This week, the AFLW Finals started! Sort of.

Apparently, COVID went through the Collingwood team and their game against Brisbane was postponed. As of this writing, they still haven’t figured out when it will be played. My understanding, however, is that a forfeit is not in play.

UPDATE: THEY’VE FIGGERED IT OUT!

So, we will begin with the AFL and then move on to the AFLW.

Welcome to Balls of Steel’s AFL Beat!

The season just got started! Let’s get right to it!

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Round 1 Recaps

Melbourne Demons 97 – 71 Western Bulldogs

The Grand Final Rematch went to the reigning champs and Doggies coach Luke Beveridge got in trouble in the post-game press conference. Not a good start to the season…

Here are the highlights:

Carlton Blues 101 – 76 Richmond Tigers

The Blues looked VERY good while the Tigers got injuries on top of a bad defeat. It may be a long year at Tigerland.

Here are the highlights:

St. Kilda Saints 85 – 102 Collingwood Magpies

The Pies, on the other hand, got off to a great start with a solid win against the Saints who will, as Litre likes to remind us, likely finish 10th again.

Here are the highlights:

Geelong Cats 138 – 72 Essendon Bombers

The Cats looked damn good. The only downside to the win was an injury to Jeremy Cameron. Other than that, you can’t ask for anything more than what they delivered on Friday night.

Here are the highlights:

GWS Giants 92 – 112 Sydney Swans

The Sydney Derby goes to the Swans. Buddy Franklin is now only four goals away from 1000 career goals which is a big fucking deal. It’s a huge milestone and he gets a chance to achieve it at home next week.

Here are the highlights:

Brisbane Lions 80 – 69 Port Adelaide Power

Two of last season’s Top Four faced off with the Lions getting the important victory at home. They both figure to be in the running for the Eight this year again.

Here are the highlights:

Hawthorn Hawks 78 – 58 North Melbourne Kangaroos

The Hawks took care of business against the lowly Roos. We’ll see how good they really are next week against tougher competition.

Here are the highlights:

Adelaide Crows 82 – 83 Fremantle Dockers

The Crows NEARLY pulled the upset! Perhaps they’re better than last year?

Here are the highlights:

West Coast Eagles 80 – 107 Gold Coast Suns

The Suns got the year off to a great start with a big win in Perth. The Eagles are not looking good and need to get a lot better quickly.

Here are the highlights:

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Ladder

Here is the ladder after Round 1:

P	TEAM	W	L	T	PTS	%
1	Geelong Cats	1	0	0	4	191.7
2	Melbourne Demons	1	0	0	4	136.6
3	Hawthorn Hawks	1	0	0	4	134.5
4	Gold Coast Suns	1	0	0	4	133.8
5	Carlton Blues	1	0	0	4	132.9
6	Sydney Swans	1	0	0	4	121.7
7	Collingwood Magpies	1	0	0	4	120.0
8	Brisbane Lions	1	0	0	4	115.9
9	Fremantle Dockers	1	0	0	4	101.2
10	Adelaide Crows	0	1	0	0	98.8
11	Port Adelaide Power	0	1	0	0	86.3
12	St. Kilda Saints	0	1	0	0	83.3
13	GWS Giants	0	1	0	0	82.1
14	Richmond Tigers	0	1	0	0	75.2
15	West Coast Eagles	0	1	0	0	74.8
16	North Melbourne Kangaroos	0	1	0	0	74.4
17	Western Bulldogs	0	1	0	0	73.2
18	Essendon Bombers	0	1	0	0	52.2

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Balls Graph

No Balls Graph until next week. In the meantime, enjoy the Final AFLW Balls Graph again:

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Footy Tipping Contest

Here is how we stack up after Round 1:

P	TIPPER	Round Tips	Round Margin	Total Tips	Total Margin
1		6	12	6	12
2	Why Eagles Why	6	13	6	13
3	BALLS	6	20	6	20
4	Maestro	6	26	6	26
5	Dolph Ucker	5	4	5	4
6	BFC	5	13	5	13
7	Son Of Spam	5	32	5	32
8	Game Time Decision	4	2	4	2
9	Litre_cola	4	18	4	18

Pretty even competition so far! There is still time for everyone to join in! Here is the link:

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

I remind you, as always,

DON’T FORGET TO PUT THE FOOTY TIPS IN!

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Balls’ Sechs

• The Cats surprised EVERYONE with their performance against the Bombers. If they can do a repeat against the Swans this week, I’LL be surprised.
• It looks like North Melbourne and West Coast wil be fighting it out for the Wooden Spoon. Neither side looked good over the weekend.
• The Demons look really good to defend their championship, though. Add long as they’re healthy, they can be good for years to come.
• It would have been huge for Adelaide to beat the Dockers. So close yet so far.
• Carlton looks to be the most improved team of the league. They played really well. Hopefully they’ll keep it up next week.
• The Match of the Round next week is West Coast v North Melbourne. Loser has the inside track to the Wooden Spoon!

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AFLW Finals!

Fremantle Dockers 69 – 31 North Melbourne Kangaroos

The Dockers got their swagger back and showed it against the Roos. If they play like this, they can give Adelaide all they can handle in the next round.

Here are the highlights:

Finals Schedule

The Brisbane-Collingwood match has been rescheduled for next week and the whole schedule of Finals has been moved back one week.

So, the other Qualifying Final will be on:

Saturday, March 26, 2022

7:05 PM – Brisbane Lions v Collingwood Magpies at The Gabba

The Preliminary Finals will take place the first weekend in April.

Here is where we are with the Tipping Competition with only one Final game played:

P	TIPPER	Round Tips	Round Margin	Total Tips	Total Margin
1	SonOfSpam	0	0	59	154
2	Dok Zymm	1	0	57	225
3	BALLS	0	0	54	181
4	Dolph Ucker	0	0	47	180
5	Game Time Decision	1	0	47	195
6		0	0	47	199
7	Litre_cola	0	0	42	183
8	BFC	0	0	41	216
9	Fronkenshteen	0	0	24	139

Dok Zymm got the Dockers beating the Roos and is now only 2 tips behind the leader! She can still take out Spammy!

DON’T FORGET TO PUT THE FOOTY TIPS IN!

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Here is the Round Two AFL schedule (all times Pacific):

Thursday, March 24, 2022

1:20 AM – Western Bulldogs v Carlton Blues at the MCG

Friday, March 25, 2022

1:50 AM – Sydney Swans v Geelong Cats at the SCG

7:45 PM – Collingwood Magpies v Adelaide Crows at the MCG

10:35 PM – Essendon Bombers v Brisbane Lions at Marvel Stadium

Saturday, March 26, 2022

1:40 AM – Port Adelaide Power v Hawthorn Hawks at Adelaide Oval

2:00 AM – Gold Coast Suns v Melbourne Demons at Metricon Stadium

7:10 PM – North Melbourne Kangaroos v West Coast Eagles at Marvel Stadium

9:20 PM – Richmond Tigers v GWS Giants at the MCG

Sunday, March 27, 2022

12:20 AM – Fremantle Dockers v St. Kilda Saints at Optus Stadium

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