Round 6 stuff

Round 6 is here with us and Carlton take on....what’s that, Carlton aren’t playing Friday night? Oh, ok, so Friday night kicks off with Richmond and.....what’s that? I’ll be buggered.


Collingwood and Geelong face off in the first Friday night fixture for some weeks that might offer some serious entertainment value. Collingwood had the bye last week, in celebration of Mick and the succession plan not being a success, while Geelong played Richmond at the G, occasionally the Tigers got in the way of the Cats but it was purely by accident. Collingwood have turned into one of the leading contested ball winning sides while Geelong are not, other than the skipper Selwood. It’s hard to see the Catters winning enough ball in close against the Pies on ball brigade that is starting to come together nicely with Adams and Crisp offering some real support to Pendles and Swanny. Speaking of balls, please, take a moment (boys,anyway) to bow your head and look at your wedding fruit and be thankful that it was not one of yours split like a grape after too much rain. Hopefully James Kelly is back sooner rather than later. Insert the mandatory Collingwood / Centrelink joke here, Friday night, day after pay day sort of stuff and put the Pies down for a solid win. #hotpies by 33 points.


North and Richmond head to Tasmania, Hobart, Blundstone Arena. Blundstone are the suppliers of 95% of formal footwear for men on the Apple Isle, in fact, they’re also used as a contraceptive device. “Put on the Blundstones. If they ‘aint on, it ‘aint on”. Two very frustrating, inconsistent sides do battle, neither sides supporters will be thinking a win is on the cards here. It will be a tough week for the Kangas. Last week the Hawks went all 80’s style on them and belted them up, this week they face the Tigers who also go all 80’s on their opponents, but it’s more George Michael 80’s style than Leigh Matthews 80’s style. Richmond have put up a couple of stinkers in a row, against opponents who ( Melbourne and Geelong ) most people would think they should beat. Richmond don’t deal well with the expectation of winning, they can however deal with beating more fancied opponents from time to time. The Tigers will be keen to bounce back this week, they’ll fight for a bit, but not for long enough to get on top of the ‘Roos. North by 16 points.


I wasn’t the only tipster to get it wrong last week as the Bulldogs went to Sydney and beat the Swans ( Well, I did back the Dogs at the very generous 33.5+ point line ). Terrible conditions meant the young Dogs could use their ground ball skills to great effect, it’s not often Sydney get beaten in and under, the Dogs did exactly that though. Meanwhile, the Saints had every chance to pip a fading Essendon outfit at the post, falling just short, not as short as Adam Schneider, but short nonetheless. The Saints are plucky, at very least, but under manned and lacking some class on ball and this is where the Dogs will break them apart. The Dogs are strong at the contest, last week in the wet they had 10 or more players run at 70+% disposal efficiency. That’s very good numbers in the wet against Sydney. The Saints lost stoppages and clearances last week, it will be the same again this week. Might be a blow out after the Dogs got some real confidence and any confidence the Saints had sailed just wide of the goals. Bulldogs by 52 points.



GWS, G bloody W bloody S. They let themselves and more importantly me down last weekend. I was bullish about their chances in Perth, I even put my money where my mouth is and backed them. Well, once bitten twice shy my friends. Not this week. The Hawks took their coaches lead and went the man and not the ball, Lewis and Hodge both copping a 3 week midseason break. Clarko clearly wasn’t impressed and sat them both on the bench after their early indiscretions, he did discuss the option of throwing them up against the wall, but the assistant coaches felt that wasn’t the best idea Clarko had put to them. Both assistants have not been seen since. The Hawks got their heads back in the game and ran over the Roos with more class and the foot skills the Hawks showed was first class. The Giants were appalling in Perth, 1 goal after half time against a side that is at best on the edge of the 8 and has more injuries than almost any other club. I can’t see the kids doing anywhere enough to bounce back from last week and beat the premiers. Hawthorn by 28 points.



Who would have thought. They sent 40 odd 20 year old lads to the Goldy to live, pay them $300,000 a year and then can’t work out why they’ve been misbehaving. I can work it out. The Suns blitzed the Bears in the Q clash, they’ve dropped some lads for having a beer and that made plenty of others think about being honest or not about their fluid replacement techniques. They have come forward, we’ll see what the club does with them. I won’t even discuss the loss of May to a three week suspension for simply bumping a bloke. It’s rubbish and we all agree. Well, I agree with me anyway. While Adelaide had plenty of chances to get over the line in the Showdown. Betts and Dangerfield kept Adelaide in the game, but then again they kept them out of it with mistakes at crucial moments. While Adelaide won plenty of ball they couldn’t put it on the scoreboard. A win last week for the Suns means nothing this week, one because it was over the Bears and two they are without some of their better drinkers, I mean players. I expect Adelaide to go up to the Goldy and get the job done, but I don’t think it will be as easy as it looked three weeks ago. Adelaide have been a little rocky in patches for the last three weeks. Melbourne pushed them in Adelaide, the Bulldogs pumped them and Port outclassed them. Adelaide by 19 points.



The two capitals do battle at the G, Melbourne had the displeasure of being visited by the Dockers last week while the Swans extended their losing streak to two. I kind of feel for Melbourne here, they were just getting some momentum after beating the Tigers, only to face Fremantle, Sydney and Hawthorn in succession to zap any confidence they may have been building. I said last week Sydney don’t lose two in a row, well I was wrong, they do and they did, so am I keen enough on them to say they won’t lose three in a row? Yes, yes I am. Other than some nightmares about heading back to the scene of last years Grand Final, the Sydneysiders will be looking at this one as a chance to get back on track with a win, it might just be a big one too. Swannies by 45 points.



Fremantle carried on their merry way beating the Dees last week while Essendon just, only just held out the Saints in a surprising result. The Dockers are flying, I don’t mean every other week to get to their games, I mean they’re flying on the field. The midfield of Fyfe, Mundy, Barlow being fed by big Sandilands is flourishing, so much so that even their own coaches defensive mindset is being overrun by ball going forward. Freo are getting in the habit of winning two statistical categories, inside 50s and tackles. This makes them tough to beat, they go forward when they have it and harass you like buggery when they don’t. Essendon dropped the Anzac game to the Pies, then just held out the Saints, perhaps the emotion of the early season not guilty verdict is wearing off and the impact of no preseason is kicking in. More importantly this week has Dustin Fletcher celebrate the 40th anniversary of this first match. He’s been a marvel, the stories he told last week of playing in Mick Malthouse’s first game as coach were inspiring. Fletch might fly the kids and the grand kids to Perth for this one. It won’t be any fun for them though. Fremantle to stay undefeated, by 38 points.



Carlton, oh dear, what do you say about them? Brisbane, oh dear, what do you say about them? Carlton had every opportunity last week to lift for Mick’s record breaking game and offered barely a whimper. Micks entrance through the smoke filled, blue strobe tunnel was exciting for most and downright terrifying for his grand kids. That was the last highlight of the night for Carlton. Yes, they were that bad. Brisbane got Leppa so upset in the Q Clash he turned bright red, then on Sunday when his NEAFL player had the balls to tell the coach to go forth he took it, well, he took him into his own hands and gave the kid a talking too. Not a bad thing, not sure why Leppa came out and apologised for grabbing the kid when he should have used it to apologise for his teams efforts. Brisbane are deep in it, so deep in it they let Christensen play after he’s been at an all you can eat place for dinner. All week. For three weeks. Who cares. I mean, who can pick this one. Carlton have one win for the year, the Bears haven’t. 800 or so people will see Carlton win their second of the year by 4 points.


For the second week in a row Port got away to a good lead and then let their opponents push, push, push inside 50 and struggle to score. A tough 5 weeks to start the year has Port in good shape at 3-2 and with a home match against the Eagles in Adelaide should make it 4-2. Schulz, Ryder and Westhoff combined for 10 goals and look set to trouble plenty of sides with their flexibility in the forward 50. Ryder is starting to really show his worth the Port’s balance. Let’s be fair though, he’d make any side better. The Eagles took care of business last week, GWS offered pretty much no resistance and any time the Eagles have had real opposition this year they have been found wanting. Their wins are over GWS, Brisbane and Carlton. Ports wins are over North Melbourne, Hawthorn and Adelaide. Vastly differing form lines. With the last match of the round in Adelaide, again, Sunday twilight, again, I expect the same team to win, again. Port to stretch the under manned Eagles outfit. Port by 40 points.

Take that for what it’s worth. Last week got you 7 winners.

Great preview

Pies
Kangaroos
Bulldogs
Crows
Hawks
Freo
Carlton
Port
Swans

Only just noticed instead of the usual 5 Saturday, 3 Sunday games, this week there is 6 Saturday and 2 Sunday. No lunch time footy on Sunday, oh well Thunderbirds are on

Collingwood
Richmond
Western Bulldogs
Gold Coast
Hawthorn
Sydney
Fremanntle
Brisbane
Port

Geelong beat Collingwood by 41 points.

Margin was around 60 in the 2nd quarter, Collingwood got it back to 23 before Geelong got the last 3 goals.

North Melbourne thrashing Richmond
Bulldogs destroying St.Kilda

North Melbourne won by 30ish.

St.Kilda have come from 10 goals down to be in front with a few minutes remaining

St.Kilda won by 7 points

GWS beat Hawthorn by 10 points

Adelaide beat Gold Coast by 41 - Betts 5, Walker 4

I'm 0/5

Sydney defeated Melbourne by 38 points

Fremantle beat Essendon by a fair bit

Brisbane beat Carlton and West Coast beat Port in close games.

A weekend of upsets again!

There really is no easy points this year, the season is so even at the moment. It will be interesting to see if it continues, or if things settle and the 'cream' rises to the top.

Apart from Fremantle though, the expected performers are all looking a little shaky.