We will split the round tips into two parts seeing the 8 games are split over two weeks to give the Players a mid season break.

Cousins will play against the Eagles for the first time & its also Rawlings first match as caretaker coach.

What do you think of the split round and the fact that no AFL football will be on Saturday afternoon? Will you miss it or you looking forward to go to a local game?

Carlton vs St Kilda

The Saints are looking real good at the moment, the final score against North Melbourne last week may look like it was a walk over. But St Kilda had to come from behind by as much as 29 points after the Kangaroos really took it up to them.

I was impressed how the Saints rallied back with an 11 goals to 2, second half.

Are they the team to take it to the Cats?

Well that answer is only a few rounds away but in the meantime they face the Carlton Blues. Carlton are sitting fourth and got away with a close win over Brisbane last week.

Their spearhead forward Brendan ‘Peter Pan’ Fevola’s form mirrors that of his teams’. He fired up with 8 goals and that in the end led them to victory.

When he spits the dummy and/or has spontaneous injuries, the Blues don’t seem to be able to carry the load.

It will be interesting to see how the back line matches up on Riewoldt and Koschitzke who between them last week kicked 9 goals. The battle in the midfield will be another thing to watch as Bryce Gibbs, Chris Judd, Marc Murphy and co. take on the likes of Lenny Hayes, Nick Dal Santo, and Leigh Montagna.

Carlton should take it up to the Saints but I can’t see St Kilda losing.

St Kilda by 20 points.

Western Bulldogs vs Port Adelaide

Western Bulldogs were like the evil step sisters to Richmond’s Cinderella last Friday. There was no fairytale ending and Richmond almost couldn’t get to the ball. But it is that ruthlessness and tenacity that sees the boys from Footscray in 3rd position.

Midfielders Adam Cooney (33 disposals) Matthew Boyd (28) and Shaun Higgins (20 possessions and three goals) dominated and youngster Liam Picken played like a season campaigner.  The dogs have the midfield engine and managed to kick big scores but I don’t know how they do it with not much of a forward line.

Brad Johnson still presents well but there will come a time when the immortal Johnson will have to retire and there doesn’t seem to be a plan B. The Western Bulldogs keep producing these floating forward types but a key forward would complete the picture nicely.

Port Adelaide sit on the edge of the top 8 and a win over the Dockers last week keeps them in the game. But really when a bunch of Fremantle’s 2nd tier players are competitive against a more experienced Power side, you have to wonder about Port Adelaide and where they sit in the context of things.

Western Bulldogs are clearly a top 4 side at the moment and their midfield should expose the gaps in Port’s defense.

Western Bulldogs by 43 points.

Richmond vs West Coast

Richmond are back to square one. When a 5 year masterplan falls flat in the faces of those at Tigerland it leaves a lot of people searching for answers and hopefully, they can go back over what processes led to this spectacular failure and put in place a more sound blueprint for the future.

If there is one positive down at Richmond it is that they are, well very positive considering the situation. Generally the week after the coach gets sack the team rebounds with a win. New coach Rawlings will be hoping for this and much more, as he uses the remaining weeks to prove to the Tiger hierarchy that he is cut out for the job.

A mass culling of experienced players ( Joel Bowden, Troy Simmonds, Mark Coughlan, Jordan McMahon, Kayne Pettifer) to make way for new blood at Richmond, should give West Coast the edge for me.

Interesting notes are that it will be Ben Cousin’s first game against his old side and Nick Naitanui makes his much-anticipated debut.

West Coast by 23 points.

Hawthorn vs Brisbane

Big Bad Bustling Barry Hall’s Brain implosion gave the Hawks an 11 point win last week against the Swans. Even though Sydney had their chances after that incident, a 150 meter penalty that leads to a goal in a tight last quarter definitely swung the momentum in Hawthorn’s favour.

Not to take anything away from Sydney’s efforts, the Hawks still seem a little off their game and it showed.

Losing Cyril Rioli to a hamstring injury will affect their forward potency, but Lance Franklin (3 goals), Jarrod Roughead (3), Mark Williams  (3) are starting to find their range.

Brisbane lost to Carlton last week in another close game and definitely can match it up forward with Jonathan Brown and Daniel Bradshaw but their defensive skills are just not there like they used to be.

Hawthorn by 35 points

Adelaide vs North Melbourne

Adelaide are red hot at the moment with 3 wins in a row and at AAMI stadium they look almost unbeatable, almost.  Tyson Edwards in his 300th game last week finished with 41 possessions and 10 tackles and Kurt Tippet dominated with 7 goals.

But its North’s turn for the milestone match as Adam Simpson plays his 300th game for the Kangaroos. Traditionally North Melbourne have been able to lift for these types of games but Adelaide have experience oozing out of their lineup and should continue their run of form.

Adelaide by 46 points.

Your Round 12 Tips & Observations

So what are your tips & observations for the 12th round of AFL in 2009? Do you agree with Johnny? if yes or no please post your tips and observations about round 12 in the comments section.

We now include the total correct tips of the Kick2Kick writers & readers, so hear they are (will be updated every week). If your doing better than us, let us know…

1. Rian (Deano’s wife): 64
2. Martynkai: 61
3. Craig: 61
4. JohnnyTruent: 60
5. Deano: 59
6. Michael: 59
7. Jermayn: 59
8. Princess (Jerm’s wife): 58

Related K2K Posts

• 2009 AFL Round 12 Tips pt2 (8)
• 2009 AFL Round 12 Wrapup pt2 (5)
• 2010 Round 12 Tips (8)
• 2009 AFL Grand Final Tips (9)
• 2009 AFL Preliminary Finals Tips (8)