Because it's never too early to look ahead to the weekend! Here are the fixtures for Round 10: Friday, 28 May Essendon v Fremantle, at Telstra Dome, 7:30 pm Melbourne time Saturday, 29 May Hawthorn v Adelaide, at the MCG, 2 pm Melbourne time West Coast v Richmond, at Subiaco Oval, 2 pm Perth time North Melbourne v Collingwood, at Telstra Dome, 7 pm Melbourne time Western Bulldogs v Sydney, at the SCG, 7 pm Sydney time Sunday, 30 May Melbourne v Brisbane, at The Gabba, 1 pm Brisbane time Carlton v St. Kilda, at Telstra Dome, 2 pm Melbourne time Port Adelaide v Geelong, at AAMI Stadium, 2 p.m. Adelaide time (2:30 pm in Melbourne) No typos here-- those are indeed home games outside of Melbourne for both the Bulldogs and the Demons. They sold the hosting rights for those games to Sydney and Brisbane respectively, but will come home with much of the cash. For those back home in the USA, live audio is available via the AFL's official site. I will post related news this week, as pertinent...
Ladders and top goal-kickers Ladders, through Round 9 And I'll post it here, in hidden fashion, for the benefit of those back home ahead of the midweek highlights show on Fox Sports World... Code: [result]1. St Kilda 9 36 158.07 2. Melbourne 9 28 132.01 3. Brisbane 9 24 119.08 4. Port Adelaide 9 24 118.04 5. Fremantle 9 24 117.75 6. Essendon 9 24 100 7. Geelong 9 20 104.82 8. Sydney 9 16 103.21 --------------------------- 9. Kangaroos 9 16 101.34 10. Richmond 9 16 74.94 11. Western Bulldogs 9 12 90.67 12. Carlton 9 12 85.03 13. West Coast 9 12 82.44 14. Adelaide 9 8 87.62 15. Hawthorn 9 8 81.94 16. Collingwood 9 8 75.32 [/result] Key here is games played, points, percentage. (Four points for a win, by the way.)
And as promised, the goalkickers... AFL Stats page Goals 1. Fraser Gehrig St Kilda 41 2. Warren Tredrea Port Adelaide 33 3. Matthew Lloyd Essendon 32 4. David Neitz Melbourne 32 5. Brendan Fevola Carlton 31 6. Barry Hall Sydney Swans 30 7. Phillip Matera West Coast Eagles 27 8. Kent Kingsley Geelong 23 9. Matthew Richardson Richmond 23 10. Paul Medhurst Fremantle 22
Key stories from Tuesday's papers... Essendon v Fremantle Captain Hird can see clearly now -- The Herald Sun Fletcher is warned -- The Age Fremantle favours defence for Polak -- The West Australian Carlton v St. Kilda We can keep going: Saints veteran -- The Age Koschitzke at Tribunal again -- The Herald Sun North Melbourne v Collingwood Return from injury could lift Magpies' mood -- The Age Tarrant excites Mildura -- The Herald Sun Melbourne v Brisbane No panic at Gabba: coach -- The Age Lion Llane a tall order -- The Herald Sun Bizzell out for eight -- The Herald Sun Lions ponder gamble on tall teen -- Brisbane Courier-Mail Port Adelaide v Geelong Cats shape as real deal -- The Herald Sun Thompson: Critics should be blushing -- The Herald Sun Take a bow, Bomber... -- Mike Sheahan column in the Herald Sun Tribunal: Port sweats on knee charge -- The Herald Sun Collision has Hardwick on run -- The Herald Sun Report adds to Power woes -- Adelaide Advertiser Lethal and efficient front line -- Geelong Advertiser And news updates from the Tribunal later tonight...
easily it seems like the Lions match is the game of the week, with them winning. will St. Kilda lose (i don't think this week)? can the Pies march towards the playoffs? The bombers and cats to win too. (talk about random gibberish from me! )
Gibber randomly all you want, that's what we're here for. Can't see the Lions winning, especially with ten Premiership players likely out, and that includes their top three ruckmen. As far as St. Kilda goes, you can get 25-1 odds over here (from TAB SportsBet) on the Saints going through the whole home-and-away season undefeated. That might be worth a punt... Match of the round looks like the rampaging Geelong Cats travelling to South Australia to face a Port Adelaide side that will be getting a few players back, but still has an injury list longer than "War And Peace". But I might be showing my bias here. Not to mention that last night's Tribunal results didn't help out the Power at all, either... Hardwick fined, Burgoyne gets two -- afl.com.au And in other Tribunal news... Welsh cleared, Thompson out for one -- afl.com.au [brush with fame] That Tribunal news confirmed last night by the Fox Footy Channel's hottie newsreader Tiffany Cherry, she who winked at me at an AFL-related function a few weeks ago. [/brush with fame]
* * *I'm William, and this is the news* * * And here's the news highlights as of lunch hour on Wednesday here... Leading with some rather unfortunate news involving one of the AFL's key players, however... Hawthorn v Adelaide Hawk fights personal battle (with depression) -- The Age Goodwin baffled by abductor dilemma -- Adelaide Advertiser Essendon v Fremantle Fletcher is warned -- The Age Freo vulnerable: Wallace -- The Age Wallace, Walls blast Dockers -- The West Australian West Coast v Richmond Tigers still in turmoil -- The Age Tigers review MCG deal after training ban -- The Age North Melbourne v Collingwood Veteran Roos vow to keep playing -- The Herald Sun Tarkyn sick of waiting -- The Herald Sun Glenn Archer, a hard man but a soft touch -- The Age Magpie ruckman nominated for rising star award -- The Age Pies willing to do what it takes to win -- Mick Malthouse column in The Australian Western Bulldogs v Sydney Dogs coach tells a home truth -- The Age Carlton v St. Kilda Saints set for revamp of Moorabbin -- The Age A big hit from the start -- The Age Saints gain at Tigers' expense -- The Australian Port Adelaide v Geelong Sheedy's sting operation sunk for time being (about Geelong's strategy) -- Patrick Smith column in The Australian Burgoyne ban adds to Port woes -- The Herald Sun Cats back in the race -- The Age What Port didn't need -- Adelaide Advertiser
Re: * * *I'm William, and this is the news* * * One more link, posted this evening on Fox Sports' Aussie site... Cats want more than credit -- foxsports.news.com.au (via AAP)
It's Thursday, so here are my tips for the weekend... Essendon v Fremantle Hawthorn v Adelaide West Coast v Richmond North Melbourne v Collingwood Western Bulldogs v Sydney Melbourne v Brisbane Carlton v St. Kilda Port Adelaide v Geelong So far, I'm 46/72 on the season...
* * *I'm William, and this is the news* * * And here's the Thursday morning news round-up... Essendon v Fremantle Bomber rookies may get a chance -- The Age Flag would end 'soft' tag, says Dockers coach -- The Age Lloyd sentenced to more target practice -- The Herald Sun Hawthorn v Adelaide Thommo tells of tough times -- The Herald Sun Thompson a likely call-up -- The Herald Sun Hawk Thompson tells of his lows -- The Age West Coast v Richmond Hansen close to making his debut -- The West Australian Melbourne v Brisbane All Lions to be big men -- The Herald Sun Lions hunt for more 'home' games -- The Herald Sun Carlton v St. Kilda Pagan says Blues worth a punt -- The Herald Sun Campo keen to revive Blues -- The Age Picky Saints' choice line-up -- The Herald Sun Saints search for someone to drop -- The Herald Sun Saints face selection dilemma -- The Age Port Adelaide v Geelong Cats keen to curb travel sickness -- The Herald Sun No place like home -- Geelong Advertiser Cats ready to roll -- Geelong Advertiser Kelly loving every minute -- The Age
Bad news for Geelong... Joel Corey, the Cats' durable midfielder, will be out for up to four weeks following a knee scope. Knee surgery for Corey -- afl.com.au I had the same type of surgery to one of my knees last year, and it's basically a wear-and-tear thing. Here's hoping that Corey comes back better than ever. Will have the teams for Round 10 later on tonight...
We should give Corey a break and not bring him back until after the week off, ready for round 14 against West Coast in Perth. Hopefully this will give Bartel a chance to come into the side and play in the midfield for a few weeks at least. And for my weekend's tips... Essendon West Coast Adelaide Kangaroos Western Bulldogs St Kilda Port Power - I hope I get this one wrong! Brisbane St Kilda are again my best bet of the week, playing against Carlton at Telstra Dome. The Saints have been going from strength to strength recently, and are coming off a 101 point thrashing of West Coast the previous week. I've gone for Port to beat Geelong but think the Cats have a great chance of winning. The only thing which worries me is our pathetic record playing in Adelaide... something like 2 wins and a draw from 16 starts is absolutely shocking! My roughy for the week is the Western Bulldogs to beat the out of form Sydney Swans in a Bulldogs home game in Sydney. (work that one out!) I just don't think the Swans have the "Goodes" this year, especially with the Brownlow Medalist struggling with a knee injury at the moment. I've got to catch babytiger2001 in the tipping, otherwise I'll be shouting him lunch sometime in September!
Something tells me that our depth will cover for his absence with flying colours. I'm thinking the same thing, too-- and would be willing to tip the Sainters by a wide margin (maybe not like what they did to the Eagles, but it'll be a sizeable margin). This is actually my smokey for the week, and not just because of my bias. Geelong has a great deal of momentum going for itself right now, they're playing with a great deal of confidence and flair, and Port's list of injured and suspended players is just too deep, even if they do get Gavin Wanganeen and Byron Pickett back. Port Adelaide have been hit hardest in their midfield, and I would look for the likes of James Kelly, Cameron Ling, Peter Riccardi and others to run the scrubs in the Power's midfield ragged. That is, especially after Josh Hunt hits his long-distance targets with amazing accuracy from his long-distance kick-outs from the back line. (The injury factor is also my reason to take an in-form Melbourne over Brisbane, even if that game is at The Gabba. The Demons to come away with the four points, and the cash.) The Swans and coach Paul Roos have Goodes playing down back, and could even push him into the forward line to take some of the pressure off big bad Barry Hall. At this moment, that strategy works out pretty well for them. As for the Dogs, they may have worked out the yips in front of goal last week, but let's see them kick straight and consistent two weeks running before we can say that they've solved their collective goal-kicking form. [Mike Wilbon on PTI] Is there electricity where you live?? [/Wilbon on PTI] There's no catching me, my friend... enjoy the view.
Round 10 Teams -- afl.com.au Some highlights... Hawthorn recall Nathan Thompson to play against Adelaide on Saturday, just days after admitting that he is receiving counseling for a form of clinical depression. Essendon captain James Hird's eye injury heals much, much sooner than expected, and he'll play against Fremantle. Freo, meanwhile, are unchanged. Tarkyn Lockyear -- who hasn't played since suffereing a season-ending knee injury in Round 3 last year against Geelong -- and ruckman Josh Fraser are among three changes for Collingwood, but captain Nathan Buckley is still at least a week away by his own admission. Nick Davis returns for Sydney for the Swans' match against the Western Bulldogs at the SCG. Melbourne and Brisbane name eleven changes between them for Sunday's clash at The Gabba -- but those "cast of thousands" lists will be reduced by then. The Lions, meanwhile, have tapped rookie Dylan Mclaren to assume ruck duties amid a host of injuries to plague coach Leigh Matthews' team. Carlton coach Denis Pagan has decided not to risk Anthony Koutoufides for another week, as treatment on his bad leg is responding quite slowly. Robert Harvey recalled for St. Kilda, in a sign of the strong getting even stronger. Gavin Wanganeen and Byron Pickett named in Port Adelaide's provisional team to face Geelong at AAMI Stadium on Sunday. Geelong coach Mark Thompson with some tough choices for midfield depth, amid the loss of Joel Corey, with James Bartel the leading candidate to replace him in Sunday's squad.
Also, with regard to the Essendon v Fremantle game going on right now, I have a wonderful idea for a drinking game... And mind you, this only applies if you're listening to the webcast on Triple M (or live radio for our Melbourne readers). Say a contentious umpiring decision goes in favour of Essendon. Or favours James Hird for that matter. The moment that Triple M play-by-play man James Brayshaw utters the now-famous and debatedly overused words of, "That's evidence of the best $20,000 the Essendon Football Club ever spent," or words to that effect, one must swill an entire beer, or whatever libation you happen to be enjoying. That's the challenge I send to everyone else in this community.
Re: * * *I'm William, and this is the news* * * i have read this before, but am a bit confused- i know the Lions travel more than any other team, but is it fair for them to have more home games than other teams? that being said, many of the melbourne based teams don't have far to travel for many of their aways games, but it just seems odd for a one team to have more home games and why would the demons give in (seems just for the $)?
Re: * * *I'm William, and this is the news* * * The real issue here is the money a so-called "cash-strapped" club such as Melbourne or the Western Bulldogs can make by selling off their hosting rights for their games this weekend. It makes for them as much as $300,000 plus any share of concessions and gate receipts. Demons coach Neale Daniher said earlier this week that while he doesn't support the practice on general principle, it can make the difference between the club posting a profit or breaking even and swimming in red ink. Daniher hits out at wealthy clubs exploiting poor Vics -- The Herald Sun Moreover, Daniher sees it as a way of bridging the gap between the financial have's and the have-not's of the AFL, but would love to see it stopped.
Friday night footy at Telstra Dome, between Essendon v Fremantle: [result]Essendon 17.13 (115) Fremantle (85)[/result] And no umpire controversies favouring Essendon in this one. Match report in Saturday morning's editions of The Age Match report in Saturday morning's Herald Sun
Also in this morning's Herald Sun, in their pull-out "Weekend Sport" section, a feature on Geelong coach Mark Thompson... and a very fascinating read. Unmasking Bomba: One thing Mark Thompson dislikes more than losing is the media spotlight. Which means that, even after four years as coach of Geelong, we all know precious little about the man trying to make the Cats earn their stripes. Mark Thompson feature
Saturday afternoon scores-- and not good news for the struggling Victorian sides involved... Hawthorn v Adelaide, at the MCG: [result]Hawthorn 6.11 (47) Adelaide 20.13(133)[/result] And to make matters worse for Hawthorn, skipper Shane Crawford broke his right forearm in two places and is expected to miss up to 10 weeks. Crawf, if you're reading this, I did the same thing to my same arm almost six years ago, and I can completely identify what you're about to go through. And in the other daylight game, West Coast v Richmond, at Subiaco Oval: [result]West Coast 14.16 (100) Richmond 9.9 (63)[/result]
And the Saturday night results... North Melbourne v Collingwood, at Telstra Dome: [result]North Melbourne 9.11 (65) Collingwood 13.14 (92)[/result] Western Bulldogs v Sydney, at the SCG: [result]Western Bulldogs 10.7 (67) Sydney 12.21 (93)[/result]
Pies move out of the bottom, still #8 spot far away. oh, i still think the Lions will pull of the win.