The AFL Women’s season is all over, even the awards ceremonies, so all we have now is strictly the Men’s competition.  Before we completely say goodbye to the ladies for 9 months, I’d like to revisit some of the good times and remind you, once again, that AFL Women hit harder than the New York Jets:

And now, one final adieu to the ladies.

See you in January!

Welcome to Balls of Steel’s AFL Beat!

The surprises of Round 1 continued in Round 2.  The Round started, as did Round 1, with a Richmond game on Australian Thursday night which meant North American Wednesday night/Thursday morning.  It was a work night and Thursday workdays are brutal for me, so I did not get a chance to watch the Tigers take on the Collingwood Magpies.

It was completely even throughout the first half until the Pies scored a couple of late goals to take a Half Time lead.  The Tigers came back in the 3rd and then put their foot down in the 4th on their way to a 99-80 win.  The Tigers thus end the season undefeated in Thursday Night matches, which should be something to hold on to should the rest of the season turn to shit.  Remember that it’s still early, folks.  Here are the match highlights:

As happened last week, there was also a Western Bulldogs game on Australian Friday night which was North American Thursday night/Friday morning.  This time, the game was a rematch of the Grand Final with the Sydney Swans looking to give a little payback to Western for last year’s loss.

Well, they’re still looking because the Doggies took care of the Swans AGAIN to the tune of 110-87.  The Swans started off the game very strong with multiple unanswered goals. Midway through the quarter, though, the Doggies steadied and came back to build a nice lead at Three Quarter Time.  This time, the Swans came back and took the lead midway through the fourth, but Western rallied again and scored four unanswered goals at the end to take the game.  Here are the match highlights:

Finally, on North American Friday night, I was able to watch a game live.  And what a game:  Hawthorn v Adelaide.  Unfortunately, for my 4:45 AM waking-up ass, I crashed out early, so I only caught the first quarter where Hawthorn were dominating and winning easily.  Imagine my surprise when I woke up on Saturday and discovered that Adelaide came back to win by 4 goals?

Hawthorn continued its first quarter dominance into the second, but it was truly a tale of two halves as the Crows were a different team in the second half. The Hawks are now a very surprising 0-2 and questions are starting to be asked…

Here are the match highlights:

and, because it’s tradition and because the man is brilliant, here is an Eddie Betts highlight:

And, I’ve got to say, I absolutely LOVE Taylor “Tex” Walker’s pornstache.  That thing is glorious.

The next game had GWS heading to the Gold Coast to destroy the memory of last week’s loss to the Crows.  The beach was nice, but the game against the Suns was nicer as the Giants absolutely flattened the Suns by a hundred (160-58).  If you watched this game or you are catching it later on the Watch AFL app you are either a Giants fan or you have an extensive collection of Faces of Death videos.  Here is the short highlight package:

The first of the late late night games had the undefeated Brisbane Lions (hey, some years I can’t even say it!) hosting the resurgent Essendon Bombers.  The Bombers showed they are back and for real as they took the road win by 27 (111-84).

On the bright side for the Lions, they played well for three quarters and mounted a furious comeback in the fourth.  Unfortunately, the hole they dug themselves in the second cost them an opportunity to make it a different game.  Hopefully, they will learn from this experience.  I’m still hoping they avoid the Wooden Spoon.  The AFL Women’s team deserves better counterparts. Here is the highlights package:

The last game of Friday night/Saturday morning featured the West Coast Eagles hosting the St. Kilda Saints.  Now, the Eagles have been pretty much unbeatable in Perth, so the Saints were in for a tough task.  They responded well, though, and actually dominated the game for 3 1/2 quarters.  The words of Litre_cola, though, rang back in my ear as I saw the score/recap on Saturday morning:

Oh Mr balls, the Saints always find a way to fuck it up.

This time, the Saints allowed 5 unanswered goals at the end of the fourth that turned a two goal lead and a potentially crucial away win into a 19 point loss.  Here are the disappointing highlights:

On North American Saturday night, I was finally rested and able to watch my beloved Geelong Cats take on the North Melbourne Kangaroos at the Etihad.

That game was a doozy, boys and girls!  The Roos dominated, but the Cats were resilient and twice came back from 25 point deficits. The deficit was actually over 30 in the second half until the Cats managed to tie the game late in the fourth.  The Roos responded with a goal and the Cats got a behind which set up a frantic last two minutes.

The Cats only led for 1 minute.  The good thing is that it was the last minute of the game as they came away with the 112-111 win. That was a crazy and awesome game to watch.

I was too wiped from the first game to watch the last two games of the Round.  Upon waking up on Sunday morning, I found that Melbourne did indeed go 2-0 as they edged out the Blues 86-64 and that the Port Adelaide Power wiped the floor with the Fremantle Dockers in a 145-56 romp.   Here are the highlight packages:

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

As I said in the beginning, the surprises continue.  Who would have thought that both Hawthorn and Sydney would be 0-2?  Also, Port Adelaide at the top of the ladder is not something that could have reasonably been expected. It’s still early and there is a lot of footy to be played, but at least it’s nice that things are so interesting at the start of the season.

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And now, let’s see the standings on our Footy Tipping Contest:

Looks like somebody forgot to put their tips in but didn’t get lucky with the road team wins.  Remember that if you don’t put your tips in, the system automatically selects the road team for you. Last week was a good week for that to happen.  This week, not so much.

Like she said, it’s really quite tight, which makes it even better. As always, don’t forget to PUT THE FOOTY TIP IN!!!

Let’s take a look at Round 3 (all times Pacific):

Friday, April 7, 2017

2:50 AM – Sydney Swans v Collingwood Magpies at the SCG

The surprisingly 0-2 Swans look to get their first win of the year at home against the Pies.  Collingwood has played well in close losses, so I expect this game to be close.

8:45 PM – North Melbourne Kangaroos v GWS Giants at Blundstone Arena in Tasmania

The Giants got the benefit of playing a horrible Suns team to get to 1-1.  The Roos played incredibly well in their close loss to the Cats. So, which team is ready to get a quality win? I’ve no idea.  This should be a good game to watch that should be close until the end.

9:10 PM – Richmond Tigers v West Coast Eagles at the MCG

The undefeated Tigers take on the undefeated Eagles at home.  The Tigers have looked the much better team so far this year even though both teams haven’t lost.  They are also coming off a nice long break after back-to-back Thursday Night games.  That bodes well for Tigerland.

11:35 PM – Geelong Cats v Melbourne Demons at the Etihad

To be fair, the Cats escaped with a win against the Roos, but those are the kind of wins that amazing seasons are made out of. The Demons have looked far better in the first two rounds and traditionally play well against the Cats.  An interesting wrinkle is that this is the first time these two teams will meet at the Etihad.

Saturday, April 8, 2017

2:40 AM – Port Adelaide Power v Adelaide Crows at Adelaide Oval (The SHOWDOWN!)

This is a biggie:  The #1 and #2 teams in the competition playing a city derby on Prime Time Australian Saturday Night. I think this is the game that tells us whether it’s the same old Power as in the previous years or if they are finally ready to turn the corner, be consistent, and contend for a premiership.

2:40 AM – Fremantle Dockers v Western Bulldogs at Domain Stadium

As I predicted in my season preview, things are spiraling downward in Perth.  The coach has started talking about bringing in the youngsters and making changes.  On top of all that, the defending champions are coming to town.  That does NOT bode well.

8:10 PM – St. Kilda Saints v Brisbane Lions at the Etihad

This one is a MUST-win for the Saints else the high hopes for the season are going to go down the toilet.  On the other side, this is a winnable game for the Lions, assuming they fix the issues that caused them to lose focus against the Bombers in the second quarter.  Another tough one to call.

10:20 PM – Carlton Blues v Essendon Bombers at the MCG

Carlton played much better against the Demons and were right there at Three Quarter Time.  The problem with the Blues is the lack of scoring.  The Bombers have multiple scoring threats and have looked good so far. Can the Blues actually hold down Essendon enough to outscore them?

11:40 PM – Gold Coast Suns v Hawthorn Hawks at Metricon Stadium

The Hawks finally have a chance to get well after two losses to start the year. It looks like Gold Coast is well on its way to the Wooden Spoon.

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For the next two weeks, I will be in Spain (yes, there will be a post), so tWBS has graciously agreed to fill in (phrasing) for me on the AFL Beat.  He is a fellow Geelong Cats supporter/member, so your biased Geelong Cats coverage will continue, please do not worry.  Maybe if you’re nice to him, he’ll tell you about the hot Nazi Sydney Swans supporter he knows.  And no, it’s not Sill or Spanky.

See you later!