This week…
Welcome to Balls of Steel’s AFL Beat!
Last week, some of you in the comments asked which team you should root for. I did my best to make some suggestions. Then I remembered I had put some stuff together in the past to help you pick a team. Let’s start first with a handy dandy table showing you which DFO Commentists have chosen which teams:
| AFL Team | DFO Commentist |
| Adelaide Crows | |
| Brisbane Lions | BaldingSpiritually (recommended) |
| Carlton Blues | King Hippo |
| Collingwood Magpies | JJ Fozz, Moose |
| Essendon Bombers | Rikki Tikki Deadly |
| Fremantle Dockers | Yeah Right |
| Geelong Cats | tWBS, Balls |
| Gold Coast Suns | |
| GWS Giants | BFC, Lemonjello |
| Hawthorn Hawks | Sharkbait (recommended) |
| Melbourne Demons | |
| North Melbourne Kangaroos | Sunrisesunrise |
| Port Adelaide Power | WhyEaglesWhy, entropy |
| Richmond Tigers | |
| St. Kilda Saints | Litre_cola, Dok Zymm |
| Sydney Swans | Spanky Datass |
| West Coast Eagles | Low Commander |
| Western Bulldogs | SonofSpam |
In addition, in last year’s 2019 Season Preview, I included some information that I thought would assist in choosing which team to root for, such as Team Songs, Team Mascots, Historical Success, and Team History.
I also included how the teams ended last season. Obviously, we are now in a new season, so let me refresh that information for you. Here is the final ladder from the 2019 Home and Away Season:
| P | TEAM | W | L | T | PTS | % |
| 1 | Geelong Cats | 16 | 6 | 0 | 64 | 135.7 |
| 2 | Brisbane Lions | 16 | 6 | 0 | 64 | 118.3 |
| 3 | Richmond Tigers | 16 | 6 | 0 | 64 | 113.7 |
| 4 | Collingwood Magpies | 15 | 7 | 0 | 60 | 117.7 |
| 5 | West Coast Eagles | 15 | 7 | 0 | 60 | 112.5 |
| 6 | GWS Giants | 13 | 9 | 0 | 52 | 115.4 |
| 7 | Western Bulldogs | 12 | 10 | 0 | 48 | 107.2 |
| 8 | Essendon Bombers | 12 | 10 | 0 | 48 | 95.4 |
| 9 | Hawthorn Hawks | 11 | 11 | 0 | 44 | 108.7 |
| 10 | Port Adelaide Power | 11 | 11 | 0 | 44 | 105.4 |
| 11 | Adelaide Crows | 10 | 12 | 0 | 40 | 100.9 |
| 12 | North Melbourne Kangaroos | 10 | 12 | 0 | 40 | 99.5 |
| 13 | Fremantle Dockers | 9 | 13 | 0 | 36 | 91.9 |
| 14 | St. Kilda Saints | 9 | 13 | 0 | 36 | 83.9 |
| 15 | Sydney Swans | 8 | 14 | 0 | 32 | 97.7 |
| 16 | Carlton Blues | 7 | 15 | 0 | 28 | 84.5 |
| 17 | Melbourne Demons | 5 | 17 | 0 | 20 | 78.6 |
| 18 | Gold Coast Suns | 3 | 19 | 0 | 12 | 60.5 |
And here is the final 2019 Home and Away Season Balls Graph:
[gview file=”https://www.doorfliesopen.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/AFL-Ladder-2019R23.pdf”]
Let’s also remember how the Finals went:
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As some of you may remember and BFC and LemonJello may have blocked out, the Richmond Tigers won the Grand Final over the GWS Giants.
***
Let me also refresh your memory as to what happened in Round 1 back in March and what the current standings are:
Richmond Tigers 105 – 81 Carlton Blues
Western Bulldogs 34 – 86 Collingwood Magpies
Essendon Bombers 63 – 57 Fremantle Dockers
Adelaide Crows 71 – 74 Sydney Swans
Gold Coast Suns 29 – 76 Port Adelaide Power
GWS Giants 105 – 73 Geelong Cats
North Melbourne Kangaroos 56 – 54 St. Kilda Saints
Hawthorn Hawks 90 – 62 Brisbane Lions
West Coast Eagles 78 – 51 Melbourne Demons
Let’s take a look at the ladder, shall we?
| P | TEAM | W | L | T | PTS | % |
| 1 | Port Adelaide Power | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 262.1 |
| 2 | Collingwood Magpies | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 252.9 |
| 3 | West Coast Eagles | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 152.9 |
| 4 | Hawthorn Hawks | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 145.2 |
| 5 | GWS Giants | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 143.8 |
| 6 | Richmond Tigers | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 129.6 |
| 7 | Essendon Bombers | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 110.5 |
| 8 | Sydney Swans | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 104.2 |
| 9 | North Melbourne Kangaroos | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 103.7 |
| 10 | St. Kilda Saints | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 96.4 |
| 11 | Adelaide Crows | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 95.9 |
| 12 | Fremantle Dockers | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 90.5 |
| 13 | Carlton Blues | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 77.1 |
| 14 | Geelong Cats | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 69.5 |
| 15 | Brisbane Lions | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 68.9 |
| 16 | Melbourne Demons | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 65.4 |
| 17 | Western Bulldogs | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 39.5 |
| 18 | Gold Coast Suns | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 38.2 |
I think that should be ample information for you to be able to come up with a team. If you have any further questions, however, please ask in the comments and I’ll do my best to steer you towards a suitable team.
***
Footy Tipping Contest
Here is where we are after Round One:
| P | TIPPER | Round Tips |
Round Margin |
Total Tips | Total Margin |
| 1 | Dolph Ucker | 8 | 2 | 8 | 2 |
| 2 | BALLS | 6 | 1 | 6 | 1 |
| 3 | BC Dick | 6 | 3 | 6 | 3 |
| 4 | SonOfSpam | 6 | 4 | 6 | 4 |
| 5 | Litre_cola | 6 | 5 | 6 | 5 |
| 6 | BFC | 6 | 13 | 6 | 13 |
| 7 | Yeah Right | 5 | 2 | 5 | 2 |
| 8 | Game Time Decision | 5 | 6 | 5 | 6 |
| 9 | Reverend Mayhem | 5 | 24 | 5 | 24 |
| 10 | 5 | 26 | 5 | 26 | |
| 11 | |||||
| 12 | |||||
| 13 | |||||
| 14 |
We have just barely started, so it’s the perfect time for new folks to join in! The link to join the Tipping Pool is below:
https://mobile.footytips.com.au/competitions/?competitionId=401652
You should be able to join the competition without a password. All you have to do is create an account with ESPN Australia. Please note that it will be different than your North American ESPN account!
Any new folks will start out with 3 points as anyone that doesn’t put in their tips get a point for every road team that wins and 3 road teams won in Round 1. However, as I always recommend,
DON’T FORGET TO PUT THE FOOTY TIPS IN!
***
That’s all for this week. Next week, I’ll do a mini-preview of the season to come. See you next week!
On Hawthorn!
Did I do it right?
Texas: Also different
https://twitter.com/Mike_Hixenbaugh/status/1267901154601701376
I do think “Fuck You America” is a pretty good tag to have on here after we’re now in a diplomatic spat with Australia for having assaulted one of their news crews.
FYA is indeed a righteous tag. Who first created it??
GWS, undefeated!
AFL will finally allow us to watch scantily-clad men ramming into each other somewhere other than Manhole.
Or Pickles (that has to be my favourite recurring joke in Bob’s Burgers)
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“Oh! Thank goodness – I thought it said ‘pickless’ and was afraid I wouldn’t be welcome.” – Jameis Winston
ok, wondering who i should cheer for? I’m a packer fan and a ice Alouettes fan. So, have a thing for franchises that were at one point good, but now are average.
If you want a touch of hope that they’ll be good again, I suggest the Adelaide Crows. Born in 1991, they win two championships in the 90s and nothing since. Have had good competitive teams, but no Golden rings recently. They’ve ended smack dab in the middle of the pack the last two years.
Done. Thanks
I am also afflicted with Packers-Habs Syndrome, and was looking for a place to hang my hat downunder. I will likewise accept this reccy. I am now a Crows fan till I die. I guess.
It’s going to be nice to be able to spend a couple of hours pretending that a pandemic is the only thing preventing sports from being normal.
I think it’s a nice nod to the events in Australia over (their) summer that his hair is on fire. Very contemporary.
Also having only three fingers is a nice shout-out to JPP.