Tis the second week of byes and the second week that no games are held in Melbourne.

Welcome to Balls of Steel’s AFL Beat!

Let’s see what happened this week.

***

AFL 2021 Season Week 13 Recaps

Port Adelaide 91 – 112 Geelong Cats

This was a huge test for the Cats and they passed with flying colours. It doesn’t get any easier as they face 2nd-placed Western Bulldogs next week.

Here are the highlights:

Sydney Swans 51 – 89 Hawthorn Hawks

This was a huge surprise. I don’t think anyone saw the Hawks going into Sydney and beating the Swans.

Here are the highlights:

Fremantle Dockers 76 – 49 Gold Coast Suns

The Suns had a tough task going into Perth and trying to beat the Dockers. Now, the Dockers have the best chance of getting into the Eight.

Here are the highlights:

St. Kilda Saints 60 -66 Adelaide Crows

The Saints season is officially in the toilet. In the meantime, the Crows are looking to get closer to the Eight and maybe make a run at finals..

Here are the highlights:

North Melbourne Kangaroos 94 – 94 GWS Giants

We finally have our first tie of the season! The fact that it happened against the Roos is a bad thing for the Giants. They got two points, but they really should have gotten four.

Here are the crazy last two minutes:

West Coast Eagles 85 – 81 Richmond Tigers

The Eagles made their home field advantage count with a thrilling victory against the defending champions. If we can somehow keep Richmond out of the Eight, the rest of the league has a realistic shot at the Premiership this year.

Here are the crazy last two minutes:

Melbourne Demons 63 – 80 Collingwood Magpies

This was Nathan Buckley’s last game as coach after he was pushed out last week. The Pies sent him off with a victory over the top team in the competition.

Here are the highlights:

Bye 1

Please enjoy a great Australian band instead of game highlights.

Here are the highlights:

Bye 2

And another!

Here are the highlights:

***

2021 Ladder

Here is how the teams stand after Round 13:

P	TEAM	W	L	T	PTS	%
1	Melbourne Demons	11	2	0	44	132.2
2	Western Bulldogs	10	2	0	40	150.0
3	Geelong Cats	9	3	0	36	129.7
4	Brisbane Lions	8	4	0	32	127.3
5	Port Adelaide Power	8	4	0	32	118.0
6	Sydney Swans	8	5	0	32	108.1
7	West Coast Eagles	8	5	0	32	107.9
8	Richmond Tigers	7	6	0	28	105.3
9	Fremantle Dockers	6	7	0	24	91.4
10	GWS Giants	5	6	1	22	93.9
11	Essendon Bombers	5	7	0	20	102.0
12	Adelaide Crows	5	8	0	20	86.9
13	St. Kilda Saints	5	8	0	20	78.3
14	Carlton Blues	4	8	0	16	92.4
15	Gold Coast Suns	4	8	0	16	90.4
16	Collingwood Magpies	4	9	0	16	89.9
17	Hawthorn Hawks	3	9	0	12	79.0
18	North Melbourne Kangaroos	1	10	1	6	61.0

Here is the Balls Graph (TM) as of Week 13:

***

Footy Tipping Contest

Here is where we stand after Round 13:

P	TIPPER	Round Tips	Round Margin	Total Tips	Total Margin
1	Doktor Zymm	1	46	80	368
2	Litre_cola	4	17	77	380
3	SonOfSpam	1	29	74	340
4	Mr. Ayo	4	11	74	343
5	Dolph Ucker	5	12	74	355
6	BFC	3	10	74	402
7	BC Dick	3	33	73	360
8	BALLS	6	16	72	389
9		4	4	71	339
10	WhyEaglesWhy	4	2	70	348
11	Game Time Decision	4	7	69	322
12	bk109	5	21	61	347
13	Reverend Mayhem	5	21	50	355
14	Maestro	2	38	48	378
15	Yeah Right	5	21	47	397

We had a big shakeup in the standings this week as Dok finally slipped and the race has tightened at the top! Litre is only 3 picks away from Dok with a big pack another 3+ back of Litre. There is still plenty to play for!

***

Balls Sechs

• Byes finish this week as next week we will have our full complement of games.
• Due to COVID concerns, two games were moved out of Victoria, Melbourne to be exact. However, at the request of the Geelong Cats, their home game will remain in Geelong except with no fans in attendance.
• If the Pies would have played like they did against Melbourne earlier in the year, Coach Nathan Buckley would not have been fired. As it is, he is now headed for a media job and the next coach will have a LOT to deal with.
• For the first time all season, there were no changes at all in the Top Eight although the top and bottom teams lost, bringing the contenders closer.
• If you would have told me there was going to be a tied game this week, I would have never guessed it would be GWS-North.
• The Match of The Round next week is probably the Western-Geelong game. Two top four contenders going at it. Too bad it will be on in the middle of the night here. AGAIN!

***

Round Fourteen Schedule

Here is the Round 14 schedule (all times Pacific):

Friday, June 18, 2021

2:50 AM – Geelong Cats v Western Bulldogs at GMHBA Stadium

8:45 PM – Gold Coast Suns v Port Adelaide Power at Metricon Stadium

9:10 PM – BYE

11:35 PM – North Melbourne Kangaroos v Brisbane Lions at Blundstone Arena, Tasmania

Saturday, June 19, 2021

2:25 AM – GWS Giants v Carlton Blues at Giants Stadium

2:50 AM – BYE

10:20 PM – Hawthorn Hawks v Essendon Bombers at UTAS Stadium, Tasmania

Sunday, June 13, 2021

1:40 AM – BYE

1:40 PM – BYE

***

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