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AFL ROUND 7 2006: ST KILDA V GEELONG;
KING, HARLEY, JOHNSON RETURN; MATCH PREVIEW AND TEAM LIST By Ben Jensen THE CATS welcome back Captain Steven King, defender Tom Harley and enigmatic but erratic forward Steve Johnson to face the Saints this Friday night at Telstra Dome. Cameron Mooney misses through suspension (and I trust he has been fined by the club for his stupid actions), while David Wojcinksi and Will Slade are dropped. Geelong desperately need another win to gain some momentum and keep in touch with the top eight if it is to be a serious finals threat. At the moment the Cats don't look the goods, but things do change fast in football these days. TIP? SAINTS BY 31 POINTS
STEVE JOHNSON |
ST KILDA V GEELONG 7:40 PM FRIDAY 12 MAY 2006 TELSTRA DOME TV: CHANNEL NINE
TOM HARLEY'S RETURN REUNITES WHAT HAS BEEN ONE OF THE BEST FULL BACK / CENTRE HALF BACK COMBOS IN THE COMPETITION |
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GEELONG IN: King, Harley, S.Johnson B: Milburn, Scarlett, J.Hunt
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ST KILDA IN: McLean, Dunn B: Baker, Hudghton, Voss |
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LAST TIME ROUND 19 2005 ST KILDA: 5.1, 7.7, 9.14, 13.18 (96) DEFEATED GOALS – ST KILDA: Hamill 4, Riewoldt
3, Voss, Koschitzke, Dal Santo, Gehrig, Jones, Milne St Kilda accounted for the Cats by just over forty points in front of forty-seven thousand punters, who witnessed an interesting affair. St Kilda could have won by a lot more had they kicked straight; however they were certainly helped by atrocious umpiring that seemed to go almost entirely their way. When the game was in the balance in the first half, the Saints received several free kicks up forward while the Cats had a hard time of it up their end. Best for Geelong was Matthew Scarlett, who towelled St Kilda spearhead and league leading goalkicker Fraser Gherig all night, and rebounded many a Saint sortie towards their goal (the Saints kicked some thirteen goals, eighteen behinds). Joel Corey also had a good game, although almost without peers in this department. The outcome couldn't have been worse for Geelong, with the loss of Corey Enright for the rest of the season with a shoulder injury, and probable loss of forward/midfielder Paul Chapman with a tight or torn hamstring. The way Enright left the field incensed Geelong and AFL fans alike. Limping away from a contest in the centre of the ground holding his shoulder, meat-head Aaron Hamill made a 'B-line' for him and 'tested out' the shoulder on Enright's behalf. Ironic, considering the outpouring of grief Hamill and teammates made after their own Nick Riewoldt was similarly dealt with during their round one loss to the Brisbane Lions at the GABBA.
Once more the Geelong forward line was a basket case. The only multiple goalkicker was James Kelly with two. Chapman started off all right but soon had to leave the field and did not return. Henry Playfair looks out of sorts, unable to hold a mark, and spent most of the match in defence. Brad Ottens could not take a mark and appeared lost at sea; Kent Kingsley kicked one goal with his first kick but from then on didn't get enough of it and kicked inaccurately; Ablett struggled to cope with the close attention his past form has attracted while David Haynes' form was encouraging and should maintain his spot. Down back, the usually reliable Josh Hunt suffered from the worse case of the yips we've seen from him in many years and eventually had to be replaced by the likes of Enright, Darren Milburn and Brenton Sanderson kicking out from goal. Sanderson, brought in from the VFL to captain the team, spent most of the first half on the interchange bench and didn't show enough to keep his place in the side, should somebody else actually be fit to play. Matthew Egan continued to show that he'll keep a spot in the AFL for years to come. |
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Sports Delivered/AFL Video are the official distributor of AFL videos (including DVDs)
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VFL ROUND 6 |
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