This week,

Welcome to Balls of Steel’s AFL Beat!

Round 7 Recaps and Highlights

We are finally back to a normal schedule with no Australian Thursday Night games for the foreseeable future. That means one Australian Friday Night game (North American Thursday night), five Australian Saturday games (North American Friday night/Saturday morning), and three Australian Sunday games (North American Saturday night/Sunday morning).

This week, the first game had the Collingwood Magpies hosting the Port Adelaide Power in what was supposed to be a battle of the best and fastest midfields in the game. A free-flowing and fast-paced game was expected.

It seems only the Pies got the memo. They scored 7 goals in the first quarter to the Power’s 3 behinds and that was pretty much the ballgame.

Here are the highlights:

The proper Friday Night game had the Melbourne Demons “hosting” the Hawthorn Hawks at the MCG. I put the quotes in because both teams call the MCG home. It was a back and forth affair all day with both teams trading the lead.

The game went down to the last two minutes:

Here are the full-game highlights:

At the same time, the GWS Giants were taking on the St. Kilda Saints and that’s the game I chose to watch live on the Watch AFL app.

I didn’t have to watch long as the Giants mimicked the Pies and took control of the game in the first quarter. The Saints could never get anything going and the Giants cruised to the big win.

Here are the full-game highlights:

Later on Friday night, the Brisbane Lions were hosting the Sydney Swans who, as I’ve been saying all season, play better on the road. They didn’t in the beginning, as the Lions had a big first quarter.

The Swans regrouped and chipped away until they finally took the lead in the second. However, the Lions rallied and got the lead at Half Time. The third quarter was a mirror of the first half with Brisbane building a lead and the Swans cutting it down. Late in the third, though, the Lions took the game for good and didn’t allow the Swans to come back again.

Here are the highlights:

The next game had the inconsistent Western Bulldogs facing the young and surging Richmond Tigers. I call the Doggies inconsistent because one week they look good and the next they look terrible.

This was apparently the week for them to look good. The game was close in the first quarter as Richmond took the initiative and the lead at Quarter Time. However, it was slim and in the second quarter the Doggies woke up.

The Doggies didn’t look back and thoroughly dominated the Tigers from that point forward. It was a big win and I still don’t know what to make of both teams.

Here are the full-game highlights:

The last game of the night had the Gold Coast Suns visiting the West Coast Eagles in the Coast Derby (I may have just made that up). The game was in Perth, which usually means a big home-ground advantage.

The Suns scored the first goal of the game and took the early lead, but that was pretty much it for them. The Eagles played a lot better than in the previous two weeks and built up a huge lead.

The Suns worked their way back into the game in the third quarter, though, and got the lead down to a manageable level late in the fourth. However, it was too little too late and the Eagles hung on for a much-needed victory.

Here are the highlights:

The first game of North American Saturday night was a Battle of the Doormats with equal last Carlton taking on the North Melbourne Kangaroos at Marvel Stadium.

This game was a thorough ass-kicking and domination by the Roos. They scored goals early and often. Carlton is in trouble.

Here are the full-game highlights:

The second of the Saturday night games had my Geelong Cats “hosting” the Essendon Bombers at the MCG. I use quotes because the Cats play most of their home games in Geelong, but the AFL makes them play a few games each year in Melbourne because money.

The Cats started well, but the Bombers hung in there and managed to take the lead by the end of the first quarter. From that point on, though, it was all Cats. They did a great job of keeping Essendon’s fast midfielders reigned in and controlled the game through their passing game. They effectively slowed the game down, which worked to keep the Bombers at bay.

Here are the full-game highlights:

The last game of the Round had the Adelaide Crows hosting the Fremantle Dockers and if you thought the Geelong-Essendon game was low-scoring, you clearly didn’t see this game.

It was a slugfest. Both teams combined for 3 behinds (all by Adelaide) in the second quarter, which was the fifth-lowest-scoring second quarter in history and the lowest in 31 years.

The Crows finally woke up a little in the third and their three straight goals at the end of the quarter made the difference in the game. Here are the full-game highlights:

We had some surprises, some blowouts, and one close game.

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

P	TEAM	W	L	T	PTS	%
1	Geelong Cats	6	1	0	24	148.4
2	Collingwood Magpies	5	2	0	20	126.9
3	GWS Giants	5	2	0	20	124.4
4	Brisbane Lions	5	2	0	20	107.0
5	Fremantle Dockers	4	3	0	16	121.2
6	Adelaide Crows	4	3	0	16	116.5
7	Port Adelaide Power	4	3	0	16	106.5
8	St. Kilda Saints	4	3	0	16	96.2
9	Richmond Tigers	4	3	0	16	94.2
10	West Coast Eagles	4	3	0	16	93.7
11	Essendon Bombers	3	4	0	12	100.7
12	Western Bulldogs	3	4	0	12	100.18
13	Hawthorn Hawks	3	4	0	12	100.17
14	Gold Coast Suns	3	4	0	12	76.5
15	North Melbourne Kangaroos	2	5	0	8	81.5
16	Melbourne Demons	2	5	0	8	73.3
17	Carlton Blues	1	6	0	4	85.3
18	Sydney Swans	1	6	0	4	80.0

Here is the Balls Graph:

[gview file=”https://www.doorfliesopen.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/AFL-Ladder-2019R7.pdf”]

The Cats are still a game on top of the competition, but the Pies, Giants, and Lions are nipping at their heels. There is a little bit more separation this week, as you can see in the Balls graph, so we are starting to see who is good and who isn’t.

One thing is for sure: Carlton is bad.

***

Footy Tipping Contest

Here is where we are after Round Seven:

P	TIPPER	Round Tips	Round Margin	Total Tips	Total Margin
1	Litre_cola	6	28	41	203
2	BC Dick	6	6	37	255
3	Son Of Spam	7	11	36	213
4	BALLS	5	35	35	224
5	BFC	8	20	34	258
6	Yeah Right	3	56	34	278
7	Why Eagles Why	5	22	31	219
8	Game Time Decision	5	61	31	281
9	Dolph Ucker	6	20	30	229
10	Sharkbait	4	36	29	249
11		4	49	29	258
12	Blax	1	39	27	206

Congratulations to BFC for almost having a perfect week! Unfortunately, Blax was on a trip and forgot to put the footy tips in prior to leaving. This takes him all the way down to the Wooden Spoon position.

Litre remains our leader with a solid week of tipping. There are two packs chasing him, though. As we saw this week, one bad week and one good week can make a big difference!

DONT FORGET TO PUT THE FOOTY TIPS IN!

***

AFL Round 8

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

Friday, May 10, 2019

2:50 AM (Late Thursday Night!) – Sydney Swans v Essendon Bombers at the SCG

It’s two teams that lost this week facing each other. I don’t think Sydney has been in the Wooden Spoon position this late in the season for many years.

8:45 PM – Western Bulldogs v Brisbane Lions at Mars Stadium

Which Bulldogs team will show up this week? The Lions should provide a tough test on the campus of Mars University. Yes, I made that up.

8:45 PM – Carlton Blues v Collingwood Magpies at the MCG

The eternal rivals play each other again with the likelihood that the Magpies will embarrass the Blues.

11:35 PM – Gold Coast Suns v Melbourne Demons at Metricon Stadium

The Demons got out of the cellar with a big win against Hawthorn. Can they repeat the feat on the road?

Saturday, May 4, 2019

2:25 AM – St. Kilda Saints v West Coast Eagles at Marvel Stadium

The Saints desperately need a win to ensure that their season doesn’t start going down the toilet. Luckily, they get the Eagles at home instead of Perth.

2:40 AM – Port Adelaide Power v Adelaide Crows at Adelaide Oval

We have ourselves the first Showdown of the season! Both teams are in the Eight and this should be the Match of the Round.

8:10 PM – North Melbourne Kangaroos v Geelong Cats at Marvel Stadium

The Roos are coming off a big win against the Blues. However, the Cats ain’t the Blues.

10:20 PM – Hawthorn Hawks v GWS Giants at the MCG

This shapes up as an intriguing game. Surely the Hawks won’t lose two in a row, will they?

Sunday, May 12, 2019

12:20 AM – Fremantle Dockers v Richmond Tigers at Optus Stadium

The Tigers must travel to Perth after getting embarrassed this week. Will home-ground advantage get the Dockers over the line?

***

That’s all for this week! Now, you may be asking yourselves: Wait, wasn’t Balls supposed to be in Fiji this week? Wouldn’t tWBS fill in for him?

Well, due to unforeseen circumstances, the trip got cancelled. Instead, I’m starting off my workout program meant to get me below 20% body fat.

Yes, I’m sore as a motherfucker. Kids, a lesson here: Don’t let your asses get out of shape! It’s a bitch getting back into it…

See you next week!

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