Round 14 – the last week of the six-game rounds – provided only one real upset: Port Adelaide’s stirring defeat of Geelong.
Then again, for those believers of the bye hoodoo that afflicts the Cats where they lose the first game after a bye, even this was not a great upset, while many may have tipped Fremantle to defeat Melbourne.
All the other games of the round went as expected and most of the losers (Essendon, Hawthorn and St Kilda) were disappointing while Western Bulldogs were very gallant (and unlucky) in defeat.
In Game 1, West Coast Eagles’ Josh Kennedy kicked three goals, taking his impressive record of having kicked at least one goal in consecutive games to 86. Six other elite goal scorers at the club kicked at least one goal with Elliott Yeo drawing level with Mark Seaby and Dom Sheed passing Adam Selwood, David Haynes and Troy Ugle to match Dwayne Lamb in 63rd place on the Eagles’ all-time goal scorers list. Jarod Cameron scored two goals on debut.
For Essendon, Anthony Tipungwati was the only elite goal scorer with one goal to Match Gary O’Donnell and Stephen Copping.
Melbourne’s stirring win over Fremantle injected new belief into the struggling club and saw Tom McDonald regain form with three goals that took him past Tony Elshaug and current teammate Jack Viney’s dad Todd to level with Alan Johnson.
Christian Petracca kicked one which means he now sits alone in 100th position on the Demon’s all-time top 100 goal scorers and dual 1960s premiership player Bryan Kennally and Andrew Moir (1977-1981) are no longer top 100 goal scorers at the club.
Michael Walters continued his outstanding form for the Dockers with three goals but will miss next week due to a suspension. Brendon Matera also kicked three goals and continued his climb up the lower reaches of the club’s elite goal scorers.
St Kilda’s abysmal third quarter against the Lions will have ramifications for the club’s coach Alan Richardson. Meanwhile, Tim Membrey kicked one goal to bring up his 150 goals in the Saints’ colours while Josh Bruce’s two goals means he is only three goals behind Membrey. Jack Gresham also kicked a goal.
For Brisbane, Charlie Cameron – not to be outdone by little brother Jarod at the Eagles – led the way with five goals, the best effort of the round. Dayne Zorko equalled Ashley McGrath in ninth position of club’s all-time top-ten goal scorers. Daniel Rich matched Chris Johnson’s performance and Allen Christianson passed Richard Champion.
Port Adelaide’s impressive win in Adelaide over Geelong saw the Charlie Dixon’s return where he added one goal to his tally and Sam Gray also do the same, and both moved up the goal kicking ladder with Dixon equalling Che Cockatoo-Collins in 15th position and Gray equalling Josh Mahoney.
For Geelong, two elites were among the goal kickers: Gary Ablett took his total of goals at the Cats to 302 and Patrick Dangerfield passed Tom Brownlees to now sit in 76th position on Geelong’s all-time top 100 goal scorers.
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