Blues Rolled by Magpies
41 points. Carlton kicked 8
goals before their first behind, and managed to lose by 41 points. To make
matters worse, the defeat was self-inflicted. They allowed Collingwood score a
total of 10.11 in the second and third quarters combined, scoring only 2.3
themselves in the same quarters combined. Either one of two things is happening
at Carlton: 1) the players aren’t playing for Malthouse (most likely) or 2) Malthouse
isn’t actually coaching, he’s just a figurehead for the club. Either way,
something has to be done.
Best on ground is Dane Swan,
who you would’ve wanted as your captain in Dream Team: 3 behinds, 41 disposals,
25 kicks, 16 handballs, 7 marks, 8 tackles and a Dream Team score of 163.
Collingwood play the Crows in
what will be a bloodbath at the MCG on Friday night. Carlton play Saint Kilda
in an attempt to end their losing streak on Saturday.
My tips: 1 for 1.
Bulldogs Escape in a close Giants
Clash
The Giants are showing
glimpses of what they can do. What they need to do is stretch that over four
quarters. They did it for three against the Bulldogs before losing it in the
fourth. All that says is that Giants aren’t fit enough to run a game out yet.
Given a few years, I think the Giants will become a genuine competition threat,
like the Suns, within the next couple of years.
No one really played an
outstanding game so best on ground is open for debate, so I’m not going to
award a best on ground for this game.
The Giants play the Swans in
the Sydney derby, obvious who will win that. The Bulldogs play Essendon which
is also obvious in terms of who will win.
My tips: 2 for 2.
North Launch One Last Assault on the
Eight
After scoring 29 points
against Fremantle, most people (myself included) counted them out. North
Melbourne though, defied everyone to produce one last mathematical chance of
making finals. They can barely afford to lose two games from now on if they
want to play finals. They defeated Richmond by 62 points at Etihad Stadium in a
blistering performance. Their second quarter was amazing: 9.3 to 0.5 to produce a 55 point lead at half
time. Richmond was never going to come back from that. Inaccuracy didn’t help
Richmond either.
Best on ground was Tarrant with
a four goal bag and small numbers of disposals and possessions.
North Melbourne play Brisbane
in a winnable game while Richmond battle the Gold Coast who beat them last year
in Cairns at the former Manuka Oval.
My tips: 2 from 3
Lions win the Battle of the Coast
West Coast and Fremantle play
the Western Derby. The Swans and the Giants play “The Battle of the Bridge” so I’m
calling the games between Brisbane and the Suns “The Battle of the Coast”. And the
Lions won this round there are plenty more games to be played as the rivalry
builds in Queensland. Brown’s three goals helped the Lions to a 33 point win
over the Suns.
Best on ground is a three-way
tie between Brown, Staker and Zorko for their 3 goals apiece.
I’m not going to mention the
games for both teams next week as they were mentioned above.
My tips: 2 from 4.
Eagles Win in a 6-point Thriller
West Coast kept their Finals
hopes alive with a 6 point win over Adelaide which came from the Josh “the King”
Kennedy. His left foot goal on a tight angle just inside 50, secured the win
with just 53 seconds left on the clock. At the very least it would’ve been a
draw. To the Crows credit they did give West Coast a very good run and accuracy
was probably what hurt them the most in the end, 9 goals and 15 behinds, if
even two of those had been goals, Adelaide would’ve won.
Dalziell is becoming a
dangerous weapon for the Eagles who is sharing best on ground with Kennedy.
Dalziell kicked 1 goal, had 26 disposals, 16 kicks, 10 handballs, 9 marks, 6
tackles and 124 in Dream Team. Kennedy, of course, gets in with his 4 goal haul
(including the winning goal).
The Crows, as I mentioned play
Collingwood in a game they’re not very likely to win while the Eagles have a
chance to reverse a round 1 beating when they battle the cross-town rivals
Fremantle in the Western Derby (which hopefully we win).
My tips: 3 from 5.
Kennet Curse Continues for Cats
Straight away, I’ll admit it. I’m probably one of the
few people in Australia who doesn’t know why the “Kennet Curse” is called the “Kennet
Curse”. Inaccuracy though nearly lost it for the Cats who scored 1.13 over the
second and third quarters, nearly allowing Hawthorn back into the game. Still a
10 point win is a 10 point win and well done to the Cats who are now 11
straight wins against the Hawks.
Best on ground goes to Joel Selwood with his 1 goal,
34 disposals, 16 kicks, 18 handballs, 2 marks and 7 seven tackles, as well as
whoever kept Buddy Franklin to 1 goal 2 behinds, that in itself is a brilliant
effort.
The Cats now play the Demons in an attempt to close
the percentage gap between themselves and Hawthorn while Hawthorn will play the
Power in an attempt to do the opposite and increase the percentage gap.
My tips: 4 from 6.
Swans Dominate the Demons
The Demons were never really in it. The time to really
measure the Demons potential will be next year when they get a new coach. Still,
a 31 point loss against a premiership favourite is an improvement for them and
Neil Craig.
Best on ground, there's a long list of players to
choose from so I’m not doing it for this game.
The Demons, as mentioned above play Geelong in another
game they will definitely lose while the Swans take part in the second “Battle
of the Bridge” against the Giants for the season.
My tips: 5 from 7.
Dockers Win for Returning Captain
The year that Fremantle win a Premiership will be the
year that Hell is frozen and despite how good they questionably are, this year
is not that year. They were flogged by both Hawthorn and Geelong and drew with
the Swans (the three Premeirship favourites for this year). Also, with
Sandilands and Pavlich returning to the side, Fremantle should steamrolled the
Saints, not beaten them by a comfortable 30 points.
Best on ground, unfortunately, goes to Ballantyne for
his 5 goal haul. But he will always be remembered for his premature celebration
at the second Western Derby 2 years ago.
Speaking of the Western Derby, Fremantle play the
Eagles next week in what will be a fierce battle with almost a full Eagles side
(Wellingham still needs to pass a fitness test before he can play and will most
likely miss the Derby). Saint Kilda play Carlton in a do-or-die clash for the
Blues.
My Tips: 6 from 8.
Bombers Topple the Power
It was always going to be thought to be close and a 30
point win sounds about right for it. The Power led at quarter time and that was
it. Essendon kicked the Power out of the game, though they remained competitive.
Best on ground goes to Bellchambers for his 5 goal
haul as well as 17 disposals, 10 kicks, 7 handballs, 10 marks and 1 tackle.
Essendon play the Bulldogs in an easy win match. The
power now have to find a way to defeat Hawthorn at their AAMI Stadium fortress
which would please Cats fans as a Hawks loss would see the Cats take 1st
place on the ladder.
My tips: 7 from 9 (90 from 120 games) (75% correct).
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