North Melbourne v Carlton

The Kangaroos bolted out of the blocks early last weekend in their game against Brisbane and managed to hold out a Lion counterattack to grasp a 1 point win.

What they might lack in talent the Roos certainly showed a bit of fighting spirit against the Lions and in a few of the matches they have won this season.

But when at their worst a lot of North’s players go missing in action and this results in some heavy losses.

Brent Harvey is a one man team and again accumulated amazing statistics ( 14 kicks 16 handballs, 5 marks and 1 goal ).

Carlton had a dominating 41 point win over the Demons last week and will be aiming to make it 3 in a row this weekend against North.

The Blues had a good spread of goal-kickers ( Houlihan 4 goals, Waite 3, Thornton 2, Betts 2 ) and really set up the win with a strong opening quarter.

Both teams have to be wary of finishing their last quarters strongly as both have suffered from letting games slip in the 4th.

Last time these two teams met Carlton won by 10 points and even though form wise the Blues look a lot stronger, I wouldn’t be surprised to see this be another close encounter.

Carlton by 15 points

Hawthorn v Adelaide

The Hawks are on a roll winning their last 4 games ( second only to Geelong 6 in a row ) and have moved into the top half of the AFL ladder after a disastrous start to the year.

An 11 point win against Port Adelaide had many positives for Alistair Clarkson‘s side, the only negative being Chance Bateman‘s clumsy knee to the back which will see him miss this week’s game due to suspension.

In comes Buddy Franklin back from suspension this week which will give the Hawks a real lift up forward, as Shaun Burgoyne continues to have quiet games in front of the big sticks.

Adelaide had a morale boosting win over Fremantle last week to give retiring player Tyson Edwards a proper send off in front of a home crowd.

He was one of their best players but Edwards won’t be there this weekend for them and neither will Andrew McLeod who is out with a knee injury.

Taylor Walker had a solid game in front of goals with 4 and this week the Crows need more of the same from their young players to fill the void of experience that will be missing.

Adelaide should be more confident going into this match, but Hawthorn are red hot at the moment and at Aurora stadium in Tasmania are nearly unbeatable.

Hawthorn by 24 points

Essendon v Geelong

The Bombers had their 3 game winning streak broken by Sydney last week going down by 9 points in a hotly contested match.

Essendon are definitely one of those teams that can cause an upset on match day, but will find it hard to take it up to the reigning premiers with injuries to important key players David Hille (hamstring) and Angus Monfries (hamstring).

Meanwhile Geelong were put to the test by West coast last week in their game but showed their superiority to be able to break away in the last quarter to a winning  24 point lead.

Injuries will see Cameron Mooney sit out this weekend’s clash and there is also an injury cloud over James Podsiadly.

Essendon haven’t won against the Cats since 2007 and even though the Bombers can challenge the better teams, the silky smooth skills of a midfield that includes the likes of Ablett, Bartel and Chapman will be too good.

Geelong by 35 points

Port Adelaide v Sydney

Both Port Adelaide and Sydney are on a dangerous slippery slide down the AFL ladder and even though the Swans won last week, it is a must win game for both teams.

Port Adelaide seem to be satisfied with playing a brand of football that is borderline competitive at the moment and in front of goals without veteren Warren Tredrea, the Port forwards look incapable of kicking a healthy enough score.

There must be similar worries up forward for the Swans as they have also struggled for consistency in the forward 50 without star recruit Daniel Bradshaw.

But unlike the Power, the Swans have still been competitive around the ground and recruiting Shane Mumford has clearly aided Sydney in winning a lot of the ball out of the hit outs.

Sydney will be further bolstered by the inclusions of quality players Tadhg Kennelly and Ben McGlynn.

Sydney by 18 points

Richmond v West Coast

Richmond have shown a lot of improvement in recent weeks and are every bit capable of beating West Coast this weekend.

Although the Tigers got smashed by St Kilda by 48 points last week it is encouraging to see a lot of promise in the young Tiges.

Jack Riewoldt continues his rich vein of form with an impressive 6 goal haul against one of the best defensive teams in the league.

The Tigers will be also confident of winning at the MCG where West Coast have a sub par winning record and with a chance of rain, it might swing in favour of Richmond.

Last week West Coast showed endevour in their game against  the benchmark team of the competition Geelong, and at one stage it looked like a possible upset could be on the cards.

But when push came to shove the Eagles crumbled and some poor execution of disposals saw the game slip from their hands.

West Coast do travel poorly but must be encouraged with a recent win on the MCG and their record against Richmond.

West Coast by 12 points

Western Bulldogs v Brisbane Lions

Will the real Western Bulldogs please stand up?

After pretty much showing as much interest in playing football in the first half as spectators do of the halftime entertainment, the Doggies reversed a 48 point deficit to nearly claw back a win.

The Western Bulldogs now have a 2 loss losing streak and have slumped to 6th – far from being premiership favourites.

After showing so much consistency in the latter half of last year’s season and the pre-season competition, the Doggies are certifiably inconsistent.

The Bulldogs play the best rebound attacking brand of football in the game but for once they might want to look at getting a first bite at the cherry.

Shaun Higgins (ankle) is out with injury due to Etihaditis Horribilis but in comes Robert Murphy as a worthy replacement.

The Brisbane Lions have also gone cold after suffering a 1 point loss to the Kangaroos leaving it too late to almost pull off a come from behind win.

There are still question marks over the fitnesses of key forwards Fevola and Brown, but there are still a lot of other talent in the Lions team that goes missing in action when needed.

Injuries to Ash McGrath and Matt Maguire will test the defensive stocks of the Brisbane team.

Western Bulldogs by 21 points

Fremantle v St Kilda

Mark Harvey admitted Fremantle had too many passengers in their loss to Adelaide in South Australia last week, and it’s all too familiar trend that has plagued the Dockers in recent years.

The class of 2010 are certainly better than the performance they put up last week, but Fremantle must be wary of becoming complacent of their successes before actually achieving their main goal of finals football.

Michael Barlow once again had an outstanding game with 3 goals and 32 disposals and the Pav can never be questioned of lack of effort with another excellent display.

The Saints face their first solid test in recent weeks against a top eight team in Fremantle, after 3 wins against less challenging opponents.

Stephen Milne was able to kick 5 goals last week against the Tigers but cannot be seen as their sole focus up forward and the Saints need to get more out of Justin Koschitzke,who really has no excuses left to use up.

St Kilda have a cracking midfield with Brendan Godard in superior form so it will be interesting to see if they can stem the influence that Docker Aaron Sandilands has in the ruck.

Fremantle at home should bounce back after a disappointing game last week.

Fremantle by 7 points

Melbourne v Collingwood

The Demons have now lost their last 2 matches after suffering a 41 point loss to Carlton last week and only won 1 in their last 6 games.

Melbourne have a young midfield full of run and carry but there seems to few answers to questions of their goal kicking capabilities up forward.

Collingwood were able to repel a late charge by the Bulldogs last week to hold onto a 10 point victory but suffered injuries to Luke Ball (groin) and Ben Johnson (ankle).

Scott Pendlebury was sensational last week with 33 disposals, 5 marks, 8 tackles and a goal and really epitomizes the way the Magpies are playing at the moment.

In their match last week against the Bulldogs, Collingwood were willing to move the ball around till they felt they were in a more comfortable position.

To execute a high usage game-plan like that your skills have to be at their optimum and at the moment Collingwood certainly possess some very accurate disposal usage.

Collingwood by 35 points

Your Round 12 Tips & Observations

So what are your tips & observations for round 12 of the 2010 AFL season? Do you agree with Johnnytruent?

If yes or no please post your tips and observations about the round 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.

If you have not added your tips yet that is ok, please feel free to add them and what your ongoing tally is.