ROUND 8 RANKINGS
Looks like the ladder is started to take shape, but anything can happen. Mike Sheahan was making a case for the bombers to climb into the 8 by going back to last year drawing on the Collingwood and Adelaide situation (both being on 3 wins after 8 games) who climbed into the 8. While it’s good in theory, the question is do they have the team to emulate that or will they just scrape in like last year or miss out altogether? I’d say they’ll scrape in and maybe with just the 10 wins again but again, that’s as far as they’ll go. After 8 rounds it’s easy to say that the biggest disappointment has been the Lions. Promised so much but now delivering what I was expecting from them all along. They recruited hard and did well, but at the end of the day they are really no better than Lethal’s last couple of years. Obviously trying to keep the brand alive before GC17 joins, Voss has stolen from the future in order to make quick gains. Some would say he should have gone the youth route as now they are going to be a year or four behind in development with the compromised drafts coming up and little to trade up the order.
Rankings Shaper Game of the Week: West Coast Eagles vs. St Kilda
A difficult game to pick as the shaper as most of the games are fairly even, maybe not on ladder position but on current form, the Eagles v Saints game in Perth will show us where these two sides are at. A win to the Eagles and watch the climb up the rankings after 3 straight wins, conversely the Saints will obviously have to fall; there is no more safety net.
Also, the Dreamtime game will give Richmond a taste of rankings climbing if they win as they have shown good form over the last 2 weeks.
Collingwood and Geelong play in the match of the round.
On The Up: Quiet week again.
Falling From Grace: Melbourne -1 (Should have won, very disappointing effort).
Team of the Week: Carlton/Collingwood/Geelong: Again a toss of the coin and it came down on and fell through the floorboards, so I’ve gone for the 3 Victorian teams winning on the road. The Bulldogs won but it wasn’t as impressive as these 3.
| Rank | LW | Diff | Team | Attack Ave | Rank | Defence Ave | Rank |
| 1 | 1 | 0 | Collingwood | 118 | 2 | 81.4 | 4 |
| There is something about Collingwood and travel; it just goes right for them on the road. Something like 11 wins out of past 12 trips is a great return. Both teams came of 6 day breaks after 6 day breaks from previous round so there were no excuses and the Pies were just a class above. The only disappointment was that the final margin didn’t reflect the true state of the game which also displeased the coach (again).
Next 4: Geel, Bris(away), WB, Melb. Run is looking easier, looking at -10-2 record. |
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| 2 | 2 | 0 | Geelong | 126.5 | 1 | 83 | 5 |
| The Cats showed that when faced with a mediocre team, they can rattle along in second gear and when they feel like it, turn it up and stomp on the opposition, and so it was on Saturday night. Lead by the best midfield in the comp, Stevie J and the Tomahawk showing that he can play, the Cats were just too strong. Deserving of the number 2 spot.
Next 4: Coll, Melb, WCE (A), Ess. Only test will be Collingwood, big chance to win all 4. |
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| 3 | 3 | 0 | St. Kilda | 82.25 | 12 | 72.9 | 1 |
| The Saints are slipping away and are in danger of falling off the face of the earth (or at least out of the Eight. The only thing that can save them is a soft run of games and lo and behold, the draw will provide them 3 such games. It was no surprise that they lost last week, as Essendon were the only team to beat them in the H&A last year. The only thing keeping them up in 3rd spot is the fact that they have an easy run and should consolidate.
Next 4: WCE(a), Adel, Rich. Easy run, will gather steam against this bottom 4 lot. |
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| 5 | 4 | 1 | Western Bulldogs | 91.25 | 7 | 76.5 | 2 |
| The Bulldogs scored an impressive win, lead by big man up front, Bazza gave his former team a nice ol’ touch up booting five and proving the difference as the forwardless Swans couldn’t get the score on the board. The Dogs jump up a spot as they are most likely to snatch that 4th spot in the top four but are not yet solidly in there.
Next 4: NM, Ess, Coll. Bris Pretty easy run, 3 out of 4 wins. 8-4. |
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| 4 | 5 | -1 | Fremantle | 110.25 | 3 | 92 | 8 |
| Fremantle drop a spot after being shown what it takes to win a match with such a huge build up. Compounded by the fact they suffered a couple of injuries, Freo couldn’t sustain the pressure and eventually wilted under the constant pounding by the Pies. After such a good start, you could see how this team may fall away given those injuries and now a criminal matter to occupy the minds. They may slip further over coming weeks.
Next 4: Syd(away), NM, Adel (A) StK Some winnable games here, 2 or 3 wins would be fair result. 9-3 |
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| 6 | 6 | 0 | Sydney | 95.125 | 5 | 83 | 6 |
| The Swans had a downer this week and were seen to be hampered without their key forward. Goals were hard to come by and only maintain their ranking as those below them didn’t show me enough to displace them (this week).
Next 4: Fre, Haw(A), ESS. Port (A) Likely to break even, form is unpredictable. 7-5 |
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| 8 | 7 | 1 | Carlton | 104.875 | 4 | 88 | 7 |
| The Blues had one of those games where they were lucky to be still in it as Port squandered opportunities a 3 goal lead and from all reports should have put some more daylight between them. The Blues steadied and peppered the goals themselves in the last to run out easy winners, but they did enough to keep Port at bay. My opinion of Port is quite low so that’s why the Blues only climb 1 spot.
Next 4: Haw, WCE, Melb North. Should win all 4 and cement a top 8 spot by round 12, no excuses. 9-3 |
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| 7 | 8 | -1 | Port Adelaide | 85.25 | 9 | 97.1 | 12 |
| Port are capable but just seem to lack talent when it matters. The only bright spot Mark Williams could come up with was that the crowd was over 30,000 and it wasn’t against Adelaide! When challenged, they capitualted. Middle of the ladder is where they’ll stay.
Next 4: Melb(neutral), Rich, Haw (A) Syd. All winnable games but on form will drop a couple to sit at 7-5. |
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| 9 | 9 | 0 | Brisbane | 93 | 6 | 101 | 14 |
| The Lions are playing games with us all. Impressive ladder position 4 weeks ago and now showing us that the super glue and sticky tape that is holding their team together is fading away and they are falling apart. Fev and Brown are injured and should be rested but Voss’ ego won’t let that happen. Expect more southward action (once they beat Adelaide)
Next 4: Adel(a), Coll, NM (A) WB (A). 2 wins/2 loses would be good return 6-6. |
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| 11 | 10 | 1 | North Melbourne | 82.25 | 13 | 101 | 15 |
| Did North pull up or did Adelaide choke them and in the end were lucky to win? I think they basically ran out of puff and had nothing left to stop the onslaught. Jumped up a ranking spot by virtue of that win and a Demon loss.
Next 4: WB, Fre(away), Bris Carl. Not much joy coming up, 5-7. |
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| 10 | 11 | -1 | Melbourne | 78.625 | 14 | 78 | 3 |
| The Demons were the major disappointment of this round. Playing at home with a Range Rover full of Demons supporters putting their skiing plans on hold and attending this game, they may have believed their own hype and played poorly. Eagles took advantage and came away with an unexpected win.
Next 4: PA(neutral), Geel, Carl Coll. Showing signs of hype fatigue, good result will be 5-7. |
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| 12 | 12 | 0 | Essendon | 87 | 8 | 98.4 | 13 |
| Just when you thought it was safe…. The Bombers pulled off a great win, lead by their big men in Hille and Ryder they outlasted the Saints who are in disarray. Is was obvious that the Bombers were just too pacy for the opposition and while the Saints were shuffling their team around, the Bombers just kept on scoring.
Next 4: Rich, WB, Syd (A) Geel. Tough run got harder with Cats in week 12, 4-8. |
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| 13 | 13 | 0 | West Coast | 84.125 | 10 | 95.4 | 11 |
| Pulled off a great win away from home in the battle of the 2008 wonder kids with Nick Nat providing a couple of highlights for the Eagles. But, from what I heard, it was one of the worst games of the year. Ranking stays as is.
Next 4: St.K, Carl(A), Geel Rich (A).Good win last week but cupboard bare until Richmond.. 3-9. |
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| 14 | 14 | 0 | Hawthorn | 83.375 | 11 | 95 | 10 |
| The Hawks won… just… There should have been postcodes between these two teams. The Hawks have stars and premierships players on every line but were only saved from embarrassment by a brilliant captain’s tackle on Shane Tuck who was running into score.
Next 4: Carl, Syd, Port Adel (Tas). Still not showing enough to be favourites in any of these games (except Adelaide) 3-9 at best. |
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| 15 | 15 | 0 | Adelaide | 69.75 | 15 | 94 | 9 |
| Tried hard, for one quarter to pull back a 50+ point deficit. Commentators were blaming the coach, that he’s lost the players, blah blah blah. I think they are either unfit or too old or just unwilling to put their bodies on the line to win each contest. The coach put it best “Finals, don’t even talk about it, we aren’t going there, nah forget it, not this lot” (not actual quote but you get the gist).
Next 4: Bris, St.K(A), Fre Haw(Tas) Chance against Bris, rest will be difficult, 1-11. |
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| 16 | 16 | 0 | Richmond | 64 | 16 | 119 | 16 |
| Again, did well, this time made it all the way to the end of the game before letting it slip. If they’d won I might just have given the Tigers a lift up the rankings but just couldn’t get it done.
Next 4: Ess, PA(A), St K WCE. Showing better form over the last 2 weeks they could just pull off their first win. Will one of these 4 the unlucky one? 1-11 |
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May 21st, 2010 at 9:05 am
West Coast still not moving up even with two in a row???
May 21st, 2010 at 9:37 am
Nah, not yet, those above West Coast are winning also. The teams in danger of falling are Brisbane and North but I can’t see your boys winning too much short term.
May 23rd, 2010 at 8:58 pm
@the_tony, Yes it is a hard few weeks coming up with St Kilda this weekend which we lost to, Carlton next week after a poor match against Hawthorn and then Geelong again who are a 10 goal better side than the Eagles…