Essendon is now equal second on the AFL table, joining Melbourne and Brisbane who have also recorded six wins from eight rounds. The Bombers however are still paying the penalty for their 16-goal drubbing in Round 1. At 104.0% it is about 30% shy of the Demons and the Lions.
St Kilda again showed what a quality outfit it has become, trouncing Collingwood by 47-points at The Dome. The Saints just had too many options up forward - Fraser Gehrig (5), Stephen Milne (5), Brent Guerra (4) and Justin Koschitzke (4) just proved too much for the Collingwood defence to handle. Anthony Rocca and Shane Woewodin were the best players for the losers.
Melbourne’s shocking run at Skilled Stadium continued and its six-game winning streak came to an end when it went down to Geelong by 14 points. Matthew Scarlett was awesome for the winners, keeping David Neitz goalless and eventually relegating him to the bench. Tom Harley also did very well down back while James Kelly dominated in the midfield. Sensational youngster Aaron Davey was the best for the Demons finishing with five goals.
The Kangaroos embarrassed Port Adelaide at The Dome to the tune of 92 points. Brent Harvey was magnificent for the winners kicking four goals but he wasn’t alone. Leigh Colbert, Shannon Watt and Leigh Browne were superb in defence while Drew Petrie was outstanding at centre half forward. Port was under-manned but would have been bitterly disappointed to go down by such a big margin.
Hawthorn finally had something to smile about after it hung on to beat Fremantle by nine-points at York Park in Tasmania. Richie Vandenberg and Shane Crawford did the job in the midfield for the winners while Trent Croad and Peter Everitt were the best of the big men. Fremantle was best served by Luke McPharlin and matthew Pavlich.
West Coast farewlled Glenn Jakovich in style, beating an out-of-form Sydney by 27-points at Subiaco. Jakovich kicked three goals in his farewell game while livewire small forward Phil Matera bagged five goals. Ben Cousins and Andrew Embley were other good players. Barry Hall kicked five goals to be the best for the Swans.
Ricmond’s resurgence continued at the MCG yesterday when it defeated a woefully inaccurate Bulldogs by 23-points. Matthew Richardson was brilliant for the winners bagging 10 goals – he has now kicked 17 since returning from injury. Nathan Brown and Joel Bowden also played well. Scott West and Rohan Smith were the standouts for the Bulldogs.
Brisbane comfortably accounted for Carlton by 38 points at the Gabba last night. The Lions led by 70-points late in the third quarter but the Blues showed some spirit kicking seven last-quarter goals to make the margin far more respectable. Simon Black, Luke Power and Nigel Lappin starred for the Lions. Scott Camporeale was the best for the Blues while Lance Whitnall showed a welcome return to form.
