2010 AFL Grand Final

[Brendan]

THE 2010 AFL premiership remains undecided after Collingwood and St Kilda fought out only the third grand final draw in AFL/VFL history.

The sides will return next Saturday afternoon for a grand final replay after a behind to Lenny Hayes tied the scores 29 minutes into the final quarter in front of 100,016 fans at the MCG.

The siren blew with scores locked at 9.14 (68) to 10.8 (68).

The Magpies led until the 18-minute mark of the final term, but looked destined for disappointment when Brendon Goddard put the fast-finishing Saints in front after a towering mark and goal.

Travis Cloke restored the Pies’ lead with the last goal of the game with 3.25 left on the clock before the Saints scrambled a behind with 1.31 remaining.

The Pies will rue their wastefulness in front of goal after failing to capitalise on a 24-point lead early in the third quarter.

The Saints' chances took a hit when Michael Gardiner was knocked out of the match shortly before half time, making their strong finish all the more impressive.

Lenny Hayes was inspirational for St Kilda with 32 possessions and 12 tackles and was the rightful winner of the Norm Smith medal - awarded despite next week's replay.

Both sides acknowledged the importance of the opening minutes of the big occasion in the lead-up to the match and it was Collingwood that settled first.

Darren Jolly was the unlikely first goalkicker after just 22 seconds and, despite Stephen Milne’s reply, the Pies were quickly out to a 20-point lead with Dale Thomas and Scott Pendlebury prominent.

Sam Fisher’s early play was a rare highlight for the Saints who slowly began to work their way into the contest and in fact finished the first quarter well on top.

Nick Riewoldt learned from an earlier miss to goal from a similar set shot and when Adam Schneider snapped truly off a step, the margin was back to six points at quarter time.

Cloke settled his nerves with a clinical set shot early in the second term, which quickly developed into an arm wrestle as Ross Lyon tried to get the balance of his side right.

Justin Koschitzke goaled from long range to break the scoring drought 12 minutes in, but that would be his side’s only score for the term as the Pies got on top around the stoppages.

Collingwood went inside 21 times to the Saints' four for the period and it was only some wasteful kicking by the Pies that kept the contest alive. Even so, the Saints found themselves 24 points in arrears at the main break.

Sam Gilbert was moved forward to give Nick Maxwell something to think about after the restart and the tactic proved effective.

Riewoldt’s second gave his side belief and while Goddard and Gilbert goaled at one end, the confidence began seeping out of the Pies at the other with Jarryd Blair, Chris Dawes and Thomas missing badly.

The Magpies were punch drunk at the start of the final term, but still held an eight-point lead.

Leon Davis hadn’t seen much of the ball, but made a hero of himself when he snapped truly eight minutes in to extend the lead to 14 points.

Hayes and Milne goaled before Goddard put his side in front, but that proved to be merely the preamble to the nerve-wracking finale.

"Clearly we made a horrible mess, in the second quarter, of everything we did," St Kilda coach Ross Lyon said after the match.

"I thought our first quarter was very good and clearly our third and our fourth were pretty good, but I think what players will take away is that every little thing counts.

"We just hung on in the second, but I think that’s been our trademark with our ability to regroup and be mentally tough."

Collingwood coach Mick Malthouse was philosophical about the outcome, but was at least happy to come away unscathed.

The Pies have had a training group of 31 players to choose from over the finals series and that remains the case following Saturday’s bruising encounter.

While many onlookers will bemoan Collingwood’s inaccurate kicking for goal after the result, Malthouse laid the blame elsewhere.

"We’ve got to be better at using the ball into our forward line," he said.

"I wouldn’t have thought kicking for goal lost it; I would have thought option-taking into our forward line did."

Source: http://www.afl.com.au/news/newsarticle/tabid/208/newsid/103174/default.aspx

What are your opinions on this? I think there should be a ten minute overtime. The team with the most points after that to be declared the winner. It's unfair for the players to have to play another full game.

 

[MegaByte]

I'm not a fan of the rule by any means, there was so much suspense and hype for that grand final, then at full time it was just like Uhhhhhhh, now what!? Massive anti-climax, kind of spoils all the hard work and extreme pressure both teams applied, just to have it mean nothing...

In saying that, Every player went in to that final prepared to play and fight out four quarters of football and that is what they did, should it really be decided by a bit of luck in the confusion that would follow in extra time, the momentum would be upset big time...

So yeah, I'm undecided, being a Collingwood supporter though I'm looking forward to having another BBQ and getting drunk with mates again next saturday

Carn the pies!!!! <3

 

[Angelmax]

I go for the Saints, though I haven't really paid much attention this year.

We were about to win at the end, overtime would have been good. The rules are the rules though, and I expect it'll be changed after this year. And we're going to win on Saturday

 

[Brendan]

Nice to see there are some AFL fans on the site. I had previously thought that there should be 10 minutes of Extra-time, however MegaBytes response has swayed my opinion a little. It's great for the supporters that there is another match on, and extra time could be a little unfair as it may go down to luck or skill. But I still don't think it's for to expect the players to have to play two finals in a week.

 

[Stormstruck]

sorry in advance - havn't read up on this.

Are there going to be tickets re-sold for this weeks game?
10 minutes overtime would have been good.
thats a bit shit for the people who paid heaps to go and watch a draw in the grand final.

could the decision of been swayed by the fact that the 2 (pretty much) most popular teams playing 2 grand final games instead of 1 would make a tit load of money

 

[Brendan]

sorry in advance - havn't read up on this.

Are there going to be tickets re-sold for this weeks game?
10 minutes overtime would have been good.
thats a bit shit for the people who paid heaps to go and watch a draw in the grand final.

could the decision of been swayed by the fact that the 2 (pretty much) most popular teams playing 2 grand final games instead of 1 would make a tit load of money

Yeah, the tickets are being resold. However the general public can only get tickets on game day now, It's a "First in, Best dressed" situation seeing there will only be around 11 000 tickets remaining.

 

[MegaByte]

Grand Final Day take 2!!!

Be sure to get down to your local pub/mates place to cheer on the Pies as they do what they should have done last week, send the Saints on their way!

GO PIES!!!

 

[MegaByte]

FINALLY!!!! Took 20 years but we got there! Wooooooo!

[YOUTUBE]Z45ytXTzcA8[/YOUTUBE]

 

[Brendan]

FINALLY!!!! Took 20 years but we got there! Wooooooo!

[YOUTUBE]Z45ytXTzcA8[/YOUTUBE]

I would have preferred St Kilda to win. Nevertheless congratulations on your victory!

 

[cheater2010]

fuck dam shit collingwood u barstards i wanted another tie lol more ties = more beers lol

 

[Angelmax]

I was given a ticket so I went along, I guess seeing them lose is all part of being a saints supporter. Wasn't much of a game, really.

 

[MegaByte]

Yeah. To be honest, I would have preferred a closer game, would have been more exciting and suspenseful, Saints just never really got in to the form they're capable of, unfortunately.