AFL round 22 ‘Round-Up’
It couldn't have worked out any better.
Now for the real thing
“It’s been a unique position we’ve been in the last month or so (securing first place so early), but the real stuff starts now.”~ Nick Riewoldt.
I hope he’s right. Anyway, I’m pleased St Kilda have Collingwood next week, who we beat by 88 pts. last time we played. Most of the round was not worth talking about .. but some games were, so here goes:
West Coast defeated Richmond: You get the feeling that the Eagles are on the way back to being a force, but as for Richmond … well they’re a rabble.
Geelong defeated Fremantle : A practice game for Geelong. Freo have some good young players but the problem they have is in developing any kind of culture. They’re just a side-show and I don’t see them succeeding any time soon.
Hawthorn lost to Essendon : One of the most watchable games of the year. Essendon deserved to make the finals because they are on the rise and have a lot of spirit. And Hawthorn deserved to fall so far from grace after ‘stealing’ a premiership last year. Bad luck … I dislike Hawthorn intensely.
Carlton lost to Adelaide : And how! The Blues have blown fifth spot and now face an interstate elimination final. And Brisbane “knows they’re coming” … to get eliminated. Adelaide are looking impressive.
Sydney lost to Brisbane : Did they? Well, yes. Do I care? Well, no.
Pt Adelaide lost to Nth Melbourne : And no one cared less about the result than … Pt Adelaide! Why did they even bother to turn up this year? At least North has a go (even though they look like staying at the bottom for a while).
Melbourne lost to St Kilda : I feel sorry for Melbourne’s Liam Jurrah, who is a genuine talent stuck in a crap team that is poorly managed. As for the Saints, well they played ordinary for most of the game but … bring on the Pies!
Collingwood lost to Bulldogs : It was a strange game to watch and I got the impression that Collingwood didn’t seem to care if they lost. They might regret not trying a bit harder to secure 3rd spot.
Tipping : Ray 5, Baldrick 5
Final result for the year : Ray 121, Baldrick 120 (Baldrick owes me $5,000)
Highlight of the round : The Essendon/Hawthorn clash and especially Matthew Lloyd’s dramatic ‘collision’ with Sewell’s head that turned the game around.
Lowlight(s) : (1) Matthew Lloyd being reported for that ‘collision’ – I hope he gets off. (2) Richmond, Freo & Pt Adelaide – they should all be relegated. (3) The sour grapes expressed by Hawthorn’s Campbell Brown over the Lloyd incident - what a hypocrite.
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Who plays whom next week? Is it 1 and 4,2/3, 5/8, 6/7?
Baldrick, do you need a loan?
Jackson Browne song that Rox.
Nah, I have a 2nd hand fridge magnet courtesy of the paranoid Howard regime that I might gift Raymond.
Well done Ray. What a contest. I have booked into therapy.
If Buddy got 2 weeks. Lloyd will have to miss the game against the Crows. Such a pity….
I got the impression Collingwood were more upset about having to face the Saints, than losing the game. They looked like their season is over.
Rox, it’s:
St Kilda v C’wood (1 v 4)
Geelong v Footscray (2 v 3)
Adelaide v Essendon (5 v 8 ) … bad luck!
Brisbane v Carlton (6 v 7)
JB, I agree, let him play. Adelaide will win anyway but Lloyd deserves respect.
Stuart, that’s the way I see it too. Collingwood approached that game in a strange manner and it was only in the last few minutes they realised they were in trouble. They blew it.
Baldrick: No, I want the money. Btw, are you me?
I love the attitude that Collingwood would have been better off playing Geelong instead of St Kilda. The pressure is now right off Geelong which now has a it’s full-strength backline back with James Kelly, and of Brad Ottens who looked good in heavy conditions.
Add Paul Chapman and Travis Varcoe and you have a much stronger side to the one that just lost to the Bulldogs last week.
I think C’wood got ahead of themselves and thought it didn’t matter who they played because they were “the team to beat”. They might have swallowed the media hype about their own form and, consequently, taken the game against the Bulldogs too easily (they even rested a key player). Then in the last quarter reality struck them that they had a game on their hands and they were found wanting.
I’m not sure who they would have been better off playing but, generally speaking, you’d rather be facing the 2nd team with an 18-4 record than the top team with a 20-2 record and the 2 losses being by a total of just 7 points.
FOUR WEEKS! Give me a break.
A life sentence.
Oh well, can’t complain after Buddy.
I think you can – Lloyd was going for the contest, not the man.
Wasn’t he pushed in the back too, just before he connected?
I hope Essendon takes it to the Tribunal. There’s a strong case to say that he was going at the ball, not the man – which is the key difference between this incident and the Franklin/Cousins one.