FRIDAY MAY 14 Adelaide vs Essendon SATURDAY MAY 15 Richmond vs W. Bulldogs WC Eagles vs Syd Swans Lions vs Carlton St. Kilda vs Collingwood SUNDAY MAY 16 Hawthorne vs Freemantle Geelong vs Melbourne Kangeroos vs Port Adelaide my picks are italicized, yes my shocker of a pick is the Magpies pulling a season changing upset. my more likely upset pick is geelong. In Search of a Ton
Here are my tips... FRIDAY MAY 14 Adelaide vs Essendon SATURDAY MAY 15 Richmond vs W. Bulldogs WC Eagles vs Syd Swans Lions vs Carlton St. Kilda vs Collingwood SUNDAY MAY 16 Hawthorn vs Fremantle Geelong vs Melbourne North Melbourne vs Port Adelaide Hoping to do much better than I did last week, where my 4/8 lifted me to a tipping total of 35/56 for the season. And Mrs. BT and I are looking at going to the Geelong v Melbourne (ahem) blockbuster at Kardinia Park on Sunday, provided that I can successfully pre-book our tickets today. That is what is being recommended, since the stadium's capacity has been reduced due to the ongoing reconstruction, and Geelong is unwilling to have the game moved to the MCG at Melbourne's request.
Here are my tips for this week's round of matches... (current total: 33) Adelaide Western Bulldogs West Coast St Kilda Brisbane Fremantle Geelong Port Power Brisbane are my certainty of the week, playing Carlton at home. It's not so much who they are playing, but the fact it's up in Brisbane and that their captain, Michael Voss comes back into the side after missing last week with a knee injury. I'm really looking forward to Geelong's game against Melbourne on Sunday. Steven King is set to make his long awaited return after missing 10 months with an achillies injury. Hopefully this will lift the team and we can get over the Demons, a team we beat more often then not, especially at home. In fact, Melbourne haven't beaten Geelong at Geelong since 1988, so here's hoping that trend continues this week.
The latter remains to be seen, Suz-- but the "well-attended" bit is running according to course. I've been listening to Triple M's Friday night pregame show ahead of teh Adelaide v Essendon match, and host James Brayshaw has mentioned that no fewer than three different matches have already been announced as sell-outs ahead of the opening of the round. And that's including the Geelong v Melbourne match-- and I have bought our tickets for it, as of early this afternoon. And just in time, too, because this afternoon, the Geelong Football Club announced that all of the remaining standing-room tickets have been bought up. Drove to Geelong just in time to get our standing-room tickets, methinks.
Friday night footy at AAMI Stadium in Adelaide, for the Adelaide v Essendon clash: [result]Adelaide 12.12 (84) Essendon 20.15 (135)[/result] Also from that game, Bombers skipper James Hird-- who's been on fantastic form so far this season, and Brownlow Medal-quality form at that-- had to leave the game midway through the second term... Injury likely to see Hird miss two -- The Herald Sun Also forgot to put this in, ahead of Friday's opener... the teams for the round. Round 8 teams -- afl.com.au Update for Sunday's games -- afl.com.au The biggest bit of team news is that Geelong captain Steven King returns to the Cats' fold after ten months out with ankle and Achilles injuries, for the blockbuster clash against Melbourne.
After this week's round of matches, I don't care about footy tipping after only getting 4/8 for a score of 37. At least my beloved Cats had a good win after being challenged by a good Melbourne side in the second half today. Matthew Scarlett once again showed why he is the best full back in the league, holding one of the best full forwards, David Neitz goaless.
Sorry I've been away for the weekend, all-- but my wife and I had to go down to Geelong to help her mother celebrate a birthday (in addition to my country footy journo work earlier on the Saturday). And, oh yeah, we went to the Geelong v Melbourne game yesterday. And my voice is still sore. But it was well worth it. Here are the rest of the weekend's results, starting with the four games on Saturday... Richmond v Western Bulldogs, at the MCG: [result]Richmond 15.15 (105) Western Bulldogs 10.22 (82)[/result] And as Craig hinted at, thank goodness for Matthew Richardson-- and thank god Richo's on my fantasy team!! West Coast v Sydney, at Subiaco Oval: [result]West Coast 18.16 (124) Sydney 15.7 (97)[/result] Brisbane v Carlton, at The Gabba: [result]Brisbane 21.14 (140) Carlton 16.6 (102)[/result] St. Kilda v Collingwood, at Telstra Dome: [result]St. Kilda 21.12 (138) Collingwood 13.13 (91)[/result] And onto Sunday's games... Hawthorn v Fremantle, at York Park, in Launceston, Tasmania: [result]Hawthorn 10.10 (70) Fremantle 8.13 (61)[/result] The blockbuster of the weekend, Geelong v Melbourne, at Kardinia Park, Geelong: [result]Geelong 15.11 (101) Melbourne 12.15 (87)[/result] North Melbourne v Port Adelaide, at Telstra Dome: [result]North Melbourne 21.14 (140) Port Adelaide 7.6 (48)[/result] My tipping for the weekend went very well, despite a mini-disaster yesterday with two of my three teams losing. Went 6/8 for the round, which lifts me to a season total of 41/64.
It's been a great run for them so far, but they won't go through the home-and-away season undefeated. St. Kilda's remaining fixtures -- from St. Kilda's official site A tricky trip to the SCG against Sydney and the smaller ground there awaits them in Round 11, a trip up to Brisbane in Round 21 beckons, as does the fact that they have yet to play a game at the MCG. And there's no telling how well their two trips to York Park will fare. Having said that, they're favourites to wind up as minor premiers, and may lose only three or four games during the regular season, if that.
If they can achieve that, they'll be the first team to do so in the history of the VFL/AFL competition! Collingwood went through a season undefeated, (18 games) only to lose a Semi Final before eventually winning the Grand Final back in 1929. (19 wins, 1 loss) Essendon went through the 2000 season losing just one game, (21-1 record) before winning all three finals to take out the Premiership. Carlton went through the 1995 season losing 2 games, (20-2 record) before winning all three finals to take out the Premiership. Their 2 defeats actually occured in consecutive weeks in round 8 and 9. Geelong holds the record for most consecutive games without defeat, 26 games between 1952 and 1953. (25 wins, 1 draw)
Just got the photos back from the Geelong v Melbourne game. Not any action pics from on the field-- but rather crowd shots of me and my wife in the standing area at Kardinia Park. At our yelling, screaming and barracking best, too. Wonder if I should have these scanned and posted on this thread? Not sure if Jen's scanner is working, but I should have these scanned quickly, before I have to send these photos off to Australian Immigration along with the rest of my paperwork for the final stage of my permanent residency... that is, if I can scan them. Just having another look at them now as I'm arranging a proof sheet for Immigration, and gawd, do I look crazed. The madman screaming at the top of his lungs for his beloved Catters is me. Not that my wife Jennifer was any better, or worse. Sometime in the fourth quarter, when the Demons were making too close of a game out of it, she hollered out something like, "You guys are the one-point wonders, aren't you??" And believe me, both of us were giving David Neitz crap for his 0.5 form and a shot for goal out on the full. But in fairness, Matthew Scarlett, Geelong's all-Australian fullback, owned him. Yeah, that's what it was.
Sorry to bump this older footy thread, but... I have about a dozen pics here... enjoy. Me standing in the front row of the Kardinia Park terraces Here we are waiting for the gates to open... we're waiting on the Moorabool Street side of the ground, along with other early-birds
Me, at the top of my lungs, during the Cats' rampant first term (I think this one's my personal favourite) Likewise, with copy of the AFL Record in hand
OK, here's the rest of the list, five at a time... That's us, during the climax of the Cats' decisive final term Us assembling pre-game, just in time for the VFL curtain-raiser Watching intently and focused-- and maybe just a bit worried-- during the third quarter Jen with her souvenier "Cat Ears", although the woman behind her looks really surprised when I clicked the photo on the count of 1-2-3 Jen waiting in front of the Moorabool Street gates
Me woth my scarf, and other supports kit gear Me waiting for the Moorabool Street gates to open I'm probably missing one or two here... will post the missing ones later. And special thanks to Treetaliano for hosting these pics for me.
Best way to say this is, some other stranger doing us a favour out of the goodness of his heart. But truth be told, other Geelong fans helped out by taking turns for us. Everyone taking pictures did an excellent job, and these pics turned out very well.