The greater the adversity, the greater the Eagles
If the West Coast Eagles go on to claim the 2015 premiership, their season could form the plotline of a feel-good movie.
First captain Eric Mackenzie tore his ACL in the pre-season, and then key defender Mitch Brown suffered the same fate in round one. Swingman Jeremy McGovern has been in and out of the team all year, Josh Kennedy has carried an elbow injury for months and Nic Naitanui missed games late after suffering the tragic loss of his mother. Adversity? This team eats it for breakfast.
So while the footy world worked itself into a panic on Friday afternoon as news broke that Brownlow medalist Matt Priddis wouldn’t play, somewhere in Perth, coach Adam Simpson just sat back and smiled. He’s from the Alastair Clarkson school of coaching, remember: one soldier out, another soldier in.
For at least two quarters, the Eagles pummeled the Hawks in a way nobody saw coming. They tick all the boxes required by a premiership team – grunt, skill, a multi-pronged forward line, x-factor and a versatile backline that, despite absences all year, continues to get the job done.
And, as for that midfield, in Priddis’s absence the lesser lights shone. Luke Shuey’s best-on-ground performance helped, but Mark LeCras and Elliott Yeo played increased midfield minutes to great effect and the underrated Mark Hutchings (24 touches, five tackles) starred. The recalled Scott Selwood had 19 possessions, a few of them iffy, but his courage and endeavour is built for finals football.
Save for Sam Mitchell, Hawthorn’s midfielders were simply outworked and outplayed by younger, faster and hungrier opponents. Their gamble to play the injured Isaac Smith backfired and Jack Gunston limped off late. It was the definition of a dirty night. They’ll now have to take the long road if they’re to win their third straight flag.
With Priddis and Chris Masten likely to return for the prelim, all the dominoes are falling into place for a West Coast fairytale that nobody thought possible six months ago.
Fremantle’s mosquito fleet delivers
For all their defensive pressure and one percenters, the knock on Ross Lyon’s teams has always been an inability to score. And so it panned out on Saturday afternoon, as Fremantle took until the death to shake off the gallant but heavily depleted Swans.
With Matt Taberner a curious late scratching and Matthew Pavlich drawing Ted Richards up the field, the Dockers’ tall forwards were impotent or nonexistent for much of the game. Enter the mosquito fleet of Michael Walters and Hayden Ballantyne, who between them scored six of Fremantle’s 10 goals.
Walters – Fremantle’s highest goal scorer this season – starring is to be expected. He may have been overlooked in the All-Australian squad but he’s up there with the top echelon of small forwards in the game. He kicked the game’s first goal from outside 50, into the breeze, and picked up 21 touches and four inside-50s to go with his three goals, demonstrating his ability to work up the ground.
But Ballantyne’s return was a bonus. His shoulder heavily strapped, he played his first game in eight weeks after suffering a pectoral injury. And truth be told, Ballantyne’s form before that had been extremely poor. He’d kicked just 11 goals in 13 games this season, and was veering close to a stint in the WAFL before injury hit. The enforced layoff seemed to have done him a world of good, as on Saturday he buzzed around, chased and harassed more effectively than he had all season. When both sides were spraying shots, Ballantyne kicked truly at the start of the third and final quarters giving his side breathing space, and he also set up a major to Zac Clarke by spinning in and out of trouble and hooking over his body where the ruckman marked on the goal line.
Plenty of questions will be asked of Fremantle’s scoring ability as they prepare for a date with the Hawks or Crows. None will be about Walters or Ballantyne though. Without them, the Dockers would be staring down the barrel at the possibility of another straight sets exit.
Tex owns the match winning moment
In the space of just 60 seconds deep into time-on in the final quarter of a seesawing elimination final, the Bulldogs went from possible winners to heartbreak.
A point down with two and a half minutes to play, the Dogs were streaming from halfback when Bob Murphy won the ball. Their daring, dashing corridor play had given them more than enough scoring opportunities to win the game, and here, they were out. The chain of handballs ended up with Lachie Hunter, who had Stewart Crameri waiting ahead of the play and Jarrad Grant sprinting towards the goal square with not a Crow defender in sight. All Hunter had to do was to get the ball to Crameri, who would pass it to Grant and a certain goal beckoned. But Hunter overcooked the handball, which flew over Crameri’s head and allowed him to be gang-tackled by two opponents.
From the ball-up, Adelaide got it on the outside and belted it down the line where Tex Walker legally got rid of Fletcher Roberts and took two bounces along the wing. He could have blazed away at goal, could have tried Josh Jenkins in a one-on-one contest. Instead, Walker lowered his eyes and delivered a spearing lace-out pass to an unmarked Charlie Cameron just 20m from goal. Cameron held his nerve, converted and the game was over in the blink of an eye. Literally 30 seconds of game time elapsed between Hunter’s poor handball and Walker delivering onto the chest of Cameron at the other end. And in the end, that was all that separated these two sides in one of the games of the year, full of momentum shifts and lead changes.
In June, late Phil Walsh spoke of his Crows having “masterpieces still to be painted this year”. Walker’s poise, skill and leadership in the most important minute of Adelaide’s season entirely fit the bill.
Jarrad worth the Waite
There were a few raised eyebrows – perhaps even sniggers – when North Melbourne signed former Carlton veteran Jarrad Waite during last year’s free agency window. Through more than 180 games as a Blue, the 32-year old’s career was a mixed bag. For every moment of match-winning Jarrad, there was bad Jarrad, a frustrating combination of sprayed set shots and poor discipline. Indeed, Waite’s first season as a Kangaroo had been hot and cold, consistency always eluding him.
Fortunately for coach Brad Scott, good Jarrad decided to show up at the MCG on Sunday afternoon. Waite was close to best afield as North Melbourne came from behind to consign Richmond to a third consecutive elimination final loss. The big man popped up at the most opportune times all day – snapping his team’s first after the Tigers’ hot start and converting a set shot from deep in the pocket in the second quarter when the Kangaroos simply had to stay in touch. With seven minutes to play he spring boarded over Alex Rance to take a clean grab and boot it inside 50, where Lindsay Thomas gave the Roos some breathing space. Three minutes later he outbodied Jake Batchelor in the goalsquare to kick the sealer.
Sixteen possessions, eight marks, seven tackles and 4.2 is a fair afternoon by any key forward’s standard. If good Jarrad takes to the field against the Swans on Saturday night, North Melbourne will give itself every chance of making a second straight prelim.
As for the vanquished….
Season 2015 came crashing to an end for the Western Bulldogs and Richmond, who need to climb another 12-month mountain for a chance at redemption.
The Bulldogs went down playing football their way – high scoring, entertaining and aesthetically pleasing. Despite the disappointment of their last-gasp loss, their season was a tremendous success. The Dogs unearthed a few gems, have a coach who restored confidence almost overnight and watched the likes of Jake Stringer and Mitch Wallis become stars. Next year they’ll regain the services of reigning best and fairest Tom Liberatore, and will expect more from Tom Boyd after another summer in the gym. Saturday night’s loss exposed their Achilles heel in their undersized, inexperienced backline which was dominated by Tex Walker and Eddie Betts. Add a Jake Carlisle type to that team and they can go to another level in 2016.
As for Richmond, for the third year in a row they entered the finals with some genuine momentum and for the third year in a row they finished empty-handed. No chocolates in September means their year simply has to be classified as a failure. But the Tigers made some tremendous strides during the home and away season, beating three of the top four sides and appearing a bona fide chance to claim a double chance only a fortnight ago. Richmond has improved year after year under Damien Hardwick, but this is a result-driven industry. If it fails to taste finals success next season, the pressure will mount.
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