The hard hitting and opinionated Taber returns for his review of the Hawthorn – Kangaroos Semi Final on the weekend.

What a Boomer is Harvey

The Hawthorn brainstrust got one thing right. They figured the danger man for them was Brent Boomer Harvey and he was treated savagely right from the very beginning of this somewhat disappointing match.

Harvey was verballed, bumped and crunched at every opportunity. At half time the Hawks didn’t let up escorting him nearly all the way to the dugout.

But when push came to shove, the little pocket dynamo overcame the harsh treatment meted out to him and gave his all to get his team over the line. In a low scoring contest, Harvey booted four second-half goals.

Another Roo that had a big impact was Aaron Edwards who was playing in the VFL this time a year ago. He covered for the absence of the injured Corey Jones well by also booting four goals and taking a contender for mark of the year.

Several other unheralded Kangaroos were excellent.

The defenders and taggers deserve a mention as many big guns for the Hawks just didn’t fire. The Arch was great also and his career lives on for at least one more week.

It was a great turnaround in form for the Roos after being shellacked by the Cats by 106 points in the qualifying final the week before. 

The hard hitting and opinionated Taber has returned (late!) with a review of the weekend’s semi finals. Controversially, he has adopted a new format – without asking anyone – which has placed an inordinate amount of pressure on the Swans Blog to Run the Taber Talk over two parts. Cocky bastard. 

Magpies Do Extra Well After Scores Level at Full Time

We all know footy’s a team game. My reports of late have had a focus on individuals and again it is so. Come finals cometh the man, or more to the point for this review, the men.

On Friday night the Magpies met an Eagles outfit weakened by injuries to Judd, Kerr and Cousins. It’s the 2^nd time ever extra time has been needed to decide a winner in a Final.

In a memorable match the Magpies kicked 3.3 to two behinds in the two five-minute periods after full-time to win 13.15 (93) to 10.14 (74).

A critical factor in the outcome of this game was the decision of Eagles coach, John Worsfold, to rest full back, Darren Glass, late in the 3^rd term. Glass had been virtually impassable at full back repelling almost every ball coming in his zone. Resting him opened the door for the Pies. Travis Cloke goaled and Rocca took full advantage of Glass’ absence, kicking two goals from strong marks. This got the Magpies back in a contest they eventually deserved to win.

Another unusual element to this game were the errors made by the reliable pair of Buckley and Clement.

Good signs for Collingwood were the young guns standing tall in the end and the 38 possessions by the unnoticeable workaholic, Dane Swan (Ed’s note: how good are the Swans?).

The night also continued the extraordinary finals history between these two teams, following their draw in 1990 (Collingwood won the replay under the old system) and a two-point win to the Eagles in 1992. 

COLLINGWOOD – 13.15 (93) def WEST COAST  10.14 (74)

On the eve of the footy finals, the President of the Melbourne Cricket Club, Mr David Meiklejohn, wrote to all MCC members to advise that he was “personally disappointed”.

Mr Meiklejohn said that there had been ”several disturbing incidents involving unruly behaviour and inappropriate language in the Members’ Reserve (of the MCG) in recent times. These incidents, some of which are still under investigation, have caused significant discomfort for members and visitors and detracted from their enjoyment of the event.

“…Finally, it has also come to the Club’s attention that visitor tickets and entry entitlements sold to members are appearing for sale on unauthorised websites such as Ebay.

“This is against our rules…”

When asked to respond to the above deplorable situation, the Vietnam Swans President advised that he was “personally, very disappointed that Hawthorn lost the semi final last night.”

Tonight, the West Coast Eagles will take on Collingwood. The match will be telecast in Vietnam at 5.30pm.

Tomorrow, the Hawks will Kane the Kangas at 4.30pm, Vietnam time.

For venues to watch the footy in Hanoi, try JASPAS Bar or JJ’s Bar at the Hilton.

In Saigon, try Cafe Latin or the Blue Gecko.