Fw: [AFL-Preview] Round 1

2008 FOOTY TIPPING
AFL PREVIEW ­ ROUND 1

Hello to all you AFL footy fanatics out there who
have been absolutely hanging out for the start of
the season proper, putting up with a very hot
summer of Aussie cricket, motor racing, motorbike
racing, yachting, surfing, golfing with the
Tiger, basketball and some athletics and swimming
in preparation for the Beijing Olympics.

You would have had to be asleep under a tree like
Rip Van Winkle to have missed the retirements,
the draft, the drug taking, the bashings, the
public urinating, the pub fights, the finger
pointing, the marriage break-ups, pre-season
injuries, overpaying of AFL CEO's, coaching
changes, NAB cup games and we haven't even
mentioned Cousins and Carey, a couple of 'C'
words best left out of footy at this early stage.

To try and recap those madcap 6 months as a lead
in to this preview would be insane and maybe we
need to have a monthly off season newsletter
offering commentary on some of this stuff to help keep it all in perspective.

It has been my tradition to start the season with
a poem and why muck about with tradition? Let me
get in early to apologise for those occasions I
might annoy the reader but no apologies will be
offered for incorrect tipping selections. Those
of you who consistently finish in the middle
(basically nowhere) in your tipping comp could do
a lot worse than follow these weekly selections.
Arrogance and accuracy go hand in hand you know.
Also, please excuse my weekly rants against
umpires, my slight favouritism of the Mighty
Magpies when under pressure and my shameless
bagging of the Dockers who, when they play to
their expected potential, will be dutifully left alone.

Have a great 2008 season and may your tips be
thoughtful, mostly correct, on time, without bias
and a lot of fun. Here we go! Here we go! Here we go!


It's an Easter weekend bounce down to start AFL 08,
But religiously they kept Good Friday free,
We have four great days of football spread across the states
As tipsters mark their cards so nervously.
No longer can you say the Blues will definitely lose
Cos Juddy's now their captain for the year
But then again with Brendan still p**sing on his shoes
Carlton's tipping for each game remains unclear!!

The Demons look a monty to win the wooden spoon
But not without a fight from Terry's mob
If Richmond haven't won one as the season comes to June
You can bet Wallace as the coach won't have a job!
And what about the Saints, our NAB cup champs?
Will their potential help win their second flag?
And mutterings of unrest coming from the Kanga's camp
No Gold Coast move? Hope they're not left like a rock beneath a shag!

Freo Heave Ho! Freo Heave Ho! Dockers not so great
What a tipping nightmare for us folk
If Harvey can't get this team to make the final eight
They'll remain the west's most bad expensive joke!
Lethal's Lions will be a mediocre side
As long as Browny doesn't kick 10 goals a game
Expect the Hawks to have another finals ride
And the Bulldogs? They'll finish about the same.
Sheedy where are you mate? We need to stop Martians attacking
And let Lloydy train another Jimmy Hird
And give our Bomber Knight a chance to work without your backing
But Essendon will still finish last but third.

The black and white army need success from Mick's 'Hot Pies!"
But with Bucks, Clement, Licuria no longer there
Let's hope the Magpie faithful don't make anguished cries
Because another runner up they couldn't bear!
No Ben, no Judd, the Eagles nest has been under scrutiny
Like no other club that supporters can remember
But failing injures real bad or a player mutiny
This team will still be playing in September!

Sydney might just make it but on that Roos won't bet
And the Power needs to restore lots of pride
While their sister team the Crows might be good enough - not yet?
But they'll both be there these South Australian sides.
This year, like last, will see the Cats go for another flag
Hope Thommo doesn't let complacency slip in
They get called the "Handbag" team by some funny wags
But believe me it's the premiership they'll win.


Carlton V Richmond at the MCG Thursday night

Although the Blues have Nick Stevens back and of
course Chris Judd in the side you have to
remember that the Tigers have a fit Nathan Brown
and a fit Simmonds and Richo is still up at full
forward. My initial reaction was to ignore
anything about the Tigers and just pick Carlton.
Having thought about it some more that's what I
will still do and recommend, but, tipsters could
do worse than pick Richmond. Or maybe not.

Carlton by 27


Collingwood V Fremantle Dockers at MCG Saturday arvo

Freo's whole season hinges on this ultra
important game!!! (I thought I'd get that in
before the newspaper footy writers who love a bit
of early drama.) Actually this game is of no
significant importance to anyone other than The
Pies or the Dockers. That figures. There are some
new young faces making debuts for both teams (I
think, assuming they get picked) and Freo is
starting to look like the Essendon reserves but
all that aside it should be an entertaining game
and could go either way. Dockers should dominate
the ruck and the absence of Clement will make it
a bit harder for the Collingwood backline. If the
Pies can bring onto the field the attitude that
got them that win against the West Coast in Perth
last year they will win it but I can't see the
game being a blow out. Freo really need a good
start to the season for a change so the tip is
the Dorks because I think they have more goal
kicking power and the Pies don't have the players
to hold both Pavlich and Tarrant.

Fremantle by 11


West Coast V Brisbane Lions at Subiaco Saturday evening

Jonathan Brown can't kick 10 goals against the
Eagles. I'm tipping this to be a rout and with 30
degrees plus for the day it's going to be a hard
day at the office for all players. Pretty hard to
go against the West Coast in this game so let's not think on it too long.

West Coast by 48


St Kilda V Sydney at Telstra Dome Saturday night

One would think that the Saints can carry their
pre-season form into at least the first round of
the real season but as we all know dear tipsters,
winning the pre-season competition can be fraught
with danger. Past history shows Carlton won a
couple so should we say more? Still, we also know
that St Kilda is nothing like Carlton and should
they, the Saints, have a better run injury wise
this year they should make a good showing for the
2008 season. Sydney is its usual under prepared
early in the season self that we are all getting
used to and no doubt they will win about 2 or 3
of the first 7, be written off and storm home to
finish in the top 6 by September. Based on that
type of preparation the tip is St Kilda in what
should be an entertaining game as long as Roos
doesn't send his backline up forward with the
instruction not to kick any goals!!

St Kilda by 29


Western Bulldogs V Adelaide at Telstra Dome Sunday early arvo

Johnson's 300th game so you have to give the
Bullies a chance and to do that you would also
have to disregard pre-season form as they
certainly had an average one of those. On the
other hand Adelaide were unlucky to lose the nab
cup against St Kilda and they played some
reasonably good footy getting to that point of
the season. Don't you hate it when you have to
give high emotion some consideration so early in
the season? I mean players aren't even breaking
even on hard ball gets or hitting targets with
left side handballs and we're asking them to
basically crawl over broken grass for their mate Johno? Sheesh!

Adelaide by 19


Hawthorn V Melbourne at the MCG Sunday later arvo

Okay, it's Sunday afternoon and due to the time
differences here in the west I haven't even had
to sacrifice the earlier game today because
Sunday Easter lunch at the local tavern fitted in
beautifully between these two scheduled games
also leaving enough time in the early morning to
have found a couple of Cadbury eggs amateurishly
hidden in the garden. Ya gotta love Easter!!
Assuming the wine intake had been less than 5
standard glasses at lunch a person may be able to
keep his eyes open long enough to watch this game
without nodding off once the Hawks' lead blew out
to more than 10 goals. Maybe I said but I doubt it.

Hawthorn by 71


Kangaroos V Essendon at Telstra Dome Monday arvo

This is that other game that will cause tipsters
to fitfully sleep on Sunday night if they have so
far picked 7 from 7. On pre-season form I would
opt for the Kangaroos but any team that has Lloyd
and Lucas in their attack line up should be given
a reasonable chance to win. And remember, Archer
is on the bench in some TV footy show not
prowling the Essendon forward line looking for a
body to smash. With a new coach in Matthew Knight
the Bombers remain a bit of an unknown so best to
put them on hold in the first round and wait and see.

Kangaroos by 31