The Dogs seem to be all about fitness and Surging in the 2nd and 4th quarters (by surging I mean running your Guts outs out for two quarters and playing average flooding football in the other 2 quarters to conserve energy for the surges). Thankfully the Cats might've worked this out somewhere in the middle of the season and designed a strategy to beat them. Either that or the Bulldogs noticed Geelong's game plan early and designed a similar one of their own. Geelong surged in the 1st and 3rd quarters on the weekend, which looks to be their game plan, and the difference was the Cats got out to a bigger lead in their surges than the Dogs (about 30-40 points). If this is what happened, it was an almost perfectly executed, and whats more it worked! If you go back and watch games during the year such as Geelong V Collingwood and Geelong V Port Adelaide, you will see the boys testing out the theory and the plan by playing alternating/lop-sided football. I remember the commentators saying how bizarre it was with Collingwood and Geelong taking turns to dominate the quarters and with no explanation why, as there wasn't a breath of wind that day at the G. I would know, I was there. A good example of the Bulldogs surging in the 2nd and 4th quarters is in the Dogs V Collingwood game in round 15....Just a theory, and of course, it helps to have some talent on your side as well ;-).
lil Junior flies for a hanger:
Brian Lake unfortunately wasted his time by forcing his wife into labour during the week, only so he could be there on that very important day to lose to Geelong. Now the Cats have the headache of wondering what to do on the week off??. Aww its a hard life, but we like surprises.
Don't get ahead of yourself Lingy! It's not over yet. Still a lot of work to be done.
The Cats next task is to design a Game Plan to beat the Saints, who are back in town with a convincing win over the Pies. It Didn't help with a possible leg fracture to the Pies best Player Scott Pendlebury, taking him out of the game and possibly next week. The Saints pulled away after half time and never looked back, moving through to a Preliminary final in two weeks and having the headache of playing the super fit Bulldogs no doubt. Sorry Lions :-(.
There was however an unbelievable win by Brisbane on the Saturday night, as Carlton exited the finals at the Gabba. The Lions had no business winning that game! But they did. The Blues were up by about thirty points with 25 minutes to go and were bamboozled by...yes thats right...a last quarter SURGE from the Lions!
It was obviously too much pressure for Carlton with the PM watching and cheering for the other team. Looks like the Rudd-sta cursed the Judd-sta.
K Rudd is up for the Lions as Pinky and the Brain watch the game.....Is he saying 'go Lions' or 'I want to take over the World'?:
Party time as K-Rudd sings the team song. 'la la la la la Brisbane..I don't know the words...la la la la la.':
Congrats also the to Lions Daniel Rich for winning the Rising star award. Rich was the shortest price fav in history and the most popular winner since Joel Selwood 2 years ago. He achieved maximum votes. Sely went on to win a Premiership that year and technically the Lions are still in the hunt. If Rich wants to win the Grand Final, I'm sure K Rudd can pull afew strings for him.
We will spare the Bombers more pain by keeping it brief here. The Porpus snapped five goas for the Crows in a devestating 96 point win....Look on the birght side Dons; because you knocked a few heads off on the way out, even if you were playing next week you wouldn't have a team left to play with...Are the Crows a dark horse for the big one?..We'll have to wait till next week...The Blues and the Dons exit stage left though, and then there were 6.
NRL....Jarryd Hayne conceded the Eels were complacent before Friday night's 37-0 loss to the Dragons. The Dragons don't care cause they are minor Premiers and are back in town. The Bulldogs losing to the Tigers 34-12 was the final piece of the puzzle to hand StGeorge the prize.The Knights crushed the Panthers to snare a spot in the finals, Brisbane wrapped up sixth spot by beating the Raiders to set up a finals clash with the Titans. And our beloved Melbourne have stormed their way to a home semi-final, thrashing the Warriors 30-0 in Auckland on Saturday night.
Cricket....The Aussies are back on the winners list after the first ODI against England on Friday. Ferguson hit 71 and Cam White 53 as Clarkey lead the boys to a 4 run Victory. It was all down to the last ball, The Poms needing a six off Nathan Bracken. Thankfully the dopey umpires failed to notice a no-ball and a wide from our classy bowler. It's good to get some respect back after a failed ashes campaign anyway.
The second ODI was underway on sunday with Ferguson hitting another 55 and Mitchell Johnson 43 not out!...The Aussies only made 248, but the Poms only made 210 after that so who cares. Watson, Bracken and Johnson shared the damage with 2 wickets a piece.
Soccer...Gold Coast United has regained their mantle as Hyundai A-League ladder leaders by disposing of Sydney FC 2-1 in the top-of-the-table clash at Skilled Park on Saturday evening.North Queensland Fury was forced to settle for a 1-1 draw with Brisbane Roar at Dairy Farmers Stadium on Saturday night.
Tennis..The U.S open is underway with Lleyton setting up a big clash with Roger Federer. Lleyts kept his impressive record of never having lost a first round match in 10 visits to Flushing Meadows by beating Alves. Unfortunately he wasn't as lucky with Rog losing 4-6 6-3 7-5 6-4 after gallantly taking the first set. Hewitt put up his trade mark fight though all through the match....C'MMOOOOOOON!
Our Rogowska nearly knocked out big Seed Safina in the first round but just couldn't hold on, she's only young so may be a future champ.....Our Anastasia Rodionova defeated Sabine Lisicki in the 2nd round. Go Aussie! Stosur lost to a relatively unknown American, so unknown I have no idea what her name is :-s...Ok it might be Vania King *thank you internet*...Dokic lost her first match continuing a run of bad luck since the Aus Open. I'd love to tell you more about Tournament but it's not on free to air TV...Thats right we're looking at you pay T.V!
Netball..An old stalwart returned and a new star was born as Australia's injury ravaged netball team yesterday fell just short against New Zealand...Dammit, we don't want their ego's getting any bigger, we're running out of room.
Peace out*
Netball..An old stalwart returned and a new star was born as Australia's injury ravaged netball team yesterday fell just short against New Zealand...Dammit, we don't want their ego's getting any bigger, we're running out of room. Interviews...This week We talk to the VWFL Media Manager Leesa Catto about their Medal presentation night, and find out exactly what the Golden Whistle award is?
All that n more on the show that goes through more balls than Roger Federer.
Peace out*
.*Disclaimer: The Sports Lounge may contain 2/3 of your daily fibre intake. No this does not mean we will give you the shits. Warning this last paragraph may not be accurate. Conditions apply and portions of this blog have been edited for your discomfort. Spoken by Tan for the Sports Lounge Party Melbourne (say that last sentance really fast).All that n more on the show that goes through more balls than Roger Federer.
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