Round 13 AFL Review

Thursday
Adelaide 15.11.101 defeated Richmond 9.14.68

On the Thursday night start to Round 13, Adelaide took longer to fight off Richmond than expected, but once the fourth quarter began the Crow's experience shone through and they flew away for a good win. Throughout the match there were long periods of time where the Crows had complete control of the match, only to have the Tigers somehow find a way to peg them back, sealing up the "flood gates" for a little longer. Even with the Tigers clawing their way back, the match always had a feeling of "when" more than "if" the Crows would put their dominance onto the scoreboard. In spite of a number of injuries to Crow playes (Talia-quad, Murphy-mouth, Kelly-calf and Jenkins-knee) sustained during the match, the Tigers just couldn't match the size and nouse of their Adelaide opponents. Having said that, I think the Tiger Coaching staff would be pleased with their team's endeavour, although unhappy with the result and further big whack to their percentage.

Friday
Essendon 14.12.96 defeated Hawthorn 11.11.77

On Friday night Essendon came up against one of their bigger "rivals" in Hawthorn and recorded a much needed 19 point win under the roof of Marvel Stadium.
As it could have been something they exploited, I was really surprised that Alistair Clarkson left both Mitch Lewis and Jarryd Roughead out of the side to meet the Bombers, as it left them appearing quite short in attack. While the Hawks tried Sicily up forward for a decent chunk of the match, it was of no net benefit to the team and he was moved back during the third quarter. Bomber Dylan Clarke shut-down another quality rival in O'Meara, with the Hawk star having just the 14 possessions to end the third quarter; O'Meara did increase his workload, adding nine disposals in the fourth, but by then the game was out of Hawthorn's reach.
After just returning to the team, the Bomber's Jake Stringer suffered a leg injury in the third quarter and didn't come back onto the ground.

Saturday
Gold Coast 11.10.76 defeated by St. Kilda 11.14.80

Up in Townsville on Saturday, the St Kilda Saints managed to overcome poor field kicking, dropping lots of marks and wasting numerous Inside 50s to record a four-point win over the Gold Coast Suns, a team that has forgotten how to win or just doesn't believe they can win anymore.
I heard this was the third straight game between these teams that the Saints had won by a goal or less, now that is keeping things close! For the Suns, it also marked the ninth straight loss for the club and something I think they will need a quality psychologist to help them stop from happening into the foreseeable future!
For the Saints, I thought Jack Billings probably played his best game for the club, finishing up with 33 disposals, 8 marks, 5 inside 50s and 11 tackles to go with a couple of goals.

Fremantle 15.10.100 defeated Port Adelaide 12.7.79
Our Saturday evening fixture saw a see-sawing contest between the Fremantle Dockers and Port Adelaide Power at Optus Oval in Perth.
Even though they had plenty of opportunities from their inside 50s, the Power didn't register a single score in the last quarter, enabling the Dockers to pull away and record a 21-point win at home. While both teams had some notable injuries, it was the Dockers who managed to cover for them better in this tightly fought match. Although the result could have gone either way, the Dockers got the win and are now 5-1 at home, while the Power will be ruing a match they had a real shot at winning to get them into the Top 8.

Carlton 15.10.100 defeated by Western Bulldogs 15.13.103
In Saturday night's clash between Carlton and the Bulldogs at Marvel Stadium, the Blues have fallen just short of a fantastic comeback, going down by three points to the Western Bulldogs. Having lead by as must as 34 points during the final quarter, the Doggies were made to look like they were standing still as the Blues kicked the final five goals of the match, but with just over two minutes remaining the Bulldogs managed to keep jumping on the ball and stop Charlie Curnow (17 disp, 7 marks and a huge 7 goals) from kicking an eighth goal. For the Bulldogs, Josh Dunkley had another game where we were left fearing for his health due to a liberal dose of leather poisoning. He finished the game with 41 Disposals, 5 Marks, 6 Clearances, 10 Tackles and a Goal. Both teams suffered more injuries, with the Bulldogs losing Tom Liberatore in the first quarter, while Ed Curnow left the game in the third with an ankle injury.

Sunday
North Melbourne 10.8.68 defeated by GWS Giants 14.7.91

In a very evenly contested first-half of footy down at Blundstone Arena in Tassie on Sunday, the GWS Giants managed to kick away from North Melbourne to claim a 23-point win and jump up to second place on the ladder, overtaking the Magpies who had a bye this weekend.
While new Kangaroo's coach, Rhys Shaw has suffered his first loss as an AFL coach, there can be no doubting that the Roos are playing improved footy and that their fans should have a happier end to the 2019 Season. For the Giants, they are continuing on their winning ways and while they are still a bit erratic, their performances are improving too. In the wash-up from the game, the Kangaroos will be sweating on the reporting of key-forward Ben Brown for striking the Giant's Buntine, the Giants will be feeling just as anxious about how Matt de Boer recovers from an incident resulting in his being concussed.

Byes: Brisbane, Collingwood, Geelong, Melbourne, Sydney, West Coast


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