Round 10 AFL Review

Monday, August 3
Port Adelaide 8.7.55 defeated Western Bulldogs 5.12.42
Monday night saw Port Adelaide play hosts to the Western Bulldogs in a match where both teams were coming off tough losses the week before. Across the first half of the match it was the Bulldogs making the most of their attacking forays, with Sam Lloyd marking his return from injury by kicking two of the Doggies five goals, but their midfielder's hard work was often wasted through inaccuracy as shown by their score line of 5-goals 12-points. Coming out for the third-quarter, and being a few points behind, the Power's forward Charlie Dixon and midfielder Zac Butters got busy and turned the tide in favour of the home team, leading to the Power's 13-point win.

Tuesday, August 4
Richmond 12.10.82 defeated Brisbane 4.17.41
In the battle of Season 2019's quarter-finalists, Metricon Stadium saw the Tigers coming up against a very in-form Brisbane Lions outfit on Tuesday night. While I am not sure if it was the Lion's players forgetting their kicking boots for this match, or if the Tigers worked extra hard to make sure the Brisbane players were taking shots from difficult angles or a long way out. Whichever one it was, it certainly helped the Tigers to a big win over the highly fancied Brisbane Lions. One stat that stood out to me from tonight was the free kicks, which the Lions won 18 to 11 while losing. The Tigers will next take on the Power, with the Lions coming up against the Bulldogs.

Wednesday, August 5
Geelong 13.12.90 defeated North Melbourne 9.3.57
Not only did North Melbourne suffer another defeat, this time to the Cats at the Gabba, but they had to watch their key forward, Ben Brown, hobble off the ground after injuring his knee in the first quarter. The Cats made the most of the big forward's absence, along with what felt like half of North's starting 21, to run out comfortable 33-point winners. Geelong's Rhys Stanley put in a great effort against prominent big Todd Goldstein, while midfield duo Cam Guthrie and Sam Menegola were prolific throughout the match, often driving the ball forward to where Gryan Miers and Tom Hawkins made the most of the supply, to kick four and three goals respectively.

Adelaide 5.7.37 defeated by Melbourne 13.10.88
Coming off another loss in Round 9, the Adelaide Crows would have been primed to push for a win in their match against the Melbourne Demons at Adelaide Oval on Wednesday night. With Adelaide putting in an improved performance across the first half of this match, the Crows were behind their opponents by less than a straight kick at the long break. Once the third-quarter came, the Demons ramped up their efforts, riding on the back of a huge game from Clayton Oliver (34 Disposals, 5 Marks, 6 Tackles and a massive 11 Clearances), to outscore the Crows eight goals to one! Unfortunately, for the Crows, they remain winless, while the Demons get closer to a Top 8 spot.

Thursday, August 6
Collingwood 6.14.50 defeated Sydney 6.5.41
In another Round 10 match where one team kicks a heap of points and yet goes on to lose, the Magpies have bucked the trend by kicking lots of points but getting the win over Sydney at the Gabba on Thursday night. To put Collingwood's dominance into some form of perspective, the Magpies had ninety more disposals and nine more scoring shots than the Swans, but somehow only won by nine points; they also ended up on the same number of goals. With such a result, I am not sure how the Magpie's coach will feel about the team's efforts, while being happy for the win. As they say in many sports... "A win's a win! Bank it and move on."

Gold Coast 11.8.74 defeated by St Kilda 12.6.78
With there being just three points difference at half-time, we would need to wait and see what the second-half would bring between the Suns and Saints, but if it was anything like the first half we could be in for an exciting finish! Across the last two quarters, the two teams traded blows, and leads, until ex-Tiger Dan Butler made many wonder why they hadn't taken a punt on him with his exit from Punt Road. Butler had two last quarter goals that proved to be the difference between the Saints winning, which they did, and going down to a Sun's team that didn't stop fighting this one out.

Friday, August 7
Essendon 8.7.55 defeated by Greater Western Sydney 8.11.59
Across the first two-quarters of this match at Metricon Stadium, the Bombers were by far the better team in their match against the Giants. As a number of games have gone recently, things changed dramatically after the half-time break! Across the third-quarter, and into the fourth, the Giants started to assert themselves through the middle, getting the ball up forward more often and more effectively. Would the Giants be able to make up the five-goal lead the Bombers had worked so hard for? Yes, they would! While he hadn't done much for the first three quarters, the Giant's Jeremy Cameron kicked two vital goals in the last to help his team get the win.

Byes: Fremantle, West Coast, Hawthorn, Carlton