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AFL 2008 Round 13 Tips

Posted on 20 June 2008 by johnnytruent

ST KILDA v FREMANTLE

What is going on at both these clubs? It’s like looking at your big,ugly twin in the face. They may be on opposite sides of the country and have many years separating them, but Freo and the Saints are so alike. It scares me.

On paper St Kilda have a line up that sounds competitive, yet a lot of these players have been passengers on a train moving slower than a Tortoise with Rigamortise. And this week, coach Ross Lyon has wielded the axe on Nick Dal Santo and Stephen Milne and will be introducing 3 players all making their debut.

At the moment people are debating on the AFL’s issues on Tanking and Lyon could cop some criticism with these cut throat decisions. But I think he is simply drawing a line in the sand ( of the Telstra dome turf ).

Meanwhile Fremantle are coming off an impressive win over the Kangaroos. Coach Harvey has made no changes to his line up….and why would he. His injection of youngsters like Rhys Palmer and Garrick Ibbotson have been a breath of fresh air and have made the more experienced players stand up and deliver.
Fremantle win.

$Stephen Milne has been dropped from the Saint\'s line up for tonight.$
Stephen Milne has been dropped from the Saint\'s line up for tonight.

HAWTHORN v NORTH MELBOURNE

The Hawks are looking very sharp and Alistair Clarke’s coaching is so versatile at the moment. It helps when you have players like Jarrod Roughead and Buddy ‘Love’ Franklin as trump cards. It got them over the Crows by four points and should see them dispose of the Kangaroos quite easily.

The injury to McIntosh (knee) could hurt Dean Laidly more than people realise. He’s a very handy big man and with a lack of quality Big men in the Kanga’s line up, it will make their job all the more harder.
Hawthorn win.

PORT ADELAIDE v RICHMOND

Port Adelaide were very ordinary in their ‘re match’ of last year’s Grand Final with Geelong. They got pumped and Mark Williams is looking for answers. He even jokingly suggested he might put on his recently lost weight, because they won more games when Mark was heavier. But seriously Port should be a lot more competitive then they are at the moment.

Richmond had a win over cellar dwellers Melbourne which is nothing to brag about, but a win is a win and can do wonders for a team’s confidence. The experienced Power should win but it wouldn’t surprise me if Terry’s Tigers come close.
Port Adelaide win.

BRISBANE LIONS v ADELAIDE

Neil Craig’s robotic style of coaching cost him in the final minutes of their game against Hawthorn. Once his team is written on his little white board, it is set in stone. When the game comes down to the crunch you have to be able to go with the flow and make positional changes. This can be the difference between a really good coach and a great coach.

The ‘Birdman’ Brett Burton comes back in to bolster the Crow’s forward line, but I’m expecting the Lions to run amok up at the GABBA.
Brisbane win.

WEST COAST v GEELONG

Everytime I see a ‘West Coast v Geelong’ fixture, it conjures up memories of the 1992 and 1994 Grand Finals. Geelong fans would also remember this forgettable time in their Football history and would be rejoicing in the new breed of Cats, taking the so called ‘new breed’ of Eagles to pieces this week.

Braun, Kerr, Hansen, Fletcher all come back into an Eagle’s side that lost to Essendon last week. But even with this mass introducing of experience to the line up - the Eagles are badly out of form. Both Michael Braun and Chad Fletcher look ready to collect their pensions instead of getting out there to make a contest of it.
Geelong win.

MELBOURNE v SYDNEY

The Sydney Swans are more stealth than a dawn attack by a couple of BlackHawk helicopters. They have snuck past their opposing teams and are sitting pretty in fourth. Has anyone noticed at all?!

A very settled line up with a good mixture of experience ( the ‘untouchable’ Goodes ) and youth ( Keiren Jack ) is the Swan’s recipe for success. They should be able to cook up a win against the Demons.
Sydney win.

CARLTON v ESSENDON

The clashes between Carlton and Essendon are pretty fiery and both teams really lift for this traditional rivalry, no matter where both teams sit on the ladder. At the moment though, Essendon struggle to be consistent over four quarters.

Expect the Bombers to be good for a quarter here ,a quarter there but it won’t be near enough. The return of Andrew Lovett will help around the clearances for the Bombers but once he gets it out, who to then?

Carlton’s classy midfielders will make Essendon’s defenders look ordinary with their picture perfect deliveries to Fevola and co.
Carlton win.

COLLINGWOOD v WESTERN BULLDOGS

Mick Malthouse reminds me of that Rolling Stones’ song ‘Can’t get no satisfaction’. The energy he spends on complaining of the ‘unfair’ treatment the Magpies recieve, could be harnessed and used to supply a 3rd World country with a enough power to last a couple of decades.

When Mick is focussed on the job at hand and not being a U.N Ambassador, the Magpies can pull off near to perfection wins like they had against the Geelong Cats. Injuries to Leon Davis (ankle), Josh Fraser (knee) won’t help Malthouse’s cause this week and he’ll probably use this excuse in the post match wrap up.

The Bulldogs have named the same line up that carved up Brisbane last week, and I expect them to do the same against Collingwood this week.
Western Bulldog’s win.

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Discussion elsewhere

Round 13 2008 wrapup | The A to F to L of Australian Football Says:
June 23rd, 2008 at 9:35 am
[...] falling asleep during but you expect that with two clubs who are really struggling at the moment. Even though I tipped Fremantle, you expected St Kilda to show something and for the Saints supporters they did. I do think [...]