This week, both the men and the women were in action!

Welcome to Balls of Steel’s AFL Beat!

You know, these last two weeks have been GREAT! There have been nonstop games with Women’s games followed by Men’s games followed by Women’s games. It’s great to see the contrast in styles and game play but at the same time being able to appreciate the ways in which each game is better than the other.

For example, the kicking skills are better with the Men. However, the Women are harder tacklers and play a rougher type of game than the Men. It’s wonderful to see the contrast and appreciate the positive things each one brings to the table.

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

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Week 9 Recaps

Western Bulldogs 45 – 32 RIchmond Tigers

The Doggies finished off their season with a solid win over the Tigers at home. I know the Tigers are getting better, but they’re not quite there yet.

Here are the highlights:

North Melbourne Kangaroos 30 – 29 Fremantle Dockers

This was Instant Classic Number One of the week. Seriously, it demands a rewatch. It went down to the very end and had Finals intensity throughout.

Here are the highlights:

Melbourne Demons 38 – 36 Brisbane Lions

This was Instant Classic Number Two. It seems that Finals really started in Week 9 for these teams. If Finals are going to be like this, we are going to be in for a major treat!

Here are the highlights:

Gold Coast Suns 24 – 41 Geelong Cats

Surprisingly, this did not end in a 0-0 tie. Also surprisingly, the Cats played really well away from home. It was a well-deserved victory that gave the Wooden Spoon to Gold Coast.

Here are the highlights:

Adelaide Crows 31 – 17 Collingwood Magpies

This one wasn’t so much an Instant Classic as it was a warning to the rest of the competition that the Adelaide Crows of the Premiership years are back. It was a comprehensive win and the Crows are now in the driver’s seat for another Premiership.

Here are the highlights:

GWS Giants 31 – 32 Carlton Blues

While this one had nothing at stake, it was still Instant Classic Number Three. The two teams fought hard until the end and it was only the heroics of Darcy Vescio playing defense at the end that saved the win for the Blues.

Here are the highlights:

West Coast Eagles 20 – 76 St. Kilda Saints

This was a smashing by the Saints over the injury-depleted Eagles. It’s a good thing it was the last game of the year for both teams because girls were going down faster than in one of the videos I watch before I shower.

Here are the highlights:

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Ladder

Here is your final 2021 AFLW Season Ladder:

P	TEAM	W	L	T	PTS	%
1	Adelaide Crows	7	2	0	28	208.4
2	Brisbane Lions	7	2	0	28	195.0
3	Collingwood Magpies	7	2	0	28	190.5
4	Melbourne Demons	7	2	0	28	130.4
5	Fremantle Dockers	6	3	0	24	185.1
6	North Melbourne Kangaroos	6	3	0	24	142.5
7	Carlton Blues	5	4	0	20	125.8
8	Western Bulldogs	5	4	0	20	88.2
9	GWS Giants	4	5	0	16	74.1
10	Richmond Tigers	3	6	0	12	84.6
11	St. Kilda Saints	3	6	0	12	69.6
12	West Coast Eagles	2	7	0	8	53.0
13	Geelong Cats	1	8	0	0	40.2
14	Gold Coast Suns	0	9	0	0	36.5

And now, the final Balls GraphTM for the 2021 AFLW season:

[gview file=”https://www.doorfliesopen.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/AFLW-Ladder-2021R9.pdf”]

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Footy Tipping Contest

Here is how we stack up after Round 9:

P	TIPPER	Round Tips	Round Margin	Total Tips	Total Margin
1	SonOfSpam	3	0	47	138
2	BALLS	5	18	47	172
3	BFC	5	4	43	121
4	BC Dick	2	13	42	149
5	Litre_cola	3	0	40	153
6	Game Time Decision	4	4	40	193
7		2	13	32	200

I have managed to tie SonOfSpam for the top spot in the ladder. He, however, still holds the tie-breaker on margin. Please remember that the competition continues through the end of Finals. We have five games left!

I remind you, as always,

DON’T FORGET TO PUT THE FOOTY TIPS IN!

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Balls’ Sechs

• The Crows earned the top spot and a bye in Finals Week One. They will have home-ground advantage throughout Finals
• Even though the Lions lost this week, they still managed to keep one of the two Finals byes. They are still looking good and the week off should help them prepare and rest up.
• The Pies went from top spot to out of a Finals Bye and now face the Roos in a Finals Week 1 Elimination Final. The Pies were able to beat the Roos earlier in the season on the road, so they should be able to take care of business at home.
• However, the Roos just took out Fremantle and are red-hot. It’s going to be a crazy good game on North American Friday night.
• Speaking of red-hot, the Demons are on fire as they were able to beat the Lions at home this week and beat the Dockers, their Finals Week One opponents, in Perth last week.
• The Dockers went from Top Spot in the ladder a few weeks ago to a finishing position of 5th and a road Final. They need to fix their problems quick or there will be a quick Finals exit soon.

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Finals Week 1 Schedule

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

Friday, April 2, 2021

7:05 PM – Melbourne Demons v Fremantle Dockers at Casey Fields

9:10 PM – Collingwood Magpies v North Melbourne Kangaroos at Victoria Park

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AFL 2021 Season Week 2 Recaps

Carlton Blues 85 – 106 Collingwood Magpies

The Pies were too much for the Blues, who are 0-2 and not looking good. This was supposed to be the year they became good, but so far it isn’t happening. It’s still early, though.

Here are the highlights:

Geelong Cats 81 – 80 Brisbane Lions

To be fair (to be fair to be fair), the Cats by all rights should have lost this game at home. A missed free kick call allowed them to keep the one-point margin and the win at the end. They need to improve A LOT if they are to get back to the Grand Final. The Lions started slow but finished fast and can build on this.

Here are the highlights:

Sydney Swans 121 – 88 Adelaide Crows

The Swans are looking really good. Remember in the preview how I said that the Swans would benefit from the new rules because they are so young and athletic? That’s what is happening. They will face a HUGE test against the Tigers next week that will tell us what they are really made of.

Here are the highlights:

Port Adelaide Power 119 – 65 Essendon Bombers

The Power are looking really good. The Bombers were never really in this one. If it wasn’t for Richmond, I’d say the Power are your early season Premiership favourites.

Here are the highlights:

St. Kilda Saints 73 – 91 Melbourne Demons

The Saints and Demons are a couple of difficult teams to figure out. I’m not quite sure if they’re good or not. On this night, the Demons were better.

Here are the highlights:

Gold Coast Suns 98 – 39 North Melbourne Kangaroos

The Roos are in big time trouble. They may not win a game this year. This was a tremendous thrashing by a Gold Coast team that had been playing really badly.

Here are the highlights:

Hawthorn Hawks 49 – 78 Richmond Tigers

On the glass half-full side, the Hawks were able to limit the scoring of the Tigers. On the glass half-empty side, the Hawks couldn’t score to save their lives.

Here are the highlights:

Western Bulldogs 100 – 93 West Coast Eagles

This was a great game that went all the way down to the end. I’d call it Instant Classic Number Four. A late goal with 30 seconds left sealed the victory for the Doggies.

Here are the highlights:

Fremantle Dockers 87 – 56 GWS Giants

The Dockers rebounded nicely from a Round 1 loss with a nice win at home over the Giants. The Giants look like they need a LOT of help.

Here are the highlights:

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2021 Ladder

Here is how the teams stand after Round 2:

P	TEAM	W	L	T	PTS	%
1	Port Adelaide Power	2	0	0	8	181.5
2	Richmond Tigers	2	0	0	8	141.9
3	Sydney Swans	2	0	0	8	135.2
4	Melbourne Demons	2	0	0	8	130.5
5	Western Bulldogs	2	0	0	8	115.8
6	Gold Coast Suns	1	1	0	4	127.9
7	West Coast Eagles	1	1	0	4	111.4
8	Fremantle Dockers	1	1	0	4	106.6
9	Collingwood Magpies	1	1	0	4	103.2
10	St. Kilda Saints	1	1	0	4	94.1
11	Geelong Cats	1	1	0	4	94.0
12	Adelaide Crows	1	1	0	4	90.1
13	Hawthorn Hawks	1	1	0	4	83.4
14	Brisbane Lions	0	2	0	0	84.5
15	Carlton Blues	0	2	0	0	78.2
16	GWS Giants	0	2	0	0	77.5
17	Essendon Bombers	0	2	0	0	73.9
18	North Melbourne Kangaroos	0	2	0	0	48.4

Here is the Balls Graph (TM) as of Week 2.

[gview file=”https://www.doorfliesopen.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/AFL-Ladder-2021R2.pdf”]

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Footy Tipping Contest

Here is where we stand after Round 2:

P	TIPPER	Round Tips	Round Margin	Total Tips	Total Margin
1	SonOfSpam	7	14	13	26
2	BC Dick	8	21	13	31
3	Litre_cola	6	18	13	32
4	Doktor Zymm	5	1	12	1
5	bk109	7	13	12	26
6	Dolph Ucker	6	35	12	60
7	BALLS	8	15	11	19
8	Mr. Ayo	5	21	11	21
9	WhyEaglesWhy	6	13	11	25
10	BFC	5	29	11	45
11	Reverend Mayhem	5	21	10	21
12	Game Time Decision	6	31	10	41
13	Maestro	3	21	9	30
14		3	21	7	30
15	Yeah Right	3	21	7	63

Thanks to a joint Top Score week, I made a big leap from the bottom of the table to the middle. That should be encouragement for anyone out there that still hasn’t joined the pool. There is still time for others to join!

Big congratulations to Dok Zymm, who continues to be on fire with the margins. Last week, she nailed it perfectly and this week she was only 1 off!

The site we use is the Australian ESPN site and we’ve been moved off a web address and onto a Tipping app. It’s a lot of fun and it’s free. Our competition name is “door flies open”.

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Balls Sechs

• There are 5 undefeated teams, 5 winless teams, and 8 teams in the middle. Round 3’s clash between the Swans and Tigers ensures there will only be a maximum of 4 teams with 12 points after three weeks.
• Port Adelaide must continue to keep ahead of the Tigers to ensure a home final and a decent chance to take the Tigers out. It’s crazy that we are talking about this in Round 2, but that’s how good Richmond is.
• The season is still early, but you can already see that some teams are not headed in the right direction. We’ll see if they manage to right the ship next week.
• The games have so far ebbed and flowed in terms of pace and momentum. I’ve noticed there are lightning quick patches of play followed by patches of slow and deliberate play as the teams get tired. It will be interesting to see how this evolves over the course of the season and if youth will take preference over experience.
• Brisbane was asked to stay in Victoria an extra day due to COVID-related precautions. Then, the game against Collingwood early in the week was moved from The Gabba to Marvel Stadium. The two teams were scheduled to meet again in Round 22 so that game will now take place in Brisbane. The Lions will now spend almost 3 weeks in Victoria.
• The Match of the Round for Week 3 seems to be the Sydney-Tigers clash with the traditional Geelong-Hawthorn Easter Monday clash back after it was cancelled last year taking a close second.

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Round Three Schedule

Here is the Round 3 schedule (all times Pacific):

Thursday, April 1, 2021

1:40 AM – Brisbane Lions v Collingwood Magpies at Marvel Stadium

10:20 PM – North Melbourne Kangaroos v Western Bulldogs at Marvel Stadium

Friday, April 2, 2021

1:50 AM – Adelaide Crows v Gold Coast Suns at Adelaide Oval

7:45 PM – Richmond Tigers v Sydney Swans at the MCG

10:35 PM – Essenbon Bombers v St. Kilda Saints at Marvel Stadium

Saturday, April 3, 2021

2:10 AM – West Coast Eagles v Port Adelaide Power at Optus Stadium

10:20 PM – Carlton Blues v Fremantle Dockers at Marvel Stadium

Sunday, April 4, 2021

1:10 AM – GWS Giants v Melbourne Demons at Manuka Oval

10:20 PM – Geelong Cats v Hawthorn Hawks at the MCG

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