The Walkley awards

Three votes: Robert Walls, for fessing up on Fox’s On The Couch on Monday night that he survived playing against former Bombers hard man Ronnie Andrews because of a non-aggression pact the pair struck with each other way back then.

Apparently Ronnie is now driving a school bus at Wentworth, up Mildura way, and doesn’t have too many problems with kids not being at their pick-up points on time.

50-metre penalty: Andrew Demetriou, for continuing to doggedly insist that tanking by lowly teams in late-season games doesn’t exist. But those who raised the issue when Melbourne beat West Coast last week should also have at least a free kick awarded against them.

Their thrashing by Geelong two weeks ago aside, the Dees have been showing signs of improvement, and it was no surprise to me, at least, when they beat a raw young team playing a long way from home.

A month ago I tipped that game as Melbourne’s only win in the last six.

And nobody seriously expects the Weagles to beat either Hawthorn or Geelong in the remaining games, do they?

But what the AFL has to deal with is the perception, or to put it more crudely the bad smell, and take steps to eliminate it by changing the priority draft picks system.

Winners: I’m still sticking to my predictions before round 17: Bulldogs by 27, Tigers by 33, Port by 4, Lions by 11, Magpies by 19, Cats by 31, Saints by 9, Hawks by 23. Last week 5 right, making 101/160 overall.

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