Summary
So a big night of sport, especially in the AFL, where Geelong, Brisbane and Fremantle all lost to shake up the top end of the ladder. North Melbourne recorded their first win of the season, while Essendon roared back to life, but it was Richmond’s injury-ravaged win over Port Adelaide that was perhaps the pick of a pulsating five-game feast.
A close one in the NRL where the Warriors almost upset the Bunnies, but comfortable stuff for the Roosters over the Sharks.
Two draws in the A-League that could have a big effect on the finals permutations - a draw in the Sydney derby handing Perth the chance to secure the premiership tomorrow, while Melbourne City and Adelaide United’s draw keeps Wellington’s home finals hopes alive.
Keep an eye out for live Masters golf action teeing off shortly, as well as Premier League and more, on a day when once in a lifetime mare Winx officially called it quits, matching Phar Lap’s impressive 37 win career. Thanks for your company and comments - we’ll dance again tomorrow night!
AFL: West Coast 10.9 (69) defeat Fremantle 7.14 (56)
They threatened to make it lively in the end, but it was a little too late from the Dockers who came home with, erm, a sail that was, well, just moist.
300+ gamer David Mundy was immense for Freo in the absence of Nat Fyfe, with 36 touches, four marks and four tackles, while Jack Redden, Shannon Hurn and Andrew Gaff were all huge for the Eagles, all with 30+ touches and 8+ marks. Hurn ending up with the Glendenning-Allan medal, to the delight of home fans.
Another tough Western derby, as Freo become the third of the top three sides to all lose during round four.
A-League: Western Sydney 1-1 Sydney FC
It’s honours even in the end, with both sides spurning gilt-edged chances to win it late on - Oriel Riera with a big miss for the Wanderers before Vedran Janjetovic saved brilliantly from Adam Le Fondre deep into added time.
It’s a result that hands Perth Glory a very big chance to secure the premiership in front of their home fans tomorrow, as they host Newcastle - rendering their round 26 showdown with Sydney FC therefore meaningless. A fitting reward for their season perhaps.
AFL: North Melbourne 9.17 (71) defeat Adelaide 8.11 (59)
It’s a second-half revival for the Roos, and it’s a morale-sapping loss for the Crows, who drop down the ladder with Richmond and Essendon winning around them.
Skipper Tex Walker not backing up Betts’ brilliance while Ben Brown fired four at the other end, as the Roos leave Carlton as the only winless team left in the league.
Super Rugby: Brumbies 31-20 Lions
Waaaaay. Crisis, what crisis! Australian rugby isn’t having another septem horribilis. It’s a gutsy win in the end for the Brumbies down in Canberra, who arrest a lean run of form over recent weeks with a five try to three win over their South African visitors.
Lachlan McCaffrey the instigator with a try and a try assist after Tom Wright’s early yellow card saw the home side forced to endure some solid pressure. He made amends for that ill-discipline later in the second half with a solid run and try with around twenty to go.
A third win of the season - could this spur the Brumbies on to bigger and better?
NRL: Cronulla 16-30 Sydney
Well, they made it marginally more scoreboard friendly in the end, but it was a pretty ropey old showing in front of their home fans from the Sharks, who let their opponents race out to a 0-30 lead before peeling a few tries back of their own.
We’re only five rounds in but it’s hard to go past the Roosters and the Storm as the front-markers this season, no? Almost a little like last year.
AFL - half-time: West Coast 6.3 (39) lead Fremantle 1.9 (15)
A low-scoring second quarter in the Western derby, with Matt Taberner and Jack Darling the only players to trouble the scorers with majors.
Not too much from the Freo numbers that stands out, with Jack Petruccelle using his pace to great effect to grab two goals in a blitzing first quarter. Really making a name for himself as a flyer.
Still, they’re not dead in the water, the Dockers. Score first after the break and it could get lively. Defences on top so far.
AFL - three-quarter-time: North Melbourne 7.14 (56) lead Adelaide 7.9 (51)
Hello, hello - they’ve found their shooting boots, and they’ve hit the lead, the Roos! Four unanswered goals as the hosts find a big third quarter - Ben Brown with three, and Ziebell another - those two now with 86% of the Kangaroos’ goals.
Just 1.3 for the Crows since the major break. What can Don Pyke tweak for the final quarter?
A-League - goal! Western Sydney 1-1 Sydney FC (Baumjohann, 57’)
Game on in the derby - it’s a freekick that flicks off the toe of Adam Le Fondre to beat the ‘keeper, but it’s the German Alexander Baumjohann that will claim it. Their season is over, Wanderers, but can they end their poor, poor derby run here tonight?
AFL - quarter-time: West Coast 5.1 (31) lead Fremantle 0.5 (5)
And to our late fixture in the AFL where it’s been a blitzing start to the Western derby. Fremantle led by five scoring shots to four at one stage - only catch was the Eagles’ efforts all ended in goals, and the Dockers, behinds.
Andrew Gaff leading the disposals tally for both sides in his return to the WA grudge match. The Dockers are of course Nat Fyfe-less, with their skipper ruling himself out with concussion. Can somebody stand up for Freo in his place?
NRL - tryfest! And let’s hope the PM’s not taken the night off from electioneering, because his beloved Sharkies have just copped four tries in ten minutes. Sharks 0-30 Roosters - and this in a game where they were only six behind until five seconds before half-time. Ay-ee.
As tries go though, this is something very special from the Chooks. Watch and enjoy.
How did he get this down 😵#NRLSharksRoosters#TelstraPremiership pic.twitter.com/ADtzg3qoYL
— NRL (@NRL) April 13, 2019
Some more bad news for Newcastle fans by the way, with news coming through that Aidan Guerra has broken his leg in two places. Awful news.
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A-League - half-time: Western Sydney 0-1 Sydney FC
So it remains just Alex Brosque’s 7th minute opener that separates the two sides, in a Sydney derby that started, unsurprisingly with a little bit of feeling - at one stage three Wanderers picking up yellow cards in consecutive minutes. From there the cooler heads among the Western Sydney squad have prevailed, and but for a few sharp saves from Andrew Redmayne in the Sydney goal could have clawed their way back into this one.
Super Rugby - half-time: Brumbies 19-8 Lions
And a strong finish to the half in Canberra has the home side sitting pretty, with Tevita Kuridrani crossing in the 38th minute to put the Brumbies in a very good spot to shoot up the ladder / sneak within cooee of the top eight. The visitors with a few poor handling errors and the home side in no mood for charity. They’ll need to maintain the intensity for the second half though, it goes without saying.
AFL - half-time: North Melbourne 3.10 (28) trail Adelaide 6.6 (42)
So 13 scoring shots to 12, but as you can see, one side is making a little bit more of their chances than the other. They were 1.9 at one stage, the Roos, before Ben Brown and Jack Ziebell got things moving a little. Eddie Betts with three for the Crows including this corker from the pocket.
Too easy for Eddie Betts. 👌
— 7AFL (@7AFL) April 13, 2019
Watch #AFLRoosCrows on 7! pic.twitter.com/YVSFLiKlQI
NRL - half-time: Cronulla 0-12 Sydney
Well, they were okay for 39 minutes and 55 seconds, but with five seconds to play, the Roosters have really rubbed salt in the wounds. Smart work this, and a well-deserved lead at the break after Latrell Mitchell doubled Cooper Cronk’s earlier four-pointer.
5 seconds until half-time and the Roosters manage to produce this 😲😲😲#NRLSharksRoosters#TelstraPremiership pic.twitter.com/zTDYLFruI7
— NRL (@NRL) April 13, 2019
A-League - goal! Western Sydney 0-1 Sydney FC (Brosque, 7’)
They’ve had a horrid record over recent seasons in the Sydney Derby, the Wanderers, and it’s another poor start, with a man who just loves to score against the old enemy, Sydney FC’s skipper Alex Brosque, who opens the scoring!
A win here, you’ll remember, will see Sydney cut Perth’s lead at the top of the table to just three. Could the race for the premiership still be alive?
Around the grounds: So a quick whizz around the parks again. We’re underway in Canberra where in the Super Rugby it’s the Brumbies who host South Africa’s Lions. We’re at quarter-time in the AFL Kangaroos-Crows game, where the visitors lead by four after a low-scoring opening stanza at Docklands. No score after 20 in the NRL blue-ribbon event where the Sharks play host to the Roosters. And we’re a few minutes away from kick-off in the A-League’s Sydney derby out at Homebush.
A-League: Melbourne City 0-0 Adelaide United
It was a game there for the taking, but a side that thought Bruno Fornaroli was surplus to requirements and a side whose recognised out-and-out strikers have returned season goal tallies of 3, 2, nil and nil have played out a nil-nil.
Either team could have taken a big stride towards securing 4th spot, and thus a home semi-final, but with a draw, it’s good news for Wellington Phoenix whose shock loss last night to Brisbane was seen as terminal to their hopes. Adelaide move to 4th on 38 points, Wellington drop to 5th on 37, with City remaining 6th with 37 as well.
NRL: Newcastle 18-26 Sea Eagles
So a bit better from the home side, but after giving up an 18-point headstart with less than a quarter of the match gone, they were always going to be up against it, the Knights.
A half-time rev-up from coach Brown might have helped with Newcastle crossing nine minutes after the restart through Aidan Guerra but a soft try to Addin Fonua-Blake, whose subsequent sin-binning made for a more nervy finish than Dessie would have liked, buried the hosts.
It’s one win from five for the Knights, whose fans might be beginning to get that sinking feeling about 2019 already.
It doesn't get any easier than that for Addin Fonua-Blake!#NRLKnightsManly #TelstraPremiership pic.twitter.com/iSXQmcge6X
— NRL (@NRL) April 13, 2019
AFL: Port Adelaide 14.8 (92) lose to Richmond 15.9 (99)
What a thriller! No Dusty, no dramas as the Tigers cross the border west and steal the points in a heist. The home fans don’t like it, but nine second half goals says the Tigers were good value for it. Lynch ending up with his first ever six-goal haul, with Josh Caddy firing three, including a hugely important one midway through the final quarter.
Tom Rockliff with 38 disposals, six marks and five tackles for the home side but they couldn’t match the tackling intensity of the visitors. Another cracker on a day of decent AFL action so far - and we’ve still got two games to come!
AFL - big last five! We’ve had an eighth lead change of the game, and the fourth of this final quarter, where it’s Richmond leading by two with around five to play. High drama from the Adelaide Oval.
AFL - three-quarter-time: Port Adelaide 11.6 (72) trail Richmond 11.8 (74)
We said this one had twists and turns, and they’re just continuing in a third quarter in which the Tigers banged four straight to threaten to run away with this one, before the Power shot three of the last four to tighten it back up. Grays Sam and Robbie boast five goals between them, while a 4.2-shooting Tom Lynch is the focal point for Richmond.
Port are dominating touches 311-254, but it’s the Tigers with the bulk of inside 50s and tackles. The small men moving with speed for Richmond, who are Dusty Martin-less following his one match suspension for striking.
A-League - half-time: Melbourne City 0-0 Adelaide United
Donuts always screams “snore draw”, especially in a game involving the attacking stylings of one Warren Joyce, but it’s actually been a fairly lively one, given how much is at stake (a home final). Eugene Galekovic with a string of good saves to deny the visitors, who have lost Jordy Thomassen to injury, while for City Rostyn Griffiths has endured a nasty head clash that looked to have snapped his cheek like a wishbone.
NRL - half-time: Newcastle 6-18 Manly
And we’re forty down in Newcastle, where if the mutterings from home fans are to go by, it’s apparently been a stinker from the home side.
How it's only 18-6 I've got no idea.
— Paul Jobber ✈✈ (@paul_jobber23) April 13, 2019
Missed tackles.
Penalties.
Dropped balls.
Slow motion attack.
You'll be hard pressed to find a worse first half of football from the Knights in the last three years.#NRLKnightsManly #GoHardGoKnights
They did trail by 18-0 after 20, with the Sea Eagles threatening a-point-a-minute, before a run of seven consecutive penalties helped the home side find the merest of footholds in the game. What can Nathan Brown inspire his chargers to offer up in the second half?
AFL - half-time: Port Adelaide 7.3 (45) lead Richmond 8.8 (44)
Another one that’s swinging one way, then the other, but all the while bubbling nicely. There were three changes of lead inside the first ten minutes before the Power had a Gray patch - Robbie, Sam and Sam again - with three unanswered goals in seven minutes to leap out to a game-high 15-point lead. Both sides then going on mini scoring runs - plenty more to come here, you’d warrant.
F1: And news just in from qualifying at the Chinese Grand Prix - Giles Richards is our eyes at the track there:
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Around the grounds: So a quick whizz round to see what else is underway. We’re at quarter-time in the AFL third fixture of the day where Port are edging the Tigers 4.1 (25) to 2.5 (17). We’ll keep a close eye on that one for you. Knights v Sea Eagles is the next NRL fixture, but our sides are just at warm-ups stage. Also kicking off shortly in the A-League is the battle-for-a-home-final 4th v 5th clash where Melbourne City host Adelaide United, and in the Super Rugby it’s an all-Kiwi affair as the Chiefs host the Blues.
NRL: South Sydney 28-24 New Zealand
He doesn’t show much emotion, Wayne Bennett, but you can bet the veteran coach could have done without a 52-point thriller! In the unusual surrounds of the Sunshine Coast, the ‘home’ side found themselves trailing to some Roger Tuivasa-Sheck magic early on, only for Cody Walker to cross twice in as many minutes with 20 gone, for the Bunnies to hop back into the lead.
But the Warriors showed the type of intermittent razzle-dazzle that makes them the most infuriating enjoyable teams to watch in the NRL to bust out to a 12-point lead with under 20 to run; only for Walker to seal it with only minutes to go with a third and fourth try in rapid succession.
Déjà vu! Cook passes to Walker for his 4th try of the day! #NRLSouthsWarriors#TelstraPremiership pic.twitter.com/sdxJOyfocI
— NRL (@NRL) April 13, 2019
Damien Cook with three try assists - not a shabby double act, that - keep an eye on him and Walker as the season heats up.
AFL: Essendon 17.10 (112) defeat Brisbane 9.11 (65)
Another one bites the dust! And in the space of mere minutes we have no undefeated teams left - as the Lions join the Cats on the losers list - after just four rounds of AFL action.
After all the column inches already written about John Worsfold, has the great Dons-Write-Off of 2019 started too early? Tippa with a seventh goal after the final siren the icing on a Dons performance that featured a Dylan Shiel-show that Bombers fans have been hungering for.
Zach Merrett and Mitch Brown also playing leading hands, the latter with three goals, 11 marks and 25 touches, with too few Lions matching the again-impressive efforts of Neale.
And a nice story from earlier in the week, you might remember the name Ariarne Titmus from the Commonwealth Games on the Gold Coast last year, but the now 18-year-old has blown away her competition at the national championships in Adelaide with wins in the women’s 200m, 400, and 800m - Katie Purvis with a nice write up of what lies ahead for the talented youngster.
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AFL: Geelong 11.9 (75) lose to GWS 11.12 (78)
They’d never won at Kardinia Park, the Giants - until now. And what a storming turnaround that was, with GWS trailing for most of the game until midway through the final quarter!
It’s a first loss of the season for the Cats, Lachie Whitfield leading the way for the visitors with 31 disposals and ten marks, Tim Taranto also with nine tackles and 28 touches as the Giants swarmed the Cats’ midfield, and both Jeremies finishing with three goals a piece.
It’s another early-season statement from the side from Western Sydney - who jump, temporarily, to second on the ladder, denting the percentage of the top-placed Cats.
AFL - three-quarter-time: Essendon 13.8 (86) lead Brisbane 7.8 (50)
Hello, hello. Is the remarkable start to 2019 for the Lions about to come to a shuddering halt? And is this finally the Bombers everybody was predicting pre-season?
It’s been a blitzing start for Anthony McDonald-Tipungwuti who has fired 5.1, while as usual it’s the pocket dynamo Lachie Neale that’s urging on his young Lions. If you missed Craig Little’s excellent column on Neale and the young cubs, reacquaint yourself:
AFL - three-quarter-time: Geelong 10.8 (68) lead GWS 10.7 (67)
We’ve five fixtures today in the AFL and if they’re all like this one we’re in for a heart-pounder. It was the Cats who raced out to a 20-point lead at quarter-time with four majors, but a six-goal third quarter from the Giants has it pretty much locked up. Tom Hawkins and Gary Ablett looking the goods for the home side, while the Giants are once again being fired by their twin Jeremies, Cameron and Findlayson.
Hi all! Plenty going on today so we’ll dive right in.
The big news this afternoon is that the mighty mare Winx has bowed out of racing in the manner similar to, well, every race over the past four years, I guess - as an emphatic winner. A brilliant turn of speed on the home straight and back home for oats and lumps of sugar.
Nearly $27m earned in winnings - the world’s best racehorse by that measure - all that for an initial $230,000 outlay as a yearling. Nice work from a horse that had a go, and got given a go.
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Preamble
It’s Saturday Sportwatch, and as always it’s a packed dance card. We’ve five fixtures from round four of the AFL including the Western Derby, there’s an NRL triple header that’s topped by a mouthwatering Sharks-Roosters clash. In the A-League it’s the Sydney Derby, and before that Adelaide and Melbourne City go head to head for a home final berth.
There’s Formula One, Super Rugby, Tiger Woods and the US Masters and plenty more - so turn off your notifications and cancel all those social obligations you’re about 40% sure on attending.
As always fire us an email or tweet on the addresses listed above - would love to hear your thoughts. Unless they’re Israel Folau-related.
