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AFL Saturday: Essendon, West Coast, Adelaide and GWS pull home exciting victories

FORMER cricketer and St Kilda fan Shane Warne had a bit to say on social media after the Saints’ disappointing finish on Saturday.

Tyson Otto and Alex Blair
13 min read
April 2, 2017 - 10:39AM
Warney wasn’t too happy with the ump’s calls.
Warney wasn’t too happy with the ump’s calls.

AFL Saturday

Welcome to AFL Saturday, our coverage of today’s matches:

Adelaide 16.17 (113) beat Hawthorn 13.11 (89)

GWS 24.16 (160) beat Gold Coast 8.10 (58)

Essendon 17.9 (111) beat Brisbane 12.12 (84)

West Coast 18.8 (116) beat St Kilda to 13.19 (97)

Another Saturday night of enthralling football has wrapped up with a number of matches going down to the wire. Hawthorn pulled home a win over Adelaide, Essendon continued their good form into round two with a win over Brisbane and West Coast fired back in a late-game surge to defeat St Kilda.

The only match that didn’t go down to the wire was Greater Western Sydney vs the Gold Coast. The Giants blasted their first 100-point victory with a huge 160-58 win over the ailing Suns.

10:35pm

Warney’s dig after Saints loss

Ex-cricketer and long-time St Kilda fan Shane Warne wasn’t impressed with the finish of the Saints game against the West Coast Eagles.

The match was marred by a number of umpiring woes, sending social media into meltdown as fans voiced their disappointment.

Warne, who was tweeting his thoughts throughout the match, concluded with a final tweet slamming “terrible” decisions from the umpires.

Kennedy produced some late heroics to lift his side to a 19-point win over a wayward St Kilda at Domain Stadium on Saturday night. The Saints led by 25 points during the first term, and still held a 12-point lead early in the final quarter.

Kennedy had booted just one goal from three disposals up until that point. But the reigning Coleman medallist shot to life from that point on, kicking three goals in the final term to help secure the 18.8 (116) to 13.19 (97) win in front of 37,749 fans.

St Kilda ended the match with six more scoring shots, but their wayward goalkicking cost them dearly.

The 23-8 free kick count against them also hurt.

The result boosted West Coast to 2-0 for the season, while the Saints are 0-2 in a season where many pundits tipped them to reach the finals. When the Saints played West Coast in Perth last year, the Eagles booted the first nine goals of the match on the way to a 103-point win. But it was St Kilda who came out firing this time around, with the visitors scoring from 13 of their 14 entries into their forward-50m in the opening term. The Saints’ lead at quarter-time would have been much bigger than 19 points had they kicked straight.

The West Coast Eagles pulled home a nailbiting victory.
The West Coast Eagles pulled home a nailbiting victory.

And inaccuracy haunted them again in the second quarter as a series of golden chances went begging.

A big turning point came late in the second quarter when Maverick Weller thought he had snapped a goal to give St Kilda a 25-point lead.

Eagles players were adamant Tom Barrass had got a fingertip to the ball, and the goal was eventually disallowed after a video review.

West Coast kicked the next two goals to reduce the margin to nine points at halftime.

For all of St Kilda’s dominance, West Coast had plenty of potential upside. Kennedy was goalless in the first half, while Sam Mitchell’s 12-disposal effort lacked efficacy.

But St Kilda continued to keep West Coast at bay - until Kennedy came to life in the last quarter.

Kennedy levelled the scores after kicking goals from two contested marks. And when he slotted his third for the term at the 25-minute mark, the Eagles were up by 12 points and on their way to victory.

It was a heartbreaking result for the Saints, who looked in control for large periods of the match.

— with AAP

9:58pm

Essendon pulls through after thriller

The Gabba surface wasn’t a problem but a rejuvenated Brisbane Lions caused plenty before Essendon held onto a 27-point AFL win on Saturday night. The Bombers looked set to make Brisbane appear like April Fools when they made light of concerns over the ground and ran amok to cruise to a 42-point lead late in the second term.

However, the Lions roared back to trail by just five points by the final break before running out of gas in front of a 21,749-strong Gabba crowd. Turnovers killed the fatigued hosts as the Bombers kicked the last five goals to blow out the deficit to 17.9 (111) to 12.12 (84).

Essendon’s Orazio Fantasia nabbed his fifth with a kick after the final siren. Zach Merrett was again inspirational in Essendon’s midfield, nabbing 32 touches with Jobe Watson helping himself to 34.

Lions captain Dayne Beams overcame a foot complaint to amass 33 disposals. It marked the third time since 2012 that Essendon have started a season 2-0. At first Brisbane - first round winners over Gold Coast - were just happy to be hosting their opening home game after drama surrounding the Gabba surface. Brisbane only received the official green light to host their opening home game on Monday after the surface was deemed “unsafe” for the AFLW grand final. Lions CEO Greg Swann slammed ground staff after the Lions-Adelaide AFLW decider had to be relocated to the Gold Coast to protect Gabba turf laid to repair damage from two Adele concerts and prepare for November’s first Ashes cricket Test.

The Bombers are now 2-0 going into round three.
The Bombers are now 2-0 going into round three.

There were more anxious after torrential rain from Cyclone Debbie battered the recovering ground on Thursday.

But any concerns over the surface were quickly dismissed as the Lions tried to go toe to toe with Essendon.

Merrett’s 10 touches helped Essendon snatch a 4.2 (26) to 3.2 (20) lead at the first break before the floodgates opened.

The Bombers kicked the first six goals of the second term - and eight straight overall - as Fantasia ran amok to help the visitors grab a 42-point second term lead.

But two quick goals by Brisbane not only limited the damage to 10.5 (65) to 5.6 (36) by halftime, it sparked a Lions revival.

Brisbane at one stage booted five straight goals as they smashed Essendon 16-7 in third term clearances before Dayne Zorko kicked another on the siren to reduce the deficit to just five points by the final interval. The Lions were wearing black arm bands to remember Cian Hanley’s brother Tommy who sadly lost his battle with cancer this week.

Meanwhile, the West Coast Eagles and St Kilda are closing out the final minutes in their own thriller in Western Australia.

The two sides sit at 97-96 in the Saints’ favour going into the final six minutes.

— AAP

8:17pm

Jenkins cleared of serious damage

Injured Adelaide star Josh Jenkins has so far been cleared of serious damage to his ribs and internal organs after being rushed to hospital. The Crows forward was caught in a chilling collision midway through their clash against Hawthorn earlier in the night.

7:10pm

‘Rocket might not have a job come Monday’

It was a rough trip to Sydney for the Suns.
It was a rough trip to Sydney for the Suns.

Former Carlton star Brendan Fevola has had his say on the Gold Coast Suns’ sub-par thrashing at the hands of the Greater Western Sydney Giants on Saturday.

The Suns went down 160-58 in their worst loss to the Giants in the history of their rivalry in the AFL. The Giants brutalised the Suns’ defence with 24 goals led by Jeremy Cameron (six).

Fevola took to Twitter to slam the Suns’ effort, questioning if coach Rodney Eade would have a job next week.

GWS Giants centurion Toby Greene kicked a career-high five goals, with his side recovering from a mid-match snooze to post a record-setting 102-point pasting of Gold Coast.

Smarting from an opening round 56-point thumping by Adelaide last weekend, the Giants swiftly got their percentage back into the black on Saturday with a 24.16 (160) to 8.10 (58) victory at Spotless Stadium.

It was the Giants’ biggest ever winning margin, beating a 92-point victory over Fremantle last year, and their highest score, eclipsing their tally of 158 against Hawthorn which was also in 2016.

The Suns slashed a 52 point-deficit to point to 22 early in the third quarter but GWS slammed on 10 straight goals and kicked 14 of the last 15 majors. Jeremy Cameron kicked six goals and Steve Johnson booted three, with the latter boosting his career tally to 499.

Greene, who became the first player drafted by the Giants to play 100 games for the club, was prominent in the early onslaught.

For the second straight week Gold Coast leaked seven goals and trailed by 38 at the first break.

The Giants kicked 10 of their first 12 goals but the Suns threatened to make a contest of it with five straight either side of halftime.

It proved a false dawn for the Suns, with the Giants piling on the last six goals of the term and the first four of the final quarter.

Some of the Suns big guns failed to fire with Tom Lynch finishing goalless and Gary Ablett tallying just one touch in the first quarter and 16 for the game. Callan Ward (32 touches), Dylan Shiel (28) and Josh Kelly (27 and three goals) were all prominent for GWS..

Jack Martin kicked three goals for the Suns and Kade Kolodjashnij accumulated 27 touches.

— with AAP

5:40pm

Ablett slammed by Cameron Mooney

Gary Ablett and the Suns are copping a beating.
Gary Ablett and the Suns are copping a beating.

Former AFL gear Cameron Mooney has slammed Gold Coast captain Gary Ablett as the Suns struggled through the second quarter.

Mooney accused Ablett, who had his first touch of the ball at the end of the first quarter, of only going after low-risk plays before questioning if he had an injury.

“He started the game last week extremely slow as well, ended up with 28 possessions and had a pretty good game,” Mooney said on FOX Sports.

“The way he’s moving, he just doesn’t seem to be moving that well. He looks like at the moment as well that he just wants to get the easy ball.

“You just wonder, is he carrying something at the moment? He doesn’t look to be moving that well.”

The Suns went to halftime trailing the GWS Giants 68-34. Two goals from Jack Martin helped the Gold Coast unit scrape back after a disappointing first quarter, but there will be a lot of work to do if they want to pull ahead in the second half and pull off a major comeback.

4:30pm

Crows overcome Hawks at MCG

Adelaide have swept aside Hawthorn for a second-straight win to start the AFL season, emerging 24-point victors in a combative match at the MCG. The Crows overturned a four-goal quarter-time deficit to win 16.17 (113) to 13.11 (89) on Saturday afternoon.

Powered by Rory Sloane’s tackling and Tom Lynch’s all-round effort, Adelaide worked into the contest to win their first battle with the Hawks since 2011. The defeat also condemns Hawthorn to their first 0-2 start since 2009, the last time the modern-day powerhouse missed the finals.

Alastair Clarkson’s side can have no complaints with the result after being thoroughly worked over by the Crows.

Hawthorn jumped out of the blocks, putting five of the first six goals on the board - all from small forwards Luke Bruest, Cyril Rioli and Paul Puopolo - while another diminutive figure left his mark.

In his first contest in AFL football, debutant Teia Miles collided with Josh Jenkins to leave the towering Crow worse for wear.

He departed the ground in an ambulance with a suspected punctured lung. Puopolo pulled in a mark of the year contender in the second term but Adelaide had put the cramps on the Hawks’ scoring.

By the third quarter, Adelaide hit the front through a Mitch McGovern goal, bookended by two sparkling Eddie Betts majors.

For his first trick, Betts circled a static James Frawley to kick a fine running goal.

Five minutes later, he took a hand-off from the impressive Sam Jacobs on the boundary line, running inside and kicking a checkside goal.

Hawthorn captain Jarryd Roughead had set shots either side of the last change to return his side to the lead but missed both.

Adelaide made the Hawks pay, slamming on four unanswered goals including two clutch running efforts by David Mackay.

Sloane was paramount in the fourth term, gathering 13 touches for the quarter and laying 16 tackles for the match.

Lynch was mighty with 31 disposals and 14 marks, with Jacobs and Charlie Camerson among the Crows best.

For Hawthorn, Tom Mitchell (38 disposals) and Jaeger O’Meara (37 disposals) worked hard and Puopolo was lively.

— AAP

2.30pm

Jenkins may have collapsed lung

Crows forward Josh Jenkins has reportedly been taken to hospital after a nasty first quarter collision during his team’s clash with Hawthorn.

Jenkins fell to the ground immediately after being hit from the side by Hawthorn rookie Teia Miles during a marking contest.

Jenkins appeared to be hit in the ribs with Fox Footy analyst Paul Roos suspecting the Crows’ tall may have some rib damage.

He was taken from the field and immediately taken into the changerooms for further treatment.

A few minutes later, Jenkins was reportedly about to be taken to hospital after complaining that he was struggling to breathe.

Ambulance officers attended the Crows’ rooms to provide further care.

FOX Footy cameras captured vision of Jenkins struggling to walk to an ambulance while reportedly carrying a broken rib injury.

The power forward has been taken to a nearby hospital under suspicion he may also have a collapsed lung.

Fox Footy analyst David King said at quarter time of the Crows clash with Hawthorn that Jenkins was in “immense pain”.

“He’s taken a blow on the left side of his rib cage and unfortunately for Josh it looks like at minimum that’s a broken rib and at maximum a collapsed lung,” King said.

“He had enormous trouble coming from the ground. As you can see he was in immense pain upon contact. Taken from the ground, he had to pause at the top of the staircase before going down for additional treatment. He had to pause again halfway down the stairs.

“He’s off to the Epworth hospital for further assessment.”

12.15pm

Channel 7 slammed for dressing room farce

Channel 7 is taking footy to strange new places.
Channel 7 is taking footy to strange new places.

CHANNEL 7 has been criticised by footy fans for sending commentator Brian Taylor into the Bulldogs’ dressing rooms on Friday night as a roving reporter.

Seven this season has been given access within the player’s change rooms after matches on Friday nights and has this season begun filming live interviews in the sheds.

The network took it to a new level after the Bulldogs’ grand final re-match win over the Swans with Taylor wandering around the rooms grabbing any player for a chat that he bumped into.

With players clearly uncomfortable with the cut of the BT’s jib after a taxing four quarters of footy, fans were left to lament the series of awkward interviews they were subjected to on live television.

12pm

Swan cleared of broken ankle

Sydney forward Kurt Tippett has been cleared of bone damage after injuring his ankle during the Swans’ loss to the Western Bulldogs.

The 202cm Tippett limped off halfway through the first quarter of Friday night’s grand final replay at Etihad Stadium after landing awkwardly on his left ankle during a marking contest.

He went straight to the Swans’ rooms and was later seen on crutches but Swans coach John Longmire confirmed he had dodged a broken fibula. “They’re just looking for ligament damage now,” he said.

“Obviously not ideal losing him so early but the good thing is there’s no break there from what I hear.” Tippett is likely to be joined on the sidelines for next Friday’s clash against Collingwood by defender Zak Jones, who was reported for a late bump on Bulldogs forward Travis Cloke.

Jones is almost certain to be suspended after lining up Cloke and making contact with his head, resulting in a 50-metre penalty and an easy Bulldogs goal. The incident appeared to spark the reigning premiers after Sydney opened the game with four unanswered goals.

The Swans trailed by 22 points at three-quarter time but stole the lead halfway through the final term after Lance Franklin booted three goals in 10 minutes. But some late heroics from Marcus Bontempelli and a contentious goal to Liam Picken allowed the Bulldogs to deny Sydney their grand final revenge with a 16.14 (110) to 13.9 (87) win.

Picken was awarded a free kick directly in front of goal after Sydney’s Callum Mills was controversially pinged for a deliberate rushed behind despite having been within the goal square.

It was a bitter defeat for the Swans but there were bright signs from several newcomers.

The Swans lined up with three debutants in Will Hayward, Nic Newman and Robbie Fox and second-gamer Oliver Florent, all of whom impressed in a physical and intense game.

“Some of the kids I thought were just fantastic,” Longmire said. “That’s pretty red-hot footy. It doesn’t get much hotter than that out there against last year’s premiers (and) Friday night footy.” The Bulldogs enjoyed a lopsided free-kick count during last year’s grand final and it was the case again on Friday night, with the premiers awarded 31 compared to Sydney’s 18.

“The holding the ball decisions (between) us and them ... we must have missed something,” Longmire said.

“They must be doing something a bit different that we need to look at.”

— AAP

12pm

Bombers far from carried away

After a stirring win in their AFL season opener, Essendon coach John Worsfold insists he is not worried about an emotional let-down against Brisbane because the Bombers are “not good enough yet”.

Essendon welcomed back six players who served 12-month suspensions in their round-one boilover against Hawthorn.

Another returns against Brisbane at the Gabba on Saturday after Ben Howlett was named to replace the injured Josh Green, marking his first AFL game in 18 months.

Emotions ran high as Essendon savoured their opening upset but Worsfold said the Bombers knew they couldn’t afford to be flat against the Lions. “We know we’ve got a long way to go so I think the players are pretty clear that game was a start,” Worsfold said when asked if he worried about an emotional let-down.

“But we have to work hard to get better because we’re not good enough yet and we want to work hard to achieve that.” Howlett will join the six players backing up from their comeback match. “Ben’s been slowly feeling like he’s been getting back to playing his best footy,” Worsfold said.

“I thought he was really good against Box Hill on the weekend and he fits into the spot left by Green.” Like Worsfold, Brisbane coach Chris Fagan was also not getting ahead of himself after a tight opening win over Gold Coast.

“We know Essendon is a formidable opponent,” he said.

“Not too many teams have been able to do that to Hawthorn over the last four or five years but Essendon were able to do so.

“They played with passion. They are obviously fired up and are on a journey. “We will need to quickly forget about the great things that happened for us last week.” Brisbane will no doubt focus on vice-captain Zach Merrett in a bid to stop the Bombers’ midfield juggernaut after his star turn last round. “They’re a team that can move the ball incredibly quickly,” Fagan said. “They love to bring the ball into the corridor, their forwards are really dangerous, they work well as a team and they’ve got a strong group of midfielders.

“A very important part of our game tomorrow night is our ability to defend quickly and stop that ball movement and hold them up a little bit.” Ex-Collingwood defender Jack Frost will make his Lions debut after missing last week through suspension.

— AAP

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