AFL Beat 2020 Season Re-Start

This week…

We play games again!

Welcome to Balls of Steel’s AFL Beat!

This is the week we’ve all been waiting for.  Finally, the 2020 AFL season is re-starting!  Here is this week’s schedule (Please remember that all times are Pacific):

Round Two

Thursday, June 11, 2020

2:40 AM – Collingwood Magpies v Richmond Tigers – at the MCG

Friday, June 12, 2020

2:50 AM – Geelong Cats v Hawthorn Hawks – at GMHBA Stadium

8:45 PM – Brisbane Lions v Fremantle Dockers at the Gabba

11:35 PM – Carlton Blues v Melbourne Demons at Marvel Stadium

Saturday, June 13, 2020

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

2:40 AM – Gold Coast Suns v West Coast Eagles at Metricon Stadium

8:05 PM – GWS Giants v North Melbourne Kangaroos at Giants Stadium

10:35 PM – Sydney Swans v Essendon Bombers at the SCG

Sunday, June 14, 2020

1:05 AM – St. Kilda Saints v Western Bulldogs at Marvel Stadium

***

If y’all will remember, we did have one Round played way back in March.  Here are the results:

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

 

Normally, here is where I would stick the Balls Graph, but it just doesn’t make sense with one data point.  I’ll add it after Round Two.

***

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	Joliet Jake Delhomme	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 person that joins the Pool will start with 3 points as the Pool automatically awards a point for each road victory if someone forgets to put the Footy Tips in. Three road teams won in Round 1, so that’s why you would start with 3 points.  I wouldn’t count on that as a sound strategy for the rest of the season, however, so:

DON’T FORGET TO PUT THE FOOTY TIPS IN!

***

For your advanced Tipping reference, here is the schedule for the next few rounds (All times Pacific):

Round Three

Thursday, June 18, 2020

2:40 AM – Richmond Tigers v Hawthorn Hawks- at the MCG

Friday, June 19, 2020

2:50 AM – Western Bulldogs v GWS Giants – at Marvel Stadium

8:45 PM – North Melbourne Kangaroos v Sydney Swans at Marvel Stadium

11:35 PM – Collingwood Magpies v St. Kilda Saints at the MCG

Saturday, June 20, 2020

2:40 AM – Geelong Cats v Carlton Blues at GMHBA Stadium

2:40 AM – Brisbane Lions v West Coast Eagles at the Gabba

8:05 PM – Gold Coast Suns v Adelaide Crows at Metricon Stadium

10:35 PM – Essendon Bombers v Melbourne Demons at the MCG

Sunday, June 14, 2020

1:05 AM – Fremantle Dockers v Port Adelaide Power at Metricon Stadium

***

Round Four

Thursday, June 25, 2020

2:40 AM – Sydney Swans v Western Bulldogs at the SCG

Friday, June 26, 2020

2:50 AM – GWS Giants v Collingwood Magpies at Giants Stadium

8:45 PM – Port Adelaide Power v West Coast Eagles at Metricon Stadium

11:35 PM – St. Kilda Saints v Richmond Tigers at Marvel Stadium

Saturday, June 27, 2020

2:40 AM – Essendon Bombers v Carlton Blues at the MCG

2:40 AM – Gold Coast Suns v Fremantle Dockers at Metricon Stadium

8:05 PM – Brisbane Lions v Adelaide Crows at the Gabba

10:35 PM – Melbourne Demons v Geelong Cats at the MCG

Sunday, June 28, 2020

1:05 AM – Hawthorn Hawks v North Melbourne Demons at Marvel Stadium

***

Round Five

Thursday, July 2, 2020

2:40 AM – West Coast Eagles v Richmond Tigers at Metricon Stadium

Friday, July 3, 2020

2:50 AM – Collingwood Magpies v Essendon Bombers at the MCG

8:45 PM – Carlton Blues v St. Kilda Saints at the MCG

11:35 PM – Geelong Cats v Gold Coast Suns at GMHBA Stadium

Saturday, July 4, 2020

2:40 AM – Western Bulldogs v North Melbourne Kangaroos at Marvel Stadium

2:40 AM – Brisbane Lions v Port Adelaide Power at the Gabba

8:05 PM – Adelaide Crows v Fremantle Dockers at Metricon Stadium

10:35 PM – Sydney Swans v Melbourne Demons at the SCG

Sunday, July 5, 2020

1:05 AM – GWS Giants v Hawthorn Hawks at Giants Stadium

***

So, the question on everyone’s minds:  Who is going to be any good this year?

Let’s break it down into categories.  

The Premiership Favourites

The Richmond Tigers are the reigning champs and have won two out of the last three, so they’re automatically in.  The GWS Giants were last year’s finalists and looked pretty darn good in Round 1, so they’re in.   The West Coast Eagles and the Collingwood Magpies were in the final two years ago and continue to be good.  They both won well in Round 1, so they’re in. 

The Premiership Contenders

The Geelong Cats finished the Home and Away Season in 2019 in first place, but could not get to the Grand Final, losing to eventual champion Richmond. They struggled in Round 1 against the GWS Giants, but that game was on the road.  The Cats have one of the best schedules for the restart, playing three out of four games at home with the fourth at the MCG, a short drive away.  That should position them well for the rest of the season.

The Hawthorn Hawks are doing a good job of rebuilding to get back to the days when they won three premierships in a row starting in 2013. Their coach, Alastair Clarkson, is considered the best coach in the AFL.  They should finish in the Eight. 

The Brisbane Lions had a wonderful campaign last year and not only made the Eight, but played in two finals.  Granted, they lost both, but gained valuable experience. They ran into a tough Hawthorn team in Round 1, but playing the first four games at home should help them get a good start to the season. 

The Question Marks

I place the South Australian teams (Adelaide and Port Adelaide) and Fremantle in this category. No one knows how they will react to being placed in a hub in Queensland and forced to play all their games there.  It could either be a great thing as they pull together or it could tear the teams apart.  We really will be discovering this as we watch the games.

I also place in this category the Melbourne teams that would normally be considered middle-of-the-road, yet could get an advantage by playing most of their games close to home.  I include in this category the Essendon Bombers, the North Melbourne Kangaroos, the Melbourne Demons, and the St. Kilda Saints. 

Finally, I don’t know what to make of the Sydney Swans.  They’re in the middle of a rebuild, having purged many of their older players and going with youth last year.  It paid off as they played well at the end of the season and rose in the standings.  Will the young ones be able to get to continue to improve amidst everything going on or will the immaturity show and make the Swans plunge down the ladder?

The “Need To Improve” Teams

These are teams that were bad last year and will need to improve greatly to not be bad this year.  I speak, of course, of the Gold Coast Suns, the Carlton Blues, and the Western Bulldogs. All of these clubs will have the benefit of playing most of their first few games close to home.  They’ll need to take advantage of it. 

***

That’s all for this week.  Make sure your Watch AFL app is up and functioning!  The games will start soon and this is way better than Korean baseball.

I’m also reading that the AFL is hoping that the fact that there are no sports on in North America will give them a boost.  Fox Sports has the rights to the AFL in the United States while TSN has the rights in Canada and the AFL is pressuring them to have more games available on the FS1 and FS2 networks. It looks like 5 games will be shown live this week on either FS1 or FS2 and on the various TSN networks.  Now is the perfect chance for you to see what all the fun is about!  See you next week!