The highest margin in the nine games that were played in Round 10 was 31 points in the game between Hawthorn and Port Adelaide.
The highlight of the weekend was the Indigenous jumpers that were especially designed and the coaches and players from both teams involved in the game standing as one against racism after the game.
Hopefully the round isn’t solely remembered for Brad Scott coaching his final game at North Melbourne. In a fitting end to Indigenous Round, the scores were level between the Fremantle Dockers and the Brisbane Lions when the final siren went and an Indigenous player – Michael Walters – hit the post to get the Dockers over the line by one point!
Top five coaches of Round 10
1. Brad Scott (North Melbourne Kangaroos)
2. Damien Hardwick (Richmond Tigers)
3. Leon Cameron (Greater West Sydney Giants)
4. Alastair Clarkson (Hawthorn Hawks)
5. Stuart Dew (Gold Coast Suns)
Sydney Swans vs Collingwood Magpies
Magpies unimpressive despite claiming four points
The game can be summed up by one stat; inside fifties were sixteen to eleven to the Magpies at quarter time, but the Swans were ahead by nine points.
It took some individual brilliance from Scott Pendlebury who kicked a freakish goal to get the Magpies into the contest. Daniel Wells was good for the Magpies with three goals, but unfortunately suffered an injury.
Sam Reid was outstanding for the Swans with six goals. Reid gave the Swans a chance of winning the match, but unfortunately for the Swans Dane Rampe had a rush of blood and stepped over the mark, with Chris Mayne kicking a behind, but Rampe gave away a fifty metre penalty and Mayne kicked the match-winning goal for the Magpies.
Swans Team lifter: Sam Reid
Magpies Team Lifter: Callum L. Brown
Dayne Beams of the Magpies (Photo by Michael Dodge/Getty Images)
Hawthorn Hawks vs Port Adelaide Power
Hawks too good for disappointing power
The Power were clearly exposed for their lack of depth with the club missing the likes of Ryan Burton, Scott Lycett and Brad Ebert through injury.
Jack Gunston was the difference between both teams with the lively forward responsible for six of the eighteen goals kicked in the game.
Remarkably the Hawks only had one more scoring shot than the Power, with the Hawks having twenty shots to the Power’s nineteen, which indicates that the game could have been closer than the final margin of thirty-one points.
Ricky Henderson continued his good form for the Hawks with thirty-seven possessions, while for the Power the biggest story to report on was the hamstring injury suffered by key player Tom Rockliff.
Hawks Team Lifter: Jack Gunston
Power Team Lifter: Karl Amon
Jack Gunston of the Hawks is congratulated by teammates. (Photo by Quinn Rooney/Getty Images)
Western Bulldogs vs North Melbourne Kangaroos
Kangaroos send Scott off on a winning note
This was Brad Scott’s last game coaching the Kangaroos. Coming into the game Scott sat on 105 wins and 105 losses so the game would determine whether he would leave the club a winning coach or a losing coach.
The Kangaroos played possibly their best game for the season, winning a game that a lot of people expected them to lose. For the Bulldogs it was a case of what might have been.
On a side note Todd Goldstein played what was possibly the best individual game of any player in Round 10 playing out of his skin!
Bulldogs Team Lifter: Caleb Daniel
Kangaroos Team Lifter: Todd Goldstein
Adelaide Crows vs West Coast Eagles
Eagles fight back to claim what appeared an unlikely victory
Despite registering just one point in the second quarter, the Eagles fought back to win a game that appeared to be out of their grasp at half time; they kicked ten goals to three in the second half.
The margin was a fairly substantial twenty-eight points at half time, in favour of the Crows. They failed to win even though they had a total of 23 scoring shots to the Eagles 20.
The Eagles displayed a lot of character, but it would be a concern to them that they only kicked three goals in the first half. The two respective team lifters for either side only had twenty-four possessions between them, but they kicked three goals each for their teams.
Crows Team Lifter: Wayne Milera
Eagles Team Lifter: Josh J. Kennedy
Josh Kennedy of the Eagles (Photo by Ryan Pierse/AFL Media/Getty Images)
Gold Coast Suns vs Geelong Cats
Suns shine but fade away as Cats get tested
The Suns brought good intensity to the contest early. The highlights from the first quarter was two goals each to Alex Sexton of the Suns and Mitch Duncan of the Cats.
The scores were level at quarter time and the Suns trailed narrowly at half time and three quarter time. Unfortunately for the Suns they faded away in the fourth quarter registering just two behinds.
Anthony Miles played a solid game for the Suns accumulating over twenty possessions and using the ball at 87 per cent efficiency. For the Cats, Mitch Duncan lifted the team with three goals.
Suns Team Lifter: Anthony Miles
Cats Team Lifter: Mitch Duncan
Richmond Tigers vs Essendon Bombers
Tigers too strong for Bombers
The two teams battled to kick goals in the first half with the combined score of the Tigers and the Bombers five goals and fourteen behinds.
Thankfully the second half was a better spectacle from a scoring perspective with the teams kicking a combined eleven goals.
The Tigers faded away in the last quarter, but the game was all but over at that stage. For the Tigers Bachar Houli was outstanding providing plenty of run off half back, while for the Bombers Kyle Langford kicked three of the teams six goals.
The Tigers continue to impress sitting in the top four, despite having their depth tested with their entire leadership group unavailable through injury.
Tigers Team Lifter: Bachar Houli
Bombers Team Lifter: Kyle Langford
Bachar Houli of the Tigers (Photo by Brett Hemmings/Getty Images)
Melbourne Demons vs Greater West Sydney Giants
Demons Don’t Turn up on Home Patch
The Demons were perhaps the biggest disappointment of the Round; they managed just one goal in the first half. In the third quarter, which is often referred to as the Premiership quarter the Giants kicked six goals to the Demons two. The Demons were deplorable for three of the four quarters as they failed to implement a game plan that would make them competitive. They did manage to kick seven goals in the last quarter, but a lot of that could be attributed to the Giants switching off with the result of the game beyond doubt by perhaps as early as half time, even though not out of reach on the scoreboard the Demons intent was lacking.
Demons Team Lifter: Oskar Baker
Giants Team Lifter: Lachie Whitfield
St Kilda Saints vs Carlton Blues
Saints do just enough, Blues throw away golden opportunity
The Saints can consider themselves fairly fortunate to come away from this game with the four points.
The Blues had many chances to win the game, but the Saints defence held up well. The Blues played some good footy, that is, apart from their forward entries with their forward structure appearing to be disjointed.
Jade Gresham was a standout for the Saints, while Sam Walsh did well to accumulate twenty-eight possession for the Blues, the Rising Star favourite continues to impress and to be a positive for a team that has won just one game for the season.
Saints Team Lifter: Jade Gresham
Blues Team Lifter: Sam Walsh
Fremantle Dockers vs Brisbane Lions
Dockers shake up the top eight with a win by the slightest of margins
The Dockers trailed at every break, but they scraped over the line when it mattered, that was following the final siren!
The two teams kicked a total of one goal and nine behinds, but the behinds added up to get the Dockers the four points. It was a see sawing last quarter with the Dockers winning a close contest with a kick after the siren by Michael Walters!
Dockers Team Lifer: Michael Walters
Lions Team Lifter: High McCluggage
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