Hi all,
Melbourne’s Simon Goodwin was the first coach to be given his marching orders this season. He was fired early in the week.
On the field
Last Thursday night, the Hawks stood tall and crushed Collingwood by 64 points at the MCG. The Magpies are in freefall right now. Hawthorn’s margin of victory surprised virtually every tipster. Geelong comfortably accounted for Essendon on Friday night, winning by 44 points. To their credit, the Bombers fought back a little bit in the third quarter. St Kilda and Richmond played a very low-scoring game on Saturday afternoon and the Saints just got across the line for their third straight victory—final score: St Kilda 8.8.56, Richmond 7.10.52.
A few of the top teams could afford to take things easy this week as they rest players in the run-up to the finals. Gold Coast eased up in the final term versus Carlton but still defeated the Blues. 13.15.93 to 11.8.74. Similarly, in the final game, the league-leading Adelaide Crows were trailing in the third quarter versus cellar-dwellers West Coast in Perth but did what they needed to do to emerge with a 9-point victory.
There was no easing up in the Sydney versus Brisbane game. The Swans continued their late-season resurgence and surged to a 29-point lead in the second half. The Lions then mounted a strong fightback but ultimately came up short by 2 points. Another exciting game was the Western Bulldogs versus Melbourne game. The Dogs needed a win to keep their faint finals’ hopes alive. They got the W, but only just. Final score: Western Bulldogs 15.15.105 defeated Melbourne 15.9.99. Fremantle also recorded an exciting come-from-behind final quarter 6-point win over Port Power at the Adelaide Oval. GWS defeated North Melbourne by nine goals. The win kept the Giants in 8th spot on the ladder, a game ahead of the Bulldogs with two to play.
Tipping
The average score was 7 this week. While a few people did tip the Hawks to defeat the Magpies last Thursday, only P John W and Super Storm were the only two to tip Sydney to beat Brisbane. Congratulations to Greg Hayes, ESPN Minksy, Tucker Browne, Tye Webb, P John W, Cazza SG, Gebster, Super Storm, John Oliver, Romo, Weazr1, Darty and Trhice Winner, who all tipped 8 winners. Well done! Importantly for Heaver 13, he retains his 2-point lead with two rounds to play.
Leaderboard
Heaver 13 142
Big D 140
Valerderos 1964 140
Thrice Winner 139
Darty 138
Richard P Jones 138
Weazr1 138
Pies London Fan 138
Flying Doctor 138
Romo 137
Martin Hunt 137
Bruce McBriar 137
There is no game scheduled for this Thursday night, but 2 games are happening on Friday night. Please place your tips.
Don