Welcome to Balls of Steel’s AFL Beat!

We are down to 2 teams and we have our Grand Final matchup! Let’s see what happened.

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AFL 2021 Finals Week 3 Recaps

Geelong Cats 42 – 125 Melbourne Demons

I told you it was an ass-kicking. The one saving grace is that I didn’t wake up early to watch it. Max Gawn is a beast.

Here are the highlights in Mini Match form:

Port Adelaide Power 45 – 116 Western Bulldogs

It’s strange that both games ended up being blowouts yet here we are. For the Power to get blown out at home, though, is specially painful.

Here are the highlights:

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Footy Tipping Contest

Here is where we stand after the third week of finals:

BFC was the only one to pick both games correctly and promptly vaulted himself to 4th place based on percentage!

There was some shakeup at the top and now the final positions of 3rd through 6th are up for grabs! Joliet Jake can still end up in 3rd if he picks the correct winner, no one else does, and he makes up 15 margin points on SonOfSpam.

Similarly, 6th through 8th are down to the last game as are 9th and 10th.

Please remember that the Tipping Contest runs THROUGH the Grand Final! You can still enter tips on the app!

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Balls Sechs

• Remember what I wrote last week about Brisbane and the home final loss? Copy and paste that to Port Adelaide. This was a golden opportunity and they just blew it.
• The same could be said of the Geelong Cats. Much will be said in the off-season about how old they are and the Demons definitely made them look old. It’s going to be a tough off-season with some big decisions that need to be made as to how to contend again next year while being one year older.
• The Doggies are still in it and playing extremely well. They have been on a roll since the end of the season and are peaking at the perfect time. The demolition of Port in Adelaide was something to behold.
• The Demons pulled off the triple-win over Geelong this year. As I mentioned up top, Max Gawn is a beast and he is finally getting the accolades and results he deserves. I think kicking the game-winning kick after the siren in the last week of the season has propelled him to superstar status.
• While I have made a big deal of hating Melbourne, I actually really like Max Gawn and Petracca is a very good player and the new coach is a good dude. The team itself deserves a win. Their fans, not so much.
• The Grand Final will be a heck of a game. I have no idea who will win, but I’d be surprised if it is a blowout.

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Grand Final Schedule

Saturday, September 25, 2021

2:15 AM – Western Bulldogs v Melbourne Demons at Optus Stadium

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That’s all for this week. There will be no AFL Beat next week as the AFL has put in a bye this year between the Preliminary Final and the Grand Final. I’ll be back the following Tuesday with a recap of the Grand Final, a review of the season, and a look-ahead to next season.