AFL 2022 Round 9: Cameron exit, Suns scorch Dockers, Demons break record, ‘Biggie’ debuts

Leon Cameron’s nine-season tenure as coach of Greater Western Sydney didn’t get the ending it richly deserved as he watched his side crash to defeat against Carlton.

Ever since the club decided that contract talks would not take place until the end of the year, so speculation started as to whether he would be offered a new deal and seen as the one to take them forward. That eventually led to a press conference, last Thursday, when it was announced that he would be leaving by mutual consent.

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Addressing the decision, Giants CEO David Matthews said “He’s done an outstanding job. He’s a terrific person in football. It’s a long tenure that he’s had in a variety of roles and I think he’s done an outstanding job. There’s nothing too dramatic about what’s behind it. He’s been here for a long time. It’s an amicable discussion that was held and we’re looking forward now.”

“It’s reached a point where he felt it was in the club’s best interests to have a breath of fresh air and a fresh start and we were of a similar view. It was a really, really amicable and agreeable conversation. Today is really about thanking him and congratulating him. I think today was really well handled. He’s a very decent person.”

Tom Lynch continued his scoring run with another four goals, taking his tally to 31 for the season and leading the Coleman Medal, as Richmond got up over Hawthorn.

Their line-up included 21 (out of 23) Premiership players; with key man Dusty Martin starting to hit his stride, after a spell away from the club, coupled with the Tigers hitting some decent form is certainly putting the rest of the competition on notice.

They also gave a debut to 20-year-old defender Bigoa ‘Biggie’ Nyuon, taken from the Dandenong Stingrays in the 2019 NAB AFL Draft. One of eight siblings, he was born in Kenya, into a South Sudanese family, and spent his first three years in a refugee camp before they arrived in Australia in search of a better life.

Down in Tassie, Port Adelaide made it four-in-a-row as their resurgence continues, following a slow opening, as they hammered a disappointing North Melbourne outfit.

They blitzed early, which laid the foundation for a straight forward afternoon with Mitch Georgiades and Todd Marshall amongst the goals for the rampant Power.

Another loss completes a tough few days for Kangaroos coach David Noble; he has been in the news, this week, after it was revealed that he had apologised to his squad for having given them a harsh post-game “spray”, last month, at the Gabba.

Gold Coast produced the result of the round as they took down Fremantle, in wet and humid conditions, in what proved to be a low scoring affair at Metricon Stadium.

The Suns kept the high-flying Dockers to their smallest tally for the year while, at the other end, Mabior Chol (pictured below) kicked four majors as they ran out convincing winners.

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Speaking in the presser, coach Stuart Dew said “We’ve just got to keep going; the ladder is still settling, it takes a little while such is the evenness. There’s clearly a couple of stand-out teams up the front, but then there’s a big glut of teams there and we certainly want to be in the mix; that was important from our point of view today.”

He added “The maturity to back up a win, which hasn’t been our strength before; but I think we’re built a little bit different this year. We’ve put the work in and we’ll continue to have challenges, but I think we’re going to see more of that than not.”

Charlie Cameron came back to haunt his old club, by booting four goals, as Brisbane showed their credentials by knocking over Adelaide on their home deck.

The Lions didn’t have it all their own way, though, actually trailing at half-time but were able to re-set, go through the gears and be dominant in the second half.

Essendon coach Ben Rutton didn’t hold back his words, claiming his players “weren’t up for it” after seeing them put up an insipid display in a 58-point defeat to Sydney.

In captain Dyson Heppell’s 200th game for the Bombers, he also added that they were “comprehensively beaten” and “the scoreline flattered them”; in truth, it did given the fact that the Swans were inaccurate in front of the big sticks (21 behinds).

A devastating third quarter from St.Kilda proved pivotal as they were able to come from behind to claim their first success over Geelong, since 2010, in a thriller.

Ruckman Paddy Ryder (pictured below) was the catalyst with a star showing that included 22 hitouts, 10 disposals, 5 marks and 3 goals as the Saints were able to seize the momentum.

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Speaking to STK Media, the 34-year-old said “Awesome win, coming off a couple of weeks where we haven’t got the result. To come out, especially in the second half, a lot of the boys started executing their roles well, which helped the team out, and we ended up getting the choccies. So pretty proud of them.”

On having his dad in the crowd, he added “To have him over here, he is a really hard worker (as a police officer) who doesn’t get a lot of time to enjoy himself, is a big thing for me to put my best foot forward and make my family proud.”

The Western Bulldogs led all evening, coming out on top with season-high groundballs and contested possessions, in putting away Collingwood with ease.

There were three snags apiece from the quartet of Buku Khamis (career-high), Josh Dunkley, Aaron Naughton and Adam Treloar while Bailey Smith (40 disposals as well as 13 score involvements) was superb in the midfield for the Doggies.

Completing the weekend’s action, over in the west, saw ladder leaders Melbourne make it nine-zip to set a new record for defending premiers this century, surpassing Geelong’s eight wins in 2008, as they defeated an undermanned West Coast.

Eagles midfielder Jack Redden made his 250th appearance but there was little else to cheer about for the club who have just been decimated by a combination of Covid and injuries that has already seen them forced to use 43 different players so far.

Round 9 Results

Collingwood 7.9 (51)
Western Bulldogs 14.15 (99)

Hawthorn 14.10 (94)
Richmond 17.15 (117)

North Melbourne 6.10 (46)
Port Adelaide 17.13 (115)

St.Kilda 13.12 (90)
Geelong 11.14 (80)

Sydney 14.21 (105)
Essendon 6.11 (47)

Adelaide 9.12 (66)
Brisbane 16.6 (102)

Gold Coast 10.9 (69)
Fremantle 4.9 (33)

GWS 11.9 (75)
Carlton 15.5 (105)

West Coast 5.8 (38)
Melbourne 16.16 (112)

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