This week,

The AFLW season got started!

Welcome to Balls of Steel’s AFL Beat!

I do apologize for not giving a proper heads up. I hope you all saw the preview on the Friday Night Sexy Friday post. I did mention the Hosking twins in that post. In case you didn’t follow my advice and Google them, that’s them at the top.

Lots happened this weekend. Let’s get right to it!

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Week 1 Recaps

St. Kilda Saints 23 – 61 Richmond Tigers

The Tigers got the season off to a great start with a convincing win over the Saints even though they were underdogs. Maybe adding the second Hosking twin is making a difference? Here are the highlights:

North Melbourne Kangaroos 26 – 18 Geelong Cats

The Cats are a MUCH improved side from last year. Granted, beating the Roos at their house was always going to be a tough task, but they hung in there and earned some respect. No points, though. Here are the highlights:

Fremantle Dockers 45 – 14 West Coast Eagles

The Western Derby was over quickly as the Dockers were vastly superior to the Eagles. Looks like Fremantle will be one of the top teams again. Here are the highlights:

Western Bulldogs 22 – 46 Melbourne Demons

This was another Grand Final Rematch if the men were playing. As it is, the Doggies were a little short of reaching finals last year and they were a little short here. Here are the highlights:

Adelaide Crows 39 – 9 Brisbane Lions

In the REAL Grand Final Rematch, the Crows completely dominated the champs. It didn’t help that Brisbane suffered injuries to two key players. It’s going to be a tough Premiership defence… Here are the highlights:

Carlton Blues 25 – 44 Collingwood Magpies

The Magpies finished the season strong last year and are one of the teams to look out for this year. BTW, Google Chloe Molloy. She’s awesome. Here are the highlights:

Gold Coast Suns 21 – 36 GWS Giants

Much like the Cats, last year’s Wooden Spooners, the Suns, have greatly improved. They could not quite beat the Giants, but it was a much closer game than expected. Maybe the ladder will tighten up this year? Here are the highlights:

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Ladder

Here is how the teams stand after Round 1:

P	TEAM	W	L	T	PTS	%
1	Adelaide Crows	1	0	0	4	433.3
2	Fremantle Dockers	1	0	0	4	286.7
3	Richmond Tigers	1	0	0	4	265.2
4	Melbourne Demons	1	0	0	4	209.1
5	Collingwood Magpies	1	0	0	4	176.0
6	GWS Giants	1	0	0	4	171.4
7	North Melbourne Kangaroos	1	0	0	4	144.4
8	Geelong Cats	0	1	0	0	69.2
9	Gold Coast Suns	0	1	0	0	58.3
10	Carlton Blues	0	1	0	0	56.8
11	Western Bulldogs	0	1	0	0	47.8
12	St. Kilda Saints	0	1	0	0	37.7
13	West Coast Eagles	0	1	0	0	34.9
14	Brisbane Lions	0	1	0	0	23.1

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Balls Graph

Since it’s Round 1, there is no Balls Graph. We will have one for Round Two, though.

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Footy Tipping Contest

Here is how we stack up after Round 1:

P	TIPPER	Round Tips	Round Margin	Total Tips	Total Margin
1	SonOfSpam	6	25	6	25
2	Game Time Decision	6	38	6	38
3	Dolph Ucker	5	38	5	38
4	Litre_cola	5	51	5	51
5	BALLS	4	52	4	52
5		4	54	4	54
6	BFC	4	59	4	59

Mr. Spam continues his streak atop the standings but Game Time Decision is right there with him. Very good job of tipping by everyone considering that I forgot to do a preview last week. Great job!

There is still time for others to join this year’s competition! I believe that if you join today, you will get credit for all the away wins from last week, which was 4, so you’ll be right in the thick of it! Please follow the link below to join in the fun:

https://mobile.footytips.com.au/competitions/?competitionId=454009&ff=ladders

I remind you, as always,

DON’T FORGET TO PUT THE FOOTY TIPS IN!

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Balls’ Sechs

• As you can see in the schedule below, COVID continues to cause changes to the schedule. The two West Australian teams will play their “home” games this week at Whitten Oval due to travel restrictions.
• The impression I got from the first weekend of games is that the gap between the good teams and the bad teams has shortened. Both Geelong and Gold Coast played MUCH better than last year. It will be interesting to see if that translates into more wins, but at least the level of play is up.
• If there is one team that looks to dominate this year, it’s the Adelaide Crows. Erin Phillips is back to her usual MVP self and the team looks good. Barring unforeseen injuries, that’s your Premiership favourite.
• The start of the season did have a bit of a downer as several players went down for the year with ACL, MCL, and other injuries. Particularly hard hit were the Doggies, Lions, and Pies.
• Four players got reprimands for actions during the games but there were no fines and no suspensions handed down by the Match Review Panel.
• The Cats, Tigers, Pies, and Giants wore Indigenous guernseys which looked awesome! Brisbane also wore their Pride guernsey. That is one of my favourite things about AFL and AFLW. The alternate guernseys are great!

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Round Two Schedule

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

Friday, January 14, 2022

12:10 AM – Richmond Tigers v Melbourne Demons at Swinburne Centre

8:10 PM – Collingwood Magpies v St. Kilda Saints at Victoria Park

10:10 PM – Brisbane Lions v Carlton Blues at Maroochydore

Saturday, January 15, 2022

12:10 AM – Geelong Cats v Western Bulldogs at GMHBA Stadium

5:40 PM – West Coast Eagles v Gold Coast Suns at Whitten Oval

8:10 PM – Adelaide Crows v North Melbourne Kangaroos at Norwood Oval

10:10 PM – Fremantle Dockers v GWS Giants at Whitten Oval

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