South Australia fully embraced the AFL cavalcade on the weekend, hosting all nine games of the Gather Round. The matches were played at Adelaide Oval, Norwood Oval, and, for the first time, Barossa Park (formerly Lyndoch Park) in SA’s famous wine region. It was a most successful football weekend, despite there being no close finishes and lots of lopsided games. Two photos are included.
On the field: In the round’s opening match, Geelong rallied strongly in the second half after trailing by five goals to beat the hometown Crows by 19 points. Former Crow Patrick Dangerfield stood tall for the Cats in the final term when the game was on the line. On Friday night, Collingwood stormed to their fourth straight win with an impressive display from rookie midfielder Ned Long helping their cause. Long had 29 disposals as the Magpies won for a tenth consecutive time at Adelaide Oval. The final score: Collingwood 109, Sydney 78. On Saturday, the Blues notched their first win for the year with a 71-point drubbing of West Coast and the Gold Coast Suns trounced North Melbourne by 52 points at Barossa Park. It was a historic game as this was the first-ever AFL game played at this venue, and the result saw the Suns move to 4-0 on the season, the first time this has happened in their fifteen-year history. Brisbane also remained unbeaten. The Lions overcame a 33-point halftime deficit versus the Western Bulldogs to run out winners by 21 points. Essendon won their second straight, defeating Melbourne by 39 points, 15.6.96 to 8.9.57.
In the Sunday games, Fremantle had little trouble overcoming Richmond, winning by 61 points, while GWS proved too strong for St Kilda. After a close first quarter, the Giants extended their lead to 50 points by three-quarter time and coasted home to win 16.14.110 to 12.10.82. Most of us predicted a Hawthorn victory in the final game, but host team Port Adelaide blew them away in the first half to lead by 59 points at the main change. The final score was PA 18.13.121, Hawthorn 14.7.91 as the Hawks stemmed the bleeding in the second half.
Tipping
Unfortunately, Port’s unexpected win over Hawthorn in the final match denied Heaver 13 and Jan Byrne a perfect round, but they are our top tipsters this week with 8 winners. Well done.
Leaderboard
Heaver 13 35
Super Storm 35
CD Saint 35
Lenny Hayes is God 34
Don Warner 34
Flying Doctor 34
Big D 34
Tucker Browne 34
Valerderos 1964 34
This weekend’s Easter fixtures stretch over 5 days, starting with Brisbane vs Collingwood from the Gabba on Thursday night and concluding with the traditional Geelong vs Hawthorn game on Easter Monday.
Please place your tips in a timely fashion.