West Coast v Essendon

A Friday night fire cracker or another fizzler that runs out of steam?

West Coast are looking rustier than a shed’s door with an example last week of how NOT to play football after their insepid performance against the Kangaroos.

Mobile phones are the least of their worries after letting Brent Harvey and Daniel Wells run rings around them with some very loose tagging.

Honestly coach John Worsfold needs to go back to his coaching manual and note that he can’t use the same gameplan that led the Eagles to premiership glory.

Quite simply this ‘new breed’ cannot execute such a precise and error free game plan.

Dean Cox and Daniel Kerr continue to struggle with form and fitness and no one from the younger brigade seems to be taking the next step up to shoulder some of the load.

Meanwhile the Bombers had a  win against Carlton last week and bucked the trend by actually finishing a game strongly to the end.

It could be a battle of the small forwards with Mark Le Cras (West Coast) kicking 5 goals last week, and Mark Williams (Essendon) showing enough with 4 goals.

The only thing in favour of the Eagles is playing at Subiaco coupled with the Bomber’s very average ‘on the road’ record.

West Coast by 12 points

North Melbourne v Sydney

North Melbourne turned it around last week with a scrappy 25 point win over West Coast.

Brent Harvey bounced back from a career low 5 possessions versus the Saints to accumulate a huge 44 possession game against West Coast.

Andrew Swallow and Daniel Wells also ably supported their skipper with solid games.

It was encouraging for Kanga supporters to see youngster Ryan Bastinac and Jack Ziebell play with maturity beyond their years.

Sydney flexed their offence skills to thrash Richmond by 55 points last week.

Daniel Bradshaw starred for the Swans with four goals and Ben McGlynn continued his purple patch of form with 3 goals.

This is a game that could see the Swans go 3wins 1 loss, not bad for a team that many thought might struggle this year.

The Kangaroos will be on a high after last week’s victory but expect the Swans to play a much tighter defensive game than West Coast could ever possibly imagine.

Sydney by 35 points

Adelaide v Carlton

What is going on down at Crowland?!

Alarm bells at Neil Craig headquarters must surely be ringing as the coaching team to salvage what is left of the season and some pride, after slumping to 3 straight losses.

Melbourne finished off the Crow’s finals aspirations with a closely fought 16 point win and to add to the defeat more players( Trent Hentschel, Nathan Bock ) have gone down for the Crows with injuries.

Kurt Tippett and Patrick Dangerfield also suffered injuries but are a 50/50 chance of playing this week.

Meanwhile Carlton had a dismal match against longtime rivals Essendon and Brett Ratten will be hoping that having Chris Judd back in the side will spark some life back into the team.

If there was a ever a time for the Blues to beat the Crows in Adelaide this weekend would be it.

If Adelaide lose they have a near impossible task of trying to make the finals after losing the first 4 games of the season, something that hasn’t been done in 35 years.

Adelaide by 8 points

Brisbane v Bulldogs

This should be a close encounter and a real test for the Brisbane Lions to see where they stand in the AFL pecking order.

The Lions are sitting pretty with 3 wins to start to season and the Brown/Fevola combination seems to complement the fast delivery the Lion’s midfield delivers.

With 8 goals between them and a host of ball magnets like Daniel Richand Michael Rischitelli the Lions look like an imposing unit.

The only downsides being the Ashley McGrath and Mitchell Clark‘s suspension.

Simon Black was thought to have a slight injury but has been named in the squad.

The Bulldogs have two wins already but even Rodney Eade will admit they are yet to hit top gear, still the signs look good.

A 16 point win against Hawthorn is nothing to be sneezed at but it has come at a cost with injuries to Jason Akermanis and Liam Picken .

Barry Hall kicked 6 goals and will have to back it up this week with a similiar effort if the Bulldogs are to win.

Interestingly the Bulldogs have an excellent record at the GABBA winning the past 4 out of 5 encounters there.

Brisbane by 10 points

Collingwood v Hawthorn

Collingwood have 2 wins and 1 loss but that loss came against the might of a determined St Kilda side.

What can you read into the loss? Some would say the old signs are there that show the cracks in Collingwood’s premiership challenge.

Under pressure the usual suspects go missing  ( Alan Didak and Leon Davis ) and the Magpies have to resort to second rate, niggling tactics.

The most damning factor was even with the loss of Nick Riewoldt to the Saints, Collingwood only kicked 4 goals for the game and remained goalless after halftime.

For years the Pies have been without a key forward they can rely on to kick goals and if their bit part forward players don’t make their 1 or 2 goals contributions, their game goes to mud.

Hawthorn had a tough outing playing the Western Bulldogs following up from a close encounter against Geelong.

At the moment the Hawks record of 1 win and 2 losses is a bit deceiving as their form hasn’t been too bad considering they have had a few players missing due to injury or suspension.

Speaking of suspension, Buddy Franklin will spend this week watching the game from home after some sloppy hip and shoulder technique.

The Hawks still have a very good outfit with players like the lightning quick Cyril Rioli and Luke Hodge, but the Magpies are on a mission.

Collingwood by 16 points

Richmond v Melbourne

Richmond really need to get a fews things sorted out before they can even look like winning a game of football.

What is going on at Tigerland, honestly it is sad to see a club so shambolic for so many years that the club culture needs to be questioned and held under a microscope.

Off field dramas do not help a team that on field can barely function cohesively and coach Damien Hardwick will have a huge task to float this sinking ship.

Melbourne meanwhile are coming off a great win against Adelaide last week.

Sure the Crows at the moment are barely being held together by duct tape and band aids, but the Demons showed plenty of fight in their 16 point win.

That win together with a close loss to the Magpies the week before and you would have to say Melbourne are looking the goods to take the 4 points.

Melbourne by 21 points

Geelong v Port Adelaide

The Cats will be licking their wounds after going down to Fremantle over in the west by 7 points.

Missing key players didn’t help after their bruising encounter with Hawthorn, but this week Geelong should see the inclusion of experienced players Matthew Scarlett, Cam Mooney, Brad Ottens, Darren Milburn and Max Rooke against the Power.

Port Adelaide also suffered a defeat against the Brisbane Lions and will be looking to step up the intensity against the Cats this week in Geelong.

David Rodan for the Power, makes a return to football after having a groundbreaking  type of knee surgery and Port Adelaide will need all the help they can get to beat a Geelong team looking to avenge last week’s defeat.

Geelong by 35 points

St Kilda v Fremantle

Both the Saints and Dockers are undefeated with 3 wins a piece and this match looms as being a closer tussle now that Fremantle show signs of being genuine contenders this year.

Nick Riewoldt is out for a lengthy time with a hamstring surgery and it will be an interesting test to see just how differently the Saints function without him.

But the saints are far from being a one man team and although he is a crucial part, they still have a strong structure of players like Goddard, Montagna, and Dal Santo.

There has been much talk about the Browns and Riewoldts but people tend to forget about the dominance that Matthew Pavlich can have , as he showed last week with a 26 posession 5 goal performance.

Fremantle will be hoping that he has an equally influential game this weekend and the inclusion of defender Chris Tarrent only strengthens their chances of pulling off a win.

St Kilda by 11 points

Your Round 4 Tips & Observations

So what are your tips & observations for round 4 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.

1) Geaghs: 20
2) the_tony: 18
3) Jermayn: 17
4) Martynkai: 16
5) craig eyles: 16
6) Princess of the Cats: 15
7) Johnnytruent: 15