Carlton v Geelong

As the season wears on the playing lists of all teams is being tested with a lot of teams struggling with injuries to key players.

Geelong are holding it together with a bit of Duct tape and ‘player list management’ which is the AFL’s catchphrase of the week.

Injuries to Paul Chapman, Matty Scarlett and Harry Taylor are testing out Geelongs depth and at the moment the Cats are treading water till the start of the Finals. Not to say that they’ll be taking it easy in tonight’s clash against the Blues.

When looking at their line up with no Scarlett and Taylor and Chapman it still holds up reasonably well. Some lesser lights at Geelong that don’t get the spotlight much like Shane Mumford, Travis Varcoe and Max Rooke are very handy players.

And although teams rely on their bigger stars like an  Ablett and Selwood, it’s the supporting players mentioned above that can mean the difference between winning and losing.

Carlton have named an unchanged lineup that beat North Melbourne by 10 points. The Blues do do enough to just beat teams like the Kangaroos and they always should with players like Gibbs, Judd and Marc Murphy-who was outstanding last week.

But when playing a quality line up like Geelong, Carlton I don’t think this year have been able to step it up.

Geelong by 24 points.

Western Bulldogs v West Coast Eagles

The Bulldogs are sitting 3rd at the moment and last week battled it out against the Dockers for a win.

It wasn’t pretty and at times somehow the Dockers looked competitive but a win literally is a win.

And we could be seeing that a lot in coming weeks as teams limp towards the finals, take the wins and then somehow step it up a gear.

If this game was say five rounds back the Bulldogs would be looking at easily a 42 point victory, but towards this part of the season doing enough to get over the line might be the tactic they employ just to save a bit of finals fuel in the tank.

That saying the Eagles have been terrible away from home this year, but did beat the Bulldogs earlier in the season ( Round 4 ).

West Coast had a resounding victory over a depleted Bombers side and it just goes to show that injuries can be the great equaliser.

But the Doggies have a solid line up and still have Robert Murphy and Scotty Welsh to slot back in the side in the remaining weeks.

Western Bulldogs by 32 points.

Hawthorn v St Kilda

This should an interesting clash as seemingly the Hawks looked back but have suffered two losses in a row and simply must win to sneak into the eight.

Last week they got beaten against Port which might have been the result of an intense 1 point loss to the Cats the week before.

But Buddy’s radar was off with 2 goals 7 behinds and he needs to be a dead eye dick for Hawthorn to reach the finals.

Injuries to key players in Brett Guerra and Xavier Ellis won’t help the cause but the Hawks do have a good record in Tasmania – the forgotten AFL state.

The Saints keep marching towards September but a few players are injury clouds even though they have been named. Big ins for the Saints could be Gardiner,Dawson and Ball. Nick Riewoldt, Leigh Montagna, Goddard, Baker and Hayes are named but are carrying battle weary bodies.

The Hawks are definitely a chance and probably fancy they are after the Swans got close last week. But the Saints also have an impressive record down in the Apple Isle.

St Kilda by 16 points.

Essendon v Brisbane

Essendon look finished last week when the suffered a defeat against on form a much worse side in West Coast.

Scotty Lucas looks lost and without Matty Lloyd up front the Bombers don’t have very much options to go on up front.

Brisbane’s loss to Collingwood last week showed their vulnerability up forward with Jonathan Brown being their only viable option when Bradshaw is missing.

They definitely have a superior midfield to the Bombers, but last week they just couldn’t get it past their half forward line.

Brisbane by 24 points.

Adelaide v Collingwood

The Crows had a much closer loss (2 points) than many expect they would against Geelong and often go under the radar but definitely are capable of beating Collingwood.

The Magpies have one the best defenses in the League with skipper Nick Maxwell leading the way, and they will be tested against the Crows exciting, young forwards.

The last time these two teams met this season the Crows took the honours in Round 1, but that seems like years ago and there isn’t much separating both teams.

Josh Fraser and Nathan Brown would be very handy inclusions for the Magpies but will probably sit out another week just to be certain.

A forward line like Adelaide’s with Chris Knights. Birdman Burton, Bernie Vince, Porplyzia, Tippett and Walker will definitely create headaches for the Magpies and could be the difference here.

Adelaide by 18 points

North Melbourne v Melbourne

North Melbourne are still searching for their first win under Caretaker Crocker and definitely looked like they could of beaten Carlton last week if it wasn’t for their wasted opportunities.

There have been question marks over Melbourne’s tactics last game against Richmond but that saying it’s pretty hard to ‘plan’ a four point loss after the siren.

The Demon’s injury list looks longer than the queue down the Post Office at lunchtime, as Dean Bailey aims to promote youth and see what his playing stocks have to offer him.

North Melbourne by 38 points.

Richmond v Sydney

Judging by last week’s performance you could say the Swans might have the edge by getting oh so close to beating the Saints and the Tigers scrapping through against the Demons.

But over the past weeks Richmond haven’t been bad with 2 wins and a draw.

If Graham Polak plays it will be a remarkable comeback after a disastrous freak accident could of ended his career, let alone his life. Ben Cousins is set to play his 250th game of AFL after Richmond resurrected his career and lately has been in brilliant form.

The Tigers will be riding a wave of emotion which could see them take the four points, but after the Swan’s efforts last week it just tips Sydney in my favour.

Sydney by 11 points

Fremantle v Port Adelaide

Port Adelaide had a sound win against the Hawks last week and somehow hold on to that much sought after 8th spot on the ladder. If they could string together two wins in a row that would be handy and they have a good chance of doing that against the Dockers.

Fremantle last week lost by 31 points to the Bulldogs last week but in patches moved the ball rather well. The inclusion of Sandilands and Pavlich definitely couldn’t hurt their chances of another home ground win.

If Port Adelaide want to keep a grip on a finals chance its these type of games they need to win.

Port Adelaide by 23 points.

Your Round 19 Tips & Observations

So what are your tips & observations for the 19th round of AFL in 2009? Do you agree with Johnny? if yes or no please post your tips and observations about round 19 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 tips and score.

1. Geoff: 106
2. Craig: 106
3. Martynkai: 100
4. Princess: 99
5. JohnnyTruent: 98
6. Jermayn: 97