This week,

The AFLW season got started!

Welcome to Balls of Steel’s AFL Beat!

We had some upsets, some not-so-upsets, and a lot of bone-crushing action. Let’s get right to it!

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Week 1 Recaps

Carlton Blues 27 – 33 Collingwood Magpies

The Pies got off to a hot start in the first half only for the Blues to come roaring back in the second half. In the end, the Pies managed to hold on for the upset victory. Here are the highlights:

St. Kilda Saints 51 – Western Bulldogs 42

Here’s another game that could qualify as an upset. The Saints rode a big second quarter to take the lead and held on from there. Here are the highlights:

Gold Coast Suns 35 – 56 Melbourne Demons

The Suns started off very well, but the Demons took over in the second quarter and it was over by half. Here are the highlights:

West Coast Eagles 18 – 56 Adelaide Crows

The Eagles were game, but they just couldn’t match up with the Crows. From the middle of the first quarter, the Crows dominated the game and the scoreboard. Here are the highlights:

Geelong Cats 9 – 72 North Melbourne Kangaroos

Yes, you read that right. This was a beatdown. Here are the “highlights”:

Richmond Tigers 12 – 41 Brisbane Lions

The Tigers tried hard but couldn’t capitalize on having the wind in the second quarter and that was that. The Lions showed why they’re one of the favourites in the competition. Here are the highlights:

Fremantle Dockers 58 – 28 GWS Giants

The Giants got overwhelmed as last year’s flag favourites showed they will be a force to reckon with this year too. Here are the highlights:

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Ladder

Here is how the teams stand after Round 1:

P	TEAM	W	L	T	PTS	%
1	North Melbourne Kangaroos	1	0	0	4	788.9
2	Brisbane Lions	1	0	0	4	341.7
3	Adelaide Crows	1	0	0	4	311.1
4	Fremantle Dockers	1	0	0	4	207.1
5	Melbourne Demons	1	0	0	4	160.0
6	Collingwood Magpies	1	0	0	4	122.2
7	St. Kilda Saints	1	0	0	4	121.4
8	Western Bulldogs	0	1	0	0	82.4
9	Carlton Blues	0	1	0	0	81.8
10	Gold Coast Suns	0	1	0	0	62.5
11	GWS Giants	0	1	0	0	48.3
12	West Coast Eagles	0	1	0	0	32.1
13	Richmond Tigers	0	1	0	0	29.3
14	Geelong Cats	0	1	0	0	12.7

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Footy Tipping Contest

Here is how we stack up after Round 1:

P	TIPPER	Round Tips	Round Margin	Total Tips	Total Margin
1	SonOfSpam	6	21	6	21
2	BC Dick	5	0	5	0
3	Game Time Decision	5	36	5	36
4	Litre_cola	4	14	4	14
5	BALLS	4	14	4	14
6		3	6	3	6

Congratulations to SonOfSpam for getting top score this week! The rest of us are not too far behind and there is a lot of season left.

There is still time to join this year’s competition! Please follow the link below to join in the fun:

https://mobile.footytips.com.au/competitions/?competitionId=454009&ff=ladders

I remind you, as always,

DON’T FORGET TO PUT THE FOOTY TIPS IN!

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Balls’ Sechs

• A fun thing happened at the St. Kilda Saints – Western Bulldogs game. The Doggies’ coach, Nathan Burke, had to game plan against his daughter, Alice Burke, who was playing for the Saints. Kiddo has bragging rights this year!
• The Gold Coast Suns are a team to watch. Although they are the youngest squad in the league, they play hard and do not give up. If they keep that up, they could sneak into finals.
• Chloe Molloy made a name for herself as the Pies’ defensive star in previous seasons. This year, she has been moved to the forward line and responded with 2 goals in an outstanding performance.
• If there was any doubt that Erin Phillips is the most valuable player in AFLW, they were dispelled this week. Erin missed most of last season with an injury and the Crows faltered. With Erin back, the Crows looked like the dominant team they were in the first three years of the league’s existence.
• Before every game, the AFLW had a moment of silence for former GWS Giant Jacinda Barclay, who died by suicide in October.
• The Crows, Pies, and Giants wore all-new Indigenous guernseys which looked awesome! Here are the links to the stories behind them: Adelaide, Collingwood, and GWS. Here are the links to where to buy them: Adelaide, Collingwood, and GWS. Sorry, I couldn’t find the story behind the Pies guernsey.

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Round Two Schedule

As the Fremantle-GWS game was wrapping up, the announcers said that Western Australia was going under lockdown a few hours after the end of the game due to COVID cases. Adelaide and GWS flew to Adelaide immediately after the end of the game to avoid getting stuck. The Round 2 matchups may get altered because of this. I’ll keep you posted. As of now, the schedule stands as written below.

Here are this week’s games (all times Pacific):

Friday, February 5, 2021

12:45 AM – Western Bulldogs v Carlton Blues at Whitten Oval

6:10 PM – GWS Giants v West Coast Eagles at Norwood Oval

8:10 PM – Collingwood Magpies v Gold Coast Suns at Victoria Park

10:10 PM – Melbourne Demons v Richmond Tigers at Casey Fields

Saturday, February 6, 2021

6:10 PM – North Melbourne Demons v St. Kilda Saints at Arden Street Oval

8:10 PM – Brisbane Lions v Geelong Cats at Hickey Park

10:10 PM – Adelaide Crows v Fremantle Dockers at Norwood Oval

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That’s all for this week. See you next week!