This week, we are back to a regular-ish schedule!

Welcome to Balls of Steel’s AFL Beat!

There is some normalcy and the Finals picture is getting clearer. Let’s get right to it!

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Week 8 Recaps

GWS Giant’s 41 – 39 St. Kilda Saints

The Saints were SO CLOSE to their first win but couldn’t close the deal.

Here are the highlights:

Fremantle Dockers 16 – 25 Adelaide Crows

The Match of the Round (and probably of the Year) did not disappoint as these two sides played as very intense and tough game. Adelaide was too much for Fremantle and it will be interesting to see what the Dockers will have learned if they see each other again in Finals.

Here are the highlights:

Richmond Tigers 10 – 33 Geelong Cats

The Cats played amazing defense and well deserved the victory. The Cats have improved greatly since last year and could still get one more win.

Here are the highlights:

Melbourne Demons 27 – 17 North Melbourne Kangaroos

In Match of the Round Part Deux, the Demons showed they are right there with Fremantle as far as being contenders. It was another Finals atmosphere during the regular season.

Here are the highlights:

St. Kilda Saints 34 – 31 Gold Coast Suns

Oh, the Saints almost blew their first victory in the fourth quarter but two late misses by Sarah Perkins of the Sunnies gave the Saints the chance to sing the song for the first time this year.

Here are the highlights:

Collingwood Magpies 66 – 41 Western Bulldogs

This was an impressive showing for the Pies, who were able to put some much needed distance between themselves and the Doggies in the fight for the last Finals spot.

Here are the highlights:

West Coast Eagles 24 – 98 Brisbane Lions

You read that right. Brisbane almost got the first ever score over 100 in AFLW history. They are also on a roll going into finals.

Here are the highlights:

GWS Giants 33 – 51 Carlton Blues

The Blues all of a sudden woke up and won a game again! Ironically, this result, combined with the Pies’ win, basically eliminates both teams from Finals.

Here are the highlights:

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Ladder

Here is how the teams stand after Round 8. Please note that we are finally caught up and everyone has played the same number of games.

P	TEAM	W	L	T	PTS	%
1	Adelaide Crows	7	1	0	28	222.1
2	Melbourne Demons	7	1	0	28	164.5
3	Fremantle Dockers	6	2	0	24	154.9
4	Brisbane Lions	6	2	0	24	186.3
5	North Melbourne Kangaroos	6	2	0	24	152.5
6	Collingwood Magpies	5	3	0	20	111.8
7	Western Bulldogs	3	4	1	14	84.6
8	Gold Coast Suns	3	4	1	14	79.4
9	Carlton Blues	3	5	0	12	86.5
10	GWS Giants	3	5	0	12	64.6
11	Geelong Cats	2	6	0	8	86.1
12	Richmond Tigers	2	6	0	8	85.5
13	St. Kilda Saints	1	7	0	4	53.4
14	West Coast Eagles	1	7	0	4	49.7

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Balls Graph

Here it is in all its glory:

Eagle-eyed readers will note that I have added one more Round. Apparently, there are 10 Rounds this season instead of 9. As the writer of this series, you would think I would know those things…

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Footy Tipping Contest

Here is how we stack up after Round 8:

P	TIPPER	Round Tips	Round Margin	Total Tips	Total Margin
1	SonOfSpam	5	9	47	107
2	Dok Zymm	5	32	45	163
3	BALLS	7	34	43	145
4	Litre_cola	3	22	38	156
5		4	31	37	157
6	Dolph Ucker	4	23	36	119
7	Game Time Decision	2	37	35	133
8	BFC	4	35	35	176
9	Fronkenshteen	2	18	20	112

I was able to gain some ground this week on the leaders with the top performance. Thank you to Geelong and St. Kilda for pulling off the upsets!

I remind you, as always,

DON’T FORGET TO PUT THE FOOTY TIPS IN!

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Balls’ Sechs

• Adelaide is joined at the top by Melbourne on wins but nothing is guaranteed with two weeks to go.
• The Pies have the last Finals spot to themselves but go to Adelaide and will most likely lose, leaving the window open for some teams.
• This was the Indigenous Round and I LOVE the guernseys they showcase. Here is a good article telling you the stories behind all of them. I really like the Gold Coast one!
• The Saints DID get their first win of the year but they almost gave it away. For some reason, they can’t put four quarters together.
• We have another pair of tasty matchups in Round 9 with the Dockers hosting Melbourne and the Lions hosting the Roos.

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Round Nine Schedule

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

Friday, March 4, 2022

8:10 PM – St. Kilda Saints v Geelong Cats at RSEA Park

10:10 PM – GWS Giants v Richmond Tigers at Giants Stadium

Midnight – Fremantle Dockers v Melbourne Demons at Optus Stadium

Saturday, March 5, 2022

2:40 AM – West Coast Eagles v Western Bulldogs at Optus Stadium

6:10 PM – Brisbane Lions v North Melbourne Kangaroos at Maroochydore

8:10 PM – Adelaide Crows v Collingwood Magpies at Norwood Oval

10:10 PM – Carlton Blues v Gold Coast Suns at IKON Park

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AFL Preview Part 1!

The season starts in less than two weeks! The preseason games start Wednesday night/ Thursday morning with the defending champion Melbourne Demons taking on the Carlton Blues.

Here is the preseason schedule (all times Pacific):

Thursday, March 3
Carlton v Melbourne at Marvel Stadium, 12.20 am

Friday, March 4
Western Bulldogs v Brisbane at Marvel Stadium, 12.20 am

Saturday, March 5
Hawthorn v Richmond at TBC, 6.10 pm
Adelaide v Port Adelaide at Richmond Oval, 9.10 pm
Essendon v St Kilda at Marvel Stadium, 12.10 am

Sunday, March 6
Greater Western Sydney v Collingwood at Giants Stadium, 5.40 pm
Sydney v North Melbourne at Giants Stadium, 9.20 pm
Fremantle v West Coast at Fremantle Oval, 12.10 am

Monday, March 7
Gold Coast v Geelong at Metricon Stadium, 12.40 am

Here is how the ladder finished last year:

And here is how Finals played out:

The Tipping Competition for the AFL season is open to everyone! We go all the way until the Grand Final. Here is the link for you to join in the fun:

https://mobile.footytips.com.au/competitions/?ff=ladders&competitionId=401652

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

Wednesday, March 16, 2022

1:10 AM – Melbourne Demons v Western Bulldogs at the MCG

Thursday, March 17, 2022

1:25 AM – Carlton Blues v Richmond Tigers at the MCG

Friday, March 18, 2022

1:50 AM – St. Kilda Saints v Collingwood Magpies at Marvel Stadium

8:10 PM – Geelong Cats v Essendon Bombers at the MCG

11:10 PM – GWS Giants v Sydney Swans at Accor Stadium

Saturday, March 19, 2022

2:10 AM – Brisbane Lions v Port Adelaide Power at The Gabba

7:10 PM – Hawthorn Hawks v North Melbourne Kangaroos at the MCG

10:10 PM – Adelaide Crows v Fremantle Dockers at Adelaide Oval

Sunday, March 20, 2022

1:40 AM – West Coast Eagles v Gold Coast Suns at Optus Stadium

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