Preview Rd 10
I hope many of you took no notice of the previews last week. By late Friday night I had slashed my wrists due to another Magpie failure in the face of a real challenge and contemplated a 7 correct tipping scorecard for the weekend. Not too shabby I thought. By Saturday night I was scratching at the bandages on the wrists to allow the blood to flow free as Fremantle and Melbourne (again) would not lie down to give me some hope. 2 from 5 going into Sunday I was confident we would salvage 5 points for the weekend. Complete form reversals by Adelaide and Hawthorn sent me scurrying for the blade again and at half time, when the Eagles looked like they would account for St Kilda, I was staring at a worst ever tipping result since the AFL started in 1990. Fortunately the Eagles did the usual and surrendered but a 3 from 8 was a disaster. It was a weekend of tipping that is usually won by a know nothing soccer hooligan who joined the comp for fun. Or worse, the round was won by a rugby league follower who puffed out his chest on the Monday in the tea room telling everybody who would listen (and many who wouldn’t) just how much he knew about the game. I hate weekends like that!!
Essendon V Western Bulldogs Etihad Friday night
The Bombers had two wins in a row compliments of the game they had against Richmond but this will be a bit harder for them. The Bulldogs seem to be getting it together a little better and they will have too much talent for the young Bombers to counter. Barry Hall missed a suspension bullet after almost choking North Melbourne’s Thompson to death and the Bulldog’s Lake scored a record number of points for Fantasy Football players with his 22 marks and 3000 possession game. I love listening to the umpires’ votes on Brownlow night when we have performances like that. Expect Lake to get 1 or no votes – trust me.
Western Bulldogs by 36
Geelong V Melbourne Skilled Saturday
As well as the Demons are travelling they just will not be able to match it against the Cats. In addition the game is being played on the Cats litter tray and it looks like an easy win to Geelong. I read the Demons’ preparation schedule for this fixture and they have decided to head down the highway the day before the game. Good idea. If they can get the umpires to agree to start early and their fans to turn up Saturday morning they might get a few goals on the board before the Cats run onto the ground and the early start will help avoid Melbourne being beaten by 100 plus points.
Geelong by 66
Port Adelaide V Richmond AAMi Saturday
The Power let one slip last week in Darwin against Melbourne but they will be out to atone for that loss when they come up against the bottom of the ladder team Richmond. Cousins returned for the Tigers last week but Ben is no match winner. Rumour has it that he is purposely playing poorly so that there is no comparison to his Brownlow days with West Coast and hence avoid any press at all. It’s working. The Power might kick the sweep.
Port Adelaide by 54
Brisbane Lions V Collingwood Gabba Saturday
The Pies copped a flogging from Geelong last week and it’s lucky they meet an out of form Brisbane. This won’t be easy and it will take Collingwood a while to shake the Lions but they should prevail. It’s hard to work out how the Pies can kick such huge scores week in week out and then be restricted to 6 goals against the Cats. Brisbane has their own problems with the main players missing in their backline and Brown not moving as well as he could justifying suspicions that he is carrying some sort of groin injury. Fev kicked 5 last week so he’s doing okay. The Lions will find it hard to hold the Collingwood forwards who had a sloppy day last Friday but will turn that all around this week – one hopes.
Collingwood by 29
St Kilda V Adelaide Etihad Saturday
The Saints showed a bit of form last week in the second half against the Eagles and they will work to carry that form into this game against the struggling Crows. The Goodwin retirement may be the start of an exodus at Adelaide who probably need a bit of a clean out anyway. It doesn’t help their cause in this game. To add to that statement Tyson Edwards has called it quits today which kind of makes me psychotic...er.... psychic I mean. The Saints just keep counting the weeks until Nick Reiwoldt is back and until then they need to hang in there.
St Kilda by 22
Hawthorn V Sydney MCG Sunday
The unexpected Hawks win against Carlton last week has thrown a spanner into this tip although the form of Sydney over the past few weeks has been ordinary. The winner will be the team that plays the least ordinary on the day. Could be a draw but home ground should get the Hawks across the line. What we have here is a bit like two ships passing in the night. One ship is losing form and the other is gaining form. But we said that about Hawthorn so many times this year and they have continued to disappoint. A Sydney win would not surprise and $10 on a draw with impossible odds is not a silly bet.
Hawthorn by 19
Carlton V West Coast Eagles Etihad Sunday
Carlton really had the blues last week with an insipid display against Hawthorn. The Eagles performed no better in their home match against the Saints. Both teams need to lift their rating just to make the game interesting but it’s hard to pick the Eagles in any game let alone at an away venue. Judd reckons this is just another game and he’s right. He would not know more than a handful of players at West Coast anymore. The Blues will have to knuckle down in this game because the Eagles don’t mind Etihad as a venue really. It won’t be a walkover for the Blues but they should get the 4 premiership points.
Carlton by 31
Fremantle V North Melbourne Subiaco Sunday
North Melbourne’s Thompson pushing guys over when they are doing up their bootlaces and Fremantle’s Ballantyne pinching guys behind play should make for quite a spectacle for the children that turn up to watch the game. Unfortunately for North the adult spectators will witness another Docker win to put them firmly in 3rd place on the ladder. Freo are making a lot less mistakes in their games this season but even when they do stuff up they seem tobe able to maintain pressure on the opposition enough to cause a turnover and regain possession. Pavlich in an ordinary team was pretty good. Pavlich in a winning team is a superstar and his form is another reason the Dockers are doing so well. A team playing on confidence like this will be hard to beat particularly for a young team like North with a developing squad.
Fremantle by 40
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