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With a bye in the AFL, a bye in the VFL and our academy team having already played their last Talent League game, perhaps the closest we can get to something partisan, is the U18 game on Sunday, when the Allies play South Australia. Can't find anything to tell me what time it's on and if it's going to be streamed, but I'm sure something will appear on the AFL site some time before the game. Five of our players; Cleary, May, Rider, Gander and Kirk are in the squad. So hopefully they all get a decent amount of minutes.
Anyway, other games. Tonight's game is between Melbourne and Carlton. Most of the Carlton fans and many commentators, think that we ended their season last week, but I tend to believe that it's still too early to totally write off a side that's only six points out of the eight. So, in the interest of fairness, I think we should wait until Melbourne give them a sound thrashing, and then we can contemptuously dismiss that fetid zombie of a club.
The two Saturday afternoon games look like being one sided affairs: Port hosting Hawthorn and West Coast inflicting further misery on their own supporters, with their game against Collingwood. Though I have noticed that Collingwood is now at $1.04, when earlier in the week they were $1.03. So, it appears that there was at least some money being wagered on a West Coast win. If it was some of their own fans, I suppose you have to vaguely admire the optimism.
The two Saturday night games appear to be the most intriguing of the round. Firstly, the Western Bulldogs take on the Cats at Marvel. After the outcry about the beneficial umpiring that the Bulldogs received last week, it'll be interesting to see how they're umpired this week. Will their players descend into increasingly shell-shocked dismay, as the free kick count inexorably falls the way of the Cats? Will the Cats feel that they can get away with pretty well anything, and test that theory to its limits, by seeing how far they can hurl Cody Weightman into the Marvel stands? Or will it go the other way? That is, nothing wrong with how the Bulldogs have been umpired, and to prove that there was nothing wrong with the previous lopsided counts, there will be one of epic proportions on Saturday night. And of course, with Mathew Nichols as lead umpire, either extreme could easily be regarded as incompetence, rather than conspiracy. Another interesting thing about this clash, is a loss would be Geelong's fourth in a row and have them going into their bye at 5/7. Will that lead to a few claims of their season being gone??
Anyway, while that's going on, Gold Coast play Adelaide in Darwin. Having won both their NT games last season, the Suns will be keen to keep the streak going. After beating both the Dogs and the umpiring last week, they should have a good chance, against an Adelaide side that were also impressive in a win over Brisbane. Hopefully the prospect of a quality game will see a capacity crowd at TIO stadium.
The first Sunday game is the 14th placed GWS hosting the 15th placed Richmond. Which should be a much better game than the ladder positions suggest.
The final game of the round is Essendon and North. Essendon are short priced favourites and the large majority of their fans are probably expecting them to consolidate their place in the eight. But I'm not so sure? While North have lost quite a few in a row, it could be argued that their last couple of losses may have had more merit than Essendon's couple of recent wins. And if I recall correctly, this is the sort of game that Essendon teams of the last five seasons or so, seem to consistently lose.
Anyway, other games. Tonight's game is between Melbourne and Carlton. Most of the Carlton fans and many commentators, think that we ended their season last week, but I tend to believe that it's still too early to totally write off a side that's only six points out of the eight. So, in the interest of fairness, I think we should wait until Melbourne give them a sound thrashing, and then we can contemptuously dismiss that fetid zombie of a club.
The two Saturday afternoon games look like being one sided affairs: Port hosting Hawthorn and West Coast inflicting further misery on their own supporters, with their game against Collingwood. Though I have noticed that Collingwood is now at $1.04, when earlier in the week they were $1.03. So, it appears that there was at least some money being wagered on a West Coast win. If it was some of their own fans, I suppose you have to vaguely admire the optimism.
The two Saturday night games appear to be the most intriguing of the round. Firstly, the Western Bulldogs take on the Cats at Marvel. After the outcry about the beneficial umpiring that the Bulldogs received last week, it'll be interesting to see how they're umpired this week. Will their players descend into increasingly shell-shocked dismay, as the free kick count inexorably falls the way of the Cats? Will the Cats feel that they can get away with pretty well anything, and test that theory to its limits, by seeing how far they can hurl Cody Weightman into the Marvel stands? Or will it go the other way? That is, nothing wrong with how the Bulldogs have been umpired, and to prove that there was nothing wrong with the previous lopsided counts, there will be one of epic proportions on Saturday night. And of course, with Mathew Nichols as lead umpire, either extreme could easily be regarded as incompetence, rather than conspiracy. Another interesting thing about this clash, is a loss would be Geelong's fourth in a row and have them going into their bye at 5/7. Will that lead to a few claims of their season being gone??
Anyway, while that's going on, Gold Coast play Adelaide in Darwin. Having won both their NT games last season, the Suns will be keen to keep the streak going. After beating both the Dogs and the umpiring last week, they should have a good chance, against an Adelaide side that were also impressive in a win over Brisbane. Hopefully the prospect of a quality game will see a capacity crowd at TIO stadium.
The first Sunday game is the 14th placed GWS hosting the 15th placed Richmond. Which should be a much better game than the ladder positions suggest.
The final game of the round is Essendon and North. Essendon are short priced favourites and the large majority of their fans are probably expecting them to consolidate their place in the eight. But I'm not so sure? While North have lost quite a few in a row, it could be argued that their last couple of losses may have had more merit than Essendon's couple of recent wins. And if I recall correctly, this is the sort of game that Essendon teams of the last five seasons or so, seem to consistently lose.
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