AFL 2011

[Troy]

Judd, Goodes, Watson, Selwood and Franklin are all up there at the moment and if they can stay fit will all be in the running for the Brownlow.

 

[Troy]

Another odd week in the AFL.

Melbourne def Essendon - This took me by surprise. I had expected Essendon to win this comfortably but Melbourne were great on Friday night.

Geelong def Western Bulldogs - Geelong look unstoppable once again, they continue to replace players with ease and their core is still so good. Vardy looks a good second choice ruckman/forward, much better than Hawkins.

West Coast def Gold Coast - West Coast started this game in incredible fahion, goal after goal after goal and it looked like they would win this by a huge margin. To Gold Coasts credit they fought back and only lost by three goals. Ablett was brilliant again.

Collingwood def St Kilda - Saints were in this match for the first half but then Collingwood turned on the after-burners and ran home with the match. St Kilda really need a second tall forward to take some attention away from Reiwoldt who is constantly double and triple teamed. In the trade period they should try to find a full forward.

Sydney def Brisbane - At the Gabba with Johnathon Brown leading the way again I thought that Brisbane were in with a chance. How wrong I was. Sydney never gave Brisbane a sniff and comfortably won by 65 points.

Hawthorn def Fremantle - Incredible turnaround in this match. Fremantle were up by 26 points early in the final quarter when Hawthorn suddenly arrived and kicked eight straight. It was all too easy and they looked like an unbeatable team during that period. A four goal win to Hawthorn doesn't show how close this game was.

North def Adelaide - North finally played out four quarters and kicked straight. Swallow was outstanding, especially in the first quarter, and so many young players stood up and showed that they had a great future ahead of them.

Carlton def Port - Port were leading this at half time but after half time they kicked 1.3 to 11.8. Pathetic by Port and they need some big personel changes at the club.

 

[Troy]

A change this week where the favourite won every match.

St Kilda def Western Bulldogs - Close match in the first half but in the second St Kilda kicked away from the Bulldogs. This win keeps Saints just 4 points outside the eight. Bulldogs on the other hand won't be able to make the eight unless something incredible happens in the second half of the season.

West Coast def Adelaide - Adelaide played well in the first and third quarters but it was West Coast that gave a four quarter effort. West Coast look great this season and are up to sixth at the moment.

North Melbourne def Gold Coast - Easy win for North here. Back to back wins for the first time this year for North. Starting to come together as a team but have left themselves too much to do to make the finals. Will need everything to go their way to make finals.

Geelong def Hawthorn - Incredible game. Geelong didn't score in the third quarter and Hawthorn didn't score in the last. A five point win for Geelong sees them remain undefeated. They play out games so well and can find their way out of any situation.

Carlton def Brisbane - Walk in the park for Carlton. Andrew Walker has been the find of the year for them and to think he was on the trading table last year. Brisbane struggling away from home.

Sydney def Richmond - Sydney should have easily won but 9.21 nearly cost them. Very tough team to beat at home and currently in fifth position which is probably where they will finish. Richmond are a bit up and down this season and are one of six teams fighting it out for the final two final spots.

Fremantle def Essendon - Fremantle were coasting until late in the third when Essendon made a comeback. In the fourth quarter Essendon continued to fight back but left it too late and in the end Fremantle were comfortable winners. Three loses in a row for Essendon and next week play North which is a massive game for both teams.

Collingwood def Melbourne - Another easy win for the reigning premiers. Melbourne couldnt get near them and Collingwood are going to be hard to beat.


In my opinion the top six is settled, the positions may change but the top six teams will make the finals unless something crazy happens. Fremantle, Essendon, St Kilda, Melbourne, Richmond and North Melbourne are battling it out for the last two spots. Which two do you think will make the eight out of the six listed? I am going with Fremantle and St Kilda.

 

[Troy]

For the first time in a very long time I tipped 8 winners this week!

Western Bulldogs def Adelaide - Adelaide started the game strongly but only kicked four goals after quarter time. Bulldogs improved as the game went on and Ryan Griffen is an absolute star, fantastic run and is such a clean finisher. Gia has found his new calling in the forward line.

Hawthorn def Gold Coast - Easy win for Hawthorn. The only negative for them was Franklin was reported again for a high bump and will miss at least one week.

North Melbourne def Essendon - Finally North win a close game. We raced out of the blocks but Essendon hung in and fought back from 31 points down to snatch the lead in the final term. North held on and won by 21 points in the end. Umpiring was shocking all game for both sides with North getting the better of it this week. All three umpires should be dropped to state leagues for a week. Wells, Petrie and Harvey huge again for North. Three wins in a row and half a game outside the eight.

Richmond def Brisbane - Another game that was poorly umpired but it didn't effect the result. Richmond finished strongly and Dustin Martin proved again that he is going to be one of the best players in the competition. 22 disposals and five goals, his finishing from outside of fifty is incredible.

Geelong def St Kilda - Geelong continue their winning run and Saints season just keeps getting worse. Ross Lyon didn't even watch the end of the match he was in the rooms making changes on the whiteboard. I can see Lyon dropping a lot of players this week.

Melbourne def Fremantle - 89 point win to Melbourne. Incredible turnaround and Fremantle just don't play well in Melbourne. They struggled without Bradley in the forward line and really need Sandilands back. Melbourne are hot and cold this season but that is the same for all the teams from 7th to 13th.

Carlton def Sydney - Carlton show again that they are a threat to Geelong and Collingwood on a good day. Sydney made the scoreline more respectable with a 6 to 2 goal final term.

West Coast def Port Adelaide - This was a much closer game than most predicted, only a 22 point win although a West Coast win never looked in doubt. West Coast move up to fifth with this win.

 

[Andrew]

Hawks are serious final contenders now after smashing Essendon.

Hawks can make the Grand Final, they've been under-estimated all year, No Buddy no Roughead and still a huge win.

Luckily I've put Isaac Smith & Shane Savage on my Supercoach, they scored 116 each for me.

 

[Troy]

Hawthorn, who are missing a heap of key players, thumped Essendon tonight by 61 points. I tipped Hawthorn but only by 7 because I thought with almost all of their spine out injured or suspended I didn't think that they would be able to control the game. I was wrong, so many of their smaller forwards and midfielders stepped up and kicked goals. Their goal spread was great tonight. Essendon can't seem to get three ruckmen to work anymore and they have to look into dropping one, most likely Ryder since he is in poor form. Bellchambers is clearly the best ruckman in the team and Hille is a great forward/back-up ruckman. A good percentage boost for Hawthorn and Essendon will be out of the eight by the end of the round.

Tomorrows matches:

Gold Coast vs. Western Bulldogs
Richmond vs. Melbourne
Sydney vs. Collingwood
Fremantle vs. Brisbane


Gold Coast will see this match as an opportunity to record their third win but I can't see it happening. Even in the form they are in Western Bulldogs should win here, Hall is back so I will be watching how he does in his return.

Richmond and Melbourne are evenly matched teams and it is a tough game to pick. I went with Richmond because they have been more consistent than Melbourne.

Collingwood, in the form they are in, should beat Sydney comfortably but you can never discount Sydney at home.

Fremantle should easily beat Brisbane especially with some big ins back in for Fremantle.

 

[Troy]

Hawks are serious final contenders now after smashing Essendon.

Hawks can make the Grand Final, they've been under-estimated all year, No Buddy no Roughead and still a huge win.

Luckily I've put Isaac Smith & Shane Savage on my Supercoach, they scored 116 each for me.

Good seeing someone else posting in here again

I don't know if Hawks are premiership contenders yet I still think that Geelong and Collingwood are a step above. I want to see Hawthorn play Carlton in round 22 to see where both those teams are at and if they can challenge the top two. I think this shows that Essendon have some way to go, the Hird/Thompson partnership started well but it isn't a quick fix like Brisbane found out with Voss.

Savage has had a great season so far, regularly kicking goals and collecting quite a few possessions around the ground.

 

[Andrew]

Savage is under-rated. He's clearly one of the best rookies in the league right now.

I've gone the same as you in tips but I have tipped Melbourne.

That is match of the round and I will be watching half of it/listening to radio for that game..

 

[Troy]

He has come along really well after not playing a game last season. He has great composure for a young player.

I agree that Melbourne vs. Richmond will be match of the round. Should be a high scoring close contest, similar to Essendon vs. North last week.

 

[Andrew]

Speaking of North, they're on the rise... I believe they're capable of knocking Bulldogs off from the top 8 position.

 

[Troy]

It has been good to see North string three wins in a row. We dropped four matches early in the season by less than 14 points so we were close early but only now have put everything together. A good win against Port this week will go a long way to keeping us in touch with the eight. I am not yet convinced that we can make the eight, we have so many games to make up but with the close competition from 7-13th it should be an interesting second half of the season.

 

[Troy]

Western Bulldogs def Gold Coast - Bulldogs were crusing until the final quarter when the Suns made a good comeback but in the end they left it too late. A 22 point win gave WB what they needed the four points. Big news coming out of the game was that Justin Sherman has been banned for four matches after racially vilifying a Gold Coast player.

Melbourne def Richmond - Melbourne were the better team all day and were able to contain Richmond's midfield. Frawley had a great game on Riedvoldt once again.

Collingwood def Sydney - Only a six point win and Collingwood kicking 13.21 didn't help their cause. Lucky to escape with the four points in the end. Some shocking news was that during the match a Swans player found four metal stakes in the ground at ANZ Stadium.

Fremantle def Brisbane - It wasn't a pretty match but Fremantle got over the line in the end thanks to five goals from Pavlich. Sandilands was injured again and Freo suffer big time when he doesn't play.

Geelong def Adelaide - Another cake walk for Geelong, they even rested some of their key players for this match since Adelaide was never going to be a threat. One bright spot for Adelaide was the great debut by 28 year old Ian Callinan.

West Coast def Carlton - I didn't expect West Coast to win let alone by 36 points. I knew that they were strong at home but I thought that Carlton would be able to handle them.

North def Port - Good win for North. Straight kicking helped again and our forwards are on fire at the moment. Petrie is a monster up forward and marks everything plus he kicked four goals. Harvey chipped in with another three goals.

 

[Andrew]

Sherman got 4 weeks, didn't hear about this. Sherman is useless anyways. We can bring back J Grant, Libba, Wallis & Lake for the big clash against the Dees!

Melbourne are on the rise, if Dogs cant beat Dees then bye bye finals. Melbourne should beat Bulldogs (I go for the Dogs and I see Melbourne as a better side).

Collingwood/Sydney was a freaking scare. Sydney's ground suck anyways, Collingwood will be firing once again this week.

Freo are playing an up and down season, Pavlich was the star as usual. Sandilands won't be a big loss really but Freo are long gone if they cant play without Sands

Geelong will go all the way to win, doubt they'll lose a game. Mitch Brown 3 goals on debut, this dude will be a future star

West Coast - FUCK! Who would have thought? Are we going to see West Coast of '94? This will be interesting, Carlton are probably going to lose that top 4 spot by the end of the year.

North on the rise, let's hope they can make top 8.

 

[Troy]

They are some good ins for Western Bulldogs if they return this week. The game is at Etihad stadium and Melbourne are shocking at that ground so I am going to tip Western Bulldogs. Should be a good game with both teams needing the win.

The SCG is a really good ground it is just ANZ that is bad. Lucky that no players were injured on the metal spikes.

Sandilands is a huge loss in my opinion. He holds that team together and their backup ruckmen aren't good enough. They are a much worse team without him.

Geelong play West Coast in a couple of weeks in Perth and that will be a tough game for them.

It has been incredible from West Coast from wooden spoon last year to fifth at the moment. Their senior players are fit and the gameplan is working well.

Big game this week for North against Saints we need to beat them to give ourselves a shot at finals. Then again Saints need the win as well. Should be some good matches this week.

 

[Troy]

Great win by the Bulldogs tonight. Most thought this was a 50/50 game but aside from the first ten minutes Melbourne were never in the game. 127-63 is a thrasing and Melbourne are back to their up and down ways plus they still can't win at Etihad. Giansiracusa again starred up front and kicked four goals. He has reinvented himself as a leading forward and has now kicked 25 goals for the season. Hall looked great up forward with three goals. Ward, Griffen, Higgins and many more were also excellent through the midfield. Petterd for Melbourne took a Mark of the Year candidate as well early in the third.