Just a reminder: This site is written primarily for the benefit of those of us who are new to Aussie Rules Football. I don't claim to be an expert -- in fact I'm as green as they come! The ideas expressed are accurate to the best of my wee, limited and infantile knowledge! Please keep in mind that my comments come strictly from listening to the game, not viewing it. I'm putting a lot of weight into the way it's called.
Whether you're new to the sport or a seasoned veteran, your comments and questions are always welcome! Send 'em to me and I'll share them here!
Thanks so much to the Tiger fans from Australia who have taken time to write! It's been great fun and I love hearing from you! That said, kick back and have some fun with me as we go through Round 2 of Aussie Rules Football!!
We won!!!! WA HOOO TIGERS!!!
Before we get started with this week's scores, let's look at the ladder.
The ladder?
The "standings", as we'd say in the US, only it's a little more complicated in the AFL.
Shown in yellow below is the ladder after Round 1. Each team has played one game, thus there are 8 teams with a win and 8 teams with a loss. By NFL standards of scoring, you'd have an 8-way tie for first, and an 8-way tie for last. Ahhh, but that's where it gets interesting. In the AFL, you're ranked by percentage, that is, by margin of victory!
In the NFL, we try to be nice guys and avoid running up the score at the end of the game. Not so in the AFL! The more points you score against your opponent, the greater your percentage that will help you not only in this game, but throughout the season! I LOVE IT!
So you see, Richmond did indeed lose their first game of the season but we still have a slight advantage over 5 other teams! And don't think for a moment that percentage doesn't help! Come the end of the season when it's time to decide the Top 8, you'll be glad we kicked those extra goals even though victory was assured!!
| Rank | Team | P | W | D | L | F | A | % | Total |
| 1 | Sydney | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 146 | 72 | 202.78 | 4 |
| 2 | Brisbane Lions | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 104 | 61 | 170.49 | 4 |
| 3 | West Coast | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 122 | 74 | 164.86 | 4 |
| 4 | Adelaide | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 145 | 89 | 162.92 | 4 |
| 5 | Western Bulldogs | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 130 | 91 | 142.86 | 4 |
| 6 | Collingwood | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 94 | 66 | 142.42 | 4 |
| 7 | Kangaroos | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 96 | 70 | 137.14 | 4 |
| 8 | Melbourne | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 106 | 100 | 106 | 4 |
| . | |||||||||
| 9 | Hawthorn | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 100 | 106 | 94.34 | 0 |
| 10 | St Kilda | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 70 | 96 | 72.92 | 0 |
| 11 | Richmond | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 66 | 94 | 70.21 | 0 |
| 12 | Geelong | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 91 | 130 | 70 | 0 |
| 13 | Fremantle | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 89 | 145 | 61.38 | 0 |
| 14 | Port Adelaide | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 74 | 122 | 60.66 | 0 |
| 15 | Essendon | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 61 | 104 | 58.65 | 0 |
| 16 | Carlton | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 72 | 146 | 49.32 | 0 |
F = (points) for | A = (points) against
The commentary is not exactly complimentary to our beloved Tigers. 11 minutes into the game they said the Tigers "came to play" and at 15 minutes, they said that there were "no early signs of weakness for the Tigers". That was followed by frequent comments that there were skill errors on both sides of the ball, bad decisions, shocking kicks, bad match-ups, and a wobbly thrown by Richo. At one point they described the play of Richmond as "absolute crap".
Ouch.
They also said the body language of the Tigers isn't a good sign. Let's hope that Frawley can boost the boys for the second half! GO YOU TIGES!
The second half was a mixed bag. The commentators first blasted Joel Bowden for a kick out on the full, then praised Mark Coughlan for starting out "pretty well", then blasted Bowden again for a "dreadful" kick, then praised Rory Hilton for a terrific kick. Good. Bad. Good. Bad. We pulled ahead at three-quarter-time (hooray!) and seemed to have the advantage from that point on. I will admit being surprised when Sam Newman called the game Richmond's when we barely had the lead. I loved hearing it, especially since he was right! Personally I wouldn't have called the game that soon, as I felt it was still touch and go for a while.
If I may make one personal observation on the commentary team, it seemed that they were very negative throughout the game. If I hadn't had such a good Internet connection, I'd have considered switching to an audio feed from a different network. I don't know the radio personalities well enough to recognize their voices, but I'm most curious who the doom and gloom caller was! I thought it was a great game, especially as the scores were close throughout the game. I'd like to have seen a little more optimism even if both teams struggled through parts of the game. (That's just my opinion -- it's not said to offend anyone, promise!)
As for Richo's performance, early in the game he lined up on the 50 for a kick from a 60 degree angle. He missed the goal but the media were easy on him, saying it was a hard kick to make and he put good effort into it. I thought it was interesting that they counted his paces, saying he stepped back 33 paces, only stopping because he was against the wall. Literally!
I think the way he's constantly critiqued surely must add to the tension he feels.
Midway through the second half, he marked 35 meters out on a 55 degree angle. Instead of taking the kick, which they said he'd made in practice, he passed the ball back, resulting in a 50 meter try that netted a behind. The Triple M commentators said that it showed Richo's lack of confidence in himself.
Later in the 3rd quarter even I was feeling the pressure for Richo (!!!) when he lined up 42 meters from goal directly in front of the goal square. He nailed that one, for which I was as happy as he was! A few more of those and the weight of the world won't be on his shoulders.
In reading the papers after the game, the press gave him a decent review. The bulk of the praise seems to be going to Leon Cameron who kicked 4 goals. Personally I thought Greg Stafford played a good game, based on the audio commentary.
Your thoughts and views are always welcome! Please remember that my comments are based solely on the audio broadcast and the stories I've read on-line. If you see things differently, I'd love to hear from you!
Hi Becky,
I was there BTW and it's Joel Bowden's fault that I only got my voice back properly yesterday. I screamed myself hoarse imploring Danny to get him off the ground! He was woeful. He kicked the ball directly to a Footscray player from the kick out, he kicked out of bounds, he couldn't hit targets. You couldn't get a worse game. Richo was very good and aside from the one goal he kicked off his own boot he set up two or three more. Leon Cameron thoroughly deserved his praise, he kicked four and set up a couple of others. We need a repeat performance this week and we won't have Richo either.
Keep your eyes/ears peeled for a kid called Martin McGrath. The rumour is that he's going to make his debut, he's a one man excitement machine, built like a pencil in a Richmond jumper, but this kid is the real deal.
Keep it up,
Chris Greenway.