AFL Round 8 Review
Richmond Tigers (9.9.63) Geelong Cats (19.12.126)
The 2020 grand final rematch wasn’t quite the close clash fans would have expected.
The first half followed a familiar narrative with Richmond narrowly leading and a large part of the contest being played out in the midfield. The biggest shock to come out of the first half was the Shai Bolton screamer in the first quarter that had Richmond and Geelong fans on their feet in awe of a true mark of the year contender.
Dustin Martin might have had a better time taking an extra week off with a dismal performance from the three-time Norm Smith medalist. Martin went missing for large portions of the game and made poor choices inside 50, a particularly memorable moment being when he handed the ball over inside the square rather than kicking for goal, resulting in no score for Richmond.
Geelong’s trio of talls combined to kick 14 of its 19 goals with Jeremy Cameron kicking six and netting 22 disposals for the evening.
The exodus of Richmond fans from the ground came midway through the fourth quarter after only kicking two goals in the second half whilst Geelong ran away with the game and truly earned redemption after grand final heartbreak last year.
Gold Coast (7.12.54) Suns St Kilda (8.15.63)
Another chapter in the blossoming rivalry between St Kilda and the Suns ended with just a nine-point difference between the two teams, just the first time since Stuart Dew has been at the helm that the Suns have lost by more than a goal to the Saints.
The Saints once again turned around a deficit at three-quarter time to take away a win and turned a relatively uneventful game into an exciting contest for Saints fans.
Sun, Ben King certainly won the battle of the brothers, scoring 3.1e compared to twin Max’s 1.2. However, that wasn’t enough when the Suns were without another multiple goal scorer with eight Suns scoring a behind but failing to put a major score on the board.
Jack Steele and Jack Billings had two stand out performances, both kicking two goals but also having plenty of influence around the ground getting involved in marking contests and Steele leading tackles for St Kilda.
GWS Giants (16.11.107) Essendon Bombers (16.9.105)
Essendon and heartbreaking losses seem to go hand in hand in 2021, as the Bombers lost by less than a goal for the third time this year.
GWS will walk away breathing a sigh of relief that they got away with the win as the Bombers threatened to snatch away victory in the final two minutes.
It was a goal from Jacob Hopper that saved the day for the Giants making it too hard for the Bombers to squeeze out one last goal.
Tim Taranto continues to be reliable in the midfield proving why he won the Giants’ best and fairest last year, picking up a goal and 29 disposals.
North Melbourne Kangaroos (11.10.76) Collingwood Magpies (14.10.94)
Fans were rubbing their hands together at the prospect of equally entertaining results when North Melbourne and Collingwood came head to head.
Despite being winless for the year North Melbourne have shown potential recently and after threatening Melbourne in Tasmania last weekend, they stood a chance. The thing was, Collingwood had a point to prove and North Melbourne was just the team they needed to come up against.
Darcy Moore returned to the backline where he belongs and commentators and fans alike rejoiced as he played his best game of the year, preventing North Melbourne from entering inside 50 with 11 intercept possessions.
North never hit the front and even when they started to mount a comeback in the third quarter with four straight goals, Collingwood minimised any damage with three goals to maintain a healthy lead.
Nathan Buckley may have survived another week but beating a winless North Melbourne doesn’t protect his job if Collingwood can’t find a way to win against bigger and badder opponents come seasons end it will be hard to justify keeping him around.
Melbourne Demons (10.7.67) Sydney Swans (8.10.58)
Melbourne’s unbeaten record lived another day in a thrilling clash between the Demons and Swans.
Tom Hickey was by no means outmatched in his ruck battle with Max Gawn, losing in the ruck contest but was just as good if not better around the ground, proving he isn’t a flat track bully beating up on weaker teams’ ruckmen.
The Swans came close to getting ahead in the fourth quarter, bringing the game to within three points twice early r before Melbourne kicked one last goal with 11 minutes of play remaining and holding Sydney to one final behind.
Port Adelaide (12.15.87) Adelaide Crows (5.8.38)
The one black mark on Port Adelaide’s win over the Adelaide Crows in showdown 49, was the dangerous tackle from Scott Lycett on Ned McHenry will surely cost the ruckman multiple weeks on the sidelines.
Despite the 49 point loss, Rory Sloane had a captain’s performance, giving Port trouble exiting from the middle of the ground whenever a player ran into him, leading tackles for the night.
Skirting around the AFL’s decree to not allow Port to wear the prison bars during the game, they were still proudly on display in the change rooms after, for the team song, causing all sorts of a commotion in the media post-match.
