Round 10 and a sesquipedalian word from Spargo.

[Booney]

Plenty of folks added in their $0.02 worth on the Tom Jonas incident, fair enough, it was late, high and an elbow. 6 weeks about right, anymore wouldn’t have been out of order and any less would have been unders. In the main I think the tribunal ( with incidents referred straight to them ) get it right, now for the MRP to follow.

On a humorous note, Trav Cloke tells us he’s “had enough of VFL football”, well mate, if I were you I’d be getting accustomed to it as you aren’t back on the big stage any time soon. The big ‘Merican is making his mark, the lads are winning without you and you’re VFL side has this weekend off. He also notes the last few weeks he’s “really worked hard on my football”, what was he doing before that? Oh, and while he wasn’t happy with getting dropped and didn’t agree with the coaches thoughts, he says he hasn’t gone back and whinged about it. No? $800,000 a year for a kick in the park on a Saturday.


Sydney v North –

Two FNF blockbusters in a row for the Swans and this one back on familiar turf. It aint easing beating the Hawks anywhere, but the Swans last week beat them and did it well, they controlled the game most of the night and their back half was sensational. At Arden St - “Evening sir, you’ve been randomly selected to make yourself look silly, blow into this until I say stop, please”. Silly lad. On his P’s and .133. Not a good look. A more complete 4 quarter effort from the Kangas last week, they needed to show some intent against a lesser opponent. Big test here though and a belter to kick off the round again.

The Swans hardly need to add any strings to their bow, but they did with Gary Rowan making his way back into the side. He’s got pace to burn and adds another dimension to the Swans forward half. Like they need that. Heeney the albino surfey looking dude is a gun in the making and he plays as the third of fourth forward....pretty handy and how good are his hands? I mention Tippett pretty regularly, again he took control of the game against Ceglar and McEvoy, he did this in the middle and forward. He’s in ripping form. They’ll hope Richards comes up from his knock last week as they’ll need him on the North tall forwards.

Sitting 9-0 but seemingly just outside of the premiership talk, not sure why. Two prelims, two games clear on top, but in reality they’ve only beaten Adelaide and the Dogs as far as sides of any note goes. They only beat Melbourne by 5 points....so while you can only beat who you are playing at the time, here comes the test. Sydney, Richmond, Geelong, Hawthorn and Adelaide before the bye and we’ll know in 5 weeks if they’re genuinely the team to beat or if they’re top 4 material and will box it out with the others. The first of many tests this week and they’ll be without the important foil for the big men forward, Higgins, for at least another 7 weeks. That changes their set up.

While one thing has nothing to do with the other, the Swans will want to pay them back for the Roos beating them in the finals on home turf in 2015. Sydney by 22 points ( Sydney $1.38 Kangas $3.10 )



Brisbane v Hawthorn -

Still paddling up in the sunshine state, copping a hiding from the Dees after making 7 changes and who else is left to come in, is Fev still up there? A rough week for many reasons for the Hawks, they looked a little flat and who can blame them, a mate is in all sorts and footy would seem very meaningless right now. Proud group who I am sure will bounce back.

Leppa looked like a man defeated after the smacking from Collingwood but he somehow got the playing group up and working for each other. Sure, a 63 point loss isn’t a pretty picture but they were only -4 on clearances, -7 I50’s, -1 hitouts and -7 tackles. A better effort with the ball. What they didn’t do very well was man up, the Demons had 80 more touches, 70 of them handballs and almost all of them uncontested. So while there was some better application they still need to work harder when they don’t have the ball.

The Hawks and the Swans stifled each other last week in the first half, the Hawks didn’t appreciate the road blocks Sydney set up and they struggled to score or even create meaningful F50 entries. Was a real midfield battle, the Swans held to just 40 I50s the Hawks 54 and all the while Mitchell, Sam, gets held to 15 touches by Mitchell, Tom. With Hodge missing, Mitchell held and Lewis not at 100% they looked like a side relying on too few to do too much. In all reality, probably lucky to be as close as they were late in the game. Gunston was outstanding in the second half and was the main reason they got so close so late. Bresut and Gunston will be closely watched, they’re the barometers for the Hawks ball movement.

Can’t have any of the Lions here, Hawthorn by 44 points. Hawks have won 9 of the last 10 by an average of 60 points. Ouch. ( Hawks $1.07 Brisbane $8.50 )




Melbourne v Port -

Racking up some decent scores in the last few weeks against weaker opponents gives the Demons the look of a side going the right direction, still have some work to do on the defensive side of things. This week they play a side down on man power and well down on form and confidence, Port missing plenty and just not firing on all cylinders, moving in the right direction though.

Big week for Max Gawn coming up as he’s been a little down in the last fortnight, with Port missing #1 and #2 ruckmen Gawn could have a return to form, he monstered Matt Lobbe in the NAB match at ‘Lizbef Oval and it was the first sign of things to come for Lobbe, and Gawn for that matter. On the day he set up Viney and Jones who now have Bugg, Stretch and the impressive Petracca around the place to help. Like the look of Bugg, he’s a tough in and under, likes the clearances, tackles and knows how to get outside to create when it’s his turn. Averaging over 100 points for, nearly 100 against, tidy up the back half and they’ll be harder to beat for the top sides. Is Roos or Goodwin leading the way at the moment? I think Goodwin might be having a more attacking influence on them. One of the home games the lower income clubs “sell off” to get some extra revenue and dropping a home game away from home isn’t ideal.

It goes from bad to worse, Tom Jonas made a rotten decision and in the blink of an eye left Port’s back half another soldier down when they can hardly afford to lose anyone over 6’2”. He’s had Tom Clurey snapping at his heels for over a year and he might have just taken himself off the white board at the worst time for him. Port still scoring ok, the Bulldogs just behind them on that number. Wouldn’t have thought that Port are scoring more than the Dogs. Mid table defensively, Adelaide concede the same. There’s the problem. Not all doom and gloom, the numbers suggest a side that’s just off the pace, but it looks much worse on the park. Trengove is battling but can’t keep this up all year and some support for him and some structure forward is needed badly. Howard or Butcher might be needed to give Trengove some support in the middle to avoid losing Westhoff or Dixon from the front half structure.

One of the real hard ones to pick this weekend. All of the numbers for both sides are middle of the table, so form will be crucial. I think Melbourne around the ball will be hard to beat, Gawn should give them first look at it, but I think Port’s forward half can trouble the Demons who leak. Heart wins here, Port by 9 points. ( Melbourne $1.78 Port $2.05 )




St Kilda v Fremantle

Bit of reward for the Saints last week as they rolled over the Bombers and they finally add another “W” to the form line, meanwhile it’s cue in the rack in Perth and Ross and his men are working on a top 3 pick to give the Giants for McCarthy. Will the AFL send a “please explain”? Lyon himself said “Results dictate selection”. Could say selections dictate results too.

The Saints got “their game” going, as most sides do against the Bombers, they use the ball by foot more than hand and like to move it quick if they can. The midfield has it’s issues with depth in their rotations a little light on, but when the “A” group is in there they are capable. The future of the Saints has some shining lights, Bruce at 197cm and 24, McCartin 194/20 and Membrey 188/22 gives them some good sized forward options that they can build around in the coming years. I reckon they’ve set the future forward half up pretty well. Now just develop them.

What to make of Lyons comments last week? He pretty clearly stated he’s looking at the future as much as the now, so how do Carlton and Melbourne feel about that? The late Dean Bailey was suspended for, let’s be fair, not selecting the best team he had available to him to ensure they got the highest draft pick possible. What is Lyon doing different? He’s picking the kids to see if they have what it takes...and at 0-9 they don’t appear to be worrying too much about the now. Another man down for the year, Alex Pearce with a broken leg.

Gut feel says the Saints, but something tells me this might be one of the rounds upsets. This punter isn’t willing to predict it though...Saints by 16 points. ( Sts $1.28 Fremantle $3.75 )




Essendon v Richmond

Same, same, but different. Another rough chapter in the series that is Essendon FC at the moment, not much to add when the Saints beat you by 7 goals. Back-to-back wins and they’ll all be out in force again this weekend, went west and make light work of the Dockers in front of eleventeen people. Richmond, as Dimma said, “can make the finals.....”

Pretty much what can be expected from the Bombers, two weeks ago the Kangas take the foot off the throat and the young Bombers make a game of it, last week a Saints side desperate to get 4 points in the bank run from go to whoa and the Bombers can’t match that. It’s the same names for these boys, the older heads and there’s no surprises. One bloke who is making a case to stay on is McDonald-Tipungwuti. He’s strong, fast, makes the odd blue but he’s willing to have a crack. He, I imagine, will be more than just a top up player and will be a better player in a better unit.

Talk about a turn around, on the brink of civil war one week and two weeks later they’ve beaten the Swans and last year’s preliminary finalists. What happened? Well, Rance came back, I said last week not many sides rely on one bloke as much as these guys do on Rance. While Deledio isn’t a Rance build he plays the set up in the back half if Rance is missing, he directs the traffic, when he’s not chained to the defensive goal posts he creates and last week he was back to some of his best form. Doesn’t hurt when the midfield of Cotchin, Martin, Miles and Grigg smash out 25 clearances between them. As much about the Dockers poor form as the Tigers last week.

Won’t be picking the Bombers again this year. Richmond by 38 points. ( Richmond $1.09 Essendon $7.50 )



Adelaide v GWS

Like taking candy from a baby for Adelaide last week, the Suns are a rabble and Adelaide needed a soft one after a rough first 8 weeks and they don’t get much softer than Gold Coast at the moment. Talk of the town the Orange boys, well, not the west of Sydney anyway as just 9,162 are on hand to watch GWS beat the Dogs in a top 4 clash. How is this experiment going? Lots of work to do off field!

Adelaide pretty much did as they pleased last week, captain Walker got back into some form taking advantage of the smaller Gold Coast back half and bagging 5 majors, Sloane continued his excellent form and for the third week in a row Ricky Henderson has given the selectors something to think about. He came in to replace Rory Laird 3 weeks ago and hasn’t put a foot wrong since. Laird might be back this week but Luke Brown will miss with an ankle so Henderson gets another week to prove his worth, across half back against the Giants he’s likely to get plenty of opportunity. He might be close to pushing Cheney out of the side. Another Rory, Atkins, is also showing some solid development in his game, getting more contested ball as he becomes familiar with this level of footy. Betts two goals in 3 weeks after a solid start.

Lots of people asking can these guys win the whole thing, lots saying they can’t ‘coz of their age profile ( which they still have the second youngest list and 17th ranked for average games played ) and some say it’s because they are just a young club, it’s all bollocks. They can win it. The midfield is strong, classy and runs hard. Coniglio, Ward, Shiel, Scully, Whitfield and Kelly ( how smooth is this kid? ) can match it with the best of them, Mumford runs around like the school yard bully looking for someone to pick on. Patton and Cameron lick their lips waiting for it, which usually isn’t a long wait, Haynes is rough looking but effective down back, Davis should come back from a hamstring to help out in the back half....they’ve got the mix that could just take a flag back to all their fans in Western Sydney. It would almost be a shame if they did, although it might then get bums on seats, fickle Sydney folk love backing winners.

On the back of 6 wins, outside pace, quality ruckman, form and confidence I’ll go GWS by 21 points. ( $1.92 each of two )



Carlton v Geelong

And the bubble is burst, although nobody would have expected the Blues to beat a genuine contender and North are that. The Cats? WTF happened there? Gave the Pies an open leash early and they couldn’t peg it back, were they not switched on? Always a bad look when a top side starts poorly against a poor side, lacking application?

Even against the top side the Blues defensive zone worked ok, they kept the Kangas to 49 I50’s, pretty good going. Problem was when it got in there the Blues couldn’t hold the big men for North and they took 13 marks I50. Losing Casboult has meant Rowe needed to go forward and he’s about their biggest man down back. Plowman ( that’s his name it’s Mr Plow ) and White having to play bigger than they are, White gets off as the lose man and goes ok in that role. Jones is improving but he needs to be the 3rd tall not the 1st and he’ll get the odd monster on him to stop him. Really missing Kreuzer.

Sure, the ‘Pies have won 7 of the last 9 over the Cats but they had no right to beat them on the weekend. Geelong goalless in the first quarter and then they even up all the KPI’s. Clearances, I50’s to go with more hitouts, more tackles....how did they drop it? Surely there would have been some angry Scott pills in the water on Saturday and I reckon he’d have had a dip in the meeting room after the match. The midfield were unaccountable with 10 ‘Pies having more than 10 uncontested possessions. Can expect the mids to be on the Blues this week.

Carlton missing big men, Cats have them now, Henderson to meet his old team mates for the first time adds a little spice. Geelong to bounce back, hard, by 33 points. ( Geelong $1.12 Carlton $6.25 )




Collingwood v Bulldogs

Seriously, if you got 9/9 last week and picked the ‘Pies to beat the Cats, get out, you’re not welcome here. Bucks in the last two weeks might have just kept the wolves from the door. Under manned and under the pump against the Giants the Dogs came up short. Fair enough, the Giants are the real deal and the Dogs are missing plenty from the back half.

What did Buckley do last week to get that performance? Forget the win over the Lions, that’s nothing to write home about but a win over the Cats at the G had people looking and listening, what was it? Well, the midfield was prepared to run, 10 of them had over 10 uncontested possies and 6 of them had over 10 contested ( 2 with 9 ) so the group that has Grundy, Pendles, Adam, de Goey, Bottom Steelside, and Crisp have upped the ante and are working inside and out. Doesn’t hurt when your best player and captain has 26 touches at 84%, 4 clearances, 4 tackles and 3 goals. Might as well add 3 votes to that too. Good day out. The big yank, he’s a keeper, yes?

It was bad timing for the Dogs to get the rampaging Giants, the last thing you can afford when playing GWS is a make shift defence and that’s what the Dogs have right now. The midfield still has a scrap, the forwards present but the ball isn’t coming in easy. Without the roof over their head they looked a little off the pace ( the opponent didn’t help that ) and they struggled to get near the Giants and that showed with just 54 tackles being laid. Been a big month for the Dogs.

It is 5th and 11th, the Bulldogs have the best defence, they concede just 70 points per game, the Pies average 92 points for the good. Will be a battle won and lost at this end I think. The Bulldogs will need a lift after last week and should, I say should hold sway by 20 points. ( Dogs $1.45 Pies $2.75 )




West Coast v Gold Coast

The Eagles win away from home for the first time since mid-’15 and I don’t think any Eagles fan would have said it was convincing, Port in poor form and down on men still in it with 10 minutes to go. Flat track back home will be welcome for the Eagles, it won’t however be a happy place for the Suns. Smashed all over the field last week and if you’re one of the fit ones left you might find a case of the flu this week could be useful.

It looks flat out ugly this one, dreadful match up. The Eagles beat up anyone who heads West and the Suns are fair dinkum rotten at the moment. The score line here could be absolutely anything. West Coast loved the ruck work of Nic Nat and Lycett last week, 71 hitouts to 15 and the mids take away 45 clearances. The Suns are the worst clearance team in the comp, the Eagles average 40, the Suns 31. Far, far too many for the Suns back half to deal with considering the Eagles front half.

The Suns might get Gaj back, but he won’t be the messiah. Lynch the only real target going forward and when the mids do get it and look up he’s the only one they see. This week he’ll have MacKenzie and McGovern all over him. Throw in Yeo as the third when he’s up the ground and it’ll be a tough day for Lynch.


Let’s be direct here, the Eagles are going to pump them. The Suns are paddling, they’ve got a 5 hour flight in front of them and the Eagles waiting at home. The Eagles by 80+. ( Eagles $1.01 Gold Coast write your own ticket $17.00 )

[Lightning McQueen]

Friday :
Sydney v North
Saturday :
Brisbane v Hawthorn
Melbourne v Port
St Kilda v Fremantle
Essendon v Richmond
Adelaide v GWS
Sunday :
Carlton v Geelong
Collingwood v Bulldogs
West Coast v Gold Coast

3 tough selection games, having said that I'll probably end up tipping 4 correct.

[bennymacca]

Reckon there is a few tough ones this week.

How the hell do you tip crows gws?

pies bulldogs and melbourne port also look tough.

st kilda freo? sydney north?

[Gozu]

Reckon there is a few tough ones this week.

How the hell do you tip crows gws?

By picking GWS.

[MW]

Yeah GWS in a canter unfortunately.

[Booney]

Yeah GWS in a canter unfortunately.

Mumford + outside pace = GWS win IMO.

[heater31]

Yeah GWS in a canter unfortunately.

Mumford + outside pace = GWS win IMO.

Plus the skill execution of the Crows will be a concern.

[MW]

Yeah GWS in a canter unfortunately.

Mumford + outside pace = GWS win IMO.

Mumford not so much, but outside pace my word yes. Big trouble.

[Former Glory]

Yeah GWS in a canter unfortunately.

Mumford + outside pace = GWS win IMO.

Mumford not so much, but outside pace my word yes. Big trouble.

Still betting $2 about the Giants which surprises me, i would have had them favourites as i agree with you their outside run will torch us i think.

Also, really stepping it up a notch Boon with the thread name.

[Lightning McQueen]

Yeah GWS in a canter unfortunately.

Mumford + outside pace = GWS win IMO.

Mumford not so much, but outside pace my word yes. Big trouble.

Mumford is their barometer, he's the big scary cousin in the school yard.

[Spargo]

Sesquipedalian - I nod in silent acquiescence.

[Corona Man]

Sesquipedalian - I nod in silent acquiescence.

Yes, I believe the bar has been raised. Tough act to follow next week.

[carey]

Friday :
Sydney v North
Saturday :
Brisbane v Hawthorn
Melbourne v Port
St Kilda v Fremantle
Essendon v Richmond
Adelaide v GWS
Sunday :
Carlton v Geelong
Collingwood v Bulldogs
West Coast v Gold Coast

Sydney by 24
Hawks by 72
Melbourne by 16
Richmond by 28
Adelaide by 8
Geelong by 56
Dogs by 20
West Coast by 112

[Booney]

Yeah GWS in a canter unfortunately.

Mumford + outside pace = GWS win IMO.

Mumford not so much, but outside pace my word yes. Big trouble.

Mumford is their barometer, he's the big scary cousin in the school yard.

Mumford is one of the ruckman who has the ability to monster other ruckman, Goldstein is rangy and smart, Jacobs smart and an old school ruckman style with guile, Nic Nat leaping and athletic, Mumford just beats you up. All day long.

[mighty_tiger_79]

Swannies 19
Hawks 97
Melbourne 27
St kilda 23
Richmond 37
GWS 29
Geelong 27
Western Bulldogs 17
West coast 137

[Rik E Boy]

Reckon there is a few tough ones this week.

How the hell do you tip crows gws?

By picking GWS.

Yep. They have a midfield, so they win.

Regards,

REB

[Corona Man]

Adelaide have a midfield... His name is Rory Something or other.

[Wedgie]

Not impressed the recognise campaign's emblem is on a majority of the indigenous guersneys. It'll keep the government happy though.

[carey]

Swannies 19
Hawks 97
Melbourne 27
St kilda 23
Richmond 37
GWS 29
Geelong 27
Western Bulldogs 17
West coast 137

To many 7's

[Spargo]

Swannies 19
Hawks 97
Melbourne 27
St kilda 23
Richmond 37
GWS 29
Geelong 27
Western Bulldogs 17
West coast 137

To many 7's

At least he picked all 9 games ya clown...