Monday, August 12, 2013

Round 20



Hawks Win in a Boring Friday Night
I’m just going to jump straight in to best on ground because there’s not much to talk about. Hawthorn were always going to beat Saint Kilda it was only a question of by how much. 46 points is the answer.
Best on ground goes to Jarrod Roughead who is the only one really challenging Josh Kennedy for the Coleman. It’ll come down to who can out score the other over the next three weeks but Kennedy’s 2 goal lead puts him at a slight advantage. Anyway, Roughead 5 goal haul clearly stands out as the best performance on the ground.
Hawthorn play Collingwood next week which will much more exciting and not only an as Eagles fan, I think Hawthorn are a strong chance to win this game. Saint Kilda play Sydney in what will be a slaughtering at the SCG.
My tips: 1 from 1

Tigers defeat a difficult Lions
The Lions have been a comeback side for most the season, their most noticeable come-from-behind win came against Geelong at the Cattery of all places, and they threatened to do it again against the Tigers. The Tigers lead by just under 50 points at some stages before the Lions came within 3 goals late in the last quarter before being repelled giving the Tigers a comfortable 23 point win.
Best on ground difficult to pick because no one player really dominated, except for maybe Rockliff with his 34 disposals.
The Tigers play a Blues side that is coming from humiliation while the Lions play the Giants which could be potentially difficult.
My tips: 2 from 2

Cats Take a Win from a Surging Power
The Cats went into the game as slight favourites, and played like it for three quarters keeping the power to only 10 goals for three quarters. But the fourth belonged to the Power who booted 6.3 to 1.0 but the Cats 1 goal was enough to secure a 25 point win at the Cattery.
Best on ground is easily Monfries who pulled a 7 goal bag against one of the best defenders in the competition.
The Power now play the Suns at AAMI in a must win clash as the top 8 is again under attack from West Coast and Carlton while the Cats battle the Eagles who are now showing why they were considered Premiership contenders during the Pre-season.
My tips: 3 from 3

Bulldogs not to be Underestimated
Very few people would’ve seen this one coming. The Bulldogs put Carlton’s top 8 hopes on hold after a 28 point at Etihad Stadium. Inaccuracy though was largely what won the Bulldogs the game. They kicked 16.21, the average amount of behinds for a game for one team is somewhere between 12 and 16 (I forget the exact number), so if we correct it the Bulldogs really only won by 19-23 points, which is still a shock loss for Carlton.
Best on ground is Grant who kicked 4 goals for the Bulldogs.
The Bulldogs have an interesting game against the Crows at the Kennel (Etihad) while the Blues have a must-win clash against Richmond if they want to have any chance of making the 8 if Port beat the Suns.
My tips: 3 from 4

Magpies Defeat Rampaging Swans
The Swans had been decimating sides for the past month and it was no surprise that they went in as favourites to defeat Collingwood. The surprise was the performance that Collingwood put on. Collingwood has lost the first quarter and then one last three for the past month now (the only exception to that being their demolition of Essendon last week) so a 29 point defeat for the reigning Premiers was not something Sydney wanted to consider as they look to go back-to-back flags. To Collingwood’s credit (you won’t see me say this often) they did play very well after quarter time.
Best on ground, even though they lost, was Kurt Tippet who booted 6 goals (more than half of the Swans score).
The Swans get a chance at redemption when they play the Saints at SCG which might as well already be counted as a win for the Swans while Collingwood play what will essentially be a finals match against Hawthorn as they look to threaten the top 4.
My tips: 3 from 5

Suns Win for Gablett’s 250th
The Demons showed that they can stand up to sides and sometimes challenge sides. Up to halftime it was a close game but the Suns took control after that, doing just enough to hold a 13 point margin at the final siren.
Best on ground is Campbell Brown (even though he is now suspended for the rest of the Season) with 3 goals.
The Suns take on the Power in what could be a close contest if Gary Ablett is on fire while the Demons look at a demolition against Fremantle who do have one of the easiest runs home I’ve ever seen.
My tips: 4 from 6

LeCras LeStar as Eagles Keep Slim Finals Hopes Alive
Essendon’s nightmare continues. They’ve now lost 12 consecutive quarters. The only positive is they avoided another 60+ point belting. The 53 point beating also raises questions about the ASADA investigation. Even if you believe Essendon is innocent (which personally I don’t. When you have the captain admitting to it, that in my book is automatic guilty) you have to wonder if they already know what will happen and have simply given up due to them knowing they will lose their Premeirship points for this season. Up to halftime, Essendon put on a good show, closing the margin to just 2 points. But a 6 goal to 2 goal quarter from West Coast threw the door wide open and another 6 goal to 1 goal final quarter sealed the 53 point win for the Eagles who are getting very close to banging down the Finals door.
As you might’ve guessed, my best on ground has to be Mark LeCras with 5 goals.
Essendon battle North Melbourne next week in a game which matter very much if Essendon are stripped of their points while the Eagles will look to continue the march to September against the Cats. Watch out finals, we are coming.
My tips: 5 from 7

Dockers Beat Giants
Surprise, surprise… the Dockers belted the Giants. Dockers are dangerous this season, well they’re not. When you look at their draw they’ve only played the three Premiership fancies once in the entire season and a majority of their wins have come against the bottom 10 teams so they haven’t really proven anything. Their draw is the reason as to where they are on the Ladder. I have no doubt that if they had played Hawthorn twice like we have, played Sydney again and the Cats again as well, they would not in 4th place they’d be 7th, maybe 6th by percentage.
Best on ground I’m going to give Cameron, mainly because I’m anti-Fremantle and he kicked the most goals of anyone out on the ground.
The Giants play the Lions in a tough game and Fremantle have another easy game against the Demons who they haven’t played yet this season.
My tips: 6 from 8. (also I saw this and thought it was funny. I mean, what else is it good for? https://fbcdn-sphotos-d-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash3/944783_643241959042304_367725012_n.jpg)


Crows Hand North a Season Ending Loss
North Melbourne had Finals hope going into the game but lead for less than 3 minutes of the entire game. Why did they play horribly? There’s no roof to close to at AAMI Stadium.
This doesn’t normally happen but I’m going to give best on ground and goal of the year to Daniel Wells who kicked a goal from behind the centre circle so about 80-85m away. You don’t that very often.
North Melbourne play Essendon in a very winnable game while the Crows play the Bulldogs in a game that doesn’t really affect the ladder too much.
My tips: 6 from 9.
Total tips: 117 from 165 games.
70.90% correct

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