This week's matches... Friday, 7 May Western Bulldogs v Essendon, at Telstra Dome, 7:40 p.m. Melbourne time Saturday, 8 May Carlton v Collingwood, at the MCG, 2:10 p.m. Melbourne time Fremantle v St. Kilda, at Subiaco Oval, 2:10 p.m. Perth time North Melbourne v Brisbane, at Telstra Dome, 7:10 p.m. Melbourne time Port Adelaide v Adelaide, at AAMI Stadium, 7:10 Adelaide time Sunday, 9 May Sydney Swans v Richmond, at the SCG, 1:10 p.m. Sydney time Melbourne v West Coast, at the MCG, 2:10 p.m. Melbourne time Hawthorn v Geelong, at Telstra Dome, 5:10 p.m. Melbourne time Note that the start time on that last game is not a typo. The AFL is trialling a few Sunday late-afternoon/early-evening clashes this year, and the Hawthorn v Geelong match is the first in that series. Not sure what kind of a crowd it will get, with it being Mother's Day and all. And speaking of that match... On behalf of Geelong supporters everywhere, I have to get in this pot shot for all the Hawthorn fans on this forum, such as the likes of Spartacus and goaldrush, to name but a couple... We are Geelong. You are Hawthorn. We own you. Get ready to meet with another bitter defeat. *cue maniacal laughter, á lá Garry Lyon's Houston Crabbe character on "The House of Bulger"*
And here are my tips... Essendon Collingwood Fremantle Brisbane Port Adelaide Sydney Melbourne Geelong I'm 31/48 for the season so far... Some points to be made: Last week I said that Collingwood were due for a win, but it wasn't going to happen away to Port Adelaide. Well, against a Carlton side that lost by 105 points against Melbourne last week, coach Mick Malthouse's team will get back on the track this week, even if Nathan Buckley and Chris Tarrant don't play. After all Blues coach Dennis Pagan has gone on record to say that his team's confidence is quite inconsistent at the moment, and I'm banking on a further mental crisis on the part of Carlton. I've been backing St. Kilda all season-- but after an emotional win over Brisbane and a log flight into Perth, this may be their first loss of the season. And besides, hardly anyone wins at "The House of Pain". Brisbane to bounce back, with a big win over the Kangaroos. Interesting stat I saw on "White Line Fever" on Fox Footy Channel last night-- in the Lions' last 14 games decided by 10 points or fewer over the last few years, they've only won three of those. However, this won't be one of them. Port Adelaide are a different class than the Crows, even if this is another South Australian "showdown". Richmond appear to have had their win for the month, so I'm tipping Sydney. West Coast are terrible travellers, but this game will prove whether Melbourne deserve to be in the rarified air of second spot on the ladder right now. And Geelong are on the cusp of the eight, and are in line for a great rise in the coming weeks. Playing a rabble of a club like Hawthorn this week will only help.
I have tipped the same as you this week William, with Sydney being my best bet this week to beat the struggling Richmond Tigers at home. Until Geelong beats Hawthorn this week, the line I'm taking is that Hawthorn are a quality team not in crisis, and Peter Schwab is a very good coach!
So you won't be able to make any ground on me. My best tip, obviously, is Geelong. And kinda like what Sam Newman said on "The Footy Show" last night, it's equally because Hawthorn are so bad at the moment as well as Geelong having a bit of form. I'm rating Collingwood, Melbourne and Freo pretty highly, too. You sure you're not in need of one of these, for a statement like that?
Sorry, Suzi-- but it has to be said... Geelong by 45 points. With all due apologies in advance, if anything is to be observed from the Hawks' narrow loss to Richmond last week, aside from Crawford and Spider Everitt, and MAYBE Angelo Lekkas, it's really hard to pick out too many players in the brown and gold who really had a lot of passion out there. With the form the Cats are on at the moment, they'll run Hawthorn ragged... and man, oh man, am I going to have fun at the office this afternoon, rubbing this in to the Hawthorn fans on staff there. Hawthorn are an absolute rabble at the moment, and we own them.
Remember the Seinfeld episode with George Costanza's words of wisdom... "it's not a lie if you believe it!" Having said that, you might be right with what you say about the Hopeless Dawks... ooops, I mean Hawthorn Hawks, but until we beat them on Sunday, I'm keeping quiet! I will say that I am very confident we'll come away with the 4 points from this game. I am reminded of how easilly we brushed them aside last year when we'd won just one game, and we're in pretty good form at the moment with confidence high, so providing we don't take them lightly, we should win.
To that, I counter with the time Jerry was dating a cop, and she hooked him up to a lie detector-- just to prove whether he was telling the truth to watching episodes of "Melrose Place"! Damn straight, this seems like an exact carbon copy of the corresponding fixture last year, except that we have a bit of form entering this game.
Just ahead of the Western Bulldogs v Essendon match on Friday Night Footy from Telstra Dome, and the commentators on Triple M Melbourne's radio pregame show just noted that the blockbuster of the round pits Fremantle and St. Kilda... and specifically, it's hard to believe how much that seemed unfathomable as recently as a couple of years ago. By the way, there's free live audio via the AFL's official website.
Update from Collingwood-- Buckley's good to go, but... Tarrant still under a cloud -- Collingwood's official site In other news... Sydney v Richmond Big Barry's lament: Bad on the run -- The Age Smooth movin' Richo ready to return -- afl.com.au North Melbourne v Brisbane Laidley calls for show of character -- The Age Knee is Voss' concern: Scott -- afl.com.au Fremantle v St. Kilda No charges for Saints pair -- afl.com.au Butterss expresses Saints' relief -- afl.com.au Farmer hauled in over on-field celebrations -- The Age Port Adelaide v Adelaide A lowdown on Showdown -- Adelaide Advertiser Ayres keeps faith -- Adelaide Advertiser Hawthorn v Geelong Schwab's emotional defence -- afl.com.au Arthroscopy for Chambers -- afl.com.au Cats spot danger signs -- The Herald Sun Tenace a teen ace for the Cats -- The Age Tribunal to be televised? Players still against telecasts -- The Age
My picks for this round: Essendon Collingwood St. Kilda Brisbane Port Adelaide Sydney Melbourne Geelong The Score from the Essendon/Western Bulldogs Game: [result] score Essendon 18 13 (121) Western Bulldogs 14 11 (95)[/result]
Saturday's scores (and there are some shockers here): Carlton v Collingwood, at the MCG: [result]Carlton 13.11 (89) Collingwood 11.14 (80)[/result] The weekend's blockbuster, Fremantle v St. Kilda, at Subiaco Oval: [result]Fremantle 11.6 (72) St. Kilda 14.11 (95)[/result] The South Australian "Showdown", between Port Adelaide and Adelaide, at AAMI Stadium: [result]Port Adelaide 13.9 (87) Adelaide 17.17 (119)[/result] And North Melbourne v Brisbane, at Telstra Dome: [result]North Melbourne 11.10 (76) Brisbane 18.12 (120)[/result]
Also from the Carlton v Collingwood game, the 'Pies lost captain Nathan Buckley to a recurrence of his hamstring injury, and "Bucks" will now miss at least a few more games as a consequence. Pies lose Buckley to injury again -- The Age
Just got back from the twilight match between Geelong and Hawthorn at Telstra Dome and what an empathic victory by the young and improving Cats! We never looked threatened in the game, keeping the Hawks to just 8.4.52 for the entire match while we peppered the goals for 15.18.108, a 56 point victory. We could have won by more, but I'm happy with the result and the way we approached the game. Add to that the fact our captain, Steven King is due to return from injury next week and our season is beginning to get back on track. We're in the eight and looking great, keep going Cats!
And as for my tipping, I managed to salvage 4/8 from this week of upsets and move to 33 for the year. I missed on St Kilda, Carlton, Adelaide and Richmond. Sydney really let me down this week losing to Richmond, costing me a trump point in one of the competitions I'm in for the second time this year.
The results from Sunday... Sydney v Richmond, at the SCG: [result]Sydney 8.6 (54) Richmond 10.7 (67)[/result] Melbourne v West Coast, at the MCG: [result]Melbourne 18.14 (122) West Coast 11.7 (73)[/result] And the aforementioned Hawthorn v Geelong match, at Telstra Dome: [result]Hawthorn 8.4 (52) Geelong 15.8 (108)[/result] Updated ladder Went 4/8 on my tipping this weekend as well-- quite simply, a disastrous round. I am now 35/56 on the season.
Gratefully accpeted, Suzi. Will let you know when I am next in Ballarat (maybe I'll be around to collect at the end of the week). And I don't think "thrashed" is a strong enough word. That was as clinical a performance I have seen a Geelong team play since they beat Collingwood and Essendon in back-to-back rounds a couple of seasons ago. I think we stand a really good chance against high-flying Melbourne next Sunday at Kardinia Park, especially with King and Loats due to come back into the squad.
No worries, Will. Some how I think Melbourne will be too quick for Geelong. Don't know why though. what did you think of that mark that Ashley Sampi took yesterday? It was a ripper.
What Happened to Collingwood? main story over at the afl site. btw, lack of depth is the apparent answer. btw, point 7, can't wait to see that on the highlight reel (or low-light for that matter).
Of course I saw it, and was amazed by it-- it was on the back page of none other than the Ballarat Courier, and every other paper in town. I'll see if I can find an image of it later on, but he made a leap so high that he mounted himself right on the shoulders of a Melbourne player. And took the mark. Bloody sensational stuff, that. Then he was quoted on the AAP wire as saying that he used to take marks like that all the time when he was playing junior footy, that it wasn't such a big deal.
Here's a pic of Sampi's über-mark... That came courtesy of The Age... although I think we at the Ballarat Courier had a better photo of it.