Hi everyone,
News from the AFL this weekend is that we will continue to have an afternoon Grand Final for at least the next two years.
On the Field
Geelong hosted last year’s minor premiers, Adelaide, at GMHBA Stadium to start the round. The Crows were overrun early and left themselves a lot of work to get back in the game. They did so and briefly hit the front in the final term before Geelong steadied to run out winners by 8 points. Adelaide’s cause was not helped by a glaring umpiring blunder, which led to a critical Cats’ goal late in the game. The AFL admitted afterwards that the ump ‘got it wrong’.
On Friday night, most expected the visiting GWS Giants to give Collingwood a contest at Marvel Stadium. Instead, Collingwood came away with a comfortable 33-point win, holding the Giants to a mere 7 goals for the game. Final score: Magpies 87 defeated Giants 54.
On Saturday afternoon, Freo played Richmond in wet conditions at Perth Stadium as Cyclone Narelle continued to batter WA on its way south. The Tigers stayed close to Freo in the first half, but fell away badly after half-time to lose the game by ten goals. Final score: Fremantle 13.25.103, defeated Richmond 6.7.43. St Kilda and Brisbane fought out an exciting game at Marvel Stadium. The final score flatters the Lions, as this game had eleven lead changes between the second and fourth quarters. Brisbane unleashed a withering burst midway through the final term, which propelled them to their first win of the season. Final score: Lions 17.11.113, Saints 11.14.80. On Saturday night, North Melbourne was determined to bounce back against Essendon after their second-half fadeout a week ago versus the Eagles. The Shinboners led by 33 points at the final change, but had trouble closing out the game as the Bombers fought back in the last quarter. The 69-81 point loss was Essendon’s 16th consecutive loss, the longest losing streak in the club’s storied history.
Confidence plays a huge part in the success of elite athletes and sports teams. A week ago, the West Coast Eagles, who hadn’t won a game in over 300 days, suddenly found their mojo in a stirring comeback win over North Melbourne. Despite conceding the first four goals of their match in today’s game against Port Adelaide at the Adelaide Oval, the Eagles stuck at it and again rallied. Behind inspirational play from Harley Reid and taking advantage of some thumping long-range goals, West Coast cleared out to a 3-goal lead in the final quarter. They then withstood a late Power comeback to win a thriller, 13.14.92 to 13.12.90. In our large competition of over 90 tipsters, nobody predicted an Eagles’ victory!
There is little confidence in the Carlton team at present, as they again went missing in the second-half against Melbourne at the MCG today. The Blues held Melbourne to only one goal in the first half and led by as much as 43 points before again wilting in the second half. The Demons surged after halftime, kicking 14 goals to 4 to overrun a tiring Carlton side to win 15.10.100 to 11.11.77. The result meant a fabulous double celebration for the Dees’ Max Gawn and Tom Macdonald, who were both playing in their 250th AFL game today, and it also marked the fifth-highest Demon comeback in team history.
Tipping
West Coast again proved to be the spoiler, as their unlikely victory ruined a perfect score for 22 tipsters. Congrats to those 22 who were our leading tipsters in Round 3. We have a new overall leader, Barb31.
Leaderboard
Barb 31 21
Cazza SG 21
LamboM 73 21
Bruce McBriar 21
Lynchey 20
John Naughton 20
Crippa Rippa 20
Luke 20
12 Tipsters = 19
The long Easter weekend of football starts on Thursday night with Brisbane hosting Collingwood at the Gabba. There will be games over five days, concluding with the Hawthorn versus Geelong match next Monday afternoon at the MCG. Wishing everyone a very happy Easter.
Don