This week…
We are at the start of the second shitload of games in a row:
Welcome to Balls of Steel’s AFL Beat!
We just finished the Doug Nicholls Round and I did not see anything out of AFL Media like they usually put out about the guernseys. I’ll keep looking though and hopefully, I’ll be able to share the gorgeous designs and their meanings with you:
BTW, no, it has not arrived yet, though I was notified that it shipped…
Here are the results and highlights from Round Thirteen:
Friday, August 21, 2020
Gold Coast Suns 27 v Carlton Blues 60 at TIO Stadium in Darwin
The wheels have come off the Gold Coast bandwagon. Meanwhile, it was a great win for Carlton!
Western Bulldogs 80 v Melbourne Demons 52 at Metricon Stadium
It looks like the Demons are descending to their natural level.
Port Adelaide Power 68 v Hawthorn Hawks 58 at Adelaide Oval
A little too close for comfort, but the Power took care of the Hawks at home.
Saturday, August 22, 2020
Essendon Bombers 61 v Richmond Tigers 73 at TIO Stadium in Darwin
Richmond just keeps winning despite injuries and the Bombers’ dream season died at the DreamTime Game.
Fremantle Dockers 50 v Sydney Swans 19 at Optus Stadium
One week after beating the Giants, the Swans couldn’t score to save their lives.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=knf3JWFySDY
Adelaide Crows 37 v Geelong Cats 65 at Adelaide Oval
This game was much closer than the score indicates. The Crows gave the Cats all they could handle for three quarters.
Brisbane Lions 50 v St. Kilda Saints 48 at The Gabba
This was a crazy exciting game that came down to the last two minutes:
Here are the full game highlights:
Sunday, August 23, 2020
West Coast Eagles 61 v GWS Giants 49 at Optus Stadium
Another week, another win for the Eagles, who are still the Premiership favourites.
Monday, August 24, 2020
Collingwood Magpies 65 v North Melbourne Kangaroos 35 at The Gabba
The Pies are back in winning form, although it wasn’t as easy as the final score would imply.
***
Let’s take a look at the ladder, shall we?
| P | TEAM | W | L | T | PTS | % |
| 1 | Port Adelaide Power | 10 | 3 | 0 | 40 | 126.6 |
| 2 | Brisbane Lions | 10 | 3 | 0 | 40 | 117.4 |
| 3 | Geelong Cats | 9 | 4 | 0 | 36 | 140.6 |
| 4 | West Coast Eagles | 9 | 3 | 0 | 36 | 121.3 |
| 5 | Richmond Tigers | 8 | 4 | 1 | 34 | 119.0 |
| 6 | St. Kilda Saints | 8 | 5 | 0 | 32 | 114.5 |
| 7 | Collingwood Magpies | 7 | 5 | 1 | 30 | 109.1 |
| 8 | Western Bulldogs | 7 | 6 | 0 | 28 | 101.4 |
| 9 | Melbourne Demons | 6 | 6 | 0 | 24 | 112.1 |
| 10 | Carlton Blues | 6 | 6 | 0 | 24 | 100.0 |
| 11 | GWS Giants | 6 | 6 | 0 | 24 | 96.8 |
| 12 | Essendon Bombers | 5 | 6 | 1 | 22 | 85.9 |
| 13 | Fremantle Dockers | 5 | 7 | 0 | 20 | 93.5 |
| 14 | Gold Coast Suns | 4 | 8 | 1 | 18 | 94.1 |
| 15 | Hawthorn Hawks | 4 | 8 | 0 | 16 | 82.7 |
| 16 | Sydney Swans | 4 | 8 | 0 | 16 | 81.7 |
| 17 | North Melbourne Kangaroos | 3 | 10 | 0 | 12 | 81.0 |
| 18 | Adelaide Crows | 0 | 13 | 0 | 0 | 54.9 |
Here is the Balls GraphTM:
[gview file=”https://www.doorfliesopen.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/AFL-Ladder-2020R13.pdf”]
***
Footy Tipping Contest
Here is where we are after Round Thirteen:
| P | TIPPER | Round Tips |
Round Margin |
Total Tips | Total Margin |
| 1 | BFC | 7 | 14 | 79 | 254 |
| 2 | SonOfSpam | 8 | 19 | 79 | 315 |
| 3 | Dolph Ucker | 8 | 47 | 79 | 348 |
| 4 | Litre_cola | 7 | 24 | 75 | 300 |
| 5 | BALLS | 8 | 29 | 75 | 325 |
| 6 | 7 | 23 | 73 | 415 | |
| 7 | Sunrisesunrise | 9 | 25 | 72 | 458 |
| 8 | BC Dick | 9 | 33 | 71 | 319 |
| 9 | Yeah Right | 6 | 41 | 69 | 321 |
| 10 | WhyEaglesWhy | 7 | 33 | 66 | 324 |
| 11 | Game Time Decision | 8 | 8 | 64 | 384 |
| 12 | Maestro | 8 | 22 | 59 | 309 |
| 13 | Reverend Mayhem | 3 | 33 | 47 | 305 |
| 14 | Sharkbait | 3 | 33 | 47 | 471 |
Congratulations to Sunrisesunrise and BCDick for getting perfect scores this week! With the week’s results, we now have a three-way tie at the top for first place! Very well done, everyone!
Games start again tomorrow night so, as always,
DON’T FORGET TO PUT THE FOOTY TIPS IN!
***
I’ve been providing, for your advanced Tipping reference, the schedule for the next few rounds (All times Pacific). Here then are the game schedules for the rest of the year:
Round Fourteen
Wednesday, August 26, 2020
11:40 PM – Hawthorn Hawks v Essendon Bombers at Adelaide Oval
Thursday, August 27, 2020
2:10 AM – Richmond Tigers v West Coast Eagles at Metricon Stadium
Friday, August 28, 2020
2:50 AM – Western Bulldogs v Geelong Cats at Metricon Stadium
8:45 PM – Port Adelaide Power v Sydney Swans at Adelaide Oval
11:35 PM – Fremantle Dockers v GWS Giants at Optus Stadium
Saturday, August 29, 2020
2:40 AM – Melbourne Demons v St. Kilda Saints at TIO Traeger Park, NT
10:35 PM – Carlton Blues v Collingwood Magpies at The Gabba
Sunday, August 30, 2020
1:10 AM – Gold Coast Suns v North Melbourne Kangaroos at Metricon Stadium
Round 14 Byes: Adelaide Crows and Brisbane Lions
Round Fifteen
Tuesday, September 1, 2020
12:40 AM – Hawthorn Hawks v Adelaide Crows at Adelaide Oval (FS1, TSN1)
3:10 AM – West Coast Eagles v Essendon Bombers at The Gabba (FS2, TSN1)
Wednesday, September 2, 2020
2:10 AM – Richmond Tigers v Fremantle Dockers at Metricon Stadium (FS2, TSN1)
11:40 PM – Sydney Swans v Melbourne Demons at Cazaly’s Stadium, Cairns (FS1)
Thursday, September 3, 2020
2:10 AM – GWS Giants v Carlton Blues at Metricon Stadium (FS2, TSN1)
Friday, September 4, 2020
2:50 AM – Brisbane Lions v Collingwood Magpies at The Gabba
Round 15 Byes: Gold Coast Suns, North Melbourne Kangaroos, Port Adelaide Power, Western Bulldogs, Geelong Cats, and St. Kilda Saints
Round Sixteen
Saturday, September 5, 2020
2:40 AM – North Melbourne Kangaroos v Port Adelaide Power at Metricon Stadium
8:05 PM – St. Kilda Saints v Hawthorn Hawks at Metricon Stadium (FS2)
10:35 PM – Geelong Cats v Essendon Bombers at The Gabba (FS1)
Sunday, September 6, 2020
1:10 AM – Western Bulldogs v West Coast Eagles at Metricon Stadium (FS1)
Monday, September 7, 2020
2:10 AM – Melbourne Demons v Fremantle Dockers at Cazaly’s Stadium, Cairns (FS2)
Tuesday, September 8, 2020
12:40 AM – Adelaide Crows v GWS Giants at Adelaide Oval
3:10 AM – Carlton Blues v Sydney Swans at Metricon Stadium
Wednesday, September 9, 2020
2:10 AM – Brisbane Lions v Gold Coast Suns at The Gabba
Round 16 Byes: Collingwood Magpies and Richmond Tigers
Round Seventeen
Thursday, September 10, 2020
2:10 AM – St. Kilda Saints v West Coast Eagles at The Gabba
Friday, September 11, 2020
2:50 AM – Geelong Cats v Richmond Tigers at Metricon Stadium
8:45 PM – North Melbourne Kangaroos v Fremantle Dockers at Metricon Stadium
11:35 PM – Port Adelaide Power v Essendon Bombers at Adelaide Oval
Saturday, September 12, 2020
2:40 AM – GWS Giants v Melbourne Demons at The Gabba
8:05 PM – Carlton Blues v Adelaide Crows at Metricon Stadium
10:35 PM – Hawthorn Hawks v Western Bulldogs at Adelaide Oval
Sunday, September 13, 2020
1:10 AM – Sydney Swans v Bribane Lions at Cazaly’s Stadium, Cairns
Monday, September 14, 2020
2:10 AM – Collingwood Magpies v Gold Coast Suns at The Gabba
Round Eighteen (Dates and Times TBD)
Adelaide Crows v Richmond Tigers
Brisbane Lions v Carlton Blues
Collingwood Magpies v Port Adelaide Power
Essendon Bombers v Melbourne Demons
Fremantle Dockers v Western Bulldogs
Hawthorn Hawks v Gold Coast Suns
North Melbourne Kangaroos v West Coast Eagles
St. Kilda Saints v GWS Giants
Sydney Swans v Geelong Cats
The postponed Essendon-Melbourne game will be made up in Round 18.
***
Without further ado, it’s
Balls’ Sechs
1- Adelaide played really well against the Cats and laid out the blueprint of how to beat them: Pressure. If they had a little more skill and could last for four quarters, they could have won this game.
2- Melbourne has come back down to earth after somehow beating the Pies last week. Meanwhile, the Pies got back on the winning side. As I said last week, I thought last week’s game was an aberration and that was proven correct this week.
3- The Giants have also come down to earth and now their chances of making finals are dwindling by the day. They need a win this week against the Dockers to have any chance, but it will be tough in Optus Stadium against a team that’s started to play really well.
4- The Saints were SO close against the Lions yet could not make the one play they needed to make to beat them. I have a feeling they will be like the Lions were in finals last year. No wins, but a lot of experience gained.
5- The Tigers just keep winning. Despite the ladder, I still say that the best two teams in the competition are West Coast and Richmond. This week’s game should be a cracker!
6- We now start another Festival of Footy with games pretty much every day until the end of the regular season. Don’t forget to put the footy tips in!
***
That’s all for this week.
As discussed last week, 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, FS2, and TSN networks. Now is the perfect chance for you to see what all the fun is about!
Not only that, but ESPN has jumped back into the AFL pool! They’ll be broadcasting one game per week live on an ESPN network and streaming another live on ESPN3.
You can find the latest broadcast information on the Australian Football Association of North America website here.
Here is your Round 14 live broadcast schedule with North American broadcast partner:
Round Fourteen
Wednesday, August 26, 2020
11:40 PM – Hawthorn Hawks v Essendon Bombers at Adelaide Oval (FS1, TSN5)
Thursday, August 27, 2020
2:10 AM – Richmond Tigers v West Coast Eagles at Metricon Stadium (FS2, TSN5)
Friday, August 28, 2020
2:50 AM – Western Bulldogs v Geelong Cats at Metricon Stadium (FS2, TSN3)
8:45 PM – Port Adelaide Power v Sydney Swans at Adelaide Oval (FS2)
11:35 PM – Fremantle Dockers v GWS Giants at Optus Stadium (FS1)
Saturday, August 29, 2020
2:40 AM – Melbourne Demons v St. Kilda Saints at TIO Traeger Park, NT (TSN1)
10:35 PM – Carlton Blues v Collingwood Magpies at The Gabba (TSN1)
Sunday, August 30, 2020
1:10 AM – Gold Coast Suns v North Melbourne Kangaroos at Metricon Stadium
Round 14 Byes: Adelaide Crows and Brisbane Lions
***
Like before, the AFL Beat will have to run on a different schedule than normal in the next few weeks. Here then are the publishing days and times for the next few weeks:
AFL Beat Round 14: Monday, August 31
AFL Beat Round 15: Friday, September 4 (Another AFL Sexy Friday!)
AFL Beat Round 16: Wednesday, September 9
AFL Beat Round 17: Tuesday, September 15
See you next time!
Port has been hanging on to the top of the ladder by a fingernail for like six weeks. I don’t think they’re as good as Brisbane or Richmond, so this can only end badly.
Could be like Geelong last year.
The Bombers have gone from 4th to 12th in seven weeks. That’s My Bombers!
gets email from AFL, sweet , i picked 8 of 9 right.
thinks I’m moving up in the standings
reads post, sees 8 of 9 is this week’s average
damn it
https://www.foxsports.com.au/afl/afl-2020-sir-doug-nicholls-indigenous-round-guernseys-every-afl-teams-indigenous-guernsey-jersey-jumper-photos/news-story/4c5b61319da11267431dc479805e48ee
Thank you!
They’re so good. I would say that this year’s best are Richmond, Gold Coast, and Adelaide.
“We’ve replaced the GWS Giants with the New York Giants. Let’s see if anyone notices.”
Now I’m sad there won’t be any more Manningface gifs
I knew I should have tipped against them this week but let fandom trump reason
Saints slip slidin awaaaaayyyyyy.