AFL PREVIEW 2009
ROUND 1
Well finally, amidst cricket in South Africa during which tour the Aussies regained their test supremacy over the Proteas, amidst the end of season Sheffield Shield celebrations by the Queensland team and especially Andrew Symonds whose celebrations seemed bigger than the Victorian Bushrangers who actually won the shield, amidst the Ben Cousins saga which continues to drag on like, like, well can I say drags on like a never ending LSD trip, amidst another ignominious start to the rugby season filled with player transfers, drinking binges and alleged rape accusations (no wonder we more refined sports lovers stick with the AFL....now Wayne Carey’s gone anyway!!) the 2009 AFL season gets under way, albeit a day early to get us ready for Easter footy I suppose. I won’t bore you with the results of the drafts and the pre season NAB cup and another Collingwood flop in a grand final, nor shall I cover the positive statements made by coaches of all teams that they are confident they will all play in the finals..... and, let’s face it with 8 teams able to make it they have a 50% chance! The main thing is that we have survived the summer, witnessed poor Aussie cricket form when they played in Oz, sat through another basketball season during which half the teams folded and the other half made up the finals and this was followed by the disappearance of the rest of the teams and the end of the NBL as we know it. More importantly we have seen the huge change in world economies brought about by nothing other than greed and war and folks, still the AFL survives, nay flourishes, and thank the almighty we say!! What would we, as a football loving nation do without our weekly fix of footy, the smell of liniment, the whiff of week old footy socks left in the bag, the waving of the flags in the goal square, the sound of the whistle as the umpire awards another suspect free kick in front of goal, the dulcet tones of Dennis Cometti cracking another obscure joke during commentary, the ‘special’ from Bruce Macavaney and the inept boundary rider comments from a retired footballer in his first season in his new job? Let’s face it tipsters we are football tragics who shed tears when the back page of our daily paper covers bike racing, cricket or surf lifesaving and even two or three pages in we still have not read a single AFL story. Desperation at one stage had me watching the Foxtel coverage of the women’s limited over cricket world cup! Misogynist I am not but spare me the torture in some things puhlease! There was an interesting article by Graham Moss, previously Essendon ruckman and Brownlow winner circa 1973 about the way the rules are changing the game to the extent that pretty soon we won’t recognise it as football. He might have a point there as we see the shepherding bump disappear, head high tackles vetoed, some entertaining punch ups and wrestling fined out of existence and you can’t even use the boundary as a last refuge to save a game nor rush through a behind and concede a point! Tagging has been sanitised and elbows may as well be pinned to your sides lest you raise one in passing. Did you know that between the years of 1968 to 1978 there were 111 broken noses reported and only 8 weeks of suspensions handed out while in the years 1998 to 2008 AFL players suffered a measly 39 broken noses but 71 weeks of suspensions resulted? It’s hardly worth going to a game these days but having said that who would have wanted to miss seeing the Big Bad Barry punch last year? One thing is for sure, the star players of the 60’s and 70’s would be lucky to get a kick against any of the players running around now in a game of footy. They couldn’t run as fast nor consistently kick as long and a maximum of 3 handballs a game would definitely be considered as overhandling the ball. It would be interesting to compare the entertainment value though to say nothing of watching the game through a haze of cigarette smoke!
Enough chat let’s get in and have a look at the opening round. There are some tipping comps out there offering thousands of dollars in prize money so it’s important to get a good start which is usually hard to do as we find player enthusiasm can overcome team talent at times early in the season. While a 2 point start from 8 in the first round is not necessarily a cause for thoughts of suicide it can force you into small selection errors in the ensuing rounds trying to catch up. So pay attention and good luck!
Richmond V Carlton at the MCG Thursday Night
One can only hope that this game sees the end of the Ben Cousins thing and the hype surrounding the supposed clash between Judd and Cuz should they ever get close enough to each other on the field. Neither player is dirty in the sense that they will administer a sneaky whack in the privates in the middle of a pack but both are hard at the ball and pretty quick. One would think that Judd could impose himself more in a game than Ben at this stage of their careers and methinks Ben Cousins will be extra nervous as he tries to make his place in his new team. We wish him well. Rumour has it that more than 100 Eagles members left the West Coast and joined the Tigers just following Ben. A waste of money either way!! The game is a sell out so we can expect 90,000 at the ‘G’’. Both these teams showed a bit last year at various times but sadly not at the pointy end of the season and would be keen to get their year under way with a win. Also both teams have good forwards with Fevola at one end and Richo and Brown for the Tigers at the other end. It will be interesting to see whether Richardson plays a similar role this year as he did last year during what was for him a stellar season that almost got him a Brownlow. For a season opener it’s a difficult tipping selection but I am thinking that the Tigers might have a bit more in options up forward and as I understand the game the team that kicks the highest score usually wins. On top of that I hate Carlton.
Richmond by 19
Hawthorn V Geelong at the MCG Friday Night
The Grand Final replay sees the Hawks have to try and do it once more against the Cats. No respite then for Hawthorn and as premiers you get no favours by being drawn against a bottom team first up. Nope, straight back into the fray with a tough game just to let you know that the season is here. Mind you when Geelong annihilated the Power the year before I bet they were glad that they would meet the Power first up in 2008, which they did, and which they lost...not!! Funny game! Geelong were awesome in the NAB cup against the Pies and even though the Hawks have Buddy back in the line up and in early season form this will be a hard ask for them to topple the Cats first game up. General consensus of opinion selects the Cats and who am I to buck authority?
Geelong by 22
Collingwood V Adelaide at the MCG Saturday Arvo
Just when the Pies needed a bit of silverware on the bare mantelpiece at their Lexus centre they drop all pre-season form shown in the lead up games and wilt like petunias in a hot sun. Fortunately they will be playing Adelaide in the season opener and it’s at the MCG and Mick is back in the coaching seat. This all bodes well for the Magpies whose fans will be at their feral best to scare off the Crows supporters, those brave enough to venture so deep into enemy territory. Nobody wants to write off Adelaide early in the season but their form in the practice games has been inconsistent and you would expect that their new players might just take a while to find their feet and their nerves in front of 60,000 unfriendly Collingwood supporters. This is not a straight forward pick as the Crows are a bit of an unknown at this stage, a work in progress I think they call it, so they might surprise. Hope not.
Collingwood by 29
Brisbane Lions V West Coast Eagles at the Gabba Saturday Night
I can’t see either of these teams playing finals this year but they will no doubt provide teams with some good opposition in most games. Michael Voss will be in the coaching seat in a real game for the first time and it will be interesting to see his game plan and the style he might want the guys to play. Whoosha will be keen to wipe all memory of last year’s terrible season for the Eagles from his mind and with a lot less injuries thus far and many of the injured players from last year returning he is hopeful that the team will make good account of itself. There are lots of young players in both sides but West Coast will find it darn hard to cover Brisbane’s Jonathan Brown at centre half forward and Bradshaw in front of goals. Eagles supporters are hoping that their team doesn’t play that over possession brand of footy they played last year and that they can work on some constructive forward moves to kick enough goals to win a game or two – or five. Based on last year’s form and early pre-season NAB cup form this first game at the Gabba might just be a bit too much for them to hope to win. Can Vossy chalk up a first win in his coaching career? Can the Eagles keep Brown to a measly 6 goals for the game? Can the Eagles lose by less than 8 goals? Can they actually win? These questions can be answered by yes, no, yes, no.
Brisbane by 27
St Kilda V Sydney at the Telstra Dome Saturday Night
Here’s a couple of teams that have kept a pretty low profile during the pre-season. Well, in WA anyway because all we get news about here is Eagles and Dockers or the occasional dig at Collingwood’s favourable draw in which they travel from the MCG only 4 times this year!! But as I say to anybody that is listening the Magpies are only doing what they are asked to do and all the teams want to play them at the MCG so they can share in the gate proceeds. So, back to the game between the Saints and the Swans. Every season when we get the opportunity to tip against the Swans they surprise us. Over the past two seasons tipping against them has been fraught with danger because for some reason they are able to get up and win. I believe it’s been the luck of the Irish and with the departure of Tadgh there goes that blasted Irish luck! I reckon it will be the Saints that find the pot of gold in this game, all they have to do is avoid the ogre (Barry Hall) and the leprechaun (Leo Barry) and pass the ball to Reiwoldt to get a fairy tale ending. The game is being played at the Etihad stadium and I have been wondering how I missed that announcement. An old mate of mine Phil Corboy (I played footy with this guy in 1966 I think) thought the name came from a contraction of “Eddie thought he had it” and as the name is associated with the Emirates airlines it must have been a darn close call.
St Kilda by 31
Melbourne V North Melbourne at the MCG Sunday
I erred when I said that all coaches thought they could make the finals. The Demons coach definitely did not say it and the reason for that is that they won’t and he knows it and the supporters know it and the players will know it after this game and a bit of bare faced honesty in that situation is a breath of fresh air. Not only that tipsters but it gives us a definite tipping point in week one and you shouldn’t look a gift horse in the mouth, a saying, by the way, that I have no idea what it means. North Melbourne were full of surprises last year as well but they had given their all in the lead up to the finals and didn’t get much further than week one. I doubt they will make the finals this year but they will take a lot of heart from this game which they should win going away in the last quarter. The margin could be anything from 12 points to 80 points – let’s take the average.
North Melbourne by 46
Port Adelaide V Essendon at AAMI Stadium Sunday
The news got out last week that the Power were all but powerful when it came to funds and were begging poor as the season gets under way. We assume they had enough to pay the coaches and players because they are fielding a team to play the Bombers in round 1. In fact, I think the team they have might be a bit good for the Bummers who looked pretty ordinary pre-season and are looking at a serious rebuilding program along with 13 other teams. I don’t think there will be a lot in it but because the game is at AAMI you have to tip the home side. As the economy bites into our pockets we might not see too many feral Power supporters there to barrack the team on and it’s been that lack of crowds at their home games that has blown their budget. Shame that. If they elected to play Collingwood every week at the MCG they might be able to make up the deficit but the result each week would be like ground hog day.
Port Adelaide by 36
Fremantle V Western Bulldogs at Subiaco Sunday
This is one of the games of the round as we start ANOTHER year of Fremantle promises where nobody wants to mention the ‘F’ word but there is quiet expectation amongst the fans that they just might get there this year. Yawnnnnn!!! The Bullies don’t mind this Subi ground as it enhances their style of play. They have plenty of room to set up constant attacks and to hell with defence. The Dockers just need to lessen the amount of errors they make and with a new brood of young Dorks this just might be asking for too much. The Pav looks like someone opened the oven too early and he’s now half his size so we are wondering what his role will be during the game. As it’s not uncommon to see him play every position in 100 minutes don’t expect any different during this match. Highly priced recruit Tarrant is lining up in the backline. Let’s hope his kicking skills don’t see him passing to the opposition. Brad Johnson, what a champion about to play his 324th game and as the season progresses he is expected to break the all time Bulldogs record. And you can still expect him to kick about 4 goals in this game at his age!! Is Cooney playing or do the Doggies want to unfurl his Brownlow flag at a home game? You know we all want the Dockers to succeed and I guess it adds to the frustration when you see them blow games away with stupid free kicks and turnovers. Let’s hope they can progress this year – the majority of footy supporters in WA are going to need some good news after a season that saw their teams fall away badly in 2008. The temperature was originally forecast at 35 degrees but this has now changed to 26 but still a warm day for a game of footy. Freo supporters are hoping that the Bulldogs forget to turn their clocks forward on Saturday night and the Dockers can get a few goals start on them before the Doggies roll up to the ground. Unfortunately there will be few Freo supporters there to see it because they will also forget about their clocks!!! I’m also not too sure whether the hour’s start will be enough time for the Dorks to get far enough ahead and they will probably kick a point in the first quarter and have to wait for the Bulldog’s full back to turn up to kick the ball back into play!!!
Western Bulldogs by 24
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