Welcome to Balls of Steel’s AFL Beat!

Let’s see what happened this week.

***

AFL 2021 Season Week 17 Recaps

Port Adelaide Power 55 – 86 Melbourne Demons

Big loss at home for the Power. They have not beaten any of the top 4, even at home, so their finals credentials are highly suspect.

Here are the highlights:

Essendon Bombers 84 – 21 Adelaide Crows

The Crows really felt the loss of Tex Walker as they struggled to hit the scoreboard. The Bombers kept them to their lowest ever score in history.

Here are the highlights:

Hawthorn Hawks 46 – 108 Fremantle Dockers

The Dockers are, all of a sudden, not only back in the playoff picture, but they’re inside the Eight! A big challenge looms with Geelong next week but luckily it’s at home.

Here are the highlights:

Carlton Blues 44 – 70 Geelong Cats

The Blues would have made this a much different game if they had kicked straight. Alas, they didn’t and the Cats won by a comfortable margin.

Here are the highlights:

Brisbane Lions 63 – 95 St. Kilda Saints

This is typical St. Kilda. They show flashes of brilliance like beating the Lions IN QUEENSLAND and then all their fans wait for the other shoe to drop.

Here are the highlights:

GWS Giants 64 – 65 Gold Coast Suns

The game was hugely influenced by the big breeze that went from left to right on the TV screen. Somehow, Gold Coast managed to score one more point than the Giants, who will greatly regret this loss.

Here are the highlights:

Western Bulldogs 60 – 79 Sydney Swans

I guess the Swans are for real, huh? To beat the Doggies in Melbourne shows that these Swans will be a force to reckon with come finals time.

Here are the highlights:

Richmond Tigers 71 – 87 Collingwood Magpies

I have no idea what’s going on at Richmond. This is now 3 losses in a row to teams lower in the ladder, 4 in a row overall, and they are coming late in the season. The Tigers may not be able to overcome this hole they’re digging themselves.

Here are the highlights:

West Coast Eagles 60 – 70 North Melbourne Kangaroos

I cannot believe that the Eagles lost at home to the Wooden Spooners. What has gone wrong at West Coast? I caught the tail end of the game before starting work and I was shocked at how North dominated them.

Here are the highlights:

***

2021 Ladder

Here is how the teams stand after Round 17:

P	TEAM	W	L	T	PTS	%
1	Melbourne Demons	13	3	0	52	129.9
2	Western Bulldogs	12	4	0	48	142.4
3	Geelong Cats	12	4	0	48	124.9
4	Brisbane Lions	11	5	0	44	129.0
5	Port Adelaide Power	11	5	0	44	119.8
6	Sydney Swans	10	6	0	40	119.8
7	Fremantle Dockers	8	8	0	32	97.3
8	West Coast Eagles	8	8	0	32	94.8
9	St. Kilda Saints	8	8	0	32	86.9
10	GWS Giants	7	8	1	30	97.2
11	Essendon Bombers	7	9	0	28	103.4
12	Richmond Tigers	7	9	0	28	99.3
13	Carlton Blues	6	10	0	24	91.5
14	Gold Coast Suns	6	10	0	24	88.7
15	Collingwood Magpies	5	11	0	20	91.4
16	Adelaide Crows	5	11	0	20	80.8
17	Hawthorn Hawks	4	12	0	16	77.8
18	North Melbourne Kangaroos	3	12	1	14	66.3

Here is the Balls Graph (TM) as of Week 17:

***

Footy Tipping Contest

Here is where we stand after Round 17:

P	TIPPER	Round Tips	Round Margin	Total Tips	Total Margin
1	Litre_cola	3	40	96	507
2	SonOfSpam	3	39	94	455
3	Doktor Zymm	3	56	94	523
4	Mr. Ayo	4	21	93	423
5	Dolph Ucker	5	31	92	476
6	BFC	3	31	92	548
7		5	31	91	451
8	BALLS	3	37	91	502
9	BC Dick	4	31	90	493
10	WhyEaglesWhy	4	18	87	447
11	Game Time Decision	3	20	85	433
12	bk109	5	31	79	437
13	Reverend Mayhem	5	31	68	445
14	Maestro	5	31	65	475
15	Yeah Right	5	31	66	487

This was one of those rare weeks where it was better to forget to put the Footy Tips in as those who forgot were assigned the road team and many road teams pulled off upsets! Litre is still the leader with SonOfSpam and Dok right on his heels!

***

Balls Sechs

• Richmond has dropped four in a row and has now fallen all the way to 12th. It is amazing that this has happened. I’m still not counting them out, though, because the rest of the field trying to get into the Eight is fighting to see how falls on their face first.
• Somehow, despite losing three in a row, the West Coast Eagles are still in the Eight. They won’t be for long if they continue playing the way they have been in the last month.
• The Cats got a huge break when Brisbane and Port Adelaide both lost, vaulting themselves back into 3rd place.
• It seems no one wants the last two spots in the Eight. Any of six teams could realistically take them but all of the contenders keep losing!
• Meanwhile, at the bottom of the ladder, the Kangaroos are within 2 points of Hawthorn and may avoid the Wooden Spoon this year! Considering the horrendous start to the season, that’s a heck of an accomplishment!
• The Match of The Round next week is Richmond-Brisbane at the MCG. If the Tigers lose five in a row, then I MAY consider them dead. Maybe.

***

Round Eighteen Schedule

Here is the Round 18 schedule (all times Pacific):

Thursday, July 15, 2021

3:10 AM – Fremantle Dockers v Geelong Cats at Optus Stadium

Friday, July 16, 2021

2:50 AM – Richmond Tigers v Brisbane Lions at the MCG

8:45 PM – GWS Giants v Sydney Swans at Mars Stadium

11:35 PM – Gold Coast Suns v Western Bulldogs at Metricon Stadium

11:35 PM – Melbourne Demons v Hawthorn Hawks at the MCG

Saturday, July 17, 2021

2:25 AM – St. Kilda Saints v Port Adelaide Power at Marvel Stadium

8:10 PM – North Melbourne Kangaroos v Essendon Bombers at Marvel Stadium

10:20 PM – Collingwood Magpies v Carlton Blues at the MCG

11:40 PM – Adelaide Crows v West Coast Eagles at Adelaide Oval

***

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