Round 4 stuff

by Booney Thu Apr 23, 2015 9:13 am

It’s ANZAC Day on Saturday and boy oh boy wowee do we have some crackers this week, unfortunately none of them are on Friday night football! Who programs this stuff, who decides to kill our hopes of a great weekend of footy by throwing up these rubbish Friday night fixtures?

The weekend kicks off with The Tigers and the Demons under the microscope that is Friday night football. The Tigers went up to Brisvegas and did a number on the young Bears who went into hibernation after half time while Melbourne came to Adelaide and did a number on Patrick Dangerfield. Not sure if you’ve heard about it or not, but the Adelaide players, crowd and eventually coach got all uppity about Bern giving Patty a hard time. While Melbourne have been about average at best, like Jack Watts’ marking attempts, they’ve got one thing the Tigers fear, enough players to make up a side. Richmond should win this one and win it comfortably, that’s why this week would be terrifying for Tigers fans. They like expectation about as much as Chan and Sukamaran like fireworks. Tigers by 25 in a rotten spectacle.

New Zealanders also get a taste of Anzac Day footy, St.Kilda head over the ditch and the AFL have been kind enough to send Carlton with them. What a marketing ploy by the AFL to keep Kiwis from moving over here. So while the “AFL” badge will be on the guernseys and promoted as such, it isn’t really AFL the Kiwis are getting, it’s certainly Aussie Rules, but it’s kind of VFL/SANFL/WAFL at it’s best, which is well below AFL standard. St.Kilda got touched up by an undermanned Pies outfit last week while Carlton battled away against the Bombers. Mick told the Blues to fight for it, Yarran took it literally and had a swing at Chapman, it seemed to connect, Chappy wasn’t sure if it did. Lies I tell you, damn lies! The lovers of live stock won’t be overly excited by this one, the ex-pat Aussies will think twice about going (especially if they’ve watched any footy over the last 10 years and know what this one will dish up ) and Westpac Stadium at Wellington might be the only place on Earth capable of dishing up conditions that could be worse than this one. I really don’t know. St Nick will miss another one while Mick Malthouse joins Jock McHale this week on games coached, he might just be smart enough and savvy enough to drag a win from this one I think. Kiwis will think kicking a footy is impossible after they watch 40 blokes struggle to get it right for 2 hours. This will be more rotten than the Friday night fixture. Carlton by 8 points.

Anzac Day, Saturday afternoon footy, the Bombers and the Pies. Expect a packed house for this one. The Bombers held off a gallant Carlton last week while the Pies ran all over the Saints. Not an easy form line to read. Essendon have got some real quality in defence, both on the field and in the court room while the Pies have players at both ends and in the middle who have a big gap between their best and their worst. Inconsistency from individuals will hurt the Pies, the barometer for the side, Cloke, will have his hands full with Carlile, Hooker and Dustin Fletcher, who by coincidence celebrates his 100th Anzac Day match on the 100th anniversary of the Gallipoli landing. Well done Fletch. Most will think the Bombers will drop plenty of pressure onto the Pies defence, while the Bombers back half holds firm. This is one for all neutrals to watch, it is a blockbuster in every sense of the word and one of those games where ladder position means little. Essendon by 27 points.

While the rest of the country acknowledges Anzac Day, it’s Expansion Saturday at Star Track Oval in Canberra where Andy Dimitriou will be the guest of honour. He gets an honorary membership to both clubs, a scarfe, beanie, guernsey, pretty much anything he wants, both clubs ordered for too much gear at the start of the year and they’ll do anything to get rid of it. GWS were good against the Swans, real good, 1 less scoring shot and lost by 3 goals. Meanwhile the Suns beat 21 of the Cats into the ground, but forget about Selwood. Both sides lost closely to more fancied opponents, the only drawback to the Suns loss is they had a tired, old, injury depleted Cats side on the ropes and couldn’t knock them out. An improved showing from the Suns last week would give them hope this week, but I think they newest team in the comp might be a touch to good for the second newest team in the comp. Canberra, although not that far geographically from the Gold Coast is about as far away from Sun, sand and warmth as any of the GC boys have been for a while and GWS like playing there. Should be a good one here, GWS by 17 points but a Suns win wouldn’t surprise.

Saturday night and Adelaide Oval will be cold, wet and windy by all reports. Every chance on a Saturday night that I’ll be warm, thirsty and windy but that’s besides the point. Port host the Hawks and this one will be a tough one in the clinches and neither side is likely to be able to use their greatest weapons. Port with it’s run and flair and the Hawks with their precision foot skills to advantage. Port toughed out a much needed win over the Roos under the roof while the Hawks belted the young Dogs down in Tassie. Hawthorn fans happy the losing streak came to an end. Port fans happy theirs did too. With average conditions expected this will be a real battle in the true Anzac spirit. Tough in close, giving everything for your mates and never giving in. Losing Wines will hurt Port’s contested ball winning ability, funny that, my Mrs loses wines all the time, usually by the bottle. Port had some keys find form last weekend, the back half generated some run and gave the forward a look at it. Hawthorn just did what they do best, harassed and ran over their opponents with pressure when they don’t have it and precision when they do. Hodge had several hundred touches and Roughead bagged 7. Roughead is Gaelic for “two heads, both of them ugly”, that’s why they love him on the Apple Isle. Another big test for Port and I think they’re ready to really take it to a quality side. Port by 3 points in a classic.

Over in the West the Dockers take on the Swannies. The Dockers had an easy one last weekend, they had the second half off against the Weagles and really wouldn’t have had a recovery session on Monday morning, they did that at ¾ time while the Swannies led by Buddy and the very classy looking Heeney who, despite his best efforts, couldn’t break a post like Lethal Leigh did all those years ago. Might be the size of the players involved and the posts involved. Doesn’t matter, not good enough Isaac! The Dockers have added some attack to their much talked about defensive game, the Swannies are marching along like they always do. Franklin looks in great form, he’s going pretty well on and off field by the looks of it. This one will be a pressure cooker, both sides tackle, harass and pressure their opponents better than most, only the Hawks do it as well and this one might be a case of who cracks first loses. Will be an interesting side show here, will Adam Goodes pick himself this week or leave himself out again? Long way to go to be a sub and the frequent flyer miles are worth about as much as a Zimbabwean dollar. Any side that goes to Perth, plays the Purple Army and takes the points really, really earns them. The home side, in another tight one, by 10 points.

The Bears play host to the Eagles in Brissy this weekend, both teams had stinging losses last weekend, the Weagles at least showed some fight late after being pumped by the Waterside Workers in the WA Derby. The Bears look like they’ve got a long, long season ahead of them. They’re struggling to kick goals ( 11,8 and 7 in the first three games ) and struggling to stop their opponent kicking them ( 12, 20 and 21 ). That’s one thing the Weagles can do, score quickly with a very potent forward half and their midfield, led by Brownlow Medallist....Scott, no, Phil, no....what’s his name? Well, anyway, their midfield is better than the bottom 5-6 sides and their forward half is about as good as the top 6-8 with some real guns. This one might actually be a shoot out, neither side has a defence and if it does become about who can score the most, the Bears lose. Long way from Perth to Brisbane, Phuket is closer, I think by the end of it the Bears will be thinking “Phuket” after another loss. Eagles by 22.

The blue hoops host the blue stripes at Cat Park. The Hoops held on over the Suns thanks to Joel Selwood, his last half pretty much won the game for the Hoops while the high jumper and a couple of kids stood up in the last quarter, the Stripes lost a frenetic one under the roof. Many players say backing up after a game under the roof can be tough, the legs feel it. Well, after last weeks game the Roos will be hopping mad. Lindsay “Diver Down” Thomas snaffled two in two minutes late to take the lead and you would have thought they’d hold on from there. The Hoops lose Bartel and Stokes, one is a big loss the other one is Stokes. With Selwood playing a lone hand in the middle and an ageing defence vulnerable to continued attacks I can’t see the Cats holding the Roos midfield at bay. I think the Roos are a good thing in this one, by 32 points.

The last one of the weekend has the ‘Scrays hosting the Crows under the roof. Quite looking forward to this one, mainly because it means I can sit in the man cave on a Sunday afternoon in peace and quiet with a couple of frothys to ease the pain of the impending Monday morning. The Dogs got ripped apart by the Hawks in Tassie, while Adelaide did what they had to beating the Demons by 5 goals in Adelaide. This will be a good test for both sides. If Adelaide are genuine, they should beat the Dogs, if the Dogs are as improving as people think, they should take it right up to the Crow boys. Adelaide have a very potent forward line, a midfield with 3 genuine stars and that should be enough to see them kick a winning score. The only real draw back from this one will be watching Adelaide play in that clash guernsey, at least if they start winning I can just sit and laugh at what they’re wearing. Adelaide by 16 points. #nowtheyhatebernie

Take this for what it’s worth, last week got you 9 winners.