So, um, about posting the AFL Beat on time….

Welcome to Balls of Steel’s AFL Beat!

The image above could be used to describe my beloved Cats’ performance this weekend.  Well, at least the third quarter performance.  But I’m getting ahead of myself…

This was a weird week on the schedule.  There was a Thursday Night game (Thursday morning in North America), a Friday Night Footy game (Friday morning in North America), three Saturday games (Friday night in North America), and a Sunday game (Saturday night in North America).  The byes are partly to blame for this as we are in the second week of them, but I’m not sure why they decided to start Thursday night games now.  They could have at least waited until after the byes…

The first game was arguably the best game on paper as the Adelaide Crows hosted the newly dethroned former #1 team in the competition, the North Melbourne Kangaroos.  The Roos’ slide continues as the Crows TCB’d at home to the tune of a 100-67 win.  I’ve said it once and I’ll say it again, it’s not an Adelaide recap without an Eddie Betts highlight:

I do have this North Melbourne goal from an impossible angle:

In the next game, Collingwood, after a week off, hosted the Fremantle Dockers.  The Dockers have struggled this season and they struggle even more outside of home.  This game followed that pattern as the Pies ran away from the Dockers from the very beginning and cruised to a 85-37 thrashing.  I expect another Deadspin post on AFL just because Mason Cox is in this highlight:

I think I like the long-sleeved Pies guernseys…

In the first of the North American Friday night games, Brisbane repeated its pattern on playing well in the first quarter only to stop playing the other three.  This time, the Richmond Tigers were the beneficiary as they easily beat the Lions at the MCG by a score of 117-75.   Here is the obligatory first-quarter Brisbane highlight:

followed by the also-obligatory opponent’s highlights:

I do love the use of the word “soccer” as a verb!

I pleasantly surprised myself on Friday, but I’ve been told I can’t talk about that in polite company.  I know you lot are not polite company, but still…

The second game was a clear mismatch on paper and proved to be that on the field. The GWS Giants thoroughly dominated the Carlton Blues en route to a 127-65 victory. Stevie J came back from a week off with a sweet goal:

Not to be outshined, Dylan Shiel put on a nice display before scoring himself:

And then we get to the St. Kilda Saints – Geelong Cats game.  As I’ve said all this year, the Saints are a weird team to figure out.  They can play really well some weeks and beat the best teams in the competition and other weeks look lost and like they won’t win another game.  This Round, the good Saints showed up and upset the Cats.   The Saints started off strong.  The Cats rebounded in the third quarter and took the lead midway through the fourth.  The Saints, however, dug down deep and would not be denied.  Since I didn’t watch any of the game as it aired starting at 3 AM my time, let’s watch the last two minutes together, shall we?

It would have been nice if Tom Hawkins had gotten that call at the end, but I guess the refs didn’t want to decide the game.  I’m actually ok with that.  Props to the Saints for playing a hell of a game and coming up clutch with good defense at the end.

The last game of the Round was Hawthorn-Gold Coast and it was shown live in the US on Fox Sports 2!  It was actually a close game in the first as the Suns took a 15 point lead into the first break!  Then, I fell asleep and I think the Suns did as well as the final score was 86-60 to the Hawks.  This didn’t bode well for the Suns:

and despite some good work by the Suns

the Hawks would not be denied:

Let’s take a look at the ladder, shall we?

Despite my Cats’ best efforts, it really seems to be a league evenly divided in two:  The Good and the Not-so-Good.  The gap between the Eight and the rest is growing.  This week, many of the Eight will be on byes, which means the others will be playing against themselves.  The picture could be further muddled.  Here is this week’s schedule:

Thursday June 30

West Coast Eagles v Essendon at Subiaco Oval (3.10 AM) (LIVE on Fox Soccer Plus)

Friday July 1

Port Adelaide v Richmond at Adelaide Oval (2.50 AM) (LIVE on Fox Sports 2!)

Gold Coast Suns v St Kilda at Metricon Stadium (8.40pm)

Sydney Swans v Western Bulldogs at SCG (11.35pm) (LIVE on Fox Sports 1 and TSN!)

Saturday July 2

Carlton v Collingwood at MCG (2.25 AM) (LIVE on Fox Soccer Plus)

Melbourne v Adelaide at MCG (10.20pm) (LIVE on Fox Soccer Plus)

Byes: Brisbane Lions, Fremantle, Geelong, GWS Giants, Hawthorn and North Melbourne

On the bright side, 5 out of the 6 games are on TV in the US! On the downside, three of those 5 are on Fox Soccer Plus, but at least FS1 will carry one!  Here’s hoping they move more games to FS1 and FS2 in the future.

Let’s check in with our footy tipping contest!

Unlike the Cats, your ole buddy Balls has managed to stay in first place for another week!

Don’t forget to PUT THE TIP IN!

Next week, the byes mercifully come to an end. Hopefully things will settle down on my end and I’ll be able to introduce you to another AFL footballer.  I suggest you take Friday off, make it a four-day July 4th weekend, and wake up early to watch the AFL.  I will.  Enjoy the games!