What the papers say

[mightytiges]

Undermanned Tigers downed in the West
Mic Cullen
afl.com.au
10:18:32 PM Sat 24 May, 2003

The West Coast Eagles put down foundations in the top four as they de-clawed an undermanned Richmond at Subiaco Oval on Saturday night.

The 52-point win -18.16 (124) to 11.6 (72) - is West Coast’s fifth in succession, and by beating the third-placed Tigers they have consolidated second spot and set sail for a home final.

The Tigers, already missing talls Brad Ottens and Ben Holland to long-term injuries, lost Greg Stafford before the match and Ray Hall before the team left Melbourne, while tough midfielder Mark Coughlan also missed with an ankle injury.

The Eagles set up the win with 11 unanswered goals either side of half-time, and although the Tigers were competitive either side of the run, it was never going to be enough.

With West Coast’s midfield running rampant, the undersized Tigers had no answers in the backline as Glen Jakovich and David Haynes presented well as they and their fellow forwards took full toll.

Once again, pint-sized Phil Matera did the main damage for West Coast with five goals, while Haynes kicked four and Jakovich kicked three.

For the visitors, Matthew Richardson tried all night and kicked four, Kane Johnson worked hard in the midfield and Mark Chaffey and Ty Zantuck worked hard down back, but the Eagles held all the cards after quarter-time.

The hit-outs told the story – 63 to 16 in favour of the home team.

West Coast started well when Glen Jakovich snapped truly in the third minute, but new Tigers hardman Time Fleming answered three minutes later.

Darren Glass, who started at full-back on Matthew Richardson, kicked the next from the goal square, and when Phil Matera slotted a tight one from forty, West Coast were a couple of goals up.

But Richmond kicked the next four - with two to spearhead Richardson and one to skipper Wayne Campbell - and Jakovich’s goal dragged West Coast back to just a three-point deficit at the break.

Richmond started the second term well with a goal in the second minute, but after that it was all West Coast, as it booted the next five, finding huge holes in the Richmond defence and successfully exploiting them.

Bloopers don’t come much bigger than this – a soft free to Kasey Green midway through the second term saw umpire Scott McLaren set the mark in the wrong direction, Joel Bowden stood facing the wrong way and then Green took the kick from 20 metres in front of the mark – not quite as bizarre as the night umpire Peter Carey marked the ball here, but close.

The West Coast onslaught continued into the third term with the first six majors - two to exciting young talent Ashley Sampi, last round’s National AFL Rising Star nominee.

When Rowan Jones marked and kicked West Coast’s sixth, the home team had kicked 11 unanswered goals and were well on the way to victory.

By the last term, the Tigers had run out of steam and managed just one goal to West Coast’s three.


WEST COAST: 4.4 9.8 15.13 18-16 (124)
RICHMOND: 5.1 6.5 10.5 11-6 (72)

GOALS: WEST COAST: Matera 5, Haynes 4, Jakovich 3, Sampi 2, Glass, Munro, Gardiner, Jones
RICHMOND: Richardson 4, Fleming 2, Rogers, Campbell, Johnson, Pettifer, Zantuck
BEST: WEST COAST: Wirrpunda, Jakovich, Sampi, Jones, Haynes, Matera, Gardiner
RICHMOND: Johnson, Richardson, Chaffey, Zantuck, Tivendale
CHANGES: Richmond: Stafford (knee), Coughlan (ankle) replaced by King and Biddiscombe
INJURIES: Richmond: Campbell (calf), Fleming (calf)
UMPIRES: Roseberry, McLaren, Wenn
CROWD: 40,313 at Subiaco Oval

 

[mightytiges]

Eagles coast home over tame Tigers
By John McGrath
At Subiaco
realfooty.theage.com.au
May 25 2003

WEST COAST 4.4 9.8 15.13 18.16 (124)
RICHMOND 5.1 6.5 10.5 11.6 (72)
Goals: West Coast: P Matera 5 D Haynes 4 G Jakovich 3 A Sampi 2 R Jones M Gardiner K Munro D Glass. Richmond: M Richardson 4 T Fleming 2 T Zantuck K Pettifer M Rogers W Campbell.
Best: West Coast: R Jones D Wirrpunda G Jakovich D Haynes A Sampi M Gardiner P Matera B Cousins. Richmond: M Richardson K Johnson M Chaffey G Tivendale.
Umpires: B Rosebury, S McLaren, S Wenn.
Injuries: Richmond: G Stafford (knee) replaced in selected side by C King. M Coughlan (ankle) replaced in selected side by C Biddiscombe. W Campbell (calf). T Fleming (calf). West Coast: C Morrison (head)
Official crowd: 40,313 at Subiaco Oval.

The year of celebration continued in Western Australia when John Worsfold's West Coast turned its clash with Richmond into a cakewalk in front of a sell-out crowd at Subiaco Oval last night.

The Eagles bombarded the injury-ravaged Tigers with 11 unanswered goals after quarter-time on the way to another impressive victory, 18.16 (124) to 11.6 (72).

Danny Frawley's men kicked only one goal between the 25-minute mark of the opening quarter and the 21-minute mark of the third quarter as the game slipped away before their eyes.

Had it not been for big full-forward Matthew Richardson's brave four-goal performance, the margin could have been even more embarrassing.

The Tigers went into the game without two of their star players, in-form ruckman Greg Stafford and onballer Mark Coughlan. Both made the trip but were ruled out of the selected team because of injury.

Stafford failed to recover from knee soreness and Coughlan was declared unfit with an ankle injury.

The loss of Stafford left Richmond almost powerless against the West Coast ruck battery of Michael Gardiner and Dean Cox. Between them they dominated the hitouts 63-16 against Royce Vardy, who tried valiantly against the odds.

The Tigers had won their previous five encounters with the Eagles and came to Perth intent on holding third spot on the ladder.

But the Eagles, who are second on the ladder, have an eye on a top-four spot in Worsfold's second year as coach. They played some irresistible football after an even first quarter to lead by 60 points at the 21-minute mark of the third quarter.

Richardson sparked a revival of sorts in the third term with two goals in a minute. Others by Kane Johnson, a solid performer all night, and Kane Pettifer reduced the margin to 37 points just before three-quarter-time.

The Eagles should have got a steadier soon after that when Rowan Jones got his boot to the ball right on the goal line, despite a diving attempt by Greg Tivendale to smother the kick.

Incredibly, the goal umpire, John Marrapodi, ruled the ball had been touched. But when the incident was replayed on the big screen, it was clear that Tivendale had not got a hand to it. Field umpire Brett Rosebury took the unusual action of suggesting to Marrapodi he might have got it wrong, but the goal umpire stood his ground, much to the disgust of the vocal crowd.

As it turned out, the error made little difference to the outcome.

West Coast goalsneak Phil Matera booted two goals early in the last quarter to take his game tally to five and snuff out any hope of a Richmond revival.

The Eagles' classy captain, Ben Cousins, bounced back to his best form after a couple of quiet weeks to collect 26 possessions, while Jones was effective all night, playing across half-forward and through the midfield.

But the evenness of the Eagles this year was further underlined when they had more than a dozen solid contributors, with full-forward David Haynes booting four goals and proving a dangerous, hard-running player all night.

The game started with both teams in attacking mode and the ball going from end-to-end at will.

West Coast veteran Glen Jakovich set the scene, kicking the first and last goals of the opening quarter in a sparkling return to the game after another heart scare last weekend.

The week off with an irregular heartbeat obviously freshened the big bloke up and he was running around the forward line like a teenager, finishing with three goals. Jakovich might also have been stung by coach Worsfold's statement during the week that the four-times club best-and-fairest winner was no walk-up start to come back into the side.

But the Tigers still managed to take a narrow lead into the first break, thanks to some inspirational play by Richardson, with two early goals on Darren Glass, and some solid work across half-back by Mark Chaffey.

 

[mightytiges]

Eagles fire warning
25 May 2003
Sunday Herald Sun
By DIGBY BEACHAM

WEST Coast coach John Worsfold is not one to make outlandish statements.

But you get the feeling his players did exactly that last night - on the field - when they took apart an undermanned, yet ordinary Richmond at Subiaco Oval by 52 points.

On Friday, Port Adelaide stamped itself as a big challenger to Brisbane's pursuit of a third consecutive flag, only to see the Lions issue a telling reminder of their qualities at Optus Oval yesterday, crushing Carlton after trailing by six goals midway through the second term.

But the Eagles were not prepared to fade from the interstate success that is going on around the nation, firing a shot across the bow of Brisbane.

The West Australians remain half a game behind the back-to-back premiers in second position.

Michael Gardiner dominated the airwaves - he had 33 hit-outs - as he has for the first two months of the season.

Skipper Ben Cousins indicated he was back to full fitness and fast approaching his best with 26 touches.

His fellow midfielders, especially Rowan Jones, did pretty much as they pleased.

The unconventional forward line maintained its league-leading efficiency, thanks to David Haynes, Phil Matera and Glen Jakovich.

The back line was clinical throughout, save for Darren Glass, who was handed the unenviable task of closing down Matthew Richardson.

Richardson was Richmond's best, finishing with four goals before being rested by Danny Frawley midway through the final term, while Kane Johnson and Mark Chaffey were always accountable.

The Eagles were made to work early in the game as the Tigers hit the ground with purpose, kicking four unanswered goals from midway through the first quarter until deep in time-on, enabling them to lead by three points at quarter-time.

Another goal in the opening minute of the second period to first-year player Tim Fleming, his second, stretched the advantage to nine points, reviving memories of the arm wrestle against Geelong a fortnight ago.

From there it turned nasty, the Eagles kicking 11 unanswered goals in a quarter and a half to ice the match.

When Jones, excellent all evening, goalled from 35m at the 15-minute mark of the third term, the Eagles had stormed to a 57-point lead.

Richmond, as you would expect from a side that was 6-2 and positioned inside the top four, rallied to boot the next four, but it was nothing but superficial gloss.

Any hope of a sustained Tiger resurgence leading to a special victory was dashed quickly in the final quarter when Matera goalled from 35m after a lace-out left-foot pass from 100-gamer Michael Braun.

There is an old saying about big men not getting any smaller as a game progresses, and those who have watched Richmond recently know only too well about the Tigers and their love for loading up their side, especially in attack.

Last night, however, they gambled and were caught short when ruckman-forward Greg Stafford was a late withdrawal with a knee injury.

West Coast amassed 63 hit-outs to Richmond's 16, with Royce Vardy valiant but out-gunned.

Stafford was in doubt before the match after hyper-extending his knee last weekend and the Tigers opted not to take emergency back-up tall Ray Hall to Perth.

Stafford was sore at training on Friday afternoon and then went to Cottesloe Beach in an endeavour to rid himself of soreness.

It did not help and he was a predictable omission, along with brilliant young midfielder Mark Coughlan (ankle), one man who has been a dynamo for the resurgent Tigers.

The unavailability of Stafford left the Tigers woefully inept against in-form ruckman Gardiner, and with Vardy being asked to go up against the most dominant ruckman in the game and his competent back-up in Dean Cox, leaks in the Tigers line-up were bursting everywhere.

Richmond started with Rory Hilton at centre half-forward, Ty Zantuck at full-back on David Haynes and Andrew Kellaway at centre halfback on Glen Jakovich.

The Eagles cared little, boosting their percentage and moving even closer to that precious double chance come September.

 

[mightytiges]

All in all, Frawley happy with the effort
Mic Cullen
afl.com.au
1:05:56 AM Sun 25 May, 2003

In the end, it was a pretty simple problem for Richmond – not enough talls, not enough from the midfield.

With Brad Ottens and Ben Holland out with long-term injuries, Ray Hall unable to travel, Greg Stafford unable to overcome an injury from last week’s win over Melbourne and rugged midfielder Mark Coughlan rolling an ankle during Friday night’s training run at Subiaco Oval, Danny Frawley simply didn’t have enough players to pick from in order to overcome the team just above them on the ladder, especially at Subiaco Oval.

While not making excuses, Frawley said so many players missing made it pretty tough, but that he was happy with the effort his players showed.

“Oh yeah, look it impacts somewhat, they’re probably a couple of our harder players,” Frawley said.

“We were disappointed to lose those guys, but we still went into the game in a positive frame of mind, but look, I thought Vardy competed really hard against the odds.

“I think all you can ask from a player like a Royce Vardy is to go in there and compete his hardest, and I think he gets everyone’s credit – he didn’t get first hands on it too much, but he kept putting his body on the line, and that’s all you can ask.

“Tonight he obviously lowered his colours, but … it was disappointing to lose those two players, but we’ve been able to cover injuries in the past, and we were probably unable to do that tonight.”

Frawley said while Richmond’s inability to make its work count on the scoreboard hurt in the final analysis, it was simply a case of being beaten by a better team on the night.

“We didn’t take our chances either – in the second quarter, we really fought hard in the game, and we didn’t really put any scoreboard pressure on the West Coast.

“I thought we started really well, that was a huge positive, but in the end, the West Coast class shone through.”

 

[JohnF]

Danny's excuses are pretty lame, but he tells them pretty good ;D HOWEVER:

No excuse for not flying Schulz over given that he knew what kind of a situation Greg Stafford and Ray Hall were in. I think this would have been a perfect baptism of fire for Schulz. He would have come away with knowledge of what the top standard is, knowing that it won't get any harder than this, and gaining some valuable experience on what he needs to improve if he is to compete with the best.

No excuse for playing Rory Hilton. Has been looking lackadaisical and disinterested for at least a month now, if not more, and yet he continues to get a guernsey.

Not sure on the status of Cambo, but if he was still injured, no excuse for playing him and leaving us effectively a man down from the start of the game. I hope it was the case of Campbell's calf not having properly healed yet rather than him re-injuring it and requiring another 2,3,4 weeks out.

 

[gustiger12]

I think this has highlighted the true value of COUGHLAN to our midfield. With Campbo obviously underdone we had no answers to their midfield. With no supply the situation was only compounded.

Surely it must be time to try HYDE or someone like that instead of KING and Co.