Bombers suffer fuel shortage

Kieren Jack ties up the scores between Sydney and the Bombers. Photo: Getty

On Saturday, Essendon were magnificent in a losing effort against last year’s grand finalists the Swans.

The Bombers were also magnificent in the lead-up, putting on buses to Sydney and giving away free tickets to supporters that haven’t had much to cheer about in recent seasons.

Leading by 41 points in the third quarter, they looked like they’d give those fans the perfect trip.

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Alas, to take the metaphor to its logical conclusion, the Bombers’ bus ran out of petrol around Goulburn.

Sydney kicked the last seven goals of the match as Essendon felt the effects of having large parts of their squad sit out the NAB Challenge.

Coach James Hird admitted pre-match he wasn’t “absolutely sure they’d get through the 120 minutes”.

So it was proven. Even at 41 points, the lead was never to their comfortable satisfaction.

But after the two years they’ve had, a 12-point loss against a formidable opponent away from home must be considered an honourable effort indeed.

Port and Freo serve up September special

We got a sneak peak at some September football from Domain Stadium in Perth on Sunday, when Fremantle and Port Adelaide served up one of the most gripping contests you could hope to see.

Michael Barlow and Michael Walters share a moment. Photo: Getty

There was barely a kick between them all day, as both sides took turns pummelling each other.

Ross Lyon had said his side had upped their running by 40 per cent over the pre-season, and it looked that way. It was Fremantle who held up better in the searing intensity of the final quarter.

But Port, as they do, kept coming and in the end their was only seven points separating the two sides.

It was a game for the purists: tough, hard and breathtaking.

We can’t wait for the sequel, hopefully more than one, later in the season.

Season back with a bang

Literally. Brett Deledio’s usually quite a mild-mannered lad, but obviously he had – like all of us – been driven to distraction by the Channel 9 cricket commentary team after the longest off-season in history.

Brett looked like he was itching to lay some hurt and, exactly three seconds into season 2015, he spied Carlton’s Simon White enjoying life, streaming through the middle of the MCG. Brett got him, and was reported for a high shot.

Moments later, Dale Thomas found himself the victim of a ridiculously late Kamdyn McIntosh tackle, that was equal parts crude and clumsy, and dislocated a shoulder.

It was reminiscent of the tackle Essendon’s Sam Lonergan inflicted upon the Blues’ Andrew Carrazzo a few years back. Commentating on the game for Channel 7, Carlton coach Mick Malthouse described Lonergan’s tackle as ‘rank’. One can only wonder what Mick made of McIntosh’s effort.

Coming home to Roos

Mitch Brown is set for a second knee reconstruction. Photo: Getty

Twenty years after he was a player in Ron Barassi’s salvage operation on the Sydney Swans, Paul Roos is now doing the same for the club that made Barassi.

Roos is helping Melbourne, footy’s oldest club, regain its pride after a dreadful time. Their win against the Gold Coast – who were pretty lacklustre under new coach Rodney Eade – had a touch of magic about it.

Certainly, the song after the match has rarely been sung with more gusto.

As with Sydney under Barassi, there will be hiccups, but a round one win – their first since 2005 – will have the Demons’ faithful smiling from ear to ear.

Young pups and black cats

How many ladders has Adam Simpson walked under recently? Has he mown down a litter of black kittens? Whatever the West Coast Eagles coach has done, surely he doesn’t deserve the luck he’s had so far early in 2015.

He’s already lost star fullback Eric Mackenzie to a season-ending knee injury, and half way through the first term in their clash against the Western Bulldogs, his replacement Mitch Brown suffered the same fate.

But it wasn’t in defence where the Eagles lost the game, it was through the middle – they just couldn’t limit the Bulldogs supply.

The young Dogs did first-time coach Luke Beveridge proud.

Jake Stringer (20), Jack Macrae (20), Marcus Bontempelli (19), Jason Johannisen (22) and Luke Dahlhaus (22) were all superb.

Being pups, of course, sometimes they’ll poop inside or chew your shoes, but there’s a lot to like.

Pies surprise

Taylor Walker looked back to his very best. Photo: Getty

They’d had the last rites administered to their season before it had even begun, but Collingwood went up to Brisbane and did the business.

It was the old firm who were exceptional for the Pies – Dane Swan, Scott Pendlebury and Steele Sidebottom were all standouts, although the latter suffered a thumb injury and looks set to miss several weeks.

Next week’s clash with a resurgent Crows has taken on an importance one wouldn’t have imagined before the weekend.

Has Adelaide’s sleeping giant awoken?

We’d heard a lot of good things coming out of Arden St throughout the summer, and after last season’s effort in reaching a preliminary final, a lot of observers had North Melbourne in their top-four computations.

So it was a bit of a shock to see them annihilated so comprehensively by the Adelaide Crows on Sunday. Phil Walsh has long-been regarded as one of the AFL’s sharpest minds, but his transformation of an under-performing Crows line-up was expected to take a while.

But the Crows’ stars completely owned North Melbourne, and the result was built on the back of tremendous performances from Taylor Walker, Patrick Dangerfield and Rory Sloane.

If Sunday’s demolition job is anything to go by, there will be no easy games in Adelaide this season.