Australian Football

Round 10

Premiership Season 2014 - Round 10 Review

Total Crowd 187,669 (Avg 31,278)

Round 10, the last of the three "bye" rounds, saw Port Adelaide, Geelong and perhaps even Gold Coast establish themselves as premiership contenders. The Power saw off last year's premiers Hawthorn in front of a huge crowd at the Adelaide Oval, while the Cats saw of this year's "Jekyll and Hyde" team, North Melnourne in the first ever match played on a Friday night at Kardinia Park. At the other end of the scale, GWS sunk to its second-consecutive 100-point defeat (and its 12th in its 53-match history) as Richmond's Jack Riewoldt went mad, kicking 11 goals at the Sydney Showground.

The weekend kicked of with the Kardinia Park match and Geelong jumped the Kangaroos early in the match kicking five or the first six goals to put North on the back foot from the outset. By half time the Cats were nigh on six goals ahead and it was only in the third term that the Roos began to appear competitive. They reduced the lead to an even five goals at the final change and then had the better of the final term but it was too little too late as Geelong held on to win by 20 points and take a stranglehold on second place on the ladder.

Saturday saw GWS host Richmond in a match that many had seen as a danger game for the out of form Tigers, with the Giants' team bolstered by the return of experienced and talented players such as Mumford and Cameron. It proved to be no such thing as Richmond burst out of the blocks with an eight-goal-to-one first term and never look back. Spearhead Jack Riewoldt had a day out, kicking 11 goals of his own, as the Tigers romped to a 113-point win.

Collingwood and West Coast played out a thriller at the MCG, with the Pies scraping in by eight points despite having lost Nathan Brown and Jack Frost to injury by the five-minute mark of the third quarter. The Eagles had their chances but were not as accurate as the Magpies, ultimately going down 15.11 to 17.7.

There was only one game on Saturday night and that was another highly entertaining affair between the top two sides, Port Adelaide and Hawthorn. The Power led all night and finished 14 points to the good but the Hawks, missing star players Mitchell, Rioli and Lake, made Port work hard all night for its win. The prospect of these two sides meeting again in September with full-strength teams is a tantalising one for all footy lovers.

Sunday saw the Western Bulldogs go to great lengths to limit the effectiveness of Suns champion Gary Ablett and their chief tagger Liam Picken did a great job of it in the first half, restrict the "Little Master" to just eight touches. On the back of that the Dogs were very competitive and probably should have led by two or three goals at half time bit inefficiency in the forward line saw the Suns six points ahead. Gold Coast then turned on a brilliant display in the third term to lead by 53 points at the last change and coast to a 45-point win, one which took the Suns to the heady heights of third on the ladder.

The final match of the round was another thriller, with Carlton and Adelaide swapping the lead throughout the afternoon at the MCG. The first half was a low-scoring affair that produced just six goals but the second half was a free-flowing shoot-out that saw the teams trade goals and the lead several times. When the final siren sounded it was the Blues just ahead, victors by five points.

With all sides having played nine matches, Port Adelaide leads the way with eight wins, ahead of Geelong and Gold Coast on seven, and Hawthorn, Sydney and Collingwood all on six wins. Fremantle and North Melbourne occupy the lowest two positions in the top eight, each with a 5-4 record.

Round 11 promises some enthralling contests, with Sydney hosting Geelong, Adelaide taking on the Suns at the Adelaide Oval and West Coast meeting North Melbourne at home with the winner's reward being a place in the top eight. Meanwhile when Hawthorn tries to inflict the Giants' third successive 100-point defeat at the MCG on Sunday, it will do so without coach Alaistair Clarkson at the helm. Clarkson was admitted to hospital with severe back pain and was later diagnosed with Gullain-Barré syndrome. While he is expected to make a full recovery, he is likely to remain hospitalised for at least a week.

Leading goalkickers after round 10

28 - Jack Riewoldt (Rich) 11
27 - Luke Breust (Haw) 3
26 - Jay Schulz (Port) 1
25 - Josh Kennedy (WCo) 1; Tom Hawkins (Geel) 4
24 - Nick Riewoldt (StK) -
2
2 - Tom Lynch (GCo) 4; Jack Gunston (Haw) 3
21 - Chad Wingard (Port) 3

20 - Jarryd Roughead (Haw) 0

R-10, Ladder