It is getting to be that time of year as teams are fiercely clinging to finals hopes and one miss-step could cause your team’s season to be over.  Who heeded the call of MXC and who disappointed their fans once again?  Let’s dive in.

Welcome to Balls of Steel’s AFL Beat!

Round 19 was actually another one of those “themed” rounds where the AFL celebrates a particular cause.  This time it was cultural diversity and each game was broadcast, for free, on the AFL website in a different foreign language.  Interestingly, the choices of foreign language were Greek, Hindi, Mandarin, Vietnamese, Spanish, Italian, and Arabic.  You can watch the full match replays in those foreign languages, for free, here.  The other thing they did was provide signage in foreign languages and the balls had the word Sherrin (the name of the ball manufacturer) written in the script of the languages that do not use our alphabet.  Here they are:

Similarly, the word “Umpire” was translated into the different languages and put on the back of the umpires’ shirts.  Here is the Greek version:

It’s interesting to note which cultures were chosen.  They must obviously be reflective of the population diversity in Australia.  This, of course, does not come as a surprise given how much Australians love Mexicans.

So, what happened on the field, you say?  I was getting to that!  The round started on Friday Night (Friday morning here) with the Adelaide Crows hosting the Richmond Tigers in a crucial game.  The Crows were percentage points out of the top eight and were facing a top eight side in the Tigers.  Richmond, on the other hand, was hoping to solidify their top eight standing and make a play for a top four spot, which brings with it important finals advantages.

The Crows played a brilliant game and overcame a good start by Richmond to thoroughly beat the Tigers by 36.  Here is a good example of the Tigers’ good start:

and here is the Crows’ response with a very nice pass off the throw-up:

This temporarily vaulted the Crows into the top eight and put in jeopardy the Tigers’ top four hopes.  On Saturday (Friday night for us), five games were scheduled with the early game featuring the Carlton Blues against the Collingwood Magpies.  In prior years, this has been a marquee matchup as these are old and bitter rivals.  This year, however, Carlton is contending for the Wooden Spoon (last place) and the Magpies are in the midst of a six-game losing streak.

The Magpies pulled off what their coach considered the ugliest win of their lives after Carlton pulled off a furious rally to get within 3, but then Collingwood hung on for dear life.  Here is a taste of the Blues’ resilience as they score off a Collingwood turnover:

Later, the Port Adelaide Power traveled to Melbourne to take on the Western Bulldogs at the Etihad.  Port was one of the teams barely clinging to finals hopes and could not afford to trip up against the Doggies, who are in the top eight and seeking a top four spot.  Well,

Western doubled up the Power and all but eliminated them from finals contention.  Port are mathematically alive, but need to beat the top team in the league, Fremantle, as well as arguably the best team in the league, Hawthorn.  Yeah, that’s not gonna happen.  The highlight below is indicative of Port’s night.  They tried, but Western were too much:

It didn’t help that Port had the Australian version of Donovan McNabb playing for them:

The evening’s least anticipated clash (except for those in Queensland) was the battle between the two bottom clubs in the competition:  The Brisbane Lions and the Gold Coast Suns.  The game was tight all the way until the third quarter when the Suns took a sizable lead.  It stayed back and forth, but the Lions could not cut the margin down by enough points and ended up losing by 14. Here is a nice effort goal from the Suns:

and later on, some very nice teamwork:

The game I was most interested in started at 2:20 AM Pacific time and it featured my Geelong Cats hosting the Sydney Swans.  Luckily, I had to take an old-man visit to the bathroom at 4 and I managed to watch the rest of the game beginning halfway through the third quarter.  I was rewarded for my effort as Geelong had overcome a 13 point halftime deficit with a very strong second half and pulled away to a 32 point victory.  This win was, as Al Michaels would say, YUUUUGE as the Swans are solidly in the top four and were looking to get into the top two.  Things don’t get any easier as the Cats face Hawthorn next week, but this win helped to keep them in the top eight, and the Adelaide Crows out, by percentage points.  This is actually a very nice move by Sydney’s Lewis Jetta to score:

The last game was probably the best game of the entire round.  Second place West Coast Eagles hosted the Hawthorn Hawks who, thanks to Geelong’s victory over Sydney, could vault into third place with a win. Did the Hawks pull off the tough road win?

The Hawks twice came back from three-goal deficits and pulled away in the fourth to win by 14.  There was a bit of controversy as it looked like the ball went out of bounds, but the umpires called play on and Hawthorn ended up scoring at a critical juncture:

Ultimately, it doesn’t matter as losing three goal leads twice in one game is, as they say in Australia, not good footy.

Saturday night brought three games that matched up good teams against not-so-good teams.  First up, the Melbourne Demons (not-so-good) faced the North Melbourne Kangaroos at the MCG.  North started out super hot and had a 34 point lead after the first term.  At that point, I went to bed.  It turns out that the Demons made a game of it in the second and third quarters, but ultimately succumbed in the fourth and lost by 35. This is when I knew it wasn’t going to be the Demons’ night:

The pro-Melbourne crowd were not too happy about this mark and goal from the Roos’ Jarrad Waite, but you have to admit it’s pretty skillful:

The next match was another possible elimination match as the GWS Giants, who had been in the top eight almost all season but were now out and on a losing streak, hosted the controversy-plagued Essendon Bombers.  Some thought that Essendon might finally put together a decent game and continue the Giants’ downward spiral.

GWS desperately needed to win this game and they did in convincing fashion by 32.  It did come at a price, though, as young star Tom Scully had to be substituted after suffering a shoulder injury in this crash and fall:

The last game of the round matched up the league-leading Fremantle Dockers against the St. Kilda Saints.  The Saints have played well lately, but could not overcome the Dockers and lost by the magic number:

This is another great example of the Dockers great team play that has brought them to the top:

Let’s take a look at the ladder, shall we?

Fremantle is the runaway league leader and will almost assuredly finish first.  The more interesting battle now is for that second spot.  West Coast plays Fremantle this week in the Perth Derby and, should the Eagles lose, that would open it up for Hawthorn to claim the second spot.  This is a huge advantage, which makes the derby game a must-watch.

Further down the ladder, the battle to get into the top four has heated up as both Sydney and Richmond lost. The Western Bulldogs took advantage and have claimed that spot and the North Melbourne Kangaroos are knocking on the door with Sydney tied on points with the Dogs, but behind on percentage.

Finally, we say a realistic goodbye to Port Adelaide for the year as their big loss this week pretty much eliminated them.  The 6th and 10th spots are only separated by four points (one game) with Collingwood another game back.  It looks like the Magpies will be in the same position as the Power were this week as their clash against the Swans is probably do or die.  All we can say to them is don’t be this guy:

Here is the link to the Run Home post where the AFL shows the remaining schedule for all teams in contention.  Enjoy!  See you next week!