How do you define perfection?

You may want to ask Dok Zymm as she picked EVERY single game correctly this week in our Footy Tipping Contest!  That, the week’s recap, and much more on

Welcome to Balls of Steel’s AFL Beat!

The Round started with the blockbuster matchup of #1 Hawthorn vs #2 Sydney.  The game was as good as advertised with the teams going back and forth all night. You know what?  Let’s just watch the last two minutes:

As I said in WhyEaglesWhy’s post that morning:  “Fucking Hawthorn”.  They just find a way to win.  This is why they have won the premiership the last three years and look to make it four in a row.

On North American Friday morning (Friday Night Footy in Australia), Geelong faced Fremantle in Perth.  I woke up early to watch this one and…man I really could have used the extra sleep!  Don’t get me wrong, I’m happy that we won, but we SUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCKED!  I’ve mentioned this before, but one of the things I love about the Cats’ coach, Chris Scott, is that he tells it like it is.  Even after a win, he didn’t mince words in assessing the team.  I love that man.

Here is a nice goal from Patrick Dangerfield:

and here is a nice goal from the Dockers:

The Friday night games started with Essendon taking on Richmond at the MCG. The Bombers were again a tough team to beat, although they did get beat by 19.  On the bright side, Brisbane comes to town next week!  On the other bright side, the Bombers have Orazio Fantasia on their team.

Here are couple of Richmond highlights:

That last one is embarrasing for the Bombers.  Right in front of goal and NOTHING!  Good play by the defenceman, but geez!

Next up, the reeling and I do mean REELING North Melbourne Kangaroos, losers of four of their last five and 1-5 since starting out the year 9-0, traveled to Adelaide to take on the Power.  You know, I forgot to ask WhyEaglesWhy if they play this song over the loudspeaker at games:

Seems like a natural, doesn’t it?  Play the video above while watching this highlight:

If that doesn’t get you excited for Port Adelaide Footy, I don’t know what to tell you.  All of a sudden now, thanks to that awesome win, the Power are within striking distance of the Eight.  They may save their season yet…

You know, one of the many things that I love about the AFL is that they take real games to areas of Australia that don’t have teams.  Imagine the Patriots playing in Maine or the Seahawks playing in Alaska.  That was the case this week as the Gold Coast Suns “hosted” the Western Bulldogs in Cairns.  Now, many of you may recognize Cairns as the Gateway to the Great Barrier Reef.

home to some of the most beautiful aquatic life in the world:

The Western Bulldogs certainly enjoyed their stay as they beat up on the injured Suns to the tune of 107-59.  Let’s take one more look:

Just gorgeous. One of these days, I will make it over there…

Meanwhile, here are some highlights:

I really love it when they play in those small stadiums!

In the last game of the night, Adelaide showed they are a damn good footy team in beating a spirited Collingwood team. The Crows scored 97 while the Pies settled for

And now for your obligatory Eddie Betts highlight:

North American Saturday night brought the last three games of the Round and started off with a very special matchup of Carlton vs West Coast at the MCG.  It was very special because US Vice President Joe Biden attended!  Looks like Joe is now a Carlton supporter which I’m not sure if it will make Hippo happy.

In any case, the Blues tried real hard for their new fan and almost pulled off the victory over the Eagles. As you know, though, almost only counts in horseshoes, grenades, and anal sex.   This was so embarrasing, I think I honestly could have done better myself:

This was better from the Blues, albeit easier:

Of course, West Coast did some good things too

In the next game, St. Kilda hosted the Melbourne Demons at the Etihad.  I did not know that the Saints had beaten the Demons 13 straight times!  If I had, I would not had changed my pick to Melbourne at the last minute.  Well, we can make that 14 now as the Saints took care of the Demons by 36.  Here is an example of the type of play that brought the Saints back from an early deficit:

Kids, more than anything, this should show you that GOOD triumphs over EVIL.

In the last game of the Round, the GWS Giants did as expected and trounced the hapless Brisbane Lions 146-67.  I believe Cam Newton owes the country of Australia an apology:

One of the many things I do enjoy about watching Brisbane games in Queensland is the torrential rains they get and how the AFL just keeps on playing:

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

As you can see, things are greatly bunched up at the top.  It’s going to continue like this until the end of the year, I reckon. North’s loss to Port means both the Power and the Saints have a not-entirely-unrealistic shot at making the eight, assuming the Roos continue their slide.  We’ll find out real soon as North plays first up next week.  This is the schedule for the next Round (Remember that all times are Pacific):

Friday July 22

Collingwood v North Melbourne at Etihad Stadium (2.50 AM) LIVE on Fox Sports 2!

Sydney Swans v Carlton at ANZ Stadium (8.45pm) LIVE on Fox Sports Plus

Gold Coast Suns v Fremantle at Metricon Stadium (9.10pm)

West Coast Eagles v Melbourne at Subiaco Oval (11.35pm) LIVE on Fox Sports Plus

Saturday July 23

Western Bulldogs v St Kilda at Etihad Stadium (2.25 AM)

Geelong v Adelaide at Simonds Stadium (2.25 AM) LIVE on Fox Sports 1 and TSN2!

Essendon v Brisbane Lions at Etihad Stadium (8.10pm)

Hawthorn v Richmond at MCG (10.20pm) LIVE on Fox Sports Plus

Port Adelaide v GWS Giants at Adelaide Oval (11.40pm)

There are some great games on tap this week!  The best is probably Geelong-Adelaide, but I expect Collingwood-North, Western-St. Kilda, Port Adelaide-GWS, and even the two bottom-of-the-ladder clashes (Gold Coast-Fremantle and Essendon-Brisbane) to be tough close matches.  It’s going to be a tough week to pick games.  Speaking of, let’s see how we are doing in the Footy Tipping Contest:

Dok Zymm’s awesome week has vaulted her into a tie with SonofSpam who had a bad round, just like me.  The pack is getting closer.  Well done to everyone!  As always, don’t forget to PUT THE TIP IN!

See you next week!