What Have We Learned From Football This Week?
June 2nd 2008 14:08
Lesson: Brisbane are this year's outsiders
Teacher: Brisbane
Geelong, Hawthorn and the Bulldogs are favoured. Collingwood slaughtered Geelong and usually you can never write them off. The Kangaroos will not make a serious push with the list they have and the mauling Geelong will give them this weekend will prove that. Sydney and Adelaide were tipped highly in the pre-season.
But the Lions, especially after the start they had, were expected to begin some sort of rebuilding. We were interested to see how their up-and-comers would perform. It is their proven stars though - Brown, Bradshaw, Power, Adcock and my current Brownlow tip Simon Black - who are doing the damage. Their second and third year players - see Rischitelli, Sherman et al - are making the step up and that helps youngsters who are learning the ropes from them. Don't be surprised to see the Lions
Lesson: Depth is so important
Teachers: West Coast, Hawthorn
OK, so the Eagles have been teaching us this all year, but take two key midfielders (Cousins, Judd) out of the starting line-up and not only do the remaining stars (Kerr) shoulder a heavier burden but there become fewer options when the engine room needs a break. As such, even with Dean Cox winning 38 hitouts this week, Collingwood had a field day against the Eagles.
Hawthorn, similarly, has lost Hodge and Crawford. While Mitchell, Lewis, Sewell and Bateman is a formidable/incredible midfield, as soon as one needs a rest in comes the inexperienced Ellis, Morton or Kennedy. No wonder the Bulldogs killed them in the middle this week. The Hawks might need to prove depth is not an issue before they can be true premiership hopefuls.
Lesson: Fremantle are a hopeless football team
Teachers: Geelong, Melbourne, Western Bulldogs, Carlton, Port Adelaide
Again, this has not just been taught to us this week, but Freo are really, really bad. So bad it defies logic. How can a team concede five three-quarter time leads IN A ROW? How can a team trade so poorly that some of the "premiership players" they traded for are not getting a game? How can a team with Peter Bell, Mark Johnson, Shaun McManus and Josh Carr leave a youngster of fewer than ten games to be the primary ball-winner? The good news for Freo is that the won't concede a three-quarter time lead again this week. No, they'll already be down by 80 at that point.
Lesson: Campbell Brown is the fastest woman in the world
Teacher: Campbell Brown
Nah, just kidding. But if you check out today's Age (2/6, p14 of Sport) you'll see the women's 100m was taken out by a woman called Veronica Campbell-Brown. Classic!
Teacher: Brisbane
Geelong, Hawthorn and the Bulldogs are favoured. Collingwood slaughtered Geelong and usually you can never write them off. The Kangaroos will not make a serious push with the list they have and the mauling Geelong will give them this weekend will prove that. Sydney and Adelaide were tipped highly in the pre-season.
But the Lions, especially after the start they had, were expected to begin some sort of rebuilding. We were interested to see how their up-and-comers would perform. It is their proven stars though - Brown, Bradshaw, Power, Adcock and my current Brownlow tip Simon Black - who are doing the damage. Their second and third year players - see Rischitelli, Sherman et al - are making the step up and that helps youngsters who are learning the ropes from them. Don't be surprised to see the Lions
Lesson: Depth is so important
Teachers: West Coast, Hawthorn
OK, so the Eagles have been teaching us this all year, but take two key midfielders (Cousins, Judd) out of the starting line-up and not only do the remaining stars (Kerr) shoulder a heavier burden but there become fewer options when the engine room needs a break. As such, even with Dean Cox winning 38 hitouts this week, Collingwood had a field day against the Eagles.
Hawthorn, similarly, has lost Hodge and Crawford. While Mitchell, Lewis, Sewell and Bateman is a formidable/incredible midfield, as soon as one needs a rest in comes the inexperienced Ellis, Morton or Kennedy. No wonder the Bulldogs killed them in the middle this week. The Hawks might need to prove depth is not an issue before they can be true premiership hopefuls.
Lesson: Fremantle are a hopeless football team
Again, this has not just been taught to us this week, but Freo are really, really bad. So bad it defies logic. How can a team concede five three-quarter time leads IN A ROW? How can a team trade so poorly that some of the "premiership players" they traded for are not getting a game? How can a team with Peter Bell, Mark Johnson, Shaun McManus and Josh Carr leave a youngster of fewer than ten games to be the primary ball-winner? The good news for Freo is that the won't concede a three-quarter time lead again this week. No, they'll already be down by 80 at that point.
Lesson: Campbell Brown is the fastest woman in the world
Teacher: Campbell Brown
Nah, just kidding. But if you check out today's Age (2/6, p14 of Sport) you'll see the women's 100m was taken out by a woman called Veronica Campbell-Brown. Classic!
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