Judd Hot For Medal As Eagles Warm Up
The Sunday Age
Sunday August 29, 2004
West Coast yesterday put the finishing touches on its finals preparation. And Chris Judd might have just put the finishing touches on an ever-strengthening case for a Brownlow Medal.
West Coast led at every change to dispatch an undermanned Melbourne by 40 points at Subiaco Oval, locking itself into seventh spot on the AFL ladder and a likely finals showdown with Sydney at Telstra Stadium next weekend.Melbourne went into the match without key forwards David Neitz (calf) and Ben Holland, a late withdrawal.The Demons succeeded only in ensuring a sudden-death final next week and, to make matters worse, Chris Heffernan might have an untimely tribunal appearance after he was involved in an off-the-ball incident with Eagle Daniel Chick in the first quarter.Judd led the West Coast midfield on another hard-running rampage.He had 34 touches and engineered countless clearances. On a day when much of the football did not manage to live up to the expected heights of two final-eight teams, Judd's display was right under the nose of the umpires and could have found its way into their Brownlow Medal votes. The wind blew hard most of the day and the standard of the match suffered accordingly.Melbourne had gone into the match with the chance to snatch back fourth place and snare the double chance in the finals. West Coast needed to win to make sure of its spot in the eight and maintain momentum.Neither side did much for the nerves of their supporters until half-time.Melbourne came out full of purpose but lacking in precision.West Coast, as is often the case after winning a western derby, came out flat and lethargic, but shook off the post-derby blues to finish the match strongly.The Subiaco Oval theory is that key-position players are less important and midfielders become critical.Without Neitz and Holland, the Demons opted for still more run by bringing in Travis Johnstone, but despite a solid game from Johnstone, Neale Daniher's team wound up being caught short in the air.And it lost at ground level, too, with the Eagles' runners in sweet form and Judd, Chad Fletcher, Michael Braun and Ben Cousins amassing 120 possessions between them, even without Daniel Kerr.The Eagles seized control of the game but they wasted their chances and had kicked 2.5 to quarter-time and 6.8 by half-time.Melbourne had received good run from defence from Nathan Brown, solid service in attack from Russell Robertson and an encouraging return from Johnstone, who was one of the most creative midfielders on the ground in the first three quarters.But, with a blustery wind howling across and around Subiaco Oval for much of the game, skills were difficult to execute. Ugly, floating punts were common and neither side was able to make the most of shots at goal.West Coast had led by three points at quarter-time and 13 points at half-time. Melbourne had been competitive at times but had not really converted that on the scoreboard.Robertson was the Demons' best forward, but Brad Miller was their only productive tall forward. He worked hard, but received appalling delivery from teammates in the conditions, grabbing the ball from near his feet or left propping under floating passes while defenders rushed at him.The first goal of the third quarter from Phil Matera opened a 19-point buffer for the Eagles. Melbourne closed the gap with goals to Robertson and Adem Yze, but the Eagles finally slipped into a higher gear and kicked three in a row via Andrew McDougall, Andrew Embley and Damien Adkins. That meant the Demons went to three-quarter-time 28 points down, having kicked only six goals in three quarters of football.Robertson gave them some hope with the first goal of the last quarter, a precisely threaded drop punt from a forward pocket sheltered from the wind, but West Coast got that back quickly.When Jared Rivers tried to force a behind under pressure and fired a handball straight to Ashley Sampi, the Eagles were five goals in front. With goals to Embley and Dean Cox, the score threatened to get ugly for Melbourne, but Cameron Bruce kicked a steadier and the teams played out time.
© 2004 The Sunday Age