This week,

Twins!

I try REALLY hard not to act like a 12 year old,

And, this is a great picture!

Welcome to Balls of Steel’s AFL Beat!

The upsets continued and the contenders are separating themselves even more from the pretenders. Considering that there are byes this year, the teams that end up in the top two will have a HUGE advantage in Finals.

Thankully, there were no last minute switches in games from what I had announced last week due to COVID. So far so good on the COVID front as there have been no positive tests. Let’s hope this can continue for the rest of the season.

There is much to go over. Let’s get right to it!

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Week 4 Recaps

St. Kilda Saints 51 – 22 Geelong Cats

On the bright side, the Cats finally scored some goals. On the not-so-bright side, the Saints were able to score quite a lot.

Here are the highlights:

Carlton Blues 51 – 46 Richmond Tigers

This was a great game and the Tigers came THIS CLOSE to getting their first win in AFLW history! It’s coming and will come pretty soon. The Blues, meanwhile, will take the ugly win and stay alive in the fight for finals.

Here are the highlights:

Fremantle Dockers 55 – 6 Gold Coast Suns

The Suns had a 6-0 lead at Quarter Time. And then Fremantle figured out that the game had started. The Dockers have won 11 in a row.

Here are the highlights:

North Melbourne Kangaroos 8 – 28 Collingwood Magpies

This is the second-straight loss for the Roos who looked unbeatable just two weeks ago. On the other side, this was a gigantic win for the Pies that really puts them in as one of the premiership favourites.

Here are the highlights:

Brisbane Lions 33 – 45 Adelaide Crows

This game was closer than the score indicates. While the Crows got out to a big lead in the First Quarter, they were wasteful and kept the Lions in it. The Lions chipped away at the Crows, but every time they got within a goal, the Crows got a goal in the final minute of the Quarter. This happened in every quarter after Quarter Time.

Here are the highlights:

Western Bulldogs 37 – 24 Melbourne Demons

The Doggies played very well and have now thrust themselves firmly in the Top Six and the Finals conversation. The Demons are still in the Six, but lost their first game of the year leaving only two undefeated teams in the comp.

Here are the highlights:

GWS Giants 48 – 28 West Coast Eagles

As has been the story all year, West Coast was even with GWS in the first half, but fell apart in the second half. If Litre or Hippo could figure out how to bet on AFLW, West Coast First Half would make you a LOT of money!

Here are the highlights:

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Ladder

Here is how the teams stand after Round 4:

P	TEAM	W	L	T	PTS	%
1	Fremantle Dockers	4	0	0	16	293.4
2	Collingwood Magpies	4	0	0	16	187.8
3	Brisbane Lions	3	1	0	12	258.2
4	Adelaide Crows	3	1	0	12	161.5
5	Melbourne Demons	3	1	0	12	132.4
6	Western Bulldogs	3	1	0	12	120.8
7	North Melbourne Kangaroos	2	2	0	8	155.1
8	Carlton Blues	2	2	0	8	112.4
9	St. Kilda Saints	2	2	0	8	91.4
10	GWS Giants	2	2	0	8	69.9
11	Richmond Tigers	0	4	0	0	57.1
12	West Coast Eagles	0	4	0	0	41.7
13	Geelong Cats	0	4	0	0	29.3
14	Gold Coast Suns	0	4	0	0	26.3

And now, the glorious return of the Balls GraphTM:

[gview file=”https://www.doorfliesopen.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/AFLW-Ladder-2021R4.pdf”]

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Footy Tipping Contest

Here is how we stack up after Round 4:

P	TIPPER	Round Tips	Round Margin	Total Tips	Total Margin
1	SonOfSpam	4	16	21	54
2	BC Dick	5	20	20	39
3	BALLS	5	21	18	56
4	Game Time Decision	5	14	18	74
5	BFC	4	7	15	37
6	Litre_cola	2	29	14	51
7		2	29	12	58

We got our first set of folks that forgot to put the footy tips in! That hurt Litre_cola as BFC was able to overtake him for 5th place. Meanwhile, the rest of us managed to get one tip closer to SonOfSpam.

I remind you, as always,

DON’T FORGET TO PUT THE FOOTY TIPS IN!

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Balls’ Sechs

• It’s funny what a difference a couple of weeks make. Fremantle and Collingwood are now the only undefeateds and the teams that looked unbeatable have lost. Some multiple times.
• I will now promptly proclaim the Fremantle Dockers the best team in the competition and watch them lose next week just to prove that I’m an idiot.
• Collingwood definitely answered my question from last week about how good they are. They held the Roos to single digits in a significant win.
• Carlton won, but they haven’t convinced me that they are any good. If Richmond had a little bit more experience, they would have won that game. The Blues are too inconsistent to be in the conversation for the premiership. They may make finals, but that’s it.
• In the race to the Wooden Spoon, my two favourites are still Geelong and Gold Coast with percentage being the difference maker. It will come down to which team plays better defense as I don’t see either team winning a game this year unless they play each other. Even then, that game might end in a tie…
• While both the Tigers and Cats are winless and their matchup next week is in Geelong, I don’t see the Cats winning. Richmond should get their first victory ever next weekend!

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Round Five Schedule

The Round 5 fixture was announced during the Doggies-Demons game. It is officially the Indigenous Round, so all teams should be wearing very cool guernseys! As of now, the schedule stands as written below.

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

Friday, February 26, 2021

12:10 AM – Geelong Cats v Richmond Tigers at GMHBA Stadium

8:10 PM – Western Bulldogs v GWS Giants at Whitten Oval

10:10 PM – Fremantle Dockers v Brisbane Lions at Fremantle Oval

Saturday, February 20, 2021

12:10 AM – North Melbourne Kangaroos v Carlton Blues at UTAS Stadium

6:10 PM – Adelaide Crows v St. Kilda Saints at Norwood Oval

8:10 PM – Collingwood Magpies v Melbourne Demons at Victoria Park

10:10 PM – West Coast Eagles v Gold Coast Suns at Mineral Resources Park

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