Half-time report: Wrapping the best of Round 15 of the AFL so far

HALF-TIME REPORT: A TIME clock malfunction, tribunal worries for three youngsters, Kennett Curse lives on and some Black magic.

AFL - CROWS v WEST COAST

A TIME clock malfunction, tribunal worries for three youngsters, Kennett Curse lives on and some Black magic.

CONTENDERS OR GREAT PRETENDERS?

RICHMOND was poised to secure a top eight berth with victory over North Melbourne yesterday.
And then disaster struck with the Kangaroos running away 10-goal winners in front of a packed Etihad Stadium.
Now Richmond must travel to Cairns and do what it hasn't been able to do before, defeat Gold Coast in north Queensland.
The Tigers sold three home games to Cairns in 2010. They've lost the first two editions against the Suns.
And, it doesn't get any easier with bona-fide contenders Fremantle (away), Sydney (home) and Hawthorn (away) laying in wait.

Damian Hardwick

MCKERNAN'S FIERY START

SHAUN McKernan’s opening few minutes to last night’s match had it all. The young forward took a ripping contested grab against Mitch Brown inside the first minute, before wheeling around and dobbing the opener from 55m. Then, moments later, he flung an elbow at Brad Sheppard’s face and was immediately booked for striking. It was an ugly act likely to cost him weeks. Sheppard was subbed out under the concussion rule but passed the medical test and returned to the field, pushing Andrew Embley back into the green vest. In worse news for the Crows, youngster Aiden Riley was subbed out in the opening minutes with what looked a bad leg injury.

AFL - CROWS v WEST COAST

HINE GIVES LIDS A HIDING

NORTH Melbourne stopper Taylor Hine was supreme yesterday in stopping Richmond playmaker Brett Deledio.
Recruited from Gold Coast during the off-season, Hine restricted Lids to just 16 disposals.
Meanwhile, hard-nosed Kangaroo Levi Greenwood broke even in his head-to-head battle with Tigers captain Trent Cotchin.
Cotchin was the Tigers best with 25 disposals including nine clearances, while Greenwood helped himself to 26 and six marks.

YOUNG CATS RISE TO TASK

KENNETT’S Curse lives on, but for a change it wasn’t Geelong stars Joel Selwood, Paul Chapman or Tom Hawkins who delivered the four premiership points.
It was the next generation of Cats who stood tall last night with Jordan Murdoch (three goals), substitute Jesse Stringer (one goal) and former Gold Coast midfielder Josh Caddy (one goal) who sunk the Hawks on the big stage.
Caddy’s goal was beauty from deep in the forward pocket.

Hawks

BLACK MAGIC GOAL

EMERGING Kangaroos spearhead Aaron Black will be in Goal of the Year calculations for a long way after yesterday's Hail Mary snap with seconds left in the third quarter.
Black was in all sorts, being corralled towards the boundary line 50m from home, when he wheeled around on his right boot attempting to centre the ball.
But the oval-shaped ball had a mind of its own taking a sharp goal-ward bounce before dribbling across the line in front of a lunging Tiger.
Black finished with three goals for the match from 12 kicks and six marks.

Aaron Black

LIONS DRIVE STAKE THROUGH SUNS

BRENT Staker knows how to kick important goals. He punctuated his return from two luckless years with the match-winner against Essendon this year and was the catalyst last night. Staker booted two crunch goals to start the first quarter and then quelled Gold Coast’s fight back with his third to start the last quarter. Hats off to Michael Voss for shifting him forward - it proved critical in the 116-83 victory.

AFL FESSES UP TO INTERCHANGE BLUNDER

IT was the decision that threatened to change the game.
Geelong was pinged for having too many men on the field in the dying stages of last night’s win over Hawthorn.
The free kick to Hawthorn resulted in a goal which slashed the margin to nine points with minutes to play.
The blunder occurred when Tom Lonergan ran off the ground, as Josh Hunt dashed on towards half back.
Longeran propped close to the line before returning to the field of play, prompting the interchange steward to react.
Former Geelong great, Channel 7 commentator, Cameron Ling was quick to suggest an error had been made, saying the Cats still had three on the bench.

READ MORE HERE
 

Interchange video was reviewed post-game and free kick wrongly paid against Geelong, after error by steward.

— Patrick Keane (@AFL_PKeane) July 6, 2013

SHEEDS’ RUNNING OUT OF TIME

IS there a win left in Kevin Sheedy’s storied coaching career? Yesterday looked his best chance when Dylan Shiel put the Giants eight points clear in the final quarter. But the Giants were ultimately beaten by the clock as the Dogs’ older brigade – led by Daniel Giansiracusa and Brett Goodes in the last quarter – just got the job done. And Giants Taylor Adams and Jeremy Cameron could be set for holidays after clumsy acts. Adams became involved in a few scuffles, while Cameron collected Jason Johannisen with a big bump that will surely cost him weeks. The young Dog was stretchered off and subbed out in the third quarter. He'll now require surgery and miss the rest of the season.

Taylor obviously wants few weeks off #aflgiantsdogs

— Jarrad Grant (@jarradgrant1) July 6, 2013

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Taylor Adams

YOUNG DOG STANDS TALL

IT was arguably the worst loss in recent times, but there were glimmers of promise shown as the Western Bulldogs fell across the line against GWS yesterday. Michael Talia was the biggest shining light. The tall defender – who somehow slipped to the Dogs’ second-round pick two years ago – racked up 32 touches and used the footy well, despite the knocks on his kicking. Talia seemed to cover a crazy amount of ground and must be the favourite for this week’s Rising Star nomination. Clay Smith again showed promise, Nathan Hrovat was outstanding after starting as the sub and Luke Dahlhaus’ trademark pressure and goal nous was back. Dahl booted two disallowed goals after free kicks had been paid, while Hrovat accumulated 17 disposals in less than a half of footy. Unfortunately, the forward line led by Ayce Cordy and Liam Jones again looked dysfunctional.

173060542

TIME MATTERS

COACHES and players were left to fly blind yesterday when a malfunctioning timeclock in Canberra threatened to cause a sequel to "Siren-gate". There was confusion at the Western Bulldogs and Greater Western Sydney match when the broadcast countdown clock reached zero in the first quarter, but the siren failed to sound for another two minutes. No score was posted in that time. AFL spokesman Patrick Keane said the siren had sounded at the correct time. "The clock failed during the quarter, so they went to hand timing," Keane said. "What you saw on the broadcast during the latter minutes of the quarter was the incorrect time and obviously the broadcaster hasn't become aware of it until later. The rest of the game was timed manually with the broadcast vision using a count-up clock instead. It added to last-quarter drama, when Will Hoskin-Elliott goaled in the 33rd minute to cut the margin to four points. Fans and players alike were unaware if the Giants had time to pinch victory, with the siren sounding 80 seconds later.

SUPERCOACH STARS

THERE was no Gazza, but no worries for a lot of us SuperCoaches out there yesterday. After the heroics of Dane Swan (148) and Scott Pendlebury (154) on Friday night, most of us already had an Ablett-esque scored locked in as captain. Then Leuenberger tonned up, Sam Mitchell dominated, Brett Goodes scored 111 – as did Brent Staker – and Nathan Hrovat raced to 83 despite spending the first half in the green vest. Hopefully you held onto Goodes instead of Nick Vlastuin. As for looking forward, Bryce Gibbs and Cyril Rioli look set to plummet in price and could be nice purchases on the verge of fantasy finals.

Studs and Duds from every match

CRAIG FIRMS AS DEES SUCCESSOR

THE support for Neil Craig to win the permanent role at Melbourne grew again yesterday. Richmond ruckman Ivan Maric gave the caretaker coach, who mentored him for seven years at Adelaide, a glowing endorsement. “If the players listen and learn to what (Craig says) they’ll become a better footy club,’’ Maric told 3AW. Maric’s first 77 AFL games were played under Maric, while Jack Watts has told Fox Footy playing for Mark Neeld was “a bit hard’.

Melbourne v Bulldogs

KENNEDY EYES COLEMAN

WEST Coast forward Josh Kennedy hot streak continued last night kicking four goals – including the sealer – to sink Adelaide at AAMI Stadium.
Kennedy broke free with under a minute to play and made no mistake from long range to give the Eagles a six-point buffer.
The big right-footer sits atop the Coleman rankings with 45 goals – three clear of nearest rival, Hawthorn forward Jarryd Roughead.