This week,

All this,  a big upset,  plus more perfection coming up on…

Welcome To Balls of Steel’s AFL Beat!

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Round 11

The Round started late Thursday night with Sydney taking on Carlton.  When I woke up for work,  I expected the Swans to have a comfortable lead,  which they did.  It wasn’t,  however,  a complete blowout as the final margin was only 30.

The Blues may not be winning,  but they’re playing hard and competing.  That’s…. something.  Here are the highlights:

The first game of proper Friday night had the Western Bulldogs hosting the Melbourne Demons at the Etihad Marvel. The Doggies started out really well and held a nice lead,  but the Demons found another gear in the second quarter and controlled the game the rest of the way.

In the end,  the Demons pretty much doubled up the Doggies 100-51. Highlights:

I really wanted to watch the Hawthorn-Port game live,  but I was too tired.  It’s a shame because this was a very good game that went down to the wire. Let’s watch the last two minutes:

The Hawks managed to hang on to win by 3. Here are the highlights for the whole game:

I REALLY wanted to watch the Cats take on the Suns,  but there was just no way. I was happy to see on Saturday morning that the Cats had an outstanding 2nd quarter that effectively ended the game.

I thoroughly enjoyed watching the replay of the 121-36 win in Gary Ablett’s return to Queensland.  Highlights:

The Dreamtime at the G match is traditionally the highlight of the Indigenous Round. It pits Richmond against Essendon in what has become a fierce rivalry.  This year’s edition,  predictably,  went the Tigers’ way in a 43-114 blowout.  Only 2 away… Highlights:

It was expected that West Coast would demolish the Saints at home.  Thus,  I was pleasantly surprised that the Saints only lost by 13. That’s actually a really good result for the Saints and shows they’ve maybe turned the corner. We’ll see how they do next week.  Here are the highlights:

The first game of North American Saturday night had the Brisbane Lions visiting the North Melbourne Kangaroos and man do the Roos start games fast! This game was over before it started.

The Lions actually did a good job of getting back into the game and making the losing margin only 54. Highlights:

Later,  Collingwood was hosting the Dockers at the MCG, a ground where Perth teams typically don’t play well.  Make it one more game where that trend continues.  The final score was 138-77. Here are the highlights:

The last match of the Round turned out to be the biggest surprise. The GWS Giants were reeling coming off 4 consecutive losses while the Crows were at home. Somehow,  someway,  the Giants are back.

They beat the Crows in Adelaide by 16 and have signaled to the rest of the competition that they’re not dead yet. Highlights:

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

The positions didn’t really change much this week except in the lower rungs of the Eight.  The byes start this week,  so we won’t really get a true picture until Round 15.

Here is the Balls Graph (TM, but may be leasing it out to Brick soon):

[gview file=”https://www.doorfliesopen.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/AFL-Ladder-2018R11.pdf”]

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Footy Tipping Contest

Here is where we are after Round 11:

It seems that Joliet Jake and Spanky were inspired by last week’s perfect weeks by Game Time Decision, JPF, and Dolph Ucker. They actually did one better by picking all NINE games correctly.

Game Time Decision continues his rise in the rankings as both Sharkbait and blaxabbath once again forgot to put the footy tips in and are now fighting for the Wooden Spoon position.

Keep up the good work, boys!  As for the two that did not enter in their picks, you know what that means!

DON’T FORGET TO PUT THE FOOTY TIPS IN!!!

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AFL Round 12

Here is the schedule for this week (all times Pacific):

Friday, June 8, 2018

2:50 AM (Late Thursday Night) – Port Adelaide Power v Richmond Tigers at Adelaide Oval

Port got brought back down to earth while the champs kept rolling.  If the Tigers win again, Port’s season is in jeopardy.

8:45 PM – Geelong Cats v North Melbourne Kangaroos at Kardinia Park

I cannot believe I actually get to see the Cats at a decent hour.  Watch them disappoint me…

11:35 PM  – GWS Giants v Gold Coast Suns at Spotless Stadium

The Giants rebounded nicely against the Crows in Adelaide.  Can they keep the momentum going at home against the Suns?

Saturday,  June 9, 2018

2:25 AM (Late Friday Night) – St. Kilda Saints v Sydney Swans at Marvel Stadium

The Saints have looked better lately, but the Swans play really well on the road.

8:10 PM – Brisbane Lions v Essendon Bombers at the Gabba

This seems like a really good opportunity for the Lions to get another win, but the Bombers were beaten badly by Richmond last week, so…

11:40 PM – Fremantle Dockers v Adelaide Crows at Optus Stadium

This should be a good game with the home field advantage giving the Dockers a chance.

Sunday, June 10, 2018

10:20 PM – Melbourne Demons v Collingwood Magpies at the MCG

For some weird-ass reason, the AFL celebrates the Queen’s birthday by having a Monday game.  This year, this is it.  It’s a good one, too.

BYES:  Carlton Blues, Hawthorn Hawks, Western Bulldogs, West Coast Eagles

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Given the Queen’s birthday game on Sunday night, the AFL Beat might be delayed on Monday depending on how busy I am at work to put the finishing touches on the post.  Worst case, I’ll publish on Tuesday next week.  Enjoy the games!