2nd Test: Diamonds vs Silver Ferns

(Netball)

Yesterday at the Adelaide Entertainment Centre, to a rather full crowd the Australian Diamonds played the New Zealand Silver Ferns.

The Silver ferns won in Perth on Sunday, by one goal.

The broadcaster/announcer was as biased as the crowd and managed to mention Australia as being the World Championship winners and mention New Zealand came second. He also made the Constellation cup which is the test prize, sound like Consolation cup, every time he mentioned it. Speaking of biased crowd though, our seat were very close to the large pocket of Silver Ferns fans and it was just like being at the footy in a way.

Stan Walker in what appeared to be tights (yeech!) performed two songs live an I wish it had been delayed, maybe it was the venue but he did not sound good and really if he’d been quieter we could’ve ignored it.

The umpiring, well I like to be fair, it’s a hard job and not everyone can do it, some things look like they’re okay when they’re not and vice versa. However, most especially in the first half the umpiring was a bit dodgy— and it seemed to swing Silver Ferns way more often than not. But in the second half the dodginess was reduced and both sides copped it.

Speaking of dodgy the rings weren’t very secure and a decent jump (like the defender might make legitimately — or not so legitimately) would have them wobble as if deliberately knocked. Also in the last quarter with six minutes left as the Diamonds got momentum, New Zealand’s goal shooter called for an injury time — just as the Diamonds had the ball up their end and prepared to increase the lead. Now maybe it was innocent because the Latu did get her knees strapped, but I doubt it.

Natalie von Bertouch injured her ankle and didn’t play, so Catherine Cox filled in as the acting captain. The Diamonds won the toss and took the centre pass the Silver Ferns opted to shoot toward their interchange bench (not sure what end that is in terms of direction). Interestingly Irene van Dyk didn’t play for New Zealand.

The game was very tight in the first half, however after Geitz (GK-D) shut down Latu (GS-SF) the Diamonds were able to get ahead and the Diamonds levelled the series with a 7 goal win.

Cath Cox got the Holden MVP (Best on court).

The decider is on Sunday in Melbourne and should be good to watch 2:20pm local time (AEST) and will be on Ten and One at that time.

Also a delayed showing of this game will be on about lunch time on One.

Results:

Team	1st Qtr	2nd Qtr	3rd Qtr	4th Qtr
Adelaide Diamonds	12	25	36	51
New Zealand Silver Ferns	14	26	36	44

		2nd Test: Diamonds v Silver Ferns VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

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LiveJournal Tags: Netball,Photos,Australia

Round 1 wrap-up

Results:

Richmond	13.6 (84)	vs	Carlton	14.20 (104)
Geelong	6.12 (48)	vs	St. Kilda	6.11 (47)
Collingwood	24.11 (155)	vs	Port Adelaide	12.8 (80)
Adelaide	16.9 (105)	vs	Hawthorn	12.13 (85)
Brisbane	14.8 (92)	vs	Fremantle	13.16 (94)
Essendon	16.17 (113)	vs	Western Bulldogs	8.10 (58)
Melbourne	11.18 (84)	vs	Sydney	11.18 (84)
West Coast	13.14 (92)	vs	North Melbourne	13.10 (88)
Gold Coast Suns:	Bye

Well the only team not to make a mistake was the Gold Coast, unless they actually showed up to play a week early. Heath Scotland’s 200^th game had the best result a player could ask for; Carlton played well against Richmond, however their goal kicking accuracy has fallen, last year they were the most accurate team in the comp; the first quarter was a shocking display of kicking. Richmond had a few bright spots, their accuracy was excellent and last years Coleman Medallist Jack Riewoldt started 2011 with 6 goals for this years goal tally. The new substitute rule went into effect, Jarred Waite looked like he might have had a concussion so he was subbed out in the second quarter. This threw Carlton’s game and allowed Richmond to regain the lead but they sorted themselves out in the final quarter. Richmond also used their sub, on Nathan Foley who was suffering from a gastric virus, in the third quarter. Richmond did okay but had no real superstars. Carlton had many players give standout performances, Waite’s first half was excellent, Gibbs, Curnow Judd were also brilliant. For Richmond Riewoldt and Nahas shone.
The best game to watch this week was Geelong against St Kilda on Friday night. Geelong struggled against St Kilda early on. Skipper Cameron Ling was out with his hamstring still injured and Geelong had big difficulties kicking their first goal. Despite this and St Kilda dominating the first half of the game the game was low scoring and the difference was minimal early on. St Kilda finally improved their accuracy and pulled away by nearly 20 points. Selwood and Ray had a nasty collision in the first quarter and Selwood was subbed off. The Cats fought back in the third quarter and got within distance. The final quarter was hotly contested and Geelong’s sub Milburn kicked the winning goal with only 19 seconds left. Corey Enright played his 200^th game and he played well, Bartel and Duncan for Geelong also played well. Dal Santo, Hayes and Montagna played well for St Kilda.
Port Adelaide played well and kept in the game but Collingwood dominated in the midfield early on and a series of back to back goals including one by Dane Swan on the siren at quarter time showed Collingwood were just too . Port’s Hitchcock was subbed in for Schultz with nine minutes left in the second after he went down with a knee injury. Collingwood are still in great form and it looks like a premiership hangover is not in the cards this year but we are only at round one so lets not get ahead of ourselves. Port fought back hard to get the margin back down from 58 points and kept Collingwood off the scoreboard for the first half of the third quarter but tired and allowed Collingwood to stretch the margin again and they were unable to get within range again. Port’s Cassisi and played well but were out shone by Collingwood’s Cloke, Dawes and .
Adelaide looked for a start to their 20^th year (21^st season) to be a repeat of their first, and an improvement on the travesty of last years start. Hawthorn having looked at their game plan over the break and tinkered with it looked to start their campaign with a win. Of interest was the match up between Phil Davis and Lance “Buddy” Franklin at Half Back/Forward and Nathan van Berlo’s performance as Adelaide’s sixth appointed captain. Hawthorn killed it in the first half and it looked like they were going home the winners. Smith was subbed on in the first 10 minutes when shortly after slotting Adelaide’s first goal Porplyzia left with a shoulder injury. A second half comeback was due to the Crows kicking more as well as Reilly, Vince, Sloane and Otten leading the charge. Davis worked hard on Franklin and came out evens partly due to Buddy’s inaccuracy (2.6). Hawthorn’s Mitchell, Burgoyne and Young were just outclassed.

I feel that Richmond and St Kilda are rely too much on the one player which in Richmond’s case is an improvement as the player in question seems more polite to his team members. Adelaide have improved but their ball handling is still not quite right. Port tried but just weren’t good enough but we may see more of what they’ve got against a lesser opponent. Hawthorn look like they will be dangerous this year. St Kilda and Geelong are still star teams but may struggle against Collingwood later in the year. Collingwood are still as good as ever but took a little to get back into it.

Reports and injuries:
This week Alex Rance was reported for rough conduct against Jarred Waite he received a 3 game suspension. Matthew Scarlett was reported for striking against Riewoldt he receives a 1 game suspension.^* Players Farren Ray, Aaron Davey, Jarrad Waite, Luke McGuane, Mitch Morton, Jordan Lewis, Joel McDonald and Matt Rosa were given a match day report or involved in an incident and cleared by the Match Review Panel.
Jarred Waite received a concussion and is expected to be back in this week. Joel Selwood received a concussion and is expected to be out for 1 week (test). Jay Schultz injured his MCL (knee) and is expected to be out for 6-8 weeks. Jason Porplyzia injured his shoulder and is expected to be out for the near future. Rory Sloane broke his thumb and injured his jaw, and is expected to be out for 6 weeks. David Mackay injured his should and is expected to be out for 8-12 weeks. Jonathon Brown fractured his face and is expected to be out for 8 weeks. Luke Power injured his back and is expected to be out for 1 week (test). Brent Staker injured his ACL (knee) and is expected to be out for the rest of season. Chris Masten injured his knee and is expected to be out for 6 weeks. Mark LeCras injured his groin and is expected to be out for 7-10 weeks.

Round Two opens Friday night as St Kilda play Richmond at the MCG. Next week will be the first AFL game of the Gold Coast Suns, they play Carlton at the Gabba. The bye will be held by the Adelaide Crows.

^*All reports based on early guilty pleas being entered

Currently Listening: Where the City Meets the Sea – The Getaway Plan

Footy season!!

So footy season is baaack! Well right now we’re dealing with the NAB Cup which has the stupidest format in recent memory as far as I’m concerned.

11 extra games, two extra rounds and byes. This is the first time since 1994 that the AFL have had byes or a 24-round season. It’s expected to be the only season to have 17 teams. So people we’re a part of history, even the NAB Cup changed this year, the first time since 2003.

Anyway what I don’t get is the new bye system in place; for the first time since 1991 there is a bye in the AFL, c/o the new Gold Coast Suns. But some weeks three teams are on a bye. This means that for four weeks out of an entire year there will only be seven games. This enables the AFL to have “feature games”.

I think it means that we can give teams that don’t have appeal during the rivalry round such as Brisbane don’t have to play at all. However due to the addition of the new Gold Coast Suns we will have an extra 11 games in the season.

The NAB Cup Grand Final will be played next Friday 11^th March.

The AFL season kicks off on Thursday 24^th March with the fifth successive opening round clash of Richmond and Carlton.

Currently Listening: Turn It Off – Paramore

Giant Chess

So I was in Rundle Mall, in Adelaide on Thursday and there was people all up the mall busking for charity, which of course I donated $2 to, because it was pretty cool to watch.

There was a a game of giant chess going on; it was pretty cool except that the pawn were only a tiny bit shorter than the bishops and so pretty easy to confuse. At first I thought that there was a freakishly high number of bishops.

I think white was winning!

Currently Listening: One Step Closer – Short Stack

Julia jinxed the AFL Grand Final

Julia Gillard “joked” to the St Kilda and Collingwood teams before the Grand final today asking for no draw, as the  Australian people couldn’t handle the stress.

Just a little joke on the drawn out election, right?

9.14 (68)    –     10.8 (68) result disagrees.

Collingwood                 St Kilda

She jinxed it! And now we have to wait a whole week to find out who won!, For more info see here.

Also I’m not a Collingwood supporter (few people are) but I want them to win, because they are a better team than St Kilda.