North Melbourne Kangaroos v's Western Bulldogs
MELBOURNE - A stunning six-goal first quarter from Kangaroos big man Drew Petrie set up a 17.9 (111) to 11.19 (85) win over the Western Bulldogs as the 'Roos celebrated Glenn Archer's 300th AFL match at the MCG today.
The Kangaroos were never seriously threatened after they kicked six goals in the opening 15 minutes of the match, five of them by Petrie, while he set up Corey Jones for the other one with a handball.
The Kangaroos were clear winners in the middle of the ground early, with Hamish McIntosh performing superbly in the ruck and the likes of Daniel Harris, Adam Simpson and Brent Harvey moving it forward.
Early on, pretty much every time they did so Petrie was on the end of it, with five of his first-term goals coming from marks.
He had three opponents in the first term - Brian Harris, Chris Grant and Tom Williams - who all struggled to shut him down.
The Bulldogs started to work their way into the match late in the opening term, getting some run out of defence, to kick three of the final four goals of the quarter, which reduced the margin to 22 points.
They kept it at about that level for most of the second term, but the Kangaroos pulled away again in the final minutes of the opening half, when youngster Scott McMahon sprung up to mark and goal twice to extend the buffer to 34 points at the long break.
The Bulldogs continued to battle in the second half, and again pulled to within 22 points early in the final term, after skipper Brad Johnson kicked his third goal for the day.
But Harvey responded for the Kangaroos with two clever goals on the run midway through the last quarter to seal the issue and ensure Archer was able to fondly remember his milestone match.
The Bulldogs hurt their chances of making a comeback with some poor kicking in the second half, scoring 5.12.
Archer himself had only a moderate impact on the match in defence.
He had earlier led his team out onto the ground, accompanied by his children, with 300 young Kangaroos fans forming a guard of honour.
Petrie finished the match with seven goals, adding just one in the second quarter and none after half-time, but his tally for the game was still equal to what he had managed in his previous 12 matches this season combined.
Brisbane Lions v's Port Adelaide Power
BRISBANE - Making up for lost time after more than a month on the sidelines, forward Daniel Motlop celebrated his AFL return with an impressive six goal haul that should have sealed a comfortable Port Adelaide victory over the Brisbane Lions at the Gabba.
But the gutsy Lions had other ideas.
Trailing by 40 points early in the final term, Brisbane got off the canvas to thump in seven straight goals to bring the 22,1124-strong Gabba faithful to their feet and lock up the scores in the dying minutes.
However, a controversial 50m penalty capped off by a Brett Ebert goal sealed Port's 17.10 (112) to 15.15 (105) victory as the Lions extended their win-less run to seven straight games.
Motlop last played for Port on May 27 when he broke his collarbone against Geelong.
But the 25-year-old showed no signs of rust as he justified coach Mark Williams' surprise move to drop underperforming key forward Damon White (just 10 goals in 2007) by digging into his bag of tricks to condemn Brisbane to yet another loss.
Motlop at times defied belief as he sunk goals - and Brisbane's spirits - from impossible angles to keep Port on track for September action.
He had the Lions scratching their heads in the 18th minute of the second quarter when he looked no chance of troubling the scorers, only to banana kick on the run 50m out on the boundary through the goal posts for his second major.
Late in the third he was again at his brilliant best, thumping through his fifth about 60m out from an impossible angle in the right forward pocket.
But it was Brisbane's late heroics that threatened to steal the show.
Instead, Port (8-5) notched their second straight win since snapping a four game losing run with last round's inspiring 31-point victory over Essendon.
Brisbane (4-1-8) can at least find some heart in their stirring fourth quarter display despite their lowest home attendance of the season still going home gutted by yet another defeat.
After leading by just 19 points at halftime, Port banged in the first three majors of the third as they went on to enjoy a 14.7 (91) to 8.15 (63) buffer at the final break.
Motlop thumped in three goals by halftime along with exciting youngster Justin Westhoff - in just his fourth AFL game - to establish Port's 9.5 (59) to 5.10 (40) halftime lead.
Brisbane held a 3.4 (22) to 2.3 (15) lead at the first break after the Lions' run of three straight majors was snapped by David Rodan's goal on the quartertime hooter.
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