This week, there was more havoc caused by COVID on the schedule as another set of games were canceled and a replacement game was played. It was also the Pride Round and all teams wore special guernseys.

Welcome to Balls of Steel’s AFL Beat!

I hope you all were able to see the notice I put in the Sexy Friday post about some matchups changing. It was very last minute and I didn’t see it until i was about to start watching the games.

Apparently, the Western Bulldogs are STILL severely short of players due to COVID restrictions and other injuries. The Gold Coast Suns were also hit hard, so the game between the Doggies and Carlton and the game between Brisbane and Gold Coast were canceled.

Since Brisbane and Carlton both had full squads, the AFLW decided to have them play each other in Gold Coast’s Metricon Stadium. Now, here’s the tricky bit: They are playing on Australian Tuesday night, which means they played in the middle of North American Monday night.

That’s why the AFL Beat is posting on Wednesday instead of Tuesday. Let’s get right to it!

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Week 3 Recaps

Geelong Cats 24 – 35 Collingwood Magpies

Again, the Cats are showing a LOT of improvement. Not just over last year, but week to week. They played well against the Pies and gave them all they could handle, but ultimately fell short.

Here are the highlights:

West Coast Eagles 9 – 42 Adelaide Crows

The Crows just steamrolled right through the Eagles. It wasn’t as close as the score indicates.

Here are the highlights:

Melbourne Demons 64 – 23 St. Kilda Saints

Would you believe me if I told you that this match was tied at 23 at Three Quarter Time? Yup, the Demons scored 41 unanswered in the fourth quarter!

Here are the highlights:

Richmond 47 – 77 Fremantle Dockers

I’m telling you right now that the only team I see taking out the Adelaide Crows is the Fremantle Dockers. The Tigers played well, but the Dockers were too much.

Here are the highlights:

North Melbourne Kangaroos 54 – 27 GWS Giants

This was another game where the score makes the game look closer than it really was. The Roos jumped out to a HUGE lead and then the Giants got some consolation scores.

Here are the highlights:

Brisbane Lions 63 – 28 Carlton Blues

Brisbane bounced back from missing last week’s game with a dominant performance on Australian Tuesday night.

Here are the highlights:

Western Bulldogs and Gold Coast Suns did not play

As discussed above, COVID protocols forced these teams to not play this week. Instead of game highlights, here is a video about an enclave created by pedantry:

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Ladder

Here is how the teams stand after Round 3. Please note that Western and Brisbane have one game less.

P	TEAM	W	L	T	PTS	%
1	Adelaide Crows	3	0	0	12	281.0
2	Fremantle Dockers	3	0	0	12	209.8
3	Melbourne Demons	3	0	0	12	197.6
4	Collingwood Magpies	3	0	0	12	190.5
5	North Melbourne Kangaroos	2	1	0	8	126.8
6	Brisbane Lions	1	1	0	4	107.5
7	Gold Coast Suns	1	1	0	4	97.1
8	Richmond Tigers	1	2	0	4	94.8
9	Carlton Blues	1	2	0	4	67.7
10	GWS Giants	1	2	0	4	65.4
11	Geelong Cats	0	3	0	0	64.1
12	Western Bulldogs	0	1	0	0	47.8
13	West Coast Eagles	0	3	0	0	43.5
14	St. Kilda Saints	0	3	0	0	36.1

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Balls Graph

Here it is in all its glory:

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Footy Tipping Contest

Here is how we stack up after Round 3:

P	TIPPER	Round Tips	Round Margin	Total Tips	Total Margin
1	Dok Zymm	5	14	18	61
2	SonOfSpam	6	1	17	28
3	Game Time Decision	5	11	17	50
4	Litre_cola	6	11	16	70
5	Dolph Ucker	4	11	15	54
6	BALLS	6	2	14	64
7	BFC	5	3	13	69
8		4	10	11	65
9	Fronkenshteen	2	11	10	58

The field has narrowed and there was some movement in the standings. SonOfSpam has vaulted up to second with the week’s best performance. Well done everyone!

Anyone reading this can still join the competition. 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

• COVID continues to cause changes to the schedule as now the Western Bulldogs are TWO games behind many teams.
• The AFLW teams displayed their Pride guernseys. Here is a handy guide to each team’s guernsey and what they mean.
• I still think the Dockers and the Crows are the class of the AFLW.
• It is hard to tell which teams will fill out the finals field with the number of games played being so uneven.
• The good thing is that there do not seem to be any more really bad teams. I’m sure every team will get at least one win, if not more.
• The AFLW is condensing the schedule to try to make up the games that were missed, so there will be games on Tuesday of next week on top of the games for Round 4.

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Round Four Schedule

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

Thursday, January 27, 2022

10:40 PM – Collingwood Magpies v Fremantle Dockers at Victoria Park

Friday, January 28, 2022

12:10 AM – St. Kilda Saints v West Coast Eagles at Skybus Stadium

10:10 PM – GWS Giants v Western Bulldogs at Henson Park

Saturday, January 29, 2022

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

10:10 PM – Brisbane Lions v Geelong Cats at Maroochydore

Sunday, January 30, 2022

8:10 PM – Carlton Blues v North Melbourne Kangaroos at IKON Park

10:10 PM – Gold Coast Suns v Richmond Tigers at Metricon Stadium

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That’s all for this week. There will be games on Tuesday next week, so I’ll probably move the AFL Beat up to Monday to give you time to put your tips in. See you next week!