MCG Woes Return
West Coast Eagles coach Mick Malthouse blasted his players ‘very soft’ performance, when they succumbed to a 28 point loss to North Melbourne at the MCG.
Sitting equal top, the Eagles had entered the match as hot favourites against a Kangaroos side who were on a six game losing streak, without a win since round 3.
Malthouse had warned his players not to take the stumbling Kangaroos lightly, and it seemed the Eagles players had heeded their coach’s instructions when they booted the opening four goals of the game. But from there North Melbourne owned the contest and the ball, edging their way to the lead by half-time and then pulling away through the second half.
“We were second to the ball, did not run and allowed North Melbourne to dictate terms totally”, a furious Malthouse said after the game. “We are very soft.”
“Unfortunately, this seems to be the norm when we are beaten.”
North Melbourne full forward John Longmire booted eight goals in the win, matching his effort from nine days earlier when he led New South Wales to one of the great upsets in Australian football, over the powerhouse Victorian side in the state-of-origin.
Longmire had four goals by midway through the second term, forcing Malthouse to shift Murray Rance to full back, in place of Michael Brennan, but Longmire remained a strong focal point for the Kangaroos up forward. Jose Romero provided the supporting act, kicking five goals from 26 disposals in a clear best on ground display.
Tagger Dwayne Lamb would have been assigned with the job of minding Romero, but was one of three players unavailable for the Eagles, following their win in the heavy slog conditions over Geelong just five days earlier.
Lamb was ruled out with a calf complaint, while Peter Wilson was unavailable after straining a hamstring the week before. John Worsfold would then be a late withdrawal ahead of the bounce, with Don Pyke, Dean Turner and Troy Ugle the three inclusions.
North Melbourne made a staggering seven changes to the side that was comprehensively thrashed by Collingwood to the tune of 80 points. Alastair Clarkson was ruled out with concussion, while Ross Smith, Peter German, Ian Fairley, Donald McDonald, Anthony Stevens and Warwick Angus were all dropped.
Kangaroos coach Wayne Schimmelbusch turned to youth, bringing in Liam Pickering, Leigh Tudor, Craig Sholl, Shaun Smith and Mark Brayshaw. Ruckman Michael Gallagher was selected for his first game with the club after switching from Carlton in the off-season, while ‘veteran’ Matthew Larkin was also brought into the side.
Such was the youth of the Kangaroos, Larkin was the only player in the side with more than 60 games experience, while nine players had played less than 20.
The Eagles started strongly with John Annear and Scott Watters providing plenty of drive through the middle. Karl Langdon provided the target up forward, booting two goals for the term as West Coast raced to a 22 point lead.
However North Melbourne kicked the final two goals of the quarter to reduce the Eagles advantage to 12 points, before taking control after quarter time.
Wayne Schwass and Matthew Larkin imprinted themselves into the game, John McCarthy closed down the dangerous Langdon and the ruck pairing of Mark Hepburn and Gallagher got on top of Phil Scott.
With the game delicately poised at half-time, Jose Romero stepped up. Romero gathered the ball at will around the ground and also hit the scoreboard, with the Eagles unable to find a match-up to quell his influence.
Conversely, the Eagles lacked any substantial contributors through the middle.
Peter Matera struggled to find the ball, Annear faded out of the game and Dean Turner could neither find the ball, nor limit Larkin in a defensive role.
In fact, only a handful of Eagles gave a solid showing.
In just his seventh AFL game, Brett Heady showed he had all the makings of an impressive career, picking up 28 disposals and taking 13 marks playing predominantly through the middle. Malaxos finished with 23 touches through the centre and Chris Mainwaring tried to bring run to the Eagles game on the wing.
Peter Sumich finished with six goals, but many came towards the end of the match when the result was already safely in the Kangaroos keeping.
The defeat, along with several other key results over the weekend meant that four teams shared equal spot at the close of Round 10. With Collingwood easily defeating league-leaders Melbourne by 52 points and Essendon thrashing Sydney by 15 goals, the Demons, Eagles, Magpies and Bombers were all equal on points.
Essendon moved to top spot, and premiership favouritism, with their thumping win over the Swans putting them 10 percent clear. Melbourne sat second, ahead of West Coast and Collingwood, with just 3.3% separating the three sides.
St Kilda completed the top five after they beat a terrible Brisbane outfit by 77 points, with Stewart Loewe kicking six goals. The Saints had opened up a 73 point lead by half-time, before coasting through the second half to record their largest win since an 89 point triumph over Richmond in 1972.
The Saints took their position at the expense of Hawthorn, after they suffered a shock 14 point loss to Fitzroy at Princes Park. Carlton also missed a chance to climb the ladder when they lost to lowly Richmond by 23 points at the MCG, in David Cloke’s 300th AFL game.
Geelong arrested their slide when they came out on top by two points over Footscray. With Gary Ablett back in the side, the Cats bounced to a five goal lead at the first change, courtesy of four first-quarter goals to Ablett. Slowly, the Bulldogs worked their way back into the game and by midway through the third term, had opened up a 17 point lead. However, the Cats found something extra to will themselves back into the lead and end a three-game losing streak.
As the battle for the finals, and specifically the double chance, tightened up, Malthouse forecast that the result could prove costly.
“At the end of round 22, they (the players), may rue the night they gave up the opportunity against North Melbourne.”
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