THEY SAID IT: “What have you been doing all year?” – Tigers interim coach Andrew McQualter could not resist a cheeky dig at Trent Cotchin after the veteran delivered an excellent 29-disposal and two-goal efficiency to encourage Richmond to victory over St Kilda in his three hundredth sport.
PLAYER OF THE ROUND: While Port Adelaide’s Zak Butters and Connor Rozee took the highlight, teammate Dan Houston’s glorious season continued with a game-high 31 disposals and 6 clearances in a 38-point win over Geelong.
THE MOMENT: Jaspa Fletcher marked his AFL debut with an outstanding objective as Brisbane unearthed one other father-son gem of their 16-point win over Sydney. The son of former Lions midfielder Adrian Fletcher accepted a handpass on the wing, side-stepped Swans defender Aaron Francis and stormed inside 50 with a bounce. His calm end on the run below stress was all class.
TALKING POINT: As they entered spherical 14, Gold Coast and Fremantle had excessive hopes of boosting their finals probabilities with interstate wins. Both flopped, taking pictures themselves within the foot with lacklustre shows that led to heavy defeats to Carlton and GWS respectively.
STATS THAT MATTER: Carlton averaged 52.6 factors per sport throughout 5 horror defeats. But the Blues flicked the swap on the MCG on Sunday, kicking 9.3 in a powerful bounce again in opposition to an uncompetitive Gold Coast to finish a six-game shedding streak.
TRIBUNAL WATCH: Sydney’s Sam Wicks acquired a two-match ban for hanging Brisbane’s Ryan Lester, whereas Lions midfielder Jarrod Berry had his matchday report for a harmful deal with thrown out. GWS defender Lachie Whitfield was handed a one-match ban for his harmful deal with on Fremantle’s Jordan Clark and St Kilda playmaker Nasiah Wanganeen-Milera was fined $2000 for hanging Richmond’s Daniel Rioli.
INJURIES: P Dangerfield (Geel, cracked rib), T Bruhn (Geel, shoulder), N Haynes (GWS, ankle), S Ryan (Rich, ankle), L Jones (WB, forearm), T O’Brien (WB, hamstring)
WHAT’S NEXT: The final of the mid-season bye rounds kicks off with a bang on Thursday night time as Geelong host Melbourne. St Kilda meet top-eight rivals Brisbane and Saturday night time’s Fremantle-Essendon encounter has main ramifications for each side. Sunday’s Collingwood-Adelaide match shapes as a magnificence.
Source: www.perthnow.com.au
