Sunday, March 27, 2016

Round 1, 2016

The footy's back, and with 8 of the 9 games played of Round 1, we are already promised a cracker of a season!

Opening Bounce on Thursday Night had Richmond up against Carlton. The Tiges had it all against them: five injured, and they had to win against last year's wooden spooners; the Blues have a new coach and were debuting five themselves, including the No.1 draft pick. Carlton led at half-time but only lost by nine at the end. Their performance was very promising indeed.

GWS and Melbourne met up here in Sydney on Easter Saturday and for all intents and purposes it was a dead rubber. But the Giants are growing with every outing and the Dees are a wild card. I backed GWS but the outcome could have been further from anyone's tipping, with the Melbourne Football Club getting the chocolates by a mere 2 points.

Gold Coast took on the once-mighty Bombers at home at Metricon on Saturday afternoon and with the blight of the ASADA saga behind them the Same Olds had much to prove. But Gary Ablett jr was back and had as much to prove, and the Dons were comprehensively thrashed by ten goals. Pundits have the Spoon torn between Carlton and Essendon: I think they might have to rethink those choices.

North Melbourne and Adelaide met at Etihad in a match I was not able to choose the outcome of. I backed the Roos with the toss of a coin and many in my social media network might have disagreed. At 3/4-time there was only a point in it, but Chris Scott's men took it by the bit and ran out winners by only ten, inaccuracy being the let-down for the Pride of SA.

I learned, on Saturday night from the SCG, that I hate Collingwood more than I hate Sydney. By half-time the Pies had only managed 1.4 to the Swans' 10.12, and only managed 7 by the end of the game. The final score 18.25 to 7.11 suggested that things aren't quite right at Victoria Park, and rumours of drug-abuse have been alleged to have put them off their game. Dane Swan's multiple leg-fractures probably didn't help either, putting him out of action for the foreseeable future. The drug-allegations will be interesting to follow over the next foreseeable-future!

Port took on St Kilda at Football Park on Sunday in another match that really could have gone either way. They were neck-and-neck going into the main break with just a goal separating them, but the locals surged ahead in the third and took the match by 5.3.

The biggest upset of the round came from Etihad when the Sons of the West took on, and trounced the Dockers by ten goals. I venture to guess that no one saw that coming! Jake Stringer scooped 5.1 with ten other goal-kickers (six with 1.1) for the Dogs; Freo managed five goal-kickers, none of them multiples.

And the biggest surprise came from Subi on Sunday night with an aggregate score of 268 between the Eagles and Lions. Kennedy booted 8.2, with Cripps and Hill (3.1), Bennell (2.1), Darling, LeCras, and Nic Nat (2.0), Yeo, Ellis, McGovern, and Redden keeping the scorers busy for the home side, and Christensen (3.2), Taylor (3.1), Rich, Rockliff, Schache, Walker (2.1) and Hanley (1.0) chipping in for the Blions,

Hawthorn take on Geelong at the G tomorrow for what could well be the Grand Final precursor. The way these other games have panned out, anything could happen!

peterg
27 Mar 16

2 comments:

  1. I foresaw Monday’s match to be a preview of the 2016 Grand Final and stand by that remark. The Hawks kept Geelong to 4 points in the third and were just a nose ahead at the last break

    The home side took it by the horns, and the 2015 Premiers were still in the hunt until the Cats crossed the magic first-to-100 line in the dying moments, taking the match out by 30, having been as far ahead at the main break.

    Next week sees

    Friday:
    Collingwood v -Richmond- at the MCG

    Saturday:
    -Adelaide- v Port Adelaide at Football Park from 13.45 CST
    Essendon v -Melbourne- at the G from 14.10
    Brisbane v -North Melbourne- at the Gabba from 16.35 EST
    St Kilda v -Western Bulldogs- at Etihad from 19.25
    Fremantle v Gold Coast at Subi from 19.40 WST*

    Sunday:
    GWS v Geelong at Manuka from 13.10*
    Hawthorn v West Coast Eagles at Subi from 15.20*
    Carlton v Sydney at Etihad from 16.40*


    *reserving judgment until closer to the match

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  2. Oh and I found someone who scooped the pool!

    He even “won” the spoon in his comp last year!

    I suppose that’s how you do well- go out on a limb! It’s also how you fail (as my tipping has shown in the past).

    Good luck to you mate, and many more successful tips to you! I don't really hate you- I just think you're a tin-arsed bastard!!

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