This week, there was more havoc caused by COVID on the schedule as another set of games were canceled and some makeup games were played.

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.

In an effort to try to catch up with the missing games, the AFL scheduled a game for Tuesday night in Australia. That’s why the AFL Beat is posting on Wednesday instead of Tuesday. Let’s get right to it!

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Week 4 Recaps

Collingwood Magpies 7 – 38 Fremantle Dockers

Yeah, the Dockers are GOOD. The Pies had been playing pretty well and got run over.

Here are the highlights:

GWS Giants 43 – 22 Western Bulldogs

The Doggies finally got back to action but the rust showed. They tried hard, but the Giants were too much.

Here are the highlights:

Adelaide Crows 35 – 21 Melbourne Demons

This was the Match of the Round and it delivered. Ultimately, the Crows are way too good.

Here are the highlights:

Brisbane Lions 27 – 25 Geelong Cats

Again, the Cats played REALLY well, but came up just a bit short. That first win is just around the corner.

Here are the highlights:

Carlton Blues 21 – 51 North Melbourne Kangaroos

Another team that is getting better every week is the Roos. They absolutely destroyed Carlton.

Here are the highlights:

Gold Coast Suns 39 – 34 Richmond Tigers

After finishing in the Wooden Spoon position last year, the Suns now have 2 wins on the season and will likely get at least a couple more.

Here are the highlights:

Western Bulldogs 19 – 25 Fremantle Dockers

Both teams played their second game of the Round and it was very hard-fought. The Doggies did well to hang with the Dockers, who are now in first place.

Here are the highlights:

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Ladder

Here is how the teams stand after Round 4. Please note that the number of games is uneven for quite a few teams.

P	TEAM	W	L	T	PTS	%
1	Fremantle Dockers	5	0	0	20	217.6
2	Adelaide Crows	4	0	0	16	242.9
3	Melbourne Demons	3	1	0	12	156.8
4	North Melbourne Kangaroos	3	1	0	12	150.5
5	Collingwood Magpies	3	1	0	12	126.8
6	Brisbane Lions	2	1	0	8	107.6
7	Gold Coast Suns	2	1	0	8	102.9
8	GWS Giants	2	2	0	8	84.6
9	Richmond Tigers	1	3	0	4	93.3
10	Carlton Blues	1	3	0	4	60.0
11	Geelong Cats	0	4	0	0	70.6
12	Western Bulldogs	0	3	0	0	55.3
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 4:

P	TIPPER	Round Tips	Round Margin	Total Tips	Total Margin
1	Dok Zymm	6	20	24	81
2	SonOfSpam	5	21	22	49
3	Game Time Decision	4	26	21	76
4	Litre_cola	5	22	21	92
5	Dolph Ucker	5	25	20	79
6	BALLS	5	15	19	79
7	BFC	6	26	19	95
8		6	20	17	85
9	Fronkenshteen	2	5	12	63

Well done everyone! Everyone had a good week and first place only leads 8th place by 7 points! As they say in countries with funny accents, “It’s all to play for!” Keep up the good work!

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

• Fremantle and Adelaide are the teams to beat but I see North Melbourne as a possible upset candidate if things go their way in a Final.
• The Dockers and Bulldogs both played 2 games. The Dockers won both and the Doggies lost both.
• On the other side of the table, the West Coast Eagles and the St. Kilda Saints did not play at all.
• It is still hard to tell which teams will fill out the finals field with the number of games played being so uneven. The top two is pretty much set but the rest of the six is up for grabs.
• The Cats may get their first win of the year on Friday against the Eagles at home.
• The AFLW is condensing the schedule again to try to make up the games that were missed, so there will be a game on Tuesday of next week on top of the games for Round 5.

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Round Five Schedule

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

Friday, February 4, 2022

12:10 AM – Geelong Cats v West Coast Eagles at GMHBA Stadium

10:10 PM – Brisbane Lions v Collingwood Magpies at Maroochydore

Saturday, February 5, 2022

6:10 PM – Western Bulldogs v Richmond Tigers at Whitten Oval

8:10 PM – Carlton Blues v Adelaide Crows at IKON Park

10:10 PM – North Melbourne Kangaroos v Fremantle Dockers at North Hobart Park

Monday, February 7, 2022

10:10 PM – St. Kilda Saints v West Coast Eagles at Trevor Barker Beach Oval

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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 again. See you next week!