Vital round at the business end of the season, seeing that the race for finals places at the lower half of the top eight is up for grabs-- to wit, this Friday night's match pitting Essendon against Collingwood. And then there's Geelong's ever-improving hopes and dreams for a double-chance in September that comes with a top-four place. Here are the weekend's fixtures... Friday, 13 August Essendon v Collingwood, at the MCG, 7:30 p.m. Melbourne time Saturday, 14 August Geelong v Fremantle, at Kardinia Park, Geelong, 2 p.m. Melbourne time Hawthorn v Brisbane, at the MCG, 2 p.m. Melbourne time Melbourne v Sydney, at Telstra Dome, 7 p.m. Melbourne time Western Bulldogs v Port Adelaide, at Marrara Oval, Darwin, 7 p.m. Darwin time Sunday, 15 August Adelaide v Richmond, at AAMI Stadium, 12:30 p.m. Adelaide time (1 p.m. in Melbourne) North Melbourne v St. Kilda, at Telstra Dome, 2 p.m. Melbourne time West Coast v Carlton, at Subiaco Oval, 2 p.m. Perth time (4 p.m. in Melbourne) Ladders, stats and news coming up...
Been swamped lately, so I'll try and wrap things up nice and neat as well as I can... First, the ladder through 19 rounds: Code: 1. St Kilda 19 14 5 0 2099 1600 131.18 56 2. Port Adelaide 19 14 5 0 2074 1632 127.08 56 3. Melbourne 19 14 5 0 1952 1633 119.53 56 4. Brisbane 19 13 6 0 2081 1598 130.22 52 5. Geelong 19 13 6 0 1803 1549 116.39 52 6. Fremantle 19 11 8 0 1729 1590 108.74 44 7. North Melbourne 19 10 9 0 1873 1682 111.35 40 8. Sydney 19 10 9 0 1653 1624 101.78 40 ===================================================== 9. Essendon 19 10 9 0 1948 1935 100.67 40 10. West Coast 19 10 9 0 1722 1807 95.29 40 11. Collingwood 19 8 11 0 1635 1737 94.12 32 12. Carlton 19 8 11 0 1575 1945 80.97 32 13. Adelaide 19 6 13 0 1643 1781 92.25 24 14. Western Bulldogs 19 4 15 0 1664 2093 79.5 16 15. Richmond 19 4 15 0 1477 2090 70.66 16 16. Hawthorn 19 3 16 0 1458 2090 69.76 12 In hashing over the news, the biggest news of the week concerns the coaching vacancies, and two of them have been filled... Wallace opts for Tigerland -- The Age Craig gets nod (at Adelaide) -- The Herald Sun And that leaves just the Hawthorn and Western Bulldogs vacancies as the posts left to fill, with inklings in this morning's Herald Sun hinting that ex-Sydney coach Rodney Eade close to getting the Bulldogs job.
And now, my tips for the weekend... Essendon v Collingwood Geelong v Fremantle Hawthorn v Brisbane Melbourne v Sydney Western Bulldogs v Port Adelaide Adelaide v Richmond North Melbourne v St. Kilda West Coast v Carlton I'm on 100/152 for the season. Not a bad tipping record this season, with three rounds to play.
Friday night footy at the MCG, on a cold and rainy night in Melbourne, for the vital late-season match between Essendon and Collingwood: [result]Essendon 18.13 (121) Collingwood 13.9 (87)[/result] Interesting game, at least midway through the final term.
Also, Darren (ScouseCat) is away at a corporate retreat for the weekend, but he SMS'd me his tips prior to tonight's match for me to publish here on this thread, and here they are... Essendon v Collingwood Geelong v Fremantle Hawthorn v Brisbane Melbourne v Sydney Western Bulldogs v Port Adelaide Adelaide v Richmond North Melbourne v St. Kilda West Coast v Carlton Entering the weekend, Darren's on 94, trailing me by six with three weeks to go. And for the record, he and I disagree on the possible outcome of two games in this round. [result]And he won the first one already.[/result]
hey, babytiger (highlight below, i have a question, actually for everyone but don't want to spoil it for anyone who hasn't seen friday's result yet? [result]if the magpies would have won friday, do you think they would have had a chance to still make the playoffs? it sure seemed like it. its all pointless now, but i was wondering this b/c they were written off as eliminated weeks ago[/result]
Out of respect for those on this forum, for the same reasons... [result]Depends how much they would have won by. They would have had to have won the rest of their games and each one by a fair bit in order to move ahead on percentage of the pack chasing the 7th and 8th spots. They had a one-in-a-blue-moon shot to still make the finals, but that's gone now. However, having said that, Collingwood showed some flashes of brilliance tonight, but after they kicked four goals in a row between the end of the third quarter and the start of the final term, they couldn't sustain that momentum. James Hird was instrumental in seeing Collingwood off, kicking a vital goal that sent Essendon home free.[/result]
Friday, 13 August Essendon v Collingwood -- If I tip the Bombers, the Pies are sure to eliminate Essendon from the 8 Saturday, 14 August Geelong v Fremantle -- The Cats run to the top 4 continues against the schizophrenic Dockers Hawthorn v Brisbane -- I haven't completely lost touch with reality Melbourne v Sydney -- Dees with the easier bounce-back and home ground Western Bulldogs v Port Adelaide -- No worries Sunday, 15 August Adelaide v Richmond -- Strictly based on defending home ground North Melbourne v St. Kilda -- Roos fall back to earth after SCG shocker West Coast v Carlton -- Eagles are sneaky good
Saturday's result... with the consequence of an important move on the ladder. Geelong v Fremantle, at Kardinia Park in Geelong, in simply ugly and stormy conditions: [result]Geelong 9.21 (75) Fremantle 3.7 (25)[/result] [result]Geelong now in the top four!![/result] Hawthorn v Brisbane at the MCG, played in the same wintry conditions that have blanketed much of Victoria today: [result]Hawthorn 6.7 (43) Brisbane 8.18 (66)[/result] Melbourne v Sydney at Telstra Dome in Melbourne (with the roof closed): [result]Melbourne 7.4 (46) Sydney 10.7 (67)[/result] [result]Thank goodness the Swans slowed this game down... Geelong took advantage of this result, Melbourne's loss, to get into the driver's seat for a top-four spot.[/result] And Western Bulldogs v Port Adelaide, at the neutral-ground venue of Marrara Oval in Darwin: [result]Western Bulldogs 9.7 (61) Port Adelaide 23.9 (147)[/result]
Post-match report in the Sunday Herald Sun Post-match report in The Sunday Age Post-match report in The Sunday Age Post-match report in the Sunday Herald Sun Post-match report in the Sunday Herald Sun Post-match report in The Sunday Age Post-match report in the Sunday Herald Sun Post-match report in The Sunday Age
Sunday's results... Adelaide v Richmond at AAMI Stadium-- and don't let the ladder positions fool you, this was a entertaining and well-played game today: [result]Adelaide 21.12 (138) Richmond 13.8 (86)[/result] North Melbourne v St. Kilda at Telstra Dome (and a nice bag of goals for one full-forward in contention for All Australian selection): [result]North Melbourne 15.6 (96) St. Kilda 23.9 (147)[/result] And West Coast v Carlton at Subiaco Oval: [result]West Coast 15.21 (111) Carlton 6.13 (49)[/result]
Also, a very respectable 6/8 on my tipping for the round, and the weekend numbers take me to 106/160 for the season. [result]Only Collingwood and North Melbourne let me down.[/result]
Thanks for posting my tips William, it was my second 8/8 for the season which takes me to a score of 102 with two rounds remaining. I'm only 4 behind you now my friend... finishing strongly like Ian Thorpe in the 200 metres Freestyle Final last night at the Olympics!
Another Cometti Classic in Friday night's Essendon/Collingwood clash. Describing the chilly conditions in Melbourne, "you could be sitting between two moose and still turn blue." By the way, where's Craig Willis been (the voice-over voice of our shows in the States)?
Don't look back, William...someone might be gaining on you. By the way, I tipped 7/8 for the week, with only Melbourne disappointing. And now that we're on the doorstep of September footy, with all due respect to the Geelong backers on this forum, would anyone be disappointed to see a Brisbane Lions/St. Kilda Grand Final?
Probably not, seeing that they've been arguably the best two teams this season. However, as you hinted, with Geelong being the in-form team of the competition over the last four months, you can write off the Cats' chances in September at your own peril. Might we see "the ultimate catfight" at the MCG in the final Saturday in September? We'll have to see about that. By the way, Geelong's sizzling form has one big endorsement-- on last weekend's "Sunday Footy Show", panelist Bryan Taylor went as far to say, without provocation, that he thinks that Geelong has what it takes to play in a grand final this year. The x-factor, IMHO, is whether Port Adelaide can vanquish its finals hoodoo. Living proof that their minor premierships of the last couple of years have counted for squat... you still have to win the key games when they matter most.