AFL 2011

[Troy]

Collingwood are destroying Port right now. At half time they are leading 81-36 and Port can't get the ball into their forward fifty. Collingwood look awesome. Swan and Dawes have three goals each for Collingwood.

Adelaide vs Hawthorn and Brisbane vs Freo are tonights matches and the odds for both matches are very close. Both matches are live in Adelaide and I will probably be watching the Adelaide vs Hawthorn match as I expect that to be a better match.

On a side note does anyone else hate the new afl website? I used to like it and I would always use the live gameday portal to stay up to date with scores.

 

[Troy]

Ever since Hawthorn won the 2008 premiership I expect them to bounce back to that form. In 09 I thought that it was just a blemish and that they would bounce back in 2010. Again with the team they have I expected them to do well this year but first up they lose to the Crows. I will have to seriously reconsider tipping them in the future. Walker for the Crows looks like he is finally finding his footing and if he can continue to kick straight then he will score a lot of goals for Adelaide this season.

Fremantle only just beat Brisbane 94-92 and that was after Brisbane lost Staker and Brown to injuries.

Collingwood ended up winning 155 -80 and I worry for next week when North have to play them.

 

[Troy]

I have seriously under-estimated Essendon this season and over-estimated Western Bulldogs. Essendon won easily today 113-58. I know this is only round one but it changes my thoughts on both teams, Essendon are a great chance to make the finals whereas I don't think Bulldogs are a lock for top four anymore.

Sydney vs Melbourne finished in a draw 84-84. I didn't expect to have a draw this early in the season and it will be a blow for both teams who would have thought that this would be a win for them.

North are currently playing West Coast and we have gone into the game with no ruckman after Goldstein was a late withdrawal. West Coast have been hit with a couple of injuries to Masten and LeCras during this game. Pederson has been amazing in his first game shouldering the ruck duties when he is normally a key defender. West Coast currently ahead by 3 points with 16 minutes to go.

 

[Troy]

Scott Thompson you idiot, he runs at the ball at full back and completely misses it giving Cox an easy goal. We just can't get the ball out of our defence when we get the kick-in.

West Coast by 9 and they are looking good. Momentum is switching dramatically this game.

EDIT: FFS rather than punching the ball out of bounds the North defender punches it forward and they kick another goal to lead by 15. How the hell are we losing this match?

EDIT2: We actually start running and we kick two quick goals to bring the gap down to 4 with 7 minutes left. Why do North always do this to me?

EDIT3: FFS we turn it over at half back and then Schuey runs into Rawlings and gets a free kick! Why does he get a free kick when he ran into Rawlings!?!? And he kicks a goal and it is 11 points. ARGHHHHHHHHHH

EDIT4: Hansen marks in the pocket and misses again, kicked 1.4 today. If we lose this I will be pissed.

EDIT5: Absolute bullshit that final quarter. Edwards gets a free kick at the end by the clock isn't stopped!?!?! Edwards kicks the goal after the siren to make it a 4 point game. Pathetic by North that we couldn't finish that game and after having the rub of the umpires in the first half we were screwed over in the last quarter, levelled out in the end but it still hurts. Terrible start to the season since we should have easily won that match.

 

[Andrew]

Fucking Bulldogs, all the hype about them. They won't make top 8 if they played like today, went to game. First quarter was good but after that Dogs just got dumbfounded by Essendon who just put immense pressure and played like Geelong.

Fucking Thompson going over to Essendon and teaching them magic, Essendon for top 4 no doubt.

Sorry about the swearing, just ranting here.

 

[Troy]

Essendon can't do anything wrong at the moment, it seems like getting Thompson as the assistant coach to Hird was a master stroke. Voss suffered coaching with no previous experience because he didn't have a great coach like Thompson backing him up. A lot to like about Essendon and I am sure Aniking will be very happy right now. I don't know about top four but top eight seems likely. Bulldogs I don't know I will have to wait until next week to see how they bounce back.

 

[Aniking]

You have no idea how happy I am. I watched the game from start to finish and I was stoked at how dominant we were over a team that is touted as making the top 4 again. We are in a great position and it'll be interesting to see how we go in the next 4 weeks when we play Sydney, St Kilda, Carlton and Collingwood. If we can win 2 or 3 of them then our great start won't just be down to us riding the wave of Hird's employment like some people seem to think it is. I really hope we play like we have been regularly, it would be awesome if we can make the top 4 after finishing in the bottom 3 last year.

Was happy with how my tipping went. I would've been 6/6 (excluding the Tigers/Blues and Saints/Cats) if Melbourne and Sydney didn't draw.

 

[ants]

Essendon and Swans are shaping to be a pretty good contest, I think we're still missing a bit of forward structure, I just reckon if we can chuck Goodes back into the guts or even to centre half forward so he can play the Riewoldt lead up role and have Bradshaw as a deep target and then throw in a Sam Reid or Jesse White, we could be a force to be reckoned with. I think we went wrong with our sub on the weekend as well, Seaby really didnt give us anything except a rest for Mumford, whereas someone like Gary Rohan would have been perfect adding run in the last quarter which was what really lacked and cost us the game.

 

[Troy]

Bradshaw at FF, Goodes at CHF, White to rotate through forward and ruck to give Mumford a rest and that is a pretty good forward line to go with some crumbers at their feet. I didn't quite understand why Seaby was chosen as the sub for Sydney, he can only play one role in the team. It is like for North i didn't get why we chose Ben Warren who can only play as a forward. Midfielders or versatile key position players are musts for the sub. Anyone that can give some run for the final one or two quarters.

 

[Troy]

This is ridiculous. St Kilda and Richmond just drew! Nine games into the season and there have already been two draws which is unheard of. Add to this Jack Riewoldt was concussed early in the first quarter so they managed to score 14 goals without him. Dustin Martin kicked three goals for Richmond whilst Milne kicked four and Nick Riewoldt kicked three for the Saints. Terrible start to the year for Saints losing last week by one point and then getting the draw this week. Richmond last week played well against Carlton and put in another great performance tonight.

 

[ants]

Gold Coast debut and get done by over 100 points. Not unexpected, when you think about it, but still thought they might have put in a bit of a better showing. They didnt seem to have the same hardness at the ball that they did in there first NAB Cup game against the Swans, which was a bit disappointing. Ablett didnt do much and it looks like hes going to struggle being the main objective of tags and attention. For the positives, big Charlie Dixon looks promising, and Brandon Matera, Zac Smith and Harley Bennell showed glimpses in what really was an absolute rout. Judd played his 200th game as well, and Carlton were never going to lose.

 

[Troy]

Not the best debut. With so many kids in the team they will struggle until they can add some bulk to their bodies. They will be great in a couple of years but it doesn't look good for them right now. It looks like they will be a nice percentage booster for top teams trying to jockey for the finals spots.

North were thumped by Collingwood yesterday. So frustrating to watch since we couldn't kick straight. In the first half we kicked 2.9 when really it should have been 9.2. We missed so many easy chances and against a team like Collingwood you can't do that. An 87 point loss should have been closer to a 30 point loss. Our forward structure still isn't right and we struggle to get the ball out of defense. We can really use the break next week and then after that we travel back to perth to face freo. Our season starts round five.

West Coast surprised me again by defeating Port. I had expected Port to win at home and it was a poor performance especially since West Coast were missing some key players.

Freo and Geelong played a great match. Very close and Geelong just snuck home at the end with a 11 point win. Very good match to watch and both sides looked good.

Bulldogs just thrashed Brisbane 123-45. Brisbane will struggle with so many key players out.

Sydney and Essendon are playing a see-sawing match. Essendon got ahead early but Sydney have kicked the last five goals to be up 57-55. Should be a good last one and a half quarters.

 

[ants]

SWANNNIEESSSSS!!!

Ive been losing my mind watching this on delayed telecast and finally we come away with the five point victory. Old firm in Goodes, Okeefe, and Jude Bolton were the difference when it mattered.

 

[Troy]

Well done to Sydney for sticking in there and continuing to come back again and again. There were about three times when Essendon should have run away with it but couldn't break Sydney. Great game.

Hawthorn must have been watching North play since they couldn't kick straight at all. Melbourne were ahead at half time but there was never any doubt that Hawthorn would win the match. They produced a better second half and won by 45 points but it should have been 100+ points.

 

[Troy]

Hopefully everyone has entered their tips on footytips.

Collingwood are playing Carlton at the moment and are winning 80-53. Collingwood have controlled most of the match although Carlton have come back every now and then yet whenever they have Collingwood always have an answer. Jarryd Blair is having the game of his life, so far he has kicked 5 goals straight to three quarter time.