Roos lose Pratt to thumb injury

Posted May 31, 2011 21:39:00

Experienced North Melbourne defender Daniel Pratt is expected to be out of AFL action for a month with a fractured thumb.

The backman sustained the injury shortly before half-time in Saturday's agonising one-point loss to Sydney at Docklands, but played out the game.

But he has since had surgery to have a plate and screw inserted.

The Roos have lost another defensive stalwart Michael Firrito to suspension.

With fellow defender Nathan Grima already out with a finger injury, it leaves the club's defence badly depleted for Sunday's clash with Adelaide.

-AAP

Tags: sport, australian-football-league, australia, vic, north-melbourne-3051

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Weekend Half Time

The show which aired 29/5/2011

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(duration: 55:19; filesize: 25.2)

Presented by Cameron Green and Sacha Mirzabegian

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SANFL results: Round 9

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Norwood, Port Adelaide, Eagles and Central Districts all took victory points over the weekend to close off Round 9 of the SANFL.

Norwood 13.8.86 led all the way over West Adelaide 4.8.32, with 5 goals unanswered in the third quarter to help secure the win.

Port Adelaide 16.10.106 cleared Panthers 12.4.76 at Alberton Oval.

Port gradually increased their lead over the quarters, with a final quarter 5.1 to secure the win.

Eagles 14.12.97 held out a last quarter come back from Glenelg 10.14.74 to take the premiership points at Glenelg Oval.

After a 7.4 lead at halftime, Glenelg sprayed 7 points without a goal in the third quarter, but found their target in the final quarter with an unsuccessful 6 goal run to fulltime.

Centrals 16.5.101 were challenged well by North Adelaide 14.10.94, with sharp kicking providing the win for the Bulldogs at Elizabeth Oval.

An 8 goal run by Alleway of North Adelaide was not enough to put the Roosters in front, with Centrals finishing on top by 7.

Round 10 this weekend:

Saturday 4 June, 2:10pm: Norwood vs Central Districts at Norwood Oval.

Saturday 4 June, 2:10pm: Eagles vs North Adelaide at Woodville Oval.

Saturday 4 June, 6:30pm: Panthers vs Glenelg at Hickinbotham Oval.

Sunday 5 June, 12:45pm: Port Adelaide vs Sturt at Football Park.

West Adelaide has the bye.

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AFL Wrap: Round 10

Round 10 of the AFL is done and dusted, and once again for the SA teams it was a weekend of contrasting fortunes.

For Port Adelaide a trip to Darwin saw them return to the winners list for just the second time this season, while the Crows continue their slide with a disappointing loss at home to the Lions.

In the opening match of the round on Friday night, Carlton did what they had to do - accounting for Melbourne at the MCG.

It was an ugly match with few highlights, but the Blues showed they will be right in the thick of the action come September with an easy win.

The Dees were poor, and their supporters' hope of playing in the finals seems a long way off.

Saturday afternoon saw a one point thriller at Docklands, with Sydney just getting home over North Melbourne in a tight tussle.

Across the other side of the country, the St Kilda revival continued with a big win over the Dockers at Subiaco.

The return to form of the Saints has seen them win their past two and with a grand final rematch with Collingwood on the cards this week, their turn around has come just at the right time.

However they could be missing two key players, with Goddard and Dempster taken to hospital after horrific hits to the head and neck during the match.

Both have returned home but their availability this week is unlikely.

Saturday night saw Gold Coast play their first match at their home stadium when they hosted Geelong.

Karmichael Hunt lit up the crowd with his first ever AFL goal, a booming kick from outside 50.

But despite trailing at half time, the Cats were far too strong for the new boys, winning by over 10 goals with Steve Johnson booting a career high 7 majors.

The other match of the night was nearly hit by disaster, with the lights at Darwin's Marrara Oval failing during the warm up.

They were restarted just before the opening bounce, and despite another tower failing in the second term, the match continued.

And it was the Power who were switched on the best, winning just their second match of the year with a 15 point victory over the Tigers.

On Sunday, the topsy turvey season for the Crows continued, with the club sinking to a 40 point loss to Brisbane at Footy Park.

The Lions went in to the match at the bottom of the ladder, but the outclassed the Crows for the final three quarters and they won going away.

Collingwood easily accounted for West Coast at the MCG in the middle match on Sunday, with Dale Thomas the star of the show with two stunning goals and a big mark on the goal line.

The Pies sit second on the ladder and are primed for their Grand Final rematch this weekend.

The final match of the round saw Hawthorn continue their impressive 2011 season, defeating the Western Bulldogs at Docklands.

The Dogs look in all sort of trouble and may struggle to make the 8, while the Hawks are become a team to be feared.

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Crunch time looms for debt-ridden Port

The SANFL adviser appointed to debt-ridden Port Adelaide Football Club board, John Irving, has resigned.

The SANFL adviser appointed to Port Adelaide Football Club board, John Irving, has resigned.

There are reports the League could take over the debt-ridden club.

The SANFL is said to have no cash reserves to let it keep underwriting the football club.

The Power says it is continuing to work with the SANFL.

In a statement, the club says it expects to report a significant financial turnaround of at least $2 million in 2011.

Former CEO Brian Cunningham says football in general is suffering in South Australia.

"Port Adelaide has certainly borne the brunt of it but the Adelaide footy club had its first loss financial loss last year and how it's travelling this year with the crowds I'm seeing, it's probably going to be difficult again for it," he said.

"So I think football in South Australia is in a pretty difficult situation at the moment."

Former development coach with the Power and former SANFL Magpies player and coach Stephen Williams also concedes it is a difficult time.

"If the Adelaide [Crows] footy club can't make money in Adelaide how is Port Adelaide going to make it?" he said.

"And the [Adelaide Oval] stadium deal is just not favourable to both clubs.

"Football certainly brings a lot of money to the SANFL in Adelaide but it goes straight to the SANFL and then they give it back to Port Adelaide."

Opposition Leader Isobel Redmond again has questioned the wisdom of upgrading Adelaide Oval to stage AFL games.

"I'm far from satisfied that it's the right way to spend $600 million of the money that belongs to the taxpayers of this state," she said.

"It's effectively bailing out, it appears now, cricket and football. Why would we do that if, at the end of the day especially, the business case doesn't stack up?"

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Walshy's Wrap: Round 10

Published:Monday, May 30, 2011 11:14 AESTExpires:Sunday, August 28, 2011 11:14 AEST

Grandstand's Roger Wills, sitting in the chair for Peter Walsh, reviews all the action from round 10 of the 2011 AFL season.

Tags: sport, australian-football-league

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Lions continue resurgence against Crows

Updated May 29, 2011 16:24:00

Brisbane continued its AFL recovery with its second win on the bounce, triumphing by 40 points over the Adelaide Crows at Football Park.

Wily Brisbane goalsneak Ashley McGrath triggered a turnaround to earn Brisbane a 15.11 (101) to 8.13 (61) victory, kicking four goals alongside Todd Banfield's three, while Mitch Clark capped his dominant display with two majors.

McGrath changed the tune of the contest with a second stanza cameo that stole momentum as the Lions banked consecutive wins after seven straight losses.

"Ash was fantastic today and our young guys are starting to really grow in stature and put in some consistent performances," veteran midfielder Simon Black told Grandstand.

"A lot of them are around the 50-game mark; I remember [former coach] Leigh Matthews used to say if you play 50 games you start to feel really confident out on the field and should be contributing regularly, and that's why our young guys are starting to do so well.

"Obviously it's only our second win for the year but there's some good signs there at the moment.

The Crows had flown to an early lead with recalled forward Taylor Walker among the goal scorers in Adelaide's 3.2 to 1.3 opening term.

But McGrath then kicked three goals and set another up in a devastating 17 minute which stunned the 34,583-strong crowd.

McGrath slipped Graham Johncock for a personal haul punctuated by a creative handball to set team-mate Luke Power up for goal - his third gave Brisbane the lead for the first time.

McGrath's hot streak sparked a 13-goal-to-three period of sustained Brisbane dominance over an Adelaide outfit which wilted alarmingly when challenged.

"We had a good second quarter and come in at half-time relatively confident," Black said.

"We knew that Adelaide would come at us in the third quarter but we had a real focus in the third quarter to come out and at least match them in contested footy and I thought we did that really well.

"That set up the win for us today, our second win for the year. It's fantastic to be able to come down here and get a win."

The Lions grabbed a defining 34-point buffer at the last change and McGrath underlined his match-swinging ways with the opening goal of the final quarter which settled the result.

Brisbane's win was just reward for the feats of roaming utility Clark who collected 23 disposals and eight marks, prolific ball winner Black (31 possessions) and defensive linchpin Daniel Merrett, who kept Kurt Tippett goal-less in a commanding performance.

The Crows, their season tattered with six losses from nine starts, lost Walker who sat out the second half with an ankle injury.

Adelaide's woes would have been worse without the efforts of its prime midfielders Scott Thompson (35 disposals) and Richard Douglas (33 touches).

The Lions host Sydney next Saturday while Adelaide travels to meet North Melbourne on Sunday.

Brisbane: 15.11 (101) - A McGrath 4, T Banfield 3, B Retzlaff 2, M Clark 2, D Rich, J O'Brien, L Power, T Collier

Adelaide: 8.13 (61) - B Smith, C Knights, M Wright, N van Berlo, P Dangerfield, R Henderson, S Jacobs, T Walker

- ABC/AAP

Tags: sport, australian-football-league, australia, qld, brisbane-4000, sa, adelaide-5000

First posted May 29, 2011 15:53:00

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