AFL Preview Rd 15
Well tipsters a slightly better effort last week but theupsets continue and of course close games can go either way. The top 4 issettling down but there is one heck of a fight going on for positions 5 to thebottom. The Ben Cousins story, after a short break, has hit the headlines againand the media gang that made themselves available to do the interview attraining Wednesday night was unbelievable. It’s a wonder a few scuffles didn’tbreak out amongst them to get best microphone position and it would have been greatto see the AFL fine them for wrestling. Ben was at his best with throw awaylines about decaf he was drinking and he pointed out that there were morereporters at the interview than turned up to his 21st!! But it wasall so boring I had to take some No-Doz to stay awake!
There has been plenty of football news every day and thebirths of the Gold Coast team and the West Sydney team are getting a bit ofcoverage. Not being in the west anymore sees West Coast and Fremantle coveragelimited to 2 or 3 column lines here in footy country so the pressure that isbeing brought to bear on Whoosha is a bit of an unknown. A wooden spoon forWest Coast might see his demise.
This week we have a few games amongst the rubble placedbelow 4th position so that will put a bit of pressure on tippingcompetition leaders. Hard to play safe when form is so up and down with theseteams. Good luck.
Port Adelaide VCollingwood at AAMI Friday Night
Last week the Pies won by 83 points against West Coast.They won’t win this one by the same margin but it will still be a relativelyeasy victory for Collingwood considering the form of Port. The Power has lostits last 7 games and tonight should make 8. They have a few outs injured andthe Pies look like still having captain Maxwell out with a calf injury. In arare venture away from the MCG Collingwood will maintain their away win record.
Collingwood by 49
Geelong V Hawthornat the MCG Saturday
Had this game been played 6 weeks ago the result wouldhave been easy to pick. Hawthorn have strung together 7 consecutive wins aftera disastrous start to the season. Mitchell is a big loss for Hawthorn and eventhough the Cats lost Moonie and Johnson the captain Ling will return. The hardpick for the tipsters is due to the fact that we have a team playing a littlebelow themselves in the Cats while conversely Hawthorn is on a roll. A fewimportant outs for the Hawks swings the tip towards the Cats and let’s face it– Hawthorn have to eventually lose.
Geelong by 26
West Coast VAdelaide at Subiaco Saturday
The Eagles are due to come out fighting which would makea nice change. Unfortunately they come up against the Crows who are back ontrack with form that should make a lot of teams start worrying. The injury listfor both teams is enormous and for West Coast it holds their better players! Notsure what sort of pressure the West Coast players are under but they reallyneed to lift and show supporters that there is hope after 2010. Adelaide seemsto have turned the corner but their record at Subiaco does not read well. Couldbe the upset game of the round and for tipsters looking at scratching an extrapoint it should be considered a possibility.
West Coast by 11
Brisbane Lions VSt Kilda at the Gabba Saturday
With a weekend of difficult matches it’s nice to get aneasy one. There is not a lot to write about this game. Brisbane is going througha pit in form and the Saints just keep moving along winning games. Nothing willchange this week.
St Kilda by 38
Richmond VFremantle at Etihad Saturday
This will be a big test for the Dockers to overcome thepsychological loss of Barlow last week from the badly broken leg he suffered.On top of that the Tigers are on a roll and will have lots of positiveendorphins helping them hopefully win the game against Freo, unless, of course,the No Doz and Temazapam have extinguished them on game day. Cousins has beenomitted even though he made it clear he shouldn’t be. Freo just have to stopReiwoldt kicking a bagful.
Fremantle by 29
Sydney V NorthMelbourne at the SCG Sunday
Let’s face it, North always come back from a bad game theweek after with a win. Ignore that statistic at your peril. Both teams have 7wins so a win by either team is important to their finals chances. Tipsterswill see this as a dangerously hard one to pick as these teams sit in thattwilight zone. Good enough to make the 8 but not good enough to beat teamsabove them and win any finals. Harvey had a bad one for North last week so weshould not expect two bad games in a row from him. Goodes for the Swans wasalso well held and don’t expect a poor game from him this week. On form thisshould be a draw but if not expect a close one. Coin toss to make a selectionin this game is acceptable.
North by 16
Melbourne VEssendon at the MCG Sunday
This is an extremely difficult game from which to pick awinner. Perhaps the Demons can manufacture another draw. Both teams were prettyordinary last week though it seems Essendon was the worst. Some reportingscuttlebutt about the way Knights coaches the Bombers and there’s nothing likean 84 point loss to see a few knives come out while at Melbourne it’s all aboutJim Stynes, a few wins this season and the re-signing of some of their betterplayers for another 2 years. Positives and negatives tipsters. Can Melbournewin another match this year? Coin toss allowed again. Yep.
Melbourne by 7
Carlton V WesternBulldogs at Etihad Sunday
The Blues finally cracked a win last week but it tookthem a half to shrug off the Lions. A slow start against the Bulldogs will losethem the game and you can bet the Bullies come out biting after last week’sunexpected, close loss to Hawthorn. If the Bulldogs can hold Betts that willhelp their cause because he is Carlton’s most dangerous forward. Not a lot onoffer after Eddie and you would think that the Bulldog midfielders can holdtheir own with the Carlton trio of Judd, Murphy and Gibbs. Where’s that coinagain?
Western Bulldogsby 21
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