AFL Finals Week 1: It's all about Surging Sergio!

AFL....The Cats didn't care that the Bulldogs beat them 2 weeks ago, cause it's all about winning when it counts! Winning in the finals! Keen to escape another embarrassing finals exit, Geelong appeared to design a game plan to counteract the Bulldogs game plan.

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.

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.

You Buddy Beauty! More Buddy Puns!

AFL...This week Buddy Franklin was rubbed out for knocking out Ben Cousins with a hip and shoulder. There was outrage from Football lovers everywhere as the suspension would mean Buddy missing the last game of the season, a game Hawthorn needed to win to make the finals.

Some have become distraught at the death of the Bump, which is an integral part of our game, and some say the new head high contact rule is a disgrace becuase it does not take into account the players intentions or the spirit of the game...But I say, who gives a s#$t! Hawthorn are out of the finals!.....They didn't really need to suspend Buddy anyway, as im guessing the embarrassment those Hawthorn big heads will go through by missing out on September, will probably be punishment enough.

But wait my friends, like a good infomercial, theres more!... And we couldn't have scripted it bettter ourselves. In an odd twist, Matthew Lloyd served up a bump on Sewell to rival Buddy's....Eek hope he's ok.

This sparked big bad Campbell Brown to label Llyody Jack the Ripper....Takes one to know one Campbell.

He looks scary there with his handball doesn't he?

Brawl of the Century, or World War 3 or 4 then broke out.... Stuff the game:

Now that the shoe is on the other foot and one of Hawthorns own is the one getting bashed, Suddenly Jeff Kennett is doing back flips and is out for Bomber blood.

Cry me a River Jeff:

What followed was a chain reaction of Hawthorn revenge attacks from the disgruntled mustard and brown army. But don't dish it out, if you can't take it back....Campbell Brown responded straight away like the classy guy he is by bitch slapping Angus Monfries on the Shoulder.

Then Threatening to take revenge while running off the field and giving the point of death to the Bomber bench.

Augustus my dear boy, calm down....Pot...Kettle:

A few punches were thrown from both sides with more suspensions to come, but at least Sewelly is a good sport and made up with Llyody after the game.

Oh BTW did we mention who won? It was Essendon, and they now make the finals.

On with the Footy:

See Jobe Run:

Earlier in the week the Tigers finally decided on a new Senior Coach for 2009 in Damian Hardwick. Basically A meeting was then held to tell Richmond players just how crap they are. They were asked to shape up in the final game of the season or ship out.

5 minutes later another meeting was likely to be held to inform the palyers that no matter how well they played, these players were out the door anyway. Hows that for motivation? It motivated them straight to an 80 point defeat really. The Weagles were on fire on Friday night but note to self Tigs, don't tell players theyre canned till after the game ;-).

Either way We're just glad they have finally settled, and that someone at the Tigers has finally got some joy, by getting the Head job.

Hey Mum, look what Buddy taught me:

That is how you miss the first game of the next season.

On Saturday the Crows showed they are a real finals contender by beating the Paulpleeeezia out of the Blues. The Porpus with 6 goals last week was on fire again with 4.

Everybody say awww

Dont worry Blues you move on to Brisbane, who you've beaten twice this year already...And who the hell can compete with the Birdman anyway?

Sunday afternoon was epic as the Woods and Dogs faught for third spot, and of course the honour of playing Geelong. with a goal to Brad Johnson in the dieing minutes, the Dogs snatched 3rd spot from the Pies on percentage! Now thats down to the wire.

The top 8 has finally shaped with the week 1 finals set in concrete:

CROWS V BOMBERS

CATS V DOGS

LIONS V BLUES

SAINTS V PIES

Cricket...After an embarrassing Ashes Series the Aussie are out to claim back som pride in a 20/20. England has a run chase of 146 after Australia battled to accumulate a decent total in the Twenty20 clash at Old Trafford today.

Cameron White scored 55 and shared a 78 run partnership with Michael Clarke (27).

Broad and Collingwood take the wickets so far.

NRL....Greg Inglis returned to lead Melbourne Storm to a crushing 38-4 victory against Sydney Roosters at Olympic Park.

The Dragons continue to fall off the wagon with a 41-6 defeat to Russel Crows Rabbitohs.

While the Broncos win the Queensland derby with the Cowboys 16-10.

Don't think there was a scandal this week unless we missed something?

F1....Kimi Raikkonen rode his luck to claim Ferrari's first win this year when he held off a challenge from Giancarlo Fisichella in the Belgian Grand Prix.

Webber again missed out on the points, but so did Button after an opening lap collision. Lewis Hamiltion was also taken out. Vettel, Webbers teammate, managed third and snatched some big points moving him to third overall.

Soccer....Sydney FC nudged ahead of Gold Coast United at the top of the Hyundai A-League ladder with a 2-0 win over Wellington Phoenix at the Sydney Football Stadium on Sunday.

Gold Coast United will travel to Newcastle with a full head of steam as it looks to maintain the winning run and become the first team to win the first four games of a season in Hyundai A-League history.

ARSENAL'S unbeaten start to the English Premier League season self-destructed yesterday as they crashed to a 2-1 defeat against Manchester United

Tennis...Don't Forget the US open starts any second now......I swear.

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.

Your Ashes top 10

Cricket....Well what more can we say, the Ashes have literally gone up in smoke. And that was only day 2 of the 5th Test. But if you want to get ahead of the pack, and spot an Australian cricketing disaster before everyone else, you have come to the right place my friends. Here are the top 10 signs, you'll know you're f*&%#d in the Ashes:

You'll know you're f*&%#d in the Ashes when.....

1. Simon Katich is called in to bowl.

2. Instead of Commentating, Shane Warne starts talking about his DVD collection...Which surprisingly includes 'Dumb And dumber'

3. Mitchell Johnson starts taking more wickets than usual & we still can't get them all out!

4.Mike Hussey goes in to Bat...and is still generally in the side.

5. Your captain gets smashed in the face with a cricket ball....Though the fact that none of his
teeth fell out, might mean there's a slight glimmer of hope. 6.You bowl England all out for about 300, and they bowl you all out for about 160!

7. The Barmy Army runs out of real chants and starts singing Kumbaya.

8. Your batting line up colapses faster than Warnies Monogomy.

9. The Umpire calls a catch off your f*&%#^g knee!

10. Well...If Bopara actually makes any runs.

Another key sign is if you lose all your wickets between Breakfast and lunch, you have 2 days to make 500 runs (borderline im-f*&%#^g-possible), and you're praying for miracles... There, now you're an expert.

AFL... Extra, extra! Fev sheds 6 kilo's!...How did he do it? you cry. Well now that he has stopped talking crap, and having to eat his words all the time, he is getting thiner! Fevs valuable gut just mite be worth a top 4 spot for the Blues! And with one less forward with a belly, we can go back to focusing on taking the piss out of buddy's. Carlton beat the Dee's on the weekend by a massive margin...but it doesn't really count though cause it was against Melbourne.
Russel Robertson has been told he will be 'moved on' at the end of the season, as part of the Demons 'rebuilding phase'. But Robbo still wants to play on, so where will he end up? Maybe we should just raffle him off to a club with a Hamper and a chook, just like the league did with Ben Cousins when nobody wanted him. We're sure the Tigs will give Robbo a good home if there isn't anyone else who will....Anyway the Guy kicked about 5 goals on the weekend so he can still play...and is addiction free. I'd probably retire on a high too, pardon the pun.
The coaching Crap-athon continues with the Roos selecting their new coach. North Melbourne says ' haha we fooled you! It's Brad, not Bucks!'...Jokes on you guys; Bucks was number 1 choice, Longmire was number 2, so that means you got Bronze Roos! It's sad for a club when the Richmond job is more saught after than your own.
The Tigs have things narrowed down to two potential new coaches; Hinkley or Hardwick. Will they take a star Cats backman, or Hawthorns Premiership hangover leftovers? Sounds more appealing if we say former Port Adelaide champion and Premiership player. Rawlings must feel like a bad consolation prize, when those two come to their senses and decide not to take the job.
Huge Friday night for the Dogs, beating the Cats at the Dome. The Cats looked out of it, losing Paul Chapman, but managed to claw their way to the front by 3 quarter time. It seemed like the Dogs were going to bury the Cats in points, but In the End the Scrays cruised home by about 15. Geelong looking like coming apart at the wrong end of the season again. At least Moony's lost the Yips.
So what do you do when your team is shit and ou have no hope of winning a Premiership? You try to belt the suitcase out of everyone on the other team...right Buddy? at least it was your shoulder that did the damage this time and not your gut....Ah see we're back.

The Hawks beat the Tigers and keep their finals hopes alive, any chance of beeing threatening for the title still remains dead.

Its official, we're declaring Port Adelaide Legally Insane!....The AFL's Schizos kicked 10 goals in the First quarter and were 40 points ahead of Brisbane at the first break. They then went on to kick zero goals in the second quarter??? And even leading by about 17 at three quarter time, still managed to lose the game by around the same margin...The men in the white coats are coming.

The Pies took down the Swans, even with poor kicking on Dunday. Heath Shaw tackled Dane Swan on the weekend, only problem was the tackle went on for a little bit too long, so long it was a borderline hug. Looks like Heath is lonely and really misses the Pies. He took every opportunity to get as close as possible to his lover Dane.

Just when we thought Essendon were the Shiz for beating the Saints, turns out anyone can beat them, even North Melbourne. And the Dons thrashed by the Dockers??? WTF is going on? I retire trying to predict this game. Saints captain Nick Riewoldt again had a chance to at least draw the game, this time before the siren. His kick from 50 is touched on the line and that makes two in a row for the not so invincibles.

The Bombers finals chances look shot and it seems like Subiaco is the new SCG. The Bermuda Triangle of Football, where good teams go in, but they never emerge the same. At least the Dockers put a win together for their last home game. Something for the fans to cheer about after they failed to tank for the priority pick.

NRL....The big Grand Final rematch was on between the Storm and Manly this week. The game wasn't pretty but it gave a much needed boost to last years Premiers after a poor start to the Season. Manly win 20 to 16.

St George has suffered yet another surprising loss to the Broncos, which leaves the door open for the Bulldogs in the comp. The Dragons went down with only 2 on the Board to Brisbanes 12. Are the Dragons going pear shaped at the wrong end of the season just like StKilda in the AFL???......Ask us in about 5 weeks :-p.

F1....The European GP has finished up with a great win to Brawns Rubens Barrichello. It looked like McLaren were back on track and would dominate after qualifying, but Rubens took the top spot even without teamate Button on the Podium. Lewis Hamilton was second with Raikonen 3rd. Poor Mark Webber scraped into the top 10...The race is so mch more exciting when he does well.

Interviews...we talk to Alpha Magazine senior writer Anthony Sharwood about the big 50th edition Bonanza!...And we find out how an Ablett finally made it on the cover!
We also chat to VWFL media Manager leesa Catto about the Womens Aussie rules Grand Final on the weekend.

Athletics...Congrats to Dani Samuel for winning gold for the girls in the Discus! Go Aussie.

And Steve Hooker takes Gold in the Pole Vault after a tough week with injury worries.

And Queenslander Mitchell Watt takes Bronze in the Long Jump...Not a bad day at the office.

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.