Welcome to Balls of Steel’s AFL Beat!

More COVID game changes happened this week in the middle of the round. Let’s see what happened.

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AFL 2021 Season Week 20 Recaps

St. Kilda Saints 81 – 112 Carlton Blues

Somehow, Carlton, of all teams, is still in contention for finals. Granted, it’s because everyone else (including St. Kilda) is playing like they don’t want to play finals, but it’s still nice given their rough start to the season.

Here are the highlights:

Western Bulldogs 105 – 56 Adelaide Crows

This was a relatively easy win for the Doggies and they close in on getting the #1 spot in Finals. The Crows just want the season to be over.

Here are the highlights:

North Melbourne Kangaroos 42 – 62 Geelong Cats

This was a tough game from beginning to end. Don’t let the final margin fool you. This was close throughout as the Roos continued their streak of playing well.

Here are the highlights:

Collingwood Magpies 90 – 45 West Coast Eagles

Talk about two teams going in opposite directions! The Pies continue to improve while the Eagles are still in the Eight but look absolutely horrible.

Here are the highlights:

Gold Coast Suns 30 – 128

This was a bigger ass-kicking than the score shows. Seriously, the Demons absolutely demolished the Suns.

Here are the highlights:

Hawthorn Hawks 92 – 80 Brisbane Lions

This was the surprise of the round for me. The Hawks led by over 40 early in the game and it was only a furious comeback attempt by the Lions that made the score so close.

Here are the highlights:

Essendon Bombers 102 – 109 Sydney Swans

This was probably the Match of the Round. It was close and back and forth and at the end the Swans were able to edge the Bombers. This was one of those games where someone had to win but both teams represented themselves well.

Here are the highlights:

Fremantle Dockers 55 – 51 Richmond Tigers

This game had HUGE implications for the Finals picture. The Dockers were able to pull out the home win at the end.

Here are the highlights:

GWS Giants 73 – 100 Port Adelaide Power

The Giants are back out of the Eight after another loss to a team above them in the table. Things don’t get any easier as they face the Cats in Geelong next week.

Here are the highlights:

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2021 Ladder

Here is how the teams stand after Round 20:

P	TEAM	W	L	T	PTS	%
1	Western Bulldogs	15	4	0	60	142.0
2	Geelong Cats	15	4	0	60	132.6
3	Melbourne Demons	14	4	1	58	131.5
4	Port Adelaide Power	14	5	0	56	121.8
5	Sydney Swans	13	6	0	52	118.0
6	Brisbane Lions	12	7	0	48	124.6
7	West Coast Eagles	10	9	0	40	95.9
8	Fremantle Dockers	9	10	0	36	90.9
9	GWS Giants	8	10	1	34	95.1
10	Essendon Bombers	8	11	0	32	102.7
11	Richmond Tigers	8	11	0	32	98.0
12	Carlton Blues	8	11	0	32	94.1
13	St. Kilda Saints	8	11	0	32	85.9
14	Collingwood Magpies	6	13	0	24	91.9
15	Gold Coast Suns	6	13	0	24	81.1
16	Adelaide Crows	6	13	0	24	79.9
17	Hawthorn Hawks	5	13	1	22	80.8
18	North Melbourne Kangaroos	4	14	1	18	70.7

Here is the Balls Graph (TM) as of Week 20:

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Footy Tipping Contest

Here is where we stand after Round 20:

P	TIPPER	Round Tips	Round Margin	Total Tips	Total Margin
1	Mr. Ayo	7	18	114	538
2	Litre_cola	6	1	114	597
3	Dok Zymm	6	18	113	588
4	SonOfSpam	5	6	111	533
5	BFC	5	19	111	615
6		6	12	109	524
7	BALLS	7	4	109	591
8	Dolph Ucker	6	7	106	580
9	BC Dick	5	7	105	587
10	Game Time Decision	4	18	104	519
11	Why Eagles Why	5	7	100	551
12	bk109	5	7	93	541
13	Reverend Mayhem	5	7	81	549
14	Maestro	6	3	79	575
15	Yeah Right	5	7	78	591

There was some movement mid-table as some places got shuffled around. While the top places didn’t change hands, the margins are now thinner than ever! Keep up the good work, everyone!

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Balls Sechs

• The COVID situation has again forced games to be moved up and relocated. This time, while in the middle of the round games had to be postponed and relocated to other areas. So far the teams are doing an excellent job of adapting!
• We officially have five teams qualified for finals: Western, Geelong, Melbourne, Port Adelaide, and Sydney. While the Lions lost, pretty much everyone else did, so while mathematically they could still lose out, the realistic part says that they’re in.
• The Top Four are looking really tough. If you’re talking about who will win the Premiership this year, it’s those 4 teams plus Sydney. No one else looks to have what it takes.
• Richmond lost again yet they are like the cockroach that refuses to die after being hit by a spray of Raid. It helps greatly that all the other contenders for the last spot in the Eight keep losing.
• Meanwhile, at the bottom of the ladder, the Hawks’ surprising win against the Lions pretty much guarantees that the Roos will get the Wooden Spoon this year.
• There are no titanic matches next week but a couple of losses by the Finals pretenders will effectively draw a line through them for the year. Finally.

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Round Twenty One Schedule

Here is the Round 21 schedule (all times Pacific):

Friday, August 6, 2021

2:50 AM – Geelong Cats v GWS Giants at GMHBA Stadium

8:45 PM – Carlton Blues v Gold Coast Suns at Marvel Stadium

11:35 PM – Richmond Tigers v North Melbourne Kangaroos at the MCG

Saturday, August 7, 2021

2:40 AM – Adelaide Crows v Port Adelaide Power at Adelaide Oval

2;40 AM – St. KIlda Saints v Sydney Swans at Marvel Stadium

9:10 PM – Hawthorn Hawks v Collingwood Magpies at UTAS

10:20 PM – Western Bulldogs v Essendon Bombers at Marvel Stadium

Sunday, August 8, 2021

12:10 AM – Fremantle Dockers v Brisbane Lions at Optus Stadium

Monday, August 9, 2021

3:10 AM – West Coast Eagles v Melbourne Demons at Optus Stadium

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