AFL Report Round 13 – 21/7
Tigers Come to Town
The all conquering Grafton Tigers invade Fitzroy Oval today with an eye to boosting their already imposing percentage and sewing up top spot on the ladder for season 2102. A lot has been said and written about their magnificent forward line, and no doubt they will boot a cricket score today, but what impressed me last week was their tight and disciplined defence. Through twelve rounds of football the Tigers’ defence has only given up six goals a game on average! That is an amazing statistic and makes them tighter than Travis Cloke’s wallet. The often-unsung heroes in defence include Ryan Sheather, Luke Hayman, Scott Onus, Kelly Thompson and Josh Lollback who consistently apply defensive pressure all over the ground.
Some relief for the Swans that they have no U18 game today which takes some pressure off Reid Clayton, Bayden Barker, Mckinlay Pearce and Fraser Tankel who will step up again today.
Port Tighten Grip on Double Chance
Port Macquarie host North Coffs at Wayne Richards Oval and are expected to come away with a big victory and steal back second place on the ladder from Sawtell/Toormina who have the bye this week. Those two sides face off the week after in what will likely decide the double chance.
Port coach Mick Tritton told me yesterday that his side is nicely placed with some key players returning from injury including Craig Dicker and Greg Langlois and Luke Long. When questioned on Ports finals fortunes Tritton response was "We play Sawtell and Grafton in our last two games at home so our future is in our hands. Those games will determine whether we finish top two or not"
North Coffs generally travel light to Port affording the Pies a chance to boost an already impressive percentage. The Kangaroos have a must win game in the U18 grade against the top of the table Magpies.
AROUND THE TRAPS with Rod Macpherson
Lee Anderson responded to the article last week analysing his strike rate on goal with an outstanding display of forward play handing off many opportunities to teammates and booting 13 goals himself! He marked absolutely everything and slotted truly from some tight angles. Oh and thanks to big Dan Gordon for his quick reminder that he already had one premiership medallion. He might just collect another in September.
Good to catch up with former Collingwood and Sydney Swans star Robert Dean at the weekend. Dean coached the North Coast representative side during the late 90’s and was impressed with the slick ball movement by the Tigers. Despite being in recovery from a recent triple heart bypass he still managed to find his way to the comfort of the bar to shelter from the cold.
This weekend marks the celebration of women in AFL. I was surprised to learn that almost 95,000 women participated in an AFL program last year and that NSW leads the way with female participation in Auskick with over 8,000 actively involved. Go girls!
In what must surely be a boost for the reputation of AFL North Coast, ex Nambucca junior, and now Echuca star, Scott Beattie has been named in the powerful Victorian Country AFL side to contest the Australian Country Championships to be played in Wagga. The side is coached by ex Hawthorn star Peter Knights. Having had the pleasure of coaching Scott in the 2006 representative carnival at Inverell his inclusion is no surprise to me.
Last Modified on 20/07/2012 12:33