This week, we are back to a regular schedule! Also, I must share this glorious mullet one more time:

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 9 Recaps

St. Kilda Saints 18 – 9 Geelong Cats

If the Cats could only kick straight, they would have won this game. As it is, the Saints get their second win of the year!

Here are the highlights:

GWS Giants 38 – 46 Richmond Tigers

The Tigers are finally playing well again. It’s a little too late for Finals, but it’s a nice way to end the season.

Here are the highlights:

Fremantle Dockers 19 – 107 Melbourne Demons

Remember how last week the Lions came close to beating the century mark? This week, the Demons did that and then some against a Dockers team that is now in disarray.

Here are the highlights:

West Coast Eagles 8 – 68 Western Bulldogs

Speaking of disarray, the Eagles are a mess. A 60 point thrashing at home is just embarrassing.

Here are the highlights:

Brisbane Lions 50 – 14 North Melbourne Kangaroos

This was a statement win by the Lions that showed they’re not ready to give up the crown just yet.

Here are the highlights:

Adelaide Crows 30 – 28 Collingwood Magpies

This was a great game. Collingwood gave it all they had but just couldn’t overcome the Crows.

Here are the highlights:

Carlton Blues 46 – 16 Gold Coast Suns

Like the Tigers, the Blues are coming on late, but it’s not going to be enough to get them into Finals.

Here are the highlights:

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Ladder

Here is how the teams stand after Round 9. 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	8	1	0	32	203.5
2	Melbourne Demons	8	1	0	32	199.1
3	Brisbane Lions	7	2	0	28	197.2
4	North Melbourne Kangaroos	6	3	0	24	125.3
5	Fremantle Dockers	6	3	0	24	122.5
6	Collingwood Magpies	5	4	0	20	109.7
7	Western Bulldogs	4	4	1	18	104.6
8	Carlton Blues	4	5	0	16	82.6
9	Gold Coast Suns	3	5	1	14	74.0
10	Richmond Tigers	3	6	0	12	89.1
11	GWS Giants	3	6	0	12	66.8
12	Geelong Cats	2	7	0	8	83.5
13	St. Kilda Saints	2	7	0	8	57.2
14	West Coast Eagles	1	8	0	4	44.1

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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 9:

P	TIPPER	Round Tips	Round Margin	Total Tips	Total Margin
1	SonOfSpam	6	25	53	132
2	Dok Zymm	5	34	50	197
3	BALLS	5	12	48	157
4	Dolph Ucker	5	27	41	146
5	Game Time Decision	5	27	40	160
6	Litre_cola	2	9	40	165
7		3	29	40	186
8	BFC	4	22	39	198
9	Fronkenshteen	2	9	22	121

Litre and Jake took a big tumble down the standings this week! Litre forgot to put the Footy tips in and Jake just had a bad week.

I remind you, as always,

DON’T FORGET TO PUT THE FOOTY TIPS IN!

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Balls’ Sechs

• The story of the week had to be the thrashing that the Demons put on the Dockers. What happened??? At this rate, the Dockers will be one and done in Finals.
• The Pies have the last Finals spot to themselves still but must beat Richmond to guarantee a spot in Finals.
• The Doggies will know that result by the time they play Brisbane. It could be a win-and-in or it could be completely meaningless.
• The Saints got their second win despite only scoring one point in the second half. Not great, but they’ll take it.
• The Wooden Spoon will most likely go to the West Coast Eagles barring an absolute miracle.
• We are lucky that the most important game of Round 10 will be on at 8:10 Pacific on Friday Night!

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Round Ten Schedule

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

Thursday, March 10, 2022

11:10 PM – Geelong Cats v GWS Giants at GMHBA Stadium

Friday, March 11, 2022

8:10 PM – Collingwood Magpies v Richmond Tigers at Victoria Park

10:10 PM – North Melbourne Kangaroos v West Coast Eagles at Arden Street Oval

Saturday, March 12, 2022

12:10 AM – Melbourne Demons v Carlton Blues at Casey Fields

6:10 PM – St. Kilda Saints v Adelaide Crows at RSEA Park

8:10 PM – Western Bulldogs v Brisbane Lions at Mars Stadium

10:10 PM – Fremantle Dockers v Gold Coast Suns at Fremantle Oval

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AFL Preview Part 2!

The season starts next week!

Here is how the preseason played out:

Thursday, March 3
Carlton 98 – 93 Melbourne

Friday, March 4
Western Bulldogs 80 – 86 Brisbane

Saturday, March 5
Hawthorn 69 – 94 Richmond
Adelaide 74 – 111 Port Adelaide
Essendon 71 – 82 St Kilda

Sunday, March 6
Greater Western Sydney 100 – 59 Collingwood
Sydney 82 – 51 North Melbourne
Fremantle 79 – 66 West Coast

Monday, March 7
Gold Coast 95 – 72 Geelong

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

*

Here are the teams generally expected to remain good:

• Sydney Swans
• Port Adelaide Power
• Melbourne Demons
• GWS Giants
• Brisbane Lions
• Western Bulldogs

Here are the teams expected to drop a bit:

• Geelong Cats
• Richmond Tigers
• Collingwood Magpies
• Hawthorn Hawks
• West Coast Eagles

Here are the teams expected to remain bad:

• Adelaide Crows
• Gold Coast Suns
• North Melbourne Kangaroos

And here are the teams expected to improve:

• Carlton Blues
• St. Kilda Saints
• Fremantle Dockers
• Essendon Bombers

As to how they finish, it’s anyone’s guess. We’ll yak about that next week.

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