Australian Football

Round 3

Premiership Season 2015 - Round 3 Review

Total Crowd 296,267 (Avg 32,919)

It’s all the threes as we head into the ANZAC weekend of football. With three rounds gone we have three teams leading the way with three wins, and three teams with three losses occupying the bottom three rungs on the ladder. A logjam of 12 teams – only one game separating them all separates those two groups.

Two teams with a 1-1 record - Collingwood and St Kilda – kicked off the round at the MCG on Friday night and it was the Saints who got away to a fast start, with three goals in the first five minutes of the match. But Collingwood settled and had squared the ledger by quarter time, after which it put Collingwood to the sword, going onto win by 74 points.

Traditional rivals Carlton and Essendon met at the MCG on Saturday afternoon and it was the Bombers who prevailed by 21 points, condemning the Blues to a 0-3 start to the season. Mick Malthouse’s team was more competitive than it had been in the first two rounds, and threatened to run over the Bombers in the last term, but the Dons held firm to record their second win and take a place in the top eight.

At the Adelaide Oval, Melbourne took on the undefeated Crows and pushed them to the limit for the best part of three quarters before Adelaide broke away in the last quarter to win by 25 points and maintain its place at the head of the ladder. New coach Phil Walsh continues to maintain his unbeaten AFL record.

In Saturday’s twilight game at the SCG, the Sydney derby went the way of the Swans, although the Giants put up a good fight, particularly in the last quarter, threatening to run down Sydney from 39 points behind at the last change, before the Swans settled to win by 21 points.

Later that night North Melbourne and Port Adelaide turned on a thrilling display of hard-running, tough footy with one side, then the other holding sway as the game unfolded. The lead was never more than 20 points in favour of either side, and the Kangaroos held the lead with less than five minutes remaining before two late goals saw the Power get over the line by eight points.

Brisbane’s miserable start to the season continued on Saturday night at the Gabba, with Richmond inflicting the Lions’ third successive defeat, by a crushing 79 points. It wasn’t all good news for the Tigers, however, as Chris Knights – returning from two years on the sidelines with an ACL injury – tearing his hamstring from the bone in his return match. The new injury will see the wretchedly unlucky Knights miss another three months.

The Bulldogs were always going to have a tough time taking on reigning premiers Hawthorn at York Park on Sunday. The Hawks were coming off an unexpected loss to Essendon in round two, while the Dogs lost Matthew Boyd and Marcus Bontempelli to injury before the match started. To make matters worse, they then lost Dale Morris and Mitch Wallis to further injuries in the first quarter. The Dogs fought on as best as they could but Hawthorn’s experience and fitness told in the end as they ran away from the young pups to win by 70 points.

At Kardinia Park in wet and windy conditions, Geelong finally got a win on the board and lifted itself from the bottom of the ladder. The Cats had ton do it the hard way, though, losing Hawkins before the match, and Bartel, Stokes and Longergan to injury during the game. They held off a fast-finishing Gold Coast Suns to win by nine points.

Perhaps the most ominous performance of the round came in its last match. In the 41^st Western Derby, Fremantle flexed its muscle in a stunning first term against the Eagles, kicking nine goals to none for the quarter. By half time the Dockers were 66 points ahead and, although West Coast reduced that margin to 30 by game’s end, look like they will be a force to be reckoned with come September.

Round four will see five matches played on ANZAC Day, which falls on a Saturday this year. As well as the traditional Essendon-Collingwood match-up, the Port Adelaide versus Hawthorn and Fremantle versus Sydney encounters promise to be epic affairs.

LEADING GOALKICKERS AFTER ROUND 3

13 – Josh Kennedy (WCo)
11 – Lance Franklin (Syd), Taylor Walker (Adel), Jarryd Roughead (Haw)
10 – Josh Bruce (StK), Jack Riewoldt (Rich), Mark LeCras (WCo)
9 – Luke Breust (Haw)
8 – Cam McCarthy (GWS), Lindsay Thomas (NM), Travis Cloke (Coll)

R-3, Ladder