AFL Round 13 Review Part 1

Hawks d Dons by 16. The Hawks dominated early (after conceding the first couple) but didn't put as much pressure on the scoreboard as they should have, kicking 5.7 to 3.1 in the first. A tight second quarter had the Bombers showing a bit of fight, and nailed some crucial late goals to reel in an expanding lead, but it was the third where they finally got their groove and dominated the game, but again the Hawks poor kicking assisted. The last quarter was one of the best quarters of the season. Essendon took their third quarter form into the last and blew the Hawks away early grabbing the lead via their hard running and pressure. But then the Hawks hit back with 5 goals, 4 of them brilliant, to snatch back the lead and win deservedly win the match.

Dockers d Blues by 9. This was a very unusual game. Freo for the most part looked the better side (the loss of Murphy before the game and Kreuzer during it didn't help either), but Carlton helped that perception with woeful goal kicking. Freo moved the ball from defence up forward with ease and really made the most or it, at least scoring shot wise, scoring 26 times out of 42 entries. The Blues defence was non-existant and the Freo forwards were gifted with plenty of space. Contrastingly at the other end the Blues got it in plenty, but Freo's defence was resolute with hard tackling and relentless pressure. However the Blues also squandered opportunities with 27 scoring shots from 55 opportunities. It probably came down to poor kicking costing a side the game. 2.12 at half time for the Blues was always going to be tough to come back from, and they did very well to kick 10.3 in the second half, but it was to no avail.

Tigers d Lions by 19. This was always going to be a tough game for the Lions. As I said in the preview, no Brown and an uninspired Fev couple with bad form was going to make them an easier than normal task. And it certainly helped that their second best player, Black, was a late withdrawl. The Tigers jumped them early and really were in control for most of the game, barring the third where the Lions threatened to come back. But a spirited 5 goal to 4 last quarter saw them take the choccies and win another game away from home. The Lions battled hard, but sadly for them they simply couldn't cover the loss of Brown and Black, they have little depth and its beginning to show.

North d Port by 36. Wow, I was only one point off with my prediction. It was a closish contest for most of the game, but one that North controlled and extended to around 30 points. The Power came hard in the last to reduce the margin to within 3 goals, but North responded as they had all day to win it in a canter. Big surprises of the day were Jay Schulz kicking 7 (that's right 7!) and Hansen the defender come forward kicking 5.

Dogs d Eagles by 60. Yes it was close upto half time, and even gettable at 3/4 time, but then the floodgates opened and out stormed the Dogs. They wiped the floor with the Eagles. It was a slaughter. 6 goals 7 behinds to a solitary goal. That is a shellacking. Oh, and I picked this one on the nose...60 points. Happy me.

That's it for the first half of the split round. So far, 5 from 5 tipping. Who would have thought? I had it on good authority that the Blues were going to win, glad I ignored that.