of that, because that is the basis for anything that we'll do in the future."

AAP

Tags: sport, australian-football-league, sydney-2000, nsw, melbourne-3000, vic, australia

First posted September 22, 2012 12:02:50

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Suns fall short in Q-Clash

Updated July 21, 2012 21:05:45

The Gold Coast Suns came close to sealing a second successive victory, but a crucial miss by former Lion Jared Brennan resulted in Brisbane winning the Q-Clash by 11 points at Metricon Stadium on Saturday night.

It was an error-riddled game at Carrara, which Brisbane led comfortably for most of the night, before the Suns' final quarter charge fell short, losing 8.11 (59) to 5.18 (48).

Brisbane's Simon Black told Grandstand that the Lions were lucky to come away with the win.

"It was great to get over the line tonight, I didn't think we were going to win," Black said.

"They came at us pretty hard late and we were fortunate to get the result in the end."

Black said Brisbane had nearly paid for its failure to play with enough intensity at various stages.

"Our pressure on the Suns was very poor, our contested marks and attack on the footy," he said.

"We came in at half time, they were pretty poor and they probably weren't much better in the second half.

"We probably allowed them to play their free-flowing game style too much, we didn't play overly well tonight."

The Lions started well, kicking three goals to none in the first quarter, but a spirited second term by the Suns brought the lead back to 11 points at half-time.

The third quarter was more like an exercise in futility, with the Lions outscoring the Suns 1.4 to 1.3.

Brisbane looked likely to hold on to their two-goal lead, but suddenly the Lions ran out of legs and inspiration in the final term, as the Gold Coast created chance after chance but were utterly wasteful in front of goal.

The home side kicked seven behinds in a row at one stage, to take the lead by two points, before a goal to Tom Rockliff gave the Lions the lead back.

Brennan had a gilt-edged chance to put the Suns back in front late in time added-on, but he pulled the shot and hit the post.

The Lions duly punished the Suns for their terrible goal-kicking, as the ball went forward and Rohan Bewick slotted the sealer.

As usual, Gary Ablett attempted to drag his young Suns team across the line, racking up 37 disposals, nine tackles and a goal.

Brisbane's best were Rockliff and Black, who each had 29 disposals.

Suns: 5.18 (48) - Ablett, Bennell, Brennan, Caddy, Lynch.

Lions: 8.11 (59) - Redden 2, Brown, Cornelius, Merritt, Polkinghorne, Rockliff, Bewick.

Tags: sport, australian-football-league, carrara-4211, brisbane-4000, qld, australia

First posted July 21, 2012 19:31:19

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Hawks make short work of Freo

Updated May 19, 2012 17:52:06

Hawthorn obliterated Fremantle in the second term to easily win their round nine clash by 56 points on Saturday at York Park in Launceston.

The 17.17 (119) to 9.9 (63) win was the third straight for the Hawks following their round-five fade-out in the second half against Sydney at the same venue.

That disaster prompted plenty of scrutiny at the time and the Hawks were still outside the top eight coming into this match.

But Hawthorn, which is widely rated as a premiership contender, was too good for the sixth-placed Dockers.

Hawks midfielder Brad Sewell told Grandstand that the result did not fit the intensity of the clash.

"I don't think the scoreboard does the game justice," he said.

"It was a real arm wrestle out there and we knew we had to prepare really well to come into this game, especially our midfield.

"Their defensive game style is what Ross [Lyon] has brought over from St Kilda so we knew it was going to be that type of combative game, a lot of numbers around the ball.

"Definitely they're very, very good so we knew we had to outwork them at the contest and at the spread as well.

"We've been criticised in the past the midfield group in regards to that spread so that's something we're conscious of."

Clinton Young starred in his 100th game and key forward Jarryd Roughead kicked four goals, while Cyril Rioli's brilliance was a crucial factor as they routed Fremantle in the second term.

The Hawks had an eight-goal run through the after the first change to put the Dockers out of the contest.

Fremantle rallied with four unanswered goals in the third term reducing the margin from 63 points to 39, but there would be no repeat of the collapse against the Swans.

Dockers coach Ross Lyon could see the bad signs during a scrappy first term where his team only managed three behinds to trail by 13 points.

Rather than let the players split into their line groups at the first break, Lyon immediately brought them together and was very animated as he addressed the team.

The first-term statistics were damning - Hawthorn had won the clearances 12-4, despite ruckman Aaron Sandilands winning most of the hit-outs.

Fremantle kicked with the wind in the opening term, but the Hawks won the inside 50s 20-6.

The Dockers' intensity briefly lifted at the start of the second term and Lachie Neale kicked their first goal after a minute.

But after Fremantle missed another two shots, Hawthorn gradually went up a gear.

The home side went on an eight-goal run that blew the margin from five points out to a match-winning 57 points just before half-time.

Rioli marked Indigenous Round by again tormenting the opposition defenders with his lightning speed and decisive tackles in the first half.

Fremantle was forced to put midfielder Stephen Hill onto him at half-time. Rioli went into the midfield at times in the second half and was not as influential.

Up to this weekend, the Dockers had restricted opponents to an average 44 inside 50s per game - by half-time, Hawthorn had 40.

Sam Mitchell and Liam Shiels dominated the stoppages, while Guerra and Josh Gibson led the Hawks' defence.

Sewell said the Hawks' much-criticised midfield is starting to click, but the side can not just rely on a strong performance from one player at a time.

"We've been tinkering with it for the course of the year," he said.

"We know how good a player Youngy [Clinton Young] is, he just needs to put some games together but there's no doubt he brings a lot to the side.

"Isaac [Smith] has plenty of run through there, [Shane] Savage] was the sub today and we certainly know what he's capable of.

"We don't want one stand-out, we don't want Mitch [Sam Mitchell] being the star player.

"He sort of had to be for the start of the year in those last couple of weeks.

"If we can all chip in and play our part we're a good midfield group collectively."

Hill and Michael Barlow were the best of a bad lot for Fremantle, although Luke McPharlin kept Hawks star Lance Franklin quiet.

Dockers utility Clancee Pearce was subbed off in the third term after a heavy hit.

Hawthorn: 17.17 (119) - J Roughead 4, M Suckling 2, L Bruest 2, C Rioli 2, B Guerra, D Hale, S Mitchell, L Franklin, J Lewis, C Young, I Smith.

Fremantle: 9.9 (63) - H Ballantyne 2, R Crowley, M Johnson, Z Dawson, C Mayne, Z Clarke, M Barlow, L Neale.

ABC/AAP

Tags: australian-football-league, sport, launceston-7250, tas, hawthorn-3122, vic, fremantle-6160, wa, australia

First posted May 19, 2012 16:54:35

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