North Melbourne v Carlton

In recent years  the Kangaroos have had the wood over the Blues winning the last 6 times they have met. Even though they are yet to win for their caretaker coach Darren Crocker, North Melbourne have been competitive.

A close loss to Hawthorn, a draw against the Tigers and for a half of footy they were matching it with Brisbane.

Carlton on the other hand got an absolute thrashing at the hands of Collingwood, and have had wins over bottom eight sides.

Last week against the Pies, Fevola struggled against a quality back-man in Prestigiacomo and Chris Judd had a quiet game after injuring his ankle.

For the Blues to win they can’t always be relying on the superstar qualities of Judd and Fevola. It is up to midfielders like Murphy, Gibbs to step it up when both players (Judd and Fevola) aren’t firing.

Congratulations to Adam Simpson on a great career for the Roos. After 300 AFL games he has decided to retire and North have a history of  lifting for these type of milestone games.

Quite simply the Blues need to keep winning to maintain their 7th spot on the AFL ladder and that just tips me in their favour.

Carlton by 12 points

Western Bulldogs v Fremantle

A lot of people anticipated that the Western Bulldogs would be the team to take it up to the Saints. In the end the score blew out to a 45 point loss for the Dogs as the Saints once again proved why they are premiership contenders.

So what went wrong for the Western Bulldogs?  They have numerous attacking options and it is no secret that they easily have a good spread of goal kickers. Yes it is easy to say by looking at last week’s score sheet that the problem is that they don’t have a key forward.

But I definitely think when the effect of their goal kicking midfield is nullified – it would be pretty good to have a plan B attacking option like a known goal kicker that can turn a game with a 4 goal burst.

But that’s in an ideal world.

The Dogs sit 3rd on the ladder and for percentage sake a ‘pick me up’ game against the dismal Dockers might be just what the doctor ordered.

Fremantle won last week against West Coast in a match that almost looked like ‘who could make the most clangers’. It was a terrible footy game riddled with errors.

Against much classier opposition in the Doggies, the Dockers could be up for a thrashing like against the Crows a few weeks back.

Western Bulldogs by 56 points

Geelong v Adelaide

Geelong had a thrilling 1 point win over the Hawks last round and I’m not sure if it says as much about the Cats as it does Hawthorn. The biggest weakness at the moment for Geelong is injury.

With such a balanced line up needed for teams to be successful, injuries to players like defenders Matthew Scarlett and Harry Taylor can make things very hard for the Cats.

Coming from 28 points at the start of the last quarter to win is nothing to sneeze at, and just shows that the Cats are a champion team.

Adelaide meanwhile had a solid 70 point win against the Power in their show down.

The past month has seen the Crows with big margin wins over lowly opponents and a huge loss against the Saints who are of the same calibre as Geelong.

Brett Burton made an impressive return from injury to boot 4 goals last week and could be the missing link for Adelaide to match it with the big boys.

The Cats for me are just a class above Adelaide and with the game in Geelong, you could almost pencil them in for a victory.

Geelong by 24 points

Sydney v St Kilda

The Saints get questioned by their critics and continually doubted, but are showing the marks of being a great team by answering the only way they know how, with comprehensive victories over in-form opponents.

The depth they have in their playing list makes it easier for St Kilda to cover for the loss of Justin Koschitzke, against quality opposition like the Western Bulldogs.

Four players ( Brendon Goddard, Nick Dal Santo, Jason Blake, Lenny Hayes and Sam Gilbert)  had 30 + possessions in a dominating display against their 3rd placed rivals.

The impressive thing about the Saints is their defensive pressure that relies on man on man instead of zoning and flooding. They continually put the ball carrier under pressure until they milk an error out of their opponents.

This type of game-plan counts on all players being fully committed to being accountable for their opposing number, and yet the Saints are still able to rebound-attack effectively.

Sydney have in recent years had a rather defensive game-plan that has worked in their favour, but with an ageing midfield and few forward options, it has done little to stop losses against the better teams.

Their win against the Demons last week was a dour, low scoring, scrappy affair that kept alive the Swan’s slim finals hopes.

The only thing in favour for Sydney against the Saints is that the game is being played at the S.C.G, the smallest ground in the AFL.

St Kilda by 35 points

Collingwood v Brisbane

For me this is match of the round with both teams in red hot form in what should be an interesting, free flowing encounter.

Collingwood are riding a wave of momentum with a huge win over old rivals Carlton and the announcement of Nathan Buckley returning to the Magpies – first as Malthouse’s apprentice and then taking over as coach.

I don’t know if it’s as ground breaking or as innovative as ‘putting man on the moon’ but try telling that to Eddie McGuire.

A few teams in the pass have used a similar plan of making the transition from assistant to coach as smooth as possible with mixed results. The recent example that springs to mind is the role that David Parkin played as coach at Carlton.

Towards the end of his coaching career he gave more responsibilities to his assistants (Brittain and Worsfold) on game day, and he even continued at the club as a Coaching Director for a while.

Anyway back to the game at hand.

Brisbane took a while to get into gear last week but were led brilliantly by Jonathan Brown kicking 8 goals as his fellow partner in crime Daniel Bradshaw was absent with an injury to his hamstring.

The Lions have a talented midfield with a good mixture of experience (Simon Black and Luke Power) and youth ( Mitch Clark and Daniel Rich) but I worry about their reliance on the Big J.B  up forward.

Collingwood were impressive against Carlton in the way they totally dominated the Blues in every area of the ground. A lot of  people (other than Magpie supporters) underrate the Collingwood team and wonder how all of a sudden the Magpies are where they are.

Leon Davis has always had that ability to spark, the only difference this year is that he is doing it more consistently. Dane Swan has been a very good player now for a couple of years but with last week’s 38 possession game shows that he has also stepped it up this year.

This should be an exciting clash if Brisbane can mix up the forward opportunities but if Simon Prestigiacomo does a job on Jonathan Brown, it could be all over for the Lions by half time.

Collingwood by 18 points

Melbourne v Richmond

Richmond had a terrific, nail biting win over Essendon last week and showed great steel to hold out on a late surge from the 8th placed Bombers.

It was impressive to see the players for Richmond rise to the challenge.

Jack Riewoldt bagged 6 goals - Robbie Nahas  and Daniel Jackson add a bit of bite and tenacity and Ben Cousins showed that his big game experience can have a benefit to a young squad.

Melbourne beat Richmond earlier this year but at the moment look like they are struggling with a mounting injury list and a poor effort last round against the Swans.

Richmond should avenge their earlier loss to the Dees this season.

Richmond by 32 points

Port Adelaide v Hawthorn

Hawthorn are leaving their run for a finals berth a little too late for my liking and need to keep on winning to sneak into that 8th position. A close 1 point loss to Geelong will give the Hawk faithful a lot of confidence but it’s still a loss that the team can ill afford.

Buddy Franklin has hit a purple patch and kicked 5 goals but the Hawks cannot become too reliant on Franklin to fire. The key for the Hawthorn’s return to former glory might be the supporting roles of Roughead and Rioli.

If these two exciting forwards can team up with Buddy, the brown and gold will reach 5th gear.

Port Adelaide got pumped by cross town rivals the Crows last week by 70 points and show yet again with this loss that they don’t have the consistency to make the top eight. Port are playing in Adelaide and have a pretty successful record against the Hawks in recent years, with a win earlier this against them.

The question is though, what team for the Power will turn up to play?

Hawthorn by 28 points

West Coast v Essendon

West Coast are playing average football at the moment…wait no I correct myself -below average football. The Western Derby was the worst game I have seen this year and it was embarrassing to watch such simple skill errors.

I really can’t see the Eagles being finals contenders for another few years with their recent displays and they are definitely one of those teams you could mark down as a long term project for the coaching staff.

Essendon had a surprising loss to Richmond. It was suprising but not shocking with the Tigers showing form and Essendon looking weary and tired recently.

I can’t see them losing to the Eagles purely for the fact that a tired, battered Bombers outfit can still beat a unskilled, inaccurate team like West Coast.

Essendon by 16 points

Your Round 18 Tips & Observations

So what are your tips & observations for the 18th round of AFL in 2009? Do you agree with Johnny? if yes or no please post your tips and observations about round 18 in the comments section.

We now include the total correct tips of the Kick2Kick writers & readers, so here they are (updated every week). If your doing better than any of us, let us know and include your own.

1. Geoff: 100
2. Craig: 98
3. Martynkai: 94
4. JohnnyTruent: 92
5. Princess: 91
6. Jermayn: 90