Round Six: The Wedding Wrap

In something of a rarity, the Wrap is going to beg the readers’ (I’m presuming that there is more than one, hence the placement of the apostrophe) indulgence while I pay a personal tribute to my dear friend Tom, who joined the ranks of the nation’s married men last Saturday. Tom and I have shared many a memorable moment over the years we’ve supported the Bombers, some good and some bad. Tom was at my side the day Essendon somehow blew the 1999 Preliminary Final against bloody Carlton, of all sides. He was there at the MCG with me the night the Bombers bade farewell to the great Sheedy and Hird by very inappropriately losing to the wooden-spooners in Richmond. But, more happily, we watched the 2000 Grand Final together at his place and enjoyed many a sweet tasting ale afterwards at the Dan O’Connell. And he was present at the MCG (on a lower deck as I recall) the day James Hird cut the West Coast defence to ribbons in the 1996 Qualifying Final- a virtuoso at work. We’ve enjoyed many a match together and there isn’t a better person to watch footy with in my view. I must admit to some misgivings when he announced that he was embarking on a “mixed marriage” – the bride’s family are hardcore Collingwood to the point that a young cousin rocked up at the actual wedding ceremony in a Magpies jumper. But if the relationship managed to survive the 2009 Anzac Day encounter, it is one clearly built on a rock solid foundation. So here’s to you Tom, and your lovely bride, and to many happy years together. And please keep in mind that football supporting is a patrilineal deal and your kids don’t get a say in it.

Certainly there were good omens for the bride’s clan the night before the wedding, with Collingwood bouncing back from its Anzac Day catastrophe to record a pretty easy win over Argentina. I mean North Melbourne, who looked and played like a shadow of themselves in a clash strip featuring sky blue stripes. The Kangaroos’ officialdom had kicked up a bit of a stink over the jumper, alleging that the AFL had required them to wear a change strip in a home game against their wishes. This was a bit difficult to reconcile with the front page of the footy record, which featured Roos players posing in the jumper asserting how much they “loved their stripes”. In any case, Collingwood took the points and Los are now teetering at 2-4.

For the second weekend In a row Melbourne Cricket Club members were treated to a classic encounter in the Saturday afternoon MCG match. This time it was defending champs Hawthorn taking on the rising power Carlton, and what a match it turned out to be. An old-style battle of the spearheads, with Roughead at one end and Fevola at the other shooting it out. When the ball wound up in the hands of the Blues man 15 metres out with seconds on the clock and Carlton less than a goal down, Hawk heads went collectively into their hands. Fev had, after all, already kicked eight and from far more difficult situations. But he inexplicably managed to clip the goalpost with his kick, thus presenting Hawthorn with the luckiest of wins by just 4 points. After a shaky start the Hawks are now gathering some momentum, while Carlton could easily be a lot further up the ladder than they are, they’ll be ruing this defeat on top of their earlier 4 point defeat to Essendon.

After years of playing interstate fixtures at any possible timeslot but the traditional Saturday afternoon slot, the AFL has this year reversed its policy. And so it was that the Western Derby number whatever it is took place on a Saturday arvo for the first time ever. Perhaps the Eagles were a bit thrown by such a radical change, because they kicked like Fevola and duly cost themselves the points against the Dockers. All of a sudden Freo are off the bottom and at 2-4 still an outside chance of finals action. A long way to go, however.

While Tom, his new wife, myself and a bunch of friends, relatives, a small band and assorted waiting staff were toasting the happy occasion, the Bombers were in action up in Brisbane against the Lions. And with evergreen defender Dustin Fletcher’s 300th game to commemorate, the Dons would have hoped for a far better showing than the one they put on. Essendon were never in the hunt against Brisbane, and a collective agreement was taken amongst those of us getting surreptitious text updates throughout the speeches that it would be better not to advise the groom of events up north. Fletcher managed to injure himself and will be out for a month or so, not a great milestone game for him. The one bright spot for Essendon was that skipper Matthew Lloyd finally managed to put through his 900th goal, after shooting blanks for a number of weeks. His longtime partner in crime Scott Lucas, however, has been painfully out of sorts this year and looks to be rapidly approaching the end of his stellar career.
A big night in Adelaide - Showdown number something a rather between the stuttering Crows and the schizophrenic Power. Port fans must be going mad wondering which side is going to turn up on the day, will it be the side that convincingly beat the defending champs away from home, or the hapless outfit that failed to lay a glove on St Kilda at home the following week? As it turned out it was the angels of Port’s nature who prevailed this week, the Power returning to the winner’s list over their bitter cross-town rivals.

The Sydney Swans may have lost an Irishman in Taigh Kennelly at the start of the season, but they nonchalantly rolled out a Canadian this week –ex-rugby international Mike Pyke, who I think has the only rhyming name in the AFL. Pyke enjoyed a terrific debut against the Tigers, with Sydney prevailing in a tight affair. The Tiges came close though, a desperate lunge tackle by Marty Mattner on Tiger forward Jack Riewoldt as the latter was streaming into an open goal stymied Richmond’s last quarter charge. The Tigers remain in the lower reaches of the ladder despite their improved recent form, and they’re going to have to play most of the rest of the season without key forward and universally beloved icon Matthew Richardson. Richo, the oldest player in the comp at 34, will be out for several months with some injury or another – gout possibly, considering his advanced age – and it remains to be seen whether he’ll grace the field again. Let’s hope so, he’s closing in on 300 games and the competition would be a far poorer place without him.

Any gamblers out there must have found it terribly difficult to resist the odds of 15 to 1 which were being offered in some circles if Melbourne could somehow defeat Geelong. The Cats, on the other hand, were at the paltry odds of $1.05. Most gamblers recognized that sometimes in life there is such a thing as a sure bet and placed vast sums of money on Geelong in order to win back a comparative pittance. One bloke with far more money than sense – hopefully not the executor of Richard Pratt’s cardboard estate - placed half a million dollars on the Cats in order to win back 25 grand. Brave man in a two horse race. But realistically, the Demons were never a chance to win this match and this was brought home to them after nine seconds when rampaging superstar Gary Ablett Jr grabbed the ball from the opening centre bounce, raced to the 50 and booted it through. Tragically, although I was present at this match, I hadn’t made it into the ground at this point and so missed one of the two highlights of an otherwise largely forgettable game. The other highlight was a crazy-brave mark by Joel Selwood, running backwards with the flight of the ball as Demon Brad Miller came charging forward. The last Cats player who took Miller on in similar circumstances, Tom Lonergan, wound up losing a kidney so Geelong fans’ collective hearts would have been in their mouths. However Selwood carried off the mark with aplomb, evading Miller and getting a quick disposal off too, the whole thing was reminiscent of a particularly skillful matador in action. Other than that the Cats were a bit down on previous weeks, the Dees were a bit better and 40 odd points was probably about the right final margin.
One last game to complete Round 6, and it was the match of the round between the tabletopping Saints and their fellow 2008 preliminary finalists the Western Bulldogs. The Saints have kicked off 2009 in rare form, shooting out to first place with a percentage unmatched by any team after six rounds since the days when the players used to arrive at the ground via dray. The Dogs had also started the season well, but had lost their last couple. Most thought that this was going to be a testing affair for St Kilda, but it proved once again to be a walk in the park for the Sainters. Particularly galling for Bulldogs fans would have been the performance of their ex-number 4 draft pick Farren Ray, who never hit his straps as a Dog but who is turning into a star in the red, black and white of St Kilda. The Saints are belying their reputation of previous years as one of the most unattractive exponents of the game, this year they are entertainers par excellence. Perhaps this is the year they break their run of outs and add another flag to the iconic 1966 model.

So with six rounds gone we still have two undefeated teams out on their own – St Kilda and Geelong lead the way, and as they’re not due to play each other until Round 14, there’s every chance that they’ll remain undefeated up to that point. They’re two games clear of Jekyll and Hyders Port Adelaide on 4 wins, then there’s the mother of all logjams on 3 wins and 3 losses. In no particular order we have the Bulldogs, Swans, Lions, Blues, Magpies, Crows and Bombers. A further game back are the Roos and the Dockers, while Richmond and Melbourne languish at the bottom with just a solitary win so far In 2009. It could, of course, be very different. Essendon are probably lucky not to be at 1 and 5; Carlton and Collingwood could just as easily be at 5 and 1. Indeed, better kicking against the Cats and the Pies could be undefeated at this point. But that’s footy. Gotta kick the easy ones. Just ask Fev. See you back here for Round 7.