This week,

It was that kind of week…

Welcome to Balls of Steel’s AFL Beat!

Round 20 Recaps and Highlights

Strap yourselves in, kids,  because this week’s games gave us quite a ride. It all started on Friday morning when I woke up early enough to catch the second part of the third quarter of the Richmond Tigers-Geelong Cats match.

By then,  the Tigers had run out to a healthy 24 point lead and I seriously thought about turning the game off. But something told me to keep watching and the Cats mounted a tremendous fourth quarter comeback that ended this way:

Oh,  if only Gary Ablett’s shot had gone in! Here are the full game highlights:

On proper Friday night,  the first game featured the Essendon Bombers fighting for their finals lives against the Hawthorn Hawks.  It was an awesome game to watch and it too came down to the last two minutes:

The whole game was crazy and back and forth and the Bombers just ran out of time. Highlights:

So, have you had enough thrilling finishes? Nope,  not yet! The North Melbourne Kangaroos had led the Brisbane Lions only for the Lions to fight back then led again and the Lions would come back. This pattern held up until the fourth. And then this happened:

Jesus,  Brisbane! You have a free kick 25 yards at a 45 degree angle with less than a minute left,  you MILK THAT CLOCK AND TAKE A DROP PUNT EVERY DAY OF THE WEEK!

Talk about pulling a loss out of a win. Here are the highlights:

The next game was The Showdown between the Adelaide Crows and the Port Adelaide Power.  The Crows desperately needed this game to keep their super slim finals hopes alive.

Predictably,  it went down to the wire:

See? That’s how you milk a clock! Highlights:

You would think we would be done with awesome finishes,  but you’d be wrong. Sydney and Collingwood played a thriller that also came down to the end:

How did he score that goal? I mean that’s unbelievable! He pulled the win out of a hat! Amazing! Here are the full game highlights:

As if to give us a break from the heart-stopping finishes,  the St. Kilda Saints were kind enough to give up their lead over the Western Bulldogs midway through the second quarter. The Doggies thanked them and never looked back in a 103-68 (so close!) win. Here are the highlights:

Come North American Saturday night,  the Footy Gods decided we’d had enough and all three games went as expected.

In the first game,  the GWS Giants took care of the Carlton Blues by 105 points (151-46). The remarkable part about this match was that the Giants suffered injuries and had to play with 18, 17, and even 16 men during the fourth quarter.

AND THEY STILL OUTSCORED THE BLUES IN THAT QUARTER!

Highlights:

The next match,  between the Melbourne Demons and the Gold Coast Suns, also had blowout written all over it and the Demons did not disappoint. They won by 96 and here are the highlights:

Lastly,  the Perth Derby between West Coast Eagles and the Fremantle Dockers did not figure to be a blowout,  but methinks the Dockers are already looking up all-inclusive packages to Bali. The final score was 142-84 and here are the highlights:

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

Here is the Balls (TM) graph:

[gview file=”https://www.doorfliesopen.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/AFL-Ladder-2018R20.pdf”]

Crazy how one loss means so much, huh?  Things are getting REALLY interesting now…

***

Footy Tipping Contest

Here is where we are after Round 20:

A big week for me sees me vault over Spanky and Litre into 3rd place!  Meanwhile, Game Time Decision continues his climb up the ladder with a place inside the top ten within reach.

For those of you not putting the tips in, this is for you:

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

***

AFL Round 21

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

Friday, August 10, 2018

2:50 AM (Late Thursday Night) – Essendon Bombers v St. Kilda Saints at Marvel Stadium

It’s nice that I don’t have to wake up extra early to watch this game. I assume the Bombers will be PISSED about last week’s close loss to the Hawks and will take it out on the Saints.

8:45 PM – Hawthorn Hawks v Geelong Cats at the MCG

This is a YUUUGE game for the Cats.  In essence, it’s a must-win as the Roos are tied on points and have an opportunity to build percentage against the Doggies.

9:10 PM – Gold Coast Suns v Richmond Tigers at Metricon Stadium

The only way the Tigers lose this is if the team plane gets lost on its way to Queensland and the VFL team has to play the Suns.

11:35 PM  – Port Adelaide Power v West Coast Eagles at Adelaide Stadium

It should be a great game as Port tries desperately to salvage the season and not fall out of the Eight. West Coast is sitting pretty in second and only a collapse will force them out of Top Two.

Saturday,  August 12, 2018

2:25 AM (Late Friday Night) – Collingwood Magpies v Brisbane Lions at Marvel Stadium

This is another game where a team with a close loss last week will look to make up for it against an inferior opponent.  Although, the Lions have shown fight and really should have won last week…

2:25 AM (Late Friday Night) – GWS Giants v Adelaide Crows at UNSW Canberra Oval

This is probably the Match of the Round.  It’s the Crows’ last-ditch effort to stay in the race.  Will the injuries cause problems yet again for the Giants?

8:10 PM – North Melbourne Kangaroos v Western Bulldogs at Marvel Stadium

The Roos have a nice and easy schedule at the end.  They must take advantage of it and beat the Doggies this week.

10:20 PM – Melbourne Demons v Sydney Swans at the MCG

This could be the Match of the Round Part Two.  Sydney has played well on the road and will want to prove they can win at the MCG.

11:40 PM – Fremantle Dockers v Carlton Blues at Optus Stadium

Fremantle has not shown anything in the last few weeks.  The Blues have been embarrasing to watch.  Something has to give!

***

That’s all for this week!  As you can see, the outcomes of individual games greatly affect the ladder as the competition is super tight.  I’m hoping we get more games that go to the final two minutes.

That way, I can play more Iron Maiden.  See you next week!