AFL 2021

[Zzzptm]

Week 17 games...

Melbourne v Port Adelaide - HUGE game. If Melbourne wins, it helps to right the course for that team. If Port Adelaide wins, Melbourne is still in the top part of the ladder, but with the wrong trajectory for the home stretch. What looked like the Dee's season to lose a few weeks ago now looks like the Dees need to compete stronger if they want to get back to the top.

Power is coming off a win and they seem to have their act together. I'm going with Port Adelaide to win this one and the Dees to do some hard thinking after the game is over.

Essendon v Adelaide - Bombers are the team that's the stronger of the two. Both have shown some good moves of late, but Essendon is the side I expect to win.

Hawthorn v Fremantle - This is a must-win for Fremantle if they want hope of getting into the top 8 and Hawthorn is still not consistent enough in its performance. Fremantle will push past Hawthorn in this one.

Carlton v Geelong - not hard to call this one, so I did it right away. It would be nice if Geelong wins it without giving up a big lead at the start, though.

Brisbane v St. Kilda - St. Kilda's last two wins were against teams in trouble. Brisbane is NOT a team in trouble. It may not be a win with a massive trouncing, but Brisbane will win all the same.

GWS v Gold Coast - Both teams had some interesting wins recently. GC beat last year's winners, Richmond. Nicely done. GWS beat *this* year's top of the ladder team, Melbourne. Which win is more impressive? GWS Giants will be the victors of this competition.

Western Bulldogs v Sydney - Sydney's come back into form, but the Bulldogs haven't really lost the form they have. Going with consistency, Bulldogs take this one.

Richmond v Collingwood - earlier in this season, there would be no hesitancy in calling a win for Richmond. Now we gotta think about it... is Richmond done with their losing streak? Is Collingwood ready to show a win after their coach's departure? They can't both win and they can't both lose. I think Richmond has its puzzle pieces back into place, at least for this match.

West Coast v North Melbourne - Yes, North Melbourne is capable of surprises. But when wins are surprises, rather than expectations, that says something about that team. West Coast is troubled of late, but they still have a good team, which is why I pick them.

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So far this week, I'm wrong about Melbourne, but profoundly right about Essendon. Wow. What a shutdown on the Crows!

[Jack the Stripper]

^^^Such a rubbish game to schedule on a Friday night.

I went to the Geelong game yesterday. Wasn’t a great game to watch either but was just happy to get the win and no injuries out of it. Only got a 5 day break to Fremantle next week.

St Kilda have caused the upset so far this weekend trouncing Brisbane last night which was great for Geelongs aspirations to grab that top 4 spot. Port losing was great also. Going to be an exciting finish to the H&A season. There’s 6 teams fighting for 7th & 8th.

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I got sooooooooooooo much wrong, but that's part of the fun - finding out how those teams I thought would lose turned out to be winners! Not making bets really helps me take losses in stride.

St. Kilda beating Brisbane was the biggest shocker. With the Saints getting a big win against a team that wasn't putting out signs of distress, they look to be on their way up.

The Gold Coast win was not as surprising, but shows that there's still quite a lot of life in some of those teams on the bottom part of the ladder.

Richmond losing to Collingwood means that, no, they do NOT have their puzzle pieces back together. They have just crumbled as a side. And Sydney beat the Bulldogs... whaaaa? No game can be taken for granted.

[Jack the Stripper]

West Coast got rolled in Perth tonight by the bottom placed North in what was the biggest upset of the season so far.

 What a climax to the end of the H&A season we are gonna have with so many teams in the race to grab 8th spot and a bunch of teams in a battle to grab a top 4 spot.

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I'm looking at the week's results and it's like all these teams on the bottom end have a poison stinger in their tails. Not even the cleverest of teams can avoid all the stingers all the time. That's what keeps the action interesting, for sure!

And it looks like there's still a mathematical possibility of North Melbourne finishing ahead of Richmond.

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Everyone loves videos of cats on YouTube! And these cats can WIN!

Of course I was predicting Geelong would win this week. I'll submit my other predictions after I finish with this sweet victorious vid.

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Richmond v Brisbane - very sure that Brisbane should win this one

Gold Coast v Bulldogs - very sure that Bulldogs win

Melbourne v Hawthorn - very sure about Melbourne

St Kilda v Port Adelaide - St Kilda gave us all a big surprise last week. I think Port should win, but not all that confident in that prediction.

North Melbourne v Essendon - pretty confident in Essendon winning.

Collingwood v Carlton - I'll go with Carlton, but I feel like this is a pick 'em, either side can win this.

Adelaide v West Coast - West Coast has been awful after the break, maybe this is Adelaide's week? Another pick 'em here.

GWS v Sydney - Swans win this one, fairly sure about it.

I'm very interested to see what St. Kilda can do this week, kind of rooting for them to win.

[Jack the Stripper]

Cats were awesome tonight. They looked on a mission. Their intensity and pressure levels were at a high level from the start and they put the game away in the first half. Very professional all round performance from the boys.

The next couple of weeks is going to be interesting with a lot of Victorian clubs as well as the two Sydney clubs fleeing to Queensland to keep ahead of the latest Covid outbreaks. The Cats aren’t sure yet if they’re headed to Queensland as well or are gonna hub in WA for a couple of weeks. Very uncertain times for the AFL competition and the clubs right now.

[Jack the Stripper]

Richmond
Bulldogs
Melbourne
St Kilda
Essendon
Carlton
West Coast
Sydney

Got a feeling the tigers are gonna turn it around this week. Getting some very important players back from injury while the Lions lose a couple of important players. Also Tigers star Jack Riewoldt celebrates his 300th game and I’m sure they’ll lift for that as well. Only thing against them beside their recent poor form is that the game has been shifted from Melbourne to Queensland.

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I know with curling this year, every team had to be "in the bubble" in Calgary from February through to April, if they expected to compete in both the men's or women's events and the mixed doubles events. Longer still if they were going to be in world championships. The catch with all the AFL in one area is the limits on venues: you can't have 4 matches running at the same time, like you can with curling!

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Well, I'm dealing with an upset and JtS is not. But am I unhappy? No, I am not, as Brisbane's loss puts that much more distance between them and the top of the ladder, where Geelong currently sits. And if Jack and I are wrong about Melbourne or Bulldogs, I don't think we'll be all that overcome with grief and/or regret.

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Melbourne tied Hawthorn?

[Jack the Stripper]

Yep crazy! Hawthorn had quite a few of their top players out too. It seems some teams handle the crowdless stadiums better than others. I reckon it cost the Saints today against Port.

[Zzzptm]

Footy picks for week 19:

Port Adelaide beats Collingwood
Carlton beats North Melbourne
Brisbane beats Gold Coast
West Coast beats St Kilda, although I'd love an upset by the Saints!
Adelaide beats Hawthorn
Melbourne beats Bulldogs - Melbourne only loses to teams in the bottom half!
Essendon beats GWS Giants - I expect Essendon to push hard for a top 8 spot
Geelong beats Richmond - and with that win, Geelong goes to the top of the ladder if Bulldogs tie with Melbourne, quite possibly.
Sydney beats Fremantle