Imagine my surprise when I woke up on Friday morning and saw that the Western Bulldogs were within a point of the Hawthorn Hawks at Half Time.  I thought, “Damn, the Doggies actually have a chance!”  What happened afterwards, what happened the next day, and much more on

Welcome to Balls of Steel’s AFL Beat!

First off, apologies for running the AFL Beat late this week.  Life gets in the way, you know?  Anyway, back to Friday morning.  It was a good thing that I woke up early to watch as I was treated to an amazing second half by the Doggies as they took over the game and eliminated the three-time defending champions by a score of 107-84!

While many in the Australian media are calling this the end of an era, I’m not so sure.  As long as Alastair Clarkson is coaching, I think the Hawks have as good a shot as any team.  Here is a great highlight of the Hawks going almost literally end to end for a goal:

The Doggies took over the game slowly but surely:

and then put the game away late:

The next Semifinal was played on Saturday morning in North America.  I woke up, saw the score at Three Quarter Time, and then went back to sleep.  At the time, the Swans were ahead by over 30 and they ended up winning by 36.  To tell you the truth, I’m a bit disappointed by the Crows.  I thought they would put up a better fight.  Heck, I even tipped them to win!  The Swans, however, were too strong at home and have now booked a date with my beloved Geelong Cats at the MCG for the Preliminary Finals.

Yeah, this is one situation where the winner of the Preliminary Final will most likely be the winner of the Grand Final.  I may be selling the Doggies and Giants short, but I truly believe the Swans and Cats are by far the better teams.  Since the Crows lost, there is no Eddie Betts highlight, so you’ll have to do with a porn star highlight:

Just pretend the i in kick was an o.  Here is a Sydney highlight:

On the bright side for Cats fans, the Swans suffered a couple of significant injuries to some of their players and may be short-handed.  We will see if that truly has any effect on the Swans, who have had their young players fill in admirably for departing stars all year long.  Here are the matchups for the Semifinal Round:

Friday, September 23, 2016

Geelong Cats v Sydney Swans at MCG – 2:50 AM Pacific (LIVE on Fox Sports 2!)

Saturday, September 24, 2016 (Late Friday Night!)

GWS Giants v Western Bulldogs at Spotless Stadium – 12:15 AM Pacific (LIVE on Fox Sports 2!)

It’s win or go home.  Shit’s serious now.

Speaking of shit getting serious, our Footy Tipping Contest is once again TIED as I went Ohfer for the Semifinals while Litre_cola got one correct pick.  BFC continues his tear through the Finals with a 2 for 2 performance!  Here are the standings:

There are only three games left.  So much is riding on these next few games.  I highly recommend that everyone try to catch at least one.  BTW, yes we are still doing the tipping contest, so don’t forget to PUT THE TIP IN!

Before I go, allow me to try to influence you as to which team to root for.  Would you rather root for the team that takes its song from the Notre Dame Fighting Irish and actually pays them royalties or would you rather root for the team who has one of its stars surf during the finals, encounter a shark 15 meters away, and STAYS IN THE FUCKING WATER!  I think the choice is clear. See you next week!