Richmond v Carlton

First game of the season and a fresh start for both the Tigers and the Blues in 2010. Without the fanfare of last year’s ( Cousin’s Return ) round 1 clash, Richmond seemed to be more realistic with the task at hand.

I just hope for the first proper game of the year doesn’t go down like a lead balloon - much like the ‘new’ football entertainment show on a certain channel.

It is definitely going to be a tough year down at Tigerland but I’m glad they have instilled Damien Hardwick as their coach.

A known hardman as a player and doing his apprenticeship under some decent coaches, Hardwick has all the ingredients to make it as a good coach.

Re-building at a football club hungry for success is a baptism of fire, but I like Hardwick‘s realistic, competitive approach to the season.

Meanwhile down at Carlton, the Blues have been trying to wash out the stain that is Brendan Fevola.

Carlton finally decided after years of accepting the the unacceptable, that the Coleman winning goal machine just wasn’t worth it.

But now without a known goal kicker it places question marks over their forward potency.Looking at the NAB results of both teams is like trying to predict Lotto numbers – just not worth the effort.

Richmond have named Ben Cousins to play after suffering from a ‘mysterious’ stomach problem alongside the fresh blood of Dustin Martin, Ben Nason and Relton Roberts.

Mitch Farmer is an exciting player and will also line up for his first game with the Tigers after playing 3 at Port.

The Navy Blues will be missing Chris Judd for 3 weeks for suspension due to impersonating a WWE wrestler, but Robbie Warnock will finally get some decent game-time for Carlton in the Ruck.

Just like last year though this time without all the hype it will be a similar result.

Carlton by 36 points

Geelong v Essendon

Geelong have been in cruise control over the past few months, with practice games and NAB matches being treated not much more than an opportunity to stretch the legs.

You can just see  ‘Bomber’  Thompson knows this is going to be a long season with two strong contenders staring menacingly at the 2010 premiership cup.

This season could come down to a battle of attrition, with the best team managing to have their best team on the park peaking at the right time.

Late last year, a lot of people were worried about whether the Cats have their best team for the Grand Final with a few injury worries.

But the only problem Mark Thompson had was choosing which player was going to miss out on a medallion.

For round 1 the Cats go into the clash with their strongest lineup possible.

Tom Harley has retired, Matthew Stokes (suspended indefinitely due to White Line Fever of a different kind), Travis Varcoe (thumb) and Max Rooke (knee tendinitis) are the only players missing from last year’s best line up.

Essendon meanwhile have a few players missing due to suspension – ( Nathan Lovett-Murray, Mark McVeigh, Michael Hurley ).

Both Leroy Jetta and Tyson Slattery will also be missing due to injury.

Matthew Knights has a young team full of untested potential and this will definitely find out how well the Bombers have recruited over recent years.

If Scott Gumbleton can stay fit, he just might be able to show us why Essendon have patiently waited for his injuries to come right.

The Bombers picked up Mark  Williams from the Hawks during the offseason and will be hoping at the age of 26, he has matured enough to handle a consistent season of AFL.

Once the rustiness of round one has worn off, the class of the Cats will be too strong for the Matthew Knights’ young Bombers.

Geelong by 42 points

Melbourne v Hawthorn

Both teams pre-seasons have been less than ideal, with mounting injury lists and very ordinary performances in both practice and NAB games.

While The Hawks are aiming to make finals this year after reaching the pinnacle in 08, Melbourne you get the feeling just want to be a lot more competitive than last year.

Hawthorn seem to missing a whole Ruckman division with Max Bailey and Simon Taylor out long-term and mature-age rookie Wayde Skipper out for a few weeks with hamstring troubles.

Big name recruit Shaun Burgoyne and the dynamic Cyril Rioli are in doubt for the match.

While it remains unclear how long Brad Sewell will take to come back from a broken collarbone.

Buddy Franklin maybe looking fitter after a slimming pre season, but will miss the game due to suspension.

Melbourne have a number injuries to key player Jurrah, Morton, Bell, Watts,Johnson and Sylvia. Getting through this match with no further injuries would almost be seen as a win in Dean Bailey‘s eyes.

Hawthorn still have a decent midfield with Sam Mitchell, Luke Hodge and Jordan Lewis known ball magnets, looking fit and firing for this round 1 game.

Lets face it a wet sock would be more competitive than the Demons at the moment.

Hawthorn by 54 points

Sydney Swans v St Kilda

The Swans play a tight game of football that may not be visually edge of your seat kind of stuff, but gets them within a cat’s whisker of winning against much more talented teams like the Saints.

A 1 point loss to St Kilda in a pre season game might not be saying much but the Saints were genuinely having a crack at the NAB cup and the Swans were playing solidly in other games too.

New recruit Mark Seaby will help the Swans big man stocks, but Daniel Bradshaw has not featured much for Sydney after undergoing minor knee surgery.

The big towering, Jesse White might have to take the next step up and show us the form that he gave glimpses of last year to lead the Swannie’s forwards.

The Irish leprechaun Tadgh Kennelly is back looking, refreshed from a self imposed hiatus and might just be the experience Paul Roos needs in a developing Sydney outfit.

The Saints have had a encouraging start to the year with wins in every pre season game except the NAB Grand final against a hungrier pack of Bulldogs.

Recruiting Andrew Lovett has been a disaster and Brett Peake has been less than convincing.  

Key players Sam Fisher and Lenny Hayes are suffering injuries, but on the other hand Nick Riewoldt and Brendon Goddard look raring to go with a solid pre season fitness campaign.

Both teams stick to a structured game-plan and this similarity is no surprise, with Ross Lyon being Paul Roos’ apprentice for many years.

The game is at ANZ stadium which might suit the Saints better than a match at the SCG.

St Kilda by 24 points

Brisbane Lions v West Coast

The storm of controversy that followed Fevola to Brisvegas mimicked the weather the Lions had in a few of their rain soaked pre season matches.

It has been less than ideal for Michael Voss and Brendan Fevola‘s onfield form has not set the world alight either.

Jamie Charman is out for at least 6 weeks but the Lions should be able to cope with Mitch Clark finding a new lease on life as Brisbane’s No.1 ruck choice.

New recruits Brent Staker, Aamon Buchanan, Andrew Raines and Matt Maguire have all looked great.

Maguire especially if he can stay injury free, could be the recruit of the year.

The Eagles are still believing the hype of the ‘new breed’ but realistically unless this ‘new breed’ has been genetically engineered we could see inconsistent performances from Woosha‘s young group of players.

Their pre-season game against bogey side Port Adelaide might of given a glimpse of this.

West Coast definitely need a season where both Dean Cox and Daniel Kerr stay fit in order to support and lead the young talented players like Nic Naitanui, Chris Masten and Scott Selwood.

The formidable combination of Brown and Fevola coupled with Rich, Black and a maybe fit Power , will give Brisbane the edge up at the GABBA.

Brisbane by 20 points

Port Adelaide v North Melbourne

Port Adelaide have been scarily consistently good in all their pre season games. The Power and the word ‘consistent’ go together like chalk and cheese but the signs are there that their season might not be as bad a people are predicting.

There has been good form from Travis Boak and Justin Westhoff and these are just the type of players Mark Williams needs to make that next step up.

Williams has recruited Dean Laidley to help stem the flow of Port’s leaky defense and sometimes it takes two mad geniuses to invent something new.

Injuries to important players David Rodan and Daniel Motlop won’t help Port Adelaide’s cause.

North Melbourne’s form leading into round one hasn’t been great but a new coach and new facilities just might spark the Kangaroos into some sort of action this year.

North Melbourne seem to have fallen into the trap of recruiting the same type of players that have good pace and run but have been too inconsistent and too small to play key match-winning roles.

Drew Petrie if injury free, seems to be their only focus up forward and if running midfielders like Daniel Wells,Leigh Harding and Brent Harvey can’t kick bags of goals the Roos will be caught in the headlights.

Port Adelaide by 18 points

Western Bulldogs v Collingwood

The match of the round should be a closer encounter than last time they met when the Pies went down by 24 points.

The Western Bulldogs seem to be the genuine article this year and if they stay injury free will be disappointed with no less than a top 2 finish.

Denial is not a river in Egypt but what a lot of Bulldogs fans suffered from, when looking at their forward line solution to complement their excellent midfield.

Barry Hall could be that cherry on top of the Bulldog’s cake, if his old body holds up and he keeps attending those anger management therapy sessions.

He may never be godfather to Brian Lake‘s children but as long as Hall keeps kicking bags of goals for the Dogs, I’m sure they’ll get along just fine.

A super midfield of Ryan Griffen, Adam Cooney, Matthew Boyd, Daniel Cross and Shaun Higgins should have ‘Rocket’ Rodney Eade sleeping easy most nights of the week.

Collingwood definitely have a top 5 side with a lineup now complemented by ‘new’ recruits Luke Ball and big Darren Jolly. Jolly might solve the Magpies Ruckman problems, but there are still question marks over forward firepower and a defensively weak midfield that might not keep up with the Bulldog’s guns.

Western Bulldogs by 16 points

Fremantle v Adelaide

Fremantle after years of making excuses for poor performances really need to bring something fresh to the table.

Recruiting a ready made AFL player in Anthony Morabito and solid performances from other newbies – Michael Barlow, Alex Silvagni and Jay van Berlo.

Dockers players seem to hang around like cobwebs and some serious cleaning out of players like Des Headland and Dean Solomon (recently retired) would help.

The more experienced players like Mundy, Schammer, Crowley and Bradley need to shape up or ship out and ‘re-recruit’ (another Docker bad habit) Adam McPhee hasn’t looked worth the effort.

Meanwhile the Crows have been battling a poor pre season riddled with injuries and average form.

The Crows will be missing players like  Jason Porplyzia,Nathan van Berlo, Chris Knights and Brett Burton with injury concerns and there is a steady longterm injury list growing as well.

A lack of game time due to injuries from players like Andrew McLeod, Bernie Vince, and Ivan Maric would also have Neil Craig sweating if weren’t for the fact they are playing the Dockers.

Coach Craig still has a decent lineup with Kurt Tippett and Richard Douglas leading up forward and a settled backline.

Adelaide by 12 points

Your Round One Tips & Observations

So what are your tips & observations for the first round of the 2010 AFL season? Do you agree with Johnnytruent? if yes or no please post your tips and observations about the NAB competition in the comments section.

We will keep a running tally of the tips throughout the year, so make sure you get your tips in on time & you never know there could be a prize for the winner…