COLLINGWOOD has booked its place in the NAB Cup grand final with a convincing 43-point win over Essendon at Etihad Stadium on Friday night.
Magpies forward John Anthony was the difference between the two sides, booting a career-best seven goals to lift his team to a 1.17.5 (116) to 3.6.10 (73) victory.
Marty Clarke and Dane Swan were influential with 24 possessions apiece while promising youngster Steele Sidebottom impressed in his first game for the Pies, racking up 19 disposals and taking eight marks.
For the Bombers, Ricky Dyson and Bachar Houli tried hard all night.
The Magpies stamped their authority on the contest in the first term, slamming on five goals and a super goal from youngster Dayne Beams to take a 25-point lead into the first change.
Essendon got off to an ideal start in the second term with Paddy Ryder slotting home a super goal from 55m after being gifted a 50m penalty.
But Collingwood had all the answers, piling on four of the last five goals of the term to take a commanding 34-point lead into half-time.
The Bombers closed to within 25 points in the third term thanks to a major from Scott Lucas and a super goal from Dyson.
It would prove to be as close as the Dons would get as the Magpies slammed on three goals in a stunning five-minute burst.
Anthony showed his class in the third term, booting three goals to help his side to a match-winning 40-point lead heading into the final change.
The result was well and truly beyond doubt but Anthony didn't take his foot off the pedal, booting another two goals to cap off an impressive performance.
The Pies will now face the winner of Saturday night’s clash between Geelong and Carlton.
COLLINGWOOD: 1.5.1, 1.9.4, 1.14.4, 1.17,5 (116)
ESSENDON: 0.2.3, 1.3.6, 2.5.9, 3,6,10 (73)
SUPERGOALS: Collingwood: Beams
Essendon: Ryder, Dyson, Lloyd
GOALS: Collingwood: Anthony 7, Didak 2, Bryan 2, Thomas 2, Davis, Lockyer, Pendlebury, Cloke
Essendon: Dyson, Williams, Hille, Lucas, Dyson, Bellchambers
BEST: Collingwood: Anthony, Cox, Bryan, Sidebottom, Swan, Clarke
Essendon: Dyson, Houli, Lonergan, Ryder
INJURIES: Collingwood: Nil
Essendon: Nil
REPORTS: Nil
CHANGES: Nil
UMPIRES: Ryan, Jeffery, Nicholls
CROWD: 26,154 at Etihad Stadium
THE career of Geelong key defender Matthew Egan is in serious doubt with the key defender's foot injury showing no signs of healing.
Egan, who missed a place in the Cats' drought-breaking premiership team in 2007, visited his specialist in Sydney earlier this week.
The 2007 All-Australian centre-half back's foot has not fully healed and he has limited movement in the area despite several operations.
Geelong football operations manager Neil Balme said on Wednesday that there are 'very serious doubts' that Egan will be able to play AFL football again.
"While this is not absolutely the end of the road, there are very serious doubts that Matthew will be able to recover to a level that would allow him to resume his career," Balme said.
"Along with Matthew we will continue to explore all of the options available to him. As we learn more we will continue to keep the many Geelong supporters that have followed Matthew's journey up to date."
PORT ADELAIDE veteran Peter Burgoyne has signed a new one-year deal with the club.
Burgoyne's new contract is performance based with a clause in it that will allow him to play on for a second year if he plays a certain amount of matches in 2009.
Port Adelaide's general manager of football operations Peter Rhode said the 30-year-old is capable of playing for at least a couple more seasons.
"Peter Burgoyne has been one of the club's greatest AFL contributors and we are very pleased he will be with us next year," Rohde said.
"He is a very important part of our side and even though this is a one-year deal we see no reason why he can't play for as many as three more years."
"His form in the last two matches, when he had consecutive best-on-grounds, certainly showed us the improvement he has made."
"A fit and firing Peter Burgoyne in 2009 will take us a long way towards making a steep improvement on last season."
Burgoyne said he believed his body was still capable of coping with the riggours of AFL football and that he is looking forward to helping the club move back up the ladder.
"I still feel that my body will allow me to play two or three years of good football so it was just up to myself and the club to come together and work out a deal that was fair and we've been able achieve that which is great,” he said.
"With our young group going forward, I feel like my experience can be a valuable asset. I really believe our team is going places and we'll be back playing finals in 2009 so I'm really looking forward to it."
FREMANTLE midfielder Rhys Palmer has been rewarded for his stellar debut season with the 2008 NAB Rising Star Award.
Palmer topped the vote count with 44 while exciting Hawthorn forward Cyril Rioli finished second with 37 votes.
The 19-year-old received the maximum of five votes from each judge except for AFL football operations manager Adrian Anderson who gave him four.
Palmer played 20 matches in 2008 and was Fremantle's leading midfielder, averaging 23 possessions per game.
Richmond's Trent Cotchin finished third with 21 votes, while Carlton ruckman Matthew
Kreuzer (11), Fremantle's Garrick Ibbotson (seven) and West Coast forward Ben McKinley (six) rounded out the top six
RICHMOND is better placed to capitalise on another ninth-placed finish this season in 2009, according to coach Terry Wallace.
The Tigers will finish in ninth place for the sixth time in the 15 seasons since the top eight was first introduced in 1994 if they defeat bottom-placed Melbourne at the MCG on Sunday.
Only two of those previous ninth-placed finishes - 1994 and 2000 resulted in finals appearances in the following season, but Wallace is confident the club will be able to build upon this year's ninth-placed finish.
"In most of those years the team had played well early but then faded away and finished ninth," he said.
"But this time around we have done it on the back of young talent and ridden it home (with seven wins in the last 10 matches) in the latter part of the year."
Wallace said the 2008 team could not be compared to the one of 2006, which won the wooden spoon the following season.
"The difference between those two teams is this is more sustainable," he said.
"We did that (in 2006) with the second or third oldest team in the competition and were not able to achieve finals so you would think in that situation you are more likely to go down and up."
"But this time around we have got some good young players and along with Melbourne we had the most players running around in the competition last week with 50 games or less to their names."
Wallace also said the club shouldn't accept anything less than a finals appearance.
"We are on an improving graph and our challenge now is to ensure that continues," he said.
"We are not accepting of ninth place and nor should we be and we have got to start marching up and playing finals footy."
GEELONG forward Nathan Ablett is considering a return to AFL football according to coach Mark Thompson.
The 22-year-old, who won a premiership with Geelong last year walked out on the club in December saying he had lost the passion required to play at the highest level.
Thompson has spoken to Ablett a few times this year and believes he has regained his passion for the game.
"I've spoken to him a few times and it's probably a bit late for this year, for him to play AFL, but that's not the real point, the point is he's missing footy and he is thinking about (a return)," Thompson said.
While there has been speculation Ablett may return to his junior club Modewarre, this isn't possible given he is still an AFL listed player.
Geelong is hopeful that Ablett may train, and possibly play, with its VFL team at some stage this season.
Ablett will need to make a decision on a return by October 31 when the Cats have to finalise their list for the 2009 season.
It’s pretty obvious that Ben Cousins needs help. The recent reports of a 5 day cocaine binge show that he has some serious issues with substance abuse.
As a society we cannot wipe our hands clean of this situation. Ben needs more help than what a drug rehabilitation center can give.
The media are partly to blame for this. It is impossible to give up an addiction with constant scrutiny of your every move.
At some stages in recent weeks it got to the point where we knew when Ben farted.
While the media’s job is to report what is news worthy, they also have a responsibility to look after the person they are reporting on.
They are not doing this. Following Ben to LA and constantly hounding him in Australia is not doing Ben any favours.
Surely these “journalists” have something better to report on.
Society cannot afford to turn their back on Ben, when support is what he needs.
While Ben has had many chances that many don’t get, you can’t turn your back of someone who is on their knees.
The West Coast Eagles have done this. The incident that led to Ben being sacked from the club was a non event.
Do the Eagles need to be reminded he has not been charged with any drug related violations?
Could it be that he refused to do the drug test out of frustration. If he knew he was clean he
had nothing to prove.
While this situation may take 6 months to clear up, we need to be more accepting not just of Ben, but people like Ben whose life is a daily struggle.
If we just lay off him and let him get the treatment he needs without interference, then maybe we will see this superstar grace a footy ground somewhere in Australia again.
AFL, the game we love is diminishing. Slowly the game has been driven away from the fans and into the hands of the corporate community. The proposed move of the Kangaroos to the Gold Coast is the best example of this.
Within the next 30 days the Kangaroos will have to make the decision to leave its culture and homeland and move into foreign territory to start fresh. Is all this pain and heartache for the supporters worth just a few hundred thousand dollars into the AFL’s pockets?
Andrew Demetriou should be sticking up for the Kangaroos and not against them; I mean he did play over 100 games for them as a player.
Maybe he has forgotten that he wouldn’t have become CEO of the biggest sport organisation in Australia if he hadn’t played for them.
The position that faces the Kangaroos board is a tough one. Do they move to the Gold Coast and insure longevity in the AFL, or do they stay in Melbourne and do it alone without the help of the AFL?
If Andrew continues with his plan to grant a new license for a 17th club, the Kangaroos will be in serious trouble financially.
It’s now up to not only up to the supporters of the Kangaroos, but all supporters in Victoria to stand up for what’s right. The AFL needs to know that the fans care about their club, and not money.
After all what’s stopping Andrew picking up the next club and moving it to Tasmania or Sydney?
The AFL may run the league but the fans control it. It’s up to us to keep this football club alive, so put your money where your mouth is and buy a membership. I know I will and I’m not even a Kangaroos supporter.
It’s now or never to show the AFL who really runs this league.
TonyK
Cibbuano
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