Live: AFL Sunday

Welcome to AFL Sunday, our live coverage of today’s games.

NORTH Melbourne comfortably disposed of the Gold Coast Suns in a one-sided contest at Etihad Stadium.

Collingwood reaffirmed their spot at number two on the AFL ladder with a hard fought win over Essendon at the MCG.

Over in the West it was the home side Eagles who held out a gallant GWS side in a battle that went down to the wire.

7.50pm

Snubbed Roo is ‘p***ed off’

North Melbourne ruckman Braydon Preuss says he’s “p***ed off” he hasn’t been able force his way into the senior side this season after a breakthrough 2017.

Despite his impressive returns in the VFL he’s been kept out of the team by veteran Todd Goldstein.

“It would annoy anyone playing in the twos, because we’re here to play AFL not VFL,” Preuss told AFL.com.au.

“But ‘Goldy’ is in good form and why change a winning formula? As much as it p***es me off, it’s understandable.

“Hopefully we’ll play finals this year and I can sneak into the side before that. But who knows?”

6.35pm

Eagles hold Giants at bay

West Coast ruckman Nic Naitanui took a mark-of-the-year contender as the Eagles weathered a late storm to secure a thrilling 11-point win over GWS at Optus Stadium on Sunday.

The Eagles led by 23 points in the third quarter, but found themselves down by one point midway through the final term after the Giants launched a fierce fightback.

However, goals to Willie Rioli and Jeremy McGovern in the dying minutes helped lift the home side to the 13.8 (86) to 10.15 (75) win in front of 52,105 fans.

Naitanui had copped plenty of criticism in recent weeks for his perceived lack of physicality and scarcity of marks.

But the 28-year-old sent the crowd wild when he soared over teammate Scott Lycett and 195cm Irishman Aidan Corr to pull down a screamer in the third quarter.

Naitanui landed heavily after the mark, but he soldiered on to take another high-flying grab in the final term.

Wowee.



This guy is unbelievable!



Has @nicnat taken mark of the year?! #AFLEaglesGiants pic.twitter.com/Jb0sUcKO2M — West Coast Eagles (@WestCoastEagles) July 8, 2018

He finished with 41 hit-outs, eight tackles, five clearances, and 15 disposals.

GWS were made to pay dearly for their inaccuracy in front of goal.

Not only did it cost them victory in this match, but it could prove pivotal in their bid to snare a finals berth.

The Giants dropped from sixth to 10th on the back of the loss. They are now half a win outside the top eight, with tough fixtures against Richmond and Port Adelaide to come in the next fortnight.

West Coast, who snapped a three-game losing run, are in third spot with an 11-4 record.

Eagles midfielder Andrew Gaff tallied 41 disposals and two goals, while Luke Shuey and Shannon Hurn were also crucial in the win.

Gaff going to win the Brownlow 🔒 #AFLEaglesGiants — Tim Michell (@tim_michell) July 8, 2018

Adam Tomlinson booted 3.0 for the visitors, but the rest of his teammates weren’t nearly as accurate.

Both sides entered the match missing an important chunk of their forward line. West Coast were without Josh Kennedy (leg), Jack Darling (ankle) and Mark LeCras (wrist), while GWS were missing Jeremy Cameron (suspended), Jon Patton (knee) and Toby Greene (foot).

The lack of firepower was evident in the opening term as both sides struggled to turn attacking forays into goals.

The two teams combined for just three goals in the opening quarter. But West Coast booted five goals to one in the second term to take a 19-point lead into the long break.

West Coast threatened to break away in the third quarter, before GWS pegged them back to ensure for a thrilling finish.

But when Rioli booted a goal from a clever mark late in the match, and then McGovern followed it up with a goal of his own, it was game over.

— AAP

6.20pm

Pies surge behind Pendles

Captain Scott Pendlebury has starred in the last quarter and led his team to a gritty 16-point AFL win over Essendon at the MCG.

Popular Magpie Steele Sidebottom celebrated his 200th game with two goals in Sunday’s 12.6 (78) to 9.8 (62) win.

It is Collingwood’s seventh-straight win and they retained second spot on the ladder, while the Bombers are two games plus percentage outside the eight.

Jordan De Goey kicked three goals, two of them in the last term.

After Bombers forward Mitch Brown kicked the opening goal of the last quarter, Mark Baguley had another set shot that would have put Essendon 12 points up. But he missed and De Goey kicked a goal moments later.

STEELE SIDEBOTTOM ARE YOU KIDDING?



An incredible effort from the man playing his 200th game! #AFLDonsPies pic.twitter.com/U7KqVXSGpw — AFL (@AFL) July 8, 2018

Brendon Goddard gave away a free and a 50m penalty to Sidebottom, who kicked a booming goal to put the Magpies back in front — the eighth lead change of the match.

Collingwood kicked two of the next three goals to seal the win. Pendlebury took the game by the scruff of the neck in the last term and racked up 14 possessions.

While the Magpies took out a pulsating game, their heavy injury toll continued as Flynn Appleby did a hamstring in the last quarter and Will Hoskin-Elliott played out the game despite an early knee injury.

Essendon’s Patrick Ambrose also suffered a hamstring injury in the bleak, wet conditions.

Essendon suffered a major pre-game blow when small forward Orazio Fantasia was ruled out with a sore groin.

Jake Long came in for his first AFL game since the end of the 2016 season. Collingwood had a four-goal run in the opening quarter to lead by 18 points and put the Bombers under early pressure.

But Essendon steadied, with Dyson Heppell and Andrew McGrath on top in the midfield, while Michael Hurley and Cale Hooker were solid in defence.

Scott Pendlebury had 6 clearances in that final quarter

So did Essendon

@CollingwoodFC #AFLDonsPies @AFL — Swamp (@sirswampthing) July 8, 2018

The Bombers kicked 3.3 to three behinds in the second term and when they posted two of the opening three goals in the third term, were looking dangerous.

But Collingwood hit back with two goals, before Essendon pounced on a midfield turnover to go up by a point at three-quarter time — the sixth lead change of the match.

Essendon could have kicked another goal at the end of the quarter, but Shaun McKernan took too long having his shot.

He passed off to Devon Smith, whose long-range kick was blocked on the goal line and Collingwood defended grimly to stop any score before the siren sounded.

— AAP

2.40pm

North down Suns at Etihad

A late fadeout has cost struggling Gold Coast yet again with North Melbourne cruising home to a 37-point AFL victory at Etihad Stadium.

The Suns were within two goals at halftime on Sunday but couldn’t stay with the polished Roos, whose 14.11 (95) to 8.10 (58) victory puts them back within breathing distance of the top eight.

Key defenders Scott Thompson (31 disposals, nine marks) and Robbie Tarrant (26 and 10) took full advantage of the Suns’ wayward ball movement while Ben Brown booted four goals to extend his lead in the Coleman Medal count. Dynamic big man Majak Daw switched roles in the second half and caused all sorts of headaches up forward, snaring two majors.

A dire crowd of just 14,389 was on hand to witness a game where Gold Coast managed just three goals after halftime.

Gold Coast’s inability to run out games has been the story of their season and it again proved the case in just their second trip to Melbourne for the year. The Suns started slowly but lifted their pressure around the ball and went to the main break down 11 points, having won the second quarter.

It predictably couldn’t last. North outscored Gold Coast five goals to one in the third quarter and when Daw flew high for a mark and kicked his second major early in the final term, the Suns were effectively down for the count. Adding to the Suns’ woes, co-captain Steven May faces a likely suspension for laying out Shaun Higgins with a punch to his stomach.

May also struggled with hip soreness after landing heavily in a marking contest, adding to the likelihood of the Suns again being without both their leaders. Free agent Tom Lynch is done for the season with a knee injury and looks likely to have played his final game for the Suns.

North midfielder Cameron Zurhaar (ankle) finished the game on the sidelines while Higgins withstood a battering from the Suns to finish with 26 disposals and a goal.

— with AAP

11.45am

Footy crisis is all too real

Port Adelaide great Kane Cornes has slammed Carlton, declaring it is in the midst of a “crisis” as it slumped to another loss against Brisbane on Saturday.

The Lions trounced the Blues 18.12 (120) to 7.13 (55) as they suffered defeat number 14 for the year to remain anchored to the bottom of the ladder.

“Crisis is the right word — they’ve won one game for the year,” Cornes said on AFL.com.au’s The Round so Far. “There was a lack of effort, a lack of skill level.

“There’s no care, there’s no work rate and this is going to go down as — if not their worst season of all time — then one of their worst.

“Just a staggering performance.”

Cornes described some of Carlton’s periods of play as “not AFL standard”, saying you’d see better performances in the reserves.

11am

Hinkley hits out at Watts’ critics

Port Adelaide coach Ken Hinkley has hit out at the media’s “fascination” with high-profile recruit Jack Watts who slotted two first-half goals in their 36-point win over St Kilda.

It was a solid return from Watts who was recalled to the AFL side after booting five goals in two games for the Power’s reserves in the SANFL. Ever since being selected by Melbourne with the first pick in the 2009 national draft, Watts has been one of the competition’s most scrutinised and maligned players.

Hinkley bristled when asked about Watt’s contribution against the Saints, calling for the media to cut the former Demon some slack.

“There’s this fascination with Jack,” Hinkley said. “He came to Port Adelaide at (traded for) pick 31, (but) we still treat Jack like pick No. 1.

“We should let Jack breathe a little bit and not zoom in on him so much.

“Give the bloke a break.

“Poor bugger, if you think about what he deals with every week from a media point of view, it’s always ‘Jack Watts, pick one’.

“Jack’s playing really good footy for a bloke we brought to our club at pick 31.”

Fellow off-season recruits Tom Rockliff and Steven Motlop were among Port’s best against St Kilda, along with Chad Wingard (32 possessions) who is relishing spending more time in the midfield.

The only negative in the Power’s victory — their fifth in a row — was luckless defender Tom Jonas’s knee injury.

Returning to the side after missing two of the previous three weeks (hamstring), Jonas’s left knee twisted awkwardly while being fairly tackled by Saint Jack Steele in the third quarter on Saturday.

Jonas did not return to the field and scans early this week will reveal how long the star backman will be out for.

“He didn’t finish the game so it’s obviously a significant injury that might put him out for a period of time,” Hinkley said.

“We’ll get it scanned and we’ll make some decisions from there. “Let’s hope it’s not a long absence.”

— AAP