Results of how our tipsters fared, after the first week of the finals... el-capitano -- 4 RichardL -- 3 Spartacus -- 3 babytiger2001 -- 3 ChrisH -- 3 mrsbabytiger2001 -- 3 bcwildcatjohn -- 1
Western Bulldogs v Sydney St. Kilda v Collingwood Have to go my two teams, even if I'm not sure both will get up! This might cost me my lead!
I'll go Western Bulldogs and Collingwood. I'm not really sold on the Doggies, but I'm really not sure Sydney can lift two weeks in a row. Collingwood have surprised me in the weeks since the Didak/Shaw incident. They could easily have folded tents at that point, but to their credit they didn't and have proven their mettle since.
Some Monday night news... St. Kilda's Lenny Hayes has been cleared of striking Geelong's Joel Selwood by the Match Review Panel today, thereby allowing Hayes to face Collingwood on Saturday night. However, the Saints and coach Ross Lyon is still no closer to deciding whether Luke Ball will play, after having missed a little over the last month with a hamstring injury.
After the season-ending knee injury to Brett Prismall took the gloss off Geelong's big win over the Saints, the Cats received some good news on Paul Chapman, as he's expected to recover from a hamstring-related injury in time for a preliminary final showdown against either the Western Bulldogs or Sydney.
Western Bulldogs v Sydney St. Kilda v Collingwood these tips brought to you with great difficulty on a Japanese keyboard, where with just one mistaken touch of the wrong key 伊間tyぺぃ毛てぃｓ or maybe even ぃ毛ティsいんｓてあｄ、 pretty annoying huh?
Tuesday morning's news... Collingwood's forward stocks could increase if Anthony Rocca makes a comeback from a long-term injury to be included -- but don't expect that to happen until the preliminary final, should the Magpies beat St. Kilda. Magpies captain Scott Burns, however, may be a more likely candidate to face the Saints, as he bids to return from a hamstring injury that's kept him sidelined for over the last month.
Geelong superstar and Brownlow Medal favorite Gary Ablett Jr. has won the league's players association's MVP award, as voted on by the playing peers around the league, at a gala dinner last night in Melbourne.
Sydney coach Paul Roos is relishing his team's position for flying the flag for all interstate clubs as the lone non-Victorian team left in the finals competition, and will use that to inspire his team against a Western Bulldogs team that won't lack the bite it has been searching for over the last several weeks.
Sydney and Collingwood will win, but I hope they both don't. If the Pies can topple Hawthorn the next week, though, I'll let it slide. It looks like a bunch of score boxes for some exotic sport.
Scott Burns trained strongly today at Gosch's Paddock, suggesting that he could very well play, but Collingwood coach Mick Malthouse has stopped short of declaring him available for the cut-throat match against the Western Bulldogs.
If Hawthorn were to stumble in a preliminary final, and I'm not saying they're going to, I'd think Collingwood would be much more likely to do the job than would be St. Kilda. Collingwood is one of those teams that is capable of coming up and surprising other teams -- in other words, they'll get a result just when you've counted them out.
True, that. That's what I get for updating stuff at the end of a long, tiring day at work. Nonetheless, Burns is no certainty to be selected, and Malthouse has said he's not going to take any exceptional risks in his squad selections. Anyway, we'll see what happens tonight...
The squads for the weekend's do-or-die survival games have been announced... Semi-final Teams -- sportal.com.au Teams story: Burns and Ball both named -- sportal.com.au
My tips: Western Bulldogs v Sydney St. Kilda v Collingwood Yes, both of this week's participating top-four teams to go two-and-out.
I wouldn't mind that, even though I tipped the Bulldogs to win. I don't know why, but the Bulldogs just seem to have less charisma than a history teacher. They are the Middlesbrough of the AFL.
I'll second that remark...I counted them out for the season after the Didak/Shaw incident. But they proved me wrong and continue to do so.
I don't know about that. They certainly do have some engaging personalities -- such as Robert Murphy, Brad Johnson, Adam Cooney and Will Minson... and personalities in the AFL don't get that much more engaging or charismatic than that of Jason Akermanis. Their problem has been since the Round 16 loss to Geelong that if you shut down their ability to get out and run, they don't have a Plan "B" to try and attack the opposition. You can't kick it long to leading forwards inside 50, due to their lack of tall forwards (Minson notwithstanding). And Johnson can beat you only so many times at ground level. They've had a fulfilling season, but they need to beef up their forward stocks with some taller players in order to take the next step.