Holy crap, I can’t believe it’s been this long since I did an AFL Beat! Let’s see if I can remember how to do it…

Welcome to Balls of Steel’s AFL Beat!

The season is already at Week 10 and the usual suspects are at the top of the table. That doesn’t mean there haven’t been any surprises since I saw you last. First, let’s go over the week’s games.

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AFL 2021 Season Week 10 Recaps

Brisbane Lions 102 – 74 Richmond Tigers

The Lions took down the Tigers at The Gabba in an all-Feline Fight. Some time-traveling Roman in the Greek isles nods approvingly.

Here are the highlights:

Carlton Blues 86 – 63 Hawthorn Hawks

The Blues are quietly putting together a decent season. They’re beating the bad teams, as they should. If they can beat some of the contenders, they might sneak into finals.

Here are the highlights:

Geelong Cats 91 – 57 Gold Coast Suns

As weird as it may sound, it was an ugly win for the Cats. They really should have beaten the Suns by a lot more.

Here are the highlights:

Adelaide Crows 96 – 95 Melbourne Demons

The Melbourne Demons are no longer undefeated! The surprising Crows took them down in Adelaide.

Here are the highlights:

Western Bulldogs 144 – 33 St. Kilda Saints

What the heck has happened to the Saints??? They at least used to fight hard but this is the second 100 point ass-kicking they’ve received this year. Something needs to change.

Here are the highlights:

Fremantle Dockers 86 – 84 Sydney Swans

The Dockers are sneakily winning games and hanging close to the Eight. If they keep going like this, they could sneak into finals.

Here are the highlights:

GWS Giants 93 – 77 West Coast Eagles

Don’t let the score fool you. This was a close game until the Giants broke it open in the last ten minutes of the fourth quarter. Excellent effort by the Giants, who were close to beating Richmond last week.

Here are the highlights:

Collingwood Magpies 58 – 59 Port Adelaide Power

Amid all the controversy going on at Collingwood, the players continue to play hard for coach Nathan Buckley. Somehow, the Power were able to prevail at the MCG.

Here are the highlights:

Essendon Bombers 141 – 69 North Melbourne Kangaroos

The Bombers just tore up the Roos, as they should have. It was a nice win that gets them closer to the top.

Here are the highlights:

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2021 Ladder

Here is how the teams stand after Round 10:

P	TEAM	W	L	T	PTS	%
1	Western Bulldogs	9	1	0	36	161.9
2	Melbourne Demons	9	1	0	36	137.7
3	Geelong Cats	7	3	0	28	131.4
4	Brisbane Lions	7	3	0	28	127.6
5	Port Adelaide Power	7	3	0	28	119.1
6	Sydney Swans	6	4	0	24	111.5
7	West Coast Eagles	6	4	0	24	109.0
8	GWS Giants	5	5	0	20	100.1
9	Richmond Tigers	5	5	0	20	99.3
10	Fremantle Dockers	5	5	0	20	107.2
11	Essendon Bombers	4	6	0	16	105.0
12	Carlton Blues	4	6	0	16	95.7
13	Adelaide Crows	4	6	0	16	86.2
14	St. Kilda Saints	4	6	0	16	72.6
15	Gold Coast Suns	3	7	0	12	87.3
16	Collingwood Magpies	2	8	0	8	86.0
17	Hawthorn Hawks	2	8	0	8	75.2
18	North Melbourne Kangaroos	1	9	0	4	56.3

Here is the Balls Graph (TM) as of Week 10:

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Footy Tipping Contest

Here is where we stand after Round 10:

P	TIPPER	Round Tips	Round Margin	Total Tips	Total Margin
1	Doktor Zymm	7	13	65	292
2	SonOfSpam	6	7	62	260
3	Litre_cola	7	20	62	299
4	Mr. Ayo	6	18	60	272
5	BFC	6	40	60	347
6	BC Dick	6	29	59	291
7		8	12	59	297
8	Dolph Ucker	6	17	59	299
9	WhyEaglesWhy	6	24	56	286
10	BALLS	7	24	55	312
11	Game Time Decision	7	18	52	273
12	bk109	1	28	49	276
13	Maestro	1	28	40	278
14	Reverend Mayhem	1	28	38	284
15	Yeah Right	1	28	35	326

Dok is kicking everyone’s asses and taking names! Well done, good lady! Messeurs SonOfSpam and Litre_cola are hot on her heels, though, only 3 picks back and then it gets crowded all the way to 8th place. Well done everyone!

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Balls Sechs

• We are getting pretty close to the beginning of the byes, so things will look weird for a bit, but we’ll be alright.
• Richmond usually goes through an early-season slump and then they figure things out and kick ass in finals. Will they be able to do it again this year or is this the year where it catches up to them?
• There are a few teams hanging around the fringes of the Eight that have a real chance to get in if they can get some upset wins. I’m talking about Fremantle, Carlton, Essendon, and Adelaide. I have no idea what the fuck is wrong with the Saints but they are still in the running.
• Adelaide’s upset of the Demons, coupled with their Round 1 victory over the Cats, shows that they can beat the top teams. I’m not sure why they’ve lost to some pretty bad teams.
• Brisbane started slow but they are quietly building on their top 4 finish from last year and look to be one of the teams to beat come Finals.
• The Match of The Round next week is probably the Match of the Year so far: #1 Western vs. #2 (and #1 for almost the entire season) Melbourne. Too bad it’s on in the middle of the night. Totally worth a replay.

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Round Eleven Schedule

Here is the Round 11 schedule (all times Pacific):

Friday, May 28, 2021

2:50 AM – Western Bulldogs v Melbourne Demons at Marvel Stadium

8:45 PM – Collingwood Magpies v Geelong Cats at the MCG

9:10 PM – Brisbane Lions v GWS Giants at The Gabba

11:35 PM – St. Kilda Saints v North Melbourne Kangaroos at Marvel Stadium

Saturday, May 29, 2021

2:40 AM – Gold Coast Suns v Hawthorn Hawks at TIO Stadium (Northern Territory)

2:40 AM – West Coast Eagles v Essendon Bombers at Optus Stadium

8:10 PM – Richmond Tigers v Adelaide Crows at the MCG

10:20 PM – Sydney Swans v Carlton Blues at the SCG

11:40 PM – Port Adelaide Power v Fremantle Dockers at Adelaide Oval

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Before I go, I again want to congratulate SonOfSpam for his Gently Used Fleshlight for winning the English Premier League Pick’em Contest! He not only beat me by 9 picks, he placed in the 99.8th percentile and finished in place #221 FOR THE ENTIRE ESPN COMPETITION!

Also, I wanted to update the final EPL predictions. King Hippo was able to pick the trifecta correctly. I’m not sure if he put money on that, but most likely yes. Good job!

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