Once again, we had another round of mostly lopsided results.
On the field
Last Thursday night, Collingwood staged an impressive second-half comeback to stun the favoured Crows at the Adelaide Oval. The Magpies turned a 27-point disadvantage late in the second quarter into a lead by 3/4 time and poured it on from there. The 16.12.108 to 11.8.74 win was Collingwood’s sixth in a row, and they occupy eighth position on the ladder. Geelong’s form lately has been ordinary, but on Friday night they played a solid game against Melbourne at the MCG and emerged with a 20-point victory. In the west on Friday night, the Fremantle Dockers crushed their cross-town opponents, West Coast, by 70 points, 16.16.112 to 6.6.42.
On Saturday, Carlton played the Gold Coast at Marvel Stadium. The Suns were hoping to end their 8-game losing streak, but after a quick start, they couldn’t sustain it, and the Blues ran out winners by 13 points. This was the closest game of Round 20. Hawthorn humbled Essendon, defeating the Bombers by 93 points. The cross-city rivalry between Sydney and GWS is usually a keenly contested game, but not this time. The Swans easily won 21.13.139 to 13.10.88. On Saturday night, the Western Bulldogs comfortably defeated Richmond by 57 points at Marvel Stadium.
On Sunday, Brisbane 19,12,126 defeated Port Adelaide 9.13.67 and sit in fourth spot on the ladder. The Power have no hope of making the finals and are planning for next season. St Kilda played North Melbourne in the final game. The Saints were pushed by the Roos until the final quarter, when St Kilda surged away to record a 31-point victory. The win keeps the Saints ahead of Carlton on percentage in tenth place.
Tipping
It was another high-scoring week for most tipsters, with most people getting 7 or 8. Nobody managed a perfect score, however. Congratulations to Sarah Golding, Danger Dee, Claridges, SkpyOz, Crippa Rippa, Vicpark, John Trajanovski, Naples Road, Weazr1, Willow, Four Peat Magic, Luke Capt Awesome, Janb100, Caramondo1, Thrice Winner, Craig Dallimore, Pauline Dallimore, GPD49er, BigD and Jeremy Posner, all of whom managed 8 this week. Great work. Our leaderboard remains extremely close and we have a new outright leader this week, Jeremy Posner.
Ladder Leaders after Round 20
Jeremy Posner 128 (573)
CazzaSG 127 (499)
Big D 127 (529)
Tedwood068 127 (551)
Flying Doctor 127 (554)
GPD 49er 127 (589)
Croc Junior 126 (500)
John Naughton 126 (555)
Richard Jones 125 (536)
Pauline Dallimore 125 (546)
Romo 125 (598)
Collingwood will host Geelong this Thursday night to start Round 21. Please place your tips.