AFL Review Round 20

Collingwood d Essendon

Its always nice to get your first tip right as you can go to sleep happy in the knowledge you are still on track for having tipped the perfect 8 for the round. There was no real surprise in the result, though the meekness of Essendon’s surrender may have raised a few eyebrows. The Dons did well to promote the seatbelt campaign because otherwise their head on collision with the pies may have proved fatal. With the exception of Watson and Slattery the Essendon team were disgraceful to a man. In the person of Kyle Reimers I have never seen a man celebrate so much with so little talent or impact on a game. For the pies it was high fives all round, even though captain Nick Maxwell only managed 4 touches. Travis Cloke looked to have finally sorted his goal kicking, with a 4.1 half. Alas, the natural order reasserted itself in the second half and he ended up with 5.5. For the pies, it will take a disaster for them to lose their grip on 1^st spot with only 2 rounds to go.

Carlton d Richmond.

The only thing I got wrong with this tip was the size of the margin. The blues just love beating up on the tigers and this game was no exception. It wasn’t a surprising result as Carlton had a lot more to play for. This was a big win for them and has pretty much guaranteed a spot in the 8. All the usual down hill skiers err Carlton stars had a day out and the blues seem to be finally building some momentum going into the finals.

Sydney d Fremantle.

My prediction for this game was pretty much spot on, with Sydney’s class and discipline finally prevailing in the final term. This would have been an excellent game to attend as the lead seemed to switch every 5 minutes. Daniel Hannebery had a monster of a game and Mumford showed yet again what a great recruit he will be for Sydney. Supercoachers take note, he will be a good starting ruckman for next year. How Fremantle must be missing Sandilands. There are two games to go and their spot in the 8 is secure, but they could finish anywhere between 5^th and 8^th.

Geelong d Western Bulldogs.

Wow. I expected the cats to win but this was an absolute demolition. Flu or no flu, the dogs must be shattered by this abject performance. The cats were determined to show they were still a force to be reckoned with and proceeded to record the biggest win of the round against the strongest opposition. Garry Jnr was back to his fluent best and indeed the entire Geelong midfield was dominant. There would have been no more relived forward than Podsiadly who thankfully cashed in with 3 goals while Stevie J brought up his 300^th career goal in yet another 5 goal game. For the dogs there were few positives, though at least Giansiracusa can now point to a game where he played well when the rest of the team didn’t. Ben Hudson was sorely missed by the Bulldogs and would now appear to be one of their most important players. Sadly, Minson didn’t much to state a case for a prolonged return to the team.

Port Adelaide d Westcoast

Port Adelaide dominated the game early but was wasteful in front of goals, leaving the door open for a WC resurgence in the final quarter. In the end, Port hung on by a point despite being outscored 4 goals to 1 in the final quarter. Perhaps strung by trade rumours, Dean Cox pulled out a vintage game, dominating the hit outs and possession. Newcommer Andrew Strijuk contributed 3 goals, the highest for either side. Port ended up taking the 4 points and not much else from the game.

Adelaide d Brisbane

This is where my perfect run of tips came to an end. Though to be fair, had I known the J Brown would miss I probably would have changed it! Ah well, my plans for overthrowing Fang and taking over his blog must wait another year... Of the game itself, Brisbane lead early only for Adelaide to square the ledger at ¾ time and then press on to win by 7 points in the final quarter. It was the game of the ruckman/forwards with both Kurt Tippet and Mitch Clark booting 5 majors. Both have under-delivered this year but remain some of the most exciting key position prospects of the next few years.

Hawthorn d Melbourne

The tough, wet conditions suited the hawks mature bodies and they ultimately proved too strong for a gallant Melbourne side that never gave up trying. While the Hawks led for most of the game it was only in the dying minutes where they kicked away to record the 21 point margin. Having observed Hodge struggle when made accountable, the Demons tried the same tactic by putting Cam Bruce on the competitions most highly rated half back flanker. It was a duel that was comfortably won by Bruce although Hodge did manage two important last minute goals to decide the game for the hawks. This game was an excellent result for the hawks, who are now a game and a half and a truck load of % ahead of 9^th placed North Melbourne.

St Kilda d North Melbourne

Nothing surprising about this result, although North probably took a few steps forward by remaining competitive for longer periods. The Kangas would also have taken solace from the excellent performance of Lachlan Hansen, who kicked 4 goals against high quality opposition. After having played down back for a couple of years, he appears to have found a place as a key position forward. For the Saints, all the usual suspects cashed in and they would have been especially pleased with the output of Nick Reiwoldt, who kicked 7 goals and should have had at least 10 due to his wasteful 7.5 day out.

So there you have it, 7 out of 8 tips correct, which just goes to show that every dog has their day (unless you are a Western Bulldog). The biggest winner of the round are Carlton, Sydney and Hawthorn who have all secured a spot in the 8. The biggest losers are North and Melbourne who will now have to wait for next year to get a taste of finals. Oh and the doggies of course, who seem destined for another preliminary final exit on current form.

As a footnote: Fang (me) tipped 7 and Gaz, last weeks reviewer tipped a cool 8 (to jump into sole first place with 107).