AFL 2021

[Zzzptm]

Well, the season is officially underway. Richmond and Carlton traded leads back and forth until Richmond pulled ahead in the 4th to win the game.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I756cjaQe3Q

[Jack the Stripper]

The Dogs were too strong for the Magpies last night winning by 16 points. Always had the game under control and looked to have another gear every time Collingwood made a bit of a charge.

Geelong play Adelaide in Adelaide today in a twighlight game. Expecting the Cats to put them away comfortably but you never know being the first round. It can throw up some upsets. Unfortunately they’ll have to do it without their star recruit Jeremy Cameron who has pinged his hamstring for the second time this off season. Not a good sign/start for a player at his new club that cost them 3 first rd draft picks and a big chunk of the salary cap.

Other games today
Melbourne v Fremantle
Essendon v Hawthorn
Brisbane v Sydney

Great to have football back and crowds at the games even if it’s only allowed 50% capacity at the moment. 75% in South and Western Australia

Go Cats!

[Zzzptm]

As soon as AFL uploads the highlights, I'm on those games!

[Jack the Stripper]

@Zzzptm and anyone else for that matter. If you have Amazon prime, checkout the new 7 part doco  series “Making their Mark” It chronicles the challenging journey of the 2020 AFL Covid hit season and really takes you into the inner sanctum of how AFL clubs work. Definitely worth a watch.

[Zzzptm]

Thanks for the recommendation, Jack, I'll follow up on that!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kn227SrIu7g - highlights of Collingwood v Western Bulldogs

The 'Pies (love that nickname) had some good plays, but it was Bulldogs start and finish that sealed their fate.

[Zzzptm]

So what happened with Geelong? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c7kt4QIViVM

Adelaide owned the first half and managed to hang on in the second when Geelong finally woke up and got into the game.

[Jack the Stripper]

One of the more disappointing days I’ve spent watching Geelong. They obviously went over there thinking they’ll easily pick up the 4 points but a young exuberant Adelaide side had other ideas and Geelong was not ready for the pressure they brought.

I’m a little worried about Geelong, they are an ageing team and have brought in more older players this year. Their game plan is a methodical slow moving keep possession style of football and has become predictable to the opposition. The AFL had brought in a new rule this season which is the man standing the mark isn’t allowed to move from the spot until the umpire calls play on, hence they can’t cut off the angles of the kicker. Moving the ball at much faster speed seems to be in vogue right now which the AFL wants after years of ultra defensive football. On top of that, the length of quarters has reverted back to 20 minutes after being 16 minutes last season and the number of interchange rotations allowed have been cut from 90 to 75. Not ideal for an ageing slow team like Geelong. We will also be without our best player Patrick Dangerfield who will be suspended for a minimum of 3 matches for a bump which saw an Adelaide player knocked out with his nose spread across his face. Was purely accidental as it was a clash of heads but the onus is now on the player initiating the bump. If you chose to bump and get the player high even if it’s an accidental clash of heads, you will be suspended, such is the seriousness that CTE has become in contact sport.

[Zzzptm]

Yeah, I saw that Dangerfield bump there, and he definitely went in for it. Old habits die hard may be another drag on an ageing team.

Adelaide looked awful against Port Adelaide, so this was a huge upset, I would imagine.

[Zzzptm]

Melbourne dismantled Fremantle pretty handily there, kept and held their lead all the way through.
Brisbane was dangerous only in the 2nd Quarter, the rest of the match there belonged to the Sydney Swans, very dominant in that game.
Bombers had a slow start and then plastered the Hawks in the 2nd Q, but the Hawks opened up a can of whoop-ass in the 3rd Q, making it very interesting. Last quarter saw Essendon pull ahead for a while, but the Hawks found an answer and took it by a point. That was a great highlights reel!
Port Adelaide really took it to North Melbourne in a convincing victory, PA looks like another strong contender this year.
Great Western had a good opening against St. Kilda, but the Saints never checked out - Saints over Giants after a real cracker of a 4th Quarter.
West Coast Eagles fought off a strong rally from the Suns and then pulled ahead to take the day. Well done, Eagles.

***

Commentators were saying Geelong needs to get out of the habit of feeding the ball to Hawkins, they brought in other talent precisely to give them more weapons. Comments on that, Jack?

[Jack the Stripper]

Yep, they go to him too much and it becomes predictable to the opposition. Often they dropped an extra player back on so he was competing against two a lot of the time while they had other open players to kick to. They really missed having their new forward recruit Jeremy Cameron out there.

[Zzzptm]

Bad enough to be running slow, even worse to be throwing into traffic most of the time!

[Zzzptm]

Collingwood 'Pies avoided the soggy bottoms of last week to start a lead that they maintained on the Blues. Some great defense made all the difference.

[Zzzptm]

VERY physical game between Geelong and Brisbane, umpires pretty much decided to let everyone do whatever they liked, it seems.

Geelong looked ready to play in the first half, but was really left reeling from the Brisbane comeback in the second half.

[Zzzptm]

Great Western Giants were sleepwalking in their loss to Fremantle Dockers, they're 0-2 now and heading for the bottom 4.

Bulldogs and Eagles duked it out in a very close-fought match, with the Dogs finally coming out on top of it all.

Gold Coast destroyed North Melbourne and the Tigers did a real number on the Hawks. North Melbourne at 0-2 is another candidate for the bottom 4.

St. Kilda fell apart against Melbourne, Demons beat the Saints.

Port Adelaide Power opened up strong against the Essendon Bombers - 26 to zip in the first quarter - and they never let up, making a convincing win over Essendon.

Adelaide Crows opened up an early lead on the Sydney Swans, but Sydney got into fighting trim and took it right back to the Crows, opening up their own lead and never looking back.

Found a faster and more extensive source for highlights, Lace Out's channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCN9LKz3O5SDcUApYthD1gBQ/videos

[Zzzptm]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qs7-urZe6oI
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cizp-TVyLLE

GREAT match between Collingwood Magpies and Brisbane Lions! Action went down to the final seconds, brilliant game. Both sides very spirited and giving as good as they got. Lace Out definitely the highlights to watch, as he'll include the singles and full action as the ball crosses the field. Thrilling stuff!