St Kilda pull off greatest comeback in AFL/VFL history against Melbourne

  • Saints recover from 46 points down at three-quarter-time

  • Nasiah Wanganeen-Milera slots two late goals in frantic finish

St Kilda pulled off the greatest three-quarter-time comeback in VFL/AFL history, storming home from 46 points down to stun Melbourne in a crazy finish at Marvel Stadium.

Off-contract star Nasiah Wanganeen-Milera was the hero, slotting two goals in a frantic climax to pinch a miracle six-point victory. The Saints slotted nine unanswered goals in the final term to win 15.6 (96) to Melbourne’s 13.12 (90).

Continue reading...

Demons to appeal Steven May’s three-game AFL ban for brutal collision

  • Melbourne defender found guilty of rough conduct at tribunal

  • Collision left Francis Evans concussed and with broken nose

Melbourne has confirmed it will appeal defender Steven May’s three-match ban for his devastating collision with an opponent that has divided the football world.

May was found guilty of rough conduct at the AFL tribunal on Wednesday night for the collision that concussed Francis Evans and left the Carlton forward with a broken nose and a chipped tooth.

Continue reading...

Sam Docherty exits the game with respect that transcends allegiances

Want to get this in your inbox every Wednesday afternoon? Sign up for the AFL newsletter here

When North Melbourne’s Ben Cunnington retired a couple of years ago, he said he has lost the will to compete. After missing a season with a back injury, he then endured nine weeks of chemotherapy. His farewell speech was one of the few times he spoke to the media. He said life had thrown too much at him to obsess over footy any more.

But the more life and football threw at Sam Docherty, the more desperate he was to get back. Only now could he properly recognise it for was it was – a kind of stubbornness, a mad optimism bordering on recklessness. Like Cunnington, he eventually realised that there was nothing more to give, and nothing more to prove. “I’m tired and I’m exhausted,” he said yesterday.

Continue reading...

Sydney player Riak Andrew faces AFL suspension over homophobic slur

  • 20-year-old cited for comment towards opponent in VFL match

  • Swans boss says ‘behaviour does not reflect the values of our club’

Sydney defender Riak Andrew is facing a lengthy suspension after being cited for using a homophobic slur while representing the AFL club’s reserves team.

First-year player Andrew, the younger brother of Gold Coast star Mac Andrew, used the slur during the Swans’ VFL clash with North Melbourne on Saturday.

Continue reading...

Fremantle keep their heads as Collingwood get the wobbles in close finishes | Jonathan Horn

The Dockers rose to the occasion to beat the Magpies at their own game and snatch one of the most nerve-shredding wins in their 30-year history

It was the biggest home and away crowd Fremantle have played in front of. And it must rank among the most nerve-shredding games in their 30-year history. They took on the kings of the MCG, they were headed and they had no answers for a rampant Nick Daicos. They have turned up their toes in these kinds of games for decades. But the Dockers dug in, found a way, caught the right breaks and registered one of the most significant wins in coach Justin Longmuir’s tenure.

Early in the final term, the Dockers appeared to have fired all their bullets. Collingwood had kicked two early goals and skipped out to a 22-point lead. Daicos was off the leash, the Magpies’ pressure was relentless, the umpiring was a shambles, and Matthew Johnson’s leg was dangling like a ventriloquist’s doll.

Continue reading...

From the Pocket: Bulldogs need to lock down Marcus Bontempelli’s future above all else

Want to get this in your inbox every Wednesday afternoon? Sign up for the AFL newsletter here.

It was a familiar story for Marcus Bontempelli and his team on the weekend. To mine the stats sheet, no player on the ground had more possessions, tackles, clearances, inside 50s and metres gained. It still wasn’t enough. The Bulldogs lost to a good side, but remain a decidedly lopsided, occasionally exhilarating and increasingly bewildering team.

Leading his team off, the captain had the same look he often gets after losses like that – the wrung-out look of a man asking: “How much more do I have to do here?”

This is an extract from Guardian Australia’s free weekly AFL email, From the Pocket. To get the full version, just visit this page and follow the instructions

Continue reading...

Fremantle are easy targets but deserve respect for hitting back | Jonathan Horn

Dockers coach Justin Longmuir is held to different standards to more decorated coaches but should be lauded for building a tougher side

With blood still spurting out of his head, and resembling John Rambo under Soviet interrogation, Andrew Brayshaw still managed a semblance of humility, of calm and of coherence in an on-field interview on Saturday night. Brayshaw is that kind of player and it had been that kind of game. It had been an intense, occasionally spiteful contest, the sort of game Fremantle have coughed up too many times under coach Justin Longmuir. But they were the more composed and tougher side against the highly-rated Hawthorn. The Dockers laid more than 100 tackles, 14 of them coming from Brayshaw.

Longmuir didn’t have his head split open but whenever he loses, it always feels like it’s his head on the chopping block. Whenever someone like St Kilda’s Ross Lyon has a narrow loss, it’s a coaching masterclass. When Longmuir loses, even when they go down narrowly to a resurgent Sydney at the SCG, he’s suddenly the coach under the most pressure. In so many ways, Longmuir is an easy target. He doesn’t have the “aura”, the polish, the force of personality and the playing record of many other senior coaches. He’s on a rolling contract. And he’s on the other side of the country to the majority of the football media.

Continue reading...

Mid-season AFL competition is a thought bubble, but major fixture reform is still needed

Want to get this in your inbox every Wednesday afternoon? Sign up for the AFL newsletter here

The Age’s exclusive this week on a proposed mid-season competition was quickly torpedoed in the race for readership by the guilty verdict in the mushroom murder trial.

The AFL usually saves its strategic leaks and thought bubbles for the middle of summer. Several years ago, they dropped their fixture at 6am as the Socceroos prepared to take on Argentina. There’s nothing like a code war at the crack of dawn while Lionel Messi is slicing through your defence.

This is an extract from Guardian Australia’s free weekly AFL email, From the Pocket. To get the full version, just visit this page and follow the instructions

Continue reading...

Izak Rankine is born to play to full houses as his talent ensures Adelaide stay on song | Jonathan Horn

The electric forward showcases his full suite of talents as the Crows keep clinging to a top-four spot after overrunning the Demons

A fine singer, Izak Rankine plays his football like he’s taking requests. Adelaide were nearly five goals down halfway through the second quarter against Melbourne. If they had lost, they would have coughed up third spot and been in the ruck of teams on 40 points including ninth-placed Fremantle. Rankine stepped up on stage, showcased his full suite of talents and tilted the game the Crows’ way.

Rankine got his five goals when Adelaide needed them most and he got them in so many different ways. He got them by floating through the middle, by ducking into space in the pocket, by getting front and square, by banana bending them from set shots and by sharking ruck contests. He nearly had a career-high sixth after a wonderful lunging spoil and a bit of jujitsu hustling forced a free kick.

Continue reading...

From the Pocket: Carlton plays fans for mugs by masking woes with corporate claptrap

Want to get this in your inbox every Wednesday afternoon? Sign up for the AFL newsletter here.

“If you start listening to the fans,” Wayne Bennett once said, “it won’t be long before you’re sitting next to them.” Indeed, if you’re running a high-profile sporting organisation, it usually pays to block out the noise. If Brendon Gale had heeded the advice of Richmond Twitter following their three elimination final losses, the club would be in ashes. There’s no way Chris Scott would be coaching Geelong today if the club had acted on the criticism of him following the 2019 and 2021 preliminary finals.

But there’s a fine line between not listening to the fans and playing them for mugs. So much of the messaging coming out of Carlton right now makes a mockery of what the supporters can clearly see and what the club continues to mask with corporate claptrap.

This is an extract from Guardian Australia’s free weekly AFL email, From the Pocket. To get the full version, just visit this page and follow the instructions

Continue reading...

Tom Lynch has a role to play in Richmond’s rebuild but he failed against Adelaide

When you’re bottoming out like the Tigers you need leaders who can resist the inevitable frustration and protect the young players

Whenever his great Richmond sides were struggling, Damien Hardwick would get his runner on the line. “Get them to raise the fight!” he would scream. Tom Lynch’s meltdown against Adelaide wasn’t a case of following the coach’s instructions. It was the act of a frustrated man. His team was totally outclassed. He hadn’t touched the ball. He was being held. He was being double-teamed. He couldn’t buy a free kick. He’d lead to the right spot and the ball would go sailing over his head. He was trying to be a leader, trying to be a physical presence, trying to bring life to a dull game, and hope to a lost cause.

The Tigers’ spearhead ended up taking out his frustrations on the closest bloke in the vicinity, Jordan Butts. If his roundhouse had connected, Butts would have been on his way to the Epworth hospital and Lynch wouldn’t have played again this year. “I didn’t want to cause harm or anything like that,” he told Seven afterwards, not entirely convincingly. As it stands, Lynch is still looking at a hefty suspension.

Continue reading...

Bulldogs forward Jamarra Ugle-Hagan opens up on mental health struggles and hitting ‘rock bottom’

  • AFL star speaks about struggles for the first time since taking a leave of absence

  • He says there were times he ‘didn’t want to leave the house’ but he wants to play football again


The Western Bulldogs forward Jamarra Ugle-Hagan has opened up about his mental health struggles for the first time since taking a leave of absence, saying there were times he “didn’t want to leave the house”.

The former No 1 draft pick is hoping to make his AFL comeback after recently visiting a health retreat in northern New South Wales.

In Australia, the crisis support service Lifeline is 13 11 14. In the US, the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is 1-800-273-8255. In the UK, Samaritans can be contacted on 116 123. Other international suicide helplines can be found at befrienders.org

Continue reading...

Bailey Smith hits the right note at Geelong but he is no showstopper | Jonathan Horn

The Cats midfielder has starred since moving from the Bulldogs as his frantic, full pelt way suits the way his new team seeks to play

Bailey Smith could easily have coasted along against Essendon on the weekend. He could have racked up a few dozen disposals for Geelong and saved his hamstrings for the far more onerous challenge of Brisbane this Friday. But that’s not how he’s wired. Everything is at full throttle. There is not a lot of craft or guile to how he plays. He simply runs the opposition into the ground. With apologies to Shane Crawford and Robert Harvey, he runs harder than any footballer I can remember.

Prior to his knee injury at Western Bulldogs, Smith had been gradually squeezed out of favour. The coach Luke Beveridge didn’t quite know what to do with him. The fanbase was increasingly frustrated with him. He was a hard footballer to place. He was a subdued, resentful figure.

Continue reading...

From the Pocket: Australian football is notably richer when it’s open to everyone

Want to get this in your inbox every Wednesday afternoon? Sign up for the AFL newsletter here.

The 30th Australian Football Hall of Fame was a reminder that there’s more to the sport than the AFL. It was a reminder that the talent in Western Australia, South Australia and Tasmania was at various times every bit the equal of what was coming out of Victoria. Last night’s inductees included a five-time All Australian, a self-described “little fat kid from Colac”, and a man considered the best ever Tasmanian footballer never to play on the mainland. They included a man who took more marks than anyone else in the history of VFL/AFL football, a giant raconteur from South Australia who reflected that “football was simply something I did on a Saturday,” and a seven-time premiership player in the WAFL who later umpired five grand finals. A goalkicking machine from South Australia during the Depression years was also elevated to legend status.

But last night’s event did something very different to the preceding three decades – it inducted two AFLW players. Erin Phillips won two WNBA championships, a basketball world championship gold medal and represented Australia at two Olympics. But until just over a decade ago, the idea of playing Australian football professionally seemed fanciful. “I never wanted to be a boy,” she said last night, “I just wanted the opportunities they had and that was footy.” Her dad, Greg, a Hall of Famer himself, was a fine footballer for Port Adelaide and Collingwood. He had thighs like John Nicholls, the sort of legs that could prop up jetties. Last night he was a blubbering mess. “I can’t imagine what it would be like to tell your 13-year-old daughter that she can’t play the game she loves any more,” his daughter said. “Now she’s standing next to you in the Hall of Fame.”

This is an extract from Guardian Australia’s free weekly AFL email, From the Pocket. To get the full version, just visit this page and follow the instructions

Continue reading...

Erin Phillips and Daisy Pearce become first AFLW players inducted to hall of fame

  • Pair join trailblazer Debbie Lee in Australian Football Hall Of Fame

  • Nick Riewoldt, Luke Hodge and Garry Lyon also inducted

Erin Phillips paid an emotional tribute to her father Greg as she joined him in the Australian Football Hall Of Fame. Phillips and Daisy Pearce are the first AFLW players to be inducted, joining trailblazer Debbie Lee as female inductees.

South Australian goalkicking machine Ken Farmer was elevated to legend status at Tuesday night’s annual dinner in Melbourne.

Continue reading...