This week, it’s all about one man:

Lance “Buddy” Franklin became only the 6th person in the over 100 year history of Australian Rules Football to score 1000 career goals.

It was a tremendous achievement and, as they say, THE CROWD WENT WILD. It was nice that it took place in Sydney so the home fans could celebrate with him. Here is some video of the actual moment:

https://youtu.be/A4Lk_3SaJSk

In other news, the other AFLW Qualifying Final was finally played! So, we will begin with the AFL and then move on to the AFLW.

Welcome to Balls of Steel’s AFL Beat!

***

Round 2 Recaps

Western Bulldogs 90 – 102 Carlton Blues

The Grand Final runners-up are 0-2 in the season and not looking good. The Blues, however, look great and are much improved from last year!

Here are the highlights:

Sydney Swans 107 – 77 Geelong Cats

The Cats from last week were nowhere to be seen but it was Buddy’s night. It couldn’t have been any other way.

Here are the highlights:

Collingwood Magpies 100 – 58 Adelaide Crows

The Pies are red-hot with a convincing victory over the lowly Crows. Adelaide just might win the Wooden Spoon.

Here are the highlights:

Essendon Bombers 57 – 75 Brisbane Lions

The Lions took care of business on the road against a Bombers team that is quickly spinning out of control. They need a win fast.

Here are the highlights:

Port Adelaide Power 56 – 120 Hawthorn Hawks

The UPSET of the Round goes to the Hawks who went into Adelaide and just pounded the Power. Huge performance and the Hawks may just be back.

Here are the highlights:

Gold Coast Suns 69 – 82 Melbourne Demons

The reigning champs continue their winning ways and are looking good for a repeat.

Here are the highlights:

North Melbourne Kangaroos 74 – 59 West Coast Eagles

Maybe it will be the Eagles that get the Wooden Spoon? They were… not good.

Here are the highlights:

Richmond Tigers 109 – 73 GWS Giants

The Tigers took down the Giants at the MCG. It’s funny how they rebound with a good performance when you think they’re going down.

Here are the highlights:

Fremantle Dockers 55 – 65 St. Kilda Saints

The Saints got a big win on the road against a highly disappointing Dockers team. I truly expected better.

Here are the highlights:

***

Ladder

Here is the ladder after Round 2:

P	TEAM	W	L	T	PTS	%
1	Hawthorn Hawks	2	0	0	8	173.7
2	Collingwood Magpies	2	0	0	8	141.3
3	Sydney Swans	2	0	0	8	129.6
4	Melbourne Demons	2	0	0	8	127.9
5	Brisbane Lions	2	0	0	8	122.9
6	Carlton Blues	2	0	0	8	122.3
7	Geelong Cats	1	1	0	4	120.1
8	Gold Coast Suns	1	1	0	4	108.6
9	Richmond Tigers	1	1	0	4	106.3
10	North Melbourne Kangaroos	1	1	0	0	96.4
11	St. Kilda Saints	1	1	0	0	95.5
12	Fremantle Dockers	1	1	0	0	93.9
13	Western Bulldogs	0	2	0	0	80.9
14	West Coast Eagles	0	2	0	0	76.8
15	Adelaide Crows	0	2	0	0	76.5
16	GWS Giants	0	2	0	0	74.7
17	Essendon Bombers	0	2	0	0	62.6
18	Port Adelaide Power	0	2	0	0	62.5

***

Balls Graph

In all its glory:

***

Footy Tipping Contest

Here is how we stack up after Round 2:

P	TIPPER	Round Tips	Round Margin	Total Tips	Total Margin
1	BALLS	6	3	12	23
2	Game Time Decision	7	3	11	5
3		5	12	11	24
4	Maestro	5	12	11	38
5	Son Of Spam	6	12	11	44
6	Dolph Ucker	5	18	10	22
7	Why Eagles Why	4	23	10	36
8	Litre_cola	6	20	10	38
9	BFC	3	23	8	36

Extremely even competition so far! There is still time for everyone to join in! Here is the link:

https://mobile.footytips.com.au/competitions/?ff=ladders&competitionId=401652

I remind you, as always,

DON’T FORGET TO PUT THE FOOTY TIPS IN!

***

Balls’ Sechs

• The Buddy Franklin story is amazing in and of itself but it is important to note that with rules changing, we may NEVER see another player eclipsing the 1000 goal mark.
• The closest active player is Jack Riewoldt of the Richmond Tigers with 716.
• Incidentally, Jack could catch his cousin Nick Riewoldt soon as Nick only got to 718 in his career.
• It seems there is a pattern emerging of who the good teams are and who the bad teams are. We’ll see if it holds up.
• Carlton continues playing well and is going to be contending for Finals along with Collingwood.
• The Match of the Round next week is Carlton v Hawthorn in a battle of unexpected undefeateds!

***

AFLW Finals!

Brisbane Lions 70 – 20 Collingwood Magpies

They could have postponed this game for another week and the outcome would have been the same. The Lions are on track to defend their title.

Here are the highlights:

Finals Schedule

We are back on schedule. Here is the plan for the Preliminary Finals (all times Pacific):

Friday, April 1, 2022

6:40 PM – Melbourne Demons v Brisbane Lions at the MCG

8:40 PM – Adelaide Crows v Fremantle Dockers at Adelaide Oval

Here is where we are with the Tipping Competition with now both Finals games played:

P	TIPPER	Round Tips	Round Margin	Total Tips	Total Margin
1	SonOfSpam	1	34	60	195
2	Dok Zymm	2	40	58	265
3	BALLS	1	44	55	225
4		2	36	49	253
5	Dolph Ucker	1	23	48	203
6	Game Time Decision	2	28	48	223
7	Litre_cola	0	50	42	243
8	BFC	1	33	42	249
9	Fronkenshteen	0	50	24	189

Dok Zymm got the Dockers beating the Roos and is now only 2 tips behind the leader! She can still take out Spammy with 3 games left!

Meanwhile, Joliet Jake jumped in the standings with a 2 fer 2 week.

DON’T FORGET TO PUT THE FOOTY TIPS IN!

***

Here is the Round Three AFL schedule (all times Pacific):

Thursday, March 31, 2022

1:20 AM – Western Bulldogs v Sidney Swans at Marvel Stadium

Friday, April 1, 2022

1:20 AM – Melbourne Demons v Essendon Bombers at the MCG

2:20 AM – Port Adelaide Power v Adelaide Crows at Adelaide Oval

7:10 PM – GWS Giants v Gold Coast Suns at Giants Stadium

Saturday, April 2, 2022

1:25 AM – Collingwood Magpies v Geelong Cats at the MCG

2:00 AM – Brisbane Lions v North Melbourne Kangaroos at The Gabba

8:10 PM – Carlton Blues v Hawthorn Hawks at the MCG

10:20 PM – St. Kilda Saints v Richmond Tigers at Marvel Stadium

Sunday, March 27, 2022

1:20 AM – West Coast Eagles v Fremantle Dockers at Optus Stadium

***

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