[babytiger2001]

Here's the schedule for the long Queen's Birthday weekend-- and we're now officially past the halfway point of the home-and-away season...

Friday, 11 June
Carlton v Hawthorn, at Telstra Dome, 7:30 pm Melbourne time

Saturday, 12 June
Western Bulldogs v St. Kilda, at the MCG, 2 p.m. Melbourne time
Essendon v Brisbane, at Telstra Dome, 7 p.m. Melbourne time
West Coast v Adelaide, at Subiaco Oval, 5:30 p.m. Perth time

Sunday, 13 June
Port Adelaide v Sydney, at AAMI Stadium, 12:30 p.m. Adelaide time
Geelong v North Melbourne, at Kardinia Park, Geelong, 2 p.m. Melbourne time
Richmond v Fremantle, at the MCG, 2 p.m. Melbourne time

Monday, 14 June (Queen's Birthday holiday)
Melbourne v Collingwood, at the MCG, 2 p.m. Melbourne time

Live audio of all games on the AFL's official site, just tune in moments before the opening centre bounce.

Will provide daily news updates as pertinent-- and a statistical review is coming right up.

[babytiger2001]

Updated ladder, in detail, after Round 11

Result (highlight to reveal): 1. St Kilda 11 10 1 0 1339 875 153.02 40
2. Melbourne 11 8 3 0 1178 944 124.78 32
3. Brisbane 11 8 3 0 1182 955 123.76 32
4. Essendon 11 8 3 0 1208 1104 109.42 32
5. Port Adelaide 11 7 4 0 1203 1083 111.08 28
6. Sydney 11 6 5 0 1007 920 109.45 24
7. Geelong 11 6 5 0 1051 971 108.23 24
8. Fremantle 11 6 5 0 956 895 106.81 24
==========================================
9. Kangaroos 11 5 6 0 1120 1061 105.56 20
10. West Coast 11 4 7 0 1016 1187 85.59 16
11. Collingwood 11 4 7 0 881 1055 83.5 16
12. Carlton 11 4 7 0 946 1185 79.83 16
13. Richmond 11 4 7 0 828 1168 70.89 16
14. Adelaide 11 3 8 0 999 1027 97.27 12
15. Western Bulldogs 11 3 8 0 1029 1193 86.25 12
16. Hawthorn 11 2 9 0 853 1173 72.71 8

Leading Goal-kickers
1. Fraser Gehrig (St Kilda) 50
2. Matthew Lloyd (Essendon) 44
3. Brendan Fevola (Carlton) 39
4. David Neitz (Melbourne) 37
5. Warren Tredrea (Port Adelaide) 36
6. Barry Hall (Sydney Swans) 36
7. Phillip Matera (West Coast Eagles) 34
8. Matthew Richardson (Richmond) 30
9. Wayne Carey (Adelaide) 27
10. Kent Kingsley (Geelong) 27

Marks
1. Nick Riewoldt (St Kilda) 101
2. Barry Hall (Sydney Swans) 93
3. Warren Tredrea (Port Adelaide) 85
4. Cameron Ling (Geelong) 83
5. Chad Cornes (Port Adelaide) 83
6. Luke McPharlin (Fremantle) 80
7. Adam McPhee (Essendon) 73
8. Ken McGregor (Adelaide) 71
9. Paul Wheatley (Melbourne) 70
10. James Clement (Collingwood) 69

Disposals
1. Adam Simpson (North Melbourne) 299
2. Paul Hasleby (Fremantle) 296
3. Mark Ricciuto (Adelaide) 285
4. Nathan G. Brown (Richmond) 273
5. Peter Bell (Fremantle) 271
6. Scott West (Western Bulldogs) 270
7. Nigel Lappin (Brisbane Lions) 269
8. Kane Johnson (Richmond) 266
9. Ben Cousins (West Coast Eagles) 259
10. Adem Yze (Melbourne) 257

Full stats page -- afl.com.au

[babytiger2001]

And here's the Wednesday Morning Rub, folks...

Carlton v Hawthorn
Hawks face seven changes -- The Age

Brawl cover for Hawks, says Parkin -- The Age

27 charges from brawl -- The Herald Sun The fate of several Hawthorn players, plus Essendon's Justin Murphy, will be determined at tonight's Tribunal.

Schwab takes heat off Brereton -- The Herald Sun

Western Bulldogs v St. Kilda
Rohde takes Dim view on criticism -- The Herald Sun

No Saint relief -- The Herald Sun

Rivals have lost fear for Bulldogs, admits Rohde -- The Age

Essendon v Brisbane
The rematch of the "No Rules" game of a couple of years ago...

Dons 'forget' melee to chew over Lions -- The Age

Sheeds sees in the dark and likes what he sees -- Patrick Smith column in The Australian

Lions at most dangerous -- Robert Walls column in The Age

West Coast v Adelaide
Watts next on list of Crows debuts -- Adelaide Advertiser

Ayres wants to coach Crows next season -- Adelaide Advertiser

Make or break time for Crows' careers -- Adelaide Advertiser

Port Adelaide v Sydney
Port's dismay after spoiler banned -- Adelaide Advertiser

Ebert on the defensive -- Adelaide Advertiser

Swans' win may cost them Hall and Barry -- Sydney Morning Herald

Geelong v North Melbourne
Ricco's great view on life -- Geelong Advertiser By the way, I got "face time" on TV last weekend handballing to Peter Riccardi during Geelong's game against the Western Bulldogs.

We want 25,000 -- Geelong Advertiser

Riccardi milestone off the bench -- The Herald Sun No. 250 coming up for "Ricco" this weekend...

Richmond v Fremantle
Tigers and Hawks in free-fall -- Caroline Wilson column in The Age

Zantuck mobile incident threatens Tigers' sponsorship -- The Age

Zantuck's wrong call for TAC deal -- The Herald Sun

Schammer stays a Docker -- The Herald Sun

Connolly to confront players over poor form -- The West Australian

Melbourne v Collingwood
Tarrant out for two: Pies will appeal -- The Age

Magpies to appeal Tarrant suspension -- The Herald Sun

[BhoysFC1995]

glad to see you got some time on tv

my picks
carlton
st kilda
Lions
Adelaide
Syd
geelong
freemantle
magpies

will the hawks have enough guys to field after all the suspensions?

[babytiger2001]

Originally Posted by BhoysFC1995

glad to see you got some time on tv

But will it make the cut for the highlight show on FSW?

Apparently, Suzi (goaldrush) tells me offline that my wife and I also got some TV time, while barracking in the standing area at Kardinia Park, a couple of weeks ago at the Geelong v Melbourne game...

Originally Posted by BhoysFC1995

will the hawks have enough guys to field after all the suspensions?

Good question-- and as Tiffany Cherry (on Fox Footy Channel) was reading out the sentences handed down by the Tribunal last night, I was wondering much the same thing...

Richie Vandenberg (Hawthorn) -- six matches, striking & kneeing
Lance Picoane (Hawthorn) -- four matches, striking
Campbell Brown (Hawthorn) -- four matches, striking
Simon Beaumont (Hawthorn) -- one match, misconduct
Justin Murphy (Essendon) -- one match, misconduct

And add that to Shane Crawford, Kris Barlow, Sam Mitchell, Mark Graham and Luke McCabe also unavailable for selection this week due to various injuries of varying lengths, and I think it's a no-brainer to tip Carlton this week.

[babytiger2001]

The Thursday morning round-up...

The Tribunal Aftermath
Hawks-Dons melee results in record fine -- afl.com.au

Hawks king hit at Tribunal -- The Herald Sun

Tribunal hits Hawks for six -- The Age

Record fine: no comment -- The Age

Brawl not football -- The Age

AFL chief backs Brereton -- The Age

All this, and the Tribunal will hear Chris Tarrant's appeal on behalf of the Collingwood Football Club today at AFL House in Melbourne today at 3 pm.

And onto news about what happens on the grounds...

Carlton v Hawthorn
Captain Kouta set to return -- The Age

Whitnall shrugs off barbs -- The Australian

Hawthorn flag in tatters as respect dwindles -- The Australian

Western Bulldogs v St. Kilda
Saints have new mark for courage -- The Age

Essendon v Brisbane
Hard work paying off for Notting -- The Herald Sun

West Coast v Adelaide
Sampi under pressure as Eagles get serious -- The West Australian

Don't rule out Crows just yet: Clarke -- Adelaide Advertiser

We won't give up, says Ayres -- The Herald Sun

Port Adelaide v Sydney
Wakelin has chance to repay faith -- Adelaide Advertiser

Giant-killing Swans wary of the Power of revenge -- Sydney Morning Herald

Leaping Leo still a hope -- foxsports.news.com.au

Geelong v Western Bulldogs
Fitness concern for King -- Geelong Advertiser

King of the Cats to be closely vetted -- The Age

No King-sized headaches for cruising Cats -- The Herald Sun

Richmond v Fremantle
Tiger has licence: club -- The Age

Connolly to consider the old heave-ho -- The Age

Melbourne v Collingwood
Buckley likely for clash with Demons -- afl.com.au

Will have the team news tonight...

[babytiger2001]

And here are my tips...

Carlton v Hawthorn
Western Bulldogs v St. Kilda
Essendon v Brisbane
West Coast v Adelaide
Port Adelaide v Sydney
Geelong v North Melbourne
Richmond v Fremantle
Melbourne v Collingwood

I might change that last tip, depending on whether or not Chris Tarrant wins his appeal at the Tribunal today. Nathan Buckley's likely to be back for Collingwood, but with Anthony Rocca likely out, will the Magpies have anyone in the forward line to kick to?

Going into this round, I'm 56/88 for the season.

[babytiger2001]

Tarrant appeal dismissed -- afl.com.au

I think I was going to stick with my tip of Melbourne over Collingwood in the Monday match anyway...

Picoane appeal fails -- afl.com.au

And the squads are in, for the weekend matches...

Round 12 teams -- afl.com.au

Highlights:

• Anthony Koutafides in for Carlton
  
• Five changes for injury- and suspension-riddled Hawthorn, with Luke Brennan (ex of the North Ballarat Rebels under-18's) making his AFL debut
  
• Ashley Sampi to miss out for West Coast with a knee injury
  
• Five changes for Adelaide
  
• Leo Barry named for Sydney, but his status is still up in the air due to injury
  
• Geelong captain Steven King's hamstring won't be risked, so ex-Hawthorn player David Loats makes his debut for the Cats in the ruck
  
• Nathan Buckley highlights four inclusions for Collingwood

[ScouseCat]

Originally Posted by babytiger2001

Carlton v Hawthorn
Western Bulldogs v St. Kilda
Essendon v Brisbane
West Coast v Adelaide
Port Adelaide v Sydney
Geelong v North Melbourne
Richmond v Fremantle
Melbourne v Collingwood

For the second week in succession, we have tipped exactly the same.

St Kilda are my certainty of the week, ready to bouce back after their first loss of the season last week and take it out on the happless Bulldogs. Carlton should be able to get over the depleted Hawks, while Melbourne should be able to beat Collingwood on the Queen's Birthday match. Geelong has a great opportunity to cement their spot in the top 8 with a win against the Kangaroos on Sunday. Geelong hasn't lost at home so far this season, and will be looking to continue on their good form on Sunday.

[babytiger2001]

Originally Posted by ScouseCat

For the second week in succession, we have tipped exactly the same.

You realise that you can't pass me in the tipping pool unless you take some risks, right?

Originally Posted by ScouseCat

St Kilda are my certainty of the week, ready to bouce back after their first loss of the season last week and take it out on the happless Bulldogs.

Saints should win easy, in their first MCG visit of the season.

Originally Posted by ScouseCat

Carlton should be able to get over the depleted Hawks,

And by ten goals, at that, I think.

Originally Posted by ScouseCat

while Melbourne should be able to beat Collingwood on the Queen's Birthday match.

With Tarrant out and Rocca still a doubt, who will kick the Pies' goals? Surely Buckley will step up and deliver, but he can't do it all himself, especially after the last several weeks out.

Originally Posted by ScouseCat

Geelong has a great opportunity to cement their spot in the top 8 with a win against the Kangaroos on Sunday. Geelong hasn't lost at home so far this season, and will be looking to continue on their good form on Sunday.

I think we can win this game fairly easily, but no game against North Melbourne is a gimme. The Kangaroos always give an honest effort and will battle tooth and nail until the bitter end.

However, the way Geelong has been playing lately in every facet of the game, that's got to suggest that another win of eight goals or more is a very likely scenario.