This week,

Petitioning for hitting the post to be worth 9 points, PLEASE

— Tayla Harris (@tayla_harris7) March 3, 2019

and

Welcome to Balls of Steel’s AFL Beat!

AFLW Round 5 Recaps

Round 5 began with my Geelong Cats taking on the Brisbane Lions in a second consecutive battle of the #2 and #1 teams in Conference B, respectively.

This time, the game was a lot more enjoyable to watch. The Cats’ defense dominated the proceedings and held the Lions to one goal and two behinds for THE ENTIRE GAME.

It was the lowest score for an AFLW team in history.

On the other end, the Cats weren’t lighting it up on the scoreboard either through the first half. Only a goal at the stroke of Half Time gave the Cats a slim 6 point lead.

The second half was a different story. The Cats only allowed one more point and ended up scoring 22 to seal the huge victory.

Here are the highlights:

Later, the Carlton hosted the winless Collingwood Magpies and looked to run away with the game as they held the Pies scoreless in the first quarter. However, the same issue that plagued them last week against the Cats, wasting opportunities in front of goal, reappeared.

The Blues only scored one goal and five behinds in that first quarter, which allowed the Pies to come back in the second to take the lead. The game went back and forth from there as the Pies played very well and you could see they were desperate to get their first win.

The Pies had the lead in the fourth, but a mix of conservative play and a Blues surge allowed Carlton to come back and take the lead for good with 4 minutes to go.

Here are the highlights:

The Conference B GWS Giants hosted the Conference A Melbourne Demons and it wasn’t close. The arguments about the conference system are sure to return.

The Demons led throughout and were able to boost their percentage with a big win

Here are the highlights:

The Match Of The Round featured the unbeaten North Melbourne Tasmanian Kangaroos facing the Adelaide Crows in a battle of Conference A contenders.

It was, as expected, close, but something seemed off with the Roos. The Crows had come off a long road trip, but looked the fresher and more motivated team.

The Crows started to pull away in the third and completed the job in the fourth. The final margin allowed the Crows to take over first place in Conference A and the league.

Here are the highlights:

The last game had the Fremantle Dockers hosting the Western Bulldogs. It was a close game for three quarters as the Doggies were trying to hang on to their finals hopes.

In the end, the Dockers pulled away in the fourth and stay in the hunt for a finals berth. The Doggies, due to being in Conference A, can start thinking about next year.

Here are the highlights:

This week, Conference A took the lone interconference game as the Demons destroyed the Giants at home.

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

***

Ladder

This year, since we have two new teams, the ladder will be split up into TWO ladders, one for each conference:

Conference A

P	TEAM	W	L	T	PTS	%
1	Adelaide Crows	4	1	0	16	178.1
2	North Melbourne Kangaroos	4	1	0	16	138.4
3	Fremantle Dockers	4	1	0	16	118.9
4	Melbourne Demons	3	2	0	12	160.0
5	Western Bulldogs	2	3	0	8	66.8

Conference B

P	TEAM	W	L	T	PTS	%
1	Geelong Cats	3	2	0	12	90.3
2	Carlton Blues	2	3	0	8	89.6
3	Brisbane Lions	2	3	0	8	71.4
4	GWS Giants	1	4	0	4	61.9
5	Collingwood Magpies	0	5	0	0	62.0

***

Lady Footy Tipping Contest

The Footy Tipping Contest for AFLW is back again! Those who participated last year should have received an email. If any of you newer readers want to participate, please click on this link and sign up. The URL is https://www.footytips.com.au/comps/DFO_Lady_Footy. It’s an Australian ESPN site, so it’s perfectly legit and, even better, completely free. It’s the same site we use for the regular AFL season.

Here are the standings after Round Five:

P	TIPPER	Round Tips	Round Margin	Total Tips	Total Margin
1	SonOfSpam	3	37	16	96
1	Litre_cola	3	36	16	96
3	BALLS	3	44	15	77
4	Mr. Ayo	3	38	15	117
5	Dolph Ucker	3	44	14	124
6		2	36	12	115
7	Sharkbait	4	48	12	258
8	Blax	2	52	11	307
9	BFC	0	40	10	111
10	Game Time Decision	1	40	10	120

Congratulations to Sharkbait for getting top score and getting out of the bottom spot! Ironically, one week after getting top score, BFC got an ofer this week. I’m not quite sure what happened there.

Also, no one forgot to put the Footy Tips in! The competition is still tight, just the way we like it. Well done everyone!

DONT FORGET TO PUT THE FOOTY TIPS IN!

***

AFLW Round 6

As a reminder, all the games are available to watch on the Watch AFL app. If you are an International Member of one of the AFL clubs, this is included in your membership. If not, you can subscribe directly through the Watch AFL website: https://www.watchafl.com.au

As I mentioned last week, for $150 per year, you get to see live every AFLW game, every AFL preseason game, the AFLX tourney, and all AFL games up to and including the Grand Final. You also get full game replays of every game I mentioned in the prior sentence as well as the live feed of the Fox Footy channel from Australia.

It’s really quite a bargain for nine months of entertainment.

Fox Soccer Plus also shows most games live. However, there is an extra charge for that channel and if you’re only interested in AFL, getting the Watch AFL yearly subscription is much cheaper and you get the benefit of replays without having to take the time to record games.

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

Friday, March 8, 2019

7:35 PM – Geelong Cats v Fremantle Dockers at GMHBA Stadium

Geelong was able to win two straight games in which they were the #2 team in Conference B battling the #1 team. Can they beat a Conference A team in third?

9:45 PM – Collingwood Magpies v North Melbourne Tasmanian Kangaroos at Marvel Stadium

The poor Pies face a Roos team that just lost their first game. No chance they win this, right?

Saturday, March 9, 2019

12:15 AM – Western Bulldogs v Melbourne Demons at Marvel Stadium

The Doggies would love to salvage some pride by beating the Demons and maybe knocking them out of finals contention. Weird that we’re talking about the defending champions…

7:05 PM – Adelaide Crows v GWS Giants at Peter Motley Oval

This is going to be another massacre. It’s just a question of what the final margin will be.

9:05 PM – Carlton Blues v Brisbane Lions at Ikon Park

This one will be the Match Of The Round. Winner can, depending on the Geelong- Fremantle result, could take top spot in Conference B.

***

AFL Preseason

The AFL Preseason has begun!

Here are this week’s results:

Carlton Blues 100 Essendon Bombers 91

West Coast Eagles 99 Geelong Cats 65

North Melbourne Kangaroos 77 St. Kilda Saints 102

Adelaide Crows 106 Port Adelaide Power 89

GWS Giants 81 Sydney Swans 59

Brisbane Lions 102 Hawthorn Hawks 60

Richmond Tigers 113 Melbourne Demons 101

Gold Coast Suns 77 Western Bulldogs 72

Fremantle Dockers v Collingwood Magpies

Please remember that, if you sign up for the Watch AFL app as described in the section above, you can see EVERY game live plus full-match replays! Here is the schedule for the last batch of preseason games (all times Pacific):

Thursday, March 7, 2019 (Tonight!)

12:10 AM Geelong Cats v Essendon Bombers at GMHBA Stadium

Friday, March 8, 2019

12:10 AM GWS Giants v Adelaide Crows at UNSW Canberra Oval

6:10 PM Port Adelaide Power v North Melbourne Kangaroos at Alberton Oval

9:10 PM Melbourne Demons v Brisbane Lions at Casey Fields

Saturday, March 9, 2019

12:10 AM Hawthorn Hawks v Richmond Tigers at University of Tasmania Stadium

6:10 PM Sydney Swans v Gold Coast Suns at Oakes Oval

9:10 PM Western Bulldogs v St. Kilda Saints at Mars Stadium

Sunday, March 10, 2019

12:10 AM Fremantle Dockers v West Coast Eagles at Rushton Park

8:10 PM Carlton Blues v Collingwood Magpies at Morwell Recreation Reserve

I’ve mentioned this before, but one of the best things about watching preseason AFL games is that they play them in many of the same small grounds and recreational parks in the Australian suburbs and countryside where people like you and I would play. Can you imagine professional players showing up to your local recreational sports center and playing the game they get paid to play in the same field your kids play?

That would be awesome! Another cool thing is that, by watching the game and the areas outside the playing field, you get a very good sense of what Australia is really like outside the tourist zones.

***

That’s all for this week. The AFL season is nearly upon us while the AFLW season is getting down to the critical few games before the Preliminary Finals!

Ive decided to post my AFL Season Preview with a special eye on helping you folks that haven’t picked a team yet in a special midweek post of its own. Stay tuned for that.

See you next week!

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