AFTER FOUR ROUNDS of the 2011 season there are two things which can almost be guaranteed in the AFL – there will be a draw and the Gold Coast Suns will get a hiding.
This time out Carlton and Essendon shared the spoils while Melbourne cruised to a 90-point victory over the Suns.
The comeback of the weekend came from Port Adelaide in their South Australian derby against the Crows. The Power overturned a six goal deficit in the second quarter to run out 32-point winners at AAMI Stadium on Saturday as their opponents kicked just two goals after half time.
Skipper Darren Glass played his 200th game for the West Coast Eagles but his side went down fighting against Hawthorn in Tasmania.
Perth rivals Fremantle had more than enough to overcome North Melbourne, for whom Daniel Wells kicked a belter from way out on the boundary, at Paterson’s Stadium on Sunday.
Geelong and and unbeaten reigning Premiers Collingwood also enjoyed expected wins as St Kilda, Brisbane and the Western Bulldogs and had a week off.
Super Rugby
It’s been a busy week off the field as well as on it with the futures of a couple of Wallabies stars making the headlines.
Waratahs back Kurtley Beale confirmed that he has signed a deal to join the Melbourne Rebels, who lost at home to the Hurricanes at the weekend, for the 2012 season. The 22-year-old is set to earn $200,000 per year in third-party endorsements, money that would be separate to his contracts with the Rebels and the Australian Rugby Union.
Meanwhile, Western Force youngster James O’Connor has also been heavily linked with a move to the Rebels. The versatile 20-year-old denied via Twitter that rumours of a switch are true.
That hasn’t, however, stopped the press talking it up as a serious possibility.
O’Connor’s current side earned a shock 27-19 win away to the Brumbies in Canberra on Sunday afternoon. Two second-half tries from David Smith plus a 15-point haul from O’Connor saw them win their first game of the season on Australian soil.
The Queensland Reds still sit comfortably at the top of the competition’s Australian Conference having equalled their longest winning streak in the professional era following their 39-30 defeat of the Bulls. Their sixth win in a row came with six tries from Luke Morahan, Quade Cooper, Radike Samo, Digby Ioane, James Horwill.
