This week, the regular season ended. Also, I must share this glorious mullet once again:

And I must share two more things:

• Our Collingwood hero has fixed his glasses
• And he has gone full blond!

Welcome to Balls of Steel’s AFL Beat!

Finals are about to start! Let’s get right to it!

***

Week 10 Recaps

Geelong Cats 35 – 53 GWS Giants

The Cats end the year with a home loss while GWS gets a nice win to build in for next year.

Here are the highlights:

Collingwood Magpies 47 – 9 Richmond Tigers

The Pies are looking really good ahead of Finals. They took care of business at home when they needed to.

Here are the highlights:

North Melbourne Kangaroos 59 – 20 West Coast Eagles

The season is mercifully over for the Eagles who are your 2022 Wooden Spooners!

Here are the highlights:

Melbourne Demons 34 – 33 Carlton Blues

The Blues ALMOST pulled off a humongous upset. As it is, the Demons got themselves a Week One bye with the win.

Here are the highlights:

St. Kilda Saints 14 – 53 Adelaide Crows

The Saints kept it closer for about a quarter, but that was it. Adelaide are your Minor Premiers and get the Round One Bye.

Here are the highlights:

Western Bulldogs 34 – 66 Brisbane Lions

This game showed the vast difference between the contenders and the pretenders. Thre Lions are more than ready to defend their crown.

Here are the highlights:

Fremantle Dockers 46 – 9 Gold Coast Suns

The Dockers got the confidence-boosting win they needed going into Finals. The Suns end up the year much improved from last year.

Here are the highlights:

***

Ladder

Here is how the teams finished:

P	TEAM	W	L	T	PTS	%
1	Adelaide Crows	9	1	0	36	216.6
2	Melbourne Demons	9	1	0	36	186.5
3	Brisbane Lions	8	2	0	32	196.8
4	North Melbourne Kangaroos	7	3	0	28	139.0
5	Fremantle Dockers	7	3	0	28	134.9
6	Collingwood Magpies	6	4	0	24	123.2
7	Western Bulldogs	4	5	1	18	95.2
8	Carlton Blues	4	6	0	16	84.0
9	GWS Giants	4	6	0	16	74.1
10	Gold Coast Suns	3	6	1	14	68.2
11	Richmond Tigers	3	7	0	12	81.3
12	Geelong Cats	2	8	0	8	80.4
13	St. Kilda Saints	2	8	0	8	53.1
14	West Coast Eagles	1	9	0	4	42.9

***

Balls Graph

Here it is in all its glory for the last time this season:

***

Footy Tipping Contest

Here is how we stack up after Round 10:

P	TIPPER	Round Tips	Round Margin	Total Tips	Total Margin
1	SonOfSpam	6	29	59	154
2	Dok Zymm	6	28	56	225
3	BALLS	6	24	54	181
4	Dolph Ucker	6	34	47	180
5		7	13	47	199
6	Game Time Decision	6	35	46	195
7	Litre_cola	2	18	42	183
8	BFC	2	18	41	216
9	Fronkenshteen	2	18	24	139

Congratulations to for a perfect week of tipping! He got 7 out of 7 and vaulted himself into 5th place. Remember that we go through to the Grand Final!

I remind you, as always,

DON’T FORGET TO PUT THE FOOTY TIPS IN!

***

Balls’ Sechs

• The Demons were THIS CLOSE to playing this week but the last minute win gives them a bye and a MUCH easier path to the Grand Final.
• It won’t exactly be EASY because the winner of Brisbane v Collingwood will be no slouch.
• The Crows, on the other hand, seem to have a relatively simple path to the Grand Final.
• I don’t think either Fremantle or North Melbourne have what it takes to trouble the Crows
• The Wooden Spoon went to the West Coast Eagles after a disastrous season. At least they won one game.
• We are lucky that the two Qualifying Finals will be at 8:10 and 10:10 Pacific on Friday Night!

***

Finals Week One Schedule

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

Friday, March 18, 2022

8:10 PM – North Melbourne Kangaroos v Fremantle Dockers at Arden Street Oval

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

And here is how Finals are set up:

***

AFL Preview Part 3!

The season starts this week!

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

DON’T FORGET TO PUT THE FOOTY TIPS IN!

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

***

As to how they finish, your guess is as good as mine. Here’s mine:

1. Melbourne Demons
2. Brisbane Lions
3. Western Bulldogs
4. Port Adelaide Power
5. Sydney Swans
6. GWS Giants
7. Geelong Cats
8. Essendon Bombers
9. Richmond Tigers
10. Fremantle Dockers
11. St. Kilda Saints
12. Carlton Blues
13. Collingwood Magpies
14. Hawthorn Hawks
15. Gold Coast Suns
16. West Coast Eagles
17. North Melbourne Kangaroos
18. Adelaide Crows

***

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