AFL 2021

[Zzzptm]

... make that 28 at the final. Melbourne got the job done, for sure.

In the others... I'll take:

St. Kilda over NM: Roos had a fluke, St. Kilda is having a better time of things.
Gold Coast over Hawthorn: Because Hawthorn is flailing
West Coast over Essendon: Might be a close game but might not... either way, West Coast is a solid team.
Richmond over Adelaide: Unless this is the Crows team from last week that beat Melbourne... don't know if they plan to show, though.
I'll take Carlton over Sydney. I think this week is when the Blues get a W, and it's over a Sydney side that's seeing some difficulties.
Port Adelaide makes it past Fremantle, but not by as much as we would have expected a few weeks ago.

[Zzzptm]

... just saw highlights of the Dees/Dogs... were the Western Bulldogs on tranquilizers?

[Zzzptm]

Well, I'm done believing in Carlton, unless they're against a bottom-tier opponent. I don't think they've got enough steam pressure in their boilers.

Essendon did a great comeback against West Coast, there's fire in their game. They're now in the top half of teams. Sure, they're #9, but that's still the top half.

Port Adelaide looked much better against Fremantle than I expected, so that's good news for them... but Brisbane is just red-hot right now. They struggled out of the gate but have done a smashing job in the last weeks - they play Melbourne this weekend, or, rather, they are scheduled to play Melbourne... I really do hope that they find a way to have this match, as I think Melbourne will put a stop to Brisbane's hot streak.

[Zzzptm]

Melbourne v Brisbane was great, and the Dees managed to make the second half their very own. That did the trick and they turned in a very convincing performance over the Lions.

Sydney vs St. Kilda: Swans are back in form, picking Sydney.
Adelaide vs Collingwood: Crows will do the job.
Essendon vs Richmond: The Tigers will be on top, I expect a fairly easy job of it, as well.
Carlton vs West Coast: WC in a slump, this might be where Carlton edges them... but I read what I said after last week, so I'm going with West Coast retooling and winning the match.
Bulldogs vs Fremantle: Sorry, Dockers, but the Bulldogs will look to rebound good and hard off of you. Expecting a big win for the Bulldogs.

[Jack the Stripper]

Big game coming up on Thursday night for the Cats Z. Heading into enemy territory to take on the Power. The Cats are only 2/12 after a bye since 2012. Not a good record at all. But those aren’t the only obstacles they have to overcome.
Given the small Covid outbreak and subsequent lockdown in Victoria the SA government is forcing them to quarantine 4 days prior to their arrival in their homes or in a hotel, then have to fly in and fly out the same day as the game as well a be tested before they leave Victoria and when they arrive in SA. All the while wearing Masks pretty much the whole time except when they run out to play.

Totally over the top rules and regulations put on them even though Geelong is considered regional in Victoria which is currently not in lockdown at the moment.

[Zzzptm]

No question that the match v Power is critical. And those restrictions are not going to be conducive to Geelong's ability to maintain consistency in its play. Power also had a bye - they were already looking strong v Dockers, so Geelong needs to be much stronger than it was v Pies.

[Zzzptm]

For this week...

Geelong over PA because I'm a Cats fan, and that's how I have to call it. Come on, Cats! DO IT!

Melbourne beats Collingwood. Pretty sure about that and so glad Jack didn't convince me to cheer for Collingwood.

Richmond beats West Coast. Richmond is finding its way just as WC found a way to lose vs GWS and Essendon.

Speaking of GWS, they beat North Melbourne. Thank you, Jack, for also not being a Roos fan.

Sydney beats Hawthorn. Pretty sure about that one.

For the two remaining matches, I'm going with records to pick the winners: Fremantle and St. Kilda, you get wins this week; Adelaide and Gold Coast get to run laps on Monday.

***

Just saw that Collingwood's coach quit - even more reason for top team Melbourne to roll over them this weekend.

[Jack the Stripper]

I wouldn’t be surprised if we see a big spike in Collingwoods performance this week. Not saying they’ll win but history is littered with big emotional performances from clubs who’s coach is coaching his last game for the club. Buckley is a much loved figure and favourite son of Collingwood. Probably considered their greatest ever player.

On another note. Some big ins for the Cats this week, led by their superstar Patrick Dangerfield who’s back after 8 weeks out with a syndismosis injury. Unfortunately Guthrie didn’t get up for the game with his injured shoulder. Must win game to stay entrenched in the top four with the Bulldogs and Brisbane to follow in the next 2 weeks.

Geelong
Sydney
Fremantle
GWS
St Kilda
Richmond
Melbourne
for me this week.

[Zzzptm]

Seeing the news on Buckley leaving, lots of mixed reactions from Pies fans.

[Zzzptm]

Geelong did it! Yes! Great match, lots of back and forth, but Geelong took a top-tier opponent and went the distance. Very satisfying match to watch, particularly as a Geelong fan. Thanks again to Jack for getting me started on this.

[Jack the Stripper]

Glad you’re enjoying it Z and you're following a great club in Geelong. They play finals nearly every year and will take you on a great ride in the process.

Yes it was a very satisfying win tonight. Were headed twice by Port and both times they were able to wrestle the momentum back and then eventually put them away in impressive style.

Great performance from our 3 key forwards Cameron, Hawkins and Rohan kicking 12 goals between them and the defenders stood up all night led by Stewart, Henry and Henderson. Dangerfield expectingly looked underdone but go better and better as the game went along.

Great win in enemy territory especially with all the bullshit rules the SA government put them through. Haha, after all that, turns out they got fogged in and couldn’t fly out after the game anyway, so had to stay the night in Adelaide.

[Zzzptm]

Nice to see Parfitt getting 2 goals, as well. And the one PA goal that failed to go in... just lovely to see it hang in the air on the wrong side of the line!

[Jack the Stripper]

First upset for the round and one of the bigger upsets of the season so far with Hawthorn easily accounting for Sydney in Sydney tonight.

[Zzzptm]

First upset for the round and one of the bigger upsets of the season so far with Hawthorn easily accounting for Sydney in Sydney tonight.

Yeah, I was stunned to see the score, Hawthorn smothered the Swans. And the highlights skip over many Hawks goals, you'd think it was an even contest based on the clipshow. Swans not looking good at all to keep up with the top four.

[Jack the Stripper]

^They have a very tough run of games coming up too. Thing is, there’s no one really staking their claim from outside the top 8 at the moment besides maybe the Bombers. I don’t think Sydney will finish in the top 4 but given their good start to the season they should make the final 8.