AFL 2021

[Zzzptm]

Wait, not a standard pitch size? Interesting...

[Jack the Stripper]

https://www.afl.com.au/venues

There would be probably about 8 community football grounds all within 3-7 minute drive of my home and not one of them would be the exact same dimensions .

[Zzzptm]

That's another thing... over half the teams are in the Greater Melbourne area. It certainly seems like that's the place to be for footy!

[Jack the Stripper]

Yep it used to originally be the VFL(Victorian Football League) with 12 teams. The Swans got in financial difficulties and relocated to Sydney in 1982. West Coast and Brisbane joined in 87 and it became the AFL in 1990. Adelaide, Fremantle, Port Adelaide, Gold Coast and GWS have all joined since. In 1996 another Victorian club the Fitzroy Lions went bust and merged with the Brisbane Bears to become the Brisbane Lions.

[Zzzptm]

But Victoria is still where the heart of footy beats, though.

[Jack the Stripper]

^^^There’s no doubt about that.

..................................................

Collingwood fought hard all night but West Coast was too good at home prevailing 103 - 76

Geelong and West Coast is gonna be a big game next week

[Zzzptm]

Cats won the game, but they should have won by a lot more... did not see flash or fire in the match highlights.

I need to watch the Swans-Giants highlights, I need to see how GWS pulled it off!

[Zzzptm]

Got a chance to see the Swans-Giants highlights... Giants looked like a team that was hungry and driving for victory. They look like they are going to find their way in the schedule ahead.

[Jack the Stripper]

The Giants had a nice balance of controlled methodical ball movement and fast sling shot football. Swans held sway for 3qtrs thanks to some wayward kicking in front of goal by the Giants but they refused to go away staying within 3-4 goals the whole time. The Swans lost their dominant ruckman Tom Hickey in the last qtr and the Giants took over in the middle dominating field position and were able to pinch the win at the death. Also, as I previously said about the Swans, I don’t think their game style suits the smaller SCG. They’ve had two scratchy wins there and a loss which was their first for the season.

In bad news, Geelong has lost their superstar wrecking ball Patrick Dangerfield for about 8 weeks with a syndesmosis injury. He bravely played on with the injury against North Melbourne on the weekend but scans later revealed the seriousness of the injury.
https://www.afl.com.au/news/598677/dangerfield-injury-blow-superstar-in-strife-with-ankle-problem

[Zzzptm]

Oh man, Dangerfield is a key player. What's Geelong's strategy without him?

[Jack the Stripper]

Well you can’t really cover someone like Dangerfield. Just means everyone will have to step up, especially the midfielders. Also means they can play some of the young rookies waiting in the wings.
At least Cameron is coming back which will add some confidence and exuberance to the team.

Eagles haven’t won at Geelong since 2006 btw with an average losing margin of 60 points in that time.

[Zzzptm]

That would be an important victory for Geelong, if they can make a statement like that. And they NEED to make a statement like that - the AFL round up from last week kept talking about how listless Geelong were in a *victory* over North Melbourne. Upcoming matches with Sydney and Richmond are must-win for them to be serious about winning the championship.

[Jack the Stripper]

Went to the Cattery today and witnessed a massacre. A 97 point massacre.

Geelong 136 def West Coast 39

[Vyn]

I caught the final score of that game online. It took me a minute to understand what I was looking at because the spread was so large lol.

[Zzzptm]

AFL Roundup:

Cats *come from behind* to win by 97! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jzOw38P5mdc
This is the kind of performance that keeps you from being criticized for not winning by enough on Monday mornings. Smashing performance against another mid-tier team means Geelong sends itself upward in the overall rankings.

In other news, Bulldogs proved too much for GWS, stuffing them with a big margin. Gold Coast Suns whip up on the Sydney Swans, 40 point margin there - and the Swans need to find an answer real quick before they see Geelong next week, and I'm thinking Geelong's on the right trajectory for that match-up.

Carlton scored the first goal, but not enough of the ones afterward: Brisbane Lions defeat the Blues by 18. I didn't even look at the Fremantle v North Melbourne contest - I just checked NM, they're 0-6, so no surprises there. Melbourne v Richmond got interesting in the 2nd Quarter when Melbourne rallied to tie the game with early leaders Richmond... and then run away with the game, Dees over Tigers by more than 30 and are undefeated so far, great opening for Melbourne's season, landing a big victory over the 2020 champs.

Hawthorn managed to find it in themselves to beat Adelaide by 3 points, second win for Hawthorn this season. Good for the fans, but they'll have to do a lot more to be contenders. Essendon v Collingwood: both teams went in 1-4, someone had to win it: Essendon decided it was their day, now they're 2-4. Port Adelaide beat lackluster St. Kilda by 44: should it have been by more? Probably so.

Overall, Geelong looks good at #4 in the overall ratings, behind Undefeated Bulldogs and Dees and 5-1 Power. Swans and Fremantle are also 4-2 teams, but Geelong pips them on the tiebreaker. Richmond, Brisbane, Adelaide, and West Coast are all at 3-3. The rest are all at 2-4 except for 1-5 Pies and the hapless 0-6 North Melbourne.

Question over to Jack: who in the middle of the pack are setting up to move up? Who's on a downward trajectory?