Last Week 6/9 Season
Total 37/53
A number of upsets on the weekend made it a
tough round to pick and I think getting 6 was pretty serviceable. Sure, someone somewhere probably got 9, but
it was probably a Canadian who was bullied into joining the office tipping and
before tipping asks questions like “Why do they get 6 points when the puck goes
in the net?”
I managed to enjoy the weekends footy a bit
and also watched a bit of swimming and watched Kennedy and Gout Gout miss the
final of the Stawell Gift. All the while
I became a chemistry expert trying to balance the chemical levels in my pool
which had gotten a bit out of whack! I
certainly learned a lot. I mean, I’m not
ready to start cooking Meth for the masses yet, but if you get a high from
floating in a body of essentially drinkable spring water then I’m your
man. On the Monday, I also did one of
those chores that you put off for a while.
But to ensure I didn’t get interrupted during the footy, I got stuck
into it about an hour before bouncedown and then 3 hours later understood why I
put it off for so long. At least I got
to see the last quarter.
The biggest outside of footy news was Pope
Francis passing away. After Easter, but
suspiciously a few hours after meeting with JD Vance. I’m not alleging anything here, but he does
seem like the kind of guy you’d talk to and then come up with a great excuse
like that to get out of a follow up meeting!
We’ll wait for the puff of smoke now and I’ll keep an eye out on Seek
for the vacancy…might throw my hat in the ring.
If they offer a Novated Lease on a Pope-Mobile, that’d be a great
incentive!
This week is the ANZAC round, and we’ll
remember all those who gave so much. We
are currently reminded that the freedoms we have now can be quickly taken
away. We must remember the sacrifices to
provide those freedoms that those before us gave so willingly. Lest We Forget.
Melbourne vs Richmond MCG Thursday Night
The now traditional ANZAC Eve match. It’s an amazing spectacle, which I think I
say every year. And with both Melbourne and Richmond
coming in off stirring victories there is some genuine interest to be had
watching these two teams battle it out. Melbourne finally shook
the duck last week (I’d like to remind you all that I tipped that) with some
powerful flashes of brilliance, a lot by Kozi Pickett. Richmond
blew lossless Gold Coast away and then held on against their fast finish to
secure an emotional victory. Lots of
talk not about the win but whether Balta should’ve played at all with an
upcoming sentencing hearing for his off-field indiscretion. Richmond
are 4 losses on the trot for this particular fixture and while they were good
last week, such a young side will struggle with consistency. In the meantime, Melbourne will be looking to establish some
consistency with two wins in a row and I think they’ll get the job done now
that the shackles are off. Melbourne
by 28 points.
Collingwood vs Essendon MCG Friday
Afternoon
Another traditional match. One that has now seen two draws in its
history which dates back to 1995. This
used to be a match which I religiously went to in the late 90s / early 00s but
it’s harder to get a ticket than to the Grand Final these days. I think tickets for this sold out on April 26th
last year! Collingwood seem to have
their game in check with their old wise heads bamboozling ladder leaders
Brisbane last week. Collingwood playing
other teams remind me of my generation talking to Millennials, Gen Z or
Alpha. You see we’re old, we’re Wiley
and we’re experienced whereas those generations don’t think we know
nuthin.’ Sure, in a running race they’ll
beat us, but we know life isn’t all about running. Anyway, Essendon chalked up a win against
West Coast, although they had to work for it a bit harder than they
reckoned. It was a costly victory too with
Sam Drapers Achillies going bang (and they really do go bang!). But there’s a lesson for Sam Drapers mum in
all that…when dipping your child in the river Styx,
don’t hold them by the heel. Complete
immersion is required. It’s usually a
good contest, but the Pies seem pretty well organised at the moment. Collingwood by 31 points.
Fremantle vs Adelaide Perth
Stadium Friday Night
The Dockers chucked the anchors on their
rise last week with a loss against a Demons team that were getting a pizzling
in the press. It could be a chance they
rue come seasons end and away wins will be vital. Adelaide
used their home ground advantage to brush aside GWS. Had I known ahead of tipping that their
spearhead wasn’t playing I would have picked Adelaide for sure. The Crows also had injury concerns with
Fogarty doing his sternoclavicular joint which is more human biology we all get
to learn. This week they play Fremantle
for only the third time at Perth Stadium which is remarkable given its been in
use since 2018! I’m thinking Fremantle
will bounce back after a stinging rebuke and Fogarty is only a 50/50 to
play. While his nickname is Foggo, I
think this week he’ll be mist. Fremantle
by 13 points.
Saint Kilda vs Brisbane Marvel
Stadium Saturday Afternoon
What a dismal evening it was for both of
these teams last week. The Saints were
overrun by the fleet-footed Doggies and the prehistoric Pies out smarted the
Lions. Both teams will be smarting, and
both teams will want a quick reversal.
One of Brisbane’s
major problems last week was they only had a 5-day turn around into the
Pies. This week they get a nice cushy
9-day break to rest those weary youthful legs.
I think that could be the most telling factor along with Brisbane not losing to
the Saints at Docklands since 2018. Brisbane
by 25 points.
Port Adelaide
vs North Melbourne Adelaide Oval Saturday Twilight
This is another one of those fixture
oddities with these two teams only ever having played each other twice at
Adelaide Oval (since its regular use in 2014).
Another way to put it is that in all the games Port Adelaide have played
at Adelaide Oval, only a bit over 1% of them have been against North Melbourne.
And for the record, Port Adelaide have won both of them. Another way to put it is that North Melbourne has never beaten Port Adelaide at
Adelaide Oval. North Melbourne got
beaten up badly by Carlton
and Port won although would not be happy about conceding 5.8 in the last
term…that could easily have been a loss.
Also, Aliir had a run in with an angry fan. Football is an emotional roller-coaster for
everyone sometimes. Port will continue
their winning ways I think. Another way
to put it is Port Adelaide
by 43 points.
GWS vs Footscray Manuka Oval Saturday
Night
This match is always a highlight in the
calendar. The teams genuinely don’t like
each other and whether played at Manuka Oval or Mars Stadium it’s an emotional
ride that some Sydney
fans can really relate to. GWS got a
touch up from Adelaide
and will welcome Jesse Hogan back with the aim to return to the winners
list. I think we all let out a
collective sigh of relief when we heard that Darcy hadn’t done his ACL. He seems like a ripping kid and plays the
game like we want to see and would like more of that. He will sadly be missing for quite a while,
but it could have been worse. At least
they got The Bont back and he slotted in nicely. Past history has Footscray winning this one
most often (at Manuka) and they seem to have the wood over GWS in recent
times. History sends me one way and my
gut tells me something else. I guess I
have to go with my gut. I don’t
facilitate its growth with rich sumptuous banquets and finely brewed beer just
to ignore it. GWS by 11 points.
Gold Coast vs Sydney Carrara Sunday Afternoon
The unbeaten Gold Coast were beaten last
week in a shock upset by Richmond. In one fell swoop, this proved that it wasn’t
Richmond that
didn’t like going to Marvel Stadium, just Damien Hardwick. Sydney
also got beaten but had they kicked straight in the last quarter might have
bagged a win. Sydney looks a bit lost, and this can be
quite common for a team if it gets smashed in the Grand Final previous. It’s tough to build a case for Sydney playing at Carrara,
although the teams haven’t played there for a couple of years. The dangly bit in the back of your mind is
“hang on…Gold Coast just lost to Richmond!” I’m not sure if that’s enough evidence though
and the double road trips that Gather throws up can be a fly in the
ointment. Gold Coast by 15 points.
Carlton vs Geelong MCG Sunday
Afternoon
Fresh off a spirited victory over Hawthorn,
Geelong has entered a tough run with Carlton now seemingly
past their early season Malaise. It used
to be that you would knock someone into next week but with HIA assessments and
Concussion protocols, like Gryan Miers, you actually get knocked two weeks into
the future these days. While in the
future, perhaps he should grab the lotto numbers. I see this as a toss of the coin game, and it
really depends on the Jekyll and Hyde nature of Carlton.
You see, Jekyll, as we know, is pretty crap at footy…bit of a bookworm
really. Whereas Hyde is a brute, and you
don’t want to run into him down a dark half forward flank one Sunday
afternoon. Geelong might be on a bit of a high after
their stirring victory and this often comes with a lull afterwards. And Bailey
Smith will be under strict instructions to keep his balls out of the other guys
face…so to speak. I can’t believe I’m
doing this, I need my head examined. Carlton
by 12 points. No, no, no. I swore I wouldn’t. Why are they so alluring? They’ve only beaten West Coast and North Melbourne.
Don’t be so idiotic. Geelong
by 12 points.
Hawthorn vs West Coast Marvel Stadium Sunday Twilight
As mentioned previously, Hawthorn lost a
nail-biter to Geelong. Similarly to Patrick Voss last week, Conor
Nash will be excluded for trying to perform a lobotomy without a license. He actually came pretty close to success,
just needed a sharper tool, I think.
That’s two losses in a row for Hawthorn and puts them back in the middle
of the pack, but with their next few games against 18th, 15th
and 17th, they should be back on track in no time. However, their first assignment is 18th,
a winless West Coast who showed considerably more spunk on the weekend and look
a much improved side with straight-shooting Waterman up front and Wonderwall
McGovern up back. Even Harley looked a
bit more interested. As good as they
were, it would take some kind of miracle to beat Hawthorn. Maybe an opportunity for a West Coast player
to put forward their papal candidacy. Hawthorn
by 45 points.
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