By David Wiseman
June 8th 2009 @ 7:44am
AFL Round 11 musings
St Kilda's Nick Riewoldt and Justin Koschitzke celebrate a goal during the AFL Women's Round 11 match between the North Melbourne Kangaroos and the St Kilda Saints at the Docklands Stadium. Slattery Images
Usually, I write a list of Top 5 things learnt from the latest AFL round. With St Kilda and Geelong virtually lapping the field, there is becoming less and less to write about. They both have won 11 on the trot and share a four game lead over the third-placed Western Bulldogs.
Sure anything can happen, but it would be one of the biggest upsets in history if come the last Saturday in September, these two aren’t contesting the Grand Final.
Yes, if Rafael Nadal can get eliminated from the French Open in the fourth round anything is impossible, but it would require something special for the Cats and Saints not to be contesting the Premiership decider they both seem destined to be heading towards.
Up until this point there is a distinct lack of drama with the season; sure there have been some fantastic matches but what is winning a Round 8 thriller worth? We struggled to remember these types of games in the days before we had Facebook and Twitter.
There is a certain monotony regarding the outcomes of the Cats, Saints, Tigers and Demons. If they are all playing different teams, they only leaves four other matches in the round where the outcome isn’t a foregone conclusion.
Throw in the interstate sides who notwithstanding the Crows are consistently inconsistent as far their form goes in regards to playing at home and playing away and you have a recipe for predictability.
The Bulldogs deserve their place in the top four. Two of their four losses were to St Kilda and Geelong. Carlton, Hawthorn and Lions all deserve their place in the top eight. Of all the other sides, they have clearly shown they have something. As for the rest, they are good one week and woeful the next. They just don’t have the ability to play quality football consistently.
Contrast this to the Saints and Cats who make it all look so simple. They can’t do anything but keep winning and with their confidence as high as it is, the few times they have been challenged, they were able to kick it into an extra gear and shake them off.
There is still plenty of time in the season for a team to surge or flounder, but history has showed us that by this time of year, the premiership team has already displayed its true colours. Given that, you would think only one Grand Final combination is possible.
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(6)
WA said | June 8th 2009 @ 12:55pm | Report comment
What are you on about? The Tigers won last week in a great contest.
And the premiership is won by the team that peaks at the end of the season. Stilll plenty of time to go, though top 2 do seem set. Can’t wait for the Cats/Saints game.
ren said | June 8th 2009 @ 7:26pm | Report comment
did anyone agree with the radio comentators thoughts that geelong seemed disinterested, toying with their food, let it catch up, pull away, let it catch up, pull away… and so on
or were the eagles good (i missed the game as i was cramming)
out of the bottom sides where does everyone rate them in terms of development, namely melbourne, west coast, fremantle and richmond.
also thoughts on essendon- are they developing a succesful brand of football,or just an enjoyable viewing game? will this style of play win a flag?
Kurt said | June 8th 2009 @ 11:17pm | Report comment
I’m a big fan of how the Saints are going about their footy this year and I think they are definitely a flag threat. However I think writing off Hawthorn as only an outside chance to make the GF is a big mistake. If we can get close to our best side on the park for a few weeks we will definitely be a threat. And we all know how the supposed tough guys from Geelong go to water when facing the Hawks…
Michael C said | June 9th 2009 @ 6:29am | Report comment
As a North supporter, I was delightfully surprised with their first qtr effort to get within a minute of holding StKilda goalless and at the same time having boarded 5 goals through their much heralded defence.
Alas, after that it get’s hard to draw a line through it, as the losses of both Power and Warren were critical both directly (both players were particularly useful up to the time) and indirectly (suddenly being reduced to 2 on the bench).
After half time, it just got worse, as the injury toll mounted, and by the last Qtr, St Kilda pull away as they ought with their opponents completely hamstrung.
So, again, the question of having the capacity to substitute in a player to cover an injury – - – at very least in the scenario such as Power being cleaned up by Steven King. In other codes, King would have been sent off. In the AFL, he is handed a 4-6 week suspension; which is of cold comfort to North Melb on the day who were left one short at a crucial time.
blinq said | June 10th 2009 @ 1:57am | Report comment
i gotta go with tigers… they rule…
Redb said | June 10th 2009 @ 3:45pm | Report comment
good to see Paddy Ryder get off – correct call as the ball was within 5 metres and no head contact.
Redb