Round 4 AFL Review

Thursday
Sydney 11.12.78 defeated by Melbourne 15.10.100

To fully appreciate this win we need to take a brief look at footy history. In 2017 Richmond revolutionised footy by playing a single marking forward, with everyone else there to put pressure on the opposition. In 2018 the Eagles went dirctly against this by playing two tall forwards, along with a resting ruckman to add to the West Coast forest. We now have the Demons out to re-invent the game once more, by playing no-one over 6'2" in the forward line and the genius has paid off!
What this means for both teams in Season 2019, I think the next couple of weeks will give us a good indication, but don't be surprised to see Sydney head into territory uncharted for many years, the lower rungs of the AFL ladder.
An interesting aside... This was the first match Lance Franklin has been in where Syndey has lost to the Demons, a time spanning their previous 16 attempts.

Friday
Collingwood 11.12.78 defeated Western Bulldogs 9.10.64

Well, didn't this game start off at the speed of a snail, stepped on by a turtle, which was then run-over by hipster riding their skateboard to their local cafe while texting about their favourite new Guatamalen frappa-mocha-latte blend.* They were, in turn, hit by a senior citizen on an electric scooter, vehicle, thingy while on their way to the bakery.*
Oh yeah, and Collingwood won.
At the end of the day, Collingwood's forwards woke up in time to get the win, with Tom Phillips (29 disp, 8 marks and 2 goals) and Brodie Grundy (23 disp, 58 hitouts and 8 tackles) both great for the victors.

* No gastropods, reptiles or hipsters were harmed in the writing of this review.

Saturday
Geelong 11.9.75 defeated by GWS Giants 11.13.79

Having been behind for most of the match, the GWS Giants staged a thrilling comeback to edge past the Geelong Cats in a great game down at GMHBA oval on Saturday night. Besides their hard-running midfield, a real positive for the Giants will be the performance of their 'tall trio' of Cameron (3 goals), Finlayson (3 goals) and Himmelberg (2 goals) who came close to kicking all of their team's goals. On a sour note, the Giants look to have lost their co-skipper, Callan Ward, for the season with a knee injury.

Essendon 17.10.112 defeated Brisbane 9.11.65
Well, the Lion's bubble was always going to burst, but who would have thought it would be the Bombers and several Kg's of C4 that would be doing the 'popping'? But it certainly was!
With McDonald-Tipungwuti running rampant throughout their Forward 50, and the speedy midfield slicing their Lion opposition up, the Bombers put on a first-half blitz that left the travelling Lions heading back to Brisbane with their tails between their legs.
While Lachie Neale kept finding the ball, his teammates were harassed by a relentless Bomber outfit determined to turn their poor start to the season around, and with McDonald-Tipungwuti kicking a career-high 7 goals, they were never challenged.

Port Adelaide 14.8.95 defeated by Richmond 15.9.99
For the first time in something like 23 years, Richmond fielded a team without any of Riewoldt, Rance, Martin or Cotchin. These absences had all by the most die-hard Tiger fan treating the game as a 'learning experience' for the selected squad BUT those players included had their instructions and ran out against the Power to give it their best. With a 6 goal haul, Tiger spearhead Tom Lynch managed to help his new team turn around a lack-lustre start to 2019 by getting a morale-boosting win in Adelaide on Saturday night.
Both teams now sit at 2-2 and are just outside the Top 8.

North Melbourne 9.17.71 defeated Adelaide 8.11.59
After building their lead up across the first three quarters of the game, the Crows had their opposition come out in the fourth and absolutely dominate the game for the final 30 minutes; it was like someone had rushed into the Roos team-room with recently 'acquired' plans on 'How to Beat the Adelaide Crows', and boy did they follow those plans to the letter, recording a great win over their fancied opposition.
At opposite ends of the ground, Ben Brown (4 goals) found his groove for the Kangaroos while Taylor Walker continues to disappoint in Season 2019.

West Coast 10.9.69 defeated Fremantle 7.14.56
In their latest round of Western Derbys, the Eagles were looking to make it eight on the trot. On the other side of the river, the Fremantle Dockers would have been looking for a better performance from their forwards, who had been a bit subdued since their first game, but with Nat Fyfe missing this was always going to be a big ask.
In spite of their opponents having control of the game for long periods, the Eagles made more of their forward fifty forays and kept the lead they build up in the first half, where the Dockers kicked just the single goal, to run out worthy winners.
Eagle Shannon Hurn capped off another great game by being awarded the Glendinning-Allan medal.

Sunday
Gold Coast 8.11.59 defeated Carlton 8.9.57

After Carlton's Patrick Cripps kicked a goal, from a set-shot, in the dying stages of the last quarter it looked like the Blues had finally managed to break through for their first win of Season 2019, but it wasn't to be. Just seconds before the final siren would sound, the Sun's Jack Bowes pounced on a loose ball and snapped through the winning goal. While Sun's players embraced in jubilation, Carlton players were going through a very different set of emotions, having seen their five-point lead ripped from them just moments before a win. Bad luck Carlton. Yay Gold Coast! Jeepers, I'm so conflicted right now...

St. Kilda 10.14.74 defeated Hawthorn 10.9.69

Well, who saw that one coming? While the Hawks suffered some bad luck, with Frawley and Stratton going off with different injuries early in the game, the Saints took the game on and managed to scratch out a 5-point win. This lifts the Saints to 3-1 and has them sitting in fifth place on the ladder after their first four games.
St Kilda's acting captain, Seb Ross, really stepped up in the place of Geary with 39 disposals and 4 tackles.

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