[AFL-Review] Round 16

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Adelaide11.8.74 defeated Geelong 9.9.63
They say that this is one of the harder tipping seasons ever. No wonder after a result like this. The Cats looked too tired and the Crows looked like they wanted it. They got it. Maybe the pre-game life and death drama upset the Geelong players when their club doctor suffered a heart attack. Ablett had only 19 possessions although Selwood with 35 and Chapman with 25 both played well. The Geelong backs held Tippett to a goal but forgot about Taylor Walker who kicked 4. The Crows keep on winning and it looks like it is a matter of which team they displace from the top 8 at this rate. The Cats will be okay until they play Collingwood.
 
Collingwood 15.10.100 defeated St Kilda 6.16.52
It was game on in the first couple of minutes as both teams scored goals. After that it was all the Pies as the Saints fumbled, bumbled and kicked atrociously on goal to suffer a hiding. Collingwood, thanks to Adelaide, now sit on top of the ladder. Swan, who was held, scragged, impeded and unfairly handled all day, still managed over 30 quality possessions to be best on ground and along with Thomas, Didak, Wellingham and Pendlebury dominated around stoppages and hard ball gets. Montagna played well for the Saints and Fisher's stats will show plenty of possessions but many were non-contested. St Kilda will need to regroup before next week's game against Hawthorn. The Pies have not been on top of the ladder since round 16 1990. That's an ominous sign!
 
Hawthorn 17.16.118 defeated Brisbane Lions 7.1.43
The return of Jonathan Brown to the Lions meant nothing as the Hawks buried the Brisbane Lions by a whopping 75 points. The tip was relatively easy to pick – the margin not so. The Lions managed to avoid kicking a behind until the last quarter but this was more because they had not had a lot of shots on goal anyway – 8 actually for the whole game! The bad sign for other teams is that Roughead finally kicked a few goals in the absence of Franklin. Hodge and Burgoyne were among the best for the Hawks and Brown kicked 3 goals in his comeback game for the Lions. Lots of problems at Brisbane and not a lot of problems at Hawthorn who have completely turned around their early season form and will certainly be playing in the finals.
 
Western Bulldogs12.11.83 defeated Port Adelaide 7.5.47
The arrival of a new coach doesn't mean a lot when you have the same old players. In trying heat conditions the Bulldogs put a stranglehold on the game and kept it like that for 4 quarters. Port is in need of a blood transfusion. The Power started pretty well and at the end of the first quarter it looked like it might be another upset but the Bullies prevailed to get back level by half time and surge away in the second half during which Port managed a solitary goal.
 
West Coast Eagles 20.12.132 defeated Essendon 14.16.100
There were two interesting aspects to this game. The first was LeCras for the Eagles kicked 12.2 and that's really something else. The second was that Essendon played as well as was expected but we all thought they would still win. The race for the Wooden Spoon is back on so there has been a renewed interest in the bottom 4 teams. West coach Worsfold might have an easier week from his detractors and the press this week but the papers here will be right onto the Bombers coach giving him Knightmares!! Apart from the 12 goals by LeCras Priddis continued his good form with over 30 touches and veteran Embley had a good night as well. I walked from the MCG to the Crown casino and lost $100 when I should have kept walking and gone to Etihad to see the 12 goal haul.
 
Sydney 16.11.107 defeated Carlton 10.8.68
Tipsters have been depending on Carlton to show some sort of form that they know they are capable of. However the Blues continue to disappoint. Sydney seems to have rediscovered early season form. Another tip gone wrong for most. Adam Goodes continued his stellar form with 25 possessions plus a goal and Marc Murphy along with Jordan Russell was the best for a bad Carlton team. The loss of Kruezer was prominent in this game and the ongoing loss of Fevola is having an impact as was predicted pre-season. Maybe not in total score kicked but certainly with forward structure. Things look dicey for the Blues as Adelaide is now breathing down their neck and playing a whole lot better. Based on the past few weeks my money is on the Blues not making the finals as they seem to be the weakest team in the 8. You read it here first.
 
North Melbourne 15.13.103 defeated Richmond 7.11.53
The only people to get this tip right are die-hard North supporters who somehow saw a 180 degree form reversal from the past two week as North went into this game against Richmond who, maybe, had become overconfident after 4 consecutive wins??!! Go figure. The Tigers won their first game in the wet against Port Adelaide but did not adopt the same style in the wet against North at the MCG. Reiwoldt kicked 3 for Richmond and considering they kicked only 7 that was a pretty good effort. Cousins was the ball magnet for the Tigers While Swallow and Harvey had plenty of possessions for North who remain one game outside the 8.
 
Fremantle 11.16.82 defeated Melbourne 10.11.71
Fremantle was able to hold off the Demon challenge and put themselves back into the top 4. Both the Melbourne and Richmond bandwagon threw a wheel this weekend and the reality is that neither team is top 8 material. Freo against the Bulldogs next week will be the match of the round. This game was virtually over by half time when the Dockers led by 6 goals but to Melbourne's credit they kicked the next 6 goals and with 6 minutes to go the Demons were only a point down. Both teams kicked a swag of points until finally Freo put one through to seal the game. At time of writing no stats were available but listening to the commentary Pav had a bad day and Scully had a good one. All Fremantle players will need a good day next week.

 
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