For some reason, Channel Seven chose this one out of the three games played this afternoon to telecast to Melbourne viewers. Not that I'm complaining, but it did seem a strange choice. Given the way the game turned out, though, it proved to be a wise choice.
The game started well, with the Dockers able to add 3.3 before the Lions even crossed their attacking 50m line. Things were looking good for the Dockers - a comfortable lead, and Andrew Bews off the field getting his head stitched back together, but it was too good to last. Once they got going, however Brisbane soon had Freo on the ropes, adding 5 straight before the shell-shocked Dockers regrouped in time to reclaim the lead at quarter time.
The second quarter was a see-sawing affair, with the lead changing several times. Head-high tackles continue to be the norm, with the blood rule resulting in a number of stoppages. The umpiring was tough, but essentially unbiased. If you had the ball, you could be tackled anywhere. On the other hand if you did tackle, you couldn't expect a free kick for that either. None of this made for pretty football. To their credit, however, Fremantle were able to contain Brisbane, and prevent them opening out a significant lead while kicking with the breeze.
The start of the third quarter was something of a repeat of the first, with the Dockers kicking away easily to a 25 point lead, before Brisbane came back with a vengeance. Teenage forward Bradshaw added three goals, and suddenly the Lions were back in touch.
In the final quarter both teams basically ran out of legs, but since the Dockers were kicking into the wind it made more of a difference to their game. The result was an extremely tense final five minutes, with the Lions leading by less than a kick and Freo struggling to edge their noses back in front. In the end, Leach was the hero, slotting through a goal after the siren to win the game for the Dockers. The real hero of this passage, however, was Jeff White, who took two towering marks near the centre of the ground to prevent Brisbane breaking free after the Dockers had turned the ball over in their forward line.
In the end it was Brisbane's kicking for goals that almost made all the difference. 14.14 is not a bad return for the Dockers, but Brisbane's 15.3 was quite extraordinary. Certainly, given the conditions, Freo should have done better. As usual, Waterhouse and Wills were the worst offenders, with Waterhouse contributing two points and an out on the full, and Wills three behinds as well as a solitary goal.
Apart from that, the Freo forward line seemed to function fairly well. Bandy joined Daniel Parker up front to provide two mobile big men in and around the 50, and they added 3 goals a piece. Mann actually held a few marks, and picked up a fair number of possessions further up the ground.
Final Score : Fremantle 14.14-98 defeated Brisbane 15.3-93
timn_from_oz
© 1997 timnfromoz@hotmail.com
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