There was some discussion md-week about just where this game would be played. The AFL is apparently unhappy with the standard of facilities at the Western Oval, and at Victoria Park. It was only on Friday that a final safety inspection was made, and the fixture given the go-ahead. Even then there was some discussion that this might be the last ever AFL match to be played at Victoria Park, so the Magpie army was out in full force to show its support for the venue.
The game started with the Big Sausage in the ruck, and Damian Monkhurst at fullforward. Monky and O'Reilly did a most amusing shovey dance, before the Sausage was swapped down to fullforward pretty much straight after the opening bounce. Another bizarre moment early in the game occurred at a Freo kick-in after a point had been scored. In scenes reminiscent of my days at primary school, every single player on the ground was forward of the centre. It didn't last long, but its not something you see every day.
Collingwood looked the better team throughout the first half, except for a brief rally by Freo midway through the second term. Freo rallied again in the early part of the third term, and for a time, it looked like they were going to be within striking distance at three quarter time. But sadly, Collingwood responded well, and the Dockers trailed by almost 7 goals at the final break, which was just a bit too much.
In the third quarter Neesham gave Shane the job on the Big Sausage, and Sav immediately responded by adding two quick goals. For a moment it looked like it was going to be another Lockyer game for Shane, but then things slowed down, and Sav only scored one more during the quarter. Nevertheless, it looked like O'Reilly got him again for the final quarter. His spell on the Big Sausage also revealed another bad habit that Shane has picked up in the AFL, which is that he no longer tracks the ball as it flies over his arms for a goal by tipping his head back. Instead he takes his eyes off the ball, and turns to look over his shoulder. The skills coaches at the Dockers need to take a long hard look at this.
The final quarter was pretty much a whitewash. The Pies added 10.1 against Freo's 2 points (from about 4 ventures inside their attacking 50). It was pretty much all one-way traffic throughout the quarter, and I don't think the Dockers won a single break from the centre. Once the game was clearly sewn up, the fans around me started cheering for the Demons, who were in the process of beating Carlton.
The Big Sausaage finished with 9, and fell only a few points short of single-handedly matching Freo's score. The Little Sausage scored 4, and Buckley had 43 possessions. But on the plus side of the ledger, Waterhouse didn't play, so Freo kicked pretty straight, and Hunter finished with 7 goals. So in an extremely unlikely result, this game turned into a real shootout at fullforward.
Final Score : Collingwood 25.10-160 defeated Fremantle 9.6-60
timn_from_oz
© 1997 timnfromoz@hotmail.com
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