This week,

Welcome to Balls Of Steel’s AFL Beat!

AFLW Round 7

The Round started on North American Late Thursday night with the first of essentially three playoff games. The GWS Giants were hosting the Brisbane Lions with a berth in the Grand Final on the line.  GWS needed to win, Adelaide to NOT beat Collingwood by more than GWS beat Brisbane, and for the Western-Melbourne game to not end in a tie.  Seems simple enough.

Brisbane, on the other hand, needed more help.  They needed to beat GWS, have the Western-Melbourne game not end in a tie, and have Collingwood beat Adelaide.  Given the choke job that the Lions produced the previous week, it was going to be interesting to see which Lions team showed up.

Well, last year’s Grand Finalist showed up and produced a 64-24 beatdown of the Giants. Here are the highlights:

The next game on the schedule was the Battle to Avoid the Wooden Spoon.  The loser of Fremantle v Carlton would end up as the worst team in the competition.  Luckily for the Dockers, the game was at home, where they play better, and they were able to give their fans a nice goodbye to the season as they took care of the Blues to the tune of 59-48.  I guess that move from Brisbane to Carlton for Tayla Harris wasn’t quite as good an idea as she thought… Here are the highlights:

Late North American Friday night brought about Preliminary Final #2.  This one guaranteed a spot in the Grand Final to the winner.  The Western Bulldogs were hosting the Melbourne Demons and it turned out to be one heck of a game.  Similar to the Melbourne Men’s team last year, the Women couldn’t pull off the win they needed in the last round and fell to the Doggies by a close 33-31 score.  I highly suggest you watch the highlights.  Even better, watch the whole game on the Watch AFL app.  It was a great game!

By the time the Collingwood-Adelaide match rolled around on Saturday night, it was clear what needed to happen.  If Adelaide won, they were in the Grand Final.  If Adelaide lost, the Brisbane Lions, surprisingly, would be in.  Given that Collingwood had nothing to play for, the effort they put forth was admirable.  They hung in there for the first three quarters and then overwhelmed the Crows in the fourth.  It seemed the Pies had an extra gear at the end that the Crows didn’t have.  They thoroughly deserved the 21 point win and, even though it meant I did not clinch the Footy Tipping competition, I was still happy that the Pies won.  Here are the highlights:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EYJxP6-NqP0

Let’s take a look at the final ladder for this season:

Your Grand Final is now set with the Brisbane Lions taking on the Western Bulldogs at Ikon Park (Carlton’s home ground).  As happened last year, the AFL has chosen a bigger venue to accommodate an expected large crowd.  Here is the schedule (Pacific Time):

Friday, March 23, 2018

7:10 PM – Western Bulldogs v Brisbane Lions at Ikon Park

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Lady Footy Tipping Challenge!

It’s down to two possible winners:  Nomonkeyfun and yours truly. Let’s see the standings:

As you can see, it is still possible for either nomonkey fun or me to win this thing.  There are a few possible outcomes:

1. We each choose different teams to win the Grand Final and the winner takes all.
2. We choose the same team to win but different margins of victory.  I would need to be 11 points closer than nomonkey fun in order to get the crown.
3. If we somehow pick the same team and I am exactly 10 points closer than nomonkeyfun, we will officially tie, but I will give the man his prize.

Let the intrigue begin….

BTW, don’t forget that the AFL Footy Tipping Contest begins this week with the beginning of the AFL season!  Litre_cola was nice enough to set it up.  Here is the link:

http://hosted.mobile.footytips.com.au/competitions/?competitionId=401652

We currently have 11 members, so I will also be offering up a prize to the winner of this competition!  Nomonkeyfun, get in there so you can try to go for two wins!

DON’T FORGET TO PUT THE FOOTY TIPS IN!

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AFL Season Preview #2

As we started last week, we shall continue going from lower finish to the highest. First, a reminder of how everyone finished last year:

West Coast Eagles (2017 8th Place)

If you guessed that this would be team I would pick to drop from the Eight all the way down to 14th, you are a smart person and you deserve a lollipop!  The truth is that everyone in the Australian media is picking the Eagles to drop.  The reason is that the team is old, some key members have had significant injuries, and the kids have not played.  This all spells rebuild.  The key question for the Eagles is whether they can continue winning, like Hawthorn, through the rebuild period.

OUTLOOK:  I say no. The Eagles will drop down to 14th and it won’t be pretty.

Essendon Bombers (2017 7th Place)

I really enjoyed watching the Bombers play last year.  They play aggressive and try to move the ball up and down the field as fast as they can.  Many in the AFL media are saying that’s the way the game is going after Richmond’s Premiership win last year using similar tactics.  The difference is that Richmond pressured the opposition into turnovers and then quickly moved forward while maintaining defensive integrity.  The Bombers don’t have as good a defence.

OUTLOOK:  The Bombers should still be among the top teams in the competition and should slightly increase their final spot.  I say they finish 6th.

Sydney Swans (2017 6th Place)

The Sydney Swans had a horrendous start to last year yet they rebounded very nicely to get into the Eight.  The youngsters have gone through their share of growing pains and have come out better for it.  The Swans should be consistently good and should have a Top Four spot in them.

OUTLOOK:  The Swans will improve to the double chance.  Call it 4th.

Port Adelaide Power (2017 5th Place)

The Power are still a puzzling team.  They play really well and look like world-beaters against the lower teams yet they struggle to win games against the top competitors.  Nothing has changed since last year to say that this will stop.  Yes, they’ve gotten new players, but those are players that have tended to disappear in big games (looking at you, Motlop!)

OUTLOOK:  The Power will clean up on the lower teams once again and will have enough points to stay in the Eight.  However, like last year, they won’t do much once they get there.  Call it 7th and an early exit in finals.

GWS Giants (2017 4th Place)

The Giants are the “IT” team for this year.  Nearly everyone is picking them to finish top of the ladder. I’m not that certain. A last round loss last year dropped them all the way to fourth and Premiership contenders don’t do that.  The big question this year is:  How many games will Toby Greene get suspended?  If the Giants can stay healthy and not suspended, yes a premiership is possible.

OUTLOOK:  Remember that thing about the scorpion and the frog?  I guarantee that Toby gets himself suspended for at least one game, if not more.  I say the Giants end up in 2nd.

Richmond Tigers (2017 3rd Place and Premiers)

The Tigers got their shit together last year and carried the momentum all the way to the Premiership.  There is nothing to suggest that they can’t do it again.  They did not suffer significant losses over the off-season and look ready to defend the crown.

OUTLOOK:  The Tigers will put up a tremendous season and will end up in 1st at the end of the Home and Away season.  Come finals time, though, anything can happen…

Geelong Cats (2017 2nd Place)

Look, Geelong is my chosen team and I would love to say that they are going to win it all and kick ass all over the place, but this team has some serious flaws.  Chief among them is age and the prospect of Gary Ablett getting hurt as he tends to do each year.  The bright spot is the midfield and the forward line while the defence is the weak point.  There is plenty of talent there to make a run.  The team just has to be consistent week to week.

OUTLOOK:  The Cats will struggle but should still be good enough to stay in the Eight and make a run in finals.  I say they drop down to 5th.

Adelaide Crows (2017 1st Place)

The Crows were great all of last year until they ran into the juggernaut that was the Richmond Tigers.  The Tigers’ style wreaked havoc on the Crows’ lineup and the large margin of victory in the Grand Final was reflective of that.  With more teams adopting that style, the Crows need to figure out a way to combat it.

OUTLOOK:  While the Crows won’t be the leaders at the end of the Home and Away season, they won’t drop down too much.  I say they finish 3rd and enjoy another double chance.

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AFL Round 1

Here is the schedule for this week (all times Pacific):

Thursday, March 22, 2018

1:25 AM (Late Wednesday Night) – Richmond Tigers v Carlton Blues at the MCG

Friday,  March 23, 2018

1:50 AM (Late Thursday Night) – Essendon Bombers v Adelaide Crows at Etihad Stadium

9:35 PM  – St. Kilda Saints v Brisbane Lions at Etihad Stadium

10:35 PM – Port Adelaide Power v Fremantle Dockers at Adelaide Oval

Saturday,  March 24, 2018

1:25 AM (Late Friday Night) – Gold Coast Suns v North Melbourne Demons at Cazaly’s Stadium

1:25 AM (Late Friday Night) – Hawthorn Hawks v Collingwood Magpies at the MCG

7:10 PM – GWS Giants v Western Bulldogs at UNSW Canberra Oval

9:20 PM – Melbourne Demons v Geelong Cats at the MCG

Sunday, March 25, 2018

1:20 AM (Late Saturday Night) – West Coast Eagles v Sydney Swans at Optus Stadium

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That’s all for this week. The wonderful thing about this league is that there are always surprises and any week a team you think sucks will somehow come up with a win.  See you next week!