Hi everyone,
Greetings from Perth. We’re in the west for a 12-day holiday to visit Perth, hike in Karajini National Park (Pilbara region), and swim with whale sharks at Ningaloo Reef. Exciting times!
On the field: the round began in Adelaide with Showdown 58 between the Power and the Crows. As often happens in these games, the team holding the lower ladder position won and, in this instance, won convincingly. The Crows hit the front at the four-minute mark of the first quarter and never looked back, eventually winning by five goals over their more fancied opponents. Power coach Ken Hinkley admitted later that he had erred in starting key forward Connor Rozee in this game. Rozee was carrying an injury from last week and lasted only six minutes in this game. 88,000+ attended Friday night’s game between old foes Collingwood and Carlton at the MCG and witnessed a close, exciting game that featured eight lead changes. The ‘Pies had a bit more polish in attack in the final term and young Nick Daicos broke the deadlock with a glorious running goal from a tight angle with a minute remaining to seal victory for Collingwood.
On Saturday, the Giants and Swans clashed in Sydney’s ‘Battle of the Bridge.’ This was an intense game, which unfortunately saw more injuries to important players on both sides. The Giants led by 15 points at the first change, but the Swans took over after that, adapting much better to the wet conditions than their opponents. The final margin was 29 points in favour of Sydney. St Kilda returned to the winner’s list with a 38-point win over North Melbourne. The Melbourne Demons handed Geelong its first loss of the season, narrowly defeating the Cats by 8 points at the ‘G. It wasn’t pretty as both teams struggled to find the big sticks in this one. The Dees were worthy winners and their victory moves them up to fourth on the ladder. Essendon won another close game, this time over the Eagles in Perth, 77-71. After the ‘Dons controlled the first half, they had to withstand a spirited comeback by the home team in the second half.
On Sunday, Richmond’s woes continued when they lost at home to Fremantle by nine goals. Hawthorn surprised the Western Bulldogs, winning by seven points. The final game was the Queensland ‘Q Clash’ between Brisbane-Gold Coast. The Lions won only their third game of the season, recording a 34-point victory.
Tipping
Another week with a few 50-50 games has again resulted in a fair bit of movement on our tipping ladder. Scores ranged between 2-7. Congrats to Andrew 0711, CK Magic, and W Pete who were our top tipsters this week with
seven winners.
Ladder
Ingilby 52
CK Magic 52
Bart03 52
Bruce McBriar 52
Neil Belza 51
W Pete 51
Matt Blakey 51
Flag Coast 51
Pies London Fan 51
Big D 51
PJohnW 51
John Trajanovski 51
Thrice Winner Hull’s 51
The photo shows tonight’s sunset as seen from City Beach.
Don
