Wallace queries Lake's injury
Richmond coach Terry Wallace sarcastically queried the hamstring injury to Western Bulldogs defender Brian Lake as the two sides played out the AFL season's first draw.
The Bulldogs staged a dramatic comeback on Sunday at Telstra Dome, coming back first from 25 points down in the last term and then 19 points behind with only a few minutes left.
With seconds left, Lake took a pack mark within 50m, but indicated he could not take the shot at goal because of injury.
The kick went to ruckman Will Minson, who put through his third goal to tie the scores, 19.16 (130) to Richmond's 20.10 (130)
.
"Was he injured, was he? I bet you he plays next week," Wallace said with a wry grin post-match.
"(Minson's team-mate) Lindsay Gilbee almost got a stitch running from one end of the ground to the other to try to accept it (the kick).
"Our blokes were trying to shepherd him off, but to be honest when they finally came up with whose ball it was and it was in Will Minson's hands, I knew we were in trouble, because I've seen him kick some pretty good goals in recent times, some boundary line goals.
"I thought he was probably the right man for them to have the ball, I would have rather Brian have it."
But Bulldogs coach Rodney Eade insisted Lake's injury was genuine.
"He felt his hamstring but hopefully it looks like it might be back related, a spasm - he is having an ultrasound tomorrow, we will see how it is," Eade said.
The Bulldogs were aiming for five straight wins for the first time since 2002 and their best start to the season since 1946 while Richmond were coming off last Sunday's outstanding win over Fremantle at Subiaco.
Given the Tigers' advantage so late in the game, Wallace had no doubt about whether his glass was half-full or half-empty.
"This very, very much felt like a loss today because that's the natural reaction when you've been in front late in the game and all of a sudden someone comes at you," Wallace said.
West Coast also came at Port Adelaide late in Sunday's Subiaco game, but the Power posted their first win of the season.
While the Eagles kicked the last seven goals of the match, Port avoided a repeat of last weekend's collapse against Brisbane as they won 19.14 (128) to 16.8 (104).
Earlier today, Carlton continued Melbourne's winless start to the season, beating them by 33 points, 15.11 (101) to 9.14 (68).
Blues full-forward Brendan Fevola kicked seven goals, one of three key forwards to enjoy big weekends.
On Saturday night at the Gabba, Hawthorn star Lance Franklin kicked eight as they beat Brisbane 19.16 (130) to 17.16 (118).
At the other end, Lions goalkicker Daniel Bradshaw put through seven.
Franklin leads the Coleman Medal race on 29, three ahead of Fevola and six up on Bradshaw.
The Bulldogs' draw means Hawthorn and Geelong are the only sides to start the season with five-straight wins.
Gary Ablett was outstanding on Saturday at Skilled Stadium as the Cats blew away Sydney in the last term to win 16.18 (114) to 10.12 (72).
On Saturday night at the MCG, North Melbourne rallied from 21 points behind in the last quarter to over-run Collingwood, 16.16 (112) to 15.15 (105).
Adelaide successfully ran down the clock late in their 12.16 (88) to 10.11 (71) win over Fremantle on Saturday at AAMI Stadium.
St Kilda opened the round on Friday night with a 36-point win over Essendon at Telstra Dome, 18.15 (123) to 14.3 (87).
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