I hope you are coping with this weekend’s heatwave (Victorian tipsters). Undoubtedly, the AFL is happy they didn’t schedule any games here in Victoria this weekend.
Welcome: we have quite a few new tipsters to our competition, and I extend a big welcome to John Trajanovski, Deb Abraham, Sally McBriar, Kate McIntyre, David Tong, Jo O’Shaughnessy, Matt Blakey, Henry Mulholland, Sam Ticehurst, Sarah Golding, Paul Golding, Peter Wheeler, Jackie Burrows, Gary Cole, Chris Kelly, Barb Cummings, Graham Cummings. Thank you for joining in.
We may get a few extra tipsters to join before I close entries to our competition after Round 2.
On the field
The opening match between Sydney and Melbourne was pretty close until the Swans kicked away in the final term to record a 22-point win at the SCG. The Dees need to find more avenues to goal. The talking point of this opening round was Carlton’s barnstorming rally to beat Brisbane at their Gabba fortress by one point. The Blues were utterly overwhelmed in the first quarter and a half. They trailed by 46 points before kicking three goals to reduce the margin to 31 points at half-time. The Blues erased that deficit in about 6 minutes in the third quarter to hit the front. From there, the game was an arm wrestle. Harry Mackay’s final goal, with 1:31 on the clock, edged Carlton ahead by a solitary point, and they just held Brisbane out until the final siren sounded. Gold Coast made new coach Damien Hardwick’s first game memorable with a resounding 39-point victory over his old club, Richmond. After the Tigers kicked the match’s first goal, the Suns piled on eleven straight goals to kill the contest before half-time. The final game saw GWS host defending premiers Collingwood in the harbour city. The Giants served notice that they will be a force to be reckoned with in season 2024, scoring a comfortable 32-point win over the Magpies.
Tipping: Nobody managed a perfect score this week, but kudos to Wendy Luck. Crippa Rippa and Kylie 1004 who were brave enough to tip a Carlton victory on Friday night! If you started slowly this week, fear not—there are 203 games to go!
Don