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| "What was he THINKING?" 2001 - 2007 BY STEPHEN SUTTIE There are always bizarre things that happen during a match that aren't always funny at the time, but looking back, are either hilarious or just pure head shakers. Some of these following are moments that can be described in a variety of ways, from Brain melts to stupidity to even cheating. There have been plenty of moments over 6 years, and we have tried to compile the best 10. Here goes... |
| NUMBER 10: Trent Hathaway vs Morley 2004 Probably the worst attempt at a dive ever witnessed, and more than worthy of a yellow card, though it was not forthcoming. Phoenix cruised through this match, even missing a penalty on the way to a 4-1 win. Hathaway was chasing a through ball down the line and was having a body on body duel with his opponent, when all of a sudden, Hathaway hit the turf. It was such a bad dive that Stephen Suttie was heard laughing 30 yards away, and James Bergin told Trent,"Get up Trent. That's a disgrace!" Hathaway is still remembered for that dive, and still comes up with the odd dive in current days too, but none can match the atrocity of this one. |
| NUMBER 9: Reece Braithwaite vs Balcatta 2005 This was a great exhibition of the lack of common sense instilled in a player after a head clash. Braithwaite had just collected a cross then been clattered in a head collision. He was awarded a free kick on the 6 yard line. Feeling a little groggy, one would normally just want the ball out of their zone, so a long goal kick was expected. Instead, Braithwaite decided to try a short goal kick, except it went straight to Balcattas centre forward on the edge of the box. Despite a gaping goal, the forwards managed to conspire for one of the great misses of all time, but still, What was Braithwaite thinking? When quizzed about why he did it, he replied,"I couldn't see anything!" The obvious answer to that was,"If you cant see anything, get someone else to take the kick, or atleast don't just roll the ball out to the edge of the box!" |
| NUMBER 8: David Rodgers vs SWRSC 2004 I don't like to make it too personal, but this had to rate a mention. At the end of 2003, Rodgers took it upon himself to declare he would"Never play under Jimmy Mayers again." Since Mayers had already been appointed coach for 2004 and Rodgers had no allies on the council, it was always a stupid thing to say publicly. Everyone has their preferred coach, and regardless of who it is, you have to play under who you've got. Rodgers actually played AGAINST Phoenix for Bunbury United in a friendly just prior to the season, with Phoenix winning 3-2. He later did a back flip and joined the team just prior to the season. A few things are worth noting that happened soon after; Rodgers had the most successful year of any Phoenix player in history, then Mayers left at seasons end to be replaced by Micky Cairns, but Rodgers still left the club anyway. |
| NUMBER 7: Referee SWP vs Perth City 2001 Graham Poll had a nightmare in the World Cup, but before that Phoenix had their own issues. In the first of the play off matches in 2001, Phoenix were up against minor premiers Perth City, on a very ordinary surface in Perth. Greg Hayes committed a foul into the 2nd half and looked on as he received his 2nd yellow card. His opponent stated that it was his 2nd card, but the referee assured the City players that it was not. Realising all of this, Coach Joe Kelly intelligently substituted Hayes immediately and brought on another player. The drama continued later when Steve Rodgers got his first yellow card, but the referee produced 2 yellow cards and a red. Rodgers assured the ref he had not previously been booked, so the ref had a meeting with his assistants. For those who were close enough to hear, once their meeting contained the words,"Oh,Ow,"it was always going to mean trouble. Rodgers stayed on the park, and the ref looked over, realising that Hayes should have been sent off, only to see Hayes sitting nicely on the sideline. To add to the drama, Rodgers scored a goal in the last minute to grab a 2-2 draw on an afternoon of high drama. |
| NUMBER 6: Greg Hayes vs Morley 2005 In his first of many entries, Hayes had a complete break down of any rational thought here. Phoenix had possession of the ball and David Murphy passed the ball to Hayes- albeit a bit wide of him and towards the sideline. For some reason unknown to anyone including himself, Hayes watched the ball cross the line, then got in position to receive the throw in. Obviously, since Murphy had touched the ball last(and it should be noted there was no one anywhere near Murphy that could've touched the ball) it was not a Phoenix throw in. Hayes had a shocked look on his face when Morley took the throw in, and you could even almost see his brain thinking,"What was I thinking?" |
| NUMBER 5: Gary Mayers vs Mandurah 2006 A couple of Phoenix players were lining up a 20 yard free kick. The keeper was sorting out his wall and virtually two thirds of the goal was vacant while he was doing so. At this point, the referee asks,"Do you want to take it or me step out the wall and blow the whistle?" Before anyone could say,"We'll take it now," Gary said "No we'll wait for the whistle." As I looked puzzled at Gary, he then realised he was meant to say,"Yes we'll take it." The look on his face when he realised he gave the wrong answer was priceless, and he was thinking,"What did I just say?" |
| NUMBER 4: Greg Hayes vs Balcatta 2004 More indiscipline than lack of thought process, but they do sort of go hand in hand. Phoenix were undefeated and top of the league ahead of their trip to Balcatta. It was a bad day, and 5mins from the end Bergin was sent off for kicking out at his opponent. As he trudged past his captain, Hayes told him that he had let the side down and it was stupid. As Bergin sat alone in the changeroom in the dying minutes thinking about what he had done, his captain walked through the door minutes before the end, also seeing red after a rediculous lunge. It's silly to get sent off, but to give someone a serve for getting sent off, only to do it yourself, is quite silly...and humourous looking back. |
| NUMBER 3: Trent Hathaway vs Balcatta 2005 Some players strike others behind play in hope they will get away with it. Very few do it infront of the referee. This was one of those few occassions. In a spiteful match where Phoenix got the wrong end of the decisions, it was 2-1 to Balcatta after about 75mins with tensions high. Hathaway was struck behind play, so he said to the ref,"Did you see that!?!" The ref said "No." At this point, Hathaway decided to have his revenge, and slapped the Balcatta player-while the ref was still standing two metres away. Obviously, Hathaway was ejected from the rest of the match, despite him somehow seeing a reason to complain and argue with the referee about the red card. Please, don't slap players. Even you do see the need to, don't call the referee over first! What was he thinking? |
| NUMBER 2: Andrew Cowley vs Mandurah 2005 There was a lot of fun in 2005. This was the pick of the action. A crunch game at Mandurah(as mentioned in greatest moments page) saw Phoenix badly wanting a first ever win at Mandurah. Phoenix had had a series of slow starts to matches, falling behind to early goals, so much of the pre match talk from Cairns was about the importance of starting well. Mandurah took the kick off and as teams do, kicked the ball long diagonally to the top corner of the box. Under little pressure at the time, Cowley heard a call of "Away" from 'keeper Braithwaite, but instead misinterpreted that for "Dummy"(somehow) and a Mandurah player opened the scoring after running on to the dummy. Those looking towards the bench at this point saw Ray Suttie checking his watch to see 6seconds as the offical time, and Micky Cairns had turned around leaning his head and arms against the dug out. In fairness to Cowley, had Braithwaite not been standing in no mans land, an easy tap in for Mandurah would probably not have been a goal. Ultimately, Phoenix equalised a minute later and went on to win 4-3 in a thriller. |
| NUMBER 1: David Murphy vs Perth City 2002 Clearly the biggest of all brain melts, Murphy is still at a loss to this day to explain exactly what his intent was here. Manning the top of the box for a defensive corner, the ball broke to Murphy but he was marked so he couldn't turn away with the ball. So he decided to just blast the ball somewhere, anywhere. That anywhere just so happened to be the bottom corner of the net. 'Keeper Braithwaite was stunned, and never even moved to try to make the save. The finish was that good that had it been a goal FOR Phoenix, it may have even made the Top 10 off all time. In defence to Murphy, there was a crowd of players around him, and he couldn't have expected to put the ball undeflected anywhere near the goals, but it was just one of those days where everything went wrong. WHAT WAS MURPHY THINKING? |
Unlucky to miss out: Bosman/Cavanagh collision vs Dianella 2006 What was Suttie thinking as he sat in the net after missing from three yards vs Rockingham 2006? Gaynors dummy on the 6 yard line for the Armadale centre forward to score. | |
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