| Venue: Colonial Stadium - Docklands | ||||||||||||||||||
| Date: August 24, 2002 | Result: Win by 2 points | ||||||||||||||||||
| Umpires: Quigley, Wenn, Jeffrey | Crowd: 22,938 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Goalkickers: C.McKernan (4), S.Beaumont (2), A.Hickmott, T.Hotton, R.Houlihan, M.Mansfield, S.Cranage, T.Sporn, S.Wiggins, J.Doering, J.Murphy (1). | |||||||||||||||||||
| Reports: S.Fletcher (misconduct) - cleared | Injuries: C.McKernan (knee). | ||||||||||||||||||
Game Review
An outstanding nine goal to one first quarter appeared to give the Blues a match winning lead. The previously struggling Blues suddenly played with confidence and passion and hardly looked like a bottom of the ladder side. They were winning the ball out of the middle into the forward line and scoring repeated goals. Corey McKernan dominated Darcy and kicked 4 goals in that quarter, before succumbing to a knee injury.Darcy took control of the ruck after that and got the Bulldogs back into the match. The Blues could only manage six goals for the remainder of the game- 2 in each quarter. The Dogs, after being down by as much as 56 points early in the second quarter, gradually reduced the margin, with a 4 goal second quarter and a 7 goal third quarter, to be just 7 points down at 3/4 time. Fortunately for the Blues, the Dogs never quite managed to head them but did get as close as 2 points late in the match. The Blues responded with Ryan Houlihan calmly centering a pass from deep in the forward pocket to Jordan Doering, who was just 15 metres directly in front of goal. He had no trouble kicking a goal to increase the buffer to eight points. The Dogs goaled shortly after but the Blues were able to hold on to secure a 2 point victory, just their third for the year.
Scott Camporeale had 24 possessions. Houlihan returned to form with 23, in a new role- playing off half back for the first time. Justin Murphy had 22, while Matthew Lappin had 20. Simon Beaumont was shifted to full forward and kicked 2 goals.
It was a blow to Bulldogs coach Terry Wallace, who resigned a few days later and would not coach them again.
Team
| B: | 34 Simon Wiggins | 4 Luke Livingston | 45 Anthony Franchina |
| HB: | 33 Ryan Houlihan | 32 Bret Thornton | 39 Ang Christou |
| C: | 12 Matthew Lappin | 20 Andrew Eccles | 9 Adrian Hickmott (a/c) |
| HF: | 15 Sam Cranage | 37 Trent Hotton | 31 Simon Fletcher |
| F: | 36 Trent Sporn | 29 Simon Beaumont | 28 Ian Prendergast |
| Ruck: | 2 Corey McKernan | 18 Justin Murphy | 16 Scott Camporeale |
| Interchange: | 10 Michael Mansfield | 48 Jordan Doering | 11 Lindsay Smith |
| 40 Jim Plunkett | |||
| Coach: | Wayne Brittain | ||
| Emg: | Adam Pickering | David Gallagher | Andrew Merrington |
| In: | Michael Mansfield, Lindsay Smith | ||
| Out: | Glenn Manton (broken leg), Andrew Merrington | ||
Milestones
150 Games: Ang ChristouBrownlow Votes
3: Robert Murphy (WB)2: Trent Sporn (CARL)
1: Luke Darcy (WB)
Round 20 | Round 22