Come on Geelong, let's put Collingwood in their place!

AFL ROUND 9 2010; COLLINGWOOD V GEELONG; MATCH PREVIEW INCLUDING TEAM LISTS, TV DETAILS

THE J-POD is back for Geelong's clash with ladder-leaders Collingwood (yes that's right) this Friday at the MCG. The two James', Podsiadly and Kelly, return from injury to add strength to a Cats side pumped for the title challenger Magpies. The Wobblers brought back midfielder Sharrod Wellington in place of forward Jack Anthony, who doesn't have a good record against the Cats. Geelong coach Mark Thompson dismissed talk his side has less motivation than Collingwood; "I think our guys love playing against good teams and Collingwood are a good team and we have had some great contests. So we will do everything we possibly can and I know our boys will be motivated on Friday night to play near to their best football they can." Joel Corey remains absent through injury, while young Mitch Brown likewise remains on the sidelines.

IN OUT
GEELONG Podsiadly, Kelly Duncan, Hogan
COLLINGWOOD Wellingham Anthony

GEELONG

B: J. Hunt, Scarlett, Mackie
HB: Enright, Taylor, Milburn
C: Kelly, Ling, Bartel
HF: Johnson, Mooney, Varcoe
F: Stokes, Hawkins, Ablett
FOLL: Blake, Selwood, Chapman
INT: Byrnes, Podsiadly, Wojcinski, Lonergan
EMER: Hogan, T.Hunt, Duncan

COLLINGWOOD

B: Shaw, Reid, Johnson
HB: O'Brien, Maxwell, Wellingham
C: Ball, Swan, Toovey
HF: O'Bree, Cloke, Didak
F: Beams, Macaffer, Davis
FOLL: Jolly, Pendlebury, Thomas
INT: Sidebottom, N.Brown, Dawes, Wood
EMER: Lockyer, Fraser, Anthony

CATS WIN 2009 AFL PREMIERSHIP
Ben Jensen in Edinburgh 26 September 2009
GEELONG has defeated St Kilda by twelve points to win the 2009 AFL Premiership. On a damp day the Cats will be considered lucky to have overcome the Saints, who for several periods early in the game were dominant but failed to score goals. But Geelong rebounded strongly in the second half, after unluckily trailing by a goal at half-time, conceding three goals inside a minute. They held St Kilda to just two goals in the second half and none at all in the final term, booted five themselves including three in the last quarter, to snatch their second flag in three seasons. Paul Chapman edged out Max Rooke and the excellent Harry Taylor for best afield to grab the Norm Smith Medal. Geelong legend Bob Davis, 1963 Premiership coach and 1951-52 Premiership player, presented the Premiership cup, setting off wild scenes of celebration and a touching moment as Mark Thompson helped Davis from the podium.

GEELONG: 3.0 7.1 9.4 12.8 (80) DEFEATED
ST KILDA: 3.2 7.7 9.11 9.14 (68)

GOALS
GEELONG: Chapman 3, Hawkins 2, Mooney 2, Rooke 2, Selwood, Byrnes, Ablett
ST KILDA: Schneider 2,Goddard, Hayes, Dempster, Jones, Koschitzke, Riewoldt, Montagna

BEST
GEELONG: Chapman, Enright, Ablett, Milburn, Corey, Selwood, Taylor, Rooke
ST KILDA: Gram, Goddard, Hayes, Ball, Montagna

INJURIES
GEELONG: Chapman (hamstring), Harley (soreness)
ST KILDA: Goddard (broken nose, shoulder)

CROWD: 99,251 at MCG, Melbourne

UMPIRES
FIELD: Stephen McBurney, Brett Rosebury, Shaun Ryan
BOUNDARY: Darren Wilson, Adam Coote, Mark Foster, Mark Thomson (4 of them!)
GOAL: David Dixon, Mark Canning

Tom Harley won the toss and chose to kick to the Ponsford Stand end, same as 2007 if memory serves me correct. We aren't at the game but will be bringing you updates from the Cattery residence in Edinburgh, host to possibly the city's only Grand Final house party. So far the entertainment has included Mark Seymoor or Hunters and Collectors fame; Jimmy Barnes; Johnny Farnham and even James Morrisson (the trumpet guy). It's going to be a wet Grand Final, conditions Jimmy Bartel will be lapping up but may dampen some other more skillful players in either side. Stay tuned.

Geelong dominated play early in the first quarter but didn't capitalise on the scoreboard when kicking to the favourable Ponsford Stand end, whereas St Kilda finished off the quarter strong to lead by two points at half time and were unlucky not to be further in front. The Saints went on with it in the second quarter but again kicked more behinds than goals, while the Cats made hay, with goals to Byrnes, Ablett, Hawkins and Chapman giving them a handy two goal lead. Then with less than a minute to go, Clint Jones made something out of nothing, squeezing a stolen ball from a stoppage through a crowded pack of players for a team lifting goal. When Justin Koschitzke booted his first from the goal square thirty seconds later to equalise, it was all too much for Darren Milburn, who characteristically mouthed off at the umpire who had no hesitation in awarding an unprecedented free kick right on the goal-line before play restarted in the centre. The Saints went into half time with a six point lead.

The third quarter was a tough one with little scoring actually occurring despite many opportunities. Geelong managed to level the scores with 5 minutes remaining and should have at least taken the lead but could not manage even a behind in several plays in front of goal. The Saints again came up with a late quarter goal, Leigh Montagna breaking the deadlock to put his side up by a goal. Another behind next play gave the Saints a seven point lead at the final break.

Tom Hawkins' goal in the third minute, converting a strong contested mark from 35m out on an angle, put the Cats right back into it from a spiritual basis and had the crowd (especially in this house) pumping. Tense moments ensued as the Saints went close but could not manage an actual goal the entire quarter. The Cats did though, Paul Chapman's 3rd putting the Cats up by six points and a behind the next play making the margin a seemingly unassailable seven points. Matthew Scarlett conceded a behind in the dying moments of the game before Max Rooke marked inside fifty in the final seconds of the match. When the siren sounded the Cats were six points up, Rooke's 2nd goal stretching the margin to the equal biggest of the day, twelve points.

GARY ABLETT WINS 2009 BROWNLOW MEDAL

GEELONG'S GARY ABLETT has won the AFL 2009 Brownlow Medal, stunning everyone by winning by a massive eight votes from Carlton's Chris Judd. Ablett stormed into the lead from round one, scoring six votes in the opening three rounds before two more best on grounds in rounds four and five. After eleven rounds Lenny Hayes was Ablett's principal rival, trailing on 16 votes to Ablett's 19. But despite playing in almost all winning sides since that point, Hayes' teammates took votes from him in all but rounds 17 (3 votes) and 22 (1 vote), to finish with 20 votes. Jonathan Brown, likewise, had a hot streak after being on just 8 votes at the halfway point, polled 11 votes in the next seven rounds to move into second place on 19 votes by round 18, but didn't poll again. Chris Judd averaged a vote a round, having a total of 11 votes by round 11, and finishing on 22. Watch Ablett's Acceptance Speech

TOP FIVE

1	Gary Ablett	Geelong	30
2	Chris Judd	Carlton	22
3	Lenny Hayes	St Kilda	20
4	Simon Black, Jonathan Brown	Brisbane	19

GEELONG TOTALS

1	Gary Ablett	30
2	Joel Selwood	16
3	Jimmy Bartel	13
4	Paul Chapman	12
5	Joel Corey	7
6	Steve Johnson	6
7	Shannon Byrnes	3
7	Matthew Scarlett	3
9	Cameron Ling	2
9	Darren Milburn	2
9	Cameron Mooney	2
12	Brad Ottens	1
			GARY ABLETT WITH GIRLFRIEND LAUREN PHILLIPS BEFORE THE COUNT

CATS THRASH MAGPIES, INTO THIRD CONSECUTIVE AFL GRAND FINAL

GEELONG are into their third AFL Grand Final in a row, defeating Collingwood at the MCG by a massive margin of seventy-three points in front of a decent crowd of 87,258 at the MCG. The Cats will play St Kilda next Saturday afternoon, aiming for two Premierships inside three years.

GEELONG : 3.6, 7.7, 11.13, 17.18 (120) DEFEATED
COLLINGWOOD : 2.2, 5.8, 6.9, 6.11 (47)

GOALS
GEELONG: Chapman 5, Byrnes 2, Hawkins 2, Ablett 2, Varcoe 2, Ottens, Mooney, Johnson, Corey
COLLINGWOOD: Brown, Didak, Johnson, Lockyer, O'Brien, Macaffer

BEST
GEELONG: Scarlett, Enright, Ablett, Milburn, Bartel, Chapman, Mackie
COLLINGWOOD: Gilbee, Cooney, Boyd, Higgins, Lake, Akermanis

INJURIES
GEELONG: G Ablett P Chapman J Corey J Bartel H Taylor C Ling T Hawkins
COLLINGWOOD: S O'Bree B Johnson N Maxwell L Brown

UMPIRES: FIELD: Brett Rosebury (8) Scott McLaren (11) Shaun Ryan (25) EM: Simon Meredith (21) BOUNDARY: Adam Coote Cameron Ward Rob Haala Jamie Giles GOAL: Mark Canning David Dixon EM: Chris Appleton

CROWD: 87,258 at the MCG

Collingwood had the early play in the match, leading for half the opening term before the Cats got cracking, booting three unanswered goals. Both sides went pretty much goal for goal in the second quarter but as described earlier, Geelong should have pushed to a thirty point-plus lead. The Cats led Collingwood by fourteen points at half time, but should have led by over 30, Brad Ottens missing an easy chance and the Magpies taking advantage, kicking another two goals before the main break. At half time Chapman and Hawkins had two goals each for the Cats, Ablett, Byrnes and Ottens the other goal-kickers. For the Magpies Brown, Didak, Johnson, Lockyer and O'Brien had one goal each.

The Cats started the second half out of the blocks however, booting three early goals and missing a third to push to a thirrty-one point lead eight minutes into the third term. Mooney, Johnson and Corey kicked their first goals of the match, Johnson missing two other shots that would have really put the foot on the Magpies' throat. Macaffer kicked a goal for the Pies a second or so before the three quarter time siren; the Cats going into the final break thirty-six points ahead, and hoping to take things easy in the last quarter ahead of next Saturday afternoon's Grand Final against St Kilda at the MCG. But, Collingwood being what they are, Geelong will have to be on their guard this final thirty minutes, and keep attacking until the end.

Two minutes into the final term, Travis Varcoe got on the end of a turnover by Collingwood veteran Simon Prestigiacomo to boot his first goal and give the Cats a forty point lead. Paul Chapman's third goal a couple minutes later, created by Joel Corey and Jimmy Bartel's tenacity, was the genuine sealer that sent the Wobbler fans packing back home; the margin out to an unassailable forty six points. Gary Ablett was next to sneak one through and it was party time in all corners of the world as Geelong fans rejoiced in the knowledge they would be watching their side in another Grand Final next week. Unfortunately for this 'viewer' the person streaming the match at this point decided to play the Geelong, Collingwood and finally St Kilda theme songs over the top of the match audio, but it's free so we can't complain. We can complain, however, about ESPN's decision to show Rangers v Kilmarnock from the Scottish Premier League, a game sure to attract far fewer UK viewers than Geelong-Collingwood.

Paul Chapman slammed on three goals in the last ten minutes, his fifth of the game pushing the margin out to a massive 74 points. Neither side would kick another goal for the match, the final 7-8 minutes petering out as the Cats conserved energy and the Magpies gave up.

The Ashes, 4th Test, day 2 - My Story

Off to the cricket it was for our second day of Test cricket this season. Beautiful train ride down to Leeds if you overlook the 6am start. The vibes of Headingley were so obvious as we got close; loads of good spirit, which would have been difficult for those English folk after yesterday. Absolutely perfect conditions (con-di-ti-ons as the Yorkies say it) for cricket and even a few weddings – barely a cloud in the sky, no wind and mid twenties. Outside the ground, which is under reconstruction we mingled with folk in fancy dress, ticket touts, lager louts and enterprising souls flogging off anything from sunglasses to ham sandwiches for £1.50. The atmosphere continued inside – outside our aisle you could even have a bespoke cricket bat made up by Gray Nicholls; now I’ve seen it all. This was clearly a proper cricket ground all right, in spite of what the press say about the ‘West Stand’ and construction works. Unlike Lord’s, no alcohol allowed into this game, though you could bring flags of all shapes and sizes.

The Aussies resumed at 196/4, Clarke (34) and North (10) not wasting any time achieving their 50 partnership and Australia’s 200. Clarkey soon had his fifty in the sixth over; the 100 partnership and team 250 by the tenth, and the crowd were silent. The guys next to us from the Midlands said they’d be quite happy with a declaration by tea time as North racked up his 50 and Australia’s 300 in the 25th over, 72nd overall. Milestones dropped quicker than our odds of retaining the Ashes, the Clarke/North partnership reaching 150 off 251 balls. Clarke looked set for another hundred but fell on 93, LBW by Onions ten minutes before lunch. 29 overs bowled in the session, Australia 306/5.

The little league certainly brought the Western Stand to life; indeed it was ‘kicking off’ as one wag suggested as more and more boxes of four pints each were brought up into the stands as everyone panic bought to beat the mandatory one hour bar closure ‘some time between lunch and tea’. Copped a couple of ‘Go Blues’ from Aussies out the back on account of the Geelong jumper, all deserved though.

The new ball paid off immediately for the Poms, Haddin had no answer to the rising ball from Harmie, caught Ian Bell for 14. The joy was tempered when word got round the bar was now closed for an hour and a HALF(!) ‘You’re joking!’ went the cry from Aussies who remembered that Toohey’s ad from years back, ‘afraid not lad’ was the reply. The response was for a semi-spontaneous rendition of ‘Neighbours’, and the banter was officially on.

We had no answer for ‘Sand up… if you’re 1-Nil up’ but attention was soon turned to the poor old ‘Green Team’, whose job apparently includes deflating beach balls. ‘Geeeet a propeeer job; get-a-proper-job’ is all I can print. When some Aussies in the AST group fired up they were treated to a rousing rendition of ‘Especially for you’. Just let them bait the stewards I thought! And so it was on again; the new steward on the boundary line apparently looking like Gary Barlow from ‘Take That’, so he was treated to various chants such as ‘There’s only one Gary Barlow’, ‘He’s the fat Gary Barlow’ ‘Sing us a song if you’re Gary Barlow’ etc.

I can assure you this was much more entertaining than the cricket over the next agonising hour and a half. 350 runs went and gone, boring stuff. The Yorkshire tradition of blowing up long thing balloons (I kid you not), letting them jet off and cheering them onto the ground was the major activity. Poor old Ravi Bopara, who made a duck yesterday and put in a pathetic attempt at stopping four in today’s first over (ie he just let it go) copped stick. So it was pretty funny when Mitchell Johnson was caught near the boundary by Ravi off Stuart Broad for 27; all is forgotten! For ten minutes until the next misfield anyway.

Poor bloke next to me was dispatched to do a beer run after we saw some punters walking in with beers; returning empty handed ten minutes later. Didn’t help him but I was wrapt when Marcus North belted a six to bring up three figures in style, the Aussies now 406/8. Stuart Clark his partner after Siddle went for a golden duck, and proceeded to belt the case off the ball, smashing three sixes, the first going straight over bowler Swann’s head onto what will be the third tier of the new stand. He gave the crowd what they deserved after an extended middle session as Australia went all out for 445, North last man out for 110.

Broad was their best bowler but was still made to look good with six for; Jimmy Anderson opened today and bowled six straight before being taken out, the injury discussed before play eventually ruling him out, but he strangely remained on the field. Onions was canon fodder, and Swann, well I barely noticed him. Harmie went for a few runs but bowled OK. Not much imagination from Strauss, would have liked to see Collingwood roll his arm over for one or two before lunch or midway through the second session.

The final session’s first hour was incredibly boring as far as on field goes; off field it was in full swing, beer cup ‘snakes’ and then beer box castles the rage along with the balloons and more banter, and even a few ejections. Johnson came on second change in over 14 to cries of ‘who?!’ but soon wiped the smiles off everyone as he laid into Strauss and Cook.

More bar closure action, this time they shut our bars at 5pm without warning. Fortunately I’d just found out about a bar on the opposite side of the ground that sold bottles of Carlsberg cheaper than pints, so I was saved. Soon though this ‘Island’ bar was shut and that was that, perhaps mercifully as it was well and truly on. The opening pair put up quite a fight; it wasn’t until half five when Strauss was trapped plum LBW by Hilfenhaus. Poor old Ravi was next in, given out first ball LB despite clearly nicking the ball. You make your own luck in cricket but he was given a shocker.

What happened next is a bit of a blur. Johnson, with a great new haircut, ripped through not only Ian Bell (caught Punter) and Collingwood (LBW) but finally Cook to an absolute ripper caught by Haddin. The damage at stumps; England 82/5; Anderson needing a single to extend his record of 52 innings without a duck.

Almost felt sorry for the Poms today but after they got stuck into us at Lord’s they don’t completely deserve it; still that was a very different crowd and these guys, from all over but generally the North or the Midlands, were great craic and I’d love to come back here again some day.

AUSSIES PANTSED AT LORD'S

To say myself and the lovely wife were looking forward to today at Lord's is an understatement. Last year we lived a stone's throw from the ground and vowed to do anything possible to get to the Ashes test the year after. Anything - even signing up to be a member of the England's Supporters Club 'Twelfth Man' thing. So despite yesterday's dodgy effort at bowling, we were looking forward to a speedy wrap-up of the tail, and some world-class batting from the Australians. And hopes of seeing the Queen and maybe even Ritchie Benaud. Made our way down from Edinburgh on the train before checking out our old neighbourhood to see what had changed.

The entrance ticket puzzled me initially; a maximum of 750mL of alcohol per person could be taken into the ground. A maximum! Gee, back home you're allowed a maximum of nothing and lucky if you can get full strength beer.

Despite gloomy forecasts and ominous showers the night before, when we had walked to St John's Wood from Harrow Road it was reasonably sunny and obviously the game would start on time. Our first setback of the day was soon to occur though, at the body search area they were letting through amounts by far in excess of 750mL alcohol through but my Australian flag was confiscated as a prohibited item; I was told to wait until a Green Team manager came over who took me to the 'Confiscated Items Office' where said flag was deposited and I was given a number so I could collect it later; not too bad really, I thought that was the last I was going to see of it again! They weren't this toffy at the Oval for the World T20; flags were allowed there, cans/bottles etc, not. As this was occurring Strauss went out, second ball of the day, bowled Hilfenhaus (sure I saw that name in Germany last weekend).

Went to take our seats in the Compton Stand, top deck. Fantastic view of the ground, although no cover. Had to wait to take our seats, and as we did so another wicket fell, this time Swann, caught Ponting bowled Siddle. This brought groans from the Poms and cheers from the small pattering of Aussies, and allowed us to find our seats. The steward handed us each two feet of kitchen absorbent towelling; a sign of things to come no doubt.

We were pretty much smack in the middle of legitimate members of the ECB Twelfth Man club, with a few interlopers like us in between. Next bay though was mainly folk from Australia, mostly 'grey ghosts' on package tours, kitted out in various supplied uniforms that did look a treat. Broad went out the very next over, like skipper Strauss bowled by Hilfenhaus. I felt cockahoop by now, despite the Poms being none-for nearly two hundred we were going to bowl the bastards out for well under 400, less than at Cardiff when the tail wagged.

Unfortunately, three bowlers had other ideas, Jimmy Anderson, Graeme Onions and Mitchell Johnson. Every run these guys made was cheered like the Ashes has been won; I mean every run. Soon the 400 was posted to justifiably immense cheers, as the Aussies bled runs at a ODI-rate of 5 an over. No cheers louder than for the bloke who popped his champagne cork into the lower deck, or for any Aussie overthrows. It actually surprised me how raucous the fans would be, I expected a very reserved crowd, not one cheering every quick single or cork popping.

England were finally all out for 405, time for a quick drink and coincidentally the Queen's arrival, as the St George's Cross was taken down and replaced with some sort of Royal Standard we can only assume. On a tour here last year we learned Prince Phillip had twice been president, so thought he might have been here today but not his more famous Mrs (or not Mrs as it was). The tenth wicket ended up costing 47 runs.

The Royal visit combined with Anderson and Onions' tail wagging efforts had their morale sky-high, and the young Aussie opener Phil Hughes was again the first wicket to fall for Australia, this time for just four runs, the wicket taken by Anderson in the third over. His replacement, skipper Ponting, didn't last much longer himself, out in mildly controversial circumstances two overs later, caught by his opposite number and bowled Anderson. Ponting wanted the umpires to give him out rather than walk, the decision passed to the third umpire who ruled the catch had been taken cleanly.

The Aussies were certainly in a bit of a hole now at 10 for 2 and Katich still on nought. By lunch they crept to 22 runs for no further loss, altogether a fairly disastrous session overall.

Not a lot of excitement after lunch; two rain delays at least gave us a chance to engage in a bit of polite banter with our neighbours, heard one bloke's story of his cricket trips to the Caribbean and how at The Oval in the 1980s the crowd would be three quarter West Indies and was a great atmosphere. We found the same at the World T20 game with the Windies back in May. After the first delay, the pompous bloke next to me returned to grab his bag, but seemed in an altered state of mind and hurried off.

On the wireless in between shipping forecasts, as usual Ian Chappell was in his element in the rain delay, telling very amusing stories of his time in the Australian side. Just love the way he tells stories and does his impersonations of others with a bit of an uneducated tone ,no matter who he's quoting, to illustrate his point. Also for the second game running, Dizzy Gillespie gets asked to tell us all about the time he made two hundred for Australia, in case nobody heard it at Cardiff last week.

Pompous bloke returned sans bag but holding laptop and blackberry as there's still a few spits of rain, and takes his seat. Showed us all a photo on his blackberry his mate sent him from the MCC bar. Shortly thereafter the mate returns, after this life-changing experience. Pompous one asks if he has his bag; no he says, so pompous one asks around after said bag; we had to turn away to hide the giggles. Lefties Katich and Hussey batted very sensibly, giving nothing but creeping towards fifty runs each to reach 87 for 2 by tea, held late at 4:20 due to the rain delays. Pompous one eventually realised he's lost the bag so set off at tea, promising to buy the folk behind a bottle of wine (he doesn't come back).

We were then treated to a bit of Cricketing royalty, as Ritchie Benaud joined others inducted into some sort of Cricket Hall of Fame. If only Ritchie or his younger broadcasting colleague Shane Warne could roll the arm over and let Nathan Hauritz rest that dislocated finger of his...

After resting following both rain delays, Flintoff took the ball first after tea. The Hundred was up shortly after, from 30 overs as I bet the Mrs Katich would reach 50 first. I soon lost this bet as Katich was out leg glancing into the deep, caught by Stuart Broad to the cheers from the Lord Tavener's stand off Onions for 48, Australia 103 for 3.

Flintoff gave Michael Clarke two high balls to start off with to 'Ooohs' from the fans, but Clarke was soon off the mark with a single. Hussey scored his fifty with a single from the next ball, even getting a few in our area to stand and clap politely. Next over however he made his first mistake, leaving a 95 mile an hour ball from Flintoff that removed his off stump to leave us 111 for 4, and the rot set in again.

Clarke was next to go, caught at mid-on by Cook from Anderson, 111 for 5 now. First talk of Australia needing to follow-on, but this talk was dismissed as wishful thinking, after all the two in now (North and Haddin) each made centuries at Cardiff (then again so did Katich and Ponting).

Haddin got off the mark stylishly, well sort of, three from a misfield that should've been a dot ball. But his technique was flawless as he gave every ball and his wicket the respect they deserved, meticulously counting the number of fielders each delivery so he knew where he could score. North was similarly conservative, but seemed content to block out each delivery and not make a single run. After umpteen balls and about half an hour he was out for a duck, bowled middle peg by that man Anderson, who by now was starting to menace with both bat and ball like Flintoff of 2005.

Started to feel a bit sorry for my clansman by now, as the English sportsmanship came to the fore again, en mass getting stuck into anyone in yellow so much as going for a slash getting a rousing 'cheerio' on the way out. It was now up to Johnson to atone somewhat for his bowling effort and have a long innings and let Haddin score. He was out soon however, playing a similar shot as Katich but in front of our stand, caught near the boundary by Cook off Broad for 4, 148 for 7 now as 'Are you Kiwis in disguise' was chanted out.

The 150 was brought up however Haddin was next to get himself out, a real shame after such a promising innings, out hooking, caught Cook off Broad for 28. Hauritz now took to the field, dodgy finger and all. Not surprisingly, an over later when the light was offered the Aussies charged from the field at 156 for 8 at a little before half past six. On the way out we saw our mate with the lost bag, only this time he was minus his laptop also and really looked in a state.

A perfect day's cricket for the English fan; the tail wagged, the Queen appeared, and Aussie batsman were literally shaking in their boots. And for many folk the £125 charge for a magnum of champagne was no object, so why wouldn't you be happy! For our lot though I didn't think it could have gone much worse really. But I will not forget today and will make sure next time we're on top of our game to ensure similar good sportsmanship next time I make it to an Ashes test at the MCG (or in any other sport for that matter). Still think we can 'save' this game, or even win it, just need the top four to get a century each in the follow on and skittle the Poms for under 200 in the fourth innings.

CATS SUFFER HEAVY LOSS AGAINST LIONS

CATS SUFFER HEAVY LOSS AGAINST LIONS
AFL 2009 ROUND 15 BRISBANE LIONS V GEELONG CATS GEELONG are struggling against Brisbane at the Gabba tonight, trailing by 26 points at half time and 31 points at the final break. The Lions midfield are tearing apart the Cats, while the skill level from the Cats was often woeful, displaying almost a lack of interest. Debutante Tom Gillies acquainted himself well, while other rookies Nathan Djerrkura and Simon Hogan had little impact, the former playing out the game despite an obvious injury impeding his ability to run while Hogan booted a conciliatory goal in the final minutes to bring the Lions' margin back from 50 points. Twin forward towers Jonathan Brown and Daniel Bradshaw toweled up the the Cats' defence, Brown booting four goals from fifteen marks.

UK based Geelong fans, in the absence of Setanta, can watch the game live thanks to the AFL / Telstra: http://bigpondtv.com/aflliveuk

Bork

Bork

BRISBANE LIONS 3.4, 10.7, 12.10, 16.12 (108) DEFEATED
GEELONG 3.2, 6.5, 7.9, 9.11 (65)

GOALS
BRISBANE: Brown 4, Bradshaw 3, Black, Polkinghorne, Clark, Notting 2 , Redden
GEELONG: Rooke 2, Blake, Byrnes, Gamble, Hawkins, Mooney, Mumford, Hogan

BEST
BRISBANE: Black, Brown, Polkinghorne, Bradshaw
GEELONG: Chapman, Rooke, Mumford, Selwood

INJURIES
BRISBANE: Jed Adcock (serious knee injury - season ending)
GEELONG:

CROWD:TBC at the Gabba, Brisbane