Thursday’s Taber Talk – 2011 AFL Finals, Week 2
Posted by Vietnam Swans on September 15, 2011
Taber on tour in KL, Malaysia, May 2005. Very regal. Very presidential. Very dep trai. But we digress. Back to this weekend's AFL finals footy.
Thursday’s Taber Talk returns with Daryl to tell us what’ll happen this weekend in Week 2 of the AFL’s 2011 Finals’ Series.
“Old Style Footy Suits Most.” D. Taber, 15 Sept, 2011
Wasn’t it great to see some old style footy back last weekend! Even some old fashioned footy weather for a while on Friday night. Long bombs into the forward line were often marked by tall, leaping forwards. We even saw some huge torpedoes launched from full-back. And there were much fewer non-contested ‘soft’ possessions. This weekend four non-fancied teams for the premiership will fight it out. Meanwhile the Cats rest comfortably and right now deserve to be flag favourites.
The Good, The Bad and the Ugly on each of this week’s semi-finalists.
HAWTHORN
Good – Bailey and Hodge are fit enough to play. Burgoyne will take on some of Buddy’s responsibilities when playing closer to goal but they’re big shoes to fill. Mitchell is all class. A few others are just as tough led by Lewis. Coach Clarkson has been in the trenches before. Hawks are more at home on the ‘G’ than the Swas.
Is Adam any good?? Here, he flys like Jesaulenko. Jezza? What is it with the Vietnam Swannies and Jezza this Finals Series...
Bad - Last week the game was done and dusted before ‘Franklin fell’. This week the better talls for the Hawks will be missing in the ruck, up forward and down back. The Hawks coach lamented their lack of desperation for the contested ball yet they were playing an arch rival!
Ugly - Cyril is way out of touch and most of the backline are still having nightmares about flying Cats.
SYDNEY SWANS
Good – How good is Goodes? Teammates and opponents are in awe of him. He becomes part of an illustrious group to clock up 300 games. Forward line looked potent with Reid marking and Ted Richards at fullback is in career best form. Mumford continues a rich vein of form also.
Bad – Form at the MCG this year is a first round draw against Melbourne and a loss to Richmond by 7 goals.
Ugly – These lads often play a brand of rugby disguised by AFL jumpers. Even though they win the contested footy often they will find it very hard to smother all spaces on the wide expanse of the MCG.
Tip: Hawks to return to the winners list.
WEST COAST EAGLES
Kerr was not "ugly" in 2008 when two of his uncles and aunts passed through Saigon and donated some memorabilia to the Swannies first Grand Final Party in Saigon. Pictured with them at the old Cafe Latin is Swans' National President, Phil Johns.
Good - West Coast ruck combination. The word is Cox will play. Darren Glass the skipper is red hot and ex-Blue Kennedy is good for a laugh if you watch his Fred Flintstone style run-up before shooting for goal.
Bad – Missed opportunities. They had a real chance last week and may not get another this year.
Ugly - Daniel Kerr is unable to reproduce his classic form of days gone by. Likely to niggle others, often gets frustrated and shoots from the lip.
(Ed’s note: Click here to read about Daniel Kerr, the Eagles and the Swans from September 2008.)
CARLTON (Ed’s note: the author is a die-hard, one eyed, miserable Carlton supporter. Tip: for Daryl’s assessment of the Blues, expect irrational exuberance.)
Good – Faultless interstate form this year. Wide open spaces of Patersons Stadium in Perth will suit their leg speed. Gerard Healy’s one-liner during ‘On the Couch’ this week when commenting on a Carlton midfielder who often wastes the ball, “Carrazzo is no longer Italian for turnover”.
Bad – One day less for recovery. Carlton will miss the run of Gibbs and his precise ball delivery. Still kick far too many points. Setting their small defenders a huge task this week.
Ugly – Mitch Robinson is the ugly duckling amongst some pretty Blue boys. He’s also as tough as nails and usually gets the job done albeit awkwardly.
Tip: The Blues have a taste for it now.
If my tips salute this week, the Preliminary Finals will be contested by four very traditional Victorian clubs. That won’t suit all but will suit most folk from the home of the once mighty VFL.
Did Daryl just say, "It's time"? Or is this just another of his silly footy polls?
IT’S TIME! Time to Tell Taber
Chris Batchelor said
After the Blues tragic but predictable loss on the weekend, our esteemed ex-president Taber and firm but firey friend, remains defiant predicting in a very recent email to me that ‘if we (The Blues) can take another step forward next year look out’. The email came immediately after a Skype conversation in which it seems my honest and objective analysis of why the Blues lost (and will keep on losing) touched more than just one nerve.
Ex-President Taber, bless his Phar Lap sized heart, quoted passion and taking a risk as his reason for tipping those hapless Blues, then, in an uncharacteristic tirade of vitriol, laid down the gauntlet, challenging me and other Swannies to make a comment on the Swannies website. Hence this missive. When the famous Navy Blues lose, ‘Smooth’ as most of us affectionately know him, becomes ‘Rough’ and certainly gets his gander up, goes feral, lets loose, lets fly, rants and raves, throws brick batts, spits the dummy, goes red in the face, bursts a boiler etc. But vitriolic invective will never convince real tipping afficianados that going with the heart (bleeding as it is), will overcome true objective, informed predictions – just ask Mr and Mrs Limbrick.
Re Smooth’s assessment of next year’s chances for the Blues (see above), ‘if’ is the operative word. The likes of the mighty Pies, Cats, even West Coast and Hawks won’t lose any sleep, be nervous, anxious, quaking in their boots, hiding under their beds with their tails between their legs, packing their dacks, hiding under the covers, locking the door etc. until those idiot recruiters at Princess Park obtain some decent tall forwards, twin towers, decent big men up front (and I’m not talking about wedding tackle). Eddy Betts and Carlos Santana do not constitute a ‘to be feared’ forward line and Kruezer continues to promise the world, get injured and deliver nothing. And poor old Juddy – late nights changing nappies and keeping The Twigster happy doesn’t auger well for him in 2012.
Am I being unfair? Will I be eating humble pie next week by predicting that Geelong will maul the Eagles and The Pies might just get over the line over the Hawks. No prizes for predicting an inform Geelong to romp it in this year.
Let’s keep the little fella happy by commenting on his Taber Talk column.
Cheers and go Swannies.
Batch (ex Swannies try hard)