This week, two teams ended their seasons and one pulled off a massive upset

Welcome to Balls of Steel’s AFL Beat!

There is much to go over. Let’s get right to it before I get a 504 error.

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Elimination Final Recaps

Melbourne Demons 40 – 23 Fremantle Dockers

The Doggies couldn’t get back to the way they played earlier in the season and they are now out. The Demons move on to a date against the red-hot Crows in Adelaide.

Here are the highlights:

Collingwood Magpies 50 – 44 North Melbourne Kangaroos

This was a classic finals matchup. First the Pies led and then the Roos came back to take the lead only for the Pies to come back at the end to take the game in the last few minutes. It was a great game to watch!

Here are the highlights:

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Footy Tipping Contest

So here is where I would normally show you where we stack up after Week 1 of Finals. HOWEVAH, I just discovered that the competition ended in Round 9 and DID NOT continue through the Grand Final! I am pretty disappointed as I just tied SonOfSpam for the top spot!

Alas, Mr. Spam is once again the weiner of the gently-used Fleshlight! Congratulations and may this one join the others in the Mantle of Pride! Here are your final standings:

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’m still going to tip the rest of the postseason to see how I do.

DON’T FORGET TO PUT THE FOOTY TIPS IN!

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Balls’ Sechs

• The red-hot Demons take on the red-hot Crows in a matchup of two teams that have all the momentum. It’s going to be a tremendous game.
• It will be interesting to see if the venue will make a difference. Norwood Oval is smaller and more intimate than Adelaide Oval. In addition, Adelaide Oval is not as susceptible to wind as Norwood Oval is.
• The Demons beat the Crows by 28 (43-15) in Round 7 in Melbourne.
• The Pies stood up when it counted and turned around a game that the Roos looked to have in control. That’s a really good sign.
• Given that, beating the Lions in Brisbane will be a tall task. They came close in Round 7, losing 35-32 in a thriller.
• I expect this repeat of the Round 7 matchup to come down to the wire with a kick at the death being the decider.

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Finals Week 2 Schedule

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

Friday, April 9, 2021

9:10 PM – Adelaide Crows v Melbourne Demons at Adelaide Oval

11:10 PM – Brisbane Lions v Collingwood Magpies at The Gabba

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AFL 2021 Season Week 3 Recaps

Collingwood Magpies 72 – 73 Brisbane Lions

The Lions were able to adapt to the venue change and managed to hold off the Pies in a thriller. I watched the replay and it was a really good game.

Here are the highlights:

North Melbourne 39 – 167 Western Bulldogs

What can I tell you about this game besides the scoreline? Wow, this was an ass-kicking!

Here are the highlights:

Adelaide Crows 95 – 85 Gold Coast Suns

The Crows continued their winning ways by taking care of the Suns at home. They are looking really good and Tex Walker looks like the goal-scoring threat he was a few years ago.

Here are the highlights:

Richmond Tigers 72 – 117 Sydney Swans

This was the Surprise of the Round. No one expected the Swans to go into the MCG and beat the reigning champions comprehensively. I’m now feeling pretty good about my pre-season prediction of good things for the Swans.

Here are the highlights:

Essendon Bombers 143 – 68 St. Kilda Saints

This was another unexpected ass-kicking. The Bombers had looked really bad last week after giving up a 40+ point lead in Round 1. This time, they made sure there was no heroic comeback.

Here are the highlights:

West Coast Eagles 108 – 71 Port Adelaide Power

The Eagles do what they usually do at home: Win. The Power may have been overconfident after seeing the Tigers lose at home. Now there are only 3 undefeated teams and they’re not one of them.

Here are the highlights:

Carlton Blues 109 – 64 Fremantle Dockers

The Blues were solid throughout this game and thoroughly deserved the victory. The Dockers were physically outmatched and that doesn’t bode well for the rest of the season.

Here are the highlights:

GWS Giants 68 – 102 Melbourne Demons

Another team in trouble is the GWS Giants. Even with Toby Greene still on the team, they seem to have lost their heart. The Demons roll on and are surprisingly one of the three unbeatens left in the competition.

Here are the highlights:

Geelong Cats 69 – 64 Hawthorn Hawks

The Easter Monday classic lived up to its name. The Cats started off dominating the game but couldn’t pull away from the Hawks, who came roaring back in the fourth. The Cats barely hung on for the NICE victory and are 2-1.

Here are the highlights:

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2021 Ladder

Here is how the teams stand after Round 3:

P	TEAM	W	L	T	PTS	%
1	Western Bulldogs	3	0	0	12	181.6
2	Sydney Swans	3	0	0	12	142.9
3	Melbourne Demons	3	0	0	12	137.2
4	Port Adelaide Power	2	1	0	8	129.0
5	West Coast Eagles	2	1	0	8	124.0
6	Richmond Tigers	2	1	0	8	103.7
7	Geelong Cats	2	1	0	8	97.6
8	Adelaide Crows	2	1	0	8	96.3
9	Gold Coast Suns	1	2	0	4	111.1
10	Essendon Bombers	1	2	0	4	107.2
11	Collingwood Magpies	1	2	0	4	101.8
12	Carlton Blues	1	2	0	4	99.6
13	Brisbane Lions	1	2	0	4	88.8
14	Hawthorn Hawks	1	2	0	4	86.1
15	Fremantle Dockers	1	2	0	4	85.3
16	St. Kilda Saints	1	2	0	4	72.8
17	GWS Giants	0	3	0	0	73.5
18	North Melbourne Kangaroos	0	3	0	0	37.4

Here is the Balls Graph (TM) as of Week 3.

[gview file=”https://www.doorfliesopen.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/AFL-Ladder-2021R3.pdf”]

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Footy Tipping Contest

Here is where we stand after Round 3:

P	TIPPER	Round Tips	Round Margin	Total Tips	Total Margin
1	bk109	6	8	18	34
2	Litre_cola	5	6	18	38
3	BC Dick	5	9	18	40
4	Doktor Zymm	6	39	18	40
5	BALLS	6	5	17	24
6	SonOfSpam	4	10	17	36
7	Dolph Ucker	5	14	17	74
8	Mr. Ayo	5	1	16	22
9	WhyEaglesWhy	5	12	16	37
10	BFC	5	16	16	61
11	Reverend Mayhem	4	1	14	22
12	Maestro	5	6	14	36
13	Game Time Decision	4	17	13	47
14		5	7	12	37
15	Yeah Right	4	1	11	64

We have a new leader at the top as the competition is super tight! The top 10 are only separated by two tips!

If anyone still wants to join, the away wins count if you didn’t enter tips, so you would not start from 0. You can still catch up!

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

• Port Adelaide and Richmond both lost, taking a little bit of luster off their matchup in Round 4. While it will still be a great game, it won’t be a battle of undefeateds.
• Melbourne seems to be the weakest of the undefeateds. They play the Cats this week, so we’ll see if they really are good or have just gotten lucky.
• There is speculation in the Australian media that North Melbourne may not win a game this year. The game this week was NOT good for their confidence.
• Sydney have fully embraced the rules changes and are running and gunning at the top of the ladder. We’ll see if they can keep up the energy and the effort every week.
• Brisbane won a massive game against the Pies after being forced to stay in Melbourne. They face the competition leader in a game that will tell us a LOT about both teams.
• The Sydney-Essendon game could bring us a score that hasn’t been seen since the 80s: where both teams score over 125 points. Heck, both may approach 150. It should be a lot of fun to watch.

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Round Four Schedule

Here is the Round 4 schedule (all times Pacific):

Thursday, April 8, 2021

2:20 AM – Sydney Swans v Essendon Bombers at the SCG

Friday, April 9, 2021

2:50 AM – Port Adelaide Power v Richmond Tigers at Adelaide Oval

8:45 PM – Western Bulldogs v Brisbane Lions at Mars Stadium

11:35 PM – St. Kilda Saints v West Coast Eagles at Marvel Stadium

Saturday, April 10, 2021

2:25 AM – Gold Coast Suns v Carlton Blues at Metricon Stadium

2:25 AM – Collingwood Magpies v GWS Giants at the MCG

8:10 PM – North Melbourne Kangaroos v Adelaide Crows at Marvel Stadium

10:20 PM – Melbourne Demons v Geelong Cats at the MCG

11:40 PM – Fremantle Dockers v Hawthorn Hawks at Optus Stadium

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