AFL Season 2013

[Aerlik]

 

Yep, the long wait is over.  The cricket is no longer polluting our screens.  Masterchef and My Kitchen Rules are still shit.  But...

Footy is back.

Now it is safe to turn on the TV again.

[mayogodhelpus@gmail.com]

Well Aerlik, as your the man on the ground, whats the expectations for Hawthorns this year?

I see its Hawthorns v Geelong on monday, should be a decent game.

Two other teams I like to keep an eye on are Adelaide Crows and Brissy Lions, any predictions for them?

[deiseach]

Footy is back.

Or 'fuhdee', as it always sounds to my ears when an Australian says it. I must pay more attention this year, it's a great sport.

[Aerlik]

Freo beat the Eagles by 28 last night.  Great start to the season with some really exciting performances which augur well for the rest of the year.  40,000 squeezed into Subiaco and the atmosphere and noise were fantastic.  Even Ewan McGregor had a seat.  Got to feel sympathy for Eagles' Marc LeCras.  Spent all last season on the sideline with a knee injury, then in the third quarter broke his forearm. 

Magnificent team performance from Essendon to beat Adelaide by 36(?) points in Adelaide.  What makes the win more significant is the flak the Bombers got for the drugs-in-sport scandal during the pre-season.

Everyone's favourite is Hawthorn.  Freo play them in Round 4 in Tasmania.  Never easy to beat them and even harder to win in Tasmania.

It is difficult to comment on the rest of the teams having not seen them in action yet, so I'll reserve any comments for the end of this split first round.

G'waaaaan  Freo

[HeaveHo]

Well Aerlik, as your the man on the ground, whats the expectations for Hawthorns this year?

I see its Hawthorns v Geelong on monday, should be a decent game.

Two other teams I like to keep an eye on are Adelaide Crows and Brissy Lions, any predictions for them?

Hawks have been very ordinary in the preseason but they are probably underdone but are likely top four finishers.

I have the Crows sliding this year (not just because of Friday night). They had the softest draw last year (played both expansion sides twice) and have lost big Kurt. Probably just sneak into the top eight.

The Lions should be a better side this year but probably will just miss the eight. There are probably fourteen teams that could realistically make the top eight this year and Brisbane is one of those. The Lions have some good youngsters are likely to be serious contenders in a couple of years time. 

[HeaveHo]

Freo beat the Eagles by 28 last night.  Great start to the season with some really exciting performances which augur well for the rest of the year.  40,000 squeezed into Subiaco and the atmosphere and noise were fantastic.  Even Ewan McGregor had a seat.  Got to feel sympathy for Eagles' Marc LeCras.  Spent all last season on the sideline with a knee injury, then in the third quarter broke his forearm. 

Magnificent team performance from Essendon to beat Adelaide by 36(?) points in Adelaide.  What makes the win more significant is the flak the Bombers got for the drugs-in-sport scandal during the pre-season.

Everyone's favourite is Hawthorn.  Freo play them in Round 4 in Tasmania.  Never easy to beat them and even harder to win in Tasmania.

It is difficult to comment on the rest of the teams having not seen them in action yet, so I'll reserve any comments for the end of this split first round.

G'waaaaan  Freo

Good start by the Purple army. Always good to beat those bastards.

[Aerlik]

Good start by the Purple army. Always good to beat those b**tards.

Jaysus the smugness has been knocked out of the w*nkers.  Some great excuses flying around.  What about that midfield?  Mundy, Barlow, Fyfe and Crowley all about 6'4"; Hill and Pearce around the 6'2"; Griffin holding up against Cox.  And Son Son!  Great all round show.  I watched the 3Q again.  The ball was hardly over the Freo 50-metre line.

[Aerlik]

So finally the first round has come to an end - it was split over two weekends.  Here's  a brief "analysis" of the games:

Adelaide  82 v. Essendon 117
BIG  surprise here, considering the turmoil at the Bombers with allegations of drug misuse.  It was a great game to watch I must admit and some Bombers fans are booking Grand Final tix already.  We'll wait and see.

Fremantle 108 v. West Coast 80
Guess who's happy with this one,    Nuff said.

Carlton 101 v. Richmond 106
As a neutral, what was interesting about this game was Richmond's ability to almost throw it away.  At one point the tigers were over 40 points ahead but some woeful finishing by Carlton ensured this neutral kept watching to see when the next comedy of errors would arise.  Not many complaining about a loss for the Blues.

Western Bulldogs 127 v. Brisbane 59
The second biggest shock of the round.  No one expected this trouncing to occur, especially Bulldogs fans, lol.  I didn't see the game as it was on Fox (spit spit). No reports of any Bulldogs fans buying Grand Finals tickets yet though.

Greater Western Sydney 76 v. Sydney 106
As expected the Swans won but it wasn't all easy going as the Giants pushed them to the last but the greater experience told.  The reigning premiers will need to be at a different level from here on.

Gold Coast 90 v. St. Kilda 77
The shock of the round.  If you can, take a look at Gary Ablett Jr's goal on the run on the left wing kicked with the outside of the right boot.  I listened to this on the wireless and it was enthralling stuff for this neutral.

Melbourne 54 v. Pt. Adelaide 133
I started watching a bit of this and turned it off.  Dear God, woeful... Jim Stynes will be turning in his grave. 

North Melbourne 87 v. Collingwood 103
Another great match for the neutral, apparently, (if such a thing exists when Collingwood plays) moreso for the fact that the Pies held on and dug deep considering the depth of the injuries they had.  I managed to see the last quarter and it was entertaining.  If that is an injury-depleted Collingwood, eeeeeeek

Hawthorn 86 v. Geelong 93
Where do I start?  Awesome stuff, hard, close, exciting, and proof that you can have all the no.1 draft picks you like but there is no substitute for experience.  Again I only caught the last quarter but what a great finish for the neutral. 

It would seem that there are several teams that will be making this a memorable season.  Too early to predict a winner but as a Freo fan...well, ya just never know.  You read it here first. (Ahem don't say you weren't warned!)

[ballinaman]

Yep, the long wait is over.  The cricket is no longer polluting our screens.  Masterchef and My Kitchen Rules are still shit.  But...

Footy is back.

Now it is safe to turn on the TV again.

Is that shite still on? Used to break my heart every evening when I was over.  Never ending.

[HeaveHo]

So finally the first round has come to an end - it was split over two weekends.  Here's  a brief "analysis" of the games:

Adelaide  82 v. Essendon 117
BIG  surprise here, considering the turmoil at the Bombers with allegations of drug misuse.  It was a great game to watch I must admit and some Bombers fans are booking Grand Final tix already.  We'll wait and see.

Fremantle 108 v. West Coast 80
Guess who's happy with this one,    Nuff said.

Carlton 101 v. Richmond 106
As a neutral, what was interesting about this game was Richmond's ability to almost throw it away.  At one point the tigers were over 40 points ahead but some woeful finishing by Carlton ensured this neutral kept watching to see when the next comedy of errors would arise.  Not many complaining about a loss for the Blues.

Western Bulldogs 127 v. Brisbane 59
The second biggest shock of the round.  No one expected this trouncing to occur, especially Bulldogs fans, lol.  I didn't see the game as it was on Fox (spit spit). No reports of any Bulldogs fans buying Grand Finals tickets yet though.

Greater Western Sydney 76 v. Sydney 106
As expected the Swans won but it wasn't all easy going as the Giants pushed them to the last but the greater experience told.  The reigning premiers will need to be at a different level from here on.

Gold Coast 90 v. St. Kilda 77
The shock of the round.  If you can, take a look at Gary Ablett Jr's goal on the run on the left wing kicked with the outside of the right boot.  I listened to this on the wireless and it was enthralling stuff for this neutral.

Melbourne 54 v. Pt. Adelaide 133
I started watching a bit of this and turned it off.  Dear God, woeful... Jim Stynes will be turning in his grave. 

North Melbourne 87 v. Collingwood 103
Another great match for the neutral, apparently, (if such a thing exists when Collingwood plays) moreso for the fact that the Pies held on and dug deep considering the depth of the injuries they had.  I managed to see the last quarter and it was entertaining.  If that is an injury-depleted Collingwood, eeeeeeek

Hawthorn 86 v. Geelong 93
Where do I start?  Awesome stuff, hard, close, exciting, and proof that you can have all the no.1 draft picks you like but there is no substitute for experience.  Again I only caught the last quarter but what a great finish for the neutral. 

It would seem that there are several teams that will be making this a memorable season.  Too early to predict a winner but as a Freo fan...well, ya just never know.  You read it here first. (Ahem don't say you weren't warned!)

Made it to the Geelong and Hawks game on Monday at the G. Decent crowd of 76,300 saw a brilliant physical game. Geelong just too good under extreme pressure. I reckon we (Freo) might have the Hawks covered this year Aerlik especially at home. 

[Aerlik]

Is that shite still on? Used to break my heart every evening when I was over.  Never ending.

Yep, the sad obsession of an already obese nation watching obese "celebrity" judges encourage heart attack-inducing stodge is still polluting the screens.  And ironically, on C10 Australian Biggest Loser airs at roughly the same time...go figure.

Made it to the Geelong and Hawks game on Monday at the G. Decent crowd of 76,300 saw a brilliant physical game. Geelong just too good under extreme pressure. I reckon we (Freo) might have the Hawks covered this year Aerlik especially at home. 

Freo v. Hawks in R4 in Tasmania.  Not confident.  Therefore, it is important to win the first three games to add a bit of a cushion.  Wonder how Buddy Franklin will go trying to convince Ross Lyon to sign him next season?  (You didn't hear that here, first )

I had planned to be in Melbourne this weekend for the Freo - Bulldogs game but had to cancel. 

[Aerlik]

Round Two is now complete.  The major talking point in the AFL at the moment is the putridly pathetic effort of Melbourne for the second week in a row, getting a 148-point pasting by Essendon.  Next week will be no better for the Demons.

Richmond 99 v. St. Kilda 82
It's hard to believe that it has been well over a decade since Richmond last won its first two season-opening games.  This was a good game to watch, particularly the shoot-out between the Riewoldt cousins, Jack and Nick.  Jack kicked seven and Nick three.  I'm not a big fan of Jack Riewoldt but you can help admiring his accuracy.

Sydney 114 v. Gold Coast 73
I didn't see any of this game apart from a goal by the GCFC ruckman who ran about 70 metres before tapping through.  As expected, a Swans win.

Fremantle 106 v. Western Bulldogs 78
There was a lot of hype in the Melbourne media about the Dogs prior to this game.  As usual the Melbourne media forgot about the teams outside Victoria.  A solid win for the lads setting up for a great game on Friday night.  And we'll be there.  Check out Stephen Hill's team goal if you can (oh and Matthew Pavlich's cockup, lol)

Adelaide 96 v. Brisbane 77
Pearce Hanley may have scored big on Supercoach but his efforts didn't prevent a second straight loss to the pre-season cup winners.  Adelaide were expected to win and following the shock loss to Essendon in R1, they didn't disappoint.

Port Adelaide 134 v Greater Western Sydney 78
For the second week in a row, Port scored big and won big and is now sitting in the top two on the table.  However, for a second-year team, the Giants are getting some decent scores on the board.  Port's Justin Westhoff continues to take great marks.

Essendon 184 v. Melbourne 36
If Jim Stynes was turning in his grave last week, he'll be livid this week.  Never have I watched such a dismal effort from a bunch of pathetic so-called professionals.  This was dismal in the worst way.  Essendon won't have it as easy away to us on Friday night, while Melbourne won't have it much better against the Coke Dealers the next day.

Geelong 112 v. North Melbourne 108
It's games like this that you wish you could watch simultaneously with other great games.  At one stage North were over 40 points ahead and cruising but Geelong staged the inevitable comeback, kicking the winning goal with the very last kick of the game. Unfortunately I didn't see any of this game but from what I've read it was pretty damned good.


Collingwood 117 v. Carlton 100
17 points may seem like a handy win but the fact is in this game the game was effectively won in the last 50 seconds.  The best game of the year so far (not featuring Fremantle that is )  This game had the lot, great scores, great teamwork and the atmosphere seemed electric. Marty Clarke pitched in with a fairly solid game and a great goal too. I'm so pissed off I didn't get to Melbourne as this game was on the cards to go see.  But thankfully 7Mate is showing footy meaning we are not confined to just the delayed telecast games on Channel 7, even if it means having to listen to Eddie McGuire.

Hawthorn 148 v. West Coast 98
What better way to chill with mates having a few birthday drinks than to sit and watch the Coke Dealers lose again, at home.  The post-mortems are flourishing but at that end of the day the Dealers were beat by a much better, more disciplined unit. 

I thought that the latter score was the perfect way to enjoy my birthday...just a pity the auld hoor Thatcher didn't die on Sunday; now that would have made it the ultimate birthday celebration.

[ballinaman]

Watching Geelong v Carlton on espn..cracker, not bad entertainment for a saturday lunchtime!

[Aerlik]

ROUND THREE - probably the one round I, personally, will not want to remember.

Fremantle 68-72 Essendon
Never was I so close to crying at a game...any game.  Freo lost its best defender in the third minute having been knocked unconscious by a dirty hit seeing the Bomber player suspended for a minimum of three matches. Freo led by 36 at halftime.  Freo concede 6 goals in the third quarter; Freo hit the fekkin post with 27 seconds left on the clock which would have given them a well-deserved 1-point win.  One-eyed?  Unashamedly so.  Mini-me got to play in the main halftime kids' footy game in the centre of the ground in front of 36,000 fans.  And he kicked a goal.  Not bad for an 11 year old.

North Melbourne 92-138 Sydney
I didn't see this game but after the efforts of last week NMFC were expected to make more of a game of it.  However they find themselves at Played Three, Lost Three, whereas Sydney continues doing what a champion team does, winning.

Melbourne 83-177 West Coast
The grim days at Melbourne continue.  Yet another second half capitulation.  It's not that West Coast were good, but that Melbourne were bad.  Very bad.  I watched this game on TV with mini-me and it was quite enlightening to hear an 11 year old boy criticise and tear to shreds the efforts of Melbourne.  Glad I'm not a Melbourne fan.

Greater Western Sydney 68-140
The main talking point of this game had to be the sickening season-ending injury to the GWS ruckman which, ironically, has led to suggestions that Setanta will be in the team next week, a year after his similar injury and on the back of him kicking five in the Reserves on Saturday.

Gold Coast 92-94 Brisbane Lions
Reported to have been one of the best games of the round but not shown nationally on Free-To-Air TV.  Hanley kicked a goal  but if you can, have a look at Jonathon Brown's goal (his best of five).  He really is some player.

Geelong 119-103 Carlton
For three quarters this game had everything and was just superb to watch.  Then the auld heads stepped up to the plate and game over.  Tuohy gave a good account of himself (again).  Here's hoping Carlton finally win their first game of the season on Saturday evening in Perth.

Richmond 135-68 Western Bulldogs
The Tigers' impressive season start continues.  This is the first time in 18 years that they have won their first three games.  Now we're set for a clinker when they take on Collingwood in the next round.

Hawthorn 145-90 Collingwood
At one stage of this game it looked like Collingwood was going to annihilate the Hawks, but that soon changed as Hawthorn slowly-slowly edged into the game.  Buddy Franklin was at his best, with his 70m+ goal in the third worth a look.  Marty Clarke had a reasonable effort today.

Port Adelaide 118-109 Adelaide
The first of the S.Australian derbies for the year was quite a shock.  At three quarter time, Adelaide were 31 points ahead and seemingly cruising.  But footy is a four quarter game.  Suddenly Port Adelaide finds itself in the strange position of possibly the only team in the top four that can be four wins from four after the next round.

It's a funny ol' game.

[Club Rossa]

That must have been some experience for your wee lad Aerlik.

Huge win for Hawthorn who have dominated the Pies in recent meetings.Would be fairly optimistic about Hawthorn's chances this year,though they need to figure out a way to get over Geelong.