Collingwood v Geelong
Josh Fraser will make his return for the Magpies tonight and will be desperately needed if they are to beat a very settled Geelong lineup. Geelong did enough last week to win against a competitive Tigers outfit.Collingwood aren’t a bad side but just won’t have the class to match it with Geelong. I expect Geelong to turn up their intensity in this game. They cannot afford to have too many slow starts and expect to get away with it all the time. Geelong win.
David Wirrpanda plays his 200th game this weekend.
Carlton v Fremantle
Final quarter fadeout specialists Fremantle face the Blues this week at the Telstra Dome. Carlton are coming off a loss against Brisbane and I’m expecting them to bounce back. Richard Hadley is injured with a groin but in comes Bret Thorton who will be a handy inclusion down back. Fremantle are becoming consistent at disappointing and although they might be again competitive for a good 3 quarters, it wont be enough. Rodger Hayden will be sorely missed for them in defense. Carlton win.
Port Adelaide v Sydney
Both teams will be missing key stars, Tadhg Kennelly SYD (Knee) and Shaun Burgoyne PORT (suspension). The latter might have been a bit unfortunate to be missing out on the action after a dubious decision was made by the tribunal in most peoples’ eyes. Sydney go under the radar a lot and are a much better team than most people given them credit for. Port on the other hand really should of won against the Hawks last week. They had the lead early but couldn’t keep up the momentum. The game is in Adelaide so I can see Port bouncing back for a win over there. Ryan O’Keefe plays his 150th game. Port Adelaide win.
West Coast v Adelaide
Adelaide under coach Neil Craig just keep on being a consistent unit. They have a very tall forward line that is also very mobile.Their only downfall seems to come around finals time. I don’t think their coaching lets them be versatile enough to adapt to changes when the game is on the line. West Coast will see the finals this year….from the comfort of their arm chairs. If you look at their line up it is hardly recognisable from the lineup they have had in the past two years. Coach John Worsfold really is blooding his youngsters and seeing which ones sink or swim. Apparently they are looking for another win. But it would be handy for them to pick up some high draft picks for next year , if they continue with their youth playing policy at the moment. Congratulations to David Wirrpanda on 200 games. Adelaide win.
Essendon v Richmond
Dream Time at the G is a great concept that celebrates the contribution Aboriginal players have made to the game of AFL. These two teams honour that concept with a game this Saturday night. Essendon welcomes back Nathan Lovett-Murray and Adam McPhee to the lineup after coming off a 91 point loss to the Swans. These players might help limit the damage that I think Richmond can inflict on them this Saturday night. Richmond are very close to a win and impressed me against a quality side in Geelong last week. Richmond win.
Brisbane v St Kilda
Brisbane are looking good after their win against Carlton last week. Simon Black consistently carves up for them and when you have forwards like Bradshaw and Jonathan Brown to finish your work, it just makes the job easier. St Kilda lack a quality forward and prolonging Gehrig’s career has not done them any good. Nick Riewoldt comes back into the team and it will be interesting to see if this is a bit too premature, as he suffered quite a bad injury two weeks ago. Brisbane win.
Melbourne v Hawthorn
Congratulations on David Neitz on a wonderful career. He has always put his body on the line and provided a great service to the Melbourne Football Club, when he could of gone elsewhere with more team success. I would like to see the Demons honour him with a win but I can’t see this game being a fairytale. In reality the Demons are very ordinary. The ill disciplined but skillful Hawks should win this one. Hawthorn win.
Western Bulldogs v Kangaroos
Even though the Dockers capitulated in the last quarter against the Bulldogs, it takes a very good side to keep fighting a pull off a win like that. The Bulldogs never gave up in a situation that most teams would of.It is Brent Harvey’s 250th game for the Kangaroos and traditionally they lift for games like these. The Kangaroos can match the Bulldog’s fighting spirit but can they match their run and foot skills? I think they can for this one. Kangaroos win.
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May 23rd, 2008 at 10:15 am
It is good to see Wirra getting to 200 and Brent Harvey has gotten to 250 quite quick indeed.
This is the Ingeniousness round but I betcha most talk will be about the free kicks and fines with this silly new Interchange rule
Geelong - Collingwood are pretenders.
Carlton but Freos forward line could cause problems for Carltons leaky defense.
Sydney - but Swans dont travel well so Sydney in an upset.
Adelaide but I would not be surprised to see West Coast get up for a win, although they loose milestone games.
Richmond are a team to watch.
Brisbane are another team to watch and will win against the slow and soft Saints.
Hawks - is Crawford the most silliest player in the AFL? You betcha..
Bulldogs - Kangaroos are sloppy and their poor disposal almost lost them the game against West Coast last week.
May 23rd, 2008 at 2:58 pm
Geelong
Fremantle (i think they’ll finally get it right)
Sydney (are able to shut down any team, except maybe hawks n cats)
Adelaide (eagles are searching for a win, wont happen this week)
Richmond
Brisbane (saints are pathetic)
Hawthorn (crawford maybe the silliest, but he’s still a decent player)
Bulldogs (will be looking to bounce back, kangas aren’t premiership material)
May 24th, 2008 at 8:57 am
WOW
How good were Collingwood last night?? Now a question: Is this the game they had to loose or are they just in a form slump with average games against Richmond and Freo along with Collingwood last night? Notice Ablett is carrying a calf, S Johnson a sore hip, Chapman was out and Ling also hobbling along, could this be a worry?
They really are struggling in the forward line as Mooney and Hawkins are average and Ottens needs to play in the ruck as Blake is an old fashion tap ruckman and not agile enough.
I think Geelong will still be top 4 but the cracks are appearing, like what SunCity_Royal said last week, Hawks are the team to watch…
Jermayns last blog post..So Much Beauty - Kate Ceberano
May 24th, 2008 at 2:55 pm
Geelong were horrible. they are no longer the invincible team of the AFL and here is why:
they are lazy. they start games slow, they don’t apply enough pressure, their tackling effort is weak and they allow the opposition to jump them early
they don’t play for eachother anymore. they are becoming a team of champions, rather than a champion team. theyre not helping out their team-mates enough.
opposition teams only have to maintain the intensity for 4 quarters, and as we saw last nite geelong can be beaten, and with ease.
they look tired, and slow and some players as Jermayn said, are looking sore.
Geelong needs to kick in to action otherwise back to back premierships will be unattainable.
Freo, Freo, Freo
could there be any worse team? well maybe the eagles and demons but keep in mind neither of these teams has been in winning positions at 3 quarter time FOUR WEEKS IN A ROW, and lost.
they are looking like wooden spoon chance and i feel sorry for Mark Harvey, his players just don’t seem to know how to win, they cannot figure out how to maintain a lead, and shutdown the opposition.
Solomon, Bell, Mcmanus, even maybe farmer and tarrant, need to go. they need to cleanout the player closet and dispose of the old players, play youth and try and build a team that will actualy win a game, and maybe one day a premiership. but this pathetic excuse for a team will NEVER win a flag