Geelong’s mid fielder Jimmy Bartel won tonight’s Brownlow medal (see The Age for full details) making a mockery of the hard hitting and opinionated Taber and his tips.

Taber picked Ablett and Goodes. Trash tips, Mr Taber.

The only question to be answered now… is Taber a Swan or a Goose?

Taber tips a tie!

Gary Ablett (Geelong) and Adam Goodes (Sydney Swans).

The hard hitting and opinionated Daryl Taber gives a wrap up of Port Adelaide’s caning of the Kangaroos.

 LOOKOUT CATS, PORT MORE THAN PLAYFUL

So far we’ve had 4 very exciting finals decided by less than a kick. Yesterday though was a very embarrassing Preliminary Final at AAMI Stadium yesterday for the Kangaroos. They could not have put in a worse performance in what turned out to be Glenn Archer’s last game.

Port came to play and won every aspect of this game. The longer the game went the more confident Port Power became. Port Adelaide play Geelong next Saurday in the Grand Final. An ominous sign for the Cats was how easily Port dominated their Preliminary Final and how often their stars like Tredrea and Cornes got the ball.

Rodan set the pattern early with lively work around the packs, his speed often leaving the Roos in his wake. He was more than ably assisted by Danyle Pearce, the Burgoyne brothers and Troy Chaplin in defence.

Once Port gained control they often toyed with the Roos holding onto possession and playfully kicking the footy sideways and backwards to keep possession. Every player then joined in the feast. Tredrea’s bow to the crowd after goaling seemed a bit over the top for their coach and he reminded the whoe team they’ll meet a much tougher opponent next week.

Shannon Grant kicked 2 great goals early in the 1^st quarter but from then on highlights were few for the Roos. Much of the good work early in the middle of the ground was wasted by inaccurate shots at goal.

The only bad news for Port is the achilles injury to Micheal Wilson that will prevent him playing next week and may even end his career.

Geelong finished 3 games clear on top after the 22 rounds and will be the clear crowd favorite in Melbourne. Last time these two teams met, Port snuck under the Cat’s guard getting up late in a thriller.

Again it’s Victoria v South Australia. Who will be the champion team this year, the Geelong Cats or Port Adelaide?

 PORT ADELAIDE     20. 13   133 def

KANGAROOS           5.   16     46

The hard hitting and opinionated Daryl Taber returns with a review of the 2nd Preliminary Final, Geelong Vs Collingwood.

FAVORED CATS ALMOST MISS OUT ON THE CREAM

Supporters are rarely satisfied with a loss. I imagine the disappointed Mighty Magpie Army consider Friday’s loss to Geelong heartbreaking as they finished their season just one straight kick away from a grand final. But when they evaluate their efforts in the fullness of time, considering how much the odds were stacked against them, they will look at the positives and towards a bright future.

When a match is decided by just one kick any one play can make the difference. But how much did the brave decision of Josh Fraser before the game, not to play, affect the result?

Big Brad Ottens had the most influence on this match and try as hard as they did, the second string ruckmen for Collingwood just couldn’t nullify his impact.

Collingwood were also coming off a return trip to Perth the week before when they needed to play extra time to run over the Eagles whilst the Cats had a week’s rest. Most tipsters forecast a bigger winning margin.

The modern Collingwood just never say die! They harass, tackle and smother as well as any team in the competition. Many times it looked like the Cats were about to break free but the Magpie runners kept getting them back into the match. Lockyer, Maxwell and Shaw led the way most of the night.

The biggest crowd at the ‘G’ since it’s redevelopment, 98,002, watched a determined Magpie defence led by James Clement, Shane Wakelin and Martin Clarke, doggedly hold up the purring Cats. Dane Swan also played well especially when you consider he had the game’s best tagger on him in Cameron Ling. Cam Mooney was kicking straighter than many of his teammates and his few possessions were telling. Stokes and Johnson were also lively each kicking 3 goals. Gary Ablett used the ball plenty of times with poise as usual. He often combined well with Ottens at stoppages. A typical display of brilliance steadied the Cats near the end of a thrilling final quarter when he pounced on the ball, broke a tackle and snapped a match-saving goal.

Paul Medhurst again revived the Magpies with a goal leaving 55 seconds to play. These seconds probably take years off coaches lives. Bomber Thompson must have been so relieved when the centre clearance went the Cats way and they were able to keep possession of the ball.

One game highlight worthy of special mention is Alan Didak’s freakish goal. He tapped the ball out of mid-air onto his right foot and snapped it over his left shoulder, somewhat similar to a soccer ‘bicycle kick’, from close range.

The Cats are within one win of their first premiership in 44 years but will need to better next week if they are to hold the Premiership Cup aloft. Collingwood supporters can be proud of their team’s achievements this year.

It’s a cliché of old that there’s always next season but I think they’ve got a lot to look forward to.

Geelong                       13.  14   (92) def
Collingwood                13.   9   (87)

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.”